Darkness on the Edge of Town

"Darkness on the Edge of Town" is the twelfth episode of Season Four of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, and directed by Jon Amiel. It is the seventy-eighth episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 1, 2015.

Synopsis
With Gold banished from town, the residents of Storybrooke attempt to resume their normal lives. Hook and Belle search for a way to release the fairies from the Sorcerer’s hat, while Emma, Henry and Regina continue to look for clues that could lead them to the Author. But when a terrifying darkness descends on the town, Emma and Regina are forced to confront the true nature of evil. Meanwhile, in New York, Gold and Ursula enlist Cruella De Vil to join their cause.

Recap
In the Forbidden Fortress of the past, Ursula takes down a guard with her tentacles. As she walks through a corridor, she is challenged by the castle's owner Maleficent. She attempts to attack Maleficent with her tentacles, but is blocked by Maleficent's staff. The women struggle, during which Ursula reveals that she was invited to the Fortress, and Maleficent informs that she owns the castle and did not send for Ursula. The struggle is interrupted as two barking rottweilers run up to the women. Maleficent points her staff at them. Just then, Cruella De Vil approaches and Maleficent stands down. Cruella employs some kind of breath charm on the dogs, calming them. She then demands to know why she is at the Forbidden Fortress. Maleficent again explains that it is her home and she didn't send for anyone. As she menaces the other women, calling them trespassers, Rumplestiltskin appears, calling for peace. Maleficent deduces that Rumplestiltskin has assembled the trio. He explains that the four of them have something in common--they're villains, and it's "time the villains got their happy endings".

In present-day Storybrooke, citizens try to go about more "normal" lives. Regina Mills exits Granny's Diner with Henry and puts him on the school bus. At Storybrooke Elementary School, Mary Margaret Blanchard is teaching students again, including Henry. At the Mayor's office in the town hall, Regina is setting up her desk. She notices a brightly colored painting of a bluebird--left over from Mary Margaret's tenure as Mayor--and shoots a fireball at it, burning it. She smiles. At her and her family's apartment, Emma Swan waves goodbye to Granny and baby Neal as she puts on her jacket. Hook waits outside the pawnshop with coffee for himself and Emma. The pair stroll down to the Storybrooke Free Public Library together where they greet Belle French. Emma continues on and Hook enters the library with Belle.

Inside the library, Hook gazes at a case board for events surrounding the nuns being sucked into the Sorcerer's Hat, including a missing person report on the Mother Superior. In frustration, he knocks the board off the wall. He laments that six weeks have passed and the nuns are still trapped. Belle reassures him that she's reached out to the finest minds in the world and that someone will get back to her, they will release the fairies from the hat, and find away to release the others, including the "old man" Hook trapped in the hat. Hook calls himself "weak", for having let Mr. Gold control him. Belle agrees, and laments that she, too, was influenced by Mr. Gold when she should have known better. The pair agree that they were blinded by love. Hook tells Belle that, despite how terrible Mr. Gold was, he did love her. Near tears, Belle replies that he's gone forever, and she hopes he finds what he's looking for.

In present day New York City, Mr. Gold micorwaves himself a cup of Ramen in a small apartment filled with fish tanks as Ursula enters. She tells Mr. Gold that she's starting to think he's all talk and is just freeloading in her apartment. Mr. Gold retorts that her meager accomodations are nothing compared to what he's providing, and that he will fix all her problems. When Ursula claims he doesn't care about her, Mr. Gold agrees. He further claims that Urusla is fortunate that her desires align with his. As he eats his noodles, the nearby computer pings, indicating an email. Usula inquires, and Mr. Gold, with a smile, claims it's the beginning of the end of their misery, and that it's time to "visit an old friend".

In Great Neck, Long Island, Mr. Gold and Urusla approach a large white mansion. A crowd has gathered as Cruella De Vil's husband is being arrested and valuables removed by the FBI. Cruella wrests a black and white fur coat from one agent, claiming it was hers "before".

