‘Once Upon A Time’ Recap: Emma Makes A Dangerous Deal With Mr. Gold

‘Once Upon A Time’ returned Jan. 8 — and there’s a new sheriff in Storybrooke. (RIP, Graham).

We’ve all wondered, at one point or another, how Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) became such a creepy, all-knowing weirdo — and the Jan. 8 episode of Once Upon A Time finally gave us our answer!

In his previous fairytale life, Rumpelstiltskin witnessed a little lady being taken by the Evil Queen’s (Lana Parrilla) army to become a soldier. To get his revenge, he captured “The Dark One” — the man whose powers gave the army its strength — and stabbed him, absorbing all the power for himself. (I will now be referring to him as Rumpel-stab-skin, and I hope you’re all OK with that.)
Back in Storybrooke, Mr. Gold backed Emma (Jennifer Morrison) during the town sheriff elections by staging a fire and setting Emma up to be the town hero. His plan worked, but backfired when Emma announced — in front of the whole town — that she refused to win by shady means.
This act of courage, of course, warmed the hearts of the good people of Storybrooke, who ended up giving Emma their votes anyway. And what was Emma’s first order of business as sheriff? Why, to get herself a new jacket, of course! And, oh boy, did she need one.
But Emma barely had time to celebrate her big win before that creepster Mr. Gold paid her a visit. Remember that favor Emma owed him? It’s time to collect…

— Andy Swift