Recap: ONCE UPON A TIME Hades And The Dark One Struck A Deal

Episode 514 “Devil’s Due”
Written by Jane Espenson, directed by Alrick Riley

I have to say that I really liked a couple of the twists in this episode.

First of all, there was Regina’s (Lana Parrilla) subplot which wasn’t huge for this episode’s story, but seems to set up a lot to come. She was searching for her first love, Daniel. According to Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit), if a tombstone in the cemetery was knocked over, that person was no longer there and was in a better place. Any guesses as to how she found his grave? So that long-time burden she’s been carrying has been resolved. Later, she managed to heal a horse magically. So her powers, which were not functioning well, had returned, seemingly in full force. So not only was she previously solidified as a hero, she had her burdens lifted and her powers returned; now a force to be reckoned with.

Then there was the core of this episode’s story which centered around Killian (Colin O’Donoghue) and Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle).

Gold went to the antiques shop where he found a note from Pan (Robbie Kay) leaving everything in the store to him. So the first thing he does is put together a magic potion including some eye. Out came a crystal ball which showed him an image of Belle (Emilie de Ravin), and he dropped the ball, shattering it.

Gold found his ex-wife, Milah (Rachel Shelley), who also had Killian as an ex-lover. He, Milah, and Emma (Jennifer Morrison) went down to to the deep underbelly to find Killian. There they confronted Hades (Greg Germann), and Emma went after Killian.

Killian was being tortured by Hades, who had a strange attraction to pentagrams. Then he was given a way out, to carve the names of three of our intrepid heroes on tombstones, forcing them to remain in Underbrooke forever. Killian refused, not that he could do that with a hand and a hook anyway. So he was sent off down the River of Lost Souls (which if touched, a person’s soul would truly be lost), then hung up by a chain James Bond style. I almost expected to see Hades stroking a demon cat. Emma found him there and rescued him. It seemed a bit quick and convenient of a rescue. But with everything else going on in the episode, it’s not really something that could have been dragged out. So it’s understandable.

In a flashback, we found out why Milah didn’t appreciate Gold so much. When Baelfire was a child (Dean Petriw), he was bitten by a venomous snake. They took him to a sort of witch doctor named Fendrake (Aaron Douglas), who had an elaborate face tattoo. They couldn’t afford his price. Later, Rumpel went by himself and made a deal to save Baelfire’s life. In exchange for the cure, Fendrake would get Rumpel’s second born child. Milah didn’t like the fact that he made the choice not to have another child without her. Later, when Rumpel became the Dark One, he killed Fendrake in order to end the contract.

Back in the Underworld, Hades told Gold that if he would carry out a task, he would be allowed to go back to Belle. So he threw Milah into the River of Lost Souls and destroyed their boat. Then when Emma and Killian showed up, Gold blamed Hades saying that his magic he used against Hades backfired. Then when he requested to be released, Hades wouldn’t do it … yet. Fendrake still existed in the Underworld and the contract was still active. The crystal ball Gold used earlier was to see Baelfire. But when he cast a spell to see his child, he discovered that Belle is pregnant. And the contract for his second child was signed over by Fendrake to Hades. Oops. It almost seemed over the last couple of episodes as if the writers were getting in the habit of resolving subplots quickly. Good save.

Then since Killian wouldn’t pick three people to be stuck in the Underworld, Hades made the choices. He chose Regina, Snow (Gennifer Goodwin), and Emma, which our intrepid heroes discovered by finding the tombstones in the cemetery. It’s one of those moments that seems a bit obvious, but it also couldn’t have been any other way. It had to be the three most primary characters, other than Gold.

As interesting as it is to see the Dark One at the mercy of Hades, I still want to see Rumpel’s heroic side come back out and be explored further. Perhaps his dealings with Hades could make that happen. And I like how just when things seem to resolve, they find new ways of making things last. I’m definitely looking forward to next week when we meet Hook’s brother!

 

Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8/7c on ABC.