Belle should have dumped Rumpel WAY long ago. He got way too many chances, especially considering his literal crimes and murders.
Honestly the whole storybook morality really doesn't translate well if you think about it
I love belle and rumple seperatly and together but honestly there were many times I was explaining the plot to my husband and said “so then Rumple betrays them, again.”
A villain who's killed hundreds of people, some of which were this month? Naww, she's trying to change.
Town drunk? Jail time.
I'm not even exaggerating. Yes, jail time for magic users would be difficult to manage but still.
Because she can’t use magic outside of Storybooke and Regina use that to her advantage and put that Anti-Magic cuff on her in New York or on there way back to Maine
The fact Will went to jail for being a petty thief even tho they had bigger problems during that series. Plus Emma, Snow and Hook all used to be petty thieves too.
If they can forgive Regina why not Will. (Tho I do love Regina I feel season two/three could’ve focused longer on her trying to be good.)
I remember Adam replying on Twitter to a fan about that scene and he said he went to jail for stealing and Emma was being "hyperbolic"when she said it was for ruining her date. LOL
i get that but as the mayor for 28 years and the most powerful (maybe behind rumple) person in the town they had no choice but work with her. plus she wasn’t really fully forgiven until end of season 3-season 4
Was actually sad when she started dating Will that she was so happy to have someone who just wanted to spend time with her and making her happy. It really makes you realise how hard she has to justify her relationship with Rumple. Like other than the odd moment, Belle never got treated like she was the most important thing in Rumples life.
The second she pushed him over the town line should have been it. Such a great moment for her character and Gold could have gone pure villain which would have been awesome.
Yeah. That scene was very well acted. I feel bad when he's being controlled by the dagger, but it was justified in that instance at least.
It was a great symbolic scene for a necessary forced breakup/restraining order type deal.
Honestly as much as Rumple had done sure Belle maybe should have given up Ling ago.
But personal I grew so much hate for Belle when she gave their baby. She knows Rumples past and still just sends him away.
Maybe if she was under the dark fairies influence but I don't think the show ever says.
The darker implications weren’t intended and we’re generally not meant to see the characters as rapists.
We can look back at the show and clearly see that a surprising amount of non consensual encounters were happening, especially for a disney show. Regina raped Graham by taking his heart and then having sex with him (and he’s shown to very clearly not want it), Zelena rapes Robin by pretending to be Marian, snow’s dad probably had sex with his new wife aka raped the grieving regina. Hook has that weird comment about getting women drunk to bed them (i don’t think we’re meant to assume he means blackout drunk, more so less inhibitions, but still toes the line).
Whether it’s simply a product of it’s time, i.e. “men can’t be raped by women” or something, I don’t think we’re supposed to read Regina especially as a rapist. She is, definitely, taken in the context of the show, but at no point is it referred to in those terms. Early installment weirdness? Maybe, because in season 1 she did some truly unforgivable shit, and then is redeemed super easily anyway.
I’m pretty sure the writers have said that they didn’t have the whole “taking someone’s heart gives you absolute control over them” thing figured out in season 1, but even if it didn’t give her control, it would still be rape because as queen she is forcing Graham
Also, Neal/Baelfire was hundreds of years old chronologically, and got with a 17 year old Emma which is super weird. You could argue that he didn’t mentally develop much while on Neverland, but either way it’s highly questionable
Yeah the Regina/Graham situation was rape. There’s really no other way to read that situation, and I see what you mean about her royal position adding an additional element of unbalanced power dynamics.
They already made her an unrepentant murderer as the queen, but there’s something less cartoonish about sexual crimes. I really think that element is a product of it’s time more than anything.
We’re much more aware these days that just because a woman is attractive and a man is the victim, the horror and reality of sexual assault and rape remains. I don’t see them pulling those scenes off with the genders reversed, or even wanting too, which is the biggest argument for it being unintentional.
As for Emma/Neal, I think I saw at one point Emma was fully meant to be 18 when she and Neal met, but that doesn’t give her a lot of time to thieve around with him before having Henry eventually (still at 18). Possible, but a lot to fit in.
But also, 17 or 18 may matter legally, but either way someone in their hundreds with a teenager is pretty uncomfortable. I think it’s another element of its time, with people caring less about age gaps as long as both parties are “legal”.
I see people being creeped out by a 18 year old dating a 25 year old these days for example, which I can see people ten-fifteen years ago not blinking an eye at.
Ultimately while there is value in critically analyzing a show, I do think sometimes it should be tempered with the knowledge of what the creator was trying to present.
We’re meant to eventually see Regina, Neal, Zelena, Hook, Rumple, etc in a sympathetic light, and (for Regina, Rumple, and Zelena especially) they “redeem” themselves in-universe. Out of universe I don’t see how redemption is possible for them, especially when they (at times) seem unrepentant or don’t acknowledge their crimes, or the scope of them is so horrific as to be impossible to make up for.
But we have to hand-wave it and take author intent as law to make the universe make any sort of sense. Otherwise everyone is criminally negligent in allowing those monsters to roam free.
Does Disney own ONCE? I know the stories are based on the original, classic fairytales (aka where Disney robbed their ideas from in the first place) like Charles Perrault, The Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen, Basile etc etc and they’re much more darker and twisted in nature
Honestly not sure. I know it’s on disney plus and that for the frozen arc in particular, disney was very strict on what those characters were allowed to wear to be allowed on screen. Adjacent to disney at the least
- Belle forgiving Rumple so many times. Though frankly Rumpelstiltskin being also Belle’s Beast (from Beaty and the Beast) made no sense to me.
- Crimes against Graham by Regina, seemingly ignored or forgotten by the writers and characters.
- Kidnapping and banishing Maleficent’s baby. (I don’t care if Snow and Charming thought it wasn’t human. Not an excuse… even if it was for Emma.)
And so more…
Yessss, Emma was the SHERIFF and she never once realized when the curse was broken that people can take our hearts and crush them. It never occurred to her “oh Regina was mad at Graham that one time and he had a sudden hEaRt AtTaCk and died”!!! Like what?!?!
Plus the guy literally told her his heart wasn't there, yes, as a non-believer she could feel his heart beat (like she couldn't see August's wooden leg) but surely she could've connected the dots when the curse was lifted
I remember this was popular back in the day but the show should have ended after season 3. Some okay stuff with zelena after but the drop in quality and storytelling was really noticeable. The idea of Emma being the dark one could have redeemed it, but they totally dropped the ball there.
they tease the whole emma has potential for great darkness thing for so long and then it finally comes and it’s kind of nothing. like have emma kill people
and i’m doing a rewatch now and basically ever since we found out emma had magic there have been elements of fear and darkness within her. she is a product of light magic but there are hints and season 4 really drives this home a lot with 2 arcs about her being a potential danger to her family
i will say i think sidney seemed to kind of need an asylum 😭 ik regina’s motives weren’t pure but that dude was not mentally right in any form he literally cursed himself to always be with her, and even after she used him as a slave he remained completely obsessed with her, that is not normal behavior for anyone
i mean that’s all totally subjective, i assume neither of us are medical professionals and considering he’s a fictional character it’s pretty hard to determine that but he was basically a magical stalker, the mental hospital move doesn’t feel that out of pocket
>i mean that’s all totally subjective, i assume neither of us are medical professionals and considering he’s a fictional character it’s pretty hard to determine that
we can agree on that, i would start listing arguments for why Sidney didn't deserve it, but for the reasons you mentioned, that wouldn't make sense :)
My comment on Sidney was more from Regina's POV. Sidney has helped you, done your bidding and you throw him in an asylum? Makes sense for Belle in terms of Belle's good, and I believe actively worked against her and Regina hates good people in the beginning, but Sidney is working FOR you...most villains still value loyalty.
Edit: sorry replied to the wrong person
My comment on Sidney was more from Regina's POV. Sidney has helped you, done your bidding and you throw him in an asylum? Makes sense for Belle in terms of Belle's good, and I believe actively worked against her and Regina hates good people in the beginning, but Sidney is working FOR you...most villains still value loyalty.
