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"Tougher Than the Rest" is the eleventh episode of Season Six of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, and directed by Billy Gierhart. It is the one hundred and twenty-second episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 5, 2017.
Synopsis
With Snow still asleep in Storybrooke, David and Hook race to stop Gideon before he can confront Emma. Gideon makes a startling confession to Belle and Gold about his whereabouts while he was missing. Meanwhile, Regina struggles with the realization that everyone, perhaps even Robin, is better off in the alternate world where the Evil Queen was defeated. And when Emma inspires a familiar face to help her and Regina return home, she discovers the power to change her fate.[2]
Recap
In the Characters' Past
In winter 1990 Minnesota, a young Emma has run away from a group home and is living on the streets of Minneapolis. While she is tearing pages out of a fairy tale book to keep her warm, a teenage boy approaches her and stops Emma from tearing the pages. He then shows her a story from the book - The Golden Age Compendium of Children's Fairy Tales - "The Ugly Duckling", to tell her that out of the bad things that she sees around her that great things will come her way. Emma agrees to return to the group home, and tells the woman who took her in that her last name was Swan.
In the Wish Realm
After they miss the opportunity to escape back to Storybrooke, Emma and Regina are forced to hand over their items to Robin, whom Regina believes is real although Emma says otherwise. When they hear horses coming, Robin escapes but Emma and Regina are now hiding from Prince Henry, who believes Regina is still the Evil Queen. Afterwards, Emma comes across Pinocchio, and after explaining that they're from another realm, they come up with a plan to build a magical wardrobe so they can return home. Regina, on the other hand, decides to find out about the Wish realm Robin, and she tracks him down to his tavern. While there, she asks Robin if he would’ve been better off if she had never pursued him, only to have their conversation be interrupted by the Sheriff of Nottingham, who places them in jail. Regina discovers that Marian in this realm has died and Robin is unhappy; in this realm, Robin is a wanted thief as he keeps everything he steals instead of giving it to the poor. Suddenly the Wish realm Rumplestiltskin arrives and frees them, but instead of Rumplestiltskin returning the favor for freeing her after she did the same for him, Regina finds herself in Rumplestiltskin's custody, because in this realm she had Belle killed. Regina tells Robin that where she comes from the real Robin was murdered. Robin agrees to help Regina escape and they do.
Meanwhile, Emma and Pinocchio start working on the ingredients needed to create the portal, when they come across a Wish realm version of Hook, except this one is an alcoholic and wants to start fights. As Emma uses her magic to send him back to his ship, Hook accidentally breaks one of Pinocchio’s magical tools. Pinocchio gives Emma a present, which turns out to be a wooden figure of a swan, similar to the one Emma saw in “The Ugly Duckling" in the flashback, and she learns that he is the teenager who convinced her to return to the group home in the real realm. Pinocchio wanted Emma to know that because of him inspiring her, Emma has inspired him now to embrace the magic within. After Pinocchio finishes the portal, Emma and Regina are ready, with the latter bringing Robin with her. As Robin gives Regina a feather similar to the one the real Robin was about to give her before he died, Regina believes that the real Robin's spirit still lives on in this Robin. The threesome enter the portal and return to Storybrooke.
In Storybrooke
At the Pawn Shop, Gideon explains to Belle and Gold about how he was raised by the Black Fairy, but he resisted turning evil on his own will, although he still plans to kill Emma, because her powers as a Savior are the only way to kill his grandmother, and he wants to defeat her. Hours later in the woods, Gold meets with Gideon to offer his help, but Gideon refuses upon being provoked by Gold to attack him. At the loft, David, who by now is frustrated and even has Hook worried while looking for their unwanted visitor earlier, explains to Snow (via cellphone as she is still under the shared sleeping curse) that until the threat is over he won't wake her up. Belle shows up at the loft to tell David about Gideon being the one who'll kill Emma, and she is hoping they can come up with a plan to stop it.
As Emma returns to Storybrooke, the vision is about to be played out, and as expected is suddenly approached by Gideon; the two start their sword fight. Gideon eventually manages to knock Emma's sword from her grasp and into the air, catching it, before teleporting his original sword away. Emma’s family and friends arrive to stop them, but Gideon freezes them, so they can't interfere. Emma gains the upper hand when she regains confidence in herself, gaining control of her shaking hand, and releasing a burst of light magic that sends Gideon into the air, shattering the sword. Emma grabs a fragment of the sword's blade while Gideon is still stunned, and she places the sword at his throat, only to have Gideon (at the request of Gold not to kill him) end the battle by disappearing, until they meet again. Hours later, Emma meets up with August to ask him about their past encounter in Minnesota and discovers that he was keeping tabs on her to keep her safe; both work on a plan that could change Emma's destiny with August adding a new chapter to the storybook. Meanwhile, Gold tells Belle that he doesn't want Gideon killing Emma, or darkening his soul, and the two agree to help their son, who, in the wake of his defeated battle with Emma, takes out his frustrations by destroying the face of the clock tower.
