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"Dark Waters" is the sixth episode of Season Six of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Andrew Chambliss & Brigitte Hales, and directed by Robert Duncan. It is the one hundred and seventeenth episode of the series overall, and premiered on October 30, 2016.
Synopsis
Emma tries to convince Aladdin to work with Jasmine to help Agrabah, while Regina teams up with Snow and David to free Archie from Zelena. The Evil Queen sows suspicion between Henry and Hook, even as Mr. Gold reminds her of his most important lesson. Meanwhile, in the past, Hook finds himself kidnapped by the mysterious Captain Nemo and held captive inside his legendary submarine, the Nautilus.[2]
Recap
The first scene is during the period of the first Dark Curse after Emma settled in Storybrooke, when time started moving again. Hook is yelling at his crew on the Jolly Roger when he is soon confronted by an unknown man who snuck aboard the vessel. But just as Hook is about to kill the unwanted guest, a Submarine appears, and the mysterious man pushes Hook into the ocean, jumping in after him. Hook then wakes up aboard the Nautilus and meets the stowaway, revealed to be Captain Nemo, who wants Hook to help out with a mission and shows him an enchanted spear blade to make a point. Nemo is aware of Hook's vengeance as he also once wanted revenge, but once he achieved it, he realized its meaninglessness and tries to persuade Hook to find something more important than vengeance, like a family. Inside the caverns, Hook and Nemo search the area and makes friends with a crewman who tells Hook that he also once wanted revenge on the person who killed his family until Nemo adopted him and taught him to accept a new family. Out of nowhere a giant squid attacks Hook upon reaching the location and Nemo uses the spear on the squid, allowing the crewman to save Hook.
As Nemo opens the treasure chest, he reveals a key to the gateway of the "Mysterious Island," where they can each start a new life that is devoid of loss. During their conversation, Hook recognizes a blade on Nemo’s desk, causing him to inquire about the crewman, and discovered that it belonged to his half-brother Liam, who is revealed to be the person that accompanied Hook and Nemo. As Hook decides to leave so he won't have to face Liam for killing their father, Nemo tries to stop him, but Liam discovers the truth and tries to stab Hook, his desire for vengeance returning. However, Nemo takes the hit and Hook escapes off the ship, as Liam is mortified. Nemo is able to survive, but only by going to the Mysterious Island, where his life is paused.
In the present day, Regina stands outside of Zelena’s house calling out the Evil Queen, and gets her and Zelena's attention, unaware that it was a ploy to free Archie (still in his cricket form), and succeeds. When Zelena and the Evil Queen hear Robin crying, they are given a warning from Regina, Snow, and David, and disappear.
At Granny's, Aladdin, who no longer sees himself as The Savior, is being convinced by Jasmine to help save Agrabah. When he leaves, she calls Emma for help. Emma kidnaps Aladdin after finding him trying to steal a car, bringing him to the city line to show him the crack in the sign left when she crashed her car there while trying to leave. She tells him that like him, she has run from her duty as the Savior many times, but always came back to it because it was right, prompting Aladdin to open up to Emma about what happened in Agrabah. Emma encourages Aladdin to own his responsibilities. When they return, Aladdin apologizes to Jasmine, who tells him the kingdom disappeared after he left.
While Emma takes Aladdin away, Henry, who was at home with Killian, goes outside to take out the trash, and the Evil Queen appears to tell Henry that Killian has kept the Fates’ Shears inside a box instead of burying them as he told Emma. When Killian leaves the house to look for Henry, he realizes that Henry knows the truth. He then heads to the docks to stop Henry from throwing the Shears into the ocean. As Henry becomes furious with Killian over why he lied to Emma, out of nowhere crewmen from the Nautilus take Hook and Henry hostage and bring them to the submarine. On board as prisoners, Killian opens up to Henry about how he killed his father, after he abandoned him and Liam, and later learning his father remarried and also had a new son, which Killian tells Henry it was too much for him to handle. As the two find a way to escape, they can find only one suit for escape, so Killian insists Henry use it to alert Emma. After Henry escapes, Killian is suddenly confronted by his half-brother Liam, who explains that Hyde took Nemo to the Mysterious Island which is revealed to be the Land of Untold Stories. Henry, realizing that Killian is family and that he must help, returns to distract Liam, allowing Killian to knock his brother unconscious.
