Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-24674051-20161013043134/@comment-4453062-20161017201725

Farerb wrote: DatNuttyKid wrote: Uh, guys, this isn't a two-arc season?? we don't actually know when the eleventh episode is premiering, or if the tenth episode can be considered a "finale". It happens to be the last episode airing this fall, and the eleventh episode is the next one. That's all we know. Winter finale happens in every season, not just two-arc seasons. 107 and 209 were winter finales. And this isn't unique to OUAT. All network shows do this. Traditionally the  Fall is the first half of the Season, while the Winter/Spring is the second half of the Season. The mid-Season finale is always a big episode, as that's the last episode before the holidays. Look at Seasons 1 and 2. Season 1's mid-Season finale left us with Graham's death. Season 2's ended with Emma and Snow returning to Storybrooke after spending 9 episodes trapped in the Enchanted Forest, along Hook and Cora following them. The winter holidays mark when all network shows take their mid-Season hiatus, whether they return in January, February or March. It makes complete sense for the last episode before this hiatus to be big, pivotal episodes.