S04.E13: Darkness On The Edge Of Town

[MostlyC]

Following Gold's banishment, Storybook residents try to resume their normal lives.

[InsertWordHere]

I love evil mastermind Rumple so much. 

[Worsel]

I love evil mastermind Rumple so much. 

Yes, me too.  I enjoyed the brief moment of doubt and despair when he thought they weren't going to let him in.

[Bluerang1]

Favorite parts:
The drive through
Maeficent and Ursula rolling their eyes after Cruella talked to the bugs
Twitter making me know that that was Chernabog

 

Surprised that the author =/= the Sorcerer but it makes sense. I guess the Sorcerer is sort of like a cheat code for the author.

 

I wonder what Snow and CHarming did to the Queens of Darkness.

[Lieutenant]

Excellent twist with Rumple being the "professor" on the outside.  Don't know why I didn't see it coming, but I was more than pleasantly surprised.  Good setup episode overall.  Snow was pretty scary there at the end.  Their secret past has me intrigued.  I just hope to God it's not a horrible retcon.  Emma supporting Killian and giving him validation was sweet.  And the Hook/Bell duo is a good one.

[Rhetorica]

Gawd, these women are awful! They are not glamorous villains. Whoever did their hair, makeup, and wardrobe did them no favors. They just look sloppy. I'm tired of Regina's and Belle's angst. And now Emma's evil... That may be fun! 

I miss Galavant...

[Gold]

Yes! I love mastermind Rumple as well. I hope he gets the dagger and kills them all >:) 

[Jul 68]

Why did Disney make them change Mal to the hideous Angelina Jolie version? But then again, I live in Orlando and know full well that what Dizmo wants, Dizmo gets.

[Hook75]

It was mostly boring. Don't like or care for the 3 evils or Regina's happy ending. Are we ever going to get a real romance with Emma & Hook?

[Writing Wrongs]

I loved Cruella and her snark. Gold and Ursula as roommates was funny.

 

Lost shoutout: Mr. Cluck's.

 

So now Storybrooke is a town for villains to come to for happy endings? WTF?

 

And what's with the scroll? They just have to open it for Storybrooke to appear?

Edited March 2, 2015 by Writing Wrongs

[Delphi]

Ugh even when Rumple is doing terrible things I feel bad for him. Unlike Regina ,I want Rumple to b have his happy ending.

[Morrigan2575]

Is Henry the Author?

I love the friendship between Emma/Regina. Evil Mastermind Rumple is great.

[Curio]

On its own, this episode was actually pretty darn good and even made me forget what a clusterchuck the midseason finale was sometimes. But once I remember that this entire half season's goal is to find an elusive author who apparently control's everyone's happy endings and free will, even though there is absolutely no proof or facts to support that theory, it makes me lower my expectations again.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Curio

[Delphi]

I don't like how they are making Mal abd Ursula evil...They weren't suppoSed to be horrible like Regina. It's disappointing

[KingOfHearts]

Okay, I freaking LOVED this episode. I have not been so excited about Once for a very, very long time.

 

Pros:
* The Queens of Darkness. A couple were bland, but they all had certain unique charms to them.

* Team Villain in the Land Without Magic. We need a TV show just of that.

* Mr. Clucks! I laughed out loud. Great Lost reference.

* Chernabog. So creative to include another Fantasia character.

* Strange revelations. So the Author and the Sorcerer are probably different people? Emma has the greatest potential for darkness? Snow and Charming have some deep dark secret? Cruella has a bad past? I'm genuinely intrigued.

* Regina was tolerable. Besides the whole root beer scene, I liked the fact we didn't focus on how upset she was. I also appreciated that she didn't just insult Emma the whole time.

* Opening montage! It had a very S1 feel to it.

* Snow is teaching again. Woohoo!

* The Hook and Belle scene. So perfect. Now THAT was great character writing.

* Ursula's apartment. The design was funny, as was the scene.

* Cruella's car. Now that's some fancy hardware.

