Season 6, Episode 6:
Dark Waters
Emma tries to convince Aladdin to work with Jasmine to help Agrabah, while Regina teams up with Mary Margaret 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, only to face another ghost from his past.
Tropes
- Aesop Amnesia: Hook defies her wishes and keeps the shears because he decides he can't lose Emma, exactly as she did last season when she made him a Dark One to save his life, and again when she went to the underworld to save him. But it's because of this that Emma understands why he did it; because she did the same thing to him twice.
- Big Damn Kiss: The Evil Queen kisses Rumple while trying to make a deal with him.
- Conflict Ball: This seems to be the Evil Queen's general M.O.. In this episode she uses Henry's teenage resentment over Hook coming in and changing his life with Emma, and the revelation he didn't get rid of the shears, to try and pull them apart, and it's because they're struggling/arguing about this at the docks that they get captured by the Nautilus's crew.
- Continuity Nod:
- It's stated Hook's first encounter with Nemo was during the time of the Dark Curse. Smee is therefore mentioned to be absent since he was in Storybrooke at the time. Since Hook was originally frozen in the bubble village with Cora during the Dark Curse (and in fact all the realms were frozen as long as time was frozen in Storybrooke), and once Emma decided to stay and time unfroze in Storybrooke, it did so in the Enchanted Forest as well, this pinpoints these events as taking place some time during Season 1, right after the end of Pilot.
- Hook tells Henry of how he killed his own father.
- Nemo's first mate, Liam, is Hook's younger half-brother who was orphaned when he killed their father.
- The "Mysterious Island" Nemo is searching for turns out to be the Land of Untold Stories.
- The fact time doesn't pass in the Land of Untold Stories (an important plot point in "A Bitter Draught" with Charlotte) is used first by Nemo to explain how Hook could never lose anyone there, but it's also how his own life is saved after Liam accidentally stabs him (since Liam used the key to get the Nautilus there).
- Another one back to the first season: as part of how she helps Aladdin get over his fears and go back to help Jasmine, Emma shows him where she broke the "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign when trying to flee being the Savior.
- In a Call-Back to season 2, one episode after Archie is kidnapped he is rescued. The first time it was by Belle, this time it's by Snow and Charming (with Regina running interference).
- Hook mentions the time that he and Henry used the "Wookiee Prisoner Gag" in "Operation Mongoose."
- Couch Gag: The title card features the Kraken.
- Cycle of Revenge: Liam says he couldn't kill Hook in front of Henry as he'd just be leaving "another boy growing up with a heart full of hate."
- Foreshadowing: Snow and David see a mysterious man wheeled into the hospital. Sure enough, he turns out to be the wounded Nemo.
- Genre Savvy: Hook is fully aware that when Liam finds out who he is, he'll come for revenge. Nemo tries to say it won't happen but sure enough when Liam finds out the truth, he's ready to kill Hook.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Nemo admits he fell into this as his quest for revenge led him to become a monster in his own way.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Subverted; Belle comes to the pawn shop to deliver the ultrasound to Gold and it looks as if she's going to see the Evil Queen kissing him and get the wrong idea. But she just slips the envelope under the door, and the kiss ends with no one the wiser.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Killian realizing that Nemo's first mate, Liam, is his younger brother who was orphaned thanks to Hook.
- Liam has this when Nemo steps in the way of his attempt to stab Hook.
- Mythology Gag:
- When Hook first asks who the stowaway on his ship is, he's answered "No one."
- The attack on the Jolly Roger by the Nautilus is straight out of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
- Indeed, the ship's entire design is based on the film.
- The giant squid (called a Kraken here) appears in the cave where Nemo takes Hook to find the key to the Land of Untold Stories.
- Nemo is seeking a key to a place called "The Mysterious Island."
- Never My Fault: Liam II blamed Hook for what happened to Nemo, when he was the one who stabbed him while trying to kill Hook, when both men were trying to talk him out of it.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The Evil Queen's attempt to exploit Henry's resentment towards Hook entering his and Emma's family life just leads to them confronting their issues and resolving them.
- "Not So Different" Remark:
- Nemo tells Hook that he too knows what it's like to seek revenge for family but it's an empty crusade.
- Emma lampshades this with Aladdin, how like him she too had once wanted only to run from her destiny.
- When Hook finally confesses to Emma that he didn't get rid of the shears and why, instead of getting angry she completely understands—because she would have done the same, as revealed by her talk with Aladdin (she was afraid she would use them if she didn't get rid of them).
- And, in fact, she did do the same thing to him (defying his wishes to let him escape his fate of a heroic death) in the last season. Twice; when she turned him into a Dark One, and again when she tried to save him from the Underworld.
- Not Quite Dead: The end of the episode reveals that Nemo survived his stabbing.
- Not What It Looks Like:
- Aladdin actually tries to appeal to this when Emma catches him breaking into a car and stealing money to flee town.
- The more serious version occurs when Zelena hears Robin crying and goes into the farmhouse to find Snow and Charming standing over the cradle, prompting them to respond appropriately (they were just trying to calm her down).
- One Degree of Separation: The first mate of the Nautilus just happens to be Hook's missing half-brother.
- Parental Substitute:
- Captain Nemo to Liam II.
- Killian and Henry's relationship gets a lot of development in this episode. The Evil Queen even refers to Killian as Henry's new father.
- Race Lift: Subverted; while the Disney film had Nemo played by James Mason, this version has him closer to the Indian native he was in the novel.
- The Reveal:
- The Evil Queen found the Shears of Destiny after Killian and Henry threw them away (by summoning the Kraken to find the chest, it is implied).
- The Shears of Destiny can also affect Rumple as he wants to use them to cut Belle off from their child to prevent them from coming apart.
- Agrabah is gone—having disappeared somehow into a sandstorm that came out of nowhere.
- Revenge: A running theme. Nemo regretted getting revenge on the people who killed his family, so he went around trying to prevent others from doing the same. He met Killian while Killian was still obsessed with killing the Dark One. Then Killian meets his younger half-brother, Liam II, who wants revenge on him for killing his biological father and (seemingly) getting his adopted father killed.
- Signature Item Clue: Hook recognizes the knife Nemo possesses as the same one his father once owned, which is how he identifies Nemo's first mate (who gave it to him) as being Liam II. Ironically, when Liam later tries to use it on Hook, it ends up being what stabs Nemo, his father figure.
- Teleport Spam: The Evil Queen makes great use of this, both against Regina and Henry.
- Title Drop: Nemo, when trying to convince Hook to join his crew—referring to the literal dark waters around them, but also the metaphorical ones of his quest for vengeance.
- Villain Team-Up: After claiming she needs no allies, the Evil Queen realizes Gold was right (since her plans to break the Charmings apart keep failing). So she suggests a team-up: she gives him the Shears if he will help her get Snow's heart.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Snow and Charming free Archie...but when he escapes he's still a cricket. Did the Mother Superior change him back off-screen?
- What the Hell, Hero?: Henry chews out Killian for not getting rid of the Shears of Destiny after promising Emma he would. They eventually throw the shears to the bottom of the sea together, but the Evil Queen manages to get her hands on them.
- Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?: Snow and Belle discuss this briefly re: Gold.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: An actually smart example: when he first sees the Nautilus, Hook assumes it's a sea monster...which would make total sense in the fairy tale world.
