Tonight on ABC their fantastical series Once Upon A Time continues with an all new Sunday October 19, season 4 episode 4, called, “The Apprentice.” On tonight’s episode, Emma [Jennifer Morrison] asks Hook [Colin O’Donoghue] out on date, which leads him to make a deal with Mr. Gold Robert Carlyle] to have his missing hand reattached. Meanwhile, Henry and Mary Margaret try to instill hope in Regina; and back in the past, Rumplestiltskin needs Anna’s help to acquire a box.
On the last episode, when an icy spell was casted on Marian, which would ultimately freeze her heart and kill her, the Storybrooke residents placed the blame on Elsa. But unbeknownst to anyone, a mysterious woman who ran the town’s ice cream parlor had the same powers as Elsa and was trying to frame her. Emma and David found former Merry Men member Will Scarlet rummaging through Robin Hood’s tent, Regina teamed up with Henry to try and discover who the author of the fairy tale book was, Mary Margaret was having trouble balancing her duties as leader of Storybrooke and mother to young Prince Neal, and Hook began to suspect that Mr. Gold was still in control of the dagger that called upon him to be the Dark One. Meanwhile, in Arendelle of the past, Elsa and Kristoff set off to stopped Hans from attempting to take control of the kingdom. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode after Emma asks Hook out on a real first date, Hook visits Mr. Gold and asks for his hand to be reattached so that he can embrace her with both hands. But magic always comes with a price. Henry and Mary Margaret try to offer hope to Regina when she becomes frustrated over not being able to find a cure to save a frozen Marian, and Will Scarlet attempts to break into the Storybrooke library to find a special book. Meanwhile, back in the Fairy Tale Land that was, Rumplestiltskin is after a magical box that the Sorcerer’s apprentice is guarding, and he may use Elsa’s sister Anna to help him get it.
Tonight’s season 4 episode 4 looks like it is going to be as magical as ever so make sure that you tune in to our live coverage of Once Upon A Time at 8:00 PM EST!
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A long time ago, we see an old man sweeping. A wind blows out his flame and he drops his broom and pulls out his sword. He tells the Dark One to show himself. It’s not Rumple, but a previous Dark One is there and says he’s not the apprentice and the man agrees and says he’s the apprentice but he’s not the first Dark One he’s faced. The Dark One sends him flying back and approaches a dais. He pulls out the Dark dagger and touches it to the box on the dais – with a dark cover and stars on it (the same box that Gold and Belle came across in the house in Storybrooke that had the sorcerer’s hat in it).
An unseen force sends the Dark One flying back butt over teakettle. The apprentice calls him Zoso and says he’s not the only guard. He says no one that has succumbed to the darkness in their heart can ever touch it. He says every Dark One has tried but no Dark One will ever possess what is in that box. He says the sorcerer made sure of that when he placed the enchantment. Present day, Gold twirls his dark dagger over the box and the sorcerer’s hat appears. He smiles. In the intro screen of the show, a magic broom walks across the background – in the style of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice! Awesome.
Emma pulls up to Granny’s in her bug with Henry and they get out. She asks if he’s okay with this and he says no, but that he wants to be happy. He pushes her toward the door and she goes in to talk to Hook. She asks him out for a date and he asks shouldn’t he ask her out. She says he’s old fashioned and asks if he’s 300. He agrees if he can plan the date and she says she doesn’t pillage and plunder on the first date and he says – that’s because you haven’t been out with me. They agree on tonight and she goes.
Outside, Emma steps in a puddle of water that surrounds her car although there’s no water anywhere else on the street. Gold comes into his shop and finds Hook waiting there for him. He says he’s here to deal or else he’ll tell Belle. He wants his hand back. Gold brings a large jar out and Hook is surprised he kept it all these years on the hope he would finish the rest of him off. Hook wants him to reattach it and Gold asks why. He says he has a date with Emma. He says if things go well and he gets to hold her, he wants two hands.