While on patrol, David finds a man who has been gravely injured. He rushes him to the hospital where Snow is waiting for him. As the man is rushed into emergency surgery, Snow and David realize that he must be the latest arrival. Snow helps Belle in the waiting room get ready for her first ultrasound without Gold, who caught on to the Evil Queen's deception involving the Shears (of Destiny, as Gold called it), which he wanted to acquire to change the destiny of his unborn child, but she lies saying they're gone. Later on, Killian visits Liam at the hospital where he explains that he is no longer the man Liam knew. Liam and Killiam reconcile. Just as Liam laments that Nemo didn't get to witness their reconciliation, the mystery patient is wheeled in. It's Captain Nemo. Killiam explains that after he was found, he was successfully treated. Nemo and Liam share an emotional reunion. Killian comes clean to Emma about the Shears and that he and Henry disposed of them for good and she forgives him. Belle later drops a picture of the ultrasound at the door of the Pawn Shop as The Evil Queen visits and seduces Gold, but doesn't walk in. The Evil Queen then shows Gold the Shears she just retrieved from the ocean after having told Henry earlier that she didn't want them, and proposes a plan with Gold's help, which is to take Snow's heart.
Deleted Scenes
Doc and Archie were deleted from the episode, even though David Avalon and Raphael Sbarge are both listed in the press release.[2]
Cast[2]
Starring |
Guest Starring
Co-Starring
Uncredited
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Trivia
Title
- The title card features a kraken.[3]
- The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on August 23, 2016.[4]
- The episode's title appears in a passage in chapter 3 of the first part of Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and in chapter 3 of the second part of the novel. In the former, the first-person narrator Professor Pierre Aronnax describes, "The furnaces were stoked; the propeller churned the waves more swiftly; the frigate skirted the flat, yellow coast of Long Island; and at eight o'clock in the evening, after the lights of Fire Island had vanished into the northwest, we ran at full steam onto the dark waters of the Atlantic." In the latter, Aronnax narrates, "Under these dark waters there stretched the bank of shellfish, an inexhaustible field of pearls more than twenty miles long."[5]
Production Notes
- REUSED FOOTAGE: The opening shot of the Jolly Roger[6] is a flipped version of a shot of Hook's ship sailing on Poseidon's ocean in the Season Four episode "Poor Unfortunate Soul."[7]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: When Hook first meets Captain Nemo, Nemo introduces himself as "no one." Nemo is Latin for "no one."
- REAL WORLD FACTS: Hook throws Henry's unhealthy breakfast in the garbage and suggests a pirate's breakfast of grapefruit and boiled mackerel instead, adding "there will be no scurvy here today." Scurvy is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C in the diet. It is commonly associated with sailors in the 16th to 18th centuries who navigated long voyages without enough vitamin C and frequently perished from the condition;[8] this disease killed over an estimated two million sailors during the Age of Sail,[9] more sailors than were lost in all sea battles combined.[10] In the eighteenth century, it was discovered that scurvy could be prevented and cured by consuming citrus fruit (grapefruits and other citrus fruits are full of vitamin c), which led to the prevention of scurvy.[11]
- REUSED FOOTAGE: The establishing shot of Granny's Diner is stock footage from the filming of the Season Four episode "Smash the Mirror."[12] This can be seen from the identical foliage on the trees and the climbing plants.
- The segments with Belle and the two ultrasound pictures were inspired by Brigitte Hales' real life experience from when she was pregnant with her own daughter. When she got two ultrasound pictures, she asked why, and was told that it was standard procedure.[13]
- ABANDONED IDEAS: The episode script features additional dialogue between Belle and Mary Margaret, in which Belle comments on the flowers at the Storybrooke General Hospital, and Mary Margaret tells her about how she used to deliver them, and that this was how she found David when he was in a coma.[14]
Event Chronology
- The Enchanted Forest flashbacks take place at the time of the Dark Curse, after Emma decided to stay in Storybrooke in "Pilot" (which is when time started moving again in the Enchanted Forest and all the lands with magic, according to "Broken") and before the curse is broken in "A Land Without Magic."[15]
- The Storybrooke events take place after "Street Rats" and before "Heartless." (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
Episode Connections
- Aboard the Jolly Roger, Hook complains about the pace and remarks that Mr. Smee would not have stood for this. The reason why Smee is not there is explained in "The Crocodile," which establishes that Smee was taken by the Dark Curse.
- The garden shed where Hook hides the Shears of Destiny is the same shed where Emma kept the dreamcatchers in "Dreamcatcher."
- Regina calls the serum queen "queenie." Emma used the same word to address the Snow Queen in "The Snow Queen." It is also similar to "greenie," Regina's nickname for Zelena in "Mother."
- Regina references the serum queen masquerading as Archie, an event shown in "Street Rats."
- Archie was turned into a cricket and imprisoned in a cage in "Street Rats."
- Aladdin admits cutting his Savior ties, something he first revealed in "Street Rats."
- The serum queen mentions having a difficult time adjusting when someone new joined her and Henry's family. This began in "Pilot."
- Hook declares no one can ever replace what the Dark One took from him. The loss that led him to seek revenge against the Dark One was elaborated upon in "The Crocodile."
- Henry mentions the Wookiee prisoner gag" from "Operation Mongoose Part 2" and "The Dark Swan."
