Once Upon a Time - ABC

[LindaM]

Author is going to make Rumple forget Bael but Rumple refused. 

Emma and company are going to trap the author back in the book.

And a new story is written and the magic begins. 

[LindaM]

Now I'm mad at Godl.  He left Henry all alone in Storybrooke.

[LindaM]

Once Upon a Time has a Purgatory now.

[LindaM]

Well, Henry's in a version of the Enchnated Forest and so is the author.

I really, really dislike the Author. 

Author plans to kill Henry but Rumple arrives.

[LindaM]

Almost 45 minutes into the show and we've had Henry but too much author.  Now Author wants Snow to xxxx Henry.  Get him off my screen and do it now!

I thought Lost's Purgatory was bad but this is much, much worse.

[LindaM]

Oh great -- Belle has a baby and Rumple is happy.  Author is trying to convince Rumple to kill Regina and Henry.  Rumple is looking good. 

And Emma has another thing to hold against her parents!  WOW!  That was a shock.

[LindaM]

And I do like Rumple's costume but I don't think I can take another death!

[LindaM]

 

Told you so -- about Henry that is. 

Good to see they fixed Hook.

But with 20 minutes left, I have no clue where they will go next.

[LindaM]

Outtie -- Belle does love Rumple and doesn't love Will.  Can we hope Will is gone bye bye.

And I don't believe he will xxx.

[Outlast]

Sorry I'm late to comment but I couldn't get the site to load last night.

Outtie -- Belle does love Rumple and doesn't love Will.  Can we hope Will is gone bye bye.

And I don't believe he will xxx.

I was glad she finally said that (about time!), but I hated that they had her storm in, not to check on him, but to make sure he wasn't hurting anyone...  Wth?

I was uncomfortable all night waiting t o see how this would all end, but ultimately I'm ok with what happened, not the Belle stuff, I'm still annoyed as all get out with how she's been written this season, but as far as Rumple getting his heart cleansed and Emma becoming the new Dark One... I'm kind of ok with that. That's my initial reaction anyhow.

Other random points I want to touch...

Henry as the Author (nice call LM) was a good plot move IMO. Though I'm not crazy about him breaking the pen at the end.

The Apprentice is dead? Why is he dead after getting nibbled on by the darkness when Regina seems to be fine after being surrounded by it for ages. Maybe he isn't dead. He sure looked dead though.

Far too much Regina. That's basically a season long complaint on my part though. Also the whole romance with her and Robin loses steam every scene theyre in together. The Emma and Regina scenes seem so looooong to someone who is waiting and waiting for Rumple and Belle to get their 30 seconds of screen time.

Isaac becoming the author when Walt Disney died... Good one OUAT.

A Dragon thing? That was weird.

I didn't like them writing Rumple as trying to stop Henry. He may not want to lose his happy ending (with Belle and him raising Prince Neal?), but attaching his grandson feels wrong for him. Even if he is largely confused about his past/real life.

I'm a little off put in general by the idea of writing the truth vs. writing fiction and the fiction not being real until the end of the book. I kind of get the premise, but I'm not loving it.

The charmings ONCE AGAIN blaming the Author for their actions with Lily... Come on! He may have led you to water, but you choose to drink as far as I can tell. Regina (and others) do this all the time with Gold, blaming him for their own misdeeds because he gave them the fuel they needed or whatever.

The only thing I hated about the Dark One ending is that Regina has known for what feels like a while now that this was probably going to happen and she did NOTHING about it. A real hero would care about a impossibly evil force being untethered more than she would about her boyfriend and his pregnant non-wife.

[Merry Prankster]

The finale---The first 90 minutes or so----blech!  The exposition to get to the alternate reality was WAY too long.  Once there, the story was superficial, too helter-skelter and the role changes unconvincing.  The only character the Prankster liked was Henry--he is the true moral compass of Storybrook in the 10 scenes a season in which he appears.  Henry's role should be expanded.

Once the characters returned to Storybrook---Boffo!  Good action, several potential story lines.  Emma as the Dark One, savior division, COULD be interesting.  Lily's quest for Dragon Daddy might also hold promise.  The Prankster hopes Rumple does not spend next season on the floor of his shop in suspended animation, hovering between life and death.  The Prankster was not bowled over by the identity of the sorcerer.   Recurring roles next season for Zelena, Maleficent, Cruella's car?   

The Prankster thought back to season one, his favorite.  Emma was a badass with a good heart and Regina was a very engaging, nasty piece of work.  And there was NO MAGIC in Storybrook.  Ah, the good ol' days.

One afterthought----there appears to be an opening for the Sorcerer's Apprentice--any candidates?

[Outlast]

One afterthought----there appears to be an opening for the Sorcerer's Apprentice--any candidates?

Henry would seem to most obvious choice, but given his Author status update he might be busy staring at that broken pen all day.

I suppose Rumple could take the job and learn white magic from the sorcerer (provided they find him).

"When you see the future, irony is everywhere." - Rumplestiltskin

[LindaM]

I think we're going to see a season of searching for Merlin.  I'm not a big fan of bringing in the Arthurian story.  It may be because I had a teacher who focused so much on it when I studied that period in literature.  It could be done if handled right but Epperson is listed as working with the show again and I've never been sure how much to blame her for the season of Torchwood no one wants to admit was made. 

Henry FINALLY has a role.  That I am happy about.  Somehow he will get a quill.  I just hope they don't make him too much of a Harry Potter clone.  Better yet, I hope they don't make him the Arthur clone.

I liked Regina in the outlaw role but thought she'd be a little more on the bad side.  I liked Emma but we will never know what Emma would have really done.  Hook -- wimpy doesn't suit him (and my student worker is mad because he survived the alt reality).  Ginnifer did not make a convincing Evil Queen.  That was my big sticking point.

As to Emma being the perpetual Dark One, well I have a theory on what will happen.  Quest stories are great but there is one feature that knocks all off kilter.  If a "savior" gives his life for another, the good always wins out.  Happens too much (and even happened in Harry Potter).  Emma gave her life so Regina would find happiness.  In a way, she even gave her life for the Apprentice and Rumple.  You know she won't remain evil for long.  Plus who will control the dagger and where the heck is she.

Season five may be interesting.

Here's the way I rate the seasons.

Season 1
Season 3a
Season 4a
Season 3b
Season 4b
Season 2a
Season 2b (only last because all they did was set up Season 3a).

[Merry Prankster]

Regarding Henry's broken quill, the Prankster believes more quills can be had.  In the beginning of the episode before the "Cruella's Death" episode, Isaac had just been released from the story book.  He was running through the woods to escape Emma, et al. and he broke a piece of wood off of one of the trees to serve as a new quill.  Rumple appears, and tells him a quill can be made only from the wood of a tree in the Enchanted Forest because it requires magic. So there is a possibility for more quills.

Regarding Merlin, I share some of LindaM's trepidation.   Merlin, Arthurian Legend, Camelot, etc. has been done to death.  To devise a fresh, compelling story line will be a challenge for the writers.  The best bet may be to create a whole new Merlin story in which Camelot is only a sidebar.

[LindaM]

A good Merlin bit would be that it was Zelena who trapped him in his cave.  Zelena would have another purpose than being there to take Robin away from Regina.  And just think of the possibilities we'd get with the back story.  And who knows.  Maybe we'd get to see Arthur arise to save Storybrooke (not England like the prophecy).  If I put my mind to it, I could probably come up with a creditable story. 

But here's a new query.  Who do we bind the "darkness" to?  Merlin  supposedly can defeat it but wouldn't it have to have a "tie" to someone.