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Deleted Scenes
These scenes are included on Once Upon a Time: The Complete Sixth Season.
"Nowhere To Run" (Scene 13)
As Zelena packs up her things to leave town for good, Belle comes in and says that Zelena can't leave because Gold wants her dead and he will come after her. Zelena mocks her saying that he already tried to kill her once and he failed, to which Belle replies that it was actually the Evil Queen who failed. She also says that he has now someone much stronger: their son, and she does not want him to take advantage of him. As she tries to convince her, Zelena agrees to help her.
"Back-Up Plan" (Scene 17)
Belle and Zelena enter the sheriff's station, and David is surprised to see Zelena helping them. Belle then tells them the plan, which is breaking the protection spell on Mr. Gold's cabin, finding the shears and cutting away his son's destiny to become a Savior and to hurt anyone. Zelena listens until she's had enough and immobilizes Belle to talk to David and Hook alone, as she thinks Belle and her plan are nothing more than a fantasy. She then tells them her own back-up plan, which is throwing the dark fairy dust that is on the Evil Queen's snake form on Gideon, if anything goes wrong. Zelena then releases Belle, and David and Hook agree with Zelena's plan.
"Good People" (Scene 21-22)
David, Hook, Zelena and Belle come to Mr. Gold's cabin to put the plan they made, into motion. After Zelena breaks the protection spell on the cabin, they see both Mr. Gold and Gideon, and the shears with them. Belle then tells her son to stop what he's doing, because killing a good person to get what he wants is never the answer. Otherwise, he will turn out just like his father. Zelena then takes out the dark fairy dust that was part of her back-up plan, which surprises Belle as she didn't know about this. Mr. Gold mocks Belle, saying it appears that she trusted the wrong pirate. Zelena then throws the dust over Gideon, who easily blocks it and says that now they are cutting them down to get what they want. After Zelena teleports, Gideon tells the group that he doesn't need anyone's help and that after he kills the Savior, he will come after them.
Cast[2]
Starring
Guest Starring |
Co-Starring
Uncredited
|
Note:
*: Only in archive footage
Trivia
Title
- The title card features the enchanted tree.[3]
- The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on October 21, 2016.[4]
- MUSICAL INSPIRATION: Adam Horowitz is a fan of the singer Bruce Springsteen.[5] This episode shares its name with a song from the rock star's 1987 album Tunnel of Love.
Production Notes
- This episode reveals that young Emma adopted the last name "Swan" after reading the story of "The Ugly Duckling." Jennifer Morrison has previously stated that Emma got her last name from her first foster parents,[6] but this is proven apocryphal in this episode.
- ABANDONED IDEAS: In the episode script, after Robin asks Regina to hand over her necklace, Emma says, "Give it to him. He doesn't know you."[7] This line is not in the final episode.
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The tavern where Regina finds Robin[8] is the Wish Realm version of the Enchanted Forest tavern where Queen Regina and Tinker Bell found the real Robin Hood in the Season Three episode "Quite a Common Fairy."[9] The two buildings share the same facade.
- Jennifer Morrison and Eion Bailey kept bursting into laughter while shooting the scenes with Wish Realm Hook.[10]
- REAL WORLD FACTS: Emma comments on August's typewriter and says that she wasn't sure if the sound she heard was from a typewriter or a Tommy gun. This is one of the nicknames for the Thompson submachine gun, which is also known as the "Chicago typewriter," because the sound of a Tommy gun being fired in the distance resembles the sound of typing on a typewriter, and because the weapon was in popular use in Chicago during the 1920s.
Event Chronology
- The Land Without Magic flashbacks take place during the winter of 1990, the year after the flashback of "The Dark Swan" and 2 years before "The Song in Your Heart." (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
- The Dark Realm quick-scenes take place after the Black Fairy kidnapped Gideon in "Wish You Were Here."
- The scenes are shown in "Mother's Little Helper."
- The Storybrooke events take place after "Wish You Were Here" and before "Murder Most Foul."
- The Wish Realm events take place after "Wish You Were Here" and before "Breadcrumbs."
Episode Connections
- Emma and Regina were trapped in the Wish Realm in "Wish You Were Here."
