Once Upon a Time Recap: “In the Name of the Brother”

by Tracy Ladd:

Once Upon a Time Recap: “In the Name of the Brother”
Original Air Date (ABC): Sunday January 20, 2012
Season 2 Episode 12

Last week’s episode saw quite a bit of action right at the end when Hook tried to enact his revenge against Mr. Gold.  His plan was to take the thing that Gold loved most, which resulted in Belle taking a bullet, which forced her over the town line effectively erasing her memories as Belle.  The car that came speeding into Storybrooke, hit Hook, then crashed but more important is the fact that an outsider has come to Storybrooke.  What type of ramifications is this going to have?  No one knows yet, but this latest episode focuses on how the locals want to deal with it.

This episode also focuses on Dr. Whale, or as we found out a while back, Dr. Frankenstein.  Dr. Whale is a background character that we really haven’t seen much of this season, but this week he takes center stage as we find out what drives him.

Frankenstein’s Realm

Victor Frankenstein celebrates at home with his brother, Gerhardt and their father.  Gerhardt is the apple of daddy’s eye because he’s a soldier, but Victor, even though he’s the eldest son, is something of a disgrace.  Poppa Frankenstein awards Gerhardt with a watch that was their mother’s (and should have gone to the first-born), and Victor with a commendation that will force him to serve the military and give up on all of his research.  Daddy’s money is what keeps Victor’s research going, and knowing this, Victor gets cut off.  His pleas with his father fall on deaf ears and Victor leaves to pack up his laboratory.  Gerhardt stops Victor before he leaves and tries to comfort his brother and gives him the watch. Victor tells him to keep it and heads back to his laboratory.  From the shadows, Rumpelstiltskin watches.

Back at the lab, Rumpelstiltskin makes his presence known and pours out a pile of gold coins from an itty bitty bag and tells Victor that he wants to know how Victor restores life.  Victor wants to know how that tiny bag held so much, but Igor interrupts them.  Victor tells Igor to bring the equipment back and turns to talk to Rumpelstiltskin, but Rumps has disappeared.

In order to continue the work, Victor needs a body.  So he does what any sane person would….he digs one up.  While at the graveyard, Gerhardt shows up to find out what this madness is all about.  The groundskeeper shows up and starts shooting at the grave-robbers while the brothers flee to the carriage.  In the midst of their getaway, Victor realizes that Gerhardt was shot and has died.  I guess the trip wasn’t a total loss, I mean, he got a body right?

Back at the lab, Victor tries his mojo on his dead brother, but when he tries to reanimate Gerhardt, the process fries the heart.  Daddy walks in looking for his favorite son and sees him on the slab.  He’s mortified at what Victor is doing and disowns him.  Rump shows up again and tells Victor that he’s going to send a man with a hat his way so that Victor can find a heart strong enough to withstand the process.

Victor meets with his father and tells him that he was successful.  He brings Gerhardt back in, but he’s most certainly not the same.  He’s a monster and his father says so.  Dad threatens Victor, but Gerhardt protects him, and ends up killing poor Dad.

Later on, Gerhardt is locked in a cell and Victor goes to visit him.  Gerhardt seems to recognize him, but he’s still a monster.  Victor pulls gun to put Gerhardt out of his misery, and after Gerhardt encourages him to shoot, he puts the gun away and promises to make him whole again.

Storybrooke

Chaos reigns in Storybrooke at the moment as Belle freaks out at what’s happened to her and she doesn’t remember anything.  Gold tries to comfort her and fixes her wound with magic, but that makes her freak out even more.  Emma, David and Mary Margaret show up to find out what happened, followed by an ambulance.  The stranger is unconscious in his car and is hauled away to the hospital.

The gang is at the hospital trying to figure out what to do.  Dr. Whale tells them that the stranger isn’t out of the woods and needs surgery.  Mr. Gold sees Belle, who is asleep and he kisses her.  She wakes up and freaks out again and starts screaming.  Dr. Whale stops Gold and asks him to fix the stranger, but Gold says he doesn’t care what happens to him and leaves.  Emma, Mary Margaret, David, Ruby and Leroy discuss what to do: let the man die, or try to save him.  The decision is to save him, and Dr. Whale goes to prep for surgery.

Gold admires the chipped teacup in his shop when he gets a visit from Cora.  She gives Gold a magical globe that will help him find Bae, but asks that he help her find Regina.  They two call a truce and seal it with a kiss.

Back at the hospital, an orderly comes out looking for Gold.  They page him but Emma finds his pager and medical coat in the trash.  Ruby is given the coat so she can track him and she finds him about to take a jump off the pier.  Her quick reflexes are better though and she saves him.  The two have a heart to heart where Ruby tells him how she ate her boyfriend.  She gets through to him and he goes back to the hospital and performs the surgery.

Emma talks to the stranger and asks what happened.  The man tells her that he was texting and didn’t see Hook in the road.  Once Emma leaves, he calls someone and tells her that she’ll never believe what he saw.

Gold tries to reconnect with Belle once again and brings her the chipped teacup that he enchanted to help bring her memories back.  He tells her to hold it and concentrate.  She tells him to leave, freaks out again and throws the teacup across the room where it hits the wall and shatters.

Cora meanders through Regina’s house and sees pictures of her and Henry.  Next we see Henry running through the cemetery and enter Regina’s family tomb.  He takes the secret entrance and starts calling out for her.  Regina, who’s hiding in some rather swank digs beneath the tomb, opens the door for Henry to enter.  He tells her that he believed her and knows she didn’t hurt Archie.  Henry then turns into Cora.  Cora apologizes for all she’s done to Regina, but Regina isn’t willing to accept it yet.  She tells Cora they are going to town to tell everyone.

Regina drives into town with Cora, where Cora preys on Henry’s divided love for his mothers.  Regina breaks down and hugs her mother and tells Cora that she wants Henry back.

Emma, Mary Margaret and David get home and Henry asks where they’ve been.  I find it a little strange that no one was with Henry all night, but I guess you can do that in small towns.  Anyway, they give him an abridged run down and that Dr. Whale is Dr. Frankenstein.  Henry points out that Dr. Frankenstein isn’t part of the book and questions just how many people from other realms are in Storybrooke.

A knock at the door reveals Mr. Gold, who came to collect on the debt owed to him by Emma.  He tells her that she’s going with him to find Bae and they’re leaving in a matter of hours, because if he doesn’t leave, he’ll kill Hook.  He also tells them that if any harm should come to Belle, he’ll kill them all.

So Whale has daddy issues, Regina has mommy issues and Gold just has all sorts of issues.  We’re now in the back half of the season, and for some reason, don’t get a new episode until February 10th.  I assume it’s due to the Superbowl.  Anyway, I’m curious what effects this Stranger is going to have and who exactly he is.  I wonder if he could be Bae perhaps?  Probably not, but I’m just throwing that out there.  And where the hell is August?

DarkMedia contributor Tracy Ladd has been writing about film since her days on the her high school newspaper. Even though she took a decade or two off to explore other things, she’s back to doing what she loves. She also bakes, can knit a pretty nifty scarf and makes lightsaber sounds with her knitting needles. Or chopsticks. Especially with the lightsaber chopsticks.

You can find her on Facebook, on Twitter @ReelGoddess, and on her website The Reel Goddess.