Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-25703308-20150417091913/@comment-25926288-20150419044348

CoolDudeAl wrote: Starlynne wrote: Maybe the flashbacks can get a little boring with just the regulars but they aren't even developing them well in the present time. They also aren't doing the stories justice because they are so fragmented.

Part of what draws me to a show is becoming emotionally attached to the characters on it. If I don't really get the chance to get to know them well and see them change and grow over time, I don't really feel as much incentive to keep tuning in.

I don't see how the characters can keep up that type of development or how I am supposed to keep caring about them when they get only 1 or two scenes an episode and then the rest is about guest stars who I may or may not care about?

To me that would be like Law and Order where it was just about the cases and we knew very little about the lives of the continuing characters. I liked that show but I have much more affection for Chicago Fire which I feel is more about the family at Firehouse 51 than just the accident of the week.

I want to feel like I am being invited to Sunday dinners with a family, albeit a dysfunctional one, and getting insight into their lives.

Also its about building suspense while at the same time keeping forward momentum. The transition between this Sunday and last Sunday was awful. They did all that build up of releasing the author and then the suspense of letting him go, and at least I was thinking oh can't wait to tune in next week to see what happens with this. Then in the next we get only one scene and 1 brief mention of that, and instead spend the entire episode with Zelena and Robin? Sure they will no doubt go back to the author story but it killed the flow and was jarring.

I will still try to keep watching because I like the main cast and the main supporting players, but I sure hope they will all be used much more than we've seen this season and they will give us at least one of two well developed stories, rather than a dozen or more incomplete ones. The core is important, of course, but alot of this show is also about interpeting many stories, not just Snow White, so therefore other characters have to get screen time. Robin and Zelena are going to become important to the upcoming plot, so they had to give us background about what was going on with them. And it is not like these are characters we just met, Robin was introduced in Season 2, and Zelena was the main villain of 3B. And as you said, they also showed Gold as well, one of the core characters. I'm sure the rest of the season will be more to your liking, as they should focus more on the other core characters (along with The Author, Mal, Lily, and a few others). Let me correct you there. Robin and Zelena aren't going to become important to the plot, rather they are a distraction from it. Without Zelena, Rumple could have just had him hostage and we'd still get the same result. Also, they plot is Author finding and him rewriting and making Emma dark. Robin and Zelena are hardly relevant to most of that. They are as close to the plot as New York is to Maine.

Remember, all the stories relate back to the core cast. So, it'll always be their flashbacks. Are they always exciting? No, but I'd take them over a random person having a flashback. The cast does not need to be extended. Tell me truthfully, Do you think Belle has a friendship with Emma, Snow, David, or Regina? Count how many scenes with Will that are important to the plot and core characters. You can probably fit them on one hand or less.

I like Zelena and Robin to a degree, but they don't need to be a part of the cast, other than their guest starring or whatever. All we need are the main cast + seasonal characters and or villain. That's it. Maybe if these were season arcs go on ahead, but the show can't afford to waste time when is pressed for time. I mean they cut great stuff out of season 4a, but what did they keep...all the Frozen. That is how they'd likely treat and recurring cast that joined up. Either neglect them or neglect the others. I rather continue on with what they have current.