- Gideon was taken by the Black Fairy in "Wish You Were Here."
- What the Black Fairy did to Gideon is shown in "Mother's Little Helper."
- Gideon's real motive for coming to Storybrooke and killing the Savior is revealed in "Mother's Little Helper."
- David and Mary Margaret were put under a Sleeping Curse in "Heartless."
- David wished that the Evil Queen would get what she deserved, thus bringing Gideon to Storybrooke in "Wish You Were Here."
- Robin Hood was killed by Hades in "Last Rites."
- Wish Henry began his quest for vengeance against Regina, who killed King David and Queen Snow, in "Wish You Were Here."
- Regina rescued the Wish Realm's Rumplestiltskin in "Wish You Were Here."
- The Wish realm version of Rumplestiltskin prepares to skin Regina alive for what "she" did to Belle. The real version tried to do the same to Robin Hood in "Lacey."
- Robin of Locksley returns to his own world in "Page 23."
- The blue box where Emma keeps the fairy-tale book from her childhood,[11] is the same box that she showed to Hook at the sheriff's station in "Breaking Glass."[12] The box first appears when she unpacks her things in "The Price of Gold."[13] In "The Song in Your Heart," she opens the same box to look through her possessions.[14]
- The clock tower's clock, which Gideon destroys, has been repaired by the time of "Ill-Boding Patterns."
Disney
- The story that August is typing contains a reference to Pleasure Island from Disney's Pinocchio.[15] This is also a foreshadowing of the next episode, "Murder Most Foul," where Pleasure Island appears in flashbacks.
Lost
- If you watch closely or play it in slow motion when Gideon destroys the clock tower's clock, you can see that the time is 8:15,[16] a reference to Oceanic Flight 815 from Lost.
Fairy Tales and Folklore
- This episode features the ugly duckling from the titular fairy tale, Pinocchio from the The Adventures of Pinocchio story, Robin Hood from the ballads, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, and Rumplestiltskin from the "Rumplestiltskin" fairy tale.
- Emma reads the fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling" as a child.
- PAUSE AND READ: The show's version of the story is taken from a nineteenth century translation called Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales (published sometime prior to 1889), translated by "Mrs. H. B. Paull" (link to pages). It reads:[17]
The Ugly Duckling |
- PAUSE AND READ: The back cover of the fairy tale collection that young Emma is reading, lists a set of stories by Hans Christian Andersen: "Thumbelina," "The Red Shoes," "The Princess on the Pea," "The Emperor's New Clothes," and of course, "The Ugly Duckling."[18]
- The princess and the frog from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "The Frog Prince," and the White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, are pictured on the front cover.[18]
- Excerpts from "The Nightingale," another fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, can be glimpsed when Emma burns the pages.[19] This translation is also from Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales (link to text – the opening words of the excerpt can be seen in the first paragraph). While most of the text is readable on-screen, some of it is illegible; the following is the excerpt in its entirety:
nodded, but a poor fisherman, who had heard the real nightingale, said, |
- Pinocchio is a wood carver, a reference to The Adventures of Pinocchio, where his father Geppetto has the same profession.
Props Notes
- HIDDEN DETAILS: As young Emma is hiding under the bridge, she is covering up with her old baby blanket to keep warm.[21]
- For the Wish Realm scenes by the enchanted tree, a tree stump prop was used on location.[22] It was CGIed into a leafy tree during post-production.
Costume Notes
- BRAND INFO: During her visit at the Blanchard loft, Belle is wearing[23] a Brooks Brothers Wool Twill Jacket[24] (no longer available).
- USE IT AGAIN: The doublet worn by the Wish Realm Sheriff of Nottingham[25] is the same garment worn by Nottingham's main reality counterpart in the Season Two episode "Lacey"[26] and the Season Four episode "Mother"[27] and by Lancelot on Guinevere's birthday in "The Broken Kingdom."[28]
Filming Locations
- The scenes by the enchanted tree were filmed in Vancouver's Stanley Park,[29] by the pathway known as the Stanley Park SeaWall.[30]
Goofs
- During the scene where Wish Henry searches for his mother and the Evil Queen along the water's edge, a horse wrangler can be seen in the lower half of the screen.[31]
International Titles
| International Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Title | Translation |
| French | "L'Autre Robin" | "The Other Robin" |
| German | "Hilfe von Pinocchio" | "Help From Pinocchio" |
| Italian | "Il cigno" | "The Swan" |
| Portuguese | "Mais Valente que os Outros" | "More Valiant Than the Others" |
Videos