- Emma shows Aladdin the "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign that she crashed into in "Pilot," and mentions Regina's apple cider from the same episode.
- Hook tells Henry about how he killed his own father and left his young brother an orphan, an event that took place in "Swan Song."
- How Agrabah disappeared, is revealed in "A Wondrous Place." Agrabah is restored in the same episode.
- It is revealed that Liam brought Captain Nemo to the Mysterious Island in order to keep him from dying. The Count of Monte Cristo did the same thing in "A Bitter Draught" to save Charlotte's life.
- Nemo has recovered from his injuries by the time of "Page 23."
- Belle recalls how the Dream World version of her son looked at Mr. Gold with hatred, an event shown in "The Savior."
- The serum queen desires Snow White's heart, and she gets it in "Heartless."
Biblical
- The name of the Shears of Destiny is reminiscent of the Spear of Destiny, the Holy Lance's alternative name. Like the shears, the Spear of Destiny is closely connected to the Savior, as it is said to be the weapon used to pierce Jesus Christ's side as he hung on the cross.
Disney
- The design of the Nautilus is heavily similar to its design from the Disney film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
- Henry mentions the "Wookiee prisoner gag" from "Operation Mongoose Part 2" and "The Dark Swan"; a reference to the scene from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, where Han Solo and Luke Skywalker pretend Chewbacca the Wookiee is their prisoner in order to enter the Death Star's detention area and rescue Princess Leia.
- Hook wonders what a Wookiee is, and Henry says, "It's from -," but doesn't finish the sentence.
- This episode contains a number of other references to Disney works. See the list of Disney references for more.
Fairytales and Folklore
- This episode is a rendition of the Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea story, featuring Captain Nemo, his first mate, the giant squid and the Nautilus.
- This episode features the ugly duckling from the titular fairytale, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, the evil queen from the "Snow White" fairytale, Aladdin and the princess from the One Thousand and One Nights story, and the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story.
- 🍎 APPLES: The serum queen shows up in Emma's garden, eating an apple; a reference to the poisoned apple from the "Snow White" fairytale. In addition, when Mr. Gold pays the serum queen a visit, a red apple martini is sitting on Zelena's table.[16]
- Hook refers to the creature that attacks him as a kraken. The kraken is a legendary sea monster of giant size that is said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland.
- The Land of Untold Stories is revealed to be the Mysterious Island from the book of the same name.
- When Regina tells her she wants to talk, the serum queen retorts, "Or what? You'll huff, and you'll puff, and you'll blow the house down?" This is a reference to The Three Little Pigs.
Popular Culture
- While trying to find Henry in the backyard, Hook is holding a Xbox controller.[17]
- REAL WORLD FACTS: He notes that "they clearly didn't design these things for people like me." In September 2018, Microsoft released the Xbox Adaptive Controller, which is designed for people with a disability.[18]
Props Notes
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The magazine Belle is reading at the Storybrooke General Hospital is called Modern Maternity.[19]
- ARTWORKS: The spell book that Mr. Gold is reading[20] contains an illustration (seen upside-down) of a crucified serpent, which is also known as an alchemical cross. This is an old alchemical symbol representing the "fixing of the volatile," as in making the elixir of mercury.[21] The picture is from a book about ancient alchemy: Uraltes chymisches Werk (Age-Old Chemical Work) by Abraham Eleazar, which was first published in 1734. Nothing is known about Abraham Eleazar, who was supposedly a Jewish alchemist. His name was most likely fictional, and the real author seems to have been a person called Julius Gervasius of Schwarzburg.[22]
- Note that the illustration has been modified for the show. The show's version is mirror-inverted and colorized, and the size of the cross has been changed. Extra symbols have been added and the caption has been changed to "Rex Mundi," which is Latin for "king of the world."
- The caption below the illustration cannot be deciphered on-screen. However, according to the concept art by graphic designer Neil Westlake,[23] and an online prop auction from October 2019,[24] it reads:
Mundi Universalem, and penetrates all things
under the heavens. This is our Materia
so have we also of the coagulirten.
Air Repariren.