* Cruella was just spectacular. She's by far my favorite Queen.

* Ingrid's scroll. Yay for continuity!

* The shadiness of Snow and Charming. Yes I know, it's this show, but it was acted well and I need to know what they did.

* Mastermind Rumple giving Belle the spell.

* Love how Rumple's attitude completely changed when he crossed the townline. Even threw away his cane.
* This episode was pretty hilarious. I laughed several times.

 

Cons:
* The heroes were dumb as usual for letting the Queens of Darkness in by a phone call.

* The Chernabog in town was sort of... cliche and overdone on this show.

 

I really am excited about this arc. So much intrigue. It was a very fun 42 minutes.

Edited March 2, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[OnceUponAJen]

I enjoyed the episode. I want to know more about Emma's dark heart potential. I'm sure it has to do with Snow and Charming's secret dealings with the two QoD. Wow, Snow reminded me of Regina at the end...threatening to rip hearts and all.

I loved seeing Rumple bumming off Ursula for food and a place to stay. Making Ramen in his bathrobe...heheh. How wonderfully mundane of him for a change.

Edited March 2, 2015 by OnceUponAJen

[Worsel]

So I wonder where the Sorcerer's Apprentice is - all we saw from the hat were the fairies and Chernabog.  

[YaddaYadda]

So whatever went down between Snowing and the evil trio better be good.  I mean it really better be good if Snow is so worried about it coming out that she is threatening to tear someone's heart out and David is as worried about it as she is.

 

Rumple in the Land without Magic making ramen noodles was all kinds of inspired, I have to say and that includes the Drive Thru.  

 

Everything else...I guess the second half is really going to be focused on this "friendship" between Emma and Regina which makes me very meh about the whole thing.  Thank God they cut the whining about Robin to a minimum though.  

 

I'm looking forward to Maleficent.  She doesn't look like she's going to pull any punches.

[mtlchick]

Rumple is still a BOSS.  He talks too much to get to the point, but he struts Main Street as he owns the place...and sort of owns everyone.  

[Worsel]

Well, Gold does own the town so strutting seems appropriate.  And he uses his speech and words to manipulate, so the result is a lot of talking.  But I won't complain about that, I like Robert Carlyle and the more I get to see his wonderful acting the better.

[El Seed]

I missed the first 5-6 minutes because I forgot this show was coming back. Did I miss anything important?

 

Rumpel was reduced to eating instant ramen and sleeping on a friend's couch, so basically in the Land Without Magic he's the average college student. At least he was well-dressed evil mastermind!Rumpel by the end of the episode. Though I'm not in favor of him tossing out his pimp cane. Your boss level goes up to 11 with it, Dark One.

 

Ursula: "Is that why we're here? Because of a girl?" I appreciate characters getting called out like this, so thanks, writers.

 

So Emma is the person with the biggest potential for darkness. Of course she is. Because Regina is made of sweetness and light, sugared gum drops, and kitten stickers. In a vacuum, the idea of Emma going evil could be interesting, but since it's these writers I have no hope for it to be well-written, properly paced, or engaging.

 

Love Cruella's car and I'm looking forward to Maleficent's return. So at least there's that.

[Worsel]

* The Hook and Belle scene. So perfect. Now THAT was great character writing.

 

At the beginning of the scene I wasn't sure I liked it, Belle looked and acted too cheerful for someone who lost their true love.  But, the end of the scene redeemed it, when Belle was on the verge of tears.

[YaddaYadda]

Cruella and Ursula (and probably Maleficent) haven't learned anything at all from allying themselves with Rumple the first time.  He could care less about anyone's happy ending.  They're once again going to do his dirty work for him and he will walk away giggling maniacally.  They're such idiots.

 

Rumple's death should come by the hand of these women.  Regina, Cruella, Maleficent, Ursula, we can add Emma on the list since his ass clearly knew that Chernabog was going to go after Emma.

[Writing Wrongs]

I think Ursula's CGI tentacles look bad.

