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Ouat

Addison

Auror
I can't believe no one's started a Once Upon a Time thread yet. So I will.

Warning, if you're not caught up on the episodes then don't read, possible spoilers. I'll try to hide them but, ye be warned.


I watched the recent episode and I have to say the new villain's background is.....oh brother. She doesn't have to be Regina's you-know-what to hate her. The creators seem to think that the only valid reason for the heroes to hate the villains is if they're related. Like Snow and Regina, David and King George, now Regina and HER.

The creators could have just made it that (new villain) was Cora's apprentice but was thrown aside, or magically exiled, when Cora became pregnant with Regina. Besides, one of the villain's pets got Regina's blood remember? And the villain put it in a phial, a fusion of Regina's blood and a magic potion which would allow her to break the Blood Magic protection.

I love the series, it's one of my favorites, but this development almost made me cry inside.
 

Addison

Auror
Lots of character development and revelation in the latest episode. Teeth gritting and tear wrenching. Lots of cliffhangers at the end, toward the good and bad. Poor Emma. :(

If I got a chance at the witch I wouldn't just throw the water on her, I'd give her a friggin swirly then throw her in the ocean. I gotta say, their villains are as dimensional and hate-able as the heroes are dimensional and likeable. Where's Dorothy when you need her?
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
I kind of lost interest in OUAT at the start of Season 2.
Apart from spotting Keegan Conner Tracy as the Blue Fairy, I though it fairly flat.
I think Robert Carlisle is a great villain even if he's not the villain.
 

Addison

Auror
I have to admite I'm losing interest too. I predicted Pan's relation to Gold and about ten other developments. The only reason I'm excited for the next episode is because of the showdown between Evil and Wicked.
 

Addison

Auror
Watched the latest episode and youtubed the promo for the next one.

OMG, I grit my teeth so hard I thought my teeth would crack.

Not to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen the episodes, the entire episode was full of "Holy Crap", "Oh My God!" and "Oh no - no- please no!" moments. There was an adequate sprinkling of humor and bright moments, but overall I was on the edge of my seat pulling my hair out.

And the promo.....I got the idea the Glinda the Good Witch isn't so helpful. Zelina....oooh Zelina, when will she get it?! For what she did in the promo she doesn't have a heart! She didn't take it out or have it stolen, it got so dark and evil it just dissipitated in her chest and poisoned her....maybe that's why her smoke and skin is green.

But I do agree with Charming in the recent episode, Leopold is a questionable name. If they nickname the baby Leo but call him Leopold when he's in trouble then it's good.
 

Addison

Auror
Season 3 is over and sewn a huge cliff hanger for season 4.

Great character development, and such a CUTE baby!

But as for the season 4 cliff hanger I have my fingers crossed. I'm worried the writers will base their spin on the movie and not the fairy tale the movie is based on. Also worried that it'll be another weird twig of the Charming or Regina family tree. Why can't it just be an old weird nemesis of Rumple's with no relation to the heroes? Heck maybe her past can be connected to a different villain, like Maleficent? And the character can explore a different shape of evil.

If you haven't seen the finale, wake up and watch. :)
 

Addison

Auror
Ginnifer had a baby boy! XD Congratulations to her and Josh and their bundle of joy.
This recent news on the "Once Upon a Time" stars got me thinking about the coming fourth season. I have to ssay, not really looking forward to it, other than seeing more cute baby.

So far their fairy tale adaptions have been based on the tales themselves. Whether from the brothers Grimm or Hans Anderson. But from the news and articles I've seen, they're basing their adaption of "The Ice Queen" on another adaption. I've read the Ice Queen, it's one of my favorite fairy tales. Disney's adaption was beautiful and an obvious success. But if they base it off "Frozen" I'll stop watching and I'd have lost faith in Horowitz and Kitsis.

If I were them and did an adaption of "The Ice Queen", I'd keep the brother-sister character relation. The Ice Queen herself would have been a victim of Maleficent. (Give the Charming/Queen tree a break) Besides Maleficent seems to make a hobby of cursing babies. So when the curse comes the Ice Queen is created, her brother is injured in some way because of it. Rumpelstiltskin plays an involuntary hero when he catches her in that bottle and puts her away in his vault. As Ice Queen lets loose in town looking for Maleficent, who's responsible for her cursed life and her brother's fate. Which is a problem as Maleficent is dead, and their window of opportunity is closing. The longer she's cursed, the more her heart will freeze, and soon the innocent girl will be lost and there will only be a monster of ice with zero humanity.

That's my two bits on it. I don't know what they're worth beyond this website, but as a person who grew up on fairy tales I had to get it out.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Ah...'Once Upon A Time'...pretty much the only television show I was watching at the time my reception went away a little over two years ago. Lost reception right before the last couple of episodes, which was annoying. No TV since then.
 

Addison

Auror
I don't have a lot of faith in the premise of season 4. The foreshadowed character developments, and seeing a cute baby, are all good. But basing the season on Frozen, not so much. They made their name by making their own renditions of fairy tales, not renditions of renditions. The movie Frozen, while great, is nowhere near the real fairy tale. I can see the fairy tale being a better main conflict than Frozen.

