Devil's Due

In this episode, we delve into more of Rumple's past before he became the Dark One as Baelfire is bitten by an Atlantean Viper, but the cure by Fendrake the Healer is unreachable for him & Milah. With that, Milah encourages Rumple to kill the Healer, but he can't bring himself to do it. Instead, he makes a deal to give him the antidote in exchange for his second born child. However, Milah is furious due to him destroying their potential future and this drives her closer to Hook, who she had met in a tavern after Rumple went off to kill Fendrake. In Storybrooke, Rumple enlists the help of Milah to get Emma to Hook due to a newfound determination to get home. But once they get to Hades' lair, he finds Rumple & forces him to push Milah into the River of Lost Souls & the boat they had used to get him home. During this, Emma manages to save Hook, but afterwards, it turns out she can't have her heart split in two as it turns out Hades had chosen her, Snow & Regina (who has her own little subplot finding it hard to use her magic until she learns Daniel moved on to a better place) as the three living people to replace the souls that had moved on after Hook refused to chose. But in another twist, after Rumple had watched Belle through a crystal ball at the start and dropped it, it's revealed he was actually looking to see what had happened to Baelfire. And given that he had specifically said his child, it turns out that the image was actually his next child and that Belle is pregnant. However, Hades has been signed over the contract by a dead Fendrake (Rumple killed him when he was with Cora to prevent him taking their potential baby) and uses it as leverage so Rumple can do his bidding.
After such a long time of not seeing Pre-Dark One Rumple, it was such a delight to see his more sympathetic side after showing more of his evil side in the past couple of seasons. However, I really think the best thing about this episode is that it brought back Rumple's complexity as a character, given that the writers had completely ruined his redemption arc in the first half. Seeing his thoughtless actions from the flashbacks come back to bite him in the present were really to heartbreaking to watch, mostly thanks to the execution along with Robert's acting. And given that he plays 3 different stages of Rumple, that is also a pretty big feat (although at this point, he must think it's a walk in the park). I also feel the way the writers incorporated Emilie's pregnancy into the show was really well done and it's being used as a realistic way to develop Rumple's character because a hell of a lot would be going through his head. Not only worrying about both his wife and child's safety, but also the mere fact of being a father all over again after what happened to Baelfire. And the twist involving the contract also makes Hades a much more threatening villain compared to Arthur despite Germann's abundant moments of chewing the scenery (to be fair, it probably explains the poor green screen & CGI).
And speaking of sympathy and character development, I was genuinely surprised by how Milah was portrayed, as while I still despised how spiteful and emotionally abusive she was towards her ex husband, when it was revealed what (or rather who) her unfinished business was, it was pretty believable and saddening. All she wants is to tell her son how sorry she is for abandoning him, and it was surprisingly sweet seeing her & Rumple try to bury the hatchet in honor of their son.
If I had any issues, it would probably be seeing Emma & Hook reunite so early into the arc despite the fact that the advertising had plastered it everywhere that the focus of the Underworld arc was finding him & it's pretty ridiculous after a crisis that they're back together so quickly (unlike other certain couples who are split for most of the season). And Regina's subplot, while being heartwarming, I didn't really find as interesting mostly because it had little connection to what was going on. It's definitely not bad, but it just felt like filler compared to the rest of the episode.
Still, with bringing back Rumple's complexity as a character, Belle FINALLY being pregnant (despite the angst surrounding the contract), a very compelling plot twist, excellent acting and bringing more dimensions to past one-note characters, this really is a wonderful addition to the many Rumple centric and Jane Espenson written episodes.

Wouldn't like to be in the River of Lost Souls!

No, don't give into his lies Rumple!

Aww, sweet of him to check up on his wife!

Hmm, very curious with why he's that traumatized over seeing Belle in the crystal ball...

'Yesterday, you hid in your shop, today you're gonna lead the charge to find a man you hate?' 'Yeah because I realized that if I don't step in, we are never gonna get home and I very much want to get back home to my wife!' Wow, he seems very determined now!

Nice to see you again Milah...

*Sighs* How I've missed you Spinner!Rumple...

I wouldn't touch that snake if I were you Bae...

And...you blew it!

Oh, the irony! 

'I have to watch the children!' 'Well, they're dead anyway.' And, I just realized how depressing that is!

So Hades wants to avoid giving the souls hope...OK then! I'll buy that!

