Thoughts on âBeauty,â that Fanfic on TV Last Night
As all the Rumbelle fans know, the real Once Upon a Time ended a few years ago. Since then, thereâve been some fanfic writers with the budget to shoot what look like real TV episodes, but theyâre not fooling anyone.
So, what are my thoughts on this latest offering, âBeautyâ?
It wasnât so bad, all things considered. I think the biggest problem was that the person who did it was trying to make it work with âHyperion Heights,â and some of the other big budget fanfics. I think some of its biggest problems stem from that.
Gideon remains a popular for an OC who was never part of the original series, and I canât fault his use here. Oh, sure, itâs giggle-worthy that the Enchanted Forest (or whatever magical realm they were in) has college entrance letters being sent out (by the way, if you want to know youâre in fairy-tale land, both Belle and Rumple assume an eighteen year-old going to college has moved out permanently), but it was great to see him growing up as the much loved son in a stable, healthy family.Â
Belle and Rumple traveled worlds having adventures before settling down in a piece of beautiful scenery. There were also some great callbacks to previous episodes. Sad as it was, it seemed so fitting for Belle to fallâand be caughtâone more time while letting in the light.
I also liked the way the dagger came back to Rumple when he tried to lose it at the bridge. When he reached for his leg, I thought he was becoming lame again. Instead, he found the dagger in sheath in his boot. It was a good fake-out.
But, that doesnât hide the weaknesses. Like I said, the biggest weakness is still that this episode has to fit into Hyperion Heights. That means, they had to come up with an excuse for what happened to Belle. The idea they came up with is that Belle made a very un-Belle-like choice to speed through her life, losing opportunities for all the things she might have done and the time she might have spent with her son and other family (I remain convinced Belle had at least one daughter). In the end, she did this not because this was the way to break the curse but because her understanding of the prophecy was that she had to die in this place with Rumple there.Â
First, it seems like that gave her a pretty large margin of time to work with. Second, given the track record for prophecies working out just the way people think they will on this show, I wouldnât bet the farm on that one.
By the way, you donât want to have to build a house like that by hand without a lot of people to help you. Even if you were in your twenties in pioneer times, that would have been an accomplishment. If Rumple is limiting himself to the skills of a man in his fifties, thatâs going to be a much smaller house. Also, if heâs not using magic, how did those fancy clothes remain so intact?
Weâre also supposed to believe that Rumple is now actively seeking his death. Does it matter that he has a son, grandson, and great-granddaughter? Assuming Gideon hasnât done anything to expand the family tree? Please.
Thereâs also the glaring mistake at the beginning. Itâs possible Belle and Rumple might allow Hook to come to Gideonâs party because heâs now a package deal with Emma (again, thatâs only if you accept some of the crazier ideas in âHyperion Heights.â For those unfamiliar with it, yes, the author really does say Emma married Hook. So far, this hasnât been revealed as a false memory or the result of a curse, so I suppose âBeautyâ couldnât completely ignore it). But, does anyone believe Belle would invite the woman who tortured her husband and murdered her stepson to her babyâs birthday party? Iâm hoping this was some kind of really bad typo that didnât get caught in time).
I did like the ending with Rumple getting his memories back. Lady Tremaine has no idea what the phrase âworld of hurtâ means or the definition that is coming her way.
So, how do I rate it? I think it would have been a lot better if the author had just broken free from all the âHyperion Heightsâ nonsense and had been able to write a story where something is done about the curse and Belle and Rumple head off into the sunset together. But, once you allow for the basic silliness of that other fanfic (and how HH seems to assume Belle died before it started), I think it was valiant effort. It doesnât replace the real series for me (or even many of the better fanfics), but Iâm giving it points for effort.
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