WARNING! THIS ENTRY CONTAINS SPOILERS! IF YOU
HAVEN’T SEEN THE SEASON FINALE DO NOT READ ON!
Last night
the 2-hour season finale of Once Upon a Time aired on ABC. If the fans were
expecting loose ends to be tied up or a grand two hour finale that would make
up for this season’s writing fiasco, then this isn’t that finale. After an entire
season built on Captain Hook and Emma Swan, the two hour finale didn’t conclude
with anything from the previous storyline. In fact, the two hour season finale
was in a whole league of its own.
First,
let me preface by saying once again that I am a huge fan of Once Upon a Time,
but there comes a time in a show where the writing isn’t always on point. I’m
not an angered or raged fan who was disappointed with the writing. I am a
screenwriter who believes in a clean story that makes sense. This didn’t even
touch the word sensible. This threw out the rules and ignored any other story
Once focused on prior. Let me also say, as a fan of Once Upon a Time, this can be stomached, but from a writer's perspective, this story was all over the place.
In
the last entry, I already emphasized what had been happening so far in season
five that didn’t work. Let’s make a list to make this easier to understand and
focus on one part of the show because now that Once Upon a Time has jumbled
most of their characters up, this gets hard to follow.
One:
Robin Hood.
Robin Hood and
Regina’s love story was made to be huge and epic in Season Three and it could’ve
been an amazing story but they wrote in a baby with Zelena and not to mention,
Robin Hood became a damsel in distress one too many times. Then, in season
five, Robin Hood and Regina fell short in Hook and Emma’s shadows the whole
time. Eventually, the writers decided to kill off Robin Hood at the wrong time,
thinking they could make up for it with a noble death by having him sacrifice
himself to protect Regina. The death did not work in the season because Robin
Hood and Regina’s story wasn’t given remotely enough screen time for fans to
really feel devastated by the loss. And it was a great loss. Robin Hood was an
important character.
Two:
Rumplestiltskin.
After
years of trying to better himself and fighting for Belle, trying to be a better
man for Baelfire and Belle, Rumplestiltskin is still the meanest evil son of
gun on the show. In fact, his character development is almost no longer
existent. He’s manipulative and heartless and family doesn’t matter to him
anymore. He doesn’t care what happens to Henry, who by the way, I remind you is
Neal’s son and Rumplestiltskin’s grandson. Rumplestiltskin is one of the most
selfish characters on Once Upon a Time and after writing his character
development, he is now just a constant problem with his own hidden agendas. The
sadder part is that he justifies his actions to protect Belle, but he is power
hungry always and his character is getting SUPER PREDICTABLE. In this two hour
season finale, he made a deal with the new villain of the story and once again,
left the others hanging. That move is as old as he is.
Three:
Henry Mills
In
the season finale this time, the writers ruined Henry Mills’ all together. At
times in this two-hour finale, Henry was a child trying to do his own thing and
acted immature. In season four the writers gave Henry an amazing
transformation. He had so much potential to turn into something great and be
part of the team in a big way, but they quickly eliminated that idea when he
broke the pen. Season Five left Henry behind and may I remind you that he
started the whole show by bringing Emma to Storybrooke. Instead in this finale,
to make up for how much they put Henry on the backburner, they decided to put
him on a small adventure to destroy magic with his new girlfriend, Violet. Guess
what? He succeeds at destroying magic because he thinks it is destroying his
family and when he does so, he realizes it was a mistake. So they gave Henry a
grand speech at a fountain in New York City telling all of the people magic is
real so he can bring magic back. Unfortunately, it would’ve been a great scene
if Henry hadn’t been forgotten most of the season and they tried to rush his
character development at the last minute to make up for what happened. The
scene was sad really since it was placed in a weird spot of the episode. A
moment like that is more reserved for a climax and in reality, the timing was
off as well as the character development didn’t work out well for Henry to be
able to give that speech quite yet. In fact, his relationship with Emma
suffered a lot this season and so did him and Regina. It’s quite tragic when
one of the biggest protagonists on the show who started it all, a smart
ten-year-old kid now gets left behind in most of the stories. It’s really
tragic when the older he gets, the more Emma and Regina tell him to stay out of
the adventures.
Four:
Regina’s Story
In
the two-hour season finale, the biggest worry for Emma was whether or not
Regina would become evil. The only great performance delivered in this finale
was Lana Parrilla and Jennifer Morrison’s team-up and Lana delivering a
monologue about how she feared the evil queen would come out of her again. It
was a vulnerable moment for Regina and it worked. They spent quite a bit on
this episode for Regina’s development since Robin Hood died, but it was rushed
as well since once again, I must emphasize the focus on Hook and Emma this
season.
