Belle: She loves books

[Rumsy4]

This is what disappoints me most about Belle's arc this season. The show is punishing her for trying to break from an abusive relationship. Rumple has imprisoned her, manipulated her, threatened her, controlled her against her will, and lied to her over and over again. But just becasue he stopped short of actually speeding up her pregnancy and taking her baby, Belle is being painted as the crazy hysterical woman who sent away her child to danger instead of trusting the man who loved her. So this is the lesson gals--never try to leave your insane husband. If you do, you'll deserve every bad thing that happens to you, and be blamed for every bad thing that happens to your child.

Edited December 11, 2016 by Rumsy4

[Camera One]

I agree.  While I'm glad that Belle is standing up to Rumple more, I haven't been able to cheer her on because I don't think that is truly what the Writers are showing.  That ridiculous line "What have WE done to each other" clearly indicated that it's still the same old tale.  Rumple is no more trustworthy or willing to change now than before the baby was kidnapped.  Yet the Writers are making it seem like a breakthrough.  For this reason, I have not enjoyed this arc at all in 6A... in my books, it's a waste of time because it won't stick.

Edited December 11, 2016 by Camera One

[Camera One]

EW Video: Emma Watson Responds To Claims That Belle Has Stockholm Syndrome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51NxeWInaxI

She says that Belle can't have Stockholm Syndrome since she argues back.  

She also said Belle first becomes friends with the Beast.  That made me think about Rumbelle on "Once".  I don't think there was a true "friend" stage.  She saw Rumple's vulnerabilities and got him to open up a little, but I cannot say that they were ever "friends".  Not with the disturbing stuff that would happen once in a while like the flaying of Robin Hood, or the stealing of babies, or whatnot.

[Camera One]

Watching the trailers of "Beauty and the Beast" reminded me how much the show ruined the character of Belle.  Her relationship with her father was so great and it's clearly something A&E have zero interest in.  It doesn't help that Maurice is a total jerk on this show, yet Belle was certain in 5B that her father would TLK her?  We have seen nothing of their relationship.   Maurice has had more scenes with Rumple and The Cane than with Belle in Storybrooke.  Yet Maurice walked her down the aisle at the end of 3B.  This parent-child relationship is not interesting, yet we need to devote multiple episodes on Psycho Cora and her daughters?  

Killing Gaston should still be weighing on Belle's mind, but she didn't mention it once in 6A, did she?  I wonder how they will portray her in 6B now that she and Rumple are once again on the same "side".  

[Spartan Girl]

Take it from someone that read the Beauty and the Beast novelization: Emma Watson's Belle is a badass -- maybe even more so than the cartoon one. But like the cartoon, that relationship is not the twisted toxic Stockholm Syndrome we've been suffering with Rumbelle.

So anyone that's sick of Belle on OUAT, I think Disney gave us a gift.

[Mathius]

On 2/18/2017 at 2:14 AM, Camera One said:

She says that Belle can't have Stockholm Syndrome since she argues back.  

She also said Belle first becomes friends with the Beast.

Indeed.  Belle is allowed free range in the castle except for the West Wing and isn't forced to be a maidservant or anything, and when the Beast is being mean and abusive, she argues back and doesn't show the remotest signs of liking him or giving him any leeway based on what he theoretically could be, since what he is being right now is not at all likable.  It's when the Beast makes his own choice to shape up and be good that she befriends him in turn, and falls in love with him based around him actually making the effort to be lovable.  Now, Disney themselves wrecked that in those crappy DTV in between-quels, but they can be disregarded as non-canon, and even they didn't reach the disturbing levels of S5/S6's Rumple/Belle.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Mathius

[tennisgurl]

Also, unlike Rumple who constantly flips back and fourth between good and evil for no reason and frequently lying and manipulating Belle, even after their marriage, The Beast in the Disney movie went from jerk to good person in that order, without flip flopping around back and fourth. By the time Belle gave him the time of day, he was already showing his more decent side. And even after that, she doesn't become some weak enabler. She still calls him on his bullshit and argues with him when they disagree or he acts like a jerk again, even when they're getting along better. She doesn't love him until he's truly become a better person, and he stays a better person. I'm super excited for a REAL Beauty and the Beast story with Emma Watson.