Gold says that hand belongs to the pirate he used to be and says there’s no telling what influence it could have on him. Hook says he won’t fall for his tricks. He unhooks his hook and tells him to give him back his hand now or Belle will find out exactly who he is. Hook says that unlike him, Gold hasn’t change a bit and calls him crocodile. Gold magics the hand back on him but tells him – don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Mary has census records so they can see if Anna was ever in Storybrooke. Emma comes out in a nice dress for her date and her dad says wow and her mom takes a photo. Emma says she needs to get her own place. There’s a knock at the door and Emma answers. Hook is there dressed nice and non-piratey. He says she looks stunning and she says she looks – but he stops and says he knows. He offers her a rose in his hand and there are floored. He says Gold gave it back and she asks if she should call him Captain Hand. He says just Killian.
She says they should go before David gives a fatherly speech. Hook says he doesn’t have to worry and that she’s in good hands and David says that’s what he’s worried now that he has two. David offers to drive them and they decline and go. Elsa tells David he should have seen her when Anna started dating Kristoff.
Back a while ago, we see Anna come to see Rumple. She introduces herself as Joan and asks if there’s something wrong with his skin. He says her name isn’t Joan and says names are his stock in trade and says she’s Anna of !!br0ken!! She asks if he knows why she’s there and he says she wants to know why her parents ventured away. He says her parents paid him a visit on their journey. She asks what they wanted and he won’t tell. He says he makes deals for information and she says she’ll do whatever it takes.
He tells her at the foot of the Dark Mountains is an old codger. He has a vial of something and says she has to put it in his tea. She asks what it will do but he won’t tell and then magics up a contract for her to sign. She does and then heads out. She knocks on the door of a cottage and we see it’s the sorcerer’s apprentice from earlier in the show. He invites her in for tea. She sees he has biscuits and says that must mean he doesn’t eat children. He asks if that’s what they’re saying about him but laughs. He asks what brought her so far to a man who devours children.
She says she’s trying to help her sister but got off track. The kettle whistles and she pulls it from the fire then hesitates and dumps the substance Rumple gave her into the fire. Hook and Emma come to a nice restaurant and she says she’s glad it’s not Granny’s. He reminds her that her last date was with a flying monkey that proposed then tried to kill her. He offers a drink but she says she needs to stay sober in case the Snow Queen crashes their date. He takes her hands and says tonight is about showing her a good time.
Will Scarlett is at the bar and tries to sneak out but ends up knocking a glass of water onto Emma. Hook grabs him with his new hand and threatens him if he doesn’t apologize. Emma tells him it’s okay and Hook stares at his restored hand a little in shock that it was quick to violence. Emma remembers him but he runs out again. She starts to give chase but sits down and says she’s not going to chase him – she says she’s on a date. Hook stares at his hand and she says it’s okay. He says he doesn’t know what got into him as she holds his restored, evil hand.
Henry sorts ingredients in his mom’s crypt with her. They are searching for something to unfreeze Marian. He asks if it’s because Robin Hood still loves him. She asks who told him and he says no one but he knows how curses work and says since he couldn’t wake Marian, he must love her and that’s a good thing. She says he’s too young to understand this. Hook walks Emma to her door at the end of their date and she says it’s okay. He apologizes for overreacting and she holds his hands.
She invites him in for coffee with her parents, a baby and a human ice maker. She says she needs her own place and he says they can wait until next time. She tells him she hasn’t asked him out again yet. He says it’s his turn and asks her for another date. She steps close and kisses him. He puts his hands around her. He’s distracted by his hand as it wanders up her back and into her hair. He stops kissing her and she wishes him good night.
Emma comes in to find her parents wide awake and staring at her. Mary says she wants to hear all about it but David doesn’t really want details. Mary asks if there was a goodnight kiss and David says he doesn’t want to know. Emma says again she needs her own place. Mary says it sounds like they had a nice time and David says maybe he really has changed. Emma reminds them she can hear them as she heads off to her room.