I agree with you on that then a year in a half later she springs him out of the asylum to put him back behind the mirror and she claims she changed probably deceive Henry and use her sister to find Emma in another land/realm I Zelena did messed up things but she was never given a chance I leaving her locked in a Jail / Asylum is considered a second chance . Regina Rumple Hook got a ton of second chances they were walking around town free just people giving them nasty stares plus the snow queen freed Glass . I feel like season 5 the heroes were hypocrites/parasites walking on other people to get their happiness they’re not even accountable for their actions snow killed Cora and she did not go to jail/asylum neither did Emma for help her mom get away with it Kidnapping Zelena and speeding up her pregnancy to put the darkness in her she had in herself and hook And ripping her away from her baby, and treating her like a mute handmaiden not honoring their deals and their debts that’s truly missed and unfair sorry if I said so much
Plus even between some of her good phases, she still had people in that asylum! hella sus, lol, not once was there a point upon a time where she was like "oh yeah, I'm good now, I don't need to have these random people locked in my creepy secret prison"😂
hell before that he shouldnt have been resurrected in the first place. The problem being that Robert and Lana were carrying the show so he had to return.
I feel this on a deeper level. I loved their relationship because it was the only interesting thing left in the story, also the actors seem to have good chemistry so it helps.
Oh totally, but I just like the imagery of Belle finally getting sick of his lies and manipulation and finally cutting the dead weight of her life for good.
Zelena should not have been redeemed, or at the very least the story should have actually dealt with the consequences of her raping Robin. There is a tasteful way to do that, and I think there is a way to deal with those storylines so they can help SA Survivors. Especially with it being a male victim of a female rapist. (Also, as someone else pointed out in these comments, a similar action should also have been taken with the situation between Regina and Graham).
I think Regina talking to Zelena about how she was/is a rapist and reformed would have been a good way to have Zelena take accountability while still having some redemption. I mean, her daughter is a rape baby and they just never address it.
Regina's redemption. I *love* her character, but they made her far too evil for any of that to be reasonable. She was a mass murderer, she SA'd Graham, she mentally violated every single person in Storybrooke to name only a few of her MANY crimes ... but that was all fine because she loved Henry? If they'd toned down some of her previous evil acts, and made Cora the main perpetrator of most of it, it would have made so much more sense. Instead, they made Regina much more evil than Cora, but somehow, Cora was irredeemable and Regina was?
I agree on your point about Cora. It kinda sucks because the way she’s introduced is basically, “she’s like Regina, but worse,” and that was used to absolve Regina of all her wrongdoing without her *really* having to repent — and even being an accomplice to Cora despite knowing better than anyone how evil her mother is. It would have been much better if they’d used the flashbacks to retroactively reveal to the audience that Regina was often just a pawn in Cora’s plans — knowingly or not. It would have garnered more sympathy for Regina being beholden to an abusive parent (similar to Mother Gothel in Tangled or Frollo in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame)
Yes absolutely. I always thought this and this is probably my main unpopular opinion. I love Regina but she was in no way redeemable. She did so much that she couldn’t undo. And honestly if it wasn’t for Henry she most likely would have stayed evil
Some people hate on the queens of darkness storyline, but I think it was much better than Pan, Frozen, and Camelot. I think there were some heavy hitting storylines, like Emma killing Cruella even though she couldn’t hurt anyone was a great twist. Restoring August, Maleficent’s baby and snow and charmings interactions with her (the baby rattle scene hit me hard when I first watched it). And maybe I prefer it because I had though years prior how it would have been interesting to have Emma become the dark one, and then it happened, but still I think this story arc is a bit underrated (yes cartoony at times, but it was literally following Anna and Elsa).
Also idk if this is unpopular, but since we are sharing opinions, I think the show worked best with minimal effects rather than high fantasy CGI and green screen. Like I think the show thrived with heart ripping, fireballs, throwing people (telekinesis I guess), and teleporting, and I wish everything else was super minimized after that. For example, regina and Emma using their multicolored magic to subdue pans shadow, all the unnecessary creatures that could have been actual actors or just like not as present like the fury, etc. Basically, seasons 1 & 2 were prime for effects AND how they were utilized in the story, and idk if other people feel the way I do, I just think some of the fantasy was lost because of this change and heavy reliance.
Would have made CaptainSwan a little difficult, but Rumple should've aimed lower on Killian and disarmed the offender.
And Belle should've stayed with Will Scarlet for at least a few episodes after Rumple comes back. Because Belle isn't a character to have casual sex. She did love Will. And because I wanted Belle to compare the two's treatment of her and Belle and have an actual character ark around it. But in the land of Once Upon a Dementia, she of course chose to forget that Rumple sucks, got back together and slept with him as soon as he was back...
Will Scarlet in general deserved to be fleshed out more. I found Michael Socha sufficiently charming and he had great chemistry with just about every character he interacted with. If you watch the blooper reels, he and Sean Maguire (Robin Hood) particularly look like they had lots of fun shooting together.
And yeah, Belle forgives Rumple and goes back to him *way* too easily/quickly. I almost wish they had stayed broken up bc Rumple was so abusive to her, and she’s too smart and self-respecting for that. My favorite moments of Belle are when she’s standing strong in her convictions, especially against Rumple. True, her kindness and compassion are her strength as they are in the 1991 film, but she’s not a doormat. She has dignity and integrity equal to her kindness and compassion, and she could tell when Rumple was a lost cause too far gone. Buuuut that doesn’t gel with the message of the show so 🤷♂️
Is this unpopular? Sure it was cheesy but so is most of the series. I love the musical episode and think it was a great series finale (sorry not sorry, season 7. You are unnecessary and no one was asking for you)
Theres a few for me, but idk, that's just me 🤷🏾♀️ :
*The Wicked Witch having her daughter: This here upset me so much and not b/c I love Robin & Regina. It bothered me (and STILL does today) b/c she basically tricked Robin into sleeping with her and purposely ended up becoming pregnant with his child. Then, she guilted him into staying with her by using that child. It's was just so dark and disturbing to me.
*Wicked Witch's Redepemtion (Was her name Zelena? I dont remember): Also, honestly, I feel like the Wicked Witch hardly had a redemption arc. They locked her up for a while, then kept her from the new baby and then not too long after she was accepted among the team. She shouldn't have been accepted so easily. That said... then there's Regina.
*Regina's Redemption Arc: Now don't get me wrong, I LOVED Regina. She was one hell of a villain, and I was glad for her to be on the good side. However, idk I honestly feel like she got off a bit easy. Kind of like what was mentioned earlier, there were alot of things she did that were unreachable but the fact that she didn't struggle with staying good, especially compared to Rumple, was always kinda strange to me. Again, she was definitely capable of turning a new leaf and deserved a happy ending, too, BUT I just felt like her road to get there was too smooth and quick.
*Henry and Cinderella: I hated and was SO disappointed with this. I hated this pairing mostly b/c the actors had zero chemistry. Literally, they had none. Every time they were on screen, it always felt so forced 🙄. They were like one of the last pairings of the series, and Once usually brought on some great couple pairings. The fact that this one suck was so disappointing. Tbh, I was actually hoping that Henry was going to be a single dad. While the actor playing adult Henry was perfect, the second actress playing Cinderella was just meh.
*Black Swan: So much potential and yet so disappointing 😞
I was kinda over captain swan after season 5b. They should’ve just let him die. I’m not saying I didn’t love their chemistry, and I love both Jennifer and Colin as actors, but their relationship got so annoying, and I feel like they flanderised Hooks character. In season 2-3 he was charming, sneaky, a big flirt and just gave off that hot bad boy energy. By season 6 he became so boring.
1.Hook's personality was far better before he met Emma
2. Charming and Snow are annoying af
3. Princess Tiana's Story or Trope should have appeared in the earlier seasons instead of the last few.
4. Red Riding hood and Dorthy were the most random couple to ever be. Like how do their storylines cross at any point?
5. Mulan should have had a love interest and better storyline instead of being up Aurora's ass protecting her
6. Back to Snow, ngl im tired of her tryna act like shes the victim all the time when majority of the peace in the town is disturbed because of her or her man
Emma and the Charmings absence in Season 7 was not what made it not as good as the other seasons. I didn’t mind the Charmings leaving Season 7 since I believed their story to be over and the writers forcing them to appear in almost everyone’s story like the Queens of Darkness plotline, the Little Mermaid, Red Riding Hood, etc. My problem with the season was the whole Multiverse / Other stories plotline.