You know, at least Once Belle is an actual character in the show who has the occasional bout of agency. In the Wishverse, her story ends starving to death and being reduced to a bag of bones that Rumple keeps around like a crazy person, which no other contribution to the story. So, I guess it could have been worse.

[Amerilla]

Comparing OUAT Belle with Movie Belle (or even Cartoon Movie Belle) is a zero-sum game. 

Movie Belle and the Beast have equal weight in the narrative. The story is as much (or more) about her as it is about the Beast. OUAT Belle is a supporting character, while Rumpel is clearly the main character. She exists only to push his narrative along. Since he can't make that dynamic shift to worthiness without upsetting the dynamic of the main story, both characters are locked in an endless cycle. They can't grow, the can't change, they can't break up. Without something to aspire to, Rumpel has no goal within the story. Without being something aspirational for him, she has no point in the story. Over the years, it's become a negative feedback loop that's not enjoyable for anyone.

Years. That's the other main issue. Moving two characters along an orderly arc over the period of two hours is one thing...trying to sustain it for 22 episodes a year for five years running is quite another. 

Now, that said: we all know OUAT has incredibly crappy and unimaginative writers who have gotten even crappier and more unimaginative as the years have drifted by. Opportunities to make Belle and Rumpel more complex and interesting characters have been squandered. Miserable and unhappy characters are not fun to watch - even less so when you know the emotional payoff will never happen. 

As a Rumbelle fan from way back, it's been sad to see RC and EdR try to choke down the thin gruel they're given and try to imbue it with some sort of life.  (Sad to see in clips, I mean, since I haven't been able to choke down a whole episode since late S3.)  In my version of the Wish Realm, they both get much better projects when Belle and Rumpel are put out of their (and our) misery.

[KingOfHearts]

Making Gaston a straight-up bad guy was a total mistake. Effectively the show was saying that he was worse than Rumple, since Belle had more compassion for her beast than him. It wasn't even really about defending her son's father from him, either. When she found out that Rumple killed him, she basically just rolled her eyes and went forward. The flashbacks just made Gaston look bad for being judgemental, with the ogre representing the beast. If that wasn't obvious enough, we had the mirror that "confirmed" Gaston was just puuuure evil. Instead, they should have made him a "nice guy" type who really did care for Belle to emphasize that she was more attracted to bad boys and would ultimately choose one over him in a life or death situation. Killing Gaston would have been more of a testament to her development. However, it got glossed over, because Gaston and Rumple were put in the same negative light. 

Edited March 8, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

3 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

If that wasn't obvious enough, we had the mirror that "confirmed" Gaston was just puuuure evil.

That almost made me want to laugh.  They even gave him demon eyes, for goodness sakes!  Considering all the things Rumple had done, the mirror probably would have shattered into a million pieces with just one glance.  Yet Gaston is the irredeemable bad guy while Rumple "almost went to the line" but pulled back and now he and Belle can have true heart-to-hearts over their wayward son...

Edited March 9, 2017 by Camera One

[Mathius]

5 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

Instead, they should have made him a "nice guy" type who really did care for Belle to emphasize that she was more attracted to bad boys and would ultimately choose one over him in a life or death situation.

Um, you mean a normal nice guy, right?  The parenthesis makes it sound like you're referring to a Nice Guy(TM) type, which is more along the lines of what Rumple is (or, even more blatantly, Dr. Jekyll).  But I agree, making Gaston a villain was lame, even if they did make some attempt at nuance.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Mathius

[KingOfHearts]

2 hours ago, Mathius said:

Um, you mean a normal nice guy, right?  The parenthesis makes it sound like you're referring to a Nice Guy(TM) type, which is more along the lines of what Rumple is (or, even more blatantly, Dr. Jekyll).  But I agree, making Gaston a villain was lame, even if they did make some attempt at nuance.

Yes, I mean a normal nice guy. Rumple's antithesis. Even though it was an arranged marriage type of thing, Gaston would be the noble hero type that Belle claims she wants Rumple to be. But, in actuality, that's an ideal meant to assuage her conscience. 