For those who don't know, the fairy tale is called "The Snow Queen" and it's a Danish fairy tale. The Snow Queen is more like Sauron, not really doing evil toward the hero just sitting in their throne doing their own thing. The victim with the frozen heart is Kai, a boy who has pieces of an enchanted mirror in his eye and heart. the pieces were part of a mirror which only reflected the distorted image of the evil/bad in the world. The Snow Queen takes him to her palace to use the shards to make a puzzle, specifically to spell the word eternity. His friend Gerda does not believe he's dead so she goes on a journey to find him. Escaping enchantments and imprisonment, getting help from a crow, a robber girl, a reindeer and two wise woman. Oh and there are fat bee-like snowflakes that serve the snow queen. They get to the castle, the power of her innocent heart keeps the bee-snow-flakes away. She goes into the palace and finds Kai. She kisses him, melting the piece out of his heart. He weeps, getting the other out of his eye. Those two pieces fall into place, spelling the word and freeing him from the witch. (Oh, she kissed him twice once to protect him from the cold and again to make him forget about Gerda and his family. One more kiss will kill him). They go home and live happily ever after.

So the person who makes the mirror could have been Rumplestiltskin, or maybe an evil friend of the snow-queen. Gerda and Kai are themselves, the reindeer-Bae- is still a reindeer. But instead of a crow it's Blue. So in the Ouat universe Rumple could have put Kai and/or the snow queen in the bottle so the puzzle wouldn't be completed, itx's completion would have screwed up his plans somehow. Now, if the puzzle is the completed in Story brooke and the closer it gets the more frigid and icy things get. When completed, Storybrooke is in eternal winter.

Okay, so I still like their creativity and ambition, but come on. Even my kid sister, an Elsa wanna-be, doesn't want anyone messing with Frozen. What do you guys think?
 

Addison

Auror
I'm waiting for the fifth episode of season 4. So far it's getting interesting, there's a lot of balls rolling, lot of foreshadowing and head games. The Snow Queen (not Elsa, for those who aren't watching) knows Emma and not from Storybrooke, also she didn't come to Storybrooke via any curse, so there's a huge mystery.

I'm glad they're pulling in the character of Snow Queen, hopefully they'll be able to work in some of the original Snow Queen fairy tale. I have my fingers crossed. I also have them crossed for: Regina to get her happy ending, Operation Mongoose, Hook and Emma, Elsa finding Anna, Anna and Kristoff getting their marriage, more scenes of baby Neal (so cute!), to find out what the Snow Queen's plan is!

Also as they're doing the fourth season like the third, two parts with different arcs, I'm excited to see what they do with the second half.
 

Vilya

Scribe
Once Upon A Time lost me after last season, but I used to absolutely love it. I guess that I just got tired of them sweeping things under the rug, and well without Rumple for quite a bit of the second half, it really wasn't holding my interest. I haven't watched any of the current season, but what does everyone think, is it better written? Should I give Once another shot?
 

Addison

Auror
Meh I'm on the fence with this season myself. The family dynamics between Henry and Regina, Henry and Rumple, Regina and Robin and the Charmings is still intriguing. The Snow Queen's back story was well written but how they shoved Elsa and Anna into it was just...gyah! Once Upon a Time got big hits because they were making renditions of fairy tales. By making a rendition of a rendition they killed the first part of the season. In the latest episode it's like they rushed and shoved a character development (not to mention the writers are getting a little weird with Snow White) with Emma. She went from finally getting some control of her powers to losing control. This is what happens when they go off script.
But I'm holding out in hopes of a few things; find out who the author is, see how Regina and Robin get their happy ending, see the Snow Queen get a serious slap of reality when she gets her butt kicked, see what's in store for the next half of the season. Hopefully they'll make a comeback, not continue down hill.
 

Vilya

Scribe
I broke down and started watching season four. I'm two episodes in.

One of the main problems I have with this show is that it just all seems to gimmicky to me. I love the core cast, and I would like more focus on them. They just keep adding more and more people, and it is hard to know who to be attached too. I just get the feeling like they are spreading themselves too thin, and I have to admit that I wasn't exactly excited that they were borrowing characters from Frozen (even though I really like the movie).

I do still really like Regina and Rumple. I do hope that she gets her happy ending...and I am always wondering what the Dark One is up to. I still think that he is going to try and find a way to bring Neal back. I think that wand (if he hasn't used it) could still cast a time portal spell. I have a hard time believing that Rumple could resist bringing Neal back if he had the means.

I hope that they make a comeback too. The last time I was really engaged was the Peter Pan arc, and I had to roll my eyes back when Peter was really Rumple's dad -I mean everyone doesn't have to be related....
 

Addison

Auror
I hope that they make a comeback too. The last time I was really engaged was the Peter Pan arc, and I had to roll my eyes back when Peter was really Rumple's dad -I mean everyone doesn't have to be related....

