‘Once Upon A Time’ 2.19 Episode Recap and Review: Lacey

The hiatus is over and Once Upon A Time has decided to treat its viewers to a generous amount of Belle (Emilie de Ravin) and Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle)! It may just be me, but Gold and Belle are my favorite couple on the show. They’ve been through their fair share of hardships, and it doesn’t seem to be getting easier along the way. Belle has always brought out the best in Gold, but now the tables have thoroughly turned.

The Fairytale World:

We’re blasted deep into the past, before Belle had learned to love Rumple. She is still considered his prisoner, wallowing inside a gloomy dungeon. Things become interesting when a man breaks into Rumple’s castle and tries to steal one of his magic wands. It turns out that this mysterious thief is none other than Robin Hood, another familiar name added into the mass of characters. Inevitably, Rumple catches Robin Hood after his failed attempt at killing the Dark One. Rumple has every intent on killing him, but Belle takes a chance and frees him, knowing that he’s probably a good man and stole for a good reason. This obviously doesn’t go over too well with Rumple, prompting him to hunt Robin Hood down, and kill him in front of Belle. After a few threats, taking of tongues, and lots of tracking, the duo find Robin Hood deep in the forest using the wand to nurse a sickly pregnant woman back to health. Belle tries to reason with Rumple, begging him to spare Robin Hood’s life, and eventually succeeds! At that moment, the audience got a glance at the beginning of Belle/Rumple’s love blossoming! It really set the theme for ‘Lacey,’ showing us how Belle truly does bring out the best in Rumple… At least her fairytale counterpart does.

Storybrooke:

As always, a mass amount of scheming took place during last night’s episode. First off, Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) reveal to Emma (Jennifer Morrison) that they have been growing magic beans in hopes of returning back to the Enchanted Forest. With more factors to face, with Neal back in the picture, this decision comes with conflicting emotions. To top it off, Regina (Lana Parrilla) decides to help Belle recover her memories… But not in the way that the audience had hoped. Belle has her memory back, but of her Storybrooke counterpart. We now meet Lacey, a bar hussy who has an eye for danger. Absolutely nothing like the Belle we fell in love with. With Belle gone, Gold is forced to make Lacey fall in love with him. He tries to follow Charming’s advice of being the man Belle fell for, but that doesn’t blow over too well. It turns out that Lacey has absolutely nothing in common with Belle, and that she favors the dark side of Gold. With Gold’s only influence of good in his life gone, I’m sure that Storybrooke is in for a hell of a ride. The dark one is definitely back, which means that everyone (Henry, Regina, etc) should be afraid.

I’m utterly speechless about this episode… And not in a good way. Yes, the massive twist that has set the course to Gold’s inevitable reign of terror was added nicely, but Belle’s Storybrooke counterpart just didn’t blend well. The whole portrayal seemed a bit forced. I found myself quite detached from, not only Belle, but the entire plot as a whole. The ending really brought it all together for me, but even parts that included Emma or Charming seemed lacking. I liked where the writer’s intended for ‘Lacey’ to go as an episode, but didn’t necessarily like the process for which they took. I just didn’t feel the magic.

Rating:
C+

Questions:

  • What does Tamara have planned for Hook?
  • What will Regina do with the knowledge of the magic beans?
  • Do you like Lacey? How will her influence fuel Gold?

Responses

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  1. I really loved the FairyTale Land flashbacks. Great banter between them and it was nice to see some of the blanks filled in from Skin Deep.

    Storybrooke was fun to see Charming give Gold dating advice again and the date between Lacey and him was all kinds of great awkwardness. The ending with Lacey and Gold sure was a great twist, I wasn’t expecting it, but maybe that’s because I’m spoiler free. Can’t wait to see what happens next with them.

    Hook being tied up yet again at the end was funny, but I must say I don’t care about Tamara or Greg at all.

  2. Agree with C+ rating. The flashbacks were the best part of the episode. I’m not a fan of Tamara and Greg and their plot to rid Storybrooke of magic.