Desperate Souls

In the Enchanted Forest

In the Enchanted Forest, the background to Rumpelstiltschen ( Robert Carlisle ) is revealed. During the war with cannibals, children are called up for military service at the age of 14. The people of the duke, at the head of the knight Hordor (Ty Olsson), gather young soldiers with the help of the "Dark magician", who possesses enormous magical power. Rumplestiltskin's son, Bailfire (Dylan Schmid), will turn 14 in three days, and he is desperately looking for a way to save his child. At night, when father and son run out of the village, they run into the people of the duke. They scoff at Rumpleshtiltshen for running away when he was supposed to serve, and they say that because of his cowardice his wife left him. Rumplestiltskin begging for the life of his son, but he can offer nothing but devotion. Hordor, the commander of the soldiers, demands that Rumplestiltskin kiss the boot, but when he did, he kicked him. The beggar ( Brad Dourif ) sees this and offers help to the couple, as they gave him alms. He tells Rumplestiltskin that the duke owns a dagger that allows him to command the Dark magician and his power. If Rumplestiltskin steals a dagger, he will control the Dark Magician, and if he kills him with the same dagger, he will have his power. Rumpleshtiltshen sets fire to the castle of the duke (parallel with the actions of Mr. Gold) and steals a dagger, on which is written the name of the Dark magician "Zoso".

Balefire is worried about his father's plan, to have the power of a dagger, but Rumpelstiltschen just sends him home. Rumplestiltskin calls Zoso and states that he is the master of the Dark Magician. Zoso is not impressed and is surprised that a timid little man commands them and teases him with the fact that Bailfire is most likely not his son, since he is not such a coward as his father. In response, Rumplestiltskin shouted "Die!" And kills the Dark Magician, who turns out to be the most impoverished. Zoso laughs and says to Rumplestiltskin that "you always have to pay for the spell." Rumpleshtiltshen becomes the new Dark magician and now his name is written on the dagger. He returns home and uses his power to save his son from the people of the duke. Balefire is afraid of this man, who no longer looks like his father.

In Storybrooke

Two weeks after the death of Sheriff Graham (Jamie Dornan). Mr. Gold (Robert Carlisle) convinces Emma ( Jennifer Morrison ) that she must be the sheriff, but Regina Mills ( Evil Queen , Lana Parriya ) has already appointed Sydney Glass ( Giancarlo Esposito ) to this position. Henry (Jared Gilmore) suspects that Regina is responsible for Graham’s death and begins to believe that good cannot defeat evil because it plays by the rules. Mr Gold offers his support to Emma and opens up the town’s charter, which says that the mayor can only appoint a sheriff candidate and therefore elections must be held. Regina is outraged that Mr. Gold will work against her.

Gold’s plan was to set fire to the mayor’s house when Emma and Regina were there, knowing that conscience would cause her to save Regina. Emma becomes a hero in the eyes of the townspeople. When she learns that Mr. Gold did it, Emma realizes that Henry was right about the fact that evil does not play by the rules. At the debate, Emma admits that Mr. Gold set the fire, thereby demonstrating his honesty and decency, as well as ruthlessness to Gold. The same evening at the cafe, Emma comforts herself with a glass of whiskey when Henry comes up to her and says that she is proud of her and that they can continue the operation “Cobra”. Regina, Archie (Rafael Sbardzh), Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Sydney came to tell Emma, ​​that she elected sheriff. Regina admits that they have one thing in common: distrust of Gold. Mr Gold visits Emma and tells the rest of his plan. He knew that Emma would do the right thing and tell everyone what he did. He knew that the people would appreciate it, because in the city they fear him more than Regin. Confronting him, Emma became even more attractive to citizens than when she saved Regina. Now that Emma has become a sheriff, Gold is counting on the fact that one day she will repay him a debt for a previously rendered service.

Opening scene

In the opening scene, a dark figure gallops a horse and holds a torch.