Five:
The Two-Hour Season Finale!
The
season finale opened up with what looked to be a brief shower of magic that
Rumplestiltskin brought into the Olympian crystal. Killing off the villain,
Hades before the season finale was not the smartest writing choice because they
considered him the villain of Season 5B and after being in the Underworld and
making him a huge deal, they killed him quickly. So once again, they used
Rumplestiltskin to move their plot along because that always seems to work
since he’s always a villain. Zelena, being the do-gooder she is now, sends
Merida and the others back home before Storybrooke might possibly be destroyed.
Henry and Violet leave on a bus to New York City so Henry can figure out how to
destroy magic. He steals the Olympian crystal from Rumplestiltskin by writing
in a book and Rumplestiltskin, Emma, and Regina all go looking for Henry.
Rumplestiltskin wants to find Henry to get the crystal back, but Emma and
Regina are searching for him to save him. Meanwhile, Charming, Zelena, Snow,
and Hook end up sucked into a portal into another realm. This realm is dark and
strange. It doesn’t look like the Enchanted Forest, so no one knows what it is.
They
end up captured by someone from the house they are near and trapped into a
cage. When Henry took the crystal out of Storybrooke, Emma and Regina find out
that all of Storybrooke’s magic is in the crystal, therefore magic exists
outside of Storybrooke now. Their powers work out in New York City as well as
Gold’s. Emma and Regina plot to stop Rumplestiltskin, but they can’t outsmart
him. Henry and Violet end up ambushed by Rumplestiltskin at the library where he
takes the crystal back. Henry finds a series of more storybooks in the library
labeled the same way as his. They are different stories that he didn’t know
existed with different lands. There is a great insert into season six.
Now,
the first impression of this annoying new villain gave off a very Dracula vibe.
Sam Witwer plays the new villain and he confronts David, Snow, Hook, and Zelena
in the prison he trapped them in to ask them what they are doing in his realm.
This nerdy doctor helps them escape. The writers decided to bring in Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde. The land that the others were trapped in was a land of untold
stories. It was like a safe haven for people who have long been forgotten, once
again trying to set up the new story for season six. Dr. Jekyll separates
himself from Hyde already messing up that well-known storyline so Hyde can roam
free. Jekyll escapes with help from the others and takes them through the new
land to help them return back to their home.
When
Emma and Regina try to stop Rumplestiltskin, it doesn’t work. Henry destroys
magic. Henry does a selfish thing, making his character look bad and childish
at that. He starts to appear like he’s more in the way and not a hero than the
kid with the heart of the truest believer. That’s been thrown out the window.
So to save it, they go to the Red Dragon but magic doesn’t work. Henry and Emma
use the fountain in the middle of New York City to make wishes on pennies to
restore magic. Since it still doesn’t restore it, Henry runs up the steps and
yells at the people of New York and tells them that magic is real, which is a
ridiculous scene because it’s over dramatic and it isn’t the right time to give
that moment to Henry yet. A move like that would’ve been best reserved for when
Henry stopped believing in magic and he had to develop himself throughout the
season. Somehow magic is restored when all the people make wishes and a portal
opens to return Hook and the others to Emma. To save what the writers did, the
people of New York only see it as a magic trick and nothing more.
Rumplestiltskin
yet again, could’ve solved the trouble of having Hyde involved in this show by
killing him on the spot, but rather than doing so, what does he do?
Predictable. Rumplestiltskin makes a deal with Hyde so he can save Belle. What
was the deal exactly? He was selfish yet again and didn’t care what happened to
the others.
Hyde
was granted passage to Storybrooke along with all of the other characters from
the land of untold stories so that Hyde can become the villain of the new
season. Once again Rumplestiltskin puts everyone in danger with his own agenda.
On top of that, Regina split herself in two, separating her darkness, which has
now come back out to play, so there’s that moving part.
Maleficent
and Lily’s story was thrown out the window this season entirely. At the end of
season four, Lily asked to stay in Storybrooke to search for her father, but
that was never touched upon. Robin Hood’s death was only tragic because Regina
and him weren’t remotely given enough development to make it an even worthy
execution of his character. The big bad of Season 5B, Hades, was killed before
the season finale, which yet again, that build up was worth nothing. He wasn’t
even an admirable foe for Rumplestiltskin. I’m going to stress after five
seasons how frustrating it gets that Rumplestiltskin always overpowers Regina
and Emma. Emma is the savior and she is light magic and she can’t stop
Rumplestiltskin ever.
