Recap / Once Upon a Time S6 E5 "Street Rats"

Season 6, Episode 5:

Street Rats

Framed for murder, Jasmine shares the story of how she met Aladdin and why she's searching for him, while the Evil Queen uses Archie to trick the heroes and tries to divide the Charming family. In the Enchanted Forest of years past, before the first curse, Aladdin helps Princess Jasmine recover a secret weapon that could release Jafar's hold on the Sultan and save Agrabah.

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Tropes:

• Anti-Climax: Aladdin and Jafar's "great battle" lasted all of 20 seconds.
• Apathetic Citizens: It's not clear if it's this or Bystander Syndrome at work (and admittedly, there's not much anyone could do against the Evil Queen and the Wicked Witch) but it still seems very odd that Dark!Regina and Zelena can sit in a spa, getting their hair and nails done, blithely discussing evil and raising Robin to be wicked, with none of the spa workers saying anything or even giving them weird looks/sidling slowly away.
• Booby Trap: Aladdin is Genre Savvy to know the Cave of Wonders is packed with these and the Diamond in the Rough has to be carefully balanced to avoid setting one off.
• Chekhov's Boomerang: The jeweled scarab — first it is used by Jasmine to trap Aladdin into helping her, then she gives it to him as a token of their friendship, and then he uses it in present-day Storybrooke to make the heroes think he's dead (by hiding it in a crypt).
• Continuity Nod:
  • Emma follows the same bird to find the Oracle...that happens to be Iago.
  • Emma brings up her "super-power" of knowing someone's lying to figure out Jasmine is telling the truth.
  • Once again Archie is kidnapped by the Evil Queen, only this time it's her dark half rather than Regina. Also, this time the Evil Queen disguises herself as Archie, rather than Cora disguising herself as Regina. And in fairness to the heroes, despite the Failed a Spot Check below, they immediately figure this out once Archie doesn't turn up for Grumpy's session precisely because of this having happened before.
  • On a related note to the above, the Evil Queen references the previous kidnapping, her own sessions with Archie back at the start of Season 2, and how she treated him as Henry's therapist in Season 1, when she speaks of the "relationship" they used to have.
  • Someone (in this case Emma) again recognizes a character due to having seen the Disney film of them.
  • Aladdin reveals he has been in Storybrooke ever since the first curse, but that no one ever found him because "the sheriff was always off fighting evil."
• Continuity Snarl:
  • Aladdin and Jasmine's tangle with Jafar doesn't mesh well with the events of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. Especially how the Sultan was established as Jafar's father (out of wedlock) and he had only one legitimate heir - a spoiled prince not Jasmine.
  • The Agrabah in this episode is the Capital Of Agrabah which is ruled by a different Sultan. Also Jafar was stated by Jasmine to have fled to the eastern provinces of Agrabah which are the provinces of the Agrabah we see in Wonderland.
  • Jafar's staff which was the transformed Amara in Wonderland is broken by Aladdin in this episode and is seen repaired in a flashback in the episode "The Savior". Which begs the question: did he have a different staff before turning her into one, or it is the same staff but breaking it didn't kill her? And then, as stated, he was able to repair her, and after his confrontations with Aladdin he eventually goes to Wonderland to exact revenge on his father and change the laws of magic starting the spinoff show's plot?
• Couch Gag: The title card features the hourglass Jafar uses on Jasmine.
• Dramatic Irony: Immediately after Emma declares there will be no secrets between them, Killian hides from her that he still has the shears. And the reason for the secrecy is even the same one, to protect the one he loves. Also, the words he uses when he claims he's gotten rid of them, that they are "thousands of leagues under the sea", become both this and Foreshadowing once it was revealed the next episode will be about Captain Nemo.
• Failed a Spot Check: "Archie" blurting out to the gang how Emma has a secret (a violation of doctor-patient confidentiality) should have been a red flag he wasn't himself.
• Forced Transformation:
  • Jafar makes an example of three street thieves by turning them into rats before the frightened eyes of the citizens of Agrabah.
  • Zelena turns Archie back into a cricket. Normally this would not apply, since he originally chose that form, but considering he a) is being held captive in a cage and b) can no longer act as town conscience or specifically help Emma with her therapy, it's clear he isn't happy about the arrangement.
