by Tracy Ladd:
Once Upon a Time Recap: “Lacey”
Original Air Date (ABC): Sunday April 21, 2013
Season 2 Episode 19
It’s been several weeks since we saw Once Upon a Time and now they’re back for the final four episodes of the season. The “previously on” section took us through the bit with Neal introducing Emma to his fiancé, the connection between Tamara and Greg, what happened to August, which I’m still sore about by the way, the drama with Belle losing her memory and the prophecy that Henry will be Gold’s demise.
I have to say that I’m not super impressed with this season. I’ve gotten to the point where I just sort of throw my hands in the air and just say ok, whatever. I think that August was the last straw for me if I’m being completely honest. Hopefully these final episodes will being it all together. And hopefully Hook will make an appearance again. Last we heard of him he wasn’t in the closet that Neal stashed him in, but he hasn’t been seen since.
Fairytale Land
It’s all about Belle and Rumpelstiltskin again this week and it goes back to when Belle first agreed to be his guest. She’s sobbing, like ugly-shoulder sobbing type of crying in her room when Rumps comes in and basically tells her to shut up. He even gives her a new pillow to muffle her cries. As he’s reading her the riot act, he hears a noise downstairs and realizes that someone is in his castle. When he enters the hall, he finds a hooded man who is stealing a magic wand. Rumps and the hooded man with the magical bow whose arrow always hits its mark go back and forth, Rumps taunts, the man fires an arrow that lands in Rumps chest, Rumps pulls it out….it’s like a big magical pissing contest. But in the end, the hooded man loses and finds himself Rumpelstiltskin’s prisoner.
Later on, Belle is in the hall sweeping when Rumpelstiltskin walks in wearing a bloody apron. He says he’s going out and to have it clean by the time he gets back. Instead of doing as she’s told, she sneaks down to the dungeon and frees the prisoner. Fearing for her safety, he tells her to come with him, but she tells him she must stay to protect her family and kingdom.
When Rumpelstiltskin returns, Belle is in the hall calmly reading a book. After finding that his prisoner is missing, he takes his anger out on Belle, especially when she admits to freeing the poor man. She tells him that she knows he was stealing out of necessity and that he must have needed it for something. Rumpelstiltskin doesn’t care and tells her that no one steals from the Dark One and gets away with it. He tells her that he’s going to find the man and kill him and because she let him go, she’s going to watch it all happen.
The travel into the forest and cross paths with a Sheriff (it’s not Graham sadly) who’s also looking for the same man. The Sheriff tells him that the man disgraced him, and he goes by the name of Robin Hood. As if the bow and arrow didn’t give that one away am I right? Leaving the Sheriff, Belle and Rumpelstiltskin see Robin Hood as he waits for a horse-drawn cart to pull up. Rumpelstiltskin is about to fire off an arrow when Belle stops him. They see Robin Hood wave the magic wand over a woman who is laid out in the back of the cart and Belle realizes that Robin Hood stole the wand to save her. Rumps doesn’t give a rip though and once again prepares to fire off an arrow. He’s brought up short however, when they see that the woman (Maid Marian) is pregnant. Rumpelstiltskin fires off an arrow, but misses both of them. When Belle asks what happened, he says he missed, but she knows the truth.
When Rumpelstiltskin and Belle return to his castle, things between them have changed a bit. Rumpelstiltskin takes Belle upstairs and shows her his library of books and it seems as a bit of a peace-offering. Belle tells him that he’s not the man she thought he was, and for that, she’s glad. She even goes so far as to hug him, which seems to throw him for a loop.
Storybrooke
We kick things off in Storybrooke with Mary Margaret, David, Neal, Emma, Henry and Gold in Gold’s shop celebrating Henry’s birthday. Gold tells him to pick anything he wants and Henry chooses a wand that Gold shows him how to use. Gold actually turns him into a ceramic version and shatters Henry telling the others that it had to be done. Not to worry, it was just a dream. We next see Gold watching Neal and Henry play-sword fighting when Regina approaches. He gives her the great news that he’s Henry’s grandfather, and Regina tells him that the family won’t accept him and that his dark heart always wins.
Belle is still in the hospital and Gold pays her a visit. She’s surprised and relieved to see that he’s still alive and he says that his feelings for her are true. Belle tells him that she believes him and that she has a gift for knowing what’s in someone’s heart. Gold tells her that he’ll arrange to spring her from the hospital and afterwards, he wants to help her remember who she is, and maybe she can help him remember the man that she knew him to be. Luckily for Gold, she seems open to the idea which is a complete 180 from where she was when he tried to visit her before.
