The Ups and Downs: Once Upon a Time

Warning: This entire entry contains spoilers on Season Five of Once Upon a Time! 


Sometimes in television, especially when a series lasts for longer than two seasons, there is going to be some struggles with the story down the road. With a series like Once Upon a Time, the show has the ability to play off of some great stories since the series is about fairy tales and Disney films. So far, the series has done wonderfully with Snow White and Prince Charming, Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio, and Rumplestiltskin. The show hit a home run with The Wicked Witch of the West in season three and Peter Pan as well. The show continued their streak with the fantastic telling of Frozen in season four and brought in Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, and Ursula for some exciting challenges. 

Part of the reason Frozen worked out so well in Once was for the fact that the casting director did a phenomenal job at finding their Elsa, Anna, and Snow Queen. Georgina Haig was a fantastic Elsa and connected well with Jennifer Morrison on the screen. Their chemistry was as fantastic as Robert Carlyle teaming up with team of villains in the second half of the season. Once worked out a chilling end to the season four story arc by leaving a number of wonderful things into play. Zelena, the Wicked Witch, returns pregnant with Robin Hood's baby. Henry Mills is now the author of the storybook. The major curveball in the finale was when Rumplestiltskin almost died and the apprentice purified his heart by removing the darkness, putting Rumple in a preservative state. Emma Swan took in the darkness with the dagger and a vortex transported her to the chamber. For the whole summer before the season five premiere, there was plenty of buzz on the new evil Dark Swan. Images popped up of her appearance and a teaser video showed her dark persona. The creators were showcasing the exciting and thrilling new season with an evil female lead. 

The unfortunate truth of Season Five was that the story turned out to be a tragedy. While Horowitz and Kitsis have done a phenomenal job on the series, they built up season five for a let down. The fans had a lot to look forward to in the new season when the creators brought in Merlin (Elliot Knight), King Arthur (Liam Garrigan), and Camelot. Every show, however, has a downfall season and Once has reached its challenging story arc to come out of. While The Dark Swan teasers revealed an evil Emma Swan, which would've added a fantastic character development, Emma Swan was in fact, not as evil as people discovered. The first part of the season took place in Storybrooke and Camelot. Once again, the writers brought in the memory loss story where everyone lost their memories from six weeks ago after Emma cast a curse on them to forget what happened in Camelot. The big flaw with that story is because Season 1 was the main platform for memory loss and then, in season 3, they played that story again. 

On top of that, Henry was considerably downplayed this entire season. The writers made him the Author and after he broke the quill, it almost appeared as if they didn't want to focus on Henry at all in season five. Henry Mills was the reason Emma Swan came to Storybrooke and yet, the writers acted as if he has become of less importance to the series entirely. They did their best to involve him in Camelot by giving him a love interest and even made up for the story slightly by writing in an episode where Emma and Henry reach an impasse after Emma breaks his heart. One of the positives of the new season is Regina Mills. The Evil Queen has grown considerably throughout the show and she got the opportunity to play a hero more so in this season than any other. For the first time ever, she was pinned against Emma now that the savior was the Dark Swan, so instead of struggling with her vengeance and pain, Regina now had to face a new foe. She had to learn to be a savior for herself and her town. Once also downplayed the males this season by making Prince Charming, Robin Hood, and Captain Hook seem weaker than the women. Speaking of which, nothing strained the season this year more than Hook and Emma.

The writers revolved their whole season five around Emma Swan and Captain Hook. The biggest mistake for this story arc was that the other character developments got left behind. They tried to make up for it this season by giving Regina the opportunity to be a hero, but Zelena almost seemed unnecessary. She was the odd one out, just causing strain on Robin Hood and Regina, but not really doing damage like she used to. Then, they decided to make Zelena turn on the others by helping King Arthur. Another way Once tried to make up for the story focus on Captain Swan was by having Rumple have character development. He woke up and was now a hero instead of a villain. However, Rumple was a coward and almost seemed of little importance to the show. 

