Early Observations about “Heart of Gold”

There’s nothing like flashlight beams cutting through trees near Vancouver to evoke the X-Files. The writers dig deep to explain some unusual appearances. And Swan Queen gets a cliffhanger.

Cassandra’s “Always… no, no… never… forget to check your references.”

“Heart of Gold” (1972)

Neil Young’s only #1 in the United States.

I want to live,
I want to give
I’ve been a miner for a heart of gold.

Keep me searching for a heart of gold.
You keep me searching and I’m growing old.

Rumpelstiltskin’s heart is failing without is magic to keep him alive. His past misdeeds have shriveled it to a blackened lump. He’s growing old. He wants to live.

There’s also the enduring literary trope of the prostitute or courtesan with a hidden integrity or kindness, the hooker with a heart of gold. Once Upon a Time will occasionally invert a trope to devastating effect. At the end of last season, Hook and Charming had a conversation about love that would have been at home in any chick flick. Uttered between two men, it might have been one of the most revolutionary scenes on network television. Here, Robin is unwilling to take certain actions within the remit of his talents and profession because of his own peculiar integrity, making him a representative of the trope.

‘Cor Aut Mors’

Latin: literally “Heart or Death”

It’s a bit odd for a container holding a heart-healing potion, but when you consider it’s symbolic meaning it’s a very writerly addition. It represents a choice between the heart, moral values and integrity, and death, ignominy and disrespect. Robin chooses to help will at his own risk and extends that choice throughout his life.

Midnight Cowboy

As we transition to New York, nine weeks ago, we fade in on a skyline and hear the quotable, “I’m walkin’ here.”

Enchanted

Robin riding a horse down a New York street is reminiscent of Prince Edward’s anacronistic behavior in the city.

The Wizard of Oz

Any episode with the Wicked Witch and the Emerald City is, of course, going to reference this. But there are a couple immediate specific references that deserve mention. Robin exits the magical doorway on the yellow brick road.

In addition, the door lands right on top of a guard whose boots stick out in front. And Robin steals them!

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

The seventh book in L. Frank Baum’s Oz series. Unc Nunkie and Margolotte Pipt are turned to marble by the Liquid of Petrifaction. Dr. Pipt sends Ojo on a mission to collect the ingredients needed to restore them to life. One of those ingredients is the rare six-leaved clover of Oz, which grows outside the Emerald City. Queen Ozma has outlawed the picking of the clover and its use in magical transformations in conjuction with her injunction against sorcery.

However you feel about the twist, its been Oz cannon for over a century. Honestly, I probably missed half a dozen book references.

The Walt Disney Company

One of the first references in The Wizard of Oak is a set of Mickey Mouse ears cast in steel.

Aladdin

Robin’s hanging out in front of a poster for Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway while he waits for Gold’s discharge.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

After giving Regina an opportunity to call Robin, and asking her to choose between him and Emma, Rumple takes the phone from her and asks the tense iconic, “Is that your final answer?”

Once Upon a Time

2×19 “Lacey”

This episode explains both why Robin Hood looked different, other than because he was originally played by Tom Ellis, in “Lacey” and where he got the bow that never misses.

3×21 “Snow Drifts”

Gold “kills” Zelena. Wile they come back to the events and even reuse footage, there’s a bit where Robin’s lurking outside The Wizard of Oak and says, “Zelena’s no fool.” Gold replies, “No, she wasn’t.”

Erin’s Happy Shipper Moments

Captain Swan

• Nothing for us here this week, dearies. Except for the flashback to the Captain Swan shippiest episode ever “Snow Drifts” wherein we get to see them dancing around the ballroom again.

Rumpbelle

• There are a number of scenes showing us Rumple in regret mode: First of which, his heart is diseased from dark magic. Now that’s certainly less cheesy than dying from a broken heart, but it rings similarly in this situation. The loss of Belle’s love has put him in this position. However, it seems like this might have been good information to tell Belle when she was getting him to give up magic: “My dear, I’d love to give up magic for you, but I’ll literally die.”
• He tells Robin he didn’t recognize happiness when he had it–what he had in front of him wasn’t enough. Although he’s ambiguous about the when he had happiness, I can only assume he means Belle.
• But the best of these moments is definitely when he advises Robin: “If you know who and where your happy ending is, you should run to it and not let go.” Sadly, Robin focuses on the previous bit about what is in front of him and not the idea of running off to Regina. But that’s another ship.