Will Scarlett shows up to the library and finds it locked. He goes to pick the lock when Hook shows up. He says there’s nothing worth stealing there and Scarlett says that’s what he thinks. Hook’s hand attacks the guy and Will asks what the hell. Hook says if he tells anyone about this he’s a dead man. Hook holds his bad hand with its bloody knuckles and whispers – bloody hell, the Crocodile was right.
Back in the day, Anna goes back to Rumple and tells him she put the substance in his tea. He says the man drank poison yesterday and she was supposed to give him the antidote. She admits she didn’t give it to him. She says to give her more antidote and she’ll go back but Rumple says it’s too late. He revs up his crystal ball and we see the man convulsing and then turning into a rat. He tells Anna she should have listened to him when she had the chance.
Anna races back to the man’s house and inside. She looks for the rat and Rumple is there. She says he has to change him back but he says he doesn’t want to. She asks why he sent her with antidote if he wanted the man as a mouse. She realizes he was testing her. Rumple tells her the man was the first line of defense. He says the someone who isn’t tempted by their inner darkness can get to it. She says she was never tempted by her inner darkness and says she’s nice and doesn’t have one. Rumple says he hopes she likes spending the rest of her life locked up in his tower and says it’s part of their deal.
She says she has to get back to Elsa and he says her sister will be eaten up by guilt and become the monster she really is. He also says he guesses her wedding is off. He tells her the only way she can escape fate is by killing him but he says they both know she’s too nice. She has the sword pressed to his chest and he tells her to do it and run him through. He chants do it, do it but she won’t.
She throws down the sword. Rumple says he knows she thought about killing him. She cries and her tear falls on the Dark Blade. He says he has what he needs – the tear of someone who has turned away from their inner darkness. She says he’s a monster and takes love and turns it into a weapon. He says love is a weapon and always has been. He says so few knows how to wield it. He waves the dagger and a door in the floor opens. We see him walk down the stairs and to the dais where his predecessor failed. He waves the dagger over the box and there’s the sorcerer’s hat.
Gold walks out to his car and opens the door. Hook gets in beside him and he tells him he was right and says he doesn’t want the hand. He says he can’t control it and asks him to take it back. He threatens to tell Belle the dagger is fake. Gold says he already switched daggers back so he can’t blackmail him anymore. He says if he wants his hook back, there’s only one way. Hook curses and knows he has to make a deal. Hook says he can cut it off himself but Gold says only his magic can take it off.
Hook grabs his hook and buries it in Gold’s chest. Gold magics it away and says he should know better. He tells Hook that he’s going to lose control and hurt someone else. Hook agrees to do whatever he wants and Gold tells him to meet him at the docks in the morning and says they work to do. Emma drives down the street and listens to the weather – 70 in town, 30 out by the ice wall – when her bug goes skittering on a sudden patch of ice in the street.
She says – I knew it – and gets out and chases down the Snow Queen. She demands to know why she’s following her but the woman flees and gets away. Belle calls Emma and says she has to come down to the library. We see a passed out Will sleeping with a book in his hand and a bottle by his head. Gold wakes Hook who was similarly passed out near a bottle on the bench of a picnic table at the docks. He asks Hook if he’s ready. He says he’s ready to pay the price and get this over with.
Gold holds out his hand and a broom flies to his hand. Hook asks what it is and he says it’s going to help him find an old friend. The broom starts walking and Gold says – after you – and they both follow the broom. Back in the EF, we see Anna demanding Rumple tell her about her parents. He says they came about Elsa and were looking for something to take away her powers. Anna says they loved Elsa but he says they feared her and wished she had been born more normal.
She asks if they found it and he says no one had that power until now and he has the starry box. He says it steal magical power. He says once the hat has collected all of the powers it can, he will be unstoppable. She says he’s already powerful and shouldn’t do it. Anna says the apprentice dedicated his life to stopping people like him and Rumple says he’s gone. She says he’s not gone and the rat leaps on Rumple. He drops his knife and Anna grabs it and then tells him to stop.
