Once Upon a Time Review: Strange Case (Season 6 Episode 4)
Is it just me, or does “Strange Case” feel like an episode of Once Upon a Time that belongs much further along in this season? Many of the events (particularly surrounding Jekyll/Hyde) feel oddly plotted, and they don’t quite live up to the emotional impact that they seem to be going for.
The biggest news out of Once Upon a Time Season 6 Episode 4 is that Jekyll and Hyde are both no longer. They’re dead, technically at Hook’s hand.
Talk about a twist! I was really expecting to get more mileage out of those two (or out of Hyde, at least). We’re only four episodes into the season! Sam Witwer is a great actor, and the show definitely could have done a lot more with him. Especially after “Strange Case” introduces all that potential for inner depth and redemption.
I’ll admit, too, that I’m one of the few who was a big fan of the potential Hyde/Evil Queen pairing. Harrumph. I’m disappointed.
The flashbacks in Once Upon a Time‘s latest installment focus on Jekyll and the origin of Hyde. As it turns out, Rumple had a direct hand in the creation of the latest Storybrooke foe.
The flashbacks reveal that Rumple shows up at Jekyll’s lab, after he’s failed to impress his crush Mary Lydgate (or her father Dr. Lydgate) with his serum, meant to extract the “bad things” – like passion and anger and, incidentally, evil – out of the drinker. Rumple essentially peer-pressures Jekyll into testing out the serum on himself.
I already didn’t care about Jekyll at all, but “Strange Case” makes me actively dislike him.
Mary reveals that she could never love him after she wakes up in bed with him after a night with Mr. Hyde (twist!), calling him weak and crazy – and honestly, I agree with her. His reasoning for unleashing Hyde to begin with is incredibly lame – he wants the guy to get him admission to a fancy aristocratic club? Seriously, dude?
The twist that Hyde is actually the better of the two men (or at least once was, when Jekyll “accidentally” pushes Mary to her death and allows Hyde to take the blame) is an interesting one. At the very least, it’s unexpected. But as I mentioned in my intro, this reveal would have gone over a lot better had it been saved until later on in the season.
We hardly knew Jekyll, so we hadn’t built up much trust in him. Similarly, we’d barely gotten a taste of the full damage Hyde could do before the “But he has/had a heart!” reveal. It’s just a cheap shock when Jekyll goes after Belle on the boat, intending to get revenge on Gold for having indirectly caused Mary’s death all those years ago. So the twist doesn’t quite work for me, as well as it could have, for those reasons.
Hook gets to have his hero moment when he saves Belle from Jekyll, inadvertently killing the not-so-good doctor (and, by extension, Hyde) during the fight, when Jekyll gets shoved into a spear on the boat. Convenient, just having those fishing spears lying around, ready to go.
While I am definitely a Hook fan and like the idea of Hook making amends for the crap he’s put Belle through over the years (and oh, there’s a lot of it), this is all almost too much at once.
Hook giving Belle that conch shell plot device conveniently right before her attack and then showing up in the knick of time so that Rumple is forced to watch the man he hates rescue his wife? It’s all a little too much. I sort of would have preferred it if Belle had fended for herself in that moment and fought off Jekyll on her own. She’s not that pregnant yet, after all.
Speaking of Belle – I legitimately have no idea where they’re going with Rumbelle’s storyline, and it’s freaking me out.
Rumbelle has never been my #1 favorite Once Upon a Time pairing, but I’ve always liked them and understand the appeal. But now? The appeal is waning.
Rumple’s huge error in “Strange Case” is his belief that he knows better than Belle what’s best for her and their child. That’s just not cool. I get that he’s desperate to protect her, and in that desperation he made the bad call that he thought was the best bet to keep her safe – but boy, did that backfire.
And even if it hadn’t backfired – that’s majorly disrespectful to Belle. They’re supposed to be equals – a partnership. By magically locking her on the boat, Rumple essentially treats Belle like an object – regardless of whether or not that’s how he meant it, that’s how it is.
