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‘Once Upon A Time’ Season 4, Episode 4: ‘The Apprentice’

Alex Reed |
October 20, 2014 | 12:35 a.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

(Facebook, Once Upon a Time)
(Facebook, Once Upon a Time)
With Hook and Emma finally going on a date and the return of several old rivalries, things appear to be heating up on ABC’s “Once Upon A Time.”

This week’s episode begins with a flashback to “a long time ago.” A Dark One – one that precedes Rumpelstiltskin – challenges the Sorcerer’s Apprentice for the box that Rumpelstiltskin now has and knows turns into the hat from “Fantasia.” The defeated apprentice warns the Dark One of what the box contains, but Zoso – as it says on his dagger – tries to open the box anyway, only to be held back by an enchantment. The apprentice informs him that any man who has given in to his own darkness will never be able to open the box. But – fast forward to the present day – Rumpelstiltskin is able to open the box and reveal the hat using his dagger.

After last week’s acknowledging that she needs to let Hook in, Emma asks him on a date. He accepts on the condition that he gets to plan it. As he puts it, she knows how to chase monsters, but he knows how to plan evening out. She says that she doesn’t “pillage and plunder” on a first date, but he replies that it’s because she hasn’t been on a date with him yet. Emma walks out to her car to find that it’s surrounded by a puddle of water and is immediately suspicious.

READ MORE: 'Once Upon A Time' Season 4, Episode 3: 'Rocky Road'

Meanwhile, Hook pays Rumpelstiltskin a visit because he wants to make another deal – using Belle’s lack of knowledge about the dagger as leverage. Rumpelstiltskin tells him that he needs to be careful or he might just take Hook’s other hand. Coincidentally, Hook is there to get his hand replaced before his date with Emma. Rumpelstiltskin says he can reattach his hand – which he kept as a reminder that he “should’ve finished the job when [he] had the chance” – but warns that it belonged to a man who was a selfish pirate and could turn Hook back into that man. Hook laughs off the warning and insists on his hand being reattached. Rumpelstiltskin obliges but reaffirms his warning as Hook leaves.

Mary Margaret and David show Elsa the records from Storybrooke’s various curses to see if there is any trace of Anna ever being in town. Emma comes out to show them her outfit for her date with Hook. Mary Margaret and David – new to being parents with a daughter going on dates – gush and take pictures. When Hook arrives, he surprises everyone by ditching his leather cloak for a leather jacket and jeans – and a hook for a hand as he gives Emma a rose. They leave before David can play the protective father and David, Mary Margaret and Elsa begin poring over the records for traces of Anna.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Anna follows her lead to Rumpelstiltskin’s house. Being Rumpelstiltskin, he immediately knows that Anna would like to find out why her parents came to him. But – also true to character – Rumpelstiltskin has “a penchant for making deals.” He gives her a small vile of something and tells her that she needs to go to the edge of the Dark Mountains, find the old man that lives there and slip the substance into his tea. Without any more information, Rumpelstiltskin produces one of his famous contracts for her to sign, promising that his end of the deal will be information on why her parents came to see him.

She agrees and finds the old man – who turns out to be the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. He invites her in for tea and biscuits. While he sweeps his floor, she goes over to the tea kettle and pulls out the vile, but decides to dump its contents into the fireplace.  

READ MORE: 'Once Upon A Time' Season 4, Episode 2: 'White Out'

Hook and Emma arrive at a restaurant. He jokes that he’s only seen her go on one date and it was with a flying monkey – who proposed and then tried to kill her. When Hook offers to order them drinks, she says she wants to stay sober in case there’s another run-in with the Snow Queen. Emma insists that the Snow Queen’s presence has something to do with her – further proven by the puddle under her car earlier. Will Scarlet – known to Emma as the thief from the ice cream shop – spots her and makes a clumsy exit that causes a waiter to spill food on Emma. Hook grabs Will – with his newly-reattached hand – and demands an apology for Emma. She looks appalled and calms him down until she recognizes Will. He runs out and Emma makes a move to go after him, but decides against it.