- The text is adapted from another work by Abraham Eleazar, The Book of Abraham the Jew from 1774. The original excerpt is identical to the one from the book, except that it says "winged Serpent" instead of "Serpent."[25]
- PAUSE AND READ: The opposite page[20] is adapted from The Book of Ceremonial Magic by the American-born, British poet and scholarly mystic A. E. Waite. The book was first published in 1889 and is an attempt to document many of the famous grimoires (textbooks of magic). The except in Gold's book is from chapter seven, "The Method of Honorius."[26] Note that most of the text is illegible on-screen. It can be read in its entirety in an online prop auction from October 2019[24] (the illegible text is set in fuchsia; in addition, one line of the transcript has been shrunken down to fit within the table):
(differences are set in bold) | |
| After the Office of the Dead the operator shall extinguish the taper, and at sunrise shall cut the throat of a male lamb of nine days, taking care that the blood does not gush forth upon the earth. He shall skin the lamb, and shall cast its tongue and heart into the fire. |
After the Office of the Dead the operator shall extinguish the taper, and at sunrise shall cut the throat of a male lamb of nine days, taking care that the blood does not gush forth upon the earth. He shall skin the lamb, and shall cast its tongue and heart into the fire. |
| The fire must be freshly kindled, and the ashes shall be preserved for use at the proper time. | |
| The skin of the lamb shall be spread in the middle of a field, and for the space of nine days shall be sprinkled four times every day with water. On the tenth day the lambskin shall be coveredwith [sic] the ashes of the heart and tongue, and with the ashes. [sic] |
The skin of the lamb shall be spread in the middle of a field and for the space of nine days shall be sprinkled four times every day with holy water. On the tenth day, before the rising of the sun, the lambskin shall be covered with the ashes of the heart and tongue, and with the ashes also of the cock. |
| On Thursday the flesh of the lamb shall be interred in a secret place where no bird can come, and the magi with his right thumb shall inscribe on the earth the sigil here indicated |
On Thursday, 1 after sunset, the flesh of the lamb shall be interred in a secret place where no bird can come, and the priest with his right thumb shall inscribe on the grave the characters here indicated |
- USE IT AGAIN: The spell book is the same book that Mr. Gold is flipping through when Hook and Emma attempt to steal the Dark One Dagger from him in "Changelings." He later uses it to look up information for his son Gideon, on how to repair the Hrunting, in "Ill-Boding Patterns."[27]
Set Dressing
- ARTWORKS: Two paintings by the American artist Megan Lightell, Morning Creekside[28] and Summer Secret,[29] are hanging in the waiting area at the Storybrooke General Hospital.[30]
- REUSED PROPS: Morning Creekside was also present in other hospital rooms in the Season Two episodes "In the Name of the Brother,"[31] "Tiny"[32] and "Lacey,"[33] and the Season Three episode "Kansas."[34]
- Morning Creekside also appears in the Portland motel room where Emma and Neal stay in the Season Two episode "Tallahassee."[35]
- Summer Secret can also be seen in Weaver's hospital room in Seattle in the Season Seven episodes "Beauty"[36] and "Wake Up Call."[37]
- When Mr. Gold pays the serum queen a visit, a red apple martini and a green apple martini are sitting on Zelena's table.[16]
- REUSED PROPS: A framed picture hanging on the wall in Liam's hospital room[38] can also be seen in the hotel room where Emma and Cleo were staying in the Season Five episode "Firebird."[39] It can also be seen in the hospital room where Henry is recuperating in "The Final Battle Part 1."[40]
Costume Notes
- SECONDHAND CLOTHING: The epaulettes on Captain Nemo's shoulders[41] are the same design worn by Gerhart[42] and Alphonse Frankenstein[43] in the Season Two episode "In the Name of the Brother," the General in the Season Four episode "Rocky Road,"[44] the Duke of Weselton[45] and King Harald[46] in the Season Four episode "The Snow Queen," and by the Royal Palace Guards of Oz in the Season Four episode "Heart of Gold,"[47] the Season Five episode "Our Decay"[48] and the Season Six episode "Where Bluebirds Fly."[49] Nemo wears them again in "Page 23"[50] and "A Wondrous Place."[51]
- BRAND INFO: Emma is wearing[52] a A.L.C Sosta Dress[53] and a Alice + Olivia Shawl Jacket.[54] Her shoes are Zimmermann Lace Up Dress Booties in the color black.[55]
- The dress was also worn by the character Liza Miller on an episode of the comedy-drama series Younger.[56]
- BRAND INFO: Belle is wearing[57] a Diane von Fürstenberg Marisa Print Silk Tie Neck Dress.[58]
- The dress was also worn by the character Jessica Day on an episode of the comedy-drama series New Girl[59] and by Mandy Baxter on an episode of the sitcom series Last Man Standing.[60]
Filming Locations
- Allard Crescent near Derby Reach Park, in Langley, British Columbia, doubles as the Storybrooke town line for this episode.[61]
- The scenes aboard the Nautilus were filmed on a television set built at The Bridge Studios.[62]
- The scene in the underwater grotto was filmed on an indoor set.[63] Part of the grotto was real, while the rest was added digitally in post-production.
International Titles
| International Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Title | Translation |
| French | "En Eaux Troubles" | "On Troubled Waters" |
| German | "Viele Meilen unter dem Meer" | "Many Miles Under the Sea" |
| Italian | "Acque profonde" | "Deep Waters" |
| Portuguese | "Águas Escuras" | "Dark Waters" |
Videos
References
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