Edited March 9, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

Would Belle have been happy settling down with Gaston if he hadn't pulled the Ogre torture incident?  She was truly horrified by that, but Rumple flayed a man and kidnapped a baby, which were arguably just as bad (had she witnessed any of his other crimes?  I would say the murder of the mute girl was worse than torturing the ogre, but she wouldn't have known that).   At least Gaston did what he did to protect everyone in the kingdom, but Rumple hurt people to benefit only himself.  Could Belle have fallen for someone like David, or would he be too boring for her?  I guess Hook could have met her thirst for adventure.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Camera One

[Shanna Marie]

21 hours ago, Camera One said:

Would Belle have been happy settling down with Gaston if he hadn't pulled the Ogre torture incident?

You'd think that would have been like catnip to her, given what she's watched Rumple do that she's totally okay with.

Part of the problem with Belle on this show is that they tried to keep the characteristics of Disney Belle while Rumple is nothing like the Disney Beast. So they have a Belle who wants adventure in the great wide somewhere, paired up with a coward who'd really rather not go anywhere. The Beast was only stuck in his castle because of the curse and the fact that all the villagers nearby would have killed him if they'd seen him (since he didn't have any kind of magical powers of self defense, only strength proportionate to his size). You could imagine that once the curse was lifted, he'd have been okay exploring a bit with Belle. On the show, you have to wonder how happy Belle would ever have been able to be with Rumple if they'd ever had the opportunity to just settle down and have an ordinary married life for more than two weeks at a stretch. She's a terrible fit for Rumple, aside from her ability to look past and excuse all his evil.

But then they messed up further when they came up with all that Her Handsome Hero garbage, which makes her look even more ridiculous. Movie Belle may have apparently enjoyed romantic adventure novels, but she didn't idolize any kind of idealized hero from them. What she was looking for in a relationship was someone who might understand her -- someone who could understand that she had so much more than the local villagers had planned for their own lives. But with show Belle, she has this weird thing of wanting that ideal hero, but falling in love with the complete opposite because she has these vague hopes that he can be that hero, in spite of proving over and over and over again that he has zero interest in that. Basically, she married a person who is the exact opposite of what she wants in a man.

I would say that if you removed the Rumple factor that's at the core of all the problematic stuff in their relationship (her victim blaming, him shooting her), Hook probably comes closest to what it looks like Belle wants in a man. He's got the shared interest in research, he loves adventure and has a ship, he's capable of being a great hero, but he's got a streak of darkness and just enough pain and badness to give her something to help heal. Basically, whenever she's described what she wants in a man, she's described Hook, not Rumple. It would have been really interesting, given Hook's history with Rumple's wives, to have played with this concept, but the show never goes deeper than skimming the surface. They can repeat the same lines over and over again without ever really looking at what these people are saying.

[Curio]

The show keeps saying Belle loves adventure, but the way Emilie portrays her in Storybrooke, I don't see it. I guess she kind of goes on adventures in the Enchanted Forest flashbacks occasionally, but every character on the show does that. In Storybrooke, I always get the vibe that Belle is content working at the library and staying put with Rumple forever. If she really had an adventurous itch, we'd have an episode where Belle gets to be the one to travel outside of Storybrooke with Emma for once. (Belle/Emma teaming up actually would have been a really interesting character combination in the Season 5 NYC finale instead of the repetitive Regina/Emma road trip.) Or we'd have an episode where Belle learns how to sail with Killian and they go explore a Storybrooke island nearby. But the Belle they show right now seems like the housewife who always complains about wanting to go on vacation but never does any planning for it. She waits for adventure to fall into her lap most of the time.

[Camera One]

Yeah, I was just thinking that.  A key example of how she came back in "Swan Song".  After Henry calls her.  As if.  These Writers clearly spent zero seconds thinking about what these characters would actually do.

Belle: You know, I don't need to see the world to know what I want anymore.  What I want is to be with you.

Uh, seriously?  

[Rumsy4]

42 minutes ago, CCTC said:

The Belle-Gold dynamic might be one of the more disturbing relationships, esp. if they end up reconciling again.  The one time I found them interesting the last few seasons was this fall when they were acting as a divorced couple and Belle seemed to have awoken up to how Rumple really is not a good person.   If they undo that before the end of the season and Belle is starry eyed again, it will leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Yeah. I finally thought Belle was interesting at the beginning of the season. By mid-season, we have Belle claiming she is as culpable as Rumple for Gideon's kidnapping, and bleating to other people that both her husband and son have good heeeaaarts. Belle is a poster-child for victims of domestic abuse and how hard it can be to escape the cycle. 