"Despairing Souls" was written by consulting producer Jane Espenson, while the director was Veteran of Lights on Friday Night Michael Waxman . ^[1] This is the second episode of the series at this point, the script for which Espenson was written, and for which she received payment. ^{[2] [3]} The episode was designed by Espenson to show "some important facts about the origins of Rumpleshtiltshena, regarding him as the" wild card "of the show, whose ulterior motives are still very complex." ^[four]

The action of the episode takes place in part after the death of Sheriff Graham in the “ Lonely Hunter Heart ” series. Although her character is associated with evil, actress Lana Parriya tried to keep the person in Regina as much as possible. She explained: “You will see true love and care for Graham ... There was a physical connection with the character. He became a kind of "errand boy" in both worlds. But, you know, at the end of the day in Storybrooke, Regina is still trying to fill the void that Maleficent warned her about. ” ^[five]

In the run-up to the episode, Parriya also gave an overview of what the audience could expect. About the plot of the episode, she explained: “We will see some dirty politics between Regina and Mr. Gold. You will see how threatening this is for Regina, but as you know, she will take on these challenges in full force. ” ^[five]

At the beginning of October 2011, TV Guide announced that Oscar nominee Brad Dourif appeared in the episode as a guest star in the role of a “beggar who would bring Rumpelstiltsky to evil”. ^[6] Other guest stars: Megan Ory as Ruby, Patti Allan as Miss Ginger, Beverly Elliott as Grandmother, Giancarlo Esposito as Sydney, Dylan Schmid as Bailfire, Conner Dellye as Morrain, Ty Olsson as Horror, Michael Fenici in the role of the duke (distant scene), S. Ernst Hart in the role of the portly man, David-Paul Grove in the role of Egghead and Gabe Nout in the role of Mr. Clark. ^[3]

Morrain, Balefire and Dark magician are inspired by Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time ^[7] . A large figure of Mickey Mouse and a small figure of Minnie Mouse can be seen during the confrontation of Emma and Gold because of the fire. The name of the Dark mage Zoco, is a link to the Led Zeppelin group, as it is the nickname of guitarist Jimmy Page . ^[eight]

Ratings

“Desperate Souls” first aired in the United States on January 8, 2012. The episode received 3.7 / 8 points in an audience of 18-49 years and an overall rating of 5.9 / 9; he finished second in the timeslot, giving way to a football broadcast on CBS , but ahead of Dateline on NBC , The Simpsons and the Cleveland Show on Fox Broadcasting Network. ^[9] Ratings “Once Upon a Time” has risen by 29 percent compared with the previous episode. ^[10]

Reviews

The episode Desperate Souls received mostly positive reviews from television critics. In her first review of the series, Hillary Basis from Entertainment Weekly expressed her pleasure from the episode, believing that next week it would be “pretty hard to beat tonight.” ^[11] Bazis rated the final scenes with Rumpelstiltschen and the Dark Magician as “tense, spectacular ... [and] ... amazing” ^[11] . IGN writer Amy Ratkliff rated the episode at 7/10, appreciating the play by Robert Carlisle and guest actor Brad Dourif, but criticized Lana Parria for constantly looking at Emma with the wolf ^[1] . Retcliffe believes that Ginnifer Goodwin and Joshua Dallas “ran a spark,” and wished the audience could see more scenes between them ^[1] . Like Retcliffe, Digital Spy columnist Catriona Whiteman praised Parriya and Carlisle, believing that the latter “continue to be one of the best characters in the series. This completely new version of Rumplestiltschen, which we saw, shows it from a completely different side. It turns out that he is quite good at being cowardly and miserable ” ^[12] .

The editor of The Huffington Post Laura Pond and TV Fanatic's C. Orlando also gave a positive review of Carlisle's game and the storyline of his character. ^{[13] [14]} Pond liked Dourif's game, but she praised the scene with Mary Margaret and David, calling it “beautifully written and played and full of longing” ^[13] . Oliver Sawa of The AV Club left the most critical review, where it was said that the series “loses its sophistication” by evaluating “Desperate Souls” in C. He noted that the TV series “lacks the sophistication and insight of Surviving, instead of simply presenting the story in the clearest expressions, no matter how boring it may be ... This is not even the tenth episode, but the formula is already beginning to lose its refinement ” ^[15] . Despite this, Sava saw the potential of the series, noting that “the writers simply need to take advantage of the wealth of mythology that fairy tales give them” ^[15] .

• "Desperate Souls" (Eng.) . on the ABC website. The date of circulation is November 5, 2012. Archived January 16, 2013.
• “Desperate Souls” (Eng.) On the Internet Movie Database
• Desperate Souls on Tv.com