Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1916997-20151225192609/@comment-25926288-20151226032652

Trainer Green wrote: I still enjoy the show but the writing has gotten so ridiculous I gave up picking out al it's flaws and just go with whatever they show us. This season has been so nbad that i'm tempted to drop the show completely but there's something about the show that keeps me comign back... probably the fact that i'm waiting for it to get better.

Don't try and blame the fandom for the terrible writing. It's possible to write the show well and still keep the fanbase Waiting for something to get better almost never works out.

I don't think the writing is bad, so I'll agree with the fact they did some ridiculous choices. There were gems in 5a, but it's more of that they were overly ambitious and shifted somewhere in the middle. I'll agree that you can't blame fans, but all is a matter of perspective in terms of quality of writing.

I'm certain they can write wonderful episodes (maybe if less writers write them and they actually sit down and plan them through), but they also have ambitions. I mean the showrunners, that is.

I think it's exectution is the problem. The actors prepare for something that the show isn't really aiming for (i.e. JMO studying a host of illains to incorporate into Dark Swan when the writers weren't going the "Emma is evil" route), the showrunners have wild imaginings of the show that sound alot better than what's shown, and the writers have to pick out what tone this show is trying to convey.

So, the biggest problem seems to be getting some consistency. Either consistent bad ideas turning into lackluster performance and then bad tone and mood, but there's a mix of things, so writing isn't the only problem.

We all enjoy the show, but we also all have different likes. Some like the darker, more adult, coolish parts as some were even shown in 5a, some like the campy-fun-fun, some like the Disney insertion, some even like "don't think to hard" entertainment. But sometimes when  you put that all together you have a 1% chance that coal has a diamond inside. That's how the recent seasons have been.

3b is usually downplayed because it's not season 1 good and it has a weak-ish villain and Regina leading out...sort of. However, it kept its tone throughout much of it  (until the end, sort of). Same with seasons 1-3a. There's some fun and swashbuckling, but there's a somewhat harsh reality behind it all. Even gyms like Lily's out of SB scenes were great because you get a return to a nice balance.

So, terrible writing, meh. More like lazy writing or lost potential.