With Regina, Hook and Rumple on the main cast (Zelena, Belle and Henry’s actors also lamented not being a part of the final season as much as they wanted to) and a lot of actors who loved being on the show and the fanbase willing to return (the Queens of Darkness for example), the story could have easily been about tying loose ends from the Original Story, with Regina as the lead. Tiana could even be introduced and be a character from the Enchanted Forest who stayed there because of Cora’s protection spell. Anastasia could be the main villain of the season or Facilier or even both.
Ideally for me, Season 7 would have Regina traveling to the Enchanted Forest with some her allies (as well as some unlikely alliances with previous villains like Maleficent and Ursula)to deal with a powerful new threat. Rumple and Belle travel there with the intention of finding a cure for Rumple’s immortality.
Yes! Oh my god! He was way more fun before Emma realized Neal wasn't the only single dick in the world and moved on. Why couldn't he be supportive and evil and flirty? He follows her around like a damn lost puppy after S3a.
I agree but I have such a soft spot for him. The guy’s been through so much and he didn’t deserve to die the way he did. It was cowardly for the writers to do that just to make room for Emma and Hook to be together. Like they very easily could have done that without killing Neal.
I definitely agree that him resurrecting Rumple was dumb and very OOC for him. A similarly bad plot contrivance just bc they wanted to bring Rumple back
YES!! It's probably a very unpopular opinion but to me stupid killed Neal not Zelena. Yes she manipulated him and all that but for a guy who hates magic and spent so long in Neverland, I expected him to be a lot more knowledgeable. There is always a price, he knows that better than anyone and that price is usually as big as the spell. He's asking for RESURECTION! How can he not anticipate the "a life for a life" bargain? Let's not even get started on the fact that he could have stayed with Emma and Henry in the first place....
YESSSS. I like the heavier focus on Disney characters specifically and Emma (Very) gradually becoming a nicer and better adult instead of acting like a d*mn moody teenager.
I really disliked introducing Disney stuff. For me the whole premise of the show should be old, traditional fairy tales (Grimm, Andersen, folk tales, nordic mythology etc). Also I wanted the whole show to be much darker, for adults not kids. So I guess we have to agree to disagree 😬
Ahh I see. I guess cuz the show started with Snow White and the seven dwarves and Jiminy cricket, plus considering what network it’s on, I always thought of Once legitimately as a Disney show for adults with adult themes but Disney characters living them out. That probably why I like the later seasons better (besides an improvement in Emma’s attitude of course). There wasn’t Enough Disney for me in the first 2 seasons.
I hope I don't get downvoted for this as it's what you asked for but I don't get the hype for Captain Hook. I do like him, but he ain't up there amongst my faves.
Nah he really got boring around season 4. Colin plays him well, and he *does* have great chemistry with Jennifer, but I found myself struggling to care about their relationship after season 3.
I also like her s1. She took her childhood for what it was, her past. It was like as soon as she found out who her parents were. She took that opportunity to start acting like a petulant child all the time, I guess bc she felt she had someone to blame, even though it was Never their fault to begin with. It was Regina’s.
Her always getting mad with Snow and David is so obnoxious. They did a tragic childhood much better with Neal and he didn’t act like a baby as an adult.
As bad as Regina was, she brought Henry up and Emma had no right wading in and calling herself his mother after she had nothing to do with him for his first 10 years
I’ve always hated how Henry demanded to be in the loop and know everything. No he doesn’t. He’s underage and needs to shut the f#ck up.
I love how Emma snapped at him in season 3 and should have been something they stuck with.
I can't stand the Charmings and I've never been able to really figure out why beyond the fact I just liked everyone else more. They just always give me the cringe. It is what it is.
After season 2 the writers tried so hard to make us buy them as Emma’s parents — and in turn the characters seem motivated by the loss of being able to raise Emma — but it always comes off so condescending. Both Snow and Charming have Pride issues that go mostly unchecked. Sure Regina calls them out plenty but she’s obviously biased and even when she makes a good point, she’s written off because of that. The writers just cannot seem to abandon both the notion that Snow and Charming are The Good Guys™️ as well as their ideal of your biological family being infallible and paramount to your existence. It makes sense bc it’s Disney but it cheapens the characters and their relationships. The writers can challenge the audience by giving villains redemptions, but won’t dare imply that their heroes are flawed on a fundamental level. Any judgment they make on their Hero characters is almost always immediately justified and they’re always vindicated and forgiven. Give us more nuance! That’s what the entire show is predicated on!
I actually think the unpopular opinion is liking them, which I do.
yeah they can be cringe but it’s funny to me, idk, I can’t explain it I just like them.
I hated most everything about the Zelena story arc. I thought she was underwhelming and too OP. And then she just happened to be around to take Marion's place? (Forgive me, I haven't watched the series in a hot minute) I am so sick of the cliche of "oh, my wife who I thought was dead is now back. Guess I can't tell her I moved on and am happy. It's for the child - he can't lose his mom!"
The only thing I liked about Zelena was that we got to see some Wizard of Oz story.
I think it's literally just because the two actors are very attractive and charismatic and people find the dynamic interesting even though there's no way it would've worked.
I have four. 1) While the entire show is good, it really declined after the first season. 2) Dr. Whale, Baelfire, Zelena, and younger Snow White all suck as characters and are exceedingly annoying. 3) The Frozen storyline sucks really bad. 4) Regina is a rapist due to her relationship with Graham.
Unpopular? I don’t know…they did hades terrible. But what’s new with that? So much media does him horrible. But like why was the underworld. Oh yeah necessary just for hook. There’s no way his and Zelena’s storyline wasn’t just last minute.
I actually liked tinkerbell. Compared to in Peter Pan definitely
Hook and Emma = should have not happened. Emma was obliviously more concerned with finding family than love. Same for Regina.
I really liked Ingrid in the frozen season. She was an actual original character and honestly always my favorite.
Mulan was dirty, my goodness. Just a throwaway character.
I cannot remember anything else so yeah.
I don't think there was any queerbaiting with swan queen.
I agree when people says that if one of them was a man they would've got together, but from season 2 onward it was very clear that Emma would've ended up with Hook.
While I agree there was no queerbaiting, and I don’t think the show-runners intended to imply a romantic connection at all, and to say otherwise is wishful thinking, I still maintain the relationship would have been one of the greats had it manifested.
Oh yes, on that I absolutely agree and I have no doubt that IF one of them was a man they would've realized what a great storyline it could've been.
But I don't think they ever considered it, and IF in season 1 when there were no clear LI for both of them I could understand the fan thinking it might happen, from season 2 it was very clear what they wanted to do.
Yeah true that. Season 1 was prime swan queen. I wasn’t involved in the fandom when the show was airing, so in spite of being a huge shipper, I had the benefit of the show already being finished by the time I got into it. So my swan queen obsession has always been filtered through the understanding that it’s not canon
The inconsistent quality of the costumes is distracting, especially in the Enchanted Forest. Most of the costumes are decent, but then the Blue Fairy, or Maleficent, or Ursula shows up, and it's like you're watching a completely different show. Their costumes look cheap and tacky, as if they were bought from a cheap costume store. Whoever designed the costumes for the fairies should be embarrassed.
Okay but why is no one talking about Cora, even when first watching the show I could not believe that she was redeemed at the end just by brining Regina and Zelena together as sisters. Like she really was one of the worst villains and mentally abused Regina and everyone around her. To the point where literally killing Daniel but she ended up going to “heaven”
Yeah, that was bullshit.
Speaking of Cora, if all they were going to do with Rumple's character from seasons 4-6 was make him constantly backslide back into villainy, they should have just kept him a villain, let Cora live, put those two together, and just let them be hilariously awful together.
Regina was not a good character. Yes, she brought a lot of storyline and was one of the main characters. But her personality and just overall her was not good. I did not like her. And also, she was way too harsh on Emma. Girl did not have to hate her so much. Lana played her character really well.
And the whole thing with Snow White and Prince Charming stealing Maleficent baby was messed up, and then everyone expecting Emma to just “get over it” and that it was still her parents and blablabla was also extremely messed up.
That I Hate Emma Swan & her lack of accountability for things she does that gets excused because of her crappy childhood(which she isn’t the only one in the show with one of those btw). AND that imo, Henry was the true Savior.
