"Labor of Love" is the thirteenth episode of Season Five of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Andrew Chambliss & Dana Horgan, and directed by Billy Gierhart. It is the one hundred and first episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 13, 2016.
Synopsis
In the Underworld, an escapee from Hades' prison informs the heroes that Hook is being held captive. But before the heroes can rescue Hook, they must face a terrifying beast that guards the prison. Mary Margaret searches for an old childhood friend who knows how to defeat the monster. However, once reunited, she discovers that her friend is no longer the hero he once was. Meanwhile, in an Enchanted Forest flashback, a young Snow White struggles to preserve peace in her kingdom and must learn how to be a true hero if she wants to one day become queen.[2]
Recap
In the early days of the Enchanted Forest, a young Snow White is asked to defend her kingdom from bandits who are working with the Evil Queen but flees into the forest, believing she cannot help them with her father away. After she falls into a hunting trap Snow is saved by Hercules, who is on a quest to complete the final part of his Twelve Labors, which is to hunt down Cerberus. He encourages Snow White not to give up, and he even offers to train her for battle, suggesting that she fight the bandits herself. When Snow faces the bandits, she foolishly drops her arrows, then loses her dignity when Hercules defends her. Using his past mistakes and learning from them, Hercules inspires her to try again, and she successfully aims at the bandits' weapons, prompting the bandits to leave the kingdom, and setting up her future as the bandit princess. Snow White thanks Hercules for helping her and says she will make a great Queen and Olympus will have a great hero like him and they kiss goodbye.
Deep inside Hades' lair, an injured Hook awakens and notices a young woman who is also trapped with him in the chamber. As he struggles to move Hook convinces the young woman to run for help and asks for Emma. As they reach the exit, a three-headed hellhound creature, Cerberus, chases after the two. Above at the cemetery, Mary Margaret and David look at the gravestones of those who Mary Margaret felt she had failed as alluded in the flashback, But David is confident that they can protect Emma and tells Mary Margaret that she can be able to succeed. When she sees the tombstone of Hercules, David is surprised to learn that she knew the Demi-God, and believes that he has unfinished business with her, which gives them the idea to help him while seeking out Hook. Regina and Robin meet up with Emma and Henry. Regina tells Robin that she has maps at the Mayor's office and Henry and Robin head there but when Regina turns around Emma has taken off and calls for her. Emma notices fresh blood and traces the direction, but instead they find the young woman and she says she knows Killian. As soon as they hear the roar of Cerberus, Emma uses her magic to take them to the Underworld version of Mary Margaret's apartment. Later on at Granny's Diner, Emma and Regina are joined by Mary Margaret, and thanks to the Blind Witch, they find Hercules, who they hope he will complete his Twelve Labors before he can move on, being Cerberus.
At the Mayor's office, Henry breaks in to get the maps as Robin stands guard. Instead of finding the map, Henry sees Cruella, who explains to him that because he is now the Author, he can bring her back to life, and despite the fact that he broke the Quill, it’s still alive in the Underworld as it has unfinished business to write people's stories. She tells Henry if he helps her escape the Underworld, it will be as if she never died, and therefore, Emma’s soul will be pure again. Unfortunately when Robin asks Henry if he found the map as they leave the office, Henry lies to Robin that he didn’t find anything or anyone.
As they reached the tunnel with Cerberus waiting for them, Hercules starts to lose his courage in front of Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina. Hades then appears and tells the women that Cerberus was the creature responsible for killing Hercules (who happens to be Hades' nephew), then gives Emma Hook's bloodied hook as a gift. Back at the apartment, Mary Margaret believes its time for Hercules, who regretted fighting Cerberus alone, to fight the creature as a team. When Cerberus enters the apartment, everyone splits up, leaving Hercules, Mary Margaret, and the woman trapped inside the library. Hercules suddenly gives the woman his dagger, then grabs a pipe for himself, and Mary Margaret readies her arrows. The trio then use their weapons on Cerberus and successfully kill the creature. The woman faints and Hercules catches her, and when she comes to they introduce each other, as she revealed to Hercules her name is Megara, or as her friends called her, Meg.
As everyone meets back at Granny's Diner, they learn that it was their "unfinished business" for Hercules to rescue Meg from Cerberus, as he died during his fight with the creature and Meg later died after he failed. The crew takes them to the crossing, and Hercules and Meg ascend together to Olympus. As the clock ticks twice, Hades has decided that it's time for the outsiders to pay by punishing them. He arrives to see his prisoner Hook, and tells him that for each soul his friends help escape, one of them will have to stay forever. Hades forces Hook to decide which of his friends will pay for this by creating new tombstones for him to engrave with a chisel.
Deleted Scenes
"Reality Check"
This scene is included on Once Upon a Time: The Complete Fifth Season.
At the Underbrooke Blanchard loft, Emma is upset due to Hades leaving proof that he is torturing Hook. David comes to comfort her and says that they will handle it, while Mary Margaret backs off and blames herself, and remarking that she realizes the "reality" now. As she walks upstairs, Regina stops David and goes to talk to her herself.
