Discussion Questions for The Outsider

[chloris]

A bit late this week, but I have my questions and discussion points for the episode. My review is here.



1. Once again there is a twist at the end so we'll start there. What does it mean that Belle has lost her FLT memories? Do you think she had any memories of Storybrooke other than the secret prison? Gold says it can't be undone. Can it be undone and, if so, how quickly do you think they'll resolve it? Will Gold be willing to leave Storybrooke while Belle still can't remember?

2. Perhaps what will bring back her memories is True Love's Kiss. But we know that won't work if the other person doesn't remember being in love. Will we get an arc of Rumpel trying to get Belle to fall in love with him again? Perhaps that is what he needs to get himself acually on the road to redemption.

3. Who is the Outsider? From his license plate he is from Pennsylvania. Do you think he is a 'true' outsider or someone who has a connection to FTL?

4. Well, Archie is free again! Nice funeral though. Has the damage been done even if they now know she was innocent?

5. Okay, it's getting silly. Where the hell is Pinocchio? He is (last we saw) a magical, wooden puppet meaning he can't leave town since no magic means dead hunk of wood. Archie was DEAD. He would be at the funeral. Unless...the Blue Fairy managed to change him back to human, gave him a task, and sent him out of town. If they ever tie up his storyline I expect an explanation about this.

6. Just how suicidal is Hook? I've lost count of how many times he has asked someone to kill him (twice at least in this episode alone). Is he that unhappy with his life or is there more to it?

7. Also, was there more to his plan other than 'let the Dark One beat me to death'? For a man who has spent 300 years planning his revenge he seems to have NO PLAN. Knocking Belle over the line was complete luck. Luck and the bit where Gold apparently didn't even tie him up so Hook couldn't come after them. Of course, if he had killed Hook in the first place all those years ago he would have the bean and there would be no curse!

8. Did the Snow/Charming story line work for you in this episode? It does make sense they would be thinking about a larger home and it provided a good jumping off point for a discussion about what each of them want for the future. However, it was a b-story with little connection to the main story.

9. Was anyone else happy to see Belle surrounded by books in this episode? In both the flashbacks and the present she used the power of research to solve problems.

10. It was nice to have Prince Phillip on screen again. I wonder if we are going to see more of his travels with Mulan or if we'll skip to Mulan and Aurora saving his soul.

Comments

[fiones]

5. THE LACK OF AUGUST IS INFURIATING, like seriously how has he not even been mentioned since the beginning, like you'd think Gepetto would be tearing the place apart trying to find him but everyone just seems to like "well okay then..." W T F

6. i don't think he's suicidal, he just takes great pleasure in baiting people, and as far as Rumpel's concerned, he probably was happy to have Rumpel show his true colors in front of Belle.

7. he has no plan. regina didn't have a plan. cora doesn't have a plan. no one plans anything except for rumpel who plans everything.

8. everything about that subplot was dumb. they were obviously just trying to keep them relevant.

10. i hope we skip straight to mulan and aurora falling in love or have aurora's backstory with maleficent or mulan's backstory rather than anything to do with phillip because he is a flop and i don't want him.

[chloris]

5. I have to think that Gepetto found him and knows where he is or nothing makes any sense. However, WE don't know where August is so it doesn't make any sense. It hadn't bothered me too much before since I was distracted by shiny things but when we have Archie's funeral and he's not there. Well, that is not good.

6. Yeah, that was probably part of it - to shake her faith in Rumpel. But I think there's more to it. Or at least I hope there is.

7. Heh. Maybe it's a fairytale thing to live in the moment.

10. They haven't already fallen in love? I saw Mulan on a quest for her lady's heart and then the two of them had a moment with gasping and everything. Yes, the two of them are now questing together to find Phillip but the poor guy's soul is being tortured. They are good - they would have to help.

I think Phillip is rather adorable but he unfortunately has about as much personality as most of the princes on the show. I could definitely get behind more Maleficent though. Why DID she go from hanging out with her little unicorn to full vengeance mode again?

[lilacsigil]

1. I'm very interested to see who Belle's Storybrook self is, since she actually got locked up the whole time and never got to be it. I loved her flashback with her Power of Research!

5.I personally don't like and don't miss August, but the complete lack of him doesn't make any sense.

7. Nobody has a plan. This is a show made up of almost entirely of people who act entirely based on their emotions. Rumpelstiltskin looks like a genius in comparison even though his plans are not all that great either!

[beatrice_otter]

Belle plans. She uses research. Of course, her lack of actual practical experience doesn't help her execution of her plans, but.

