Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26159109-20150722160646/@comment-24386552-20180307040733

I feel like 2B with Greg and Tamara was where it JTS because that amazing Cora climax came to its bittersweet end, we were left with a potentially interesting (only because of the idea that magic can ruin the lives of those like Greg) and was incredibly dull. It wrapped up with a finale that had amazing present day content but terribly dry flashbacks which brought the momentum a screeching halt. The only memorable part of the Hook and Bae flashback was the end reveal that Pan knew about Henry for centuries.

In S3, I felt like the show ended in its own way during the midseason finale. Afterwards, Rumple came back, his son died, and then Frozen arrived.

Frozen was definitely a cash grab and took away from the main cast but at least it got wrapped up. I can also describe the character development in one line: Emma progressed and Rumple regressed. Really nothing notable with the other characters including my own favorite.

4B was a mess. Queens of Darkness, Author, Horrible Snowing storyline, Zelena's return, Will Scarlett's storyline (That never took off), Lily, Cora's return and the AU. Honestly, this arc had a lot of weird moments but I don't see the whole Emma killing Cruella part as the sour note, I always saw Hook's betrayal to Ursula along with other moments like Snowing's hypocrisy, and Rumple's continuous regression to leave a nasty taste behind. However, I feel like the show didn't hit a new low until S5.

S5, the amazing potential to see Emma really struggle with the darkness was lost and Merida's storyline while okay it's own, got in the way of the overarching plot. Then it turned into a CS problem because somehow Hook got a cut and needed to be revived where he asked Emma to die a hero, she couldn't allow that and made him what he hated most which for the limited time he was the Dark One, he certainly wasted no time basking in that glory, such as killing Merlin and sweeping it under the rug along with bringing the Dark Ones over to trap everyone in the Underworld. Also Emma's original plan after Hook cast the curse, was to put the darkness in Zelena and then kill her. Yes, Zelena was awful but how could anyone explain that to Robyn once she grew up and wanted to know about her real mom?

I can't even get into everything wrong with the midseason finale because there's a whole thread on that but afterwards, the anti-climactic goodbye of CS (they literally reunited an episode/day later), Cora getting to move on (I love her and all her villainous glory but one good act wouldn't cover all the shit she did), Underworld being accessed by slippers, and Last Rites shifting the field of characters were all JTS moments for me. Plus that arc could've been stretched out. If they waited a little longer, Graham could've returned.

S6 had its share as well but you could tell the writers had given up when Emma was revived by TLK. I facepalmed so hard because I remember a time when Regina was innocent and tried the exact same thing with Daniel, but that didn't work. It was a heartbreaking reality. I will say, at least her being alive made for the true happy ending for everyone.