I know! Remeber "New York Serenade" when the evil monkey cut Regina and gave Zelena the blood? When we saw Zelena in Regina's office and she said only Blood Magic can beat her blood magic I knew how she did it, the blood. But then she pulled the sister card! GYA! Hopefully, my Christmas wish, is that the next half of season four is one heck of a come back! I heard they have Ursula and Cruella DeVille coming in. Ursula I can see...Cruella? That'll be interesting.
 

Addison

Auror
Okay everyone, the season 4 mid-season finale is tonight! The end of the Frozen storyline, FINALLY, and the introduction of the second half coming in...March or May, one of the "M" months.

Anyway, what we'll have is like the evilized, fairy-tale version of the Halliwell sisters. Please welcome to the small screen for their Storybrooke debuts the Mistress of Evil who wields all the powers of Hell with her trusty pet unicorn, Maleficent!

Apparently back from the dead! Or undead, I guess we'll find out how that happened. Striding up behind her in fabulous heeled boots with a thick fur bunched around her shoulders, the woman who will make poor Pongo bleach his spots, please welcome the devil, Cruella De'Ville.

Last, but certainly not least, she flows like the element she lives in and as powerful as the storms that ravage the seas. She got a brief cameo in season 2 and is now here to brandish herself entirely. Let's welcome the Goddess of the Sea, Ursula.

There will be a LOT going on tonight at eight. The end of the Frozen arc, wonder how they'll find Arrendell when they get back? The town is recovering from the Spell of Shattered Sight. Will Emma find out Hook lost his heart? Who will Robin choose? Regina or Marian? Will Rumple escape Storybrooke with Belle and Henry?

Hopefully, wishing on a star, this is a strong symbol of Horowitz and Kitsis getting back on their writing that got us hooked on the show in the first place. Tune in!
 

Addison

Auror
The Frozen arc was nicely wrapped up, a healthy dose of arcs were wrapped up while others continued or new ones were made to leave us waiting for March 1st. I'll be waiting a few more days to post my entire opinion. I'm hoping to get some more opinions from you guys. ;)
 
My main thought: I see that Robin has "left" Regina (but stuck around for the next-year clips, hmm) just as "Operation Mongoose" gears up to give Regina a chance to give Destiny an earful about her life... which I always thought was a more sensible plan than most characters have ever had. But she's still overlooking the big picture:

We always say this is the show that's gone from Can Snow and Charming have five minutes of happiness? to Can the Evil Queen have five minutes of happiness? But Regina's life has been bullying her for the same ruthless reason it's been kicking Snow around.

Sorry, Regina. You've been a hero for years now. :)
 

Addison

Auror
Overall opinion of the first half of season 4? A LOW point in the series. Like I stated earlier they got to be popular by making renditions of fairy tales, not renditions of renditions. The story of "The Ice Queen" by Hans Anderson is a beautiful, incredible pinnacle of fairy tales. Also as they planned to explore Maleficent, Ursula and Cruella Deville in the second half they could have planted those seeds in the first half if they did it right!

Not to mention they completely RUINED a great opportunity with the hat! They had previously addressed Henry wanting to be a hero like his family. After all the intensity with the Wicked Witch he'd be even more propelled to be a hero. He could have found the hat while playing detective (like season one when he helped August, or went into the mine) and either accidentally absorbed its magic and not know it or become an apprentice. If they really wanted to explore Emma's past (that part felt thrown in) they could have done it a LOT better. Was Emma always good at finding people or did she learn from someone? Did she get her hard-core attitude from her parents or did she pick it up from someone? Possibly the same someone who taught her how to find people and, maybe, to tell when people are lying? So many other questions, better questions, to answer than one they threw into the pot.

Oh brother, deep breaths. :spin: Several articles have said that the coming episodes will be "Back to Basics". So hopefully, please MUSES of Horowitz and Kitsis, please Leprechauns of the world, let the show rise back to its grandeur!
 

Addison

Auror
I was excited and I'm still interested. I have been curious who the author is. Maybe, at some point, we'll find out where Snow got the little bottle of dark fairy dust she used on the trolls.

My only peeves so far concern Ursula and Cruella. Last I checked the actual fairy tale which Ursula is cast in has Ariel turning into foam. Yet the Ariel in the story is flesh and blood and scales. So once again they are making renditions of a rendition. Then there's Cruella. Umm....I don't believe 101 Dalmations was a fairy tale. I'm interested and curious to see how Kitsis and Horowitz pull her off.

I would have been interested to see another fairy tale villain like Baba Yaga. Or maybe they could touch on some of the unsung heroes of the fairy tale genre. Like BearSkin, the White Snake, The King of Gold Mountain etc. They do know that the Brothers Grim wrote two hundred and eleven fairy tales? Not to mention that, even though some of their tales were rewrites from Perrault and Anderson, those authors and several others wrote incredible stories that few have heard of. Anyone heard of, or read, "Bluebeard", "East of the Sun West of the Moon"?

Their latest episode "Enter the Dragon" did end on good cliff hangers. To avoid spoilers, someone has returned and is in peril, unless Regina is really true to her new path of light magic and happiness. Emma suspects Snow and Charming are hiding something and the clock is ticking until Hook's secret with Ursula is revealed. Not to mention Rumple and Belle are bound to bump heads...possibly after he sees that the Knave has an accident.
 
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