Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20170424005911/@comment-25926288-20170424181412

Esk's Grade Report for the episode.

Plot ( 2.5 of 3)

+ Flashback: Rather short, but got its point across swiftly.

+ Present Day: A filler episode, with a lot of action, tension, and conflict. The best kind. David and Emma eventually course-corrected the aside they fell upon.

+ Oz gains more development and kudos to a better handling of magic and macguffins than much of the series.

- Rumple's side-plot of "I'm going to the mansion" had attention drawn to it and led nowhere. Another issue is that each episode seems to have to introduce another new macguffin.

Character ( 3 of 4)

o Rumple and Belle: They essentially play so little of a role when it's their son and his mother causing many issues. Belle's and Zelena's "friendship" seems like the first major character friendship since Hook. Hook and Zelena being closer to Belle than any of the Charmings is telling.

+ Zelena: Much better than the lack of her thereof. Zelena was at her most complex ever.

+ Regina and Zelena: Regina's hypocrisy was addressed. Regina may have been at a height, however, it was clear that the intention was that Regina was in the wrong. While Regina gave a lackluster apology, she never stopped fighting to defend her sister.

+ Everyone else came around with two great messages.

General Consensus ( 1.5 out of 2)

- It appears to be well-received by the fandom. Personally and subjectively, I underestimated Hales, while knew that Goodman was a solid writer. The filler-feel seems to still be noticeable, but often a solid review of the episode across the fandom.

Balance (1 of 1)

- Less humor, more sarcasm and a decently high level of intensity. So, the intensity of an A&E episode without the humor aspect. I often perfer balance of angst and humor, but...

Overall Score: 8 out of 10, or a B, or a solid episode. A weirdly placed episode, but great writing anyhow.