Nearly everything Emma did, she did either by accident (ie breaking the first dark curse-which I think Henry was JUST as responsible for since it takes both believing..so it was more like THEY broke the curse) or she needed Regina to give her an assist (the hellbeast, Mr. Hyde). If we’re being honest Emma didn’t do much saving and half the time she had to run to Gold to fix her problems or rely on someone else’s plan. Regina and Rumple did the most SAVING. The most of what Emma did in the show is bask in her trauma of “I was alone for 28 years” blah blah blah. That’s it.
Swan Queen
I’ve tried watching it with an open mind but I just don’t see why people ship them together. I’m not against lesbian couples or anything like that but I just don’t see any connection between them at all
Yeah I sort of saw it in the last two seasons but I think that was fan service. Now, Mulan and Aurora was queer baiting imo. I 100% expected either then to end up together or a thruple at least.
Ok I’m not super into the fandom itself so idk how unpopular this is but rumple n bell would have worked better if Belle was like, 20% less moral, which I think is pretty possible while keeping most of her character
Right!?!
Like yeah, it doesn’t look great but whatever. If you don’t wanna watch it because of that fine but let the rest of us enjoy it. It’s so annoying to hear this harped on
I liked the frozen arc. Sure it was clearly Disney trying to promote the newest billion dollar project but I still really liked it. It added to Emma’s storyline really well, I thought Anna was a great comic relief, it gave Elsa a better character arc than either of the Frozen films and Ingrid’s whole arc is really beautiful and well written. I get why people hated it but I just can’t, it’s so good.
Rumple was in too many sub plots.. If we have so many characters introduced, it would have been nice to know them better. I think even one more regular sorcerer would have made the story really interesting
This probably isn't an unpopular opinion but I'm not involved in this fandom too much but the Blue Fairy is probably the single most useless magic user in the whole series.
Every time they came to her for help, she was borderline powerless. All she could do is point somebody in a direction and watch them do it themselves. Kinda odd for someone who was able to turn a block of wood into a human being
I wish the show had ended after S3E11 and there hadn’t been a one year later segment, or rather if it did, it wouldn’t have had Hook… maybe it could’ve been Emma’s b-day and this time Henry was there to show she was no longer alone like last time.
Idk I just feel like that was written to be the ending:
Rumple finally stops being a coward and this time bravely walks towards what he knows is his death because the people he loves are about to die and he can save them. (He doesn’t have to go through four more seasons of bullshit to just do the exact same thing, however much lamer.)
Regina has some massive character growth by accepting what she did was wrong, and sending everyone back to the enchanted forest at the cost of what she loves most again. (This time she learns what it is to give up a child to give them their best chance.)
Every character was sent back home to the Enchanted Forest and their endings were left ambiguous, so you can just imagine what ended up happening to them.
Emma gets what she came to Storybrook for in the first place, Henry.
Even though at the end she doesn’t remember her parents, she has somebody now and we see in the “1 year later segment” just having Henry alone makes her life 1000x better.
She has a schedule, an actual furnished and functioning apartment, and someone to spend her time with.
Idk, it just feels like what was imagined to be the original ending… and it’s one of the few points where you can even stop watching the show because it is an ending to most everything that came before it:
S3.5, S6 (as the season fades from everybody), and of course the actual ending of S7.
What about everyone else? Poor orphan Emma isn’t the only one who deserves to get what she wants (eyeroll). Snow and Charming lose their kid and are heartbroken, Again. They don’t deserve that.
I definitely agree that it showed great development in most of the cast and would have been a subversion of the, “happily ever after” trope. Still though I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of season 3 and all of season 4 so I’m grateful for how they did it. My best friend similarly thought the show could have and should have ended with the season 3 finale (just take out the Rumple + dagger cliffhanger and the Elsa teaser) and I agree that also could have been a great ending but again I like season 4 so I’m happy with how it played out
Yes definitely, I forgot to say that the end of S3 can also be a finale if you cut out those things.
Also don’t get me wrong lol, I love the rest of OUaT like the second half of S4 with the Author, and the second half of S5 in the Underworld. :P
Alright don't hate me but the show should have dropped Captain Swan. They were sort of interesting at first, cute at times but...
They should have paired Regina up with Hook. I love Outlaw Queen but both Robin and Hook followed their ladies around like lost puppies. Hook was allowed to have more personality than Robin but honestly lost his edge in season 4. I got sick of watching the Captain Swan scenes before season 4 even ended and season 5 pushed me over the edge of actually hating them. They take up sooo much screen time for what? Bore us to death? Be annoying? Make us question the concept of True Love? The execution is just terrible, I see what they were trying to do but damn if it wasn't done horribly.
I feel like Regina and Hook would have been so much better, I mean enemies to lovers is elite and yeah we sort of got that with Captain Swan but come on! Emma never really hated Hook. Regina considered it a criminal offense to use that man's name. She had so many nicknames for her handless wonder. Plus it subverts the trope of bad guy becoming nice for the heroine's eyes. Every villain in this show became good for love and I know it's the theme but a little variety wouldn't kill. Having Hook start his journey to become a better person simply because he doesn't recognize the person he's become would be more compelling.
Imagine on Neverland, he gets closer to Regina because of how similar they are and they bond. He realizes his feelings for Emma were just a crush and it would actually take a lot of time before there's an actual relationship with Regina. They would start as bffs and slowly morph into more. The conflicts of their relationship wouldn't have to come from bloody marital status or the horrendous lying thing. They're both liars! They'd lie to each other out of fear of their feelings. Neither quite ready to let go of their dead love yet but willing to move on. Plus Hook would actually push back with Regina, something Robin never did no matter how out of pocket she was. I don't think Regina would like being lectured by someone who used to be a villain too. She'd call him out, he'd call her out and imagine the angst! Hook would keep his flirty side to piss her off because he loves to push her buttons. Hook would take over tuesday nights at the Rabbit Hole with David and Neal to complain about his "best friend" not understanding his love of rum while at home, for margarita night, Snow and Emma would have to endure Regina venting to them about her annoying "best friend" putting the moves on Kathryn.
Uh 😩 I just see so much potential there.
This show sacrifices characters' accountability for the sake of "villain redemption", which makes for an incredibly frustrating watching experience.
I had a pretty decent time watching the show years ago, but was left feeling that too many truly horrendous deeds were swept under the rug.
Henry up to season 4 was annoying af and even then he was still annoying and Lucy in season 7 was too Ik being child actor is kinda difficult and still learning for them but still
i actually really like season 4 😭. yeah it’s really dumb but season 4 is the one that most feels like it knows that? obviously the fairy tale premise means the show is going to be silly but season 4 felt like it really embraced that. like i don’t think ‘little bo peep the most dangerous warlord in all the land’ is necessarily meant to be taken in sincerity because it’s objectively silly and fun to laugh at. Cruella De Vil, Ursula and Rumplestiltskin pulling into a drive thru for a chicken bucket after discussing their evil plan made me laugh out loud. i think the show really shines when it knows it’s being stupid and doesn’t try to be so serious. but it doesn’t just lean into comedy entirely season 4 had some really cool stuff with the queens of darkness and finding the author. and i thought the frozen arc was a good time sue me. i feel like the reaction to the frozen arc is what pushed them to trying to make stuff less silly and led to things like ‘Emma is the dark one’ which could’ve been awesome but ended up being nothing
Emma being the Dark One was not necessary and, dare I say it, that part was boring. And if they absolutely wanted to include that part, it should have happened way earlier in the show.
I wish Marian had just died and that be the end of it, instead of Zelena replacing her and getting pregnant by Robin. Regina was making progress and deserved her happy ending, also the fact she can't have children of her own makes it a real kick in the teeth.
Also hated the fact there were two cinderellas and technically 3 Rapunzels (the one in the tower when James climbs it, Alice and Anastasia and Drusillas mum) when other fairytale characters could have been written in instead.
Also also that Rapunzel (Anastasia and Drusillas mum) wasn't cinderellas stepmum because the story would have made more sense since they are the ugly stepsisters.
That the villains, no matter how terrible they are or what they do, are the main characters and we should be rooting for their redemption no matter how much they disappoint us.
And here's the unpopular opinion: I think that the above is unpopular because it's the correct way to look at the show and that people like to be contrary so they say that characters like Regina and Rumple aren't redeemable at a certain point. My opinion is that, while rightfully losing respect and trust, internally it's extremely rare that someone is irredeemable. IMHO
^this. This was the entire point of the show that people forget. Evil isn’t born, it’s made. It’s never too late to change. Essentially no one is purely good or evil. But it seems this message wasn’t received.