Swan Queen

• When Rumple proves that Zelena has Robin in her clutches and threatens to kill him if Regina doesn’t help Rumple push Emma to the dark side, Regina chooses Emma. She chooses Emma! “You made me a monster. I won’t let you do the same to Emma.” “So you’ve made your choice, have you? You’re choosing the Savior over your beloved Robin Hood?” No, Rumple, she’s choosing her beloved Savior over Robin Hood.

Outlaw Queen

• We got a replay of the goodbye kiss between Robin and Regina from when Robin, Marian, and Roland left Storybrooke.
• Gold attempts to use the love between Regina and Robin to manipulate Regina. It doesn’t exactly work, but my theory on why is that Regina respects and loves Robin in part for his honorable code. He makes her a better person because she sees that code as a model to better herself, become a hero.

• Many Outlaw Queen fans have wanted Marian out of the way since she made her way to Storybrooke, but the way this episode gets rid of her but doesn’t blows chunks. When Marian was the real Marian, she was also a real choice for Robin to make. There was real character turmoil, both for him and the audience. Honor would say stay with your wife and mother of your son. But then there’s true love. Now that Marian is simply Zelena, all that character turmoil disappears, at least for the audience. Now the whole this is a no-brainer running off of dramatic irony only AND they killed off an otherwise pretty awesome woman in Marian. I tell you, writers, we Outlaw Queen fans didn’t need it made easy for us. We knew true love would prevail. We knew Marian’s honor and desire for Robin’s happiness would eventually send him back to Storybrooke.

Robin/Marian 

• I don’t know if anyone out there was actually rooting for these two. But the episode seemed to set up exactly why you should ship them and then rip the ship right out from under us.
• First, there’s Robin’s gallant retrieval of Marian’s purse via horseback. (The first two clues of the episode that Marian was Zelena: 1) that a thief’s wife would set down her purse in a busy city, and 2) that a mother would need to set down her bag to pick up her 4-year old.) But the purse’s rescue was pretty darned awesome.

• Second, the flashbacks to Sherwood Forest include married Marian and Robin exchanging loving looks at each other as she waits tables and he barkeeps. We get just a brief look at the jealousy of the Sheriff of Nottingham. It’s all pretty cute.
• Third, when Robin joins the Merry Men as an outlaw and dubs himself Robin Hood, Marian is amazingly supportive. “It doesn’t matter where we are or what we face. I want to be with you.”

• So when all of that gets turned upside down by the reveal that Marian is actually Zelena and has been since before Hook and Emma returned from the Enchanted Forest, anyone who started rooting for these two is heavily disappointed. And the impact of Robin’s decision to try to be the husband Marian deserves is completely undercut.

Once Upon a Time “Heart of Gold” Previews and Predictions

Coming Tonight: Once Upon a Time 4×17

CAUTION: sneak peeks, spoilers, and speculations

“Heart of Gold” – Emma is still reeling after learning the truth of her parents’ history with Maleficent, but she must focus on finding the Author, who is running loose in Storybrooke, before Gold does. When Gold’s quest for his happy ending grows more urgent, he blackmails Regina into helping him. In a Fairy Tale Land flashback, Robin Hood learns what it means to be an honorable thief when he accepts a proposition by Rumpelstiltskin to travel to Oz to steal a valuable magic elixir from the Wicked Witch, written by Scott Nimerfro & Tze Chun and directed by Billy Gierhart.

Here’s the Promo that aired two weeks ago:

In the first sneak peek, Rumpelstiltskin offers Robin relief from penury.

In the second, Robin foils a purse snatcher.

Okay, first let’s clarify something about the last episode. Writer Jane Espenson noted on Twitter that the Author only controlled the Apprentice. So what Snow and Charming did was, and is, on them. Our toddler, who watched the first half of the season for Anna and Elsa, walked away from this one head shaking and asking a question we couldn’t answer. “Why would they do that to a baby?”

It makes their in-your-face self-righteousness and Charming’s Leroy Jenkins style understandable. They’re always struggling with themselves and desperate to do the right thing. Ultimately, it makes them deeper characters. But it’s hard to root for them.

I think that’s the point. To the extent that the heroes are undermined, that we understand them to have made questionable choices, they and the villains come to occupy similar symbolic spaces. A reversal of fortunes thus seems more sensible.

For the curious or obsessive, here’s the final page the author was transcribing. It details the last scene with Snow and Charming in the Enchanted Forest.