[KingOfHearts]

I liked how the show actually said Regina was worse than the Evil Trio. Like, she was that bad. There wasn't a whole lot of whitewashing in this episode.

[AmeliaBedelia]

I'm glad the show is back, but I definitely wasn't wowed. There is not one single scene that I would want to watch again.

 

Way too much focus on the three villains right away. I wanted to get caught up on the happenings in the town, and what I got was a two minute long montage. Josh Dallas didn't even show up until the ep was almost over. I am glad that Snow is teaching again and that Regina is the mayor.

 

Out of the evil trio, I did like Cruella the best. She has a presence and snark that I think could be fun.

 

I hate Emma in scenes with Regina. Emma comes across as pathetic and I will never buy a friendship between them ever.

 

I do think a friendship between Hook and Belle could work which is odd because Belle has always been wallpaper to me. I like that Hook potentially has someone to talk to about his problems since Emma's time appears to be occupied with Author nonsense.

 

The use of the scroll was so plot pointy. And, why didn't Regina take it back once the two had crossed the town line.

 

I liked Snow's threat at the end. More of bandit Snow please. Mary Margaret needs to take a hike.

 

[SzmuttyPratfall]

So, I think I can buy Emma having the greatest capability for Darkness. Everyone else has had dark moments and gone down the dark path at least a little, cept Emma. Maybe she has most potential and everyone is fulfilled??? Stretching??? Ok.

 

Maybe its because she is the Savior and has the most potential for power, and thus has the greatest potential for destruction if she ever turns evil??? Maybe.

 

It'll all be resolved and she won't have a body count. We can count on that.

 

This episode was pretty strong though. The highlights were the villains just hanging out and bantering. I hope the events of this half season have some sort of consequences or, anything really.

[Worsel]

Josh Dallas didn't even show up until the ep was almost over. 

 

 

He was probably busy riding the green pickle...

[StaceyNotStacie]

I'm so happy the show is back.  I've never seen the Little Mermaid or 101 Dalmations, so I really don't have any past opinions of Ursulla or Cruella.  However, I watched Maleficent last weekend, so Angelina Jolie's version of Maleficent is fresh in my mind.  OUaT's version of Malefient seemed a bit weak compared to the movie version (maybe it was the tone of the actress's voice) and I really don't remember her from her original appearance on the show, so I'm hoping that my opinion will change after an episode or two.

 

The ending with Snow/Charming and Cruella has peaked my interest. I really hope they reveal the back story soon instead of dragging it out until one of the last episodes of the season.

[ABitOFluff]

I liked how the show actually said Regina was worse than the Evil Trio. Like, she was that bad. There wasn't a whole lot of whitewashing in this episode.

There were a few times during the show that I thought that maybe the writers were actually listening to our complaints. There was also a good amount of character development in the first half. Let's hope they keep it up.

[Bluerang1]

I also loved Cruella holding the gun to Rumple

[YaddaYadda]

Can we talk for a second about that Shady fairy?  That woman talks out of both sides of her mouth.  So she knows the Author and the Sorcerer are two separate entities.  Then she is all like well the Author could also be a she and proceeds to jabber on about said Author and how they haven't been seen in a long time.  So, she clearly knows who that person is.  

[Writing Wrongs]

The more they delve into flashbacks, the more retconning they seem to be doing.

[KingOfHearts]

 

Can we talk for a second about that Shady fairy?  That woman talks out of both sides of her mouth.  So she knows the Author and the Sorcerer are two separate entities.  Then she is all like well the Author could also be a she and proceeds to jabber on about said Author and how they haven't been seen in a long time.  So, she clearly knows who that person is.

Clearly she was withholding information. Did you see her eyes? They were going everywhere. Not to mention she was as vague as heck. I'm betting she's the Author, since she seemed to recognize the book. She also seemed to imply that she had met the Author but that he had disappeared.