• Frameup: Shirin/Jasmine is framed for the Oracle's murder. However Emma's superpower lets her believe Jasmine's story, so the frameup is immediately dispensed with so they can track down Aladdin instead—especially once she finds out he was another Savior.
• Framing the Guilty Party: How Jasmine manages to get Aladdin to help her, giving him a famed jewel of the vaults. When Aladdin says she can't bribe him, Jasmine says she knows and proceeds to yell about Aladdin stealing the jewel so he has to help her.
• Genre Savvy: Emma overcomes her fear by pointing out to Henry both that "endings always suck" and that until such time as they know if her vision will come true, they can still enjoy the "middle" of their journey.
• Hidden Depths: The Evil Queen's talk with Zelena about Henry, and what lying to him did to their relationship, proves she is still Regina and not just all her darkness as a separate person.
• It's All My Fault: Both Jasmine and Henry suffer from this, since they blame themselves for Aladdin and Emma respectively becoming the Savior, suffering for it, and possibly dying because of it. In both cases however, the ultimate choice was still Aladdin/Emma's, and Emma in particular points out all the good she's done and found because of her choice.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jafar mockingly calls Aladdin a "thief with a heart of gold"...only to find out the hard way it's true.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Aladdin tells Jasmine that the kingdom's population was suffering long before Jafar came along and it was only when her own family was affected that Jasmine cared enough to do something. Jasmine herself admits later that he was right; ironically, by that point he wishes her to leave with him for Savior adventures, so that when she says she needs to stay in Agrabah and fix everything wrong there, he smirks and tells her she shouldn't listen to the "scoundrel" who told her that.
  • While it's part of her scheme, the Evil Queen has a point on how Emma keeping her visions a secret can only lead to trouble down the line. Also, she's absolutely right that Regina lying to Henry is a big part of why he didn't love her and worked so hard to bring her down in the first season.
• Manchild: The Sultan, although unlike the Disney movie it's not his normal personality but rather due to Jafar's spell. Once it's broken, he's bewildered why his throne room's full of toys.
• Meaningful Echo: Jafar's letter to Aladdin with the Shears mentioned how he might need them "for the coming storm." Later, Hook tells Emma that "a storm is coming."
• My Greatest Failure: Aladdin did use the Fate's shears to change himself and no longer be the Savior...and because of that Agrabah fell.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Encouraged by Emma, Aladdin tells Jasmine he's alive to get a chance at both a romance with her and to be a hero.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Agrabah looks just like it does in the animated movie.
  • Iago is the bird who leads Emma to the Oracle.
  • The jeweled scarab which Jasmine gives to Aladdin and ends up as their Tragic Keepsake is a reference to the scarab Jafar used to find the Cave of Wonders in the Disney film.
  • Aladdin tries to open the Cave of Wonders with "Open Sesame!" It works.
  • Aladdin balances the sword to prevent the Booby Trap from going off with a statue of...a monkey. And immediately after this, the trap goes off anyway, just as it did with Abu and the ruby.
  • Aladdin is the Diamond in the Rough, rather than the jewel they find in the Cave—only in this case it refers to his actually being a Savior and having light magic.
  • Aladdin and Jasmine are dressed just like their animated counterparts.
  • The Sultan is a Manchild playing with toys, though see that entry above for the subversion.
  • Jafar imprisons Jasmine in a giant hourglass filling with sand. Aladdin then uses a magic carpet to fly in and save her, shattering Jafar's staff.
  • Aladdin tells Jasmine "I can show you the world." He also uses the "apple rolling along the arm" trick.
  • Aladdin reveals that, contrary to the movie, he and Jasmine never got together, both overwhelmed by their duties.
  • From a different mythology—the magic shears which can sever a Savior (or anyone) from their destiny, belonged to the Fates (although they don't look like the ones in Disney's Hercules).
• Not Afraid Of You Any More: There's nothing the Evil Queen can do to threaten Archie anymore.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The gang realizing "Archie" was the Evil Queen.
