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Skin Deep Part 1
Start off in fairytale land. Belle’s father has sent a request to Rumple for his help in the ogre wars but Rumple has not arrived. The castle they are in is trashed and damaged, they’ve barricaded the door and the ogres appear to be winning. Times are desperate. Maurice describes the ogres as “unstoppable” and it seems that Rumple was their last hope against the ogres. Belle tries to reassure her father that all is not lost by saying that Rumple “could be on his way right now” but Maurice tells her that “It is too late, my girl, it’s just too late”. There is a loud dramatic knock on the door. Maurice orders his knights to open the door, however when they do there is nobody there. Everyone stares at the empty hallway until Rumple says “well that was a bit of a letdown”. Everyone turns round to see Rumple sitting in Maurice’s throne. Rumple negotiates a deal with Maurice telling him that he can protect their “little town for a price”. Rumple dismisses Maurice’s “promise of gold” and wants Belle instead. Maurice refuses and sends Rumple away, however Belle stops him (perhaps realising that without Rumple’s help they’d probably be killed by the ogres) and agrees to go with him in exchange for her family and friends’ safety. With the deal struck, Rumple allows Belle to say goodbye to her father and Gaston before taking Belle away to “his rather large estate”.
Storybrooke, and Mr Gold is taking Maurice’s aka Moe French’s flower van after Moe fails to pay up on a loan. As Mr Gold walks away, he is accosted by Regina who wants to talk to him about “something”. Gold brushes her off and when she tries to stop him he uses the please clause and walks off. When Gold returns home, he finds his front door ajar. He pulls a gun from a hiding place and begins searching through his house. Sensing someone behind him, Gold turns around pointing his gun to find Emma pointing her gun at him. Gold informs her that he’s been robbed. When Emma says that it’s funny how that keeps happening to him, Gold states that he is “a difficult man to love.
Fairytale land, and Rumple is leading Belle to her “room”. Belle is shocked that he has led her to a dungeon instead but Rumple laughs in her face telling her that room “sounded a lot nicer than dungeon”, he then pushes Belle in and locks the door before walking off. We next see Belle serving Rumple some tea as he runs through her new duties. He makes a quip about Belle having to skin children which makes Belle drop the cup she is holding. Belle apologises for breaking the cup and Rumple doesn’t see why she is making a big deal out of it, saying “It’s just a cup”.
Storybrooke, Gold tries to get rid of Emma, telling her that he “knows exactly what was taken and who did it” and that he’s “got it from here”. Emma refuses to leave and threatens to arrest Gold for obstruction of justice if he doesn’t tell her what he knows. Gold’s reaction, which Emma picks up on, implies he “doesn’t want to be behind bars” which Gold confirms. (This could be because he spent his last few months in fairytale land locked up and he doesn’t want to repeat the experience.) Gold tells Emma what he knows and points her in Moe’s direction. Gold begins to imply about taking revenge before realising what he is saying in front of Emma. When Emma asks “is that a threat?” Gold says “observation”. Emma then leaves.
Fairytale land, and Belle is trying to open the curtains. Rumple is sitting at his spinning wheel when Belle asks him why he spins so much. Rumple initially ignores her but eventually answers “I like to watch the wheel, helps me forget”. When Belle asks “forget what?” Rumple jokingly replies “I guess it worked”. Belle laughs at his joke before continuing trying to open the curtains. Rumple gets up from his spinning wheel to see what Belle is doing. As Belle pulls on the curtains, she falls off the ladder and Rumple catches her in his arms. Belle and Rumple share a moment before Rumple quickly puts Belle down and they act rather awkwardly. Both Belle and Rumple seem to reflect on what just occurred as they carry on with their separate activities. (I think the opening of the curtains is meant to represent Belle bringing light to Rumple’s life. In ALWM, Rumple describes Belle as “a brief flicker of light amidst an ocean of darkness”.)
Back in Storybrooke, Emma has recovered Mr Gold’s stolen items but hasn’t yet caught Moe French. Gold looks over the items and begins to get annoyed because “there’s something missing”. Emma’s attitude just seems a bit off, she doesn’t even inquire as to what is missing but tells Gold that she’ll “get it when I find it”. Gold walks away, determined to get whatever is missing back himself “not if I find it first”.
Back to fairytale land. The curtains at Rumple’s castle are now open. Rumple grabs his chipped cup of tea whilst looking out the window. Belle walks over to him and begins to walk behind him. This somewhat surprises Rumple who quickens his pace and jumps back a little to put some space between him and Belle before Belle sits down on the table. Belle asks Rumple why he wanted her there, to which Rumple replies “place was filthy”. Belle guesses that Rumple was lonely and that “any man would be lonely”. Rumple responds with “I’m not a man” and sits down beside her. There is a moment of silence between the two before Belle tries to change the subject. She mentions finding child size clothing in one of the rooms upstairs and asks Rumple if it was his or a son’s. Rumple has a pained look upon his face before admitting that there was a son and he lost him “as I did his mother”. (This may mean it was Rumple’s cowardice that cost him his family. First his wife left him when he ran away from the ogre war, then he lost Bae when he refused to go through the vortex with him). Belle expresses her sympathies before trying to continue the conversation, however, Rumple just sits in silence staring at his cup of tea. Belle asks him “If I’m never going to know another person in my whole life, can’t I at least know you?” . Rumple responds with “perhaps. Perhaps you just want to know the monster’s weaknesses”. Belle tells Rumple “you’re not a monster” before the conversation is interrupted by a dramatic knock on the castle’s door. (If all the characters knew where to find Rumple and he was as dangerous as Charming said, why did they wait until he was after Cinderella’s baby before trying to capture him?)
Rumple answers the door to find Gaston there with is sword pointed at Rumple. Rumple doesn’t even let Gaston finish his sentence before turning him into a rose. Rumple gives the rose to Belle and they share another moment before Belle goes to find a vase to put the rose in. As belle is doing that and clipping the stem of the rose, Rumple asks her why she chose to go with him. Rumple sits in his chair and listens intently as Belle gives him her reasons. Rumple specifically asks Belle about Gaston knowing that he has just turned him into the rose that is now sitting in a vase on the table. Belle tells Rumple that she never loved Gaston “it was an arranged marriage” and Rumple is hanging on to her every word and even shakes his head in agreement as Belle says she could never love someone “as superficial” as Gaston. When Belle changes the subject back to Rumple’s son, Rumple changes the subject by offering Belle a deal that if she goes to town, picks up some straw and returns, he will tell her about his son. Belle is surprised that Rumple would trust her to come back but Rumple reveals that he expects never to see her again.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of Felix