The others, you have a point.

[lilacsigil]

You're right. Belle has excellent plans, but terrible execution. Know where the yaoguai is? Go there alone with only a small dagger and no fighting experience! Work out where Hook is? Go there without telling anyone and no backup! She should team up with Emma, who has no plans at all, but has the skills to get through anyway.

[chloris]

1. I'm interested in finding out if she has one! Are her only memories of the hospital *she's been there as long as she can remember* or does she have a past? The Power of Research is very cute and very Belle but not always practical. :)

5. Basically, I want them to give us a reason he would not be at Archie's funeral. I can handwave Abigail and Ella and others who aren't around but August is tied to Archie and Gepetto and they ARE around.

7. Yes, I know! No plans! It bugs me sometimes though! Three centuries is enough time to come up with a plan more complex than 'taunt him to kill me.'

[johngreen]

1. I know I mentioned this before, but I feel like Gold is going to end up using dark magic to restore Belle's memories and that will not be okay with Belle. I think her cutting him off permanently will ultimately culminate in Gold's trying to seek out redemption and atone for his sins.

3. No clue on the outsider, unless it's Bae, but I feel like Emma's sweetheart from Tallahassee favors young Bae more than the dude that I saw on the previews.

4. I wish we could have seen Archie reunite with everyone. I also can't wait until Regina gets in her I-told-you-so's.

5. I don't know where August is, but I really do want him back. He knows things, though, so I feel like there's a reason why he's in hiding. I mean, he's a puppet, right? He probably doesn't need to eat - he can live out in the woods and, you know, let hijinks ensue.

7. I sort of wonder if Hook wants Gold to beat him up for a reason. To activate some curse that Cora taught him, maybe? I refuse to believe he spent all that time with her and didn't pick up a few tricks.

10. I just want more Philip/Mulan in general. That needs to happen. I sort of... feel like it already happened.

[chloris]

1. If he hurts anyone to help her, yes, she would not be happy. If no one is harmed, I don't believe she would care. (Since she is not against magic just hurting people with or without magic.)

3. I hope that's not Bae or the whole 'finding a way out of town' plot for Gold would be rather useless. :)

5. We really need to find out what is up with him soon because it's getting a little silly. Even a line or two from a character talking about him would be okay if they can't have the actor.

7. I have to think he has a few tricks too! To spend 300 years and learn almost nothing is not very proactive of him.

10. Ah, a Phillip/Mulan shipper? I've seen plenty of shippers of the other permutations (OT3, Aurora/Mulan, Phillip/Aurora) but I think if they had a little more screen time together they would be easy to ship.

[johngreen]

I agree with all your points, but I wanted to say this - I pretty much ship everyone together on this show. I'm a indiscriminate shipper, which is why I laugh at the people that get into really awful arguments on tumblr about what ship is better.

[faithinseeds]

Yes, where is August? I find it strange that he did not attend Archie's funeral. I heard that the actor playing him had some, issues with the producers or something, and there was a bit of a conflict.

[chloris]

I heard that rumor too but I'm not sure how much stock I put into it. I think it's more an issue of the actor being busy unfortunately. However, that doesn't excuse them not even mentioning him for the past however many episodes.

[hyperbole]

Soo I am late to the party, having only just had the time to watch this episode and never having joined any discussions here before, but I had a thought re: 1. I think it would make perfect sense for Rumpelstiltskin to explain the situation to Belle/whatever-her-other-name-will-be and convince her to go with him to find his son. She has nothing to lose and wouldn't be safe/fit in in Storybrooke. It's exactly what they wished for, right? :D It'd also give him plenty of opportunity to get to know her new self/work out if they still have a Thing.

Oh, and is it just me or did they totally fail to mention to ANYONE that Hook was there with his ship now? 'Cause it would have been really helpful for the rest of them to maybe start suspecting that they don't know all the things going on. I am kind of worried about what Cora is going to do next. =/

And re: 8. I like that Snow is being assertive and proactive about adapting/going on living, but that whole plotline is SO unexciting compared to everything else that is happening.

[chloris]

But the question is what did the curse create for memories for cursed-Belle? Belle never heard of pancakes or hamburgers or iced tea. From that it seems she knows nothing of our world. If all she remembers for her entire existence is the asylum and being entirely alone all the time, I'm not sure a road trip would work for her.

Yep, no one mentioned it. However, we didn't hear everything Archie had to say so it's possible he said something. Gold would never tell since he doesn't believe in ever sharing info if he doesn't have to. :)