Recap / Once Upon a Time S6 E12 "Murder Most Foul"

Season 6, Episode 12:

Murder Most Foul

Hook agrees to help David uncover the truth about his father's death, hoping to gain his respect, but when he discovers King George may be involved, David may go to extreme lengths to achieve justice. Meanwhile, Regina discovers that Robin too has a dark side that may complicate his acclimation to life in Storybrooke.

Tropes

• The Bus Came Back: King George. Turns out he's been locked inside Regina's private prison at the asylum ever since his ill-fated coup in Season Two, presumably by David since he was the temporary sheriff then.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Hook had presumably killed so many people in his pirate days that he honestly never put together how David's father Robert was one of them until he saw the picture of the man.
• Chekhov's Boomerang: The coin. First the Evil Queen used it to taunt David about the past, after which Gold identified who it came from. In this episode it appears along with his father's ghost and is used by David to cast a tracking spell so he can learn the truth about his death; was the means by which Rumple chose which twin would go to George; was nearly stolen by Pinocchio on Pleasure Island (so as to allow August to tell David of his father being there to find James and getting captured by George); and bound to Robert as he was thrown into the ravine. David finally tosses it into the harbor to let go of the past. Whew!
• Continuity Nod:
  • Talking to Regina on this new Robin, Snow mentions how she made out with James.
  • August mentions removing pages from the book years before as he didn't want people to know about his own past.
• Couch Gag: The title card features Pleasure Island's Ferris wheel.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Archie tells Hook that he needs to find the right time and place to tell Emma how he feels about her. Thanks to having to distract her from David stealing the spell book and potion ingredients, he's finally forced to right then instead of continuing to waffle about it.
  • David spends the whole episode working with Hook because he thinks a pirate (read: Anti-Hero) is what he needs to carry out his plan (involving things he knows Emma and Snow would never approve of), only to find out Hook has changed and does not want to be reminded of the vengeful villain he used to be. Lampshaded by David himself: "The one time I need you to be a pirate, you aren't."
  • David also spends the whole episode working with Hook to solve his father's murder...when it turns out Hook was the killer (though he didn't realize it until the end).
• Even Evil Has Standards: Hook notes that during his pirate days, he knew to give Pleasure Island a wide berth and never have dealings with them. Considering it did have dealings with Neverland (presumably Pan either collecting more children for his Lost Boys or selling them ones who were too old/no longer believed or wanted to stay), he was right not to.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: There's a sign in the background on Pleasure Island that says "Open For Demolition." In the Disney movie, there's a sign that says "Open For Destruction."
• Gilligan Cut: Hook talks to David of Pleasure Island as a "dark and dangerous place." Cut to what looks like a carnival with slews of children having fun.
• Heads or Tails?: It turns out the choice of which twin to send to King George was made with the flip of a coin.
• Hypocrisy Nod: After she yells at him over wanting to kill Nottingham, Robin brings up Regina's past cursing the town while in her chamber of stolen hearts. She then proves she's changed by healing him, to suggest she hopes he can too by letting go of vengeance.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While it's driven by worry over their daughter, Zelena is correct pointing out to Regina that it's better Robin know about his daughter sooner than later.
• Just in Time: Once again, Hook shows up from elsewhere to save the day—this time by picking his handcuffs so he can stop David from killing George.
• Literary Allusion Title: "Murder Most Foul" comes from a line in Hamlet. The episode concerns a prince whose father's ghost appears to him, spurring him on the path to vengeance for his death (though the ghost himself just wants him to "know the truth"). The ghost is not that of a king thanks to Rumple's deal giving James to George, but the one the prince wants to get vengeance on is a king (his adopted father, not his uncle).
• Mama Bear: Young Ruth joins the long list of Action Girls in this show by daring to defend her baby sons from the Dark One.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Looking at the drawing from the book of David's father, Hook realizes this is the man he killed long ago.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Pinocchio spent time on this world's version of Pleasure Island.
  • When Pinocchio lies about not knowing where James is, his nose grows.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Rumplestiltskin claims to want just a hair from Robert's head as "small things can lead to great things" but when the man leaves, he tosses it aside and admits he knows what it's like for a father to do anything to get his son back.
  Rumplestiltskin: Someday may we all be reunited with our sons.
• One Degree of Separation: Pinocchio just happened to be on Pleasure Island at the same time James ran away there and his father came looking for him, all so he could witness what happened between them and King George so as to tell David about it in the present day.