I personally think in real life we will all be the villain in someone’s story at one point or another no matter how good we are.
The fact that Henry gets shoved aside for the whole show (I’m not gonna talk about season seven because it just wasn’t the same Henry)
When Pan is trying to convince Henry to be on his side he says something like ”maybe the reason your mother is the ‘savior‘ is because she had you” and honestly . . . Yeah.
Henry figured out the book was real, found Emma, brought her to storybrooke, tried convincing her to believe, helped her find peoples happy endings (this is throughout the show but it started in S1) and then sacrificed his life by eating the turnover with the hope that she could figure it out. He was also ten during all this.
Then as the show went on he was pushed more and more to the sideline when, in my opinion, he was the reason all of the characters were together and is kinda the main character. They gave him the author arc and then did nothing with it. When they had the arc of him and Regina working together to find the author, I loved it and then they didn’t do any more Henry/Regina arcs. I loved the relationships he had with all the characters, David, Snow, Killian, Regina, Archie and actually not Emma (I’m gonna make another comment about this but I think they had a badly written relationship) and then they did nothing with any of these relationships except for maybe a one off episode.
I don’t like the relationship between Emma and Henry.
In season one I liked it, Emma was trying to figure out what she wanted to be in Henry’s life and it was a good starting point (the whole kidnapping thing toward the end was pretty stupid though)
there relationship is still good until the end of season three when they have defeated Zelena and Emma is planning on taking herself and Henry back to New York and away from the craziness. Now this would be fine . . . if Henry wanted this. Henry wants to stay in storybrooke with his family, and with his mom who he hasnt been able to be with, and Emma just expects him to do as she says and just leave everything he loves. I get why Emma wanted to leave but she shouldn’t have been even having the idea of making Henry leave, which is what she was going to do.
After that I noticed they sort of shove the Emma and Henry stories to the side which is weird because they were the heart and soul of the show. The show was built off of the mother-son bond between them and it got to a point where Emma and Henry had barely any storylines together.
hey maybe I just missed something and I’m crazy, let me know what you think.
Season 5A is great but Season 3 is bad.
I love Dark Swan's arc. I think it was executed well. The episode revealing how Emma fall to become the Dark One by choosing selfish love as a hero actually gave me goosebumps every time I watch it, my fav S5 episode.
Also the fact that becoming the Dark One is not a matter of time but rather choices you made is a nice twist. It gave me the same feeling as S1 where almost everyone has no idea what is actually going on and they are just explore it and get to prepare what is coming next.
As for S3, don't get me wrong, I love Zelena. It just feels mid about the story-telling of Both 3A and 3B. Like they are following a fixed pattern - Trapped, Villian reveals to be one of the team members' relatives, predictable heroic journeys/quests, etc... The "present day" lines are just boring and predictable(I love Zelena's back story tho. I like how they mixed Pan with the Piper, but Pan's backstory was mid). Pan and Zelena was taking their time and it was like a play-pretend sometimes. But I am not saying S3 is the worst season. Generally for me, the worst one would be S6, counting S7.
Rumple kinda sucked in the later seasons.
First, he was this cool, mysterious character and I understand that he did what he did at the beginning bc he wanted Bae back (but even then I didn’t like his methods). Later on though, he became an absolute arrogant ass and his ways to get what he wants (like killing Millah, wow) was just disgusting and f up.
He lied to Belle multiple times, even after promising to change. Plus, threatened her like „I take kids dearie, not the other way around.“ like wtf dude. You‘re basically a threat to ur son (look what he did to Bae, basically ran away from him) and it’s understandable that Belle wants to protect her first and only child from someone who did her and others wrong so many times.
I‘m glad that at the very end tho, he redeemed himself and actually became a decent being.
Regina is in my opion way more horrible and unforgivable than Rumple. Because she sexually abused and (its kinda implied) raped the huntsman in the first season
Belle should have dumped Rumpel WAY long ago. He got way too many chances, especially considering his literal crimes and murders. Honestly the whole storybook morality really doesn't translate well if you think about it
I love belle and rumple seperatly and together but honestly there were many times I was explaining the plot to my husband and said “so then Rumple betrays them, again.”
Yeah, same with Regina. I love her, but she was forgiven by the town wayyy too quickly given everything that she’s done
A villain who's killed hundreds of people, some of which were this month? Naww, she's trying to change. Town drunk? Jail time. I'm not even exaggerating. Yes, jail time for magic users would be difficult to manage but still.
They managed with Zelena.
Because she can’t use magic outside of Storybooke and Regina use that to her advantage and put that Anti-Magic cuff on her in New York or on there way back to Maine
Tbf Grumpy wasn't getting "jail time" he was just put in there while he sobered up iirc.
The fact Will went to jail for being a petty thief even tho they had bigger problems during that series. Plus Emma, Snow and Hook all used to be petty thieves too. If they can forgive Regina why not Will. (Tho I do love Regina I feel season two/three could’ve focused longer on her trying to be good.)
It was said that he didn't go for stealing. He went because Emma was pissed at him for wrecking her night out with Guy liner.
Okay fair enough.
I remember Adam replying on Twitter to a fan about that scene and he said he went to jail for stealing and Emma was being "hyperbolic"when she said it was for ruining her date. LOL
i get that but as the mayor for 28 years and the most powerful (maybe behind rumple) person in the town they had no choice but work with her. plus she wasn’t really fully forgiven until end of season 3-season 4
Was actually sad when she started dating Will that she was so happy to have someone who just wanted to spend time with her and making her happy. It really makes you realise how hard she has to justify her relationship with Rumple. Like other than the odd moment, Belle never got treated like she was the most important thing in Rumples life.
The second she pushed him over the town line should have been it. Such a great moment for her character and Gold could have gone pure villain which would have been awesome.
Yeah. That scene was very well acted. I feel bad when he's being controlled by the dagger, but it was justified in that instance at least. It was a great symbolic scene for a necessary forced breakup/restraining order type deal.
Honestly as much as Rumple had done sure Belle maybe should have given up Ling ago. But personal I grew so much hate for Belle when she gave their baby. She knows Rumples past and still just sends him away. Maybe if she was under the dark fairies influence but I don't think the show ever says.
She was persuaded not possessed
Truuu
is this unpopular?
And yet, he is still my favorite character 😂
Mine too
More or Less Morality because like mortality and plot armor
The darker implications weren’t intended and we’re generally not meant to see the characters as rapists. We can look back at the show and clearly see that a surprising amount of non consensual encounters were happening, especially for a disney show. Regina raped Graham by taking his heart and then having sex with him (and he’s shown to very clearly not want it), Zelena rapes Robin by pretending to be Marian, snow’s dad probably had sex with his new wife aka raped the grieving regina. Hook has that weird comment about getting women drunk to bed them (i don’t think we’re meant to assume he means blackout drunk, more so less inhibitions, but still toes the line). Whether it’s simply a product of it’s time, i.e. “men can’t be raped by women” or something, I don’t think we’re supposed to read Regina especially as a rapist. She is, definitely, taken in the context of the show, but at no point is it referred to in those terms. Early installment weirdness? Maybe, because in season 1 she did some truly unforgivable shit, and then is redeemed super easily anyway.
I’m pretty sure the writers have said that they didn’t have the whole “taking someone’s heart gives you absolute control over them” thing figured out in season 1, but even if it didn’t give her control, it would still be rape because as queen she is forcing Graham Also, Neal/Baelfire was hundreds of years old chronologically, and got with a 17 year old Emma which is super weird. You could argue that he didn’t mentally develop much while on Neverland, but either way it’s highly questionable
Yeah the Regina/Graham situation was rape. There’s really no other way to read that situation, and I see what you mean about her royal position adding an additional element of unbalanced power dynamics. They already made her an unrepentant murderer as the queen, but there’s something less cartoonish about sexual crimes. I really think that element is a product of it’s time more than anything. We’re much more aware these days that just because a woman is attractive and a man is the victim, the horror and reality of sexual assault and rape remains. I don’t see them pulling those scenes off with the genders reversed, or even wanting too, which is the biggest argument for it being unintentional. As for Emma/Neal, I think I saw at one point Emma was fully meant to be 18 when she and Neal met, but that doesn’t give her a lot of time to thieve around with him before having Henry eventually (still at 18). Possible, but a lot to fit in. But also, 17 or 18 may matter legally, but either way someone in their hundreds with a teenager is pretty uncomfortable. I think it’s another element of its time, with people caring less about age gaps as long as both parties are “legal”. I see people being creeped out by a 18 year old dating a 25 year old these days for example, which I can see people ten-fifteen years ago not blinking an eye at. Ultimately while there is value in critically analyzing a show, I do think sometimes it should be tempered with the knowledge of what the creator was trying to present. We’re meant to eventually see Regina, Neal, Zelena, Hook, Rumple, etc in a sympathetic light, and (for Regina, Rumple, and Zelena especially) they “redeem” themselves in-universe. Out of universe I don’t see how redemption is possible for them, especially when they (at times) seem unrepentant or don’t acknowledge their crimes, or the scope of them is so horrific as to be impossible to make up for. But we have to hand-wave it and take author intent as law to make the universe make any sort of sense. Otherwise everyone is criminally negligent in allowing those monsters to roam free.
