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I agree that Belle’s feelings for Rumpel were sincere and not based on any desire to break a curse or be a saviour. She saw past his exterior to the man inside, and liked what she saw. BTW, it seemed to me that the makeup was somewhat different in this episode, less emphasis on the creeptacular. Of course they softened up the wardrobe, getting rid of the coat (which I noticed he was wearing even while spinning in the last scene where the queen came to visit). Maybe it was just putting him in full light instead of shadow, where you could really pick up facial expressions, which were also more human and less crazy face. All made it easier to see him as just a man.
We have strayed from the original topic of this thread, the whole good-guy vs. bad-guy question. As for that, I think we will be parsing that question the whole time. I have heard the writers say that they don’t like 2-dimensional evil villains. Instead, even if somebody is in a villain role, we will at least know WHY they act the way they do, see a side of humanity to them. With EQ, whatever her motives, her goal always seems to be to make people suffer. Heck, she stated that clearly. With Rumpel, not only are his motives a little more murky, his goals are as well. I don’t see him emerging as a great hero and saving the whole town just because he’s a nice guy. I can see him being heroic to save Belle or his son, or possibly even Henry, who I see as a sort of surrogate in Gold’s mind.
[adrotate group="5"]Great topic! I agree that the various facets of R/G’s character are most intriguing. So here’s my two cents (and worth just about that!)………
You may be over-thinking the Rumpel/Belle breakup, so to speak. Think about any time you have been in love, or thought you were in love, or wanted somebody to be in love with you. The prospect is kind of terrifying in one way, because to love somebody is to make yourself vulnerable. Often the more bad experiences you have, the less willing you are to take that risk again. We know that Rumpel’s wife left him because he was deemed a coward (although running away from ogres just sounds like good sense to me…..but that’s for another thread). We know he lost his son, somehow, presumably as a result of becoming the dark one, or in any case, something that Rumpel himself did.
We also know that Rumpel is pretty much a total social outcast, feared and hated by society, and approached only when they want something from him. Cinderella makes a comment about previous efforts to imprison him, making it sound like there has been an ongoing effort to lock him up or strip him of his power. One thing I heard, and I will put a spoiler tag on it because it was other than canon —- I think this was tweeted by the writer of “Skin Deep” with regard to Rumpel’s history: Hundreds of years have passed from the time Rumpel became the dark one to the time he meets Belle. The ogre war they refer to is not the same war that Bae was being recruited for. So Rumpel has had a long time to be alone and get a little emotionally warped.
Soooooo….. Rumpel is clearly perpexed by Belle’s treatment of him, that she treats him like a person and not a monster, so he lets his guard down around her. He lets her go, telling her that he fully expects she will never come back, but as we see, secretly hoping she will come back to him. So his heart is pretty much laid wide open when she kisses him, and he kisses her back. So then what does she say? “I love you”? “You are my soulmate”? “Carry me to your chamber and….” well you get the idea. No. She says, “It’s working.” 😯 Seriously? It’s working? No wonder Rumpel assumed (correctly) that she had an agenda. That she kissed him not because she cared about him or was attracted to him or wanted to be close to him. But that she was trying to accomplish something.
Then when Belle mentions “she,” Rumpel’s thought immediately goes to the Queen, with whom he is evidently feuding. (Lots more to learn about that relationship!) That he assumes Belle’s motives are somehow to hurt him I think is a result of his history, of never really having been loved.
Okay, that was longer than I intended it. More to say about his post-banishment regrets, but I’ll come back to that later. One last thought on his bad reaction is that we can never forget the Dark Curse itself. Belle says that “evil has taken root in him,” and we see the change in Rumpel even immediately after he is cursed. I see it a little like the One Ring. No matter how you intend to use the power, it will consume you and corrupt you.
Respectfully disagree, hjbau. I think the character of Rumplestiltskin is supposed to be over the top. The wild gestures, the cackling, the shrill voice all fits with the makeup so I’m guessing that is what the creators wanted. I can see where somebody might find it cartoony, but it works for me!!
You mean when he said nothing would change between them? I assumed he meant that he was the one with the power and she was the one asking for favors. Basically letting her know that her little scheme only works as long as he lets it work. He wouldn’t want to go all the way back to Enchanted world because he was a prisoner.
Hjbau, I don’t necessarily disagree that Rumpel didn’t want to say his name (he certainly hesitated — although maybe that was just to force her to ask three times. Again. It sure why he would want that)….but I’m trying to think why he would want to keep pretending he didn’t know what was going on. What changes now that Regina has confirmed that he knows? Another question to ponder is, has Gold known all along about the curse and his true identity? Or did Emma’s appearance trigger his memory? After all Graham started to remember.
It did seem a little weird, considering he had just blatantly used the power of “please” to command her to sit. But I think these deals can be interpreted hyper-technically, and it is always possible Regina could have dropped it on the floor and then handed him the pieces — a risk Gold wasn’t willing to take.
I also think it suited his agenda to get things out in the open with Regina. Things are clearly starting to happen so he may figure that the time for shadow boxing with Regina is over and it is time to take the war to the next level. I could be wrong but what I DON’T buy is that he just forgot, or was too overwrought with emotion to wield his power.
