Once Upon a Time (TV Series)

Operation Mongoose: Part 1 (2015)

Patrick Fischler: Isaac Heller

Photos 

Quotes 

• Isaac Heller : So, now we're both trapped in the book. Congratulations. Let me tell you about this place. It's cold, there's no running water, and things are always trying to kill you.

• Middle Aged Man : I don't know. Do we really need color?

  Isaac Heller : "Do we really need color?" Do we need to settle for what came before? Don't you want to really see the world? It's a complicated place, and people are complex creatures. Their interior lives are painted with many different hues and shades. And the Zenith Marseille color TV... It brings the profound complications of the universe right into your living room.

  Middle Aged Man : ...Does it have a clicker?

• The Apprentice : [Creates a door]  You can see that?

  Isaac Heller : I see it, but I don't believe it.

  The Apprentice : Actually, the fact that you can see it tells me that you do believe.

  Isaac Heller : Believe in what?

  The Apprentice : In magic.

• Mr. Gold : Why help me? You have the quill now. You don't need me anymore.

  Isaac Heller : We're a lot alike. We've both struggled mightily for happiness all our lives. You got power, became the Dark One, but you've never been the content one. I know what that's like... To always have dissatisfaction gnawing at you, watching other people's happiness bloom. It's time for a world where up is down, where villains can have happy endings.

  Mr. Gold : And what does your ending look like? A castle? Treasure? Power?

  Isaac Heller : In the enchanted forest? Do you think I like dysentery and a 40-year life expectancy? No, no, that's your world. I like room service and indoor plumbing. You're welcome to a happy ending in your land. I'll take one in mine.

• Isaac Heller : Someone once told me I don't tell stories people want. But I say, write what you're passionate about. That's what matters most. "Heroes and Villains" is close to my heart. It's been a passion project for longer than you would believe. I wrote it because I think folks are sick of heroes getting everything in these classic fairy tales. Hence, the radically different endings for Snow White, Prince Charming, and all the rest... Something different for a modern audience. What happens when villains win the day?

• Isaac Heller : Your family is fine. If you want to get technical... They're in here. See? The original copy of my book... The one that I always wanted to write. They all live in here now in kind of an alternate reality.

  Henry Mills : You made them miserable.

  Isaac Heller : I see that you've read some of my book. Good. Good. Then... Then you know that everyone got the ending they deserve. Except Emma, of course. You won't find her in the book. There was no room for a saviour in my world.