[Lieutenant]

I also loved Cruella holding the gun to Rumple

This!  And the driving all over the road like a maniac (made me remember that line from 101 Dalmatians, where that old guy gets almost run off the road and yells "Crazy women drivers!" at her) , and the scathing snark.  She's hella entertaining if nothing else!  The only thing that's harder for me to get past is her "toxic" breath (?) that controls animals.  Uhhh, ok.  Ya sure there wasn't any other way she could have that power, other than breathing on things? 

[stealinghome]

I thought this episode was a mixed bag. It wasn't bad for basically a season premiere--and it was significantly better than 4x01, while having the same basic template--but it also illustrated just how badly this show has jumped the shark.

 

-The author plotline still makes no sense. That cannot be said enough. I couldn't get into the episode in part because I was sitting there shrieking the author plotline makes no sense. The book records things that happened. We've seen this illustrated multiple times, most notably at the end of the third season. So why everyone has shut their brain off and is going along with this ridiculous notion that the book is anything other than a chronicle of the choices people make is just baffling. It just makes no sense.

-Since when is Regina mayor? Wasn't it a ~big thing last season that Snow is mayor now? I rolled my eyes at Regina burning Snow's painting. What a petulant toddler. [ETA: And to be clear, it's not that I care that Regina is mayor again per se, but that means Snow's entire subplot in 4A was one huge gigantic waste of time. And then not even to address it on the show? LAZY.]

-All the retconning of the Enchanted Forest past is making me roll my eyes so.damn.hard. As is the idea that Emma now has the ~darkest potential ever. It's just so clearly the writers a) being totally out of ideas and b) so far up Regina's butt they can't see the sun anymore.

-And the big problem since the show started the split-season scheduling, which is that the regulars have become guest stars in their own show while the villains take over.

 

There were things I liked about the episode, don't get me wrong. Rumpel is at his best when he's being a Plotting Magnificent Bastard (and a total boss), Regina was mostly tolerable and self-aware, I did enjoy the glorious bitchy snark between Ursula/Cruella/Maleficent (seriously, they're all great, Cruella especially is KILLING it), and for once the show did change up characters it tends to pair off, which resulted in a nice little scene between Belle and Hook. Oh, and in a vacuum, the idea of shady!Snow making a reappearance is good, Goodwin made her seem legit crazy/like a murderer at the end. But overall the premise of this half-season is so stupid, and such a giant retcon, that it's really hard to get excited.

 

Also, where was Charming for the first like 35 minutes of the episode? Was Josh Dallas deathly ill during filming or something? And why didn't they toss in even just a line about David being home with Snowflake to explain the absence?

 

* Team Villain in the Land Without Magic. We need a TV show just of that.

For real. They got the villains to Storybrooke WAY too fast. This show always shies away from the huge and oh so obvious humor potential of these characters in the real world, it baffles me!

Edited March 2, 2015 by stealinghome

[Curio]

Can we talk for a second about that Shady fairy?  That woman talks out of both sides of her mouth.  So she knows the Author and the Sorcerer are two separate entities.  Then she is all like well the Author could also be a she and proceeds to jabber on about said Author and how they haven't been seen in a long time.  So, she clearly knows who that person is.  

 

Yeah, too bad she'll conveniently disappear for the rest of the season.

 

Okay, so this is nit-picky, but I sometimes take issue with the way certain scenes are blocked and filmed on this show. First off, why have Rumple walking in the middle of the street if he wants to keep a low profile? Yes, it looks epic and ties into the visual of a villain walking down main street in a classic western, but it just doesn't make logical sense. (I know, TW;TS.) And then there's the scene with Hook lurking in the back hallway while Emma is using the bathroom. When Emma comes out, the camera was already focused on Hook's face, leaving the element of surprise out of it. And then we weren't given any clue as to why he was just standing there until the very end of the scene where you can see he was looking at the jukebox. Why not have Emma come out, show only her looking surprised, and then pan to Hook brooding over the jukebox? (I know, extremely nit-picky.)

Edited March 2, 2015 by Curio

[YaddaYadda]

And why didn't they toss in even just a line about David being home with Snowflake to explain the absence?

