Once upon a Time Rewatch 1.8, "Desperate Souls"

Read the previous entry in the series here.
Read the next entry in the series here.

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1.8, "Desperate Souls"

Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by Michael Waxman

Synopsis

Awkward effects. Ostentatious attire. Yep, that's Evil®.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

After another restatement of the series's premise and the title card, the episode begins with Rumpelstiltskin spinning thread. He limps out into the small village of his home, where soldiers are conscripting children into a war effort, aided by powerful magic. Rumpelstiltskin, holding his son and leaning on a crutch, looks on helplessly; his son notes that his own conscription is coming.

Gold works in his pawn shop as Emma enters; he offers condolences on the loss of the sheriff two weeks past. Gold notes also that Graham's belongings are in his possession, urging Emma to take something that had been his and to tend to Henry due to the transience of youth.

Emma meets with Henry, giving him one of Graham's radios as she tries to comfort him. Henry notes reluctance to proceed against Regina in the wake of Graham's death. He also refuses the gift and, saddened, makes to return home. Emma resumes her law-enforcement duties and is informed that Regina has appointed Sidney Glass to the sheriff's office and dismissed her.

Quite the thing to walk in on...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

That evening, Emma is somewhat dissolute when Mary Margaret returns home. They confer about Emma's dismissal and are interrupted by the arrival of Gold at their apartment. He urges her to challenge Regina.

In the Enchanted Forest, Rumpelstiltskin wakes his sleeping son, Baelfire, purposing to flee before he can be conscripted. He notes the horrors of war before soldiers come upon them; one recognizes Rumpelstiltskin and accosts him for his cowardice. In an attempt to save his son, Rumpelstiltskin humbles himself before the soldiers' leader and is kicked in the face for his trouble.

In Storybrooke, Regina holds a press event to announce the appointment of Sidney to the post of sheriff. Emma intrudes, citing the legal obligation to hold an election and announcing her candidacy for the position.

Rumpelstiltskin continues to fret about how to help his son escape conscription and likely doom. A benefactor confers with him about following another path, and Rumpelstiltskin notes his cowardice and incapacity. The benefactor notes the Dark One's Dagger, an artifact that allows for control over the Dark One whose magic supports the soldiers; he urges Rumpelstiltskin to steal that dagger, thus coming to control the Dark One and the power the Dark One wields. When Rumpelstiltskin demurs, the benefactor urges him instead to become the Dark One.

Gold receives Regina at his shop. She confronts him about his involvement with Emma, and their tête-à-tête soon treats Henry--whom Emma meets in a diner and with whom he discusses his birth in jail. Henry reminds Emma that Regina is underhanded--and he advises her that Gold is even worse than Regina. And when Emma confronts Regina about the news reports of Henry's birth, an explosion blasts the city offices; Regina is immobilized and cries for Emma's help.

In the Enchanted Forest, Rumpelstiltskin has Baelfire help him prepare to take the Dark One's power. The father notes to his son the certainty of his death in battle if he goes to war, warning him against the terrors he himself had fled. Baelfire asks Rumpelstiltskin about the truth of the soldiers' claims of his cowardice, and his father cannot deny it. He makes to help his father even so.

Emma seems to flee Regina, only to return moments later with a fire extinguisher to clear a path for them; they extricate themselves from the town hall. They are met by a crowd and the press, including Sidney. Emma's heroism is noted, and campaign activities begin to coalesce around her--which Henry notices. And Emma notices Gold's handiwork, moving to confront him about it. He does not admit to aiding her, though he lays out hypothetical tactics as he admonishes her.

Aaaaand obligatory castle shot.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Rumpelstiltskin works his infiltration with Baelfire, committing arson. In the ensuing confusion, Rumpelstiltskin retrieves the dagger.

Mary Margaret runs into David as she campaigns for Emma--and he for Sidney. They confer briefly and awkwardly. Elsewhere, debate preparations are finalized, Emma doubting her victory. Mary Margaret offers encouragement.

Rumpelstiltskin returns to Baelfire with the dagger. He sends his son home with the note that he will follow soon after; when Baelfire leaves, Rumpelstiltskin summons the Dark One--finding that it is his benefactor as he kills him and himself becomes the Dark One. The power begins to work on him swiftly.

The debate between sheriff candidates gets underway somewhat raggedly. Glass gives a polished opening statement; Emma's is rougher but more authentic, even as it admits culpability. She departs, leaving Regina smiling and the room quiet. After, Emma consoles herself with drink; Henry approaches her with hope. Regina and Glass join shortly after, congratulating Emma on her victory; Regina warns her about Gold.

The soldiers make to conscript Baelfire. The empowered Rumpelstiltskin interdicts them and humbles the soldier's leader who humbled him before--and slays the lot of them before his son's eyes, to his horror. And, in Storybrooke, Gold offers his own congratulations--in sinister fashion.

Discussion

An interesting point comes to attention early in the episode when Regina fires Emma from what would have been a promotion from deputy to full sheriff. In some early English legal structures, the sheriff was a royally appointed officer, one working with local authorities but answering to the crown. (Echoes of the arrangement sound in Disney's Robin Hood, with its parallels to Isengrim and Reynard.) That the sheriff in Storybrooke answers to the mayor may come across as somewhat odd to the mainstream United States audience expected of the series; the sheriff is typically a county-level official, while the mayor is a city-level official who would not normally "outrank" the sheriff. It does, however, make sense in the fairy-tale context; the mayor is, after all, the queen, and so the sheriff would answer to her. The tension makes for interesting interaction of neomedievalist and modern precedents, something good to see handled directly in contemporary media--and (pleasantly) surprising in a series that shows the problems it has negotiating complexities.

Another interesting point comes up in the episode's fixation on lanolin and wool. It firmly fixes the fairy-tale notions of the series in an Anglophone context, despite most of the stories Disney reworked coming from the Continent (several of the "classic" Disney movies note working from Perrault, for example). The wool-focus does so due to the centering of the wool trade in (late) medieval England, to which no few scholars in several disciplines (including Eileen Power) have attested. Again, given the presumed audience for an ABC broadcast, the Anglophone-centering makes sense, even if it might be more subtle than many viewers would necessarily catch. That said, such details do help solidify the context of the series, offering a more stable frame for interpretation--and that is decidedly welcome.