Here's one of the biggest positives to season five. The casting director did another phenomenal job bringing in Amy Manson to play Merida. While Merida didn't seem to fit in quite right, she made herself at home in a strong fashion. The actress delivered beautifully and had absolutely phenomenal chemistry with Jennifer Morrison. The only trouble with Merida later on in the season was when they wrote one episode for her, the story didn't quite fit in the middle of season five. Her back story episode was in the middle of a major plot point between Hook and Emma. One of the better options would've been to build Merida up as part of the group rather than give her a filler episode that made her seem smaller than most of the characters in the show. Someone as strong as Merida deserves more attention than was granted to her. Amy Manson was an excellent choice for this character, so she deserved some more screen time. Unfortunately, it wasn't Manson's fault that the story was jumbled in season five.

One of the biggest problems with season five was Camelot. King Arthur, though Liam Garrigan was another excellent choice for the character, Arthur became one of the most hated characters on the entire show. The writers made him more of a villain than a hero, which is okay since they went with another story. However, Arthur inevitably became a character that was more of an annoyance than a good story plot. He was quite agitating in his portrayal as the king who was mad that his sword was broken in half and power hungry. There was nothing dynamic about his character which isn't always the fault of the actor. In the second half of the season, the writers decided to kill off King Arthur in an instant as Hades killed him. In that one scene, it seemed like a quick fix or a solution to tie up a loose end as season five is coming to a close. 

Merlin was excellently cast with Elliot Knight, however, the biggest problem with Merlin's story is that for part of season four, the creators built him up to be the most powerful sorcerer of all. He created the dagger. He was in love with the first Dark One and he made Excalibur. When Emma saved him from being trapped in the tree, Merlin had the chance to establish his power. He aided Emma in retrieving the spark and helped her eliminate the darkness. The only problem with Merlin was that the writers built him up for nothing. There was a phenomenal storyline between Merlin being in love with Nimue, the first Dark One. It added a great dynamic and a great back story as to why Merlin created the dagger to tether the Dark One to it. However, here is where the problem came. Merlin was the big hero to save Emma from the darkness and he fails because Hook almost dies and Emma decides to turn Hook into another Dark One in order to save him. Hook ends up becoming super evil and betrays Emma and out of all the people to kill Merlin, Dark Hook does.

First off, Once threw a massive curveball in the "Broken Kingdom" episode when the fans realized everything Emma was doing in the end was because she was protecting her true love. In reality, Emma wasn't the Dark One after all. A part of her was still operating on good intentions, but when she turned Hook into another Dark One by tethering him to Excalibur, she was selfish. The writers put a lot of energy into Hook and Emma that all of the other characters essentially became insignificant. What has been overwritten is death. Hook has died a few times on the show, so when Emma stabbed him with Excalibur to destroy the darkness in the winter finale, "Swan Song", the death didn't feel surprising. However, the scene was emotional to the point where fans could truly connect to Colin O'Donoghue and Jennifer Morrison's beautiful performance. Hook wouldn't stay dead for long and here is why. 

After spending pretty much the entire first half of season five focusing on Hook and Emma's love story, there was no way the writers would eliminate O'Donoghue from the show for good.

Season 5A had a lot of potential with Camelot, which was barely visited. The first half had potential with Emma Swan by giving her the chance to become Dark Swan, but the writers lacked in that area. Hook's portrayal of the Dark One was rough around the edges because the writers spent a huge portion of time on developing Emma as evil and Hook's time as the Dark One was rushed and the justification for Hook's darkness was basically a reminder that he was once already a villain prior to loving Emma. To some of the fans, Hook also was a love sick puppy dog for part of the show and it does seem some of the male characters have fallen in the shadows of the powerful women. There is nothing wrong with a powerful woman, but the reason the show was phenomenal from the beginning was that the men and women on the show were equally strong. What helped a little with Prince Charming this season was teaming him up next to King Arthur briefly, but he inevitably fell behind much like Robin Hood. 

A tale as old as time. Rumplestiltskin also ends up taking the darkness back in so he can be the Dark One again. First off, this works just fine because Robert Carlyle will and always will be an incredible Dark One, but the writers also built up a potential good Rumple to eliminate that entirely in one instant. Even good Rumple was power hungry. Then, the idea was the Underworld for Season 5B. This also had potential because now the writers could've tapped into Hercules, Hades, and gods. Once again, the writers destroyed the entire Underworld concept. The concept was for the team to go down to the Underworld to rescue Hook.

