He’s intriguing. He’s mysterious. He’s exceedingly creepy regardless of whether his skin bears that unnatural Fairy Tale Land coloring or whether he’s setting fires and playing dirty politics in Storybrooke.
Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold continues to give me the willies as a thoroughly odd villain who’s quite different than The Evil Queen/Regina, who fits the unfortunate, stereotypical, “evil stepmother” role which haunts many fairy tales. While we still don’t know what transgression Snow White committed against The Evil Queen that drove her to enact the curse from which Storybrooke was borne, we know that it stems from the loss of love somehow.
As for Rumplestiltskin, while we learned that he was originally a coward whose wife left him after he shamed her by running away from battle and then he killed “The Dark One” in order to become all powerful, I still don’t understand why he instantaneously became evil given that his pre-Dark One persona wasn’t evil. Does becoming “The Dark One” automatically make you a bad guy, hence the word “dark?” Is this some kind of social commentary about how power corrupts? While the Queen has never been depicted as anything other than evil and vicious, seeing Rumplestiltskin as a fearful, worried father made me hope that we’ll be seeing more backstory so I can try to get a better bead on this guy.
When it came to the plotline of this “Desperate Souls” episode, it proved to be a clever dramatic choice for the Once Upon a Time writers to triangulate the relationship between Mr. Gold, Regina and Emma. Having Gold torch City Hall, thereby setting up Emma to rescue Regina, giving her a chance to up her Storybrooke cachet on the heels of the news that she’d been busted as a kid with a troubled youth, then plan on Emma confessing that the fire was a set-up all proved to be intriguing pivot points. Ditto for the glee on Regina’s face upon realizing that Gold would be gunning for Emma too, though Regina has no idea that the newly elected sheriff owes Gold a favor on which he will doubtless cash in at an inopportune moment.
It was disappointing to only be treated to a brief glimpse of Mary Margaret and David — as they were plastering Storybrooke with campaign posters for the sheriff contest, for opposing candidates of course — because their story, more than anyone else’s, has a satisfying emotional resonance. Rumplestiltskin’s story is merely a puzzle to me as I have no attachment to his character outside of just learning what makes him tick. The Evil Queen is similarly more of a mystery because, thus far, she’s not meant to be a relatable character, unless you’re a certifiable, murderous psychopath. But Mary Margaret/Snow White and David/Prince Charming seem much more down-to-earth.
Emma’s character is mildly interesting but her story isn’t as riveting as the star-crossed lovers’ story is. We’ve learned, in dribs and drabs, bits about Emma’s life, but not enough to fully flesh out her character, like whether it was loneliness or mere curiosity that prompted her to abandon her life back in New York (is she still paying rent there?) in order to live in this odd town. Or are her radical life changing decisions all about her affection for Henry, like running for office to prove to him that “good” people can indeed win by being “good?”
Still, I’d rather watch Mary Margaret/Snow White and David/Prince Charming than any of the other Once Upon a Time characters. (Speaking of favorites … vote for your favorite Once Upon a Time character in CliqueClack TV’s poll.)
What do you think of the Rumplestiltskin/Dark One twist? Of Emma’s successful bid for sheriff? Who makes a better villain for Emma, Rumplestiltskin or The Evil Queen?
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Jan 09, 2012 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
