Board Thread:Rant and Rave/@comment-28162607-20170818082458/@comment-25926288-20170830162728

Yeah, LOUS wasn't going to play a major role. It was a pit stop on the road trip, not the destination.

But CadoDoan has a good point that I've forgotten: There are no stakes.

I knew that noone was going to die (as I knew the story was in redux and leading toward happy endings). I knew Rumple and Belle would have worked out, noone would die, Emma would be revived if she died, and the villain of the week would disappate into nonexistence.

Really, only odd number season have actual deaths that weren't foreseeable:

Season 1 had Graham.

Season 3 had Neal.

Season 5 had Hook less so/Robin more so.

I think much of the seasons sort of skirt on by like the neverending soap operas that really can't compare to a shorter drama.

I like Regina, but Queenie was more or less there because Eddy (and maybe Adam) has an obsession with bringing Queenie back every so often. I recall Regina being sad about loosing Robin in the lead up to season 4 and Eddy asked "Who wants to see the Evil Queen?" which garnered mild applause compared to when he asked if they wanted to see more Regina.

This season portrays that perfectly. It would appear that the writers preferred:

Walls!Walls Emma

Angsty, angry Killian

Hammy Evil Queen

Callous Mr. Gold

The rest being sources of HOPE (tm) and Sass.

Which is why I'm happy that they took the right approach and cut off this list....oh wait. XD

Season 6 is pretty much a good character summation of seasons 4 to 6 (which I guess you could probably skip from 3 to 6 and not be lost).