Favorite Characters: Rumpelstiltskin (Once Upon a Time)

 

Yes, I know the show spells it “ple,” not “pel,” but what can I say – I like the traditional spelling.  At any rate, Rumpelstiltskin is a stellar character.  Unlike Emma or Snow, while he occasionally aligns with the good guys and flirts with redemption, he’s more villain than anything else. 

 

One thing I like about Rumpel is his utter devotion to the long game.  In flashbacks, his fingers are in countless pots, showing the myriad ways in which he orchestrates Regina’s casting of the curse.  At the heart of it is his desire to correct a mistake and recover what’s been lost to him – a sympathetic motivation perhaps, but it becomes an obsession that spans centuries and ruins lives.  All across the Enchanted Forest, he carefully nudges others into place, sometimes subtly, sometimes overtly.  Random, seemingly out-of-character actions in one episode become mammoth dozens of episodes later.  Seeing how he uses the entire realm as his personal house of cards is endlessly entertaining and shows he has brains and patience to go with his magic.

 

Along with that is his generally cavalier attitude toward his villain status.  He doesn’t spend a lot of time agonizing over how people see him.  He’s embraced his identity as the Dark One, the monster, the demented dealmaker – in fact, he’s thrown more when someone views him like a person – and this avoids much of the woobifying that drags down many villains.  Rather, he regards his evil actions as utilitarian means to far-off ends or treats them like a twisted game.  It’s an intriguing, unflinching approach that works well.

 

It’s not all “mwa ha ha,” though, and like I said, the show sometimes offers more sympathetic glimpses of Rumpel, chiefly in his love for the few important people in his life.  Yet, it usually avoids suggesting that love trumps any terrible things he does.  Additionally, his consuming need for power (his magic, yes, but also just a need for control) constantly damages these relationships he cares about, but he continues to choose power.  I like seeing how his choices have cost him, and I hope the show keeps that up.  (His romantic relationship – I won’t say with whom, for spoilers’ sake – is hugely problematic and unsettling, though, and one major area where he consistently remains unpunished.  Hopefully, he’s heading toward a reckoning in season four.)

 

Since his nefariousness tends to be goal-oriented and he doesn’t have any big projects in the pipeline, a large-scale redemption arc may be coming.  Though the outwardly-evil Rumpel is definitely the most fun to watch, I’m not oppose to the idea.  Yet, given the show’s track record with Regina, I’m apprehensive.  Redemption for villains has to be handled so carefully, or you get Regina complaining that people don’t trust her and don’t applaud her efforts to change, and me saying, “Shut up – you murdered people.”  If the writers are looking to redeem Rumpel, it’ll require a steady hand and probably an ultimate choice of good/love/something over power.

 

Also, the acting is impeccable.  Rumpel in his flashback imp form is scenery-chewing perfection.  An odd compliment perhaps, but with over-the-top acting, there’s a thin sliver of audaciousness that plays, not as hammy, but as fantastically eye-catching, and Robert Carlyle’s performance hits it every time.  I love his weird, affected voice and the playful way he delivers horrific lines.  I love his flourishy, theatrical gestures, simultaneously funny and creepy.  I love his psychotic little giggle when his pieces fall into place and he’s the only one to see it.  Gleeful, bedeviled, or enraged, he’s held my attention from his first moment onscreen.