Season 5 of Once Upon a Time continues with a Rumple-centric episode that focuses on his relationship with his ex-wife and includes what may be his darkest deed to date. “Devil’s Due” also involves a daring rescue and sees Regina searching for a lost loved one. Take a look back at the most notable moments from episode 14.
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Hook Refuses to Play Hades’ Game
Hades tries to force Hook to choose three of his friends to take the place of the three souls they freed from the Underworld. When Hook refuses to cooperate, Hades punishes him by chaining him up and slowing lowering him toward the River of Lost Souls. If Hook touches the water, it will turn him into a mindless husk. I would find this scene, as well as this entire arc of Hook trapped in the Underworld, much more threatening if it involved a character who is actually in danger of being killed off. In my estimation, Hook is one of the safest characters on this show.
Rumple Offers to Help the Heroes
As the heroes prepare to go rescue Hook, Rumple explains that they will not be able to get to Hook because Hades will have barriers to keep the living out. Rumple says he and Emma can use the aura of a dead person to sneak past the barriers and save Hook. When Emma confronts him about why he is willing to help them now, Rumple claims he just wants to get home to Belle as soon as possible. We then see that the dead person Rumple wants to use in this rescue mission is his ex-wife, Milah. Rumple plays on Milah’s past love for Hook to get her to agree to help them.
Emma Meets Milah
Milah: “So you’ve been with my former lover…and my son. Is that right?”
Emma: “Huh.”
That brief exchange perfectly sums up the awkward meeting between Emma and Milah. Luckily, things get a bit less tense between the women when Emma tells Milah that she managed to get in touch with Neal and that he has moved on to a better place. The relief on Milah’s face is palpable and I appreciate the show giving her a bit more character development, especially when it comes to her relationship with the son she once abandoned.
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Regina Goes to Cruella for Help
Regina asks Cruella for information on how to find someone in the Underworld’s vast graveyard. Cruella, who happens to be the Mayor now that Cora lost the position, gives her a list of cemetery plots and explains that there are three different meanings to the way the headstones are positioned. If the headstone is upright it means the person is still in the Underworld. If the headstone is tipped over it means their soul has moved on to a better place. If the headstone is cracked it means the person has been taken to an even worse place than the Underworld.
Emma Saves Hook
After leaving Milah behind with Rumple, Emma makes her way to Hook and (unsurprisingly) saves him in the nick of time.
Milah’s Unfinished Business
Milah tells Rumple that she feels guilty for abandoning Bae because she hated Rumple. All Milah wants now is to move on from the Underworld so she can see her son again and apologize for leaving him. Rumple shares his own history with Bae and his belief that Bae will forgive Milah. Once again, I appreciate that the show gave Milah more depth in this episode, but it makes her fate all the more horrific.
Regina Finds Out What Happened to Her First Love
It turns out that the person Regina is looking for in the graveyard is Daniel. When they find his headstone, Regina is relieved to see that it is tipped over meaning that Daniel has moved on. Regina takes a moment to say goodbye to her first love and I imagine every Stable Queen fan has to dip into their stash of tissues. I was hoping the show would address whether or not Daniel was in the Underworld and while I would have loved to see Regina and Daniel together again, it is nice to know that he was able to find peace.
Rumple Betrays His Family
In a series of flashbacks to the days of Rumple’s marriage to Milah, Bae gets bitten by a deadly snake. Rumple and Milah go to a healer for assistance but the healer only offers them a magical cure they cannot afford. Milah tells Rumple he should just kill the man and take the cure, but Rumple cannot go through with it. The healer then offers Rumple another deal: the cure for Rumple’s second-born child. Milah is horrified, but Rumple says as long as they do not have any more children, it will be fine. Rumple essentially strips his wife of the choice to have another child without even asking her. Is it any wonder she came to hate him?
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Rumple Kills Milah…Again
Hades offers Rumple a deal: if he sinks the boat so the heroes cannot return to the real world, Hades will send Rumple home to Belle. Alas, Milah has seen Hades with Rumple so Rumple has to take care of her before she can tell the heroes what he is up to. In an despicable move, Rumple sends Milah into the River of Lost Souls, and in doing so, takes away her chance of ever finding peace. (As if killing her the first time wasn’t bad enough, Rumple has now damned her soul to an eternity of torment.) Rumple has done a lot of horrible things in his time, but I don’t know if any of it can compare to what he’s done to Milah.
Regina Can’t Take Emma’s Heart
Since Hook failed to play along, Hades chooses the three souls to stay behind in the Underworld: Regina, Snow and Emma. Since Emma was chosen to stay behind, they cannot split her heart and use it to save Hook. Why did Hades choose these three people and how will our heroes get out of this one?
Hades Discovers Rumple’s Secret
In one of the show’s most predictable “twists,” Belle turns out to be pregnant. Since her child would be Rumple’s second-born, the baby can be used to fulfill the deal Rumple made all those years ago. Hades summons the deceased healer and takes the contract from him so he can use it to threaten Rumple into working for him.
Once Upon a Time season 5 airs Sunday nights at 8pm on ABC.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
