Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-27060727-20170222030619/@comment-25375217-20170424045523

Farerb wrote:

DatNuttyKid wrote:

JennaMae wrote: Did Snow and Charming know Hook before season 2 present day....? No, right? Looks like they show up during his pirate musical number, so if that's a flashback, I'm not sure when/how this would have happened. Oh, wow. That is interesting.

...aw, man, more "retcon" complaints incoming. If there was only a way to avoid all these "retcons" complaints...like not doing them in the first place. I've said it before and I'll say it again: a retcon is a retroactive continuity. Therefore, every episode of Once Upon a Time that has a flashback is a retcon. If you're going to complain, please learn to understand the things you're complaining about.

What most people complain about is contradictory continuity, where two different facts claimed on the show do not and cannot line up (such as Regina taking Hook to see his dad in Swan Song even though they quite clearly did not have time to do that).

There are also people who merge the "memory potion" plot with contradictory continuity. While those plots often aren't strongly written and are usually played as deus ex machinas (another term that this fandom overuses - a deus ex machina generally if not always refers to a plot device that makes no sense in the setting, whereas most Once deus ex machinas line up with the rest of the plot even if they never come up again (such as the Pixie Dust Flowers, which are actually recurring, or memory potions). A good (and literal) example of a deus ex machina would be Zeus reviving Hook.), there are no existing examples where they are contradictory. I would perfectly understand if someone wanted to complain that the plot device of memory potions to include portions of backstory that don't line up with the characters memories is overused (though I don't fully agree), but most of the time they erroneously slap the "retcon" label on it. I suppose, in the end, it's just me nitpicking grammar, but it would make me more inclined to listen to others' opinions if they actually knew what they were trying to say.