Oh my god, this show.
I had a huge problem with Frankenstein showing up in the Halloween episode because It violated the Show’s previously held rules, which went something like this:
- Henry had a book of fairytales.
- Everyone in town was a character in his book.
We already knew about Fairy Tale Land, Wonderland, and a few others in the Mad Hatter’s hat. I could deal with that, as it was all joined by the interconnectedness of Disney’s lexicon.
But, as Henry helpfully noticed in this ep, if it’s not limited to his storybook, there’s no way to know who is walking around town. This universe has no more rules.
It does, however, raise many more questions:
- Just how far reaching was Regina’s curse? It swept up Fairy Tale Land and Dr. Frankenstein. Did her curse wipe out the entire multi-verse? Did he happen to be on holiday in Fairy Tale Land when the curse hit?
- Do all of our stories exist on a plane like Fairy Tale Land somewhere?
- If so, did Disney acquire the rights to the Thursday Next books?
Since there are no answers to these at the present time, let’s turn our attention to other questions, which should have answers, but don’t:
- When did Emma get called to the crime scene and who called her?
- What kind of dickweed enters his significant other as just “Her” in his contact list?
- How long did Regina think she could live in her glamorous, underground hidey hole? It’s not like there was a kitchen in there.
- Victor Frankenstein did not have a brother named Gerhardt. I know that’s not a question. It’s an example of how the Once Upon A-Verse has stopped making sense.
- After living their lives in black and white, Frankenstein and his manservant are confronted with colors for the first time and make no bones about it?
- Why do Frankenstein’s monsters have to be so poorly acted? Why is everyone in Frankenstein’s world such a terrible actor?
- Is Dr. Whale the only real doctor at Storybrooke General?
- Am I the only one who groaned at the sound of the Star Wars ringtone? It struck me as Disney gloating, “Ha. Star Wars is our bitch, now. You thought Lucas drove it into the ground? He did. And there was a bottomless pit under that ground. That’s where we’re going.”
Lastly, Bell and Rumpy were genuinely heartbreaking.
Rumpy needs Belle in order to continuously find the humanity in himself. The audience needs her in order to see him as she does, or to see the possibility of him. Without Belle, there’s no more rose-tinted filter for him. Seen clearly, he’s a pushy, creepy guy who’s prone to violence and kissing amnesiac women.
But, hey. Maybe it’ll work out better for Belle, or whatever her name is now. Maybe she can finally get that library open.
Also, Rumpy and Emma are going on a road trip. Can’t wait to see how he deals with traffic on I95. That road is a nightmare.
Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
I agree with a lot of your questions. I, too, was like “Um…surely there are more doctors in this town!” Like, Doc (the dwarf) actually SHOULD be a doctor. But they even made a joke about him not being one, and I’m like…why?
But I can deal with Frankenstein having a brother for the same reason I can deal with Red also being the wolf or Rumpelstiltskin also being the Beast. The way we heard the stories are not the way “they actually happened.” Or something.
And I loved the Star Wars ringtone precisely BECAUSE it was Disney making Lucas their bitch.
That made me very happy indeed.
I figured that the color shown in Frankenstein’s world was for our benefit and not something they could actually make out. To them, the money looked the same color as everything else, it just had a strange vibe.