Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-6175354-20140319185751/@comment-24674051-20140506165655

You know what, Belle dumping Rumple (as any self-respecting girl should do in this situation) might be just the catalyst to send Rumple over the edge and become a true villian. Then the next at least half season could be spent on trying to stop him. (Don't kill him, though.  He's a great character, he just needs a good dose of whoop-a opened on him).

And just maybe the way that he is finally defeated is when Belle FINALLY gets all the way through to his heart. But that would be as much an adventure for her as it would be for Rumple.

In other words, instead of just the passing "Beauty and the Beast" reference we have, go full on with that story.

And the nice part of it is that you could do this completely in Storybrooke. And stay focused on the just the Core cast.