Article first published as ONCE UPON A TIME Recap Season 3 Episode 4 Nasty Habits on Seat42F.
This week’s installment of ONCE UPON A TIME is called “Nasty Habits.” The gang on the island continues to search for Henry (Jared Gilmore), but also realizes that they need to figure out an exit strategy before rushing in. Meanwhile, we see a little more of Rumple (Robert Carlyle) and Bae’s (Dylan Schmid) history with Peter Pan (Robbie Kay), while in the present, Neal and Rumple are reunited.
This week’s installment of ONCE UPON A TIME is called “Nasty Habits.” The gang on the island continues to search for Henry (Jared Gilmore), but also realizes that they need to figure out an exit strategy before rushing in. Meanwhile, we see a little more of Rumple (Robert Carlyle) and Bae’s (Dylan Schmid) history with Peter Pan (Robbie Kay), while in the present, Neal and Rumple are reunited.
Here, we learn just a smidgen of the
childhood connection that Pan and Rumple share. The series had better
show some of the stuff Rumple mentions in “Nasty Habits.” Surely their
shared origin story is important? Maybe it’s being saved for down the
road, to tie the beginning of Pan to the end? That would make sense.
The timeline of ONCE UPON A TIME isn’t
always clear. In “Nasty Habits,” Bae is caught by the Pied Piper
(wonderfully tied into the Pan mythology), then taken home by Rumple.
This must happen before Bae falls through the magic portal, which takes
him to the Darlings, and then eventually to Neverland. So did Pan
purposely get Bae at the Darling household?
One thing that makes “Nasty Habits”
difficult to digest is that Schmid is so obviously older than in past
appearances, in which he plays Bae after these events. I understand that
child actors age, and telling a non-linear story means these kind of
inconsistencies must be overlooked. However, given the huge growth
spurt, I wish some special effects had been used to try to even things
out. It’s really disconcerting to try to line these events up with the
physical age of the actor being so off.
That aside, it’s a really neat story
about Rumple and Bae back in the day. We see yet another crack in the
wall of their relationship, which will soon collapse. We see Rumple make
wrong decisions to run off his son again. Perhaps we’ve already seen
enough that this backstory is unnecessary, yet it’s a timely reminder
since it matches so well with the present day thread.
It’s very frustrating that adult Bae,
now known as Neal (Michael Raymond-James), doesn’t believe Rumple in his nobility. For one
thing, during their first encounter, Rumple doesn’t believe Neal is real
and reveals his true mission, which is to sacrifice himself for Henry.
Neal seems to accept that, but doesn’t think Rumple will maintain that
opinion once he gets home to Belle (Emilie de Ravine). Can’t Rumple just
point out that he already left Belle to come to Neverland and rescue
Henry, thus proving which would win out?
The sad truth is, and I think Rumple
realizes that Neal can never trust Rumple, no matter what Rumple says.
Neal has been too hurt by his father, betrayed on multiple occasions by
his dad’s “Nasty Habits.” Viewers can see that Rumple has changed. We’ve
seen his growth and his journey. Neal, on the other hand, hasn’t been
around for any of the development, and only has his memories to go on.
Those experiences have taught him not to trust Rumple. From Neal’s
perspective, he does the right thing.
The one flaw in this is that Neal sets
off into the jungle with Henry, leaving Rumple frozen by a spell. We
know Neal wants to be a good dad and protect Henry. Leaving Rumple
behind is not Henry’s best chance of making it out of Neverland. Is Neal
so screwed up by Rumple that he can’t bury their animosity in the name
of protecting his son? There would be time to deal with getting away
from Rumple later, but Neal needs Rumple now.
Is Neal right about Rumple? The
hallucination of Belle finds a less cooperative Rumple after his most
recent falling out with his son. Is Neal turning his back on Rumple
enough of a reason to make Rumple want to live again? Rumple is willing
to die for Henry mainly to honor Neal’s memory. Since Rumple now knows
Neal is alive, he will want to repair their bond, which means he may be
motivated to put his death on hold. Of course, should Rumple allow Henry
to die, it will destroy any hope of a reunion, ever, though Rumple may
ignore that, hoping he can still win the long game.
Of course, Pan does retake Henry. The
sad thing is, Henry is asleep the whole time he is with Rumple and Neal,
and so doesn’t even know he was rescued, however briefly. This is
important in Pan’s game of breaking down Henry’s hope and becoming the
guy Henry relies on, but it’s also regrettable because that love Henry’s
father and grandfather have for him are his biggest defensive weapons,
and he misses an opportunity to rearm himself. Instead, Pan begins to
win. For now.
The only question I have here is, why
does the sleeping spell last longer on Henry than it does on the Lost
Boys? Does Pan use his magic to revive his followers?
Oh, and if Henry is the Truest Believer,
as we’ve seen him be and as Pan thinks he is, why does Henry give up on
his family so easily? Henry isn’t perfect, of course, and no one is
saying he wouldn’t eventually be swayed. It just seems a little too
quick and a little too neat for Pan to gain this foothold this quickly.
There is some really great stuff in
“Nasty Habits” in which Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) laments that she doesn’t
know how to be a mother to Emma (Jennifer Morrison). This is
interesting because thus far the focus has just been on how they can
relate to one another. Now we see some practical implications of the
lost years between parent and child, as Snow never got to figure out the
things a mom discovers while raising a kid. In this, Snow is still a
newbie.
As Charming (Josh Dallas) tries to
comfort Snow, a startling turn sends him reeling. Snow admits to
understanding Emma’s pain over losing Neal (they don’t know he’s alive)
because she couldn’t go on without Charming. It is plain during Charming
and Hook’s (Colin O’Donoghue) earlier conversation about Charming’s
slowly-happening-death that Charming assumes Snow will be fine. Now, he
looks at her differently. One has to wonder if this will shake Charming
and make him play his hand in another way. He isn’t going to want to
leave Snow lost; that would go against his hero grain.
With all of this wonderful character
development, “Nasty Habits” is definitely a great installment. The game
Pan is playing doesn’t really move forward, and the good guys are
stalled in their progress, yet it’s how they face these setbacks and
troubles that prove who they really are. It’s a wonderful episode for
many players.
Next week: the origin of Captain Hook!
ONCE UPON A TIME airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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