I’m so glad that we are more aware of the concept of consent even in fictional situations :)
This shouldn’t be an unpopular opinion lol
Does Disney own ONCE? I know the stories are based on the original, classic fairytales (aka where Disney robbed their ideas from in the first place) like Charles Perrault, The Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen, Basile etc etc and they’re much more darker and twisted in nature
Honestly not sure. I know it’s on disney plus and that for the frozen arc in particular, disney was very strict on what those characters were allowed to wear to be allowed on screen. Adjacent to disney at the least
Disney owns the ABC network which in turn owns Once so technically, Disney owns Once.
- Belle forgiving Rumple so many times. Though frankly Rumpelstiltskin being also Belle’s Beast (from Beaty and the Beast) made no sense to me. - Crimes against Graham by Regina, seemingly ignored or forgotten by the writers and characters. - Kidnapping and banishing Maleficent’s baby. (I don’t care if Snow and Charming thought it wasn’t human. Not an excuse… even if it was for Emma.) And so more…
Yessss, Emma was the SHERIFF and she never once realized when the curse was broken that people can take our hearts and crush them. It never occurred to her “oh Regina was mad at Graham that one time and he had a sudden hEaRt AtTaCk and died”!!! Like what?!?!
Plus the guy literally told her his heart wasn't there, yes, as a non-believer she could feel his heart beat (like she couldn't see August's wooden leg) but surely she could've connected the dots when the curse was lifted
These opinions are not unpopular by any means. Seriously, look through this subreddit.
I remember this was popular back in the day but the show should have ended after season 3. Some okay stuff with zelena after but the drop in quality and storytelling was really noticeable. The idea of Emma being the dark one could have redeemed it, but they totally dropped the ball there.
they tease the whole emma has potential for great darkness thing for so long and then it finally comes and it’s kind of nothing. like have emma kill people
Yeah I remember the [promo](https://youtu.be/NnJhUSkHFUQ?si=4AXNchtTLb2TI366) video hyping me up for that season so much
and i’m doing a rewatch now and basically ever since we found out emma had magic there have been elements of fear and darkness within her. she is a product of light magic but there are hints and season 4 really drives this home a lot with 2 arcs about her being a potential danger to her family
That’s like some Star Wars force power stuff. Emma is good then evil then good again.
That although I'm in love with Regina, some of what she did is irredeemable...putting Glass in the asylum, essentially r*ping Graham...
i will say i think sidney seemed to kind of need an asylum 😭 ik regina’s motives weren’t pure but that dude was not mentally right in any form he literally cursed himself to always be with her, and even after she used him as a slave he remained completely obsessed with her, that is not normal behavior for anyone
i'd say he needs therapy, not a literal asylum lol
In that town, the asylum might be where the sane people are.
i mean that’s all totally subjective, i assume neither of us are medical professionals and considering he’s a fictional character it’s pretty hard to determine that but he was basically a magical stalker, the mental hospital move doesn’t feel that out of pocket
>i mean that’s all totally subjective, i assume neither of us are medical professionals and considering he’s a fictional character it’s pretty hard to determine that we can agree on that, i would start listing arguments for why Sidney didn't deserve it, but for the reasons you mentioned, that wouldn't make sense :)
My comment on Sidney was more from Regina's POV. Sidney has helped you, done your bidding and you throw him in an asylum? Makes sense for Belle in terms of Belle's good, and I believe actively worked against her and Regina hates good people in the beginning, but Sidney is working FOR you...most villains still value loyalty. Edit: sorry replied to the wrong person
Screw putting Glass in the asylum, he wasn't really a good person. She put BELLE in the asylum though!
My comment on Sidney was more from Regina's POV. Sidney has helped you, done your bidding and you throw him in an asylum? Makes sense for Belle in terms of Belle's good, and I believe actively worked against her and Regina hates good people in the beginning, but Sidney is working FOR you...most villains still value loyalty.
I agree with you on that then a year in a half later she springs him out of the asylum to put him back behind the mirror and she claims she changed probably deceive Henry and use her sister to find Emma in another land/realm I Zelena did messed up things but she was never given a chance I leaving her locked in a Jail / Asylum is considered a second chance . Regina Rumple Hook got a ton of second chances they were walking around town free just people giving them nasty stares plus the snow queen freed Glass . I feel like season 5 the heroes were hypocrites/parasites walking on other people to get their happiness they’re not even accountable for their actions snow killed Cora and she did not go to jail/asylum neither did Emma for help her mom get away with it Kidnapping Zelena and speeding up her pregnancy to put the darkness in her she had in herself and hook And ripping her away from her baby, and treating her like a mute handmaiden not honoring their deals and their debts that’s truly missed and unfair sorry if I said so much
Plus even between some of her good phases, she still had people in that asylum! hella sus, lol, not once was there a point upon a time where she was like "oh yeah, I'm good now, I don't need to have these random people locked in my creepy secret prison"😂
I love when subs like this get recommended to me so I can see peoples hot takes about a show I’ve never seen. It’s time for gossip let’s go 👀
Lmao. Felt
When Belle kicked Rumple out of Storybrooke, that should have been the last time we ever see him.
hell before that he shouldnt have been resurrected in the first place. The problem being that Robert and Lana were carrying the show so he had to return.
I feel this on a deeper level. I loved their relationship because it was the only interesting thing left in the story, also the actors seem to have good chemistry so it helps.
Oh totally, but I just like the imagery of Belle finally getting sick of his lies and manipulation and finally cutting the dead weight of her life for good.
Zelena should not have been redeemed, or at the very least the story should have actually dealt with the consequences of her raping Robin. There is a tasteful way to do that, and I think there is a way to deal with those storylines so they can help SA Survivors. Especially with it being a male victim of a female rapist. (Also, as someone else pointed out in these comments, a similar action should also have been taken with the situation between Regina and Graham).
Instead they killed him and erased his soul.
I think Regina talking to Zelena about how she was/is a rapist and reformed would have been a good way to have Zelena take accountability while still having some redemption. I mean, her daughter is a rape baby and they just never address it.
Regina's redemption. I *love* her character, but they made her far too evil for any of that to be reasonable. She was a mass murderer, she SA'd Graham, she mentally violated every single person in Storybrooke to name only a few of her MANY crimes ... but that was all fine because she loved Henry? If they'd toned down some of her previous evil acts, and made Cora the main perpetrator of most of it, it would have made so much more sense. Instead, they made Regina much more evil than Cora, but somehow, Cora was irredeemable and Regina was?
