Board Thread:Show-Related Questions and Answers/@comment-26255666-20150401220207/@comment-25926288-20150407172905

^^^^^^^^^^ Totally agree. I'd give them a pass since it must be a hard and busy time as writers and "master storytellers", but the real problem was....(don't be surprised) a bloated Frozen. That and probably bad writing. I can excuse them for plot holes here and there (part of the time), but this is what rumors and fan-theories seem true.

I don't really care for conspiracies, but it all has to do with Neal. I immerse myself across the fandom to all shippers, while being a non-shipper myself. So, I come across many theories and speculation. But I have some thoughts of my own.

Neal died for a couple reasons. Potential actor dispute, villain needing to kill someone, and Hook. It is no secret I dislike current Hook, but really after Neal was gone (who Emma was searching for) she landed right in the lap of Hook. I know there are those who like the couple and I have nothing against it. But killing off Neal left Hook-Emma without competition and ridiculous plots (cursed lips, cursed hand, what's next?) and left Rumple without a large portion of his whole character.

I didn't believe some conspiracies until a well-thought and well-spoken fan wrote their thoughts and other noted points. But regardless of those theories, we see the result. The "masters of storytelling" did notice their mistake and noticed they weren't made clear, but when you have to explain in an interview a character being completely off, you went wrong.

Then when they said Neal wasn't related to his happy ending, I was like "What?". This man spends 300 years searching, manipulating, destroying, and changing for his son and when he has the chance at getting everything, he wouldn't want his son. Lol, he even said the previous season that he was his happy ending. Now, they could explained that away on the show, but they did so poorly. It's also telling when a respected actor noticeably changes. Robert Carlyle seemingly lost some interest in the character and sometimes even is clueless about the character's direction recently.

But let me get out of my tin-foil hat and to answer the first question. They write backwards filling in the gaps as they write forward. They likely didn't even know about the Author plot until recently. I mean they even mentioned in the special that after they killed Zelena off the next week they thought they should bring her back. That shows improvisation, not planning. They planned the overall, just the details seem to be incongruent unless they try to fix it. That's why they are flexible with their times and words.