The
writers had so much potential this season. Camelot would’ve been an excellent
storyline, but they had that fall apart the moment Captain Hook killed the most
powerful sorcerer of all time. Merlin was built up for part of season four and
through season five until Emma finally met him. He was the key to saving her from
darkness and he created the dagger and Excalibur. Merlin was a powerful
sorcerer and they just killed him. Emma Swan took in the darkness at the end of
season four to save her family and rather than giving us a true Dark One, Emma
wasn’t nearly as evil as expected. They built that exciting concept up for a
whole summer for nothing. The Underworld would’ve been better embraced had the
story hadn’t been about saving Hook so much. There was a lot of potential there
and once again, to try and make up for Henry’s story arc, they reintroduced the
quill.
While
Victoria Smurfit was a wonderful Cruella De Vil in Season Four, she was rather
a pest in the Underworld. Her character was almost unnecessary. Cora seemed
rather worth having for part of the time since it pushed along Zelena and
Regina’s development in a small way. Peter Pan was a great addition to the
Underworld because he was one of the best-written villains on the series, but
Rumplestiltskin didn’t even play much verbal judo with him. It was as if Pan wasn’t
much of a challenge at all. On top of that, Hercules was in one episode. When
you write about Hades and the Underworld, you expect Zeus and Hercules. They
could’ve done so much with Hercules and Hades, but Hades became the epicenter
of it all with his ridiculous love plot with Zelena and Hercules got kicked to
the curb after one episode. Then to eliminate a loose end with King Arthur,
Hades kills him to make it easier for the writers to not have to deal with that
loose end.
Moving
parts are fine if they have a purpose. Let me assure you of what worked for
Once Upon a Time prior to Season Five.
In
season two, the cliffhanger into season three was Henry got captured by Pan’s
minions. Teaming up to save him was not only Emma, Snow, and David, but Rumplestiltskin,
Hook, and Regina. It gave a great lead in for the new season and to where they
were going as well as Neal got shot, but he ended up in the Enchanted Forest,
which was another great part. While Once moved around in three different
locations: Neverland, Enchanted Forest, and Storybrooke, those moving parts
made sense because all of them pushed the same story along. Neal wanted to save
Henry. It also introduced Robin Hood into the show. Belle was still in
Storybrooke, which helped move that along.
In
season three, the finale ended with Marian coming back with Emma and Hook,
which left the fans with a good dramatic tension between Robin Hood and Regina.
There was also tension between Regina and Emma for season three. Season three
also left the fans with Hook and Emma’s love arc beginning. On top of that,
they introduced Elsa as the new arc for season four. Those moving parts, once
again, were okay. They all pushed the story along.
In
season four…these moving parts were absolutely fantastic! They had so much
potential to work with. Rumplestiltskin was in a preservative state and his
heart was pure white. He was given a clean slate to work with. Henry was chosen
to be the next author. While he did break the quill, that was an excellent
character arc. Robin Hood and Regina had to deal with the fact that Zelena was
back and she was pregnant with Robin’s baby. Now while that particular subplot
was a weird one, the writers managed to write that out better than expected.
Lastly, Emma Swan became the Dark One. That was by far one of the best
cliffhangers in the entire series and there was finally a motion to the
sorcerer and the sorcerer’s hat. Once was going to Camelot and finding Merlin.
Once was going to an epic, well-known story and the payoff was just not worth
it.
Season
Five has left many moving parts, but none of them make any sense at this point.
Hyde doesn’t seem like a worth adversary and more than likely, Regina’s
doppelganger arc will fall short as well. There is hope in the doppelganger
storyline because that’s always an interesting game to play in any show. Right
now, Once Upon a Time, while I do love the series had spent most of Season Five
demolishing the Camelot plot and Underworld. The characters such as Henry, Regina,
Robin Hood, Snow, and Charming have become insignificant this season in Hook
and Emma’s shadows. While I do love Hook and Emma, they aren’t the foundation
of this show. At this point, I’m still remaining hopeful that Once Upon a Time
can pull itself together to stick around longer, but if you’re going to add in
Jekyll and Hyde, there might as well be Dracula and turn it into a circus.
I do regrettably say all of this because I
love this show more than anything. That’s exactly why it devastates me to say
any of this because this show is fantastic and Once Upon a Time always manages
to surpass expectations somehow. While some fans might’ve liked what happened
in the season finale, there was nothing grand about it, and nothing truly
shocking. For my love of this show and my love of writing, especially
television writing, I am still hopeful that Once Upon a Time can rise back up
and salvage the characters they lost behind because the truth is, while there
is a land of untold stories of all the characters that were forgotten, most of
the characters except for Hook and Emma got put in that land along time ago.
