Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20171014005708/@comment-25926288-20171015162947

Esk's Grade Report

Plot (2 out of 3)

+ They reused an aspect of their universe--Wish Relam, partially.

+ The NEF events were cool, despite there was no explanation for LAdy Tremaine holding such power. I can see if she mentioned that the prince gave her the authority. Writers, you can't evil queen a villain if they aren't a queen!

o Macguffin was used, did have technicalities, but it was a little "vial of magic". The form-changing magic was akin to the one in OUATIW.

o Present Day...had similar problems with the worldbuilding aspect of authority. You can't Regina (S1) Tremaine because she's an urban developer CEO and those kids' parents aren't paying $550 to see their kids. But the subplots are piling up and give each character something to do and intermingle in different ways.

Character (2.5 out of 4)

+ Old: Weaver is a little confusing, but that can give way to intrigue. Rogers is actually an alternate Hook that can be developed but dangerously falls into "Hook redux", however this might be due to the continuing flahbacks, but he should continue being disitict from Hook. You can tell the difference between Serum Queen and EQ (flashback), so I'd hope we can keep a good chunk of difference. The curse must be thin-layered as everyone's personalities are pretty similar to their normal selves. Emma's resolution was perfectly acceptable.

- New: Henry is a mixed bag, but still is on the positive side, but there frankly seems that he cannot grow whatsoever. Finding his story was pretty much seasons 4 to 6, but it could work with higher stakes (such as voilating Authorial rules). Jacinda is pretty much on par with last episode, but she's a bit too hostile towards Henry in a detrimental way. It seems almost one-sided and bordering superfluous. As a major buildingblock for both characters and this season, Henry seems infatuated and Jacinda shows little interest from time to time. The Belfreys seem a little one-note.

+ Tiana, whose name has not been said yet for no reason, seemed enjoyable as well as the new characters (paritially in the NEF)

Balance (1.5 out of 2)

- Jane and Jerome usually do a toned-down version of Adam and Eddy, which is a nice ideal; however, I think it was a little out of balance this episode as the humor was there, but the grit and realism seemed stretched thin.

Fandom Outlook (0.5 out of 1)

- Everything's going to be a mixed response for a while until a blowout episode. I nitpick, but there's a time to recognize whether you watch to nitpick or to enjoy yourself. Some are valid, others....stretch things, whether ignorantly or just for spite.

Overall (6.5 out of 10)

- Pretty much, everything about this episode, bar a few aspects, is mediocre, which is unfortunate. The writing just wasn't up to it, I guess.