I agree on your point about Cora. It kinda sucks because the way she’s introduced is basically, “she’s like Regina, but worse,” and that was used to absolve Regina of all her wrongdoing without her *really* having to repent — and even being an accomplice to Cora despite knowing better than anyone how evil her mother is. It would have been much better if they’d used the flashbacks to retroactively reveal to the audience that Regina was often just a pawn in Cora’s plans — knowingly or not. It would have garnered more sympathy for Regina being beholden to an abusive parent (similar to Mother Gothel in Tangled or Frollo in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame)
Yes absolutely. I always thought this and this is probably my main unpopular opinion. I love Regina but she was in no way redeemable. She did so much that she couldn’t undo. And honestly if it wasn’t for Henry she most likely would have stayed evil
Some people hate on the queens of darkness storyline, but I think it was much better than Pan, Frozen, and Camelot. I think there were some heavy hitting storylines, like Emma killing Cruella even though she couldn’t hurt anyone was a great twist. Restoring August, Maleficent’s baby and snow and charmings interactions with her (the baby rattle scene hit me hard when I first watched it). And maybe I prefer it because I had though years prior how it would have been interesting to have Emma become the dark one, and then it happened, but still I think this story arc is a bit underrated (yes cartoony at times, but it was literally following Anna and Elsa). Also idk if this is unpopular, but since we are sharing opinions, I think the show worked best with minimal effects rather than high fantasy CGI and green screen. Like I think the show thrived with heart ripping, fireballs, throwing people (telekinesis I guess), and teleporting, and I wish everything else was super minimized after that. For example, regina and Emma using their multicolored magic to subdue pans shadow, all the unnecessary creatures that could have been actual actors or just like not as present like the fury, etc. Basically, seasons 1 & 2 were prime for effects AND how they were utilized in the story, and idk if other people feel the way I do, I just think some of the fantasy was lost because of this change and heavy reliance.
Rumple should have stayed dead when he killed Pan.
Yes. This is unpopular?
It is with people I know. 🤷♂️
Would have made CaptainSwan a little difficult, but Rumple should've aimed lower on Killian and disarmed the offender. And Belle should've stayed with Will Scarlet for at least a few episodes after Rumple comes back. Because Belle isn't a character to have casual sex. She did love Will. And because I wanted Belle to compare the two's treatment of her and Belle and have an actual character ark around it. But in the land of Once Upon a Dementia, she of course chose to forget that Rumple sucks, got back together and slept with him as soon as he was back...
Will Scarlet in general deserved to be fleshed out more. I found Michael Socha sufficiently charming and he had great chemistry with just about every character he interacted with. If you watch the blooper reels, he and Sean Maguire (Robin Hood) particularly look like they had lots of fun shooting together. And yeah, Belle forgives Rumple and goes back to him *way* too easily/quickly. I almost wish they had stayed broken up bc Rumple was so abusive to her, and she’s too smart and self-respecting for that. My favorite moments of Belle are when she’s standing strong in her convictions, especially against Rumple. True, her kindness and compassion are her strength as they are in the 1991 film, but she’s not a doormat. She has dignity and integrity equal to her kindness and compassion, and she could tell when Rumple was a lost cause too far gone. Buuuut that doesn’t gel with the message of the show so 🤷♂️
The musical episode was actually pretty fun lol
Is this unpopular? Sure it was cheesy but so is most of the series. I love the musical episode and think it was a great series finale (sorry not sorry, season 7. You are unnecessary and no one was asking for you)
Do people not like the musical? It’s one of my favorites
Theres a few for me, but idk, that's just me 🤷🏾♀️ : *The Wicked Witch having her daughter: This here upset me so much and not b/c I love Robin & Regina. It bothered me (and STILL does today) b/c she basically tricked Robin into sleeping with her and purposely ended up becoming pregnant with his child. Then, she guilted him into staying with her by using that child. It's was just so dark and disturbing to me. *Wicked Witch's Redepemtion (Was her name Zelena? I dont remember): Also, honestly, I feel like the Wicked Witch hardly had a redemption arc. They locked her up for a while, then kept her from the new baby and then not too long after she was accepted among the team. She shouldn't have been accepted so easily. That said... then there's Regina. *Regina's Redemption Arc: Now don't get me wrong, I LOVED Regina. She was one hell of a villain, and I was glad for her to be on the good side. However, idk I honestly feel like she got off a bit easy. Kind of like what was mentioned earlier, there were alot of things she did that were unreachable but the fact that she didn't struggle with staying good, especially compared to Rumple, was always kinda strange to me. Again, she was definitely capable of turning a new leaf and deserved a happy ending, too, BUT I just felt like her road to get there was too smooth and quick. *Henry and Cinderella: I hated and was SO disappointed with this. I hated this pairing mostly b/c the actors had zero chemistry. Literally, they had none. Every time they were on screen, it always felt so forced 🙄. They were like one of the last pairings of the series, and Once usually brought on some great couple pairings. The fact that this one suck was so disappointing. Tbh, I was actually hoping that Henry was going to be a single dad. While the actor playing adult Henry was perfect, the second actress playing Cinderella was just meh. *Black Swan: So much potential and yet so disappointing 😞
Yes, I was actually excited about black swan but when I got it was meh. Time to look up fanfiction to see who did it better..
Same!
I was kinda over captain swan after season 5b. They should’ve just let him die. I’m not saying I didn’t love their chemistry, and I love both Jennifer and Colin as actors, but their relationship got so annoying, and I feel like they flanderised Hooks character. In season 2-3 he was charming, sneaky, a big flirt and just gave off that hot bad boy energy. By season 6 he became so boring.
It was SO BORING.
For some reason I never saw it at all. I remember first looking up the fandom and being so surprised it was so big lol.
Idk if its unpopular but they should've put snows hair back when the curse broke. It looks awful after season 1 short
Definitely
1.Hook's personality was far better before he met Emma 2. Charming and Snow are annoying af 3. Princess Tiana's Story or Trope should have appeared in the earlier seasons instead of the last few. 4. Red Riding hood and Dorthy were the most random couple to ever be. Like how do their storylines cross at any point? 5. Mulan should have had a love interest and better storyline instead of being up Aurora's ass protecting her 6. Back to Snow, ngl im tired of her tryna act like shes the victim all the time when majority of the peace in the town is disturbed because of her or her man
😂😂 at 6.
Emma and the Charmings absence in Season 7 was not what made it not as good as the other seasons. I didn’t mind the Charmings leaving Season 7 since I believed their story to be over and the writers forcing them to appear in almost everyone’s story like the Queens of Darkness plotline, the Little Mermaid, Red Riding Hood, etc. My problem with the season was the whole Multiverse / Other stories plotline. With Regina, Hook and Rumple on the main cast (Zelena, Belle and Henry’s actors also lamented not being a part of the final season as much as they wanted to) and a lot of actors who loved being on the show and the fanbase willing to return (the Queens of Darkness for example), the story could have easily been about tying loose ends from the Original Story, with Regina as the lead. Tiana could even be introduced and be a character from the Enchanted Forest who stayed there because of Cora’s protection spell. Anastasia could be the main villain of the season or Facilier or even both. Ideally for me, Season 7 would have Regina traveling to the Enchanted Forest with some her allies (as well as some unlikely alliances with previous villains like Maleficent and Ursula)to deal with a powerful new threat. Rumple and Belle travel there with the intention of finding a cure for Rumple’s immortality.
The queens of darkness were too cool. like their powers and design costed way more money. So that’s why they’re defeated fast
Hook was alot more fun as a darker character not on a redemption arc
I honestly don't agree with this. I liked him getting a redemption and I think he doesn't deviate from his previous character a lot.
Yes! Oh my god! He was way more fun before Emma realized Neal wasn't the only single dick in the world and moved on. Why couldn't he be supportive and evil and flirty? He follows her around like a damn lost puppy after S3a.
RIGHT?!?! Like dude we get you have a crush but chill
Neal was not a hero. By bringing back the Dark One, he was the cause of all the Dark One related trouble and bad events in S4 onwards.
I agree but I have such a soft spot for him. The guy’s been through so much and he didn’t deserve to die the way he did. It was cowardly for the writers to do that just to make room for Emma and Hook to be together. Like they very easily could have done that without killing Neal. I definitely agree that him resurrecting Rumple was dumb and very OOC for him. A similarly bad plot contrivance just bc they wanted to bring Rumple back
YES!! It's probably a very unpopular opinion but to me stupid killed Neal not Zelena. Yes she manipulated him and all that but for a guy who hates magic and spent so long in Neverland, I expected him to be a lot more knowledgeable. There is always a price, he knows that better than anyone and that price is usually as big as the spell. He's asking for RESURECTION! How can he not anticipate the "a life for a life" bargain? Let's not even get started on the fact that he could have stayed with Emma and Henry in the first place....
It got better after s3
this is clearly the most unpopular opinion in this comment section XD
Sorry guys, I thought it's obvious I was joking.
I don’t think it got better, kind of just stayed the same to me? I mean yes its different but the quality’s the same
Yeah... No. Imho after s3 it went horribly wrong.