Henry and Regina go to her vault to look for a way to unfreeze Marian – with little luck. Henry thinks that she doesn’t have anything powerful enough because Robin still loves Regina. He says Regina should be happy that he loves her more than Marian, but Regina tells him that he’s too young to understand.

Hook walks Emma home and she thanks him for helping her forget that Storybrooke is surrounded by ice from the evil Snow Queen. He apologizes for overreacting at dinner and asks her on another date. She accepts and they kiss – during which Hook is examining his hand with an uneasy look on his face.

Emma goes inside to find her parent’s waiting up. Mary Margaret wants to hear everything, while David looks skeptic and clarifies that he doesn’t want to hear everything. Emma says she really needs to get her own apartment and goes to bed. Mary Margaret comments that Emma seems really happy and David says that Hook must’ve really changed – all of which Emma heard from the other room.

READ MORE: 'Once Upon A Time' Season 4 Premiere: 'A Tale Of Two Sisters'

While walking home, Hook finds Will trying to break into the library. He tells Will that there’s nothing worth stealing from the library, but Will continues to try to break in. Hook punches him and knocks him to the ground, then realizes that it’s his hand acting for him and leaves – telling Will not to say anything about it to anyone. Once he’s alone, Hook admits to himself that Rumpelstiltskin was right.

Anna returns to Rumpelstiltskin’s house with the empty vile to prove that she held up her end of the deal. Rumpelstiltskin then tells her that the vile was filled with an antidote to poison and Anna admits that she didn’t really give it to him. She insists he give her more antidote to take to him, but Rumpelstiltskin says it’s too late. He shows her his crystal ball, in which the apprentice has turned into a mouse.

Anna rushes back to the apprentice’s home to find and save him, but Rumpelstiltskin shows up to tell her that there’s nothing he can do – because he doesn’t want to. He admits that the apprentice was protecting something that he needed. He was testing Anna because the object that the apprentice protects is also protected by an enchantment that can only be broken by someone who has been tempted by inner darkness and turned away – someone like Anna. She tells him that she was never tempted by her darkness and Rumpelstiltskin tells her that in that case, she will now have to live in his tower – per their contract. He says her absence will turn Elsa into a monster and her wedding will be canceled. She grabs a sword to challenge him and he tells her that the only way to escape her fate is to kill him. She considers – unknowingly tempted by her inner darkness – but doesn’t do it. Now, she has done exactly what Rumpelstiltskin wanted. As Anna cries, he catches one of her tears on his dagger, which is exactly what he needs to break the box’s enchantment.  She calls him a monster for turning love into a weapon. As he descends into the apprentice’s basement to retrieve the box, he replies that it always has been, but so few people know who to wield it.

(Facebook, Once Upon a Time)
(Facebook, Once Upon a Time)
Hook ambushes Rumpelstiltskin as he’s leaving his shop for the night and demands that Rumpelstiltskin get rid of his hand or he’ll tell Belle about the dagger. Seemingly in anticipation of this situation, Rumpelstiltskin informs Hook that he already switched the daggers. Rumpelstiltskin says he’ll take his hand off for a favor to be redeemed at a later time, but Hook refuses and says he’ll find another way. Rumpelstiltskin tells him that because his magic put the hand on, only his can take it off. Realizing that he’s only going to continue losing control, Hook agrees to the deal and Rumpelstiltskin tells him to meet him at the docks the next day.

As Emma drives through town the next day, her car hits a patch of ice in the road. She gets out of the car and follows the ice to the Snow Queen, who promptly disappears. She then gets a call from Belle, asking her to come to library to deal with a “situation”: Will lying unconscious on the floor.

READ MORE: 'Once Upon A Time' Season 4 Preview

Hook and Rumpelstiltskin meet at the docks like they agreed and Rumpelstiltskin produces a broomstick that is going to help him find an “old friend.”

