Board Thread:Rant and Rave/@comment-31592902-20170630182255/@comment-25926288-20170713172411

Aine1989 wrote:

I think the thing with Rumple is that he cannot have a healthy relationship. It's one of his core character traits. We saw it with Baelfire, with Milah and then with Belle. I will mostly agree with this. Rumple establishes a desire to control everything in the lives of those he loves, due to his own parental abandonment. Even at his best, he tried to control the situation and that's the kind of guy he is.

However, there were healthy components in each of his relationships that made it well-rounded. Belle definitely grew to match Rumple. Belle was a cheerleader, which Rumple needed from his self-loathing, but she became a doormat. Soon, she started to speak up for herself and it became more equal. But then they shoved her off the screen. XD