 

Cuz he wasn't.  Granny was the one with Do Over.

[stealinghome]

Cuz he wasn't.  Granny was the one with Do Over.

Seemed to me like Granny handed Snowflake over to Charming at some point, though, because the impression I got later was that David had been home watching Snowflake while everything went down on Main Street.

 

Which is kind of beside the point, because my complaint was really that it's bad writing to have one of your leads off-screen for 35 minutes and not even throw in a token line to explain the absence.

Edited March 2, 2015 by stealinghome

[Dani-Ellie]

I kinda feel like I'm the only one who's seeing "greatest potential for darkness" as them saying that Emma has the potential to go dark, not that it's a given. But really, Emma's magic is born of the strongest magic in all the realms. What villain worth his or her salt wouldn't try to corrupt that, especially now that she's using it with a degree of confidence? If you can't beat her, try to get her to join you, and all that. So yeah, they're going to try to get her to join the dark side. There's no guarantee they're going to succeed.

 

I don't know, maybe I'm just being naive, but I'm willing to see where this goes before I judge it.

 

I need more of Ursula, Cruella, and Rumpelstiltskin's New York City adventures. That was hilarious! And yes, more Cruella, please.

 

And more of Killian and Emma being cute little cutie patooties in love. They're the cutest things this side of the Mississippi.

[Jul 68]

Cuz he wasn't. Granny was the one with Do Over.

Because it's not as if she has anything better to, like run her diner (where does she get her food from?)

[Actionmage]

I hope it comes out that The Author is being misnamed and is actually The Historian. The blank books are for all the history to come for the people of Storybrooke.

 

Of course Rumple was the professor. He is a Super-Villain and they always have just the thing to give them a pinky toe's grip for getting what they want. Of course Belle didn't vet that this person on-line was actually an Oxford professor, much less the person they claimed to be. *sigh*

 

I did like his reaction to the drive-through, " I want to survive to get my Happy Ending ."    Too bad it wasn't a FauxDonald's, where he could've ordered a fish meal!

 

Not cool about burning Snow's picture, Regina! If she'd destroyed anything of yours for the two whole days she was mayor, you'd go after her like she shaved you bald. Also, when did you decide that you wanted to be mayor again? Was there an election this time? 

 

Speaking of, why is Snow back to teaching? It was the curse that had her teaching 10 year olds.  Not that teaching is ick, but Snow-as-Snow never seemed interested in teaching. Not that she couldn't be thrilled to be teaching and aware this time, but I shake my head over hearing about why things are the way they are now. Like, is Granny granny-ing Little Neal? Full-time or are we supposed to think that Red is stepping up and taking over at the diner? ( Which would have fed back into some Season 1 stuff between the two.)

 

I like all the Queens' actresses. I think Marrin is doing the best with the little that's given to her. She was said to be a goddess, but she's teaming up and hanging out with The Dark One?  ::shakes head:: Cruella should have her half-mile cigarette holder, there's your "smoking's bad news kids, m'kay?" PSA! I also thought it was appropriate for her to pull the gun. It was a cool moment- a villain who's been burned by Rumple and has a teensy bit of back-up.  Because Rumple.

 

There was the aforementioned good scenes with Hook and Belle, as well as some Captain Swan.

 

I am curious as to the secret, but could Snow and David be any more " nowearen'tlyingaboutanything! They'rehorriblepeople;leavethemout."

 

Snow was totally this:

http://giphy.com/gifs/thats-so-raven-old-disney-the-awkward-moment-KQS3zjDesBGpO

 

I just hope the Deep Dark Secret lives up to the hype.

[scarynikki12]

I thought Rumpel created the Dark Curse?  Now we're told that someone else created it and he just acquired it?  It was one thing to learn that Rumpel, not Regina, was the creator, as the cost made that make sense, but it's just bad once we throw in the show's insistence (via Rumpel) that the Author is the one making all the decisions.  Is NO ONE responsible for their own actions anymore?  And by no one, I mean the villains, as Snow, Eva and Emma have been presented as being responsible for the actions of others. 