As Belle packs up her things, Regina pops in to “see how she’s doing”. Belle thanks her for her concern and tells her that Gold is going to have the doctors release her. Regina “picks” up a matchbook from the floor and hands it to Belle asking if she dropped it. Of course, this being Regina, she put a hex on it. Belle doesn’t recognize it, but Regina tells her to look closer. Once Belle does, the hex kicks in and Belle suddenly remembers who she is.
In other parts of Storybrooke, Mary Margaret and David take Emma out to the boondocks. When Emma questions why they took her out to the middle of nowhere, David and Mary Margaret walk her into a cloaked field where Anton and the dwarves are harvesting the magic bean crop. Emma’s quick to catch on that they want the beans to create a portal so they can go back to Fairytale Land. David and Mary Margaret want Emma and Henry to go with them, but Emma’s not sure. Mary Margaret says that rebuilding their world will do her blackening heart good. Oh brother.
Gold goes to the hospital to retrieve Belle, only to find that she’s gone. He then finds the matchbook that happens to be from a joint called The Rabbit Hole, so he starts there. Once at the bar, he grills the bartender on Belle’s whereabouts. The bartender asks him to describe the woman he’s looking for and when Gold does, the bartender tells him it sounds like a regular named Lacey. He points her out and lo and behold….it’s Belle. Not the Belle we all know and have come to love to be irritated with, but rather a barfly trashy version of her.
Gold approaches Lacey at the pool table where Lacey looks to be hustling some poor soul (I actually think it was Sneezy, but I’m not 100% sure). Gold approaches her and she tells him that she finally remembers who she is…and that her name is Lacey, not Belle.
Pissed, Gold storms into Regina’s office, where she pretty much just blows him off. She knows he’s trying to be good for Henry’s sake, and she tells him that she can’t reverse the curse. Not knowing where else to go, Gold heads to Granny’s and asks David for help since even during the curse, he and Mary Margaret found a way to be together. Knowing Gold will owe him a favor (not a bad person to call in a marker with), David tells him that he has to show her the man she originally fell in love with and agrees to help.
Meanwhile, Emma sits at the docks looking through Henry’s book when Regina approaches her and the two bicker like a couple of old ladies. Emma tells Regina she better watch it before she “loses Henry for good.” Way to go Emma. Regina immediately picks up on the slip of the tongue and knows Emma is hiding something.
Gold and David head back to The Rabbit Hole where Gold convinces Lacey to go on a date with him. She agrees and tells him to meet her at Granny’s that evening. When he does, the two talk and Lacey says something that Belle once said a long time ago. This makes Gold quite happy because he thinks Belle is still in there somewhere. After he accidentally spills his drink on her, Lacey excuses herself to go clean up. When she doesn’t come back, Gold goes looking for her and finds her out back getting frisky with another man. After the other man runs off, Lacey tells Gold that she only accepted his offer because she felt bad for him, but that she’s not the Belle he keeps talking about. Dejected, he walks away and runs into the same man who Lacey was with. Gold’s dark side takes over once again and he begins to beat the crap out of the guy with his cane. Lacey sees it happening and tells him that she’s not the man she thought he was…and she’s glad. Taking that as a sign, Gold continues to beat the other man senseless.
Meanwhile, Regina sees David and Mary Margaret drop Leroy and boys off at Granny’s and once they drive away, Regina throws down some magic that just so happens to light up the tire tracks so she can see where they came from (which, I have a problem with). She follows them to the field and finds the magic bean crop, which gets her evil wheels spinning.
In other news, Greg and Tamara are plotting something. They meet at one point where Tamara has the “package” stashed on the outskirts of town. They briefly discuss Greg’s dad, who still hasn’t been found, and agree to meet later that night to retrieve whatever the “package” is. Turns out the “package” is stashed in a trailer, and it happens to be Hook, who’s bound and gagged. So that’s where he’s been.
So now are we going to get a dark Belle and an even darker Mr. Gold? Regina can just wave a hand and tire tracks will light up and lead her to where she wants to go? I would think if that’s the case, then she should have been able to use that in episodes past. And what is up with Tamara? I know Greg wants his daddy back, but what’s her story? I had a huge discussion recently on the inconsistencies and continuity issues this show has and now that I’ve had that conversation, the issues are so glaring. Like the fact that Snow’s heart has a dark spot, but Cora’s heart wasn’t black at all. Can we just get to the point where we find out that Neal is Peter Pan?
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.
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