Edited March 12, 2017 by Rumsy4

[Camera One]

They took what was the problem and COMPOUNDED it.  Now there are two people she insists have good hearts even though they want to kill others for their own benefit.  Good job, Writers.  

Edited March 12, 2017 by Camera One

[andromeda331]

43 minutes ago, Camera One said:

They took what was the problem and COMPOUNDED it.  Now there are two people she insists have good hearts even though they want to kill others for their own benefit.  Good job, Writers.  

They are really good at doing that. Are they unable to understand their audience and reaction to things? Or are they trying to keep pushing that what they wrote was right? Because they do keep compounding the problem. One of the main problems with Rumpbelle has been Belle constantly claiming and believing there's good in Rumple and he wants to change. But that's not what we see at all. Rumple does a lot of bad things, and betrays everyone repeatedly, a lot of it she sees, and he is always lying to her. They give us Belle always leaving and always coming back. They could have Rumple showing regret or fighting between being a "good guy" because loves Belle and being a "bad guy". Have Belle realize he's never going to change and leave and have both characters move on. Have Rumple realize he basically threw away his marriage to Belle. Belle finally leaves Rumple but we get many scenes of Rumple threating in her, ignoring her wishes to be left alone, all leading up to Belle's "what we did to each other" which we all knew was coming. 

Its like with Regina and the massacre villages when people are outrage, pointing out that makes Regina even more evil, what do that do? Show another village she massacre with Percival. They've heard a lot about people not liking what happened to Graham. They don't want to mention it but then have Regina chewing Zelena out for raping Robin only reminding the audience that Regina raped Graham for decades and got away with his murder when he tried to dump her. Regina doesn't come off right, she comes off as hypocrite. Why did they chose to show another rapist, and have her get away with it and get redeem? They could have had Zelena do a million different things to mess with Regina, why chose a topic that so many fans already had an issue with it?

[Camera One]

11 minutes ago, oncebluethrone said:

The only part of the movie they really brought into the show was Belle in that her character in the movie and on the show are pretty much the same.

I find them really different, especially with the most recent retcons.  I'm only speaking for the animated movie, since I still haven't had a chance to go to a movie theater to watch the new one.

By destroying the character of Maurice, we cannot see the show's Belle's love for her family.  She never has a conversation with her father so appears to only care about Rumple.  

The Belle in the movies would never tolerate someone who actively flayed people or killed people, and definitely not over and over again.  Rumple has betrayed Belle for the umpteenth time and she still waxes poetic about how he's not being the man he could be, and declares what have "we" done to each other.  It makes the show's Belle seem like a total doormat or plain delusional.  In the movies, we agree with Belle that the Beast should not be hunted, while on the show, most would agree Rumple deserves to be locked up for eternity.

The Belle in the movies is independent, whereas the Belle on the show seems needy and constantly in need of someone, mainly Rumple, who she chooses over adventure.

Edited April 2, 2017 by Camera One

[oncebluethrone]

2 hours ago, Camera One said:

I find them really different, especially with the most recent retcons.  I'm only speaking for the animated movie, since I still haven't had a chance to go to a movie theater to watch the new one.

By destroying the character of Maurice, we cannot see the show's Belle's love for her family.  She never has a conversation with her father so appears to only care about Rumple.  

The Belle in the movies would never tolerate someone who actively flayed people or killed people, and definitely not over and over again.  Rumple has betrayed Belle for the umpteenth time and she still waxes poetic about how he's not being the man he could be, and declares what have "we" done to each other.  It makes the show's Belle seem like a total doormat or plain delusional.  In the movies, we agree with Belle that the Beast should not be hunted, while on the show, most would agree Rumple deserves to be locked up for eternity.

The Belle in the movies is independent, whereas the Belle on the show seems needy and constantly in need of someone, mainly Rumple, who she chooses over adventure.

I meant in the fact that they both love books and want adventure in the great wide somewhere.

[Amerilla]

Movie vs Show comparisons, like questions, are pointless. These are two very different genres and the stories have very different functions. 