There was no way we could have known. The Apprentice hid the truth from us,” the prince tried once again to assure her. Inside, he felt as she did, but pangs of helplessness at the sight of his love so forlorn compelled him to comfort her. She was about to reply when a bluebird settled on a branch up ahead. The princess averted her gaze. She imagined its whispers of judgment in her ear echoing her own disappointment in her actions and was relieved when the bird flew off rather than perch on her shoulder. She had thought before that she had known true depths of sorrow with the heinousness of the evil queen’s betrayal of her family. But in that moment the princess knew that the greatest betrayal of all is that of a hero.

There are a couple frames in the preview that imply Zelena’s back in Storybrooke, so we could see the return of both the Wicked Witch and Robin as well as their flashback. Of course it could be recycled imagery from season three. But Zelena could have worked  a failsafe into Snow’s curse when she tainted it.

It makes some sense. The Queens of Darkness seem to be getting happy endings that are fairly pedestrian. Ursula’s reunion with her father. Maleficent’s with her child. I’m calling it now; Cruella just misses Pongo. Their reunion will choke up dog lovers everywhere.

Zelena constitutes a real threat to the Dark One and everyone else. If he’s as vulnerable as he seemed last episode, and as the preview implies, someone else will have to take her on. My guess is that Emma will end up with the “wavy knife” in order to defeat her.

In this episode, I think her confusion and feeling of betrayal will work against her pursuit of the Author. Gold and Regina will find him first. Whether they’re able to compel him to do what they want is a mystery.

Early Observations about “Best Laid Plans”

The Author shines a light on things and brings down the curtain. Even our toddler has had it with Snow White and Prince Charming. And Rumpbelle is resurrected.

Cassandra’s “Always… no, no… never… forget to check your references.”

“To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough” (1785) – Robert Burns

This classic poem draws parallels between a farmer’s situation and that of a mouse whose home is destroyed as he plows. It’s a leveling of the field, as it were, ennobling the mouse and humbling the farmer. While the tone of the poem is companionable and its message universal, it’s useful to Once Upon a Time because it reverses the existing order, the theme of 4B.

http://www.bartleby.com/6/76.html

I’m truly sorry man’s dominion,
Has broken nature’s social union,
An’ justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle	10
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An’ fellow-mortal!

Specific to this episode, “Best Laid Plans,” references lines 39 and 40, often translated into modern English as, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” We’re meant to note that for all Snowing’s efforts to ensure Emma’s future, they still ended up at the same verbal exchange Snow witnessed in her vision. It’s extra special because the Apprentice, our mouse, was involved.

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley,	40
An’lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

The title is also, again, an hilarious pun. Maleficent’s best laid egg…

Bonus: Jacob Grimm, the elder of the Brothers Grimm who recorded scores of household tales including many of those reinterpreted in Once Upon a Time, was born in 1785.

Was he an Author?

August: There have been many Authors throughout time. It’s a job, not a person. And the one trapped in here was just the last tasked with the great responsibility.
Emma: Which is?
August: To record–to witness the greatest stories of all time and record them for posterity. the job has gone back eons,¹ from the man who watched shadows dance across cave walls and developed an entire philosophy,² to a playwright who told tales in poetry,³ to a man named Walt.⁴ Many have had this sacred job–great women and men who took on the responsibility with the gravity that it deserved… until this last one.

Eion Baily¹

August Booth is played by actor Eion Baily. There’s a chance, however slight, that the word choice here was subtly hinting that he’s the current author or at least a journeyman in training. after all, he was able to add his own story to Henry’s Once Upon a Time book. And he knows more about the Author(s) than anyone outside the Apprentice or the tricksie Peddler himself.

Plato²

In The Republic, Plato has Socrates describe a gathering of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to designate names to these shadows. The shadows are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall do not make up reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.

William Shakespeare³

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. His works have been translated into every major living language. His inclusion in the mythology opens up a huge roster of potential background characters.

Walt Disney⁴

Often suggested as the Author who’d appear this season, Walt Disney founded the company that owns ABC and has produced several popular interpretations of classic fairy tales. But you knew that.

It’s not entirely unreasonable to suggest that the Author trapped in the book is James Lapine, writer of the postmodern revisionist Into the Woods, the film version of which Disney released last year. It makes Charming’s, “As long as we have each other, we can be the best versions of ourselves,” slyly metatextual.

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Snow White plays Lady Macbeth pretty much straight here. Unable to shake her vision, she pushes herself and her husband to ever more egregious acts of evil until, eventually, she cannot take the consequences anymore.