Cast[2]
Starring
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Guest Starring
Co-Starring
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Trivia
Title
- The title card features the Underworld cemetery.[3]
- The title of this episode was announced by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on November 10, 2015.[4]
Production Notes
- CAST NOTES: Kerry van der Griend, who plays the peasant, also plays thief #1 in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "Who's Alice".
- ABANDONED IDEAS: According to Andrew Chambliss, the writers had been waiting to explain how Snow White learned her archery skills for a very long time. Many ideas as to how were pitched over the years until this episode was written.[5]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The word "scientia" is written over the entrance to Cruella's office[6] and the entrance to the room outside the mayor's office.[7] "Scientia" is Latin for knowledge, science.[8]
- According to footage from the Season Four Blu-ray/DVD featurette "Behind the Magic Tour", the word is also written over the office entrance in the Storybrooke version of the town hall.
- According to Bailee Madison, who portrays young Snow White, this episode marks her first ever on-screen kiss.[9]
Event Chronology
- The Enchanted Forest flashbacks take place after "Enter the Dragon" and before "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree". (For more details, see the Enchanted Forest timeline)
- The Underworld events take place after "Souls of the Departed" and before "Devil's Due".
Episode Connections
- Hercules teaches Snow White archery, a skill she uses in many episodes, such as "Lady of the Lake" and "Selfless, Brave and True". She later recalls this training to her friend Wilma in "The Evil Queen".
- The Blind Witch confronts Regina over helping Hansel and Gretel kill her. This event was shown in "True North".
- Cruella tells Henry that when he broke the Author's Pen, its power traveled to the Underworld and reformed as another quill. Henry broke the quill in "Operation Mongoose Part 2".
- Cruella also tells Henry that if she is brought back to life, his mother won't be a murderer anymore. This murder took place in "Sympathy for the De Vil".
- Mary Margaret claims Regina took her kingdom, cast a curse and separated her from her daughter for 28 years. Regina replies that Mary Margaret defeated her by becoming friends. These events are detailed in "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter", "The Evil Queen", "Pilot" and "Bleeding Through", respectively.
Disney
- Hercules and Megara's nicknames are "Herc" and "Meg" just like in the film.
- This episode contains a number of other references to Disney works. See the list of Disney references for more.
Lost
- The clock tower is shown at 8:16,[10] just like in the previous episode.[11] 8 and 16 are two of the Lost numbers.
Fairytales and Folklore
- This episode is a rendition of the story about the story of Heracles from Greek mythology, focusing on Hercules' twelve labors, his journey to the Underworld, the defeat of the three-headed dog Cerberus, his relationship with Megara and his ascention to Mount Olympus. Also featured is Hades from Greek mythology.
- Note that "Hercules" is actually the name used in Roman mythology, while Greek mythology uses the name Heracles.
- This episode features the ugly duckling from the titular fairytale, Snow White and the evil queen from the "Snow White" fairytale, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, Robin Hood from the ballads, Cruella De Vil from The Hundred and One Dalmatians and the witch from the "Hansel and Gretel" fairytale.
- The first labor Hercules completed, was defeating the Nemean lion, a vicious monster from Greek mythology.
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Hercules' medals show motifs from the Labors of Hercules:[12] The Nemean lion, the Lernaean Hydra, the Ceryneian Hind, the Erymanthian Boar, the Augean stables, the Stymphalian birds, the Cretan Bull, the Mares of Diomedes, the girdle of Hippolyta, the cattle of the monster Geryon, and the apples of Hesperides. The final labor, Cerberus, is missing, since Hercules hadn't faced him yet.
Props Notes
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The name "Hercules" actually comes from Roman mythology, while Greek mythology uses the name Heracles. Interestingly, Hercules' gravestone in the Underworld reads HERCVLES.[13] On stone inscriptions in Ancient Rome, the U/V letters were both written like the letter V.[14] This is because Latin did not originally have separate letters V and U. Instead, the letter V represented both the vowel U and the consonant V.[15]
- REUSED PROPS: Hercules' bow[16] is the same prop that was used for the enchanted bow in previous seasons.[17]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Cruella's office is decorated with a white greyhound statue (which she touches during her conversation with Henry) and dalmatian-like spotted cushions[18] and curtains.[19]
Set Dressing
- HIDDEN DETAILS: One of the graves in the Underworld cemetery belongs to a "Berryl Dendrus", who was "born June 25th 1903" and "died January 21th 1981".[20] The same headstone prop appears in the Storybrooke graveyard in the Season Six premiere "The Savior".[21]
- BRAND INFO: A vintage Silex-Handybreeze oscillating electric fan made in Iberville, Canada in the 1940s – 1950s,[23] is sitting on the table outside Cruella's office.[24]
Filming Locations
- Robert Burnaby Park in East Burnaby doubles as the Enchanted Forest for the scene where young Snow White defeats Dead Eye and kisses Hercules.[25]
International Titles
International Titles | ||
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Language | Title | Translation |
Finnish | "Urotyö" | "The Labor" |
French | "Cerbère" | "Cerberus" |
German | "Hercules gegen Zerberus" | "Hercules against Cerberus" |
Italian | "Fatiche d'amore" | "Labor of Love" |
Portuguese | "Obra de amor" | "Labor of love" |
Spanish | "El trabajo del amor" | "Love's Work" |
Videos
References
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