During their conversation on the dock following Belle’s close call with Jekyll, there are also so many red flags in what Rumple says to her.
The biggest red flag? When he gets angry after she says that threats won’t make her love him again and tells her that she’ll love him again “out of necessity.” That’s just so beyond screwed up. He’s obviously hurt that he can’t win Belle back, but it’s an unbelievably cruel and, honestly, sort of scary thing to say.
From where they stand now, I don’t know how Rumbelle’s relationship can ever be repaired. Of course, I’d love to be proven wrong – but I just don’t understand how they can possibly backtrack when so much trust has been shattered between them.
Of course, in spite of all this, the performances from Robert Carlyle and Emilie de Ravin are incredible during their confrontation scenes. Even when they’re at odds, they sure do have chemistry.
There are two big overall plot developments that take place in the closing scenes of “Strange Case.”
The first is that Regina flips the script on Emma. Realizing during her conversation with Rumple that the only surefire way to kill an evil doppelganger (Evil Queen) is to kill the original (Regina), Regina has her friend make a version of the same promise she made to Emma back in Camelot – to kill Regina herself, if it came down to it.
Emma is aghast at the idea, but reluctantly agrees – especially after Regina reveals that despite separating, the capacity for evil remains in her as it remained in Jekyll. This also sets up the distinct possibility that, as Emma thought already, her deadly foe under the hood could actually be the Evil Queen (or Regina).
If Regina dies this season, I will seriously FLIP OUT. She’s my favorite character, by a landslide. The show just wouldn’t be the same without her. Ditto Emma.
The other big development – Princess Jasmine is in town!
Karen David makes her debut as “Shirin,” Snow White’s teacher’s aide at Snow’s school. She gives Snow a pep talk that allows her to embrace her Snow White-ness and become a more effective teacher. It’s definitely a cute, not-too-serious subplot for Snow to deal with while the rest of her family is off on the much more pressing matter of battling the season’s Big Bad.
Even if we hadn’t already known that Karen David is playing Princess Jasmine, the fact that Shirin = Jasmine is made so, so ridiculously obvious during her conversations with Snow.
That cautionary tale she tells, about the princess who didn’t embrace her destiny back in “Shirin’s” old kingdom, losing said kingdom to a villain? Obviously, the princess is “Shirin” (aka, Jasmine), the kingdom is Agrabah, and the villain is Jafar.
I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough why Jasmine feels the need to keep her true identity a secret from everyone – and what exactly she and the Oracle are up to in their quest to find Aladdin (who is apparently somewhere in Storybrooke!). At the very least, I’m definitely intrigued by it all.
Other thoughts:
- Dr. Lydgate is someone we’ve seen before – he was the doctor at the asylum that housed Alice in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, a show that I actually loved and still miss. I might be alone in that regard.
- It’s a brief moment, but I love David’s concerned-dad moment in the woods with Emma, about her moving in with Hook. It’s so cute! Almost made me forget about his silly vengeance quest (but not quite).
- Great detail: The Evil Queen and Regina both compliment Gold on his new hairdo and make the exact same comment – that it highlights his eyes.
- On the point of Rumple’s haircut – it looks so good! I love Bobby Carlyle’s look either way, but the shorter hair makes him look a lot younger. It’s a fun new change.
- But please, for the love of all that is Disney, do NOT make Rumple/Evil Queen a thing. Unless, of course, you want to kill Rumbelle forever and ever. Lana Parrilla and Bobby Carlyle obviously have chemistry, but there’s way too much history there. Not a fan.
- I’ll be honest – I’d completely forgotten about Violet, so it was super jarring to see her suddenly pop up at the school and smooch on Henry.
What did you think of this episode of Once Upon a Time? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Once Upon a Time airs Sunday at 8/7c on ABC.
Caralynn Lippo
Caralynn is a freelance writer and editor, but most importantly, she is a diehard TV addict. A few of her current favorites are Mr. Robot, You're the Worst, iZombie, and The Vampire Diaries. She also writes about TV for Romper, The TV Junkies, and TV Fanatic.