Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20151231135805/@comment-25926288-20151231141434

I'll qoute some decently written fan comments of that article simply becausethey do have valid claims.

Note: I do this quite objectively and "No, Once doesn't suck" isn't a valid comment to qoute because there's no thought put in it.

"Regarding ONCE. I absolutely agree with everything you said in the article except for Robert Carlyle. His performance is always spot on and is enjoyable. But the stake material, the ooh he's evil again, the annual Rumbelle separation and the dropped storyline that would have been great has proven the show has declined. It could be Robert has lost some interest too since they have given him crap storylines and retconned his characters backstory and motivation... The show lost its brilliance when it stopped being about family, when the show stopped focusing on all the core characters and thier journey's and didn't make Emma so dumbed down and all about her boyfriend.All I can hope is the the show will be cancelled midway through s6 and both Robert and Lana will get another series together." This just hearkens back to the degrees of bad acting where Carlyle doesn't have bad skills, but shows some disinterests, but I think that was mostly in season 4 and with season 5, the story flip-flop pretty much harms any fans' opinion to actually care.

''"Personally, the show became a lot less fun to me to watch when they started hypocritically paralleling Rumple and Hook's characters only to pull Rumple down. Hook ruined Emma, Regina, and Rumple (the three best most relatable CORE characters on this show by A&E making it all about him and CS). Emma's been reduced to a whiny and annoying Bella Swan, Regina is irrelevant, and when in doubt let's all make Rumple the scapegoat "villain" by giving him back the curse when it makes no sense whatsoever by destroying all his character development over the past eight episodes with no good explanation, even when he was way more deserving of redemption, or a second chance than Hook this past season." ''

I always claimed that the four core characters were Rumple, Emma, Regina and Snow. But ever since season 3, Snow has become a shell of her former self. And this comment is a completely valid opinion (which all opinions are sort of valid) which shows what I sense most fans feel is that They are asserting Hook's dominance to replace the void Snow left. It's a good business move, but instead of putting Snow back up there, they can't do it because they continuously assassinate Snow's character to a point that she's no longer that releveant in a show that is all based about Snow White versus the Evil Queen.

''"I whole heartedly agree with Once Upon A TIme's ranking as the worst. I will say, that it's not really fair to blame the actors, because it is the writing, plot and character development and editing that weighs the show down like a boat anchor that the actors can't rise above. Yes, Jennifer Morrison, may have been out of her depth, but it was up to the producers and writers to realize this just wasn't going to be her thing. All actors have skill sets and limitations, and it's up the the producers and writers to be observant enough to recognize those skill sets and limitations and plan accordingly. As for Robert Carlyle, possibly the most well rounded actor on OUAT, Robert's phenomenal talent has been wasted on OUAT since season 3B. Season 4, the writers fluctuated between having his once layered and complex character be a cartoon villain or designated abuse dummy for multiple people to have groveling on his knees like a beaten dog... and it just got worse in season 5. OUAT used to be a show about hope, now OUAT is often referred to as 'Once Upon A Hook' for its over the top focus on one character (Hook) and one relationship (Hook/Emma), OUAT's writing also mocks abuse, glorifies bullies while it vilifies their victims, drips doom and gloom and has a fair amount of 'What the Hell did I just watch?!?!' thrown in the mix. Hence, it is no surprise that OUAT lost 8.37 million viewers since season 1, and lost 1.37 million just in season 5A from S5,Ep1 to S5,Ep11."''

Now, I will disagree with absolutes,  since absolutes are absolute. Emma's fluctuation between main character and part of an ensemble has risen and fallen and at this particular point, this aslo means that Emma and Hook's relationship is top tier over the others. Truthfully, I was going to cut out part of the comments, but it actually helps emphasize that the show's message of hope seems to not actually exist with the current product. Out heroes are not so good and our villains are bad, so where is the hope?