  • A milder version, but Aladdin's "Um, about that..." when Jasmine tells him she needs him to help save Agrabah again, when the viewer already knows he used the shears and is no longer the Savior.
• The Other Darrin: The producers wanted Naveen Andrews to reprise his role as Jafar but he was unavailable so Oded Fehr was cast for the role.
• Poke the Poodle: The Evil Queen's solution to help out Zelena is to...take her out to a spa, which is supposed to show her she has a family that will choose her but also one that supports and enjoys her wickedness. Also, their punishment for Archie is to...force him to babysit Robin.
• Shout-Out: The scene with the sword, the diamond, and the golden monkey used as a counterweight (and the latter being used by a Loveable Rogue character to obtain the treasure) is an obvious reference to Indy and the golden idol in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• Take a Third Option: Once again Emma lampshades how this is what she and the heroes regularly do, that instead of simply accepting her vision will come true and she'll die, or using the shears to save her, they will find another way to change her destiny. Slightly subverted, however, in that she initially wants to keep the shears around as a backup option if they have no other choice...and that Killian, after claiming he got rid of them, keeps them around for the same reason (saving the woman he loves).
• Title Drop: Jafar calls thieves and pickpockets "street rats"...then proceeds to turn a trio into real rats. Also, Emma points out that she's as much a street rat as Aladdin is (due to her past as a runaway with Neal, being in jail...) as a way to show him people who love you can still see the best in you, so you shouldn't give up on them.
• Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Jasmine has suspected all along Aladdin had magic in him and when they set off a trap, it shows up to save them.
  Jasmine: The jewel isn't the Diamond in the Rough. You are.
• Treacherous Advisor: Jafar, obviously. It's the reason why Jasmine wants to stop him.
• Villains Out Shopping: The Evil Queen and Zelena go out for a spa day.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: The Oracle appeared to Emma at the start of the season, then again in the previous episode where she agreed to help Jasmine find Aladdin—only to be killed right at the start of this episode. Although not confirmed for certain, her dialogue with Archie strongly implies the Evil Queen did it because the Oracle wouldn't tell her about Emma's vision.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Aside from the Oracle's death never really being explained, it is not revealed why Iago was the bird leading Emma around or why he seemed to be serving the Oracle. Some theories had been that the Oracle was secretly Jafar in disguise (he wouldn't be the first OUAT villain to do this, nor the last, and he actually does so in "A Wondrous Place"), leading Jasmine on until he could betray her/finally get rid of Aladdin once and for all, and some even suggested he had killed the real Oracle and left her body to be found in this episode after the ruse was no longer required for his plans. Later revelations about Jafar make this impossible, yet if the Oracle was everything she seemed to be, Iago remains unexplained as well—had he performed a Heel–Face Turn, a la Aladdin: The Return of Jafar, after Jafar was defeated? Was Jafar also a diviner of sorts, and all those who can see the future have such a bird serving them? Did Jafar place the bird with her while she was Aladdin's caregiver (as seen in "The Savior") so as to torment Aladdin with visions of the future he could no longer change, and then he went with her to the Land of Untold Stories after Jafar ended up in the lamp? Or was the appearance of the bird a coincidence? We'll likely never know.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Emma gets it from the gang over keeping her visions a secret.
• What You Are in the Dark: After Jasmine leaves the Cave of Wonders, Jafar appears, reveals to Aladdin via Iago that his fate as a Savior is to die a horrible death, and then offers him a different choice—use the Shears of the Fates to sever his destiny so he won't have to die, and then he can take whatever treasure he likes from the cave and make a new life for himself. Initially Aladdin passes, showing up to fight and defeat Jafar after all, but after the vizier sends the Shears back to him, at some later point he did use them...and the cost was dire.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Zelena clearly has this when the Evil Queen suggests her daughter can "grow up to be as wicked as you."