HAHA! 'Miss Swan?  This is Milah, my ex-wife. And Hook's ex, also. She's also Baelfire's mother, of course. Emma knew him as Neal. They had a torrid affair, which resulted in a teenage pregnancy. In prison.' 'Yeah, well-' 'So you've been with my former lover and my son? Is that right?!' 'Huh!' 'Well, I'm sure we're gonna laugh ourselves sick about this one day.'

Very awkward reunion...

Pretty creepy...

Yeah, do they really look like they have 100 gold coins to pay for that antidote, Fendrake?! Their son is dying, cut them some slack!

So she'll tell Milah about her vision of Neal, but not his own father?!

HAHA! 'I see you admiring my fur. Doe skin of all things. I'm not saying it's Bambi's iconic dead mother. And I'm not saying it's not.' And interesting info about the 3 settings for the headstones...

Well, they're lucky there was a boat waiting for them in the basement!

Woah, rather steamy way to motivate your husband to kill someone!

Well, at least we've seen how they met!

Are you really telling me that they reunite after an episode and a half despite the arc being advertised as focusing on finding him?!

'My unfinished business was never Killian!' 'Then why-' 'It's Baelfire. Our son. I should've been there for him. Not punished him because I grew to hate his father. I was selfish. I thought if I could change that, do something generous maybe I could finish what I need to.' 'So you want to move on?' 'Yeah. So I can see him and tell him 'Son, I'm sorry for everything''. Can't help but feel sorry for her despite being a complete bitch to Rumple!

N'aww! 'It's just I really want to see him again.' 'You will. And when you do tell him 'hello' from his papa.'

'How much does your son mean to you?' 'Everything.' 'Then you can leave with the cure. ' But I-I-I-I don't have any gold. I've just got a knife.' 'There will be a terrible price to pay, but not in gold. If you want to trade we can make a deal' 'I don't know much about making deals, but if I can save my son's life, I will trade ANYTHING!' Why do I get the feeling that's gonna bite him in the ass later...?

Aww! 'Daniel. I'm so glad you're in a better place. I'm also sorry I missed a chance to see you. You were my first love, Daniel, and you will always live in my heart. I just needed to know you were OK.'

Oh boy, seeing these two hamming it up is a match made in heaven!

Hmm, Rumple sure looks right at home in that throne!

'We don't have a second born child. We'll just have to make sure we never do.' 'Because you SOLD THEM! You sold our future. Our FAMILY!' In other words, they're forever trapped in a sexless marriage! I get why Milah's angry given that he was pretty thoughtless even if I completely understand why he did it!

'Bae can be all the future we need.' 'Well, thank you very much for deciding the rest of my narrow, little life for me' If she's THAT angry with him, why doesn't she just leave him-oh yeah she does not long after!

What the-?! Just when I started to feel for her, Hades made him do that?! Well, at least he looks genuinely sorry!

Well, looks like Regina's got her spark back!

Yeah, not surprised there's bad blood between them given that he made Hook's sacrifice pointless! At least Rumple has kinda made up for it by scraping him out of this mess!

*In Nelson Muntz's voice* HAHA! Seems your 'perfect idea' backfired, huh Emma?

Hmm, seems Hades has already done the job for Hook. You know what they say! You want something done, you've got to do it yourself!

Well, that explains why he wasn't worried when he came up with the deal to have a child with Cora!

'You weren't trying to conjure up and image of her, were you? Were were trying to figure out where your son went. You asked the crystal ball to show you your child, didn't you? So-' 'No, no!' 'This is an image of your child. Your next child. Belle doesn't know it yet but, she's pregnant!' In the immortal words of Gloria Pritchett, I KNEW IIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!

'Remember him? You two had a contract. You tried to void it by killing him during a potential baby-making liaison with your protege, the Evil Queen's mother, Cora. You rascal! Which seemed smart at the time, but it turns out death doesn't actually nullify a contract. Not down here. Because here he is. And here's the contract. Which he just signed over to me. So, just to be super extra clear, at any time, I can cash in the debt and take your baby. All magic comes with a price and now, Dark One, the price is you work for me.'  FUCK! YOU! HADES!!! CAN'T THE WRITERS JUST LET RUMBELLE BE HAPPY NOW THAT THEY'RE FINALLY HAVING A BABY?!