Starring

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
 * Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills
 * Josh Dallas as David Nolan
 * Emilie de Ravin as Belle French
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
 * Michael Socha (Credit only)
 * Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold

Guest Starring

 * Kristin Bauer van Straten as Maleficent
 * Merrin Dungey as Ursula
 * Beverley Elliott as Granny
 * Victoria Smurfit as Cruella De Vil
 * Keegan Connor Tracy as Mother Superior

Co-Starring

 * Panou as FBI Agent
 * Michael Querin as Banker/Cruella's Husband

Uncredited

 * Unknown baby as Neal Nolan
 * Daniel Dae Kim as Fast food worker (voice)

Production Notes

 * The title card features Cruella's car.
 * Adam Horowitz is a fan of the singer Bruce Springsteen. This episode shares its name with a song from the rock star's album of the same name.
 * Mother Superior's missing person form says:

Date of report: Nov 6th Time of report: 14:35

Name of person missing: Mother Superior

First name: Reul Surname: Ghorm

Address: Convent of the Sisters of St. Meissa

2356 Mulberry Court, Storybrooke

Home number: 555-0166

Description of clothing: Convent attire/habit

When and where were they last seen?: Granny's Diner on Main at approximately 19:10 hrs

What steps have been taken to trace the missing person?

Interviewed all known associates

Person reporting missing person (name):

Sister Manning

Address: Convent of the Sisters of St. Meissa

2356 Mulberry Court, Storybrooke

Phone number: 555-0166

Relationship to missing person: Sister Manning [image ends]

Name of reporting staff member: A[image ends] [image begins] see report # 3417

These portals break in [obscured] reality and create a [obscured] use for the inversion of [obscured] any time or plac[obscured]
 * Adam Horowitz has previously stated that Season Four takes place in the early part of 2013, long before the movie Frozen (a late-November release) was released, but this is proven to be incorrect in this episode.
 * Reul Ghorm is Scottish Gaelic for "blue star".
 * The phone number 555-0166 is also on a poster inside the library.
 * In the Storybrooke Library, handwritten notes on a piece of paper next to a photograph of the Apprentice's house say:
 * A piece of paper next to an illustration of Sorcerer's Hat, mentions two property owners in Drummond Island, Michigan, named Peter and Emilia Lurie.
 * Ursula's New York apartment is filled with ocean-themed decorations, including a squid-shaped wall hook, fish wall decor, a picture of a fish and a coral-shaped porcelain ornament.
 * A small statue of a raven is sitting on a table inside the Forbidden Fortress.
 * The symbols on the rock where Regina frees the nuns are Elder Futhark runes. The characters spell out the word "ground".

Events Chronology

 * The Enchanted Forest flashback takes place before "Heroes and Villains".
 * The Land Without Magic events take place after "Heroes and Villains".

Episode Connections

 * Belle mentions Hook trapping The Apprentice in the Sorcerer's hat, which happened in "The Apprentice".
 * Emma recalls stealing the yellow bug, an event shown in "Tallahassee".
 * Mr. Gold, Cruella and Ursula discuss Maleficent's death. She was "killed" twice, in "A Land Without Magic" and "The Evil Queen".

Disney

 * This episode features Chernabog and the Bald Mountain from Disney's Fantasia.
 * According to a note on the board in the Storybrooke library, the owner of the Apprentice's house is Yen Sid, a reference to the powerful sorcerer from Fantasia.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features Rumplestiltskin from the "Rumpelstiltskin" fairytale, the Wicked Fairy from "Sleeping Beauty", the Sea Witch from "The Little Mermaid", Cruella De Vil from "The Hundred and One Dalmatians" and Captain Hook from the "Peter Pan" story.
 * Chernabog from Disney's Fantasia, is based on Chernobog, a deity from Slavic mythology. Bald Mountain from the same movie, is based on Night on Bald Mountain, a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky.

Lost

 * Cruella De Vil, Mr. Gold and Ursula go to a Mr. Cluck Chicken Shack restaurant, a famous fast food franchise in the show.

Popular Culture

 * The "professor" (aka Mr. Gold) which translated the spell for Belle, is supposedly from Oxford, a reference to the famous British research university.