Isaiah 34:14

Lilith, variously a female demon or wicked fairy. In Jewish folklore she became Adam’s first, equal, wife who refused to submit and rejected Eden. So Maleficent’s exiled daughter has a powerful, resonant, ominous name.

Paradise Lost

Finally, some of the juxtapositions in the Comic-Con trailer make sense. What had been useful as a broad metaphor now has specific referents. The first portion in particular.

Snow: I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you.
Charming: And I’ll love you until my last

Out of our evil seek to bring forth good,(163)
Our labour must be to pervert that end,(164)

Emma: It’s time for all of us to believe; to believe in each other

And out of good still to find means of evil;(165)

Zelena: I tried to be good once but it wasn’t in the cards.

Snowing sought to secure Emma’s good destiny through an act of evil. Zelena managed to twist several benevolent acts toward her own ends. And, of course, as long as you’ve seen the preview, she’s coming back.

The Poetic Edda

For whatever reason, the building to the left of Gold’s Pawn Shop, if you’re facing it, is fronted with “gudrun.” It could have been there all along, but I only remember seeing it twice this season. In one of the stories in the Edda, Guðrún feeds her husband their sons and burns down his hall.

Once Upon a Time

The non-Frozen portions of 4A really come back in force this episode. We revisit “The Apprentice,” “Breaking Glass,” and “Smash the Mirror” all weigh pretty heavily here. But since we open on Snowing tracking a unicorn for clairvoyant visions, I want to focus on that.

Emma Swan has always been associated with the unicorn and it’s nice to see it brought back into the mythology and reality of the show. The unicorn is a traditional Christian salvific symbol, so it’s entirely appropriate that it be involved with every aspect of her story.

1×01 “Pilot”

This is where we first see the unicorn mobile.  It reappears in Gold’s shop in 1×06 “The Shepherd.”

In addition to the potential Into the Woods connection above, the acknowledgement that the mobile was a gift from Cinderella opens her, via the recent live action Disney release, as a potential focus next season.

1×02 “The Thing You Love Most”

When Regina confronts Maleficent in order to retrieve The Dark Curse, Mal has a diminutive pet unicorn by her side. Ultimately, it’s her concern for this pet that decides the fight against her. It’s interesting that the other unicorn in the story is at least tangentially linked to Swan’s counterpart, Lily.

1×12 “Skin Deep”

This episode reuses the title card from “Skin Deep.” In that episode the unicorns appear on tapestries in Rumpelstiltskin’s Dark Castle.

The first “Sight” from the series The Lady and the Unicorn. The second only appears after Belle attempts to break Rumple’s curse with true love’s kiss. He tears the cover from the mirror and rants at Regina while “The Unicorn in Captivity and No Longer Dead” from the series The Hunt of the Unicorn overwhelms the background. It’s a subtle scenery clue that the savior is integral to his convoluted plans.

At this point, Rumpelstiltskin, Ingrid, the Sorcerer, the Apprentice, Snowing, and the Author all have designs on Emma Swan. With all that pressure, how much control does she have over her own destiny?

Erin’s Happy Shipper Moments

Captain Swan

• Killian is clearly deeply concerned about the plan to turn Emma into a villain. Emma emphatically reassures him she will not go dark, though Killian speaks from experience when he tells her darkness can creep up on a person. The two share a long comfort hug where clearly they are oblivious to everyone else around them because one foot away Charming and Snow are discussing the thing which cannot be told to Emma and use Emma’s name. That’s a helluva hug.

• Killian asks how “the wooden man-child” was as a dual conversation starter. Certainly he knows she’s thinking about August’s well-being, but he’s also attempting to dig a little into her feelings for August. Emma sees immediately what he’s up to and tells him, “Now is not the time to be jealous.” “Why would I be jealous?” Killian responds, adding that he knows she’s partial to men in leather jackets. Emma explains that August is just a friend, but since she’s had a rough time making friends, she holds him dear. Then they notice the sleeping curse coming at them and land in the cutest sleeping pose possible, with Emma laying on Killian’s chest.

• When her parents finally come clean, Killian attempts to comfort Emma by asking if she’s alright and moving to hold her hand, but she pulls it away quickly before he can touch her. She leaves shortly after.

• Killian finds her later by the pier. She tells him she just needs some time. He knows to skip the discussion of how she’s doing and goes straight to what will relieve some of her anxiety: “August is awake. Your parents are with him.” “Is he?” “He’s going to be fine. Your friend is going to be fine.” Then she hugs him, bringing back the intimacy and comfort she had rejected earlier and allowing him to carry her emotional burden. It’s quite sweet and says much about how much vulnerability she has allowed herself to have with him.