[Chaos Theory]

Hey it looks like the Charmings might just be interesting again. I do actually enjoy Snow White when she gets a little dark and it looks like the season is heading that way...so aces!

I am loving all the scenes with Regina and Emma. I don't actually ship them but I do enjoy their scenes together. Honestly though they have more chemistry together then they have with any of their male love interests. (Although I don't hate Emma with Hook)

The fairies are back! Hi fairies!

Wow school. We haven't seen school since season 1.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[MaiLuna]

I quite liked it! I think there was a bit too much of screentime for the queens of darkness though. I can't believe they're trusting Rumpel after what he did to them. And Ursula should do more than use her tentacles, that was a bit of a letdown.

 

I love the little montage of everyday life in Storybrooke. I loved CS being adorable. I like Hook and Belle being friends. I love Hook feeling bad about the fairies and Emma reassuring him.

What's with Regina being mayor again? They should at least give that one line to explain. I guess MM didn't like it or wanted more free time, but what happened to Snow fighting for her kingdom? This is technically the same as her kingdom in the Enchanted Forest.

 

I don't really like that Snow&Charming have a super!dark!secret but if it's interesting I'll go for it. I love badass Snow threatening the villains.

 

Emma/Regina didn't bother me as much as I thought. I wish Emma would snark back at Regina a bit more but Regina did have Emma's back when she left the car so there's that. I also liked Regina talking about how bad she is/was and letting other villians get second chances. I'm glad she at least isn't a hypocrite about that.

 

I still continue to have zero interest in the author storyline. It's beyond dumb. Couldn't we have more Cruella or CS scenes instead?

[ParadoxLost]

And then there's the scene with Hook lurking in the back hallway while Emma is using the bathroom. When Emma comes out, the camera was already focused on Hook's face, leaving the element of surprise out of it. And then we weren't given any clue as to why he was just standing there until the very end of the scene where you can see he was looking at the jukebox. Why not have Emma come out, show only her looking surprised, and then pan to Hook brooding over the jukebox? (I know, extremely nit-picky.)

 

This makes me laugh because I once listened to a BSG podcast where they had exactly this conversation about Starbuck and Apollo; but they caught it before it went to air.  There's a name for that editing technique that has something to do with Spielberg but I don't remember what it is.

 

Overall I enjoyed the episode.  The only bad parts was when they took the easy route to advance plot.  I wish they would get a little more clever with the story to avoid characters appearing stupid.  Rumpel walking down Mainstreet.  Emma and Regina letting Cruella and Ursala into town.  Are you telling me that only Regina and the 'heroes' got sucked back to Storybrooke.  Why couldn't they come up with another way to have them cross into town and have Ursala and Cruella pretend they'd been there all along?

[KingOfHearts]

How did Cruella get away with "Cruella Fineberg" in the Land Without Magic? Did they not see the hair, the clothes, and the car? I wonder if they just thought she was a crazy woman who thought she was Cruella DeVil.

[ABitOFluff]

I kinda feel like I'm the only one who's seeing "greatest potential for darkness" as them saying that Emma has the potential to go dark, not that it's a given. But really, Emma's magic is born of the strongest magic in all the realms. What villain worth his or her salt wouldn't try to corrupt that, especially now that she's using it with a degree of confidence? If you can't beat her, try to get her to join you, and all that. So yeah, they're going to try to get her to join the dark side. There's no guarantee they're going to succeed.

 

I don't know, maybe I'm just being naive, but I'm willing to see where this goes before I judge it.

No, I'm with you. I mean it's a trope that goes back to the New Testament. I'm looking forward to Emma grappling with her inner darkness, but I can't see her doing something outright evil.

[irisheyes]

"We better go find out what's killing property values this time." ~ I love some snarky Regina!

[snarkastic]

Yooooooo. I didn't even notice Belle and Hook's board in the library mentioned 'YEN SID'.