The Queens of Darkness have taken over Once Upon A Time in search of their happy endings, and yet there's one evil enchantress that we still don't know that much about. Ursula wanted her singing voice back and Maleficent wants to reunite with her daughter, Lily. Those seem simple enough, so what is Cruella De Vil's happy ending on Once Upon A Time? When we first met Cruella, she was getting evicted from a mansion with her husband in our world and took just one fur coat with her that she had "before," presumably referring to her magical backstory. We'll be learning all about what happened to Cruella in Sunday's episode "Sympathy for the De Vil." According to the official ABC press release for the episode, it's going to get dark.
In fictional 1920s England, viewers meet a young Cruella, whose oppressive mother uses her Dalmatians to terrorize her daughter. Cruella is confined to her mother’s attic until a mysterious stranger arrives and empowers her to challenge her captor.
I love that OUAT is giving Cruella a traumatic and sympathetic reason for why she hates Dalmatians. Remember, in Once Upon A Time's present, Ms. De Vil has power over animals. A sneak peek from Entertainment Weekly revealed that Cruella can even tame Maleficent in dragon form, like a regular Khaleesi. Presumably this is a power she gained later in life, but how does that connect to her happy ending? Actress Victoria Smurfit spoke with Cosmopolitan and revealed this much about what a "happy ending" might mean for Cruella on Once Upon A Time.
"You will find out exactly what she's been after. She's had an agenda that up until now nobody's known about. She has a backstory with the Author, played by the delicious Patrick Fischler. I spent a lot of the episode working with him. He holds something quite real and serious over Cruella, and her happiness is in getting that back from him.
What could the Author (who looks quite dapper in his 1920s garb, I have to say) hold over Cruella De Vil? Does he have something physically of hers? That would make sense, considering the character's infamous materialism. Could he even have her mother, or the dogs?
Did he take her with him to the Enchanted Forest? Since we've been told that there are many authors, is this before or after Fischler's character become the Peddler/Author we know now? Smufitt told Entertainment Weekly in an interview that the Author is threatening her with what he has. I love the idea that the Author is a little bit of a villain himself. He's almost like Cruella De ViI's personal Rumplestiltskin.
What if she killed her mother and/or the puppies and he's somehow blackmailing her? We've never seen a magical manifestation of blackmail before. That could be interesting. What if he's the source of her power and she needs to be able to break free? In our world, Cruella settled in Great Neck, Long Island, which is the inspiration for the fictional location in The Great Gatsby . Reinvention, a favorite theme of F. Scott Fitzgerald's, seems to be important to Cruella as well. Whatever the Author holds over her must not only be twisted, but have something to do with the person she was when they first met.
I also like the fact that ABC specifies right off the bat that we're dealing with fictional 1920s in Cruella's backstory. This explains the magic, and it's not the first time we've visited such a world. Wendy Darling, Alice (from Once Upon A Time In Wonderland), and Dr. Frankenstein all hail from worlds that resemble our own but are a little different and a little more magical. Cruella and the Author are just the next, enthralling addition to that.
Images: Jack Rowand/ABC (2)
