Monday, October 17, 2016

Once Upon a Time 6.04: “Strange Case”

“These stories are going to play themselves out, whether you like it or not.”
- Hyde

Well, just when you think things are going to be okay in Storybrooke for half a second, they get turned on their heads. David is having some serious separation anxiety issues with Emma and Hook moving in together and so he’s made her a mountain of pancakes (which admittedly is kind of adorable). And Belle is kind of surprised at how little Hook has to move in (just a single chest). It is kind of nice (I guess) that he gifts her a sea shell she can use to call him if she needs help. Unfortunately, in his infinite overprotective nature, Gold pops by and casts a spell on the ship so Hyde can’t get in (but Belle also can’t get out). As much as I was rooting for the pair of them, Rumple really is engaging in some serious domestic abuse right now.

I’ve also come to the conclusion that while Snow may like teaching, she’s kind of terrible at it. For one thing she starts off her lesson with quoting Newton’s third law and then asks them to solve a math equation. I really don’t know what one has to do with the other and the kids are totally sitting there glassy eyed. Her new teacher’s aide (aka Jasmine under a false name) is equally befuddled by what’s going on. I had also forgotten that the school had a uniform. Henry looks pretty grown up in it. And it’s good he’s back at school after all that time he missed! At recess. Snow is lamenting that her students don’t remember anything and she can’t figure out why. Jasmine points out that she isn’t the same person she was when she last taught and she needs to take a different approach. Teach them as Snow White. I really hope we get some rollicking adventures. I also kind of miss having Henry in her class. And she does take the class outside to do some archery lessons that much better show the lesson she was trying to teach!

In flashbacks, we learn more about Jekyll and how Hyde came to be. He was working on a serum that would allow a man to control his baser nature but his work is thought to be too dangerous by the scientific community (including the father of the woman he fancies) and so he’s rather upset that he won’t be able to perfect it. So of course, Rumple has to get involved. It’s pretty clear we know his motivations. He wants to be able to control the inner beast (for Belle or for Neal it doesn’t really matter at that point). He uses some magic on Jekyll’s serum which creates Mr. Hyde. He’s stronger and not above blackmail. But hey, he gets into the academy so there’s that. Rumple pushes him to see if he can get Mary to fall for Jekyll (I’m assuming he’s hoping that if Hyde can win over Jekyll, then Rumple can win of Belle). The end result isn’t so great for Jekyll. Apparently Mary doesn’t much like how reserved he is and that he thinks passion and desire are to be quelled. So Mary and Hyde end up making out. Yikes! Cue the next morning wake up when Jekyll is back to himself and Mary freaks out. He then gets extremely angry and ends up pushing her out a window when she says she’ll never love him. So he drinks what’s left of the potion so people will think it was Hyde who killed her. Okay, I honestly wasn’t expecting Hyde to be the better person in this scenario. As a distraught Hyde starts packing up to make a run for it, Rumple pops by and loses his temper, seeing as the “experiment” failed. But he decides to let Hyde live so he can live with his failure.

In Storybrooke though, Jekyll is trying to work on the serum to destroy Hyde but he and Regina report that Hyde has broken out of the asylum. We see him and the Evil Queen pop by the pawn shop just after Rumple has given himself a spiffy haircut (Robert Carlyle had to cut his hair for a film role so they are working it in). Anyway, the evil duo is after a necklace to use to force Jekyll to do what they want (aka stop making the serum). Jekyll anticipates his other half’s motivations and secrets a bit of the serum away when the pair show up to trash the place. Regina has convinced Rumple to help out but all he does is take Jekyll’s heart to force Regina to give him the serum and pour it over his dagger. He’s convinced that since the Evil Queen has vowed to leave Belle alone, he only needs to use it on Hyde. Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to really be the case there.

As I predicted, things are not going to plan when Hyde shows up as Emma and David are looking for him. Hook is on the way (he clearly hasn’t hung out with many pregnant women because the moron offered Belle some rum) when Jekyll arrives to share the news that Hyde is messing about. Rumple thinks he’s got the better of the evil bastard when he stabs him but it turns out Hyde switched vials and he’s now in possession of Rumple’s dagger, forced to take them to Belle. Well, that’s going to be interesting since the protection spell is supposed to keep Hyde out. As we see in the flashback, it’s really Jekyll we need to be worried about. I suspect Rumple is going to be quite upset about the fact the spell keeps Hyde out. Especially when Belle goes to try and call for help from Hook with the shell and Jekyll grabs her wrist quite violently. To get away from him she stabs him with a piece of the sea shell. It honestly looked like it should have hit a major artery in his neck but it didn’t and there really isn’t much blood so I guess he’s more resilient than we thought. And I suppose I have to say thank you to Hook for coming to Belle’s rescue when Rumple can’t do anything. He ends up impaling Jekyll in the rigging which results in Hyde’s death as well. Of course that’s got to be the only way to get rid of the Evil Queen! Regina makes Emma promise to take her out if the darkness starts to creep back in. Clearly Emma isn’t pleased by this notion but she did basically make Regina promise the same thing in Camelot so it’s only fair. And Belle confronts Rumple about his motives. It’s clear to see that he did all of this in the hopes of being better for her (or at least winning her over). She’s still not having any of it, including his threats that the baby will need protecting by virtue of his parentage. Yeah, Rumple needs to back the hell off! And in a twist I honestly didn’t see coming, Jasmine is working with the Oracle and I’m guessing they are both looking for Aladdin.

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