Great! Let's invite Hercules too! And Hades! Once also reached its 100th episode this season and to make up for where the story was going, they invited some old characters back to try and make the 100th episode seem somewhat strong. The return of Robbie Kay's Peter Pan was an excellent choice even if he ended up dying in the long run for good. Let me save you the trouble of the fact that Emma does find Hook and he returns to Storybrooke. Spoiler there! Season 5B felt extremely rough. While the finale is upon us, the writing this season has felt rushed and weak. The casting of Hades wasn't painful. Greg Germann did a fair job at playing Hades. He has a creepy and quiet darkness to him when he speaks softly, but the weirdest storyline to write in was his romance with Zelena. 

Hades and Zelena's romance was an odd writing move for the creators and tragically, the story didn't work. The only benefit so far to Season 5B is how Regina and Zelena have been given a great transformation. Regina and Zelena have grown close and it adds an interesting dynamic to their characters. After spending their whole lives being filled with hatred toward each other, vengeance, and power, Regina and Zelena both find a common ground this season, making them stronger characters. However, once again because the focus was on Hook and Emma, most of the characters got sidelined. They invited Hercules into the storyline and it was even magnificent that he was connected to Snow White's past, but HE WAS IN ONE EPISODE! The Underworld and Hades has everything to do with Hercules and the gods. The creators cast the actor, but kicked him out after one episode and never even involved him longer. Not to mention, Henry was able to become the author again, which, once again, it was a great idea since Henry needed to be involved more into the show. However, Henry got sidelined some more farther into the season. 

The writers also tried to add Red Riding Hood and Mulan in for one episode as well as Dorothy. It was a bold mood and in all honesty, just another filler this season much like Merida's episode. Red Riding Hood and Mulan are fan favorites, so they always deserve more screen time. Hercules could've been a fan favorite, but he served no actual purpose if he was only in one episode. Rumple's battle with Hades wasn't even that interesting and it's almost as if Rumple is getting tiring and there is no character development left for him to do since all he seems to want is more and more power. Now to add to the final part of the longest entry of my blog is ROBIN HOOD! 

Robin Hood and Regina's love story was epic in season three. Their relationship had fire and passion because they started off not really interested in each other. There was some witty banter and a lot of versatility between them. One of the weirdest storylines they put into their love arc was when Marian came back and Robin Hood had to eventually leave to New York. Later on, the writers decide to add a bizarre complication by making Marian into Zelena and Robin gets her pregnant! Suddenly, Robin Hood and Regina's relationship turns into a giant soap opera in one episode. Regina and Robin Hood took a bit of a backseat in season five which was tragic because in Season 5B in the "Last Rites" episode, Once decided to kill off Robin Hood for good. Hades kills Robin Hood when he steps in front of the blast of an Olympian crystal to protect Regina. While the death was a great sacrifice...NOTHING. There was no real sympathy to the death. Why? Here's where they messed up.

This season was about Hook and Emma. Then Hook decides to not even go back when Emma and her family leave to Storybrooke. Basically it was like making the entire trip to the Underworld a complete waste of time. There wasn't much character development for a lot of the characters. Worse: Robin Hood's death didn't even matter. His sacrifice wasn't a big deal. The writers didn't build up tension for Robin Hood and Regina. He just died. There were no previous episodes before it that suggested Robin Hood's life was in danger and that Regina might lose him. They didn't focus on their love arc at all, so when Robin sacrificed himself, there was absolutely no great feeling of sadness to his death. He just died! The writing suffered on Regina and Robin, leaving no real emotional effect on the audience when he dies. And then, what do they do? Zelena turns on Hades and kills him. Zeus pops up and returns Hook down to Earth. How rushed is that? There was no build.

The season finale is airing next week and there is no telling where the writers are going, but as a huge Once fan who feels pain writing this entry, I am hoping for a resurrection season in the fall. The writing in season five was rushed and weak. Please understand I'm not a hate fan because I love this show more than anything, but season five needed a lot of work. I'm also a fellow screenwriter and I studied film and I write novels for a living. There is nothing more important to me in writing than character development and this season was a tragedy. That is unfortunately the most brutal I would ever be to a show. I can't sugar coat how tragic the writing is this year on Once. Once again, I have to emphasize how much I love this show, but this is hard. Adam Horowitz and Eddie Kitsis are amazing writers and have done so well with this show, so hopefully the last two episodes are going to lead us into an excellent resurrection season in the fall. 

Once Upon a Time 2 Hour Season Finale airs on ABC on Sunday May 15 at 8 pm EST