• Pet the Dog: Though he might be a cruel stepfather and an all round Jerkass, King George is fully prepared to reward Robert handsomely for finding James, until Robert mentions he has no intention of handing him over...
• Retcon: "The Shepherd" implied that Ruth was the one who made the deal giving one of her sons to George, and did so to save the farm. Instead it was his father Robert, and it was done to obtain the medicine that would save both boys' lives.
• The Reveal:
  • Hook is the man who killed David's father, unknowingly.
  • Near the very end of the episode, after Regina wonders why Wish Robin was able to come to Storybrooke and what he wants there if it isn't her, we see him sneaking into her vault to steal an item she had earlier called "very powerful"...
• Revenge by Proxy:
  • Even though the Nottingham in Storybrooke isn't the one he knows, Robin still wants revenge on the Sheriff for killing his Marian.
  • Now that the truth behind David's father's death has been revealed, it's even more clear how taunting him with the coin and Robert's fate was a form of this for the Evil Queen: because she must have learned of the truth via her magic mirror, and so she knew one of two things would happen — either David would kill George out of revenge and thus drive a wedge between him and Snow when she found out, or when the truth about Killian came out it would drive a wedge between David and Killian as well as Emma and Killian — or even David and Emma, if she stuck by Killian anyway. So no matter which way it turned out, her enemies would suffer and be torn apart.
• Sadistic Choice: David and James were sick as babies and their parents couldn't afford medicine. They had to give up one son to get the medicine or both their children would die.
• Schizo Tech: Pleasure Island is a modern day amusement park, offshore from the Enchanted Forest.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Played with but in the end averted. While David ends up tossing away his father's coin and allowing his spirit to rest while wrongly thinking it was George who killed him, it was George who ordered his death and it would have been carried out if not for Hook. Additionally, while The Reveal seems to make both David's choice not to kill George and Killian talking him out of it meaningless, not committing such an unheroic act is still critical for David (particularly since he was actually innocent of that crime)... and since Killian didn't know until seeing the pages from the storybook that he was the killer, his advice to David remains genuine and untainted. Whether David will remember it and still apply it when the truth finally comes out remains to be seen.
• Shout-Out: Before running through David's father, Hook intones "dead men tell no tales."
• String Theory: David has set up a map in his room with strings to figure out who was behind the death of his father.
• Tracking Device: David turns his father's coin into this to try and find out his actual fate. Played with in that while the spell he casts on it is supposed to show the place it was last with his father/when he was last alive, we eventually see it was on him right to the moment he was killed and thrown in the ravine with his cart, but the coin leads David instead to Pleasure Island on the map — because that is where he encountered King George, which is what set him on the path to his death.
• Unfinished Business: David's father appears to him as a ghost because he can't pass on until David learns the truth about him — not what actually happened to him, since David still thinks at the time it was George and he still dissipates, but that Robert genuinely was trying to turn his life around and fix his family.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: James used to be an innocent child — running away from King George because he was appalled by the idea of becoming a knight who would kill people.
• Wham Shot: Hook killing David's father.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Three different points left unresolved from earlier (two from long ago, one from this season) get addressed in this episode.
  • After Archie fled Zelena's farmhouse, what happened to him? He's back in human form again, presumably restored by either Regina or Blue.
  • Last we saw of the Sheriff of Nottingham in Storybrooke, he was tongueless and being beaten by Gold. This episode reveals that not only did he not die from this, he has his tongue back.
  • King George was last seen as a Karma Houdini after killing Billy/Gus, trying to incite the town against Ruby, and destroying Jefferson's hat. We finally find out he was locked up after that (probably by David) and has been there ever since. (Whether he was still locked up in the Enchanted Forest after the curse was undone in Season 3, or free until Snow and Charming recast it, isn't known.)
• Would You Like to Hear How They Died?: George indulges in a variation on this when telling David what his father was probably thinking/envisioning when he died, since he wasn't actually there to see it, and what didn't get to happen (their happy reunion) because of his death. Hook, who actually does know how he died since he did the deed, is filled with remorse rather than gloating about it and so says nothing.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: It looked like Hook's life was improving, getting David's respect and his okay to propose to Emma. Then Hook finds out that he killed David's father years ago and never even knew it and is now racked with guilt and fear over David finding out.

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