1) Movie-Belle has a simple Point A to Point B plot confined within a standard story structure over the course of two hours. Show-Belle's story has no clear Point B to travel to, no clear overall story structure,  and is being told over the course of six or more years.

2) Movie-Belle is a co-equal protagonist. She has the same or more narrative weight as the Beast. Show-Belle is a supporting character. Her story will always be subsidiary to Rumpel, the same way Hook, Charming and Robin are always subsidiary to Emma, Snow and Regina. 

Then you get into OUAT's unique writing problems. You can't actually categorize her as either independent or dependent. She's just "there" or "not-there."

Like all the characters, Belle is locked in her little story silo. Her character's purpose is to move Rumpel's story hither and thither. She might occasionally get to venture out of that silo in a centric or fairyback, and every once in a while she might interact with another character, but it's unsustainable --  because Rumpel doesn't do much at this point that doesn't originate, in one way or another, with Belle. But because she's a supporting character, she doesn't get to contribute meaningfully to stories even when she's invested. 

This season is a good example: Gideon is her son as much a Rumpel's, saving him from darkness is a meaningful emotional goal that calls back to her experiences with Rumpel, but she's been essentially absent from the story for, what, 3 of the last 5-6 episodes?** So you have a season where their son is the Big Bad, but neither Rumpel nor Belle is consistently in the story; Rumpel because they're probably saving him for big action at the end of the season, Belle because she can't get ahead or supersede Rumpel. 

** Belle has had just under 2 minutes of screen time 6x12 through 6x15. She's had 75 minutes overall since 6x01, but that's lower than any of the regulars other than Zelena. It's also been a relatively low Rumpel season. He's had 115 minutes overall, about the same as David and Snow (108 and 106 respectively).

Edited April 3, 2017 by Amerilla

[KingOfHearts]

Well, Belle has been flanderized into oblivion. Her only purpose in the show is to say, "Rumple/Gideon has good in his heart". All the conflict over her child disappeared in 6B. Now she trusts Rumple unequivocally. You would think that, with this arc's subject matter, she would have more to feel about things. She got the Robin treatment.

Edited May 2, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[superloislane]

Belle has always had the Robin treatment. She's there to make Rumple feel things and that's it. It may have seemed like she had actual thoughts and emotions in the first half but she only had them because the writers wanted to cause Rumple pain but now in the second half he has Gideon and his mom to cause him feelings so Belle now has to shut up and believe in him.

[Camera One]

2 hours ago, Artsda said:

I think the writers refusing to move Belle on from Rumple ruined her. They had opportunities to give her her own plots, put her with Gaston or the guy from the Wonderland spin-off. Instead they just keep having her run back to Rumple over and over no matter what he did to her or others. Made her just a waste.

If they knew they were going to write Belle out, why did they have Rumple and Belle reconcile yet again in Season 6?  They could have finally made her an independent character, away from that toxic relationship.  They could have had her take a stand against Rumple, to try to save Gideon without his selfish techniques.  What a waste of her final year on the show (though that could also be said of every other character who's leaving - and staying).

Edited May 14, 2017 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

I wouldn't have minded if Belle had broken up with Rumple and just faded into Offscreenville. Her character was never meant to expand beyond being a love interest for a main character. Even in her centrics away from him, she was merely supporting a guest character and it would always loop back to him somehow. She met with Anna so she could get information on her mother, but at the end of the flashback she got the idea to summon him. When she went out Yuoguai hunting with Mulan, she decided to go back to her abusive boyfriend. She has always revolved around Rumple.

[Camera One]

She's an important enough character I think to have warranted a strong farewell episode, as she stepped out of Storybrooke to explore the world, shaking off all feelings she had towards that psycho ex of hers.

[Rumsy4]

Next to Emma and CS, I am most disappointed in Belle's storyline for Season 6. That's because the earlier episodes of the season made me think that Belle was finally coming into her own as a character. But I was fooled by the false "hope" peddled by this Show yet again, and now I like her even less than I used to. At least before, I saw her as a foolish and naive young girl with a hero complex. Now, I think she's a narcissistic enabler, whose ego thrives on playing the hero and redeeming bad boys. If she had taken an active role in saving Gideon, it would be one thing. Instead, she stood by supporting Gold's shady decisions to "save" Gideon. Really disappointed that the writers relegated her to the subservient wife and second fiddle to Rumple in her final season.

