Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20160926005937/@comment-5106672-20160926030530

So far, the best way I can describe the episode is "contrived". I understand the story needs some conflict to go on, and the characters need their own conflicts so we can focus on them and not get carried away by whatever absurd whatsit is going on, but I'm a bit puzzled.


 * Emma's paralysing flash-forwards came out of the nowhere. There was no foreshadowing whatsoever, nor there was any for the "Saviour" being some kind of widespread role not specific to the Dark Curse. Also, didn't she learn the hard way that keeping secrets and not talking with her loved ones is the worst way to solve things? Smells a lot like "What can we do with a fully-believing, confident, de-villanised Emma now she's even reunited with her love? Mmh, let's throw some ominous impending doom mixed with some character un-developement 'cause we really don't know what to do with her". Meh.


 * The Rumbelle conflict is pretty lame. Arbitrary hourglass rule aside, the whole unborn-baby-knows-best is possibly the most contrived thin that's ever happened to the show. Even if I'm willing to suspend my disbelief over it not even having a differentiated nervous system to dream with at that stage of the pregnancy yet, what the hell? How does he knows his father is a nasty piece of work? How can he even love a mother he has no knowledge of? How does any of that make any sense? It sounds like some stuff just thrown in because they don't know what to do with that ship anymore, it just needs to have aaaaaaaangzzzzttttt. Also, Rumple keeps going about the right thing in all the wrong ways, which is hardly news, and Belle is 100% right about her trust issues, but the "I'mma listen to my unborn baby" angle makes it seem very unreasonable. Meh.


 * Snow is finally doing stuff! Conversely, I don't think I've ever seen Charming and Hook treated as mere accessories to their respective ladies as they were today. Do I really need to switch to shipping CaptainCharming to hope for them to have some relevance of their own?


 * Of course, the Mills sisters need some conflict too. Alright, Regina playing the blame game is perfectly in character, but what's up with Zelena? She's bitter that the part of her sister she's been hating and enviying for decades is gone? Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to seeing the two of them dodging boulders, mending their relationship over time and learning how to truly be sisters, but that seems like a pretty lame excuse for drama.

There was some really good stuff, anyway.


 * I've given up on Rumbelle, but I'm a sucker for Beauty And The Beast and, despite the perversion of it that ship has become, my inner fangirl squeed at every second of the Dark Castle scene. They somehow managed to recapture the long-lost magic of Skin-Deep.


 * I'd watch a whole season of just Regina and Snow talking, rationalising their past and mending their relationship. They're always so heartwarming.


 * Regina in general, aside from the feather debacle. I love her new-found clarity, how she can recognise her mistakes but stop dwelling in the past. I think the little Zelena-blaming outburst was a little relapse of her old ways due to the recent, HUGE trauma (it's difficult to abandon a fram of mind you've had for all your life), but I like this wiser version of her.


 * Zelena's horrified look when she saw the Evil Queen. She's developing too, as a character: I think she will play both sides for a while before realising evil isn't really worth it after all. It's pretty much the only conflict I can see develop naturally.

So, all in all it was a head-scratching premiere that kicked off many potentially good storylines the worst way possible. Let's see what becomes of it.