This article is about the episode from Once Upon a Time. For the Fish Hooks episode, see Labor of Love (Fish Hooks).
- “You can't let the fear of failure stop you from trying.”
- ―Hercules to Snow White
"Labor of Love" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of ABC's Once Upon a Time, and the one hundred and first episode of the series overall. It premiered on March 13, 2016.
Plot[]
Opening Sequence[]
The cemetery makes an appearance in the red tinted forest.
In the Character's Past[]
In the early days of the Enchanted Forest, a young Snow White is asked to defend her kingdom from bandits who are working with the Evil Queen but flees into the forest, having believed that she cannot help them with her father away. After she falls into a hunting trap, Snow is saved by Hercules, who is on a quest to complete the final part of his Twelve Labors, which is to hunt down Cerberus. He encourages Snow White not to give up, and he even offers to train her for battle, suggesting that she fight the bandits herself. When Snow faces the bandits, she foolishly drops her arrows, then loses her dignity when Hercules defends her. Using his past mistakes and learning from them, Hercules inspires her to try again, and she successfully aims at the bandits' weapons, prompting the bandits to leave the kingdom, and setting up her future as the bandit princess. Snow White thanks Hercules for helping her and says she will make a great Queen and Olympus will have a great hero like him and they kiss each other goodbye.
In the Underworld[]
Deep inside Hades' lair, a injured Hook awakens and notices a woman who is also trapped with him in the chamber. As he struggles to move Hook convinces the woman to run for help and asks for Emma. As they reach the exit, a three-headed creature, Cerberus, chases after the two. Above at the cemetery, Mary Margaret and David look at the gravestones of those who Mary Margaret felt she had failed as alluded in the flashback, But David is confident that they can protect Emma and tells Mary Margaret that she can be able to succeed. When she sees the tombstone of Hercules, David is surprised to learn that she knew the Demi-God, and believes that he has unfinished business with her, which gives them the idea to help him while seeking out Hook. Regina and Robin meet up with Emma and Henry. Regina tells Robin that she has maps at the Mayor's office and Henry and Robin head there but when Regina turns around Emma has took off and calls for her. Emma notices fresh blood and traces the direction, but instead they find the young woman and she says she knows Killian. As soon as they hear the roar of Cerberus, Regina uses her magic to take them to the Underworld version of Emma's apartment. Later on at Granny's, Emma and Regina are joined by Mary Margaret, and thanks to the Blind Witch, they find Hercules, who they hope he will complete his Twelve Labors before he can move on, being Cerberus.
At the Mayor's office, Henry breaks in to get the maps as Robin stands guard. Instead of finding the map, Henry sees Cruella, who explains to him that because he is now the Author, he can bring her back to life, and despite the fact that he broke the Quill, it's still alive in the Underworld as it is part of Cruella's unfinished business. She tells Henry if he helps her escape the Underworld, it will be as if she never died, and therefore, Emma's soul will be pure again. Unfortunately when Robin asks Henry if he found the map as they leave the office, Henry lies to Robin that he didn't find anything or anyone.
As they reached the tunnel with Cerberus waiting for them, Hercules starts to lose his courage in front of Emma, Mary Margaret, and Regina. Hades then appears and tells the women that Cerberus was the creature responsible for killing Hercules (who happens to be Hades' nephew), then gives Emma Hook's bloodied hook as a gift. Back at the apartment, Mary Margaret believes its time for Hercules, who regretted fighting Cerberus alone, to fight the creature as a team. When Cerberus enters the apartment, everyone splits up, leaving Hercules, Mary Margaret, and the woman trapped. Hercules suddenly gives the woman his dagger, then grabs a pipe for himself, and Mary Margaret readies her arrows. The trio then use their weapons on Cerberus and successfully kill the creature.
As everyone meets back at Granny's, they learn that the woman that escaped Hades has revealed herself as Meg. It turned out that it was their "unfinished business" for Hercules to rescue Meg from Cerberus, as he died during his fight with the creature and Meg later died after he failed. The crew takes them to the crossing, and Hercules and Meg ascend together to Olympus. As the clock ticks twice, Hades has decided that it's time for the outsiders to pay by punishing them. He arrives to see his prisoner Hook and tells him that each soul they help escape, one of them will have to stay forever. Hades forces Hook to decide which of his friends will pay for this by creating new graves for him to pick.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Blanchard
- Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
- Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen/Regina Mills
- Josh Dallas as David Nolan
- Emilie de Ravin as Belle (absent)
- Colin O'Donoghue as Hook
- Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
- Rebecca Mader as Zelena (absent)
- Sean Maguire as Robin Hood
- Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold (absent)
Guest Starring[]
- Emma Caulfield as the Blind Witch
- Victoria Smurfit as Cruella De Vil
- Kacey Rohl as Megara
- Jonathan Whitesell as Hercules
- Bailee Madison as Young Snow White
- Kerry van der Griend as Peasant
- Teach Grant as Dead Eye the Bandit
- Janet Walmsley as Woman Peasant
- Greg Germann as Hades
Trivia[]
- References to the 1997 film:
- Regina calls Hercules Wonder Boy, which is the exact same nickname Megara gave him in the film.
- When Megara introduces herself to Hercules after defeating Cerberus, she introduces herself with "Megara. My friends call me Meg", which is what she told him in the film, but slightly altered. (In the film, she says "My name's Megara, but my friends call me Meg. At least they would if I had any friends.")
- Hercules' outfit in the Enchanted Forest flashbacks resemble his outfit from the film.
- When Mary Margret visits Hercules' grave, the melody of "Go the Distance" from the film can be heard in the background.
- Megara died shortly after Hercules and went to the Underworld, just like the film.
- Hercules and Megara are nicknamed Herc and Meg, just like the film.
- Megara and Hercules fall in love just like they do in the movie.
- In the flashback, Megara is wearing a purple dress and has her hair up, just like the film.
- Cerberus' look, with the all canine appearance, dark fur and red eyes, is similar to his Disney counterpart (in Greek mythology, heads of snakes grow from his back and he has a serpent's tail).
- Cerberus is Hercules' final labor, like the film.
- Cruella physically returns and mentions the time Emma killed her in "Sympathy for the De Vil". (A cameo of her driving past was shown in "Souls of the Departed".)
- Hercules and young Snow are around 15 years old in the flashback, making it about 13 years before the first curse was cast.
- This would mean the flashbacks take place around 1968 since Emma broke the curse in 2011.
- Unlike the film, Megara and Hercules met after he found her being chased by the three-headed beast and then officially in the Underworld, but in the film, he meets her outside, when he is looking to do something heroic.
- Mary Margret decides to formerly change her name back to Snow White.
- The title is a reference to all the labors Hercules fought in the past and that he fell for both Snow and Megara. Mary Margret even alludes to this when she says Hercules' unfinished business was to also rescue Megara.
Gallery[]
External links[]
