Fairy Tale Land
Tonight we have a love story in honor of Valentine’s Day. Our story starts off in a castle where a kingdom is in disarray. Rumpelstiltskin shows up to make a deal with the King. The King has offered him gold but this is of no use to him. Rumpelstiltskin can weave his own gold. He tells the King he will help in exchange for the services of the King’s lovely daughter Belle. He clarifies that he does not seek romance but someone to do his housekeeping. Despite protests from her father and fiance Gaston, Belle agrees to leave with him. When they arrive at his home, she is sent to her living quarters…a dungeon.
A strange attraction seems to be developing between these two. Even though Rumpelstiltskin keeps her as his slave, she tries talking to him and is friendly. He enjoys this. One day while serving him tea, she accidentally chips a cup. He tells her not to worry as it is nothing more than a cup. On another occasion, she opens his curtains that he had nailed shut so that they may get some light in the manor. She falls and he catches her. They share a moment but do not kiss.
Belle is curious about who he was before he became the beast he thinks himself to be. She wants to know about the family he once had. He admits he had a wife and son and lost them. She tells him he is not a monster.
Gaston arrives at the manor to demand Belle’s release. With a quick use of magic Rumpelstiltskin transforms the man into a rose that he later presents to Belle. He tells her the company at the door was just an old woman peddling flowers. He then asks Belle why she agreed to come with him. Belle admits that she wanted to be a hero. Women do not usually get the opportunity. She also admits she and Gaston were to be in an arranged marriage and she was did not love him. With this information, Rumpelstiltskin surprises her by telling her he would like her to go to town for straw. He admits he does not believe she will return to him.
Belle walks through the woods. A carriage pulls up to her. It is me the Queen. I tell her I want to walk with her. We talk and I tell her that true love can break any curse. I know she is in love with her master and she must kiss him to see if he really loves her. If he does, he will turn back into an ordinary man.
Later Rumpelstiltskin is both excited and delighted to see Belle has returned to him. He admits to her that he is happy. She asks again about his son. She admits to him she almost did not come back. They finally kiss and Rumpelstiltskin feels himself start to change. She is excited and tells him any curse can be broken by true love. He quickly angers and runs to his mirror. Belle is confused as he screams at it. He tells her he is communicating with the Queen who put her up to this to weaken him. Belle tries to convince him her love is genuine. He throws her back in the dungeon. An enraged Rumpelstiltskin breaks things.
Rumpelstiltskin goes to see Belle and tells her he wants her to leave. She calls him a coward for not wanting to take a chance with her and that he does not believe anyone can love him but she really does. Still not convinced he tells her he chooses his power over her. She tells him this is a choice he will come to regret and she leaves.
I decide to pay him a visit. He accuses me of trying to become more powerful than him. I toy around with her name until he finally corrects me and says, “Belle.” To further rouse with him I tell him I have nothing to do with the tragedy. This has his attention. I tell him that after she was released she was rejected because of her involvement with him. Her own father did not want her and had her locked in a tower. I top the story by telling him she committed suicide by jumping out of the tower. He accuses me of lying. After I leave, he pulls out the teacup and weeps.
Storybrooke
Mary Margaret and David are at the diner pretending to not be together by sitting at tables across from each other. Emma and then Ashley join her. Ashley complains that Sean is so busy working she is always alone with the baby and wants to see him more. They suggest a girl’s night out which Mary Margaret reluctantly agrees to.
I see Mr. Gold in the street. I want to talk to him and he refuses.
Mr. Gold has been robbed. He knows who it is. It is a flower salesman. Emma shows up to investigate. She manages to recover most of Gold’s stolen goods except something that means a lot to him. He is not satisfied.
Mary Margaret is out for a girl’s night with Ashley and Ruby. There is a lot of complaining and whining about love.
Gold runs into David in the drug store. He points out that David is purchasing two Valentine’s Day cards. He then tells David love is like a delicate flower. We then see Gold in a van with a man whose mouth is duck taped and he is surrounded by flowers.
Gold leads the man to a cabin at gunpoint. He takes the duck tape off the man’s mouth. He wants back what was stolen from him. He begins abusing the man at first by putting his walking stick in his mouth and choking him. Then he uses the stick to beat the man. As he attacks him, he is yelling. He keeps saying, “she is gone.” He then smashes the windows.
Sean surprises Ashley at the club. He brings her flowers and proposes marriage. Everyone is stunned especially Mary Margaret who was just engaged in a conversation with Ashley about things not being good when you cannot always be with the one you love. Sean lovingly tells Ashley he took a break from work to see her and do this. She answers him with a yes and they decide to take a quick drive to be alone for a few minutes before he goes back to his job.
Outside the club Mary Margaret watches the newly engaged couple take off. David shows up. He gives her a card. What seems like something special goes sour when she sees he gave her the card meant for Katherine. He tries to fix it by giving her the right card but she is too upset. She turns him away.
Emma is now in front of an ambulance. The flower sales man is on a stretcher being taken away. She wants to know whom the woman was that Gold was screaming about. He will not tell her. She arrests him.
Gold is in a cell at the police station watching Emma eat. She reminds him she owes him a favor. He is not ready to cash in. I show up with Henry. I tell Emma she may spend a half of an hour with him and I will stay with Gold. Once she is gone, we negotiate. I admit that I put the flower salesman, who is actually Belle’s father in Fairy Tale Land, up to robbing him. I tell him I want him to say his real name. He acts confused but I know better. Finally, the words spill from his lips, “Rumpelstiltskin.” I am satisfied. I knew he knew who he was. I show him the teacup. He thanks me and then addresses me as, “your majesty.” We are out in the open with each other now.
Later I decide to visit someone at the hospital. I see the flower sales man in a wheel chair but it is not him I wish to see. I go to another floor and present the nurse with a rose. As I walk the halls, I see mental patients. I come to a door and open a small flap to see her. No one comes to visit her. Belle is alive and sitting right there in the mental ward. No one knows but me…
Watch the full episode here: