As for Regina, looking so pleased watching the return of magic to spread over the town, I don’t think her smile will last very long. Her prime focus this season will be to reconnect with Henry, and that won’t be easy. In addition, the entire town is probably out for her head (as the season two promos have shown), so I don’t know how long she’s going to stay mayor. Although, I can imagine she has some clever magic up her evil sleeve to terrify and control the townspeople. Unless, that is, Rumple’s magic is more powerful and can control her!
One of my favorite narrative bawdy ballads out of British Isles folk tradition is called “The Twa (Two) Magicians” (Childe Ballad 44). It tells of two powerful magicians, one male and one female, with the male in pursuit, and as the pursued changes herself into various incarnations, the male sorcerer trumps her. Although the scenario doesn’t fit exactly the narrative we now understand of the Rumple-Evil Queen relationship, I can’t get the image of this song (which I performed for years) out of my head thinking about the dance between Regina and Rumple. Given the new realities of Storybrooke, their dance will undoubtedly ramp up and intensify this season, and, Lana told me last week, we will learn much more about their relationship long ago and far away in Fairytale Land.
But while Regina fixates on recovering her son from Emma, Mr. Gold’s intense gaze shall focused elsewhere. Rumple has his Belle back. Long beliving her dead, Rumple is stunned when she turns up in the pawnshop, lost and broken. He can barely believe she is real and not apparition conjured from his mind (I loved that moment of recognition in the season one finale). What Regina has done to Belle is cruel beyond measure, and I guarantee that Rumple will want to exact revenge; something that Belle is likely to oppose.
Beyond Belle, I believe that Rumple will continue to search for his son Baelfire (Dylan Schmid). We know that not a day has gone by that Rumple hasn't regretted letting go of Baelfire’s hand. As he tells Archie in last season’s "The Return," Rumple has spent much of his life hoping to find a way of reuniting with him.
Article comments
1 - Betsy
Great summation, Barbara. Gold's quest for power/magic has been for one reason and one reason only - to find his son. If he wanted power, he could have just stayed in FTL. I do believe that Gold's love for Belle is his greatest strength. I think he will try his level best to not go out and kill Regina, lol, but Belle is also human and no saint. I'm sure she wants some sort of revenge - she just doesn't want the man she loves to go down Regina's path. Her being around him, just loving him and him loving her, must have an effect on him. Love truly is the most powerful magic in the world and I dearly hope Belle will play a part in trying to find Bae. After all, they are to eventually be a family, so why not start now.
I will say that I never ever thought Maurice imprisoned Belle....I thought it was fairly clear that the Queen was lying, lying to destroy Rumple internally, to make him hate himself even more than he already did. I think it was her cruelest thing yet - beyond anything she's done and that's saying a lot.
2 - barbara barnett
I totally agree with you, that the imprisonment of Belle was not only cruel to Belle, it was cruel (perhaps moreso) to Rumple. It probably destroyed him completely (perhaps even more than his loss of Baelfire), sending him further into darkness.
3 - Nancy
I would watch this for Pinnochio and the Mad Hatter alone. Supposedly, this season will also unveil the true identity of Doctor Whale. Could he be connected to the whale from Pinnochio's legend?
4 - barbara barnett
Nancy--could very well be! I am curiouser and curiouser (to quote Alice) about him.
5 - Sharon
Another fine point about Rumple I thought was clever is how he also had no memory of FTL until he met Emma. What a good idea not to remember until Emma arrives. As Rumple constructed the curse, I think he gave himself a break for 28 years!
6 - Jane E
I just can't wait for next Sunday and want to be surprised!
7 - Betsy
Barbara, I think he'd had time to accomodate himself to Bae's loss.....plus he knew Bae was alive out there, somewhere. Belle's "death" completely unhinged Rumple until he just let go and became the insane imp we saw in the pilot. I have always thought he purposely wanted to forget for those 28 years because he could no longer live with the pain and crushing guilt he felt over Belle's death. He was willing to forgo memories of the good times together, how good she made him feel, because he couldn't get past the anguish. How tragic...but understandable. He had to find someway to cope and forgetting was the easiest way. Imagine all his memories of her flooding him at once upon hearing Emma's name? I have no idea how Gold didn't go insane just trying to handle them.
His beating of Mo was wrenching. That man went insane - he completely lost his grip on reality. It wasn't because he lost a cup - it was because he lost Belle all over again, something he couldn't deal with. He cradled that cup upon it's return - then held it firmly in his hands - as if it was Belle he was holding. From his POV, it WAS Belle. Without it, I do not think he ever would have recovered
8 - Lily
I found the sorcerer/sorceress folk song you mention really meaningful. We watched the first season on Netflix, so had a sense for the way the story unfolded. We were at first impressed by the strong female characters. Then, something happened, and men started to take over from the women.
Compare Regina with Rumple. Rumple is the more powerful magician, and he determines the arc and cliffhanger of the first season, not Regina. Add to it the fact that (imo) Carlyle is a far better actor than Parrillo, and we have replaced a promising female villain with a fascinating male villain.
Emma, the hero, remains cold and distant throughout the season, only becoming a "believer" in a split second in the penultimate episode. She is utterly passive throughout the series, influences nothing, and her role as a savior turns out to be a good mother who loves her son. This does not bode well for the second season, as I fear she is on the verge of turning into a mommy who juggles a job and parenting while dealing with her own new-found parents...and this was NOT how the season started.
Snow White story is, sadly, one of the most repetitive arcs I have ever had the mispleasure to see in a series. Yes, she loves Charming. Yes, they'll be separated. Yes, true love will conquer all. Yes, we know how it'll turn out, so can we PLEASE move on?
Compare Emma and Snow White with Mad Hatter and Augustine, or with Rumple. Again, the well written characters are male, not female. When a character takes over in interest in a series, they have taken over the series.
I see a Lost situation developing, with women turning into love interests (Penny, Juliet, Sun) while men (Linus, Locke, Desmond) determine the story arc and carry through the philosophical bent of the writers.
ngl it's disappointing, but I will watch second season.