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Rumpelstiltskin emerges from the apprentice’s basement and Anna demands that he fulfill his end of their deal. He tells her that her parents came to him for something that would take away Elsa’s powers forever. Anna insists that her parents loved Elsa, but Rumpelstiltskin suggested that they feared her. He says that they never found what they were looking for because nobody could possess that kind of power until now – gesturing to the box he stole from the apprentice. The hat inside it was made thousands of years ago by a sorcerer and its purpose was to steal magical power. Rumpelstiltskin plans to use it to collect enough power to make him “unstoppable.” Anna begs him not to use it because the apprentice dedicated his life to keeping it out of the wrong hands. The apprentice – in mouse form – jumps from the ceiling and bites Rumpelstiltskin on the hand, causing him to drop his dagger. Anna picks it up and tells him not to come near her, which she soon realizes is an order that he has to follow while she’s holding the dagger. He reveals that he wants the hat so that he can find a way to free himself from the dagger’s control and keep his power. She says that she can’t let him do that and demands that he give her the box. She also demands that she and the box be sent back to Arendelle and that the apprentice be turned back into a human. He does as she says and retrieves the dagger from where she drops it.

The broom leads Hook and Rumpelstiltskin to the door of apprentice’s Storybrooke home. Rumpelstiltskin uses Hook as the muscle of his operation, telling him to make the apprentice take a seat. Hook holds him down as Rumpelstiltskin shows the apprentice how he can release the hat from the box – using the dagger that he hold told Hook was back in Belle’s possession. The apprentice is shocked, but tells Rumpelstiltskin that he will still not be able to collect enough magic to do what he wants. Rumpelstiltskin tells the apprentice that he will, but the apprentice won’t be there to see it and then sucks the apprentice into the hat.  

Anna arrives back in Arendelle and surprises Kristoff – who is happy to see her but realizes that something’s wrong. She tells him that her mission didn’t go as planned and confirms that her parents left because they were afraid of Elsa.

READ MORE: 'Once Upon A Time' Casts Its 'Frozen' Elsa

Hook demands that Rumpelstiltskin take his hand and reattach his hook. Rumpelstiltskin does so, but says their deal isn’t over yet. Hook insists that it is because he saw Rumpelstiltskin use the real dagger, meaning Belle doesn’t have it. But Rumpelstiltskin then shows him a VHS, which contains footage from the apprentice’s house. Hook insists that Emma will understand once he explains, but then Rumpelstiltskin tells him that there’s nothing wrong with his old hand. He said that all the hand did was give Hook permission to be the man he really is. Hook threatens to tell Belle everything and Rumpelstiltskin warns that if Hook goes after his love, Hook will lose his. He says that Hook will owe him for the rest of his life for threatening to ruin his marriage.

Emma wakes up Will – who is now lying in a jail cell. She asks him why he broke into the library, but he doesn’t remember because he had been drinking. Emma holds up a copy of “Alice in Wonderland” and says it was on him at the library, but he denies knowing anything about it. She then asks who punched him in the face – as Hook walks in. Will looks at him knowingly and then tells Emma that he doesn’t know who did it.

Emma notices that Hook is missing a hand again and he says that Rumpelstiltskin couldn’t fix it. David then calls Emma over to tell her that the Snow Queen’s Storybrooke alias isn’t in any of the town records, which means she didn’t come to town with any of the curses.

Henry comes to Regina’s vault to tell her that he’s made progress in Operation Mongoose. He thinks that Rumpelstiltskin – a villain who found his happy ending – must have found a way to rewrite his story and he may be able to help Regina do the same. Regina doubts that Rumpelstiltskin would ever help her, which is why Henry says that he plans to find out by going undercover.

Henry does this by asking Rumpelstiltskin – his grandfather – for a job in his shop. Rumpelstiltskin agrees but tells him to stay out of the back room and to not touch anything without asking. He tells Henry that he can be his apprentice. When Henry asks what an apprentice does, Rumpelstiltskin says that they do many things, but Henry can start by sweeping the floor – using the original apprentice’s broom.

Catch “Once Upon A Time” Sundays at 8/7c on ABC.

Reach Staff Reporter Alex Reed here.



 

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