Board Thread:Rant and Rave/@comment-25926288-20170531180728

Nostalgia is a wonderful feeling. A familiar trope, a nice review of what has conspired, or an attempt to recapture the original picture, all of which is fine. However, it feels to me that Once tries to bend backwards upon itself to pay homage to its hey-day.

Once has been the show for us to recognize fantasy within a scope of reality, to remember the days of a Disney-filled childhood. It branches out into literature, mythology, and legends galore. It’s a show centered on that nostalgic essence. However, it seems excessive in the amount it tries to remind us, the audience, about the “good old days”.

In a generalized view, season 1 trends to be the more favorable season amongst fans and even actors (most seem to favor a character moment from season 1). (To broaden that scope, it appears that S1 to 3 is sort of segment in the show’s six season two part segment.) Callbacks to such a pivotal season that well-received and highly favored was inevitable and, in fact, obvious. But I fear that it has become detrimental to the show’s longevity, reception, and its legacy (and future endeavors, like binge-watching years beyond).

There are plenty of examples that make you chuckle or groan, but here are a few:

The Dark Curse (The Announcement and its proceedings)

Regina barges into her enemies’ wedding to announce her most terrible present of all. We all know it and could probably all recite “I will destroy your happiness, if it is the last thing I do.” Iconic, but not the only time seen, especially not the “It’s here”-worthy Dark Curse.

- Zelena barges in to Neal’s wake and announces her big bad spell on her enemy for her sad, sad day.

- Pan, Snow, Fiona, and Hook (w/ Emma’s machinations) have casted the not-so-rare curse.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif">- Who created this monstrosity? Brought up by Mal, hinting at Rumple. Brought up by Regina, hinted at Hades. Not brought up at all, revealed to be Fiona. Not terrible, but a slightly reused plot point.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif">Memories…again <span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif">How many times have we had new identities or memory loss? Let’s go with Snow, because it’ll feel like winter came and went three times over.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif">Snow has her: Original Form (1), Mary Margaret (2), Evil Snow (3), but missed out on Fiona’s curse.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif">However, Snow has also lost her memories (changing her to a degree) when she wanted to forget David, during the Dark Curse, during the Dark Curse again, during the Dark Curse again again, and one could quasi-include the Wish Realm. Not even including small magical moments that happen by magic command or handwave.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif">For six seasons, even every other season would be a little much. Even worse, the show utilizes the trope-like “Ultra- Convenient Memory Wipe”. At least it still follows the vague “all magic comes with a price” as you give up memories and a part of yourself to gain blissful ignorance that might have been essential to who you are. Or in other cases, it…only delays things, apparently.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif">There are lesser ones that go under-radar, but I will leave that for further discussion.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif">With season 7’s arrival as a new book of Once, it seems that nostalgia confetti will be floating all around it in a peculiar attempt to create excitement and interest. We’ve had essentially the pilot play out with reversed roles, in a sense (despite the fact we had Henry do that essentially twice with his moms). Now, it has a chance to develop mostly on its own.

<p class="MsoNormal">'''<span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;">How do you see the nostalgic moments on Once? Innocent fanservice? Unearned puffery? Has it really made you groan? Or do you just eat it up and can’t wait for more season 1 callbacks as the show progresses? ''' <ac_metadata title="Faux Nostalgia"> </ac_metadata>