She figures out he has to obey and commands him to tell her the truth. He admits that he wants to be free of the power of the dagger over him. She demands that he give her the box and he hands it over but tells her to remember she can’t keep the dagger forever. She commands him to send her and the box home to Arendelle. She also says he can’t hurt her, her sister and has to turn the mouse back into a man. He magics her away and the dark dagger falls to the ground. Rumple screams in frustration.
Now, Hook and Gold follows the broom. Hook asks where it’s going and Gold says to someone who wronged him long ago who is going to pay the price. Zoso answers and Gold tells Hook to make him sit. Hook’s evil hand is happy to oblige. Gold has the box and waves the dagger over it. The hat manifests and the man is shocked that Gold has it. He says every Dark One has failed before him. Zoso says he may have the hat but he won’t ever have the power to do what he wants.
Gold says he will but Zoso won’t be there to see it. He turns the opening of the hat toward Zoso who is sucked into it. Hook asks where he went and Gold picks the hat up and says – exactly where I needed him. The hat glows with power.
Back in the day, Kristoff hangs out with Sven in the stable and tells him to stop pouting. Anna is there and says she thinks he missed her. Kristoff runs to her and hugs her and says – not as much as I did. He kisses her and Sven makes silly laughing noises. She tells him her mission didn’t go as planned and says her parents were trying to take Elsa’s powers away. He asks what she’ll tell her sister and she says she doesn’t know.
Gold has the jar and Hook tells him to take it off. He does and it’s back in the jar but Gold says their deal isn’t complete. Hook says he just saw him use the real dagger so he knows he lied about Belle. Hook says he has nothing on him but Gold has a videotape of security footage and says it shows what he did to the old man and says Emma won’t like that. Gold runs his hand over the tape and says he’s not on there anymore and asks if she’ll understand.
Hook says she’ll understand that he had to get rid of the hand but Gold tells him the truth is, it isn’t cursed. Gold says the Dark One lies and tricks. He says the hand just gave him permission to be the man he is – not a puppy dog chasing after a girl – but a true pirate and the darkness that lies beneath. Gold tells him if he tries to destroy his marriage, he will lose his love too. Gold says he owns him as long as he lives. He tells Hook he knows him better than he knows himself and says – here we are Captain, still in business together. Gold tells him they’re going to have some fun.
Will wakes up in a jail cell and Emma asks why he broke into the library. He says he thought it was a poorly stocked bar. She holds up the book he was reading – Alive in Wonderland – and holds out a picture he had in his pocket of the Red Queen. Will says it doesn’t mean a thing and she asks about his eye and who gave him the shiner. Hook comes in and Will says it’s an interesting question but lies and says he can’t remember. He asks if she’s going to keep him in jail for breaking into a library.
Emma says she’s keeping him there for crashing his date then she turns to Hook and says it went pretty well. She asks about the hook being back and he lies and says Gold’s magic wasn’t all he hoped it would be but then David calls her over. He says Sarah Fisher – the Snow Queen – isn’t in the census records which means the curse didn’t bring her here. Emma asks Elsa and David what the woman wants with her.
[14-10-19 9:07:58 PM] Rachel Rowan: Henry comes to see his mom who says she’s not making progress with the Marian thing. Henry says his grandpa Gold knows the information they need. He says he got his happy ending with Belle and may know who wrote the book. Regina says he wouldn’t tell her and he says he is going undercover. Henry goes to Gold and asks for an after school job. He says he’s the closest thing he has to a dad now that his dad is gone. Gold agrees and says he can be an apprentice but to stay out of the back room. Henry asks what an apprentice does and Gold says he can start by sweeping the floor. He hands his grandson the enchanted broom and he starts sweeping.
OMG! Does that mean Henry will be the sorcerer’s apprentice who releases all the brooms and soapy water everywhere like Mickey did in Fantasia?? Can’t wait!
THE END!