Rumpbelle

• Finally, a truly substantive moment for the Rumpbelle shippers out there. Rumple takes his opportunity to be close to Belle during Maleficent’s sleeping spell. He lovingly moves her from the floor to a divan, holds her hand, and speaks softly. “My love,” he begins. He goes on to confess that all magic comes with a cost and he’s wracked up so much magical debt, he’ll never be free of it. He has to change the rules altogether, and quickly. He promises to come back for her if he can and kisses her hand before leaving.

Runaways (Emma/Lily)

• Emma explains the dearness with which she carries August by reminding Killian of her lost friendship with Lily. Later we find out Lily is Maleficent’s child and thus also Emma’s heart of darkness mate. They are now officially two halves to a whole! The two are meant to be together.

Swan Queen

• Regina intervenes on Emma’s behalf when Cruella makes a comment about wanting to wring her neck while she sleeps.

Snowing

• Although the role these two play in the episode is largely antagonistic, that doesn’t mean that their intentions weren’t motivated by love. The concern they share for their child’s well-being brings them together. In all actions, they are united, though their visions of the child diverge.
• After they go through with the nefarious plan to imbue another child (Maleficent’s baby) with their child’s darkness, they are haunted by what they’ve done. Snow notes they are no longer heroes, but Charming is more concerned with their relationship: “But we’re still here, so how do we fix us?” Snow again shows her concern is with them being good again. She asks, “Do you really think redemption is possible?” Charming says they must “spread hope and faith everyday” and be the best version of themselves. The two commit to being better heroes to raise their child and keep her on the right track.

Wooden Swan 

• August falls ill from so many recent magical transformations. Emma is deeply concerned. She is so concerned, in fact, Killian becomes jealous.
• When August wakes and Emma returns, he asks her what’s going on. She dodges the question, but he sees right through it, reminding her that he knows lying. When she makes a connection about the powers the Author would still have, he comments that she’s come a long way from the woman who wouldn’t believe. There is clear affection and intimacy in his understanding of who Emma is

Once Upon a Time “Best Laid Plans” Previews and Predictions

 

 Coming Tonight: Once Upon a Time 4×16

CAUTION: spoilers (no, really, the sneak peeks are wild)

“Best Laid Plans” – Hook tells Emma that her fate is at stake in Gold’s plan while Regina leads the villains on a wild goose chase. Henry makes a breakthrough in his search to find the Author, but Mary Margaret and David need a moment to reconsider the best course of action. In a Fairy Tale Land flashback, Snow and Charming search for a way to ensure their child will grow-up to be a hero. When a travelling peddler directs them to visit a kindly old hermit, Snow and Charming are presented with a choice that could secure their child’s goodness, but at a price that will haunt them for years to come,  written by Kalinda Vazquez and Jane Espenson and directed by Ron Underwood.

Here’s the ABC promo:

In the first sneak peek, Snow and Charming seek some equestrian augury.

In the second, Henry discovers a secret.

If those are the scenes they’re teasing us with, the episode should be dense and surprising. In fact, they’ve already given away a pair of the complementary moments. Snow’s, “I’m your mother,” and Emma’s, “I don’t care,” are present in the unicorn-induced vision and in present day Storybrooke.

Once Upon a Time’s social media accounts released this image yesterday, which is another spoilery bit.

She’s totally going dark. I don’t know if she’ll undergo a full transformation tonight, but it’s coming. And whatever Snow and Charming did, it was ultimately their best laid plans, and those of a certain mousy magician, that lead to this.

The season’s been teasing it. The first half ended with a curse that brought out the worst in everyone followed by devastating heartbreak for both of the show’s primary antagonists. It was also heavy on mirror imagery. And in a sense that’s what we’re seeing now. Rumple’s renounced romance and redoubled his quest for power. A happy ending no matter what the cost.

I’m reminded of the trailer shown at ComiCon.

There’s a lot to unpack, but the notable quotes are, “Evil isn’t born. It’s made.” and “Magic isn’t about what you seem. It’s about what you feel, inside.” The extent of her parents’ betrayals (that’s an egg they’re stealing from Maleficent in the promo) in her name will sour the savior. This episode is the first step toward a situation where the heroes and villains swap positions. Rumpelstiltskin and Maleficent are going to succeed. They’ll find the Author and the stories will change.