[KingOfHearts]

Why couldn't we get more Mirror!Belle? She was such a badass. She had more personality than Belle ever had, and she was just a flat pane of glass.

Just did a rewatch of 4x06, "Family Business". Funny how Belle pretty much left Anna to die. There was no feasible way Anna could have survived that fall. (She did, but maybe Ingrid saved her with her magic?) Then Belle lied to save her own skin, and went to look for Anna because "heroes always help strangers". She's kind of a selfish pharisee.

Edited August 2, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[KingOfHearts]

(Kind of funny the last post in this thread was from 1.5 years ago about Family Business.)

One thing that kind of bugs me about Belle is that she supposedly wants to see the world, but she never actually does anything to work toward that goal. She mentions it off-handedly, but her actions don't really line up with that motivation. She stays in Rumple's castle even when it has nothing to do with keeping her family safe, she stays in Storybrooke, and then she ended up living in isolation with Rumple at the Edge of Realms. Sure, she visits Ancient Chinatown and Arendelle, but she doesn't really explore either. She only goes there to complete some quest and then she's gone. It doesn't seem like she cares about other destinations all that much, even though "seeing the world" is meant to be one of her character goals. I don't get why that's even a thing other than the writers wanted her to line up with Disney!Belle.

Outside of Rumple, Belle's only defining characteristic is this thread's title - "She loves books".

Edited February 6, 2019 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

2 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

"She loves books".

Even that part is doubtful.  The only book she really loves is that soapy dreck "Her Handsome Hero".

[Shanna Marie]

10 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

One thing that kind of bugs me about Belle is that she supposedly wants to see the world, but she never actually does anything to work toward that goal. She mentions it off-handedly, but her actions don't really line up with that motivation.

I think one of the worst moves the writers made was making Rumple also be the Beast because it makes for so many mutually exclusive things. Maybe if Belle's love had actually changed him fairly early, like in the Beauty and the Beast story, it might have worked, but he can't be the Beast who looks fearsome but who's good inside and also be a scheming villain who always makes the selfish choice. And Belle can't be the bold young woman who longs for adventure and also marry the guy who let his first marriage fall apart because he wouldn't move to another village. Every time Belle had a choice that could have allowed her to have what she said she wanted, she chose the opposite thing -- she came back to Rumple when she was on the verge of leaving town to go exploring, she knew that she'd have to live in Paradise Falls until she died for Rumple to find his ending (or whatever -- I never really understood that whole bit). Combining the roles also meant she was forced to become an apologist for evil. Saying she believes in his good heart in spite of the way he looks and initially acts works when he ends up showing that good heart and then changes fairly quickly. Saying she believes in his good heart as he consistently continues to do evil, betraying her and all her friends, just makes her look like an idiot.

10 hours ago, Camera One said:

10 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

"She loves books".

Even that part is doubtful.  The only book she really loves is that soapy dreck "Her Handsome Hero".

Well, she does love research. How many times did she give some piece of info and then say "I read it in a book" or "I read it in one of my books"? But she doesn't actually act like any book lover I've known (or am). I don't recall seeing her read for fun, only when she's working on a specific bit of research. True, reading isn't exactly something dynamic to show on TV, but as often as she's just in the background, she could have her nose in a book in the background. Belle totally should be a "purse book" kind of person who always carries a book for any spare moment when she could be reading. She should have a book with her when she's sitting alone at the diner. She should be reading when someone comes into the shop, and they have to catch her attention because she's so caught up in her book. She should be like in the movie versions, where she walks around nearly bumping into things because her nose is in a book. When she's babysitting for the Charmings, they should come home to find her sitting by the cradle and reading. They could have really had fun with that with the modern setting. Imagine movie Belle discovering Amazon, or getting a Kindle and realizing she can carry hundreds of books in her pocket. We should have seen that with this Belle. I think we saw Hook reading more than we did Belle, since he was usually reading a book while lurking in the library, waiting to attack Belle or meet up with Cora, in season 2, and we did see him sitting in the diner with a book (doing research, but I think that's still more than we saw of Belle).