Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26159109-20161205084124/@comment-25926288-20170118151329

I looked over some episodes (I will do a full rewatch of 6A right before the midseason premiere). I stand by what I thought, although things look a little better on rewatch. On thing I hope they take effectively is Conflict/Tension/Plot. One thing is typically true of Once: The Villain is like half of the plot, the rest being subplots and double episodes. The last 2 halves have had (XD) lackluster villains. The acting, while great, wasn't enough and shouldn't be enough to excuse improper writing. I'll use examples.

Zelena (3B) is a great example of an effective villain. Not perfect, but she fits the mold that Once typically uses and does so effectively. I also choose her because not everyone likes 3B (when it was pretty great). Queenie wasn't as she, like Hades, lacked straightforward goals and motives, established asap. Villains are like 60% of Plot, so they should be great or it'll fall a little flat. Using them in subplots are a plus because sometimes it feels as if the characters just forget there's a villain in town.

Zelena had an established, interesting goal (partly in mystery) in the second episode. Her motives were just as clear in the episode as any. She wants what she didn't have, what Regina had. She was shown to be competent, involved in David's subplot, involved in Hook's, and while peripheral in Regina's, she wasn't Omniscient Villain (Guys! This is as bad as  "A Vial of Magic"). and she eventually got what she was after.

Queenie on the other had an established goal in the second episode, but (imo) it wasn't interesting. Queenie wanted to tear them apart, but after babynapping, secrets and lies, and death, it really feels contrived. Thankfully they shortened the contrived feel, but then tension was lost as Queenie never won a single goal-related battle. If you thought Queenie in Flashback seemed incompetent, we just see back to back failure, which is far worse. They then established her as credible far too late. She hailed credibility when the half was 70% over. Any batlle post 6x07 was the result of Omniscient Villain, which is the worst kind of villain (unless it's a deity or used properly). She wasn't involved enough in Emma's plotline that any tension regarding Emma's death was lost quickly.

So, the next villain (Assuming Gideon is Major antagonist, while Black Fairy is Big Bad) has to have interesting goals and motives established quick enough, while staying competent so that the plot stays solid.

TL;DR: I always pick on Character, but the Plot was pretty lacking. Queenie was a rather, ineffectual villain.