Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20160321010032/@comment-25926288-20160321215936

Even without this episode, I think fans were either too harsh on Milah or too blinded by some pirate's devotion. Milah was a person that made mistakes, like all of us and like Rumple. I actually think she showed to be Rumple's equal. You don't have to be super-smart or anything, but she matched Rumple's game as she's the only one that had the chance to know the real him. Belle has barely seen that except for an episode and I think she didn't like it. Cora never saw it and was a close match, but Milah is one that can get under Rumple's skin and actually stand up to him without magic or wating a long time.

I actually think that Milah and Rumple's present day moment was genuine and he didn't want to do that to Milah. So, I think the play-acting was very real at least to a degree.