Photo Credit: Entertainment Weekly
I have been waiting for this episode of Once Upon A Time since the show appeared at the San Diego Comic Con and it was announced Captain Hook would be a new featured character. I expected him to be a hairier version of Elizabeth Swan's father in Pirates of the Caribbean. But oh no. He looks like this. And right away I know this is going to be a good episode.Recap:
Ring My Belle
Belle creeps out of the bed that her and Rumpel are sharing (aww!) and goes off to find what he's up to. In the basement, she sees that he's back to spinning straw into gold for magic. Our little Belle is pissed, to say the least, that our main man has gone back on his word and is using magic again. When she confronts him about it, he won't let her in and we once again hear another character call him a coward.
Then she leaves and goes to the diner to have like 7 iced teas. She's never had any before. I wonder if they were sweetened?
Belle is kidnapped by a chubby guy in a red hat (sound familiar?) and brought to see..her father! And it's hugs all around. For like two seconds. Upon hearing that his daughter loves the monster of the town, he decides to save her the only way he knows how. More on that later.
Getting Hooked
Back in Fairy Tale Land, Rumpel tries to get his wife back after she decides to leave him and her son (classy) to hang out with a bunch of visiting pirates. He pleads with the captain of the ship, a gorgeous, accented, beautiful man full of spirit and guy liner. Captain Hook. Before the Hook. Hook challenges him to a duel for his woman but Rumpels was still a coward back then so it's no dice.
Further along the time line when Rumpel has become Rumpel and he's got the evil high pitched laughter going on, he comes across the same guy in the same red hat. This would be William Smee. Captain Hook's soon to be BFF. Smee promises Rumpel that he has a magic bean that can send him to any land he wishes. They make a deal and yada yada yada, no one cares because Captain Hook has walked back into the bar.
A now powerful and less cowardly Rumpel challenges him to a duel upon learning that his wife died a long time ago. While he's having his fun with Hook, Mila shows up and tells him that she fell in love with Hook and stayed voluntarily. You can guess he's not thrilled to hear that she chose to leave not only him, who she never loved, but Bae as well, so he rips out her heart. Literally. And leaves her body aboard the ship.
He decides not to take Hook's life (lucky us) but to let him suffer with a broken heart..and minus one hand. And there's the hook.
Still in possession of the magic bean, Hook uses it to take his ship and the crew to Neverland. I got chills.
Tale as Old as Time
Belle's father sends her down to the mines with Smee, who handcuffs her to a cart that propels her towards the town line. The logic here being that she will lose her memory and no longer put herself in danger by being in love with Rumpel.
But he's got magic and saves her just in time. She's grateful, they have a hug, but she's an independent woman now and peaces out. He proves his love yet again for her by giving her the key to the town's library. Awww.
He opens up to her about why he's using magic again. He realizes that magic came with a price and while the first curse was indeed broken, he still can't find his son because he cannot leave the town of Storybrooke. She responds by allowing him to take her to get her first hamburger.
Back in the Fairy Tale Land that was, Cora is happily guarding her sparkly jar of dirt (I've got a jar of dirttttt) and shows it to Hook who is also hanging on the Island of Misfit Toys left behind. They're about to embark on a journey to Storybrooke. I can't wait.
Check out the preview of next week's episode The Doctor here.
