Jane Espenson chats about Once Upon a Time

by Carla Day

Jane Espenson sat down to chat about 'Once Upon a Time' while in Chicago for C2E2.

Last week, I had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting with the amazing Jane Espenson about Once Upon a Time and her hit webseries, Husbands, when she was in Chicago for C2E2. As a fan of the show, I got some clarification on some past episodes and teases about what’s to come.

First, during the interview I realized how difficult it is to say “Rumplestiltskin.” Thankfully, Jane told me that in the writer’s room, it is “Always Rumple.” That is much easier to say … and to write! From now on, I’m going with that. She was fortunate enough to be assigned to write all three Rumple-focused episodes. While that wasn’t originally by design, it ended up working out well. Jane said, “I love that character. I love Robert Carlyle. I think he is my favorite to write for on the show.”

When we last saw Rumple, he turned down the chance to give up his evil side and give into his love for Belle. I asked Jane why he made that decision. She explained, “He was just scared. He was a coward in the war. He had the choice of jumping into the unknown or staying with what he has always known. And at his heart, he was still that coward. The same thing that Belle yelled at him: ‘If you were just brave enough to let someone love you to take that chance your life could be changed back.’ Rumple is all about fear at that point of his life.”

In Storybrooke, Mr. Gold’s loyalty seems to be ever changing, or is it? According to Jane, “I think Rumple has very specific agendas; very specific for himself. You can never just say that he’s in Emma’s camp or in Regina’s camp. No, he’s in Rumple’s camp.”

We will get further insight into what happened to Rumple in tonight’s episode “The Return.” Jane said, “You will see, Bael, his son. And, you are going to see more of the sort of transitional Rumple because he wasn’t in full voice at the end of the episode where we saw his back-story; we didn’t see him transform fully.”

She was impressed with Robert Carlyle’s ability to portray three distinctly different versions of the same person, “… gradually turning into the Rumple we know. It is amazing. His ability to hit the original Rumple, evil Rumple and Mr. Gold all three very different characters and the points in between. I’m just blown away.” It looks like we are in for a treat tonight!

A few other tidbits that Jane talked about (possible mild spoilers):

The Huntsman will be back. (YAY!)
The wolf we saw in “The Wolf is a Lonely Hunter” was not Red. “That wolf was a very specific wolf with a black eye and a red eye and it belonged to the Huntsman. So, that was not the same wolf.”
The hearts that Regina accessed from Storybrooke and the Queen of Hearts’ vault are “the same system of hearts.”
When August took Henry’s book, he added a story he wrote.
Dr. Whale (David Anders) does have a back-story to be told.

I asked Jane to tease the rest of the season and it looks like it will only be getting better over the last four episodes, “And, wait until you see the finale for this season. The last two episodes just blow the doors off. And anyone that is going like ‘not enough is changing’ … oh, just hang on. Just hang on.”

The last four episodes of Once Upon a Time start with tonight’s “The Return.” Check back later this week for the rest of my interview with Jane about Husbands.