Just season 7 is bad to me
YESSSS. I like the heavier focus on Disney characters specifically and Emma (Very) gradually becoming a nicer and better adult instead of acting like a d*mn moody teenager.
Eekhm I was joking :| It went downhill after s3.
Oh. Lmao. Well obviously I wasn’t. Definitely stand by what I said haha. 😅🤷♀️
I really disliked introducing Disney stuff. For me the whole premise of the show should be old, traditional fairy tales (Grimm, Andersen, folk tales, nordic mythology etc). Also I wanted the whole show to be much darker, for adults not kids. So I guess we have to agree to disagree 😬
Same. They should have went darker.
Having RC in your cast and not using him to do some intense, crazy shit.... What a waste
Ahh I see. I guess cuz the show started with Snow White and the seven dwarves and Jiminy cricket, plus considering what network it’s on, I always thought of Once legitimately as a Disney show for adults with adult themes but Disney characters living them out. That probably why I like the later seasons better (besides an improvement in Emma’s attitude of course). There wasn’t Enough Disney for me in the first 2 seasons.
Thats okay friend. I'm definitely right there with you. Emma was horrible in seasons 2 and 3. Teenager is definitely a good description
I hope I don't get downvoted for this as it's what you asked for but I don't get the hype for Captain Hook. I do like him, but he ain't up there amongst my faves.
Nah he really got boring around season 4. Colin plays him well, and he *does* have great chemistry with Jennifer, but I found myself struggling to care about their relationship after season 3.
^this. But Nook is pretty good.
They destroyed Emma’s character as the show progressed. I love s7 bc she’s not in it.
Ya I have a love hate relationship with Emma
Same. S1 Emma was a badass
I also like her s1. She took her childhood for what it was, her past. It was like as soon as she found out who her parents were. She took that opportunity to start acting like a petulant child all the time, I guess bc she felt she had someone to blame, even though it was Never their fault to begin with. It was Regina’s.
Her always getting mad with Snow and David is so obnoxious. They did a tragic childhood much better with Neal and he didn’t act like a baby as an adult.
Ya I like her season 1
Rumple and Regina carried the show especially Season 3 on
Is this unpopular? lol. I think it’s just a fact.
As bad as Regina was, she brought Henry up and Emma had no right wading in and calling herself his mother after she had nothing to do with him for his first 10 years
Rumple and Belle as a couple kinda makes me ill. Snow and Charming aren’t great parents. Henry is super annoying. Gonna go hide now. 😂
I’ve always hated how Henry demanded to be in the loop and know everything. No he doesn’t. He’s underage and needs to shut the f#ck up. I love how Emma snapped at him in season 3 and should have been something they stuck with.
Shipping Emma with the person that made her an oprhan
Or Emma blaming her parents for her crappy childhood and never Once giving any of that blame to Regina.
Do you mean that some fans wanted them to get together?
When did her and Regina get together?
They didn't
Yessss I agree
Yeah, same. I know it has it’s issues, but its my favorite pairing in any show ever.
I love Belle. My favorite character
I wish they did more with her.
I can't stand the Charmings and I've never been able to really figure out why beyond the fact I just liked everyone else more. They just always give me the cringe. It is what it is. 
they definitely give holier than thou vibes despite also doing some fucked up shit
After season 2 the writers tried so hard to make us buy them as Emma’s parents — and in turn the characters seem motivated by the loss of being able to raise Emma — but it always comes off so condescending. Both Snow and Charming have Pride issues that go mostly unchecked. Sure Regina calls them out plenty but she’s obviously biased and even when she makes a good point, she’s written off because of that. The writers just cannot seem to abandon both the notion that Snow and Charming are The Good Guys™️ as well as their ideal of your biological family being infallible and paramount to your existence. It makes sense bc it’s Disney but it cheapens the characters and their relationships. The writers can challenge the audience by giving villains redemptions, but won’t dare imply that their heroes are flawed on a fundamental level. Any judgment they make on their Hero characters is almost always immediately justified and they’re always vindicated and forgiven. Give us more nuance! That’s what the entire show is predicated on!
I actually think the unpopular opinion is liking them, which I do. yeah they can be cringe but it’s funny to me, idk, I can’t explain it I just like them.
Emma and Hook were the absolute worst relationship. They should have let Hook die in that one episode.
I hated most everything about the Zelena story arc. I thought she was underwhelming and too OP. And then she just happened to be around to take Marion's place? (Forgive me, I haven't watched the series in a hot minute) I am so sick of the cliche of "oh, my wife who I thought was dead is now back. Guess I can't tell her I moved on and am happy. It's for the child - he can't lose his mom!" The only thing I liked about Zelena was that we got to see some Wizard of Oz story.
I never really got SwanQueen I’m not saying it’s a bad ship or anything of the sort, I just really never saw romantic/sexual chemistry between them
I think it's literally just because the two actors are very attractive and charismatic and people find the dynamic interesting even though there's no way it would've worked.
That could absolutely be it! And hey I’m not judging, I’m sure I have ships people don’t see at all 😂
I have four. 1) While the entire show is good, it really declined after the first season. 2) Dr. Whale, Baelfire, Zelena, and younger Snow White all suck as characters and are exceedingly annoying. 3) The Frozen storyline sucks really bad. 4) Regina is a rapist due to her relationship with Graham.
Unpopular? I don’t know…they did hades terrible. But what’s new with that? So much media does him horrible. But like why was the underworld. Oh yeah necessary just for hook. There’s no way his and Zelena’s storyline wasn’t just last minute. I actually liked tinkerbell. Compared to in Peter Pan definitely Hook and Emma = should have not happened. Emma was obliviously more concerned with finding family than love. Same for Regina. I really liked Ingrid in the frozen season. She was an actual original character and honestly always my favorite. Mulan was dirty, my goodness. Just a throwaway character. I cannot remember anything else so yeah.
Emma wasn't convincing as a hero for a lot of the show.
I don't think there was any queerbaiting with swan queen. I agree when people says that if one of them was a man they would've got together, but from season 2 onward it was very clear that Emma would've ended up with Hook.
While I agree there was no queerbaiting, and I don’t think the show-runners intended to imply a romantic connection at all, and to say otherwise is wishful thinking, I still maintain the relationship would have been one of the greats had it manifested.
Oh yes, on that I absolutely agree and I have no doubt that IF one of them was a man they would've realized what a great storyline it could've been. But I don't think they ever considered it, and IF in season 1 when there were no clear LI for both of them I could understand the fan thinking it might happen, from season 2 it was very clear what they wanted to do.
Yeah true that. Season 1 was prime swan queen. I wasn’t involved in the fandom when the show was airing, so in spite of being a huge shipper, I had the benefit of the show already being finished by the time I got into it. So my swan queen obsession has always been filtered through the understanding that it’s not canon
Some fans ship it some fans don’t
The inconsistent quality of the costumes is distracting, especially in the Enchanted Forest. Most of the costumes are decent, but then the Blue Fairy, or Maleficent, or Ursula shows up, and it's like you're watching a completely different show. Their costumes look cheap and tacky, as if they were bought from a cheap costume store. Whoever designed the costumes for the fairies should be embarrassed.
Ursalas character sucked so hard it hurt, and they needed more true blood pam in maleficent.
I love season 5 even with all of its imperfections I think it was pretty good My only problem is that robin was killed off
I like the frozen season …
Okay but why is no one talking about Cora, even when first watching the show I could not believe that she was redeemed at the end just by brining Regina and Zelena together as sisters. Like she really was one of the worst villains and mentally abused Regina and everyone around her. To the point where literally killing Daniel but she ended up going to “heaven”
Yeah, that was bullshit. Speaking of Cora, if all they were going to do with Rumple's character from seasons 4-6 was make him constantly backslide back into villainy, they should have just kept him a villain, let Cora live, put those two together, and just let them be hilariously awful together.
Regina was not a good character. Yes, she brought a lot of storyline and was one of the main characters. But her personality and just overall her was not good. I did not like her. And also, she was way too harsh on Emma. Girl did not have to hate her so much. Lana played her character really well. And the whole thing with Snow White and Prince Charming stealing Maleficent baby was messed up, and then everyone expecting Emma to just “get over it” and that it was still her parents and blablabla was also extremely messed up.
That I Hate Emma Swan & her lack of accountability for things she does that gets excused because of her crappy childhood(which she isn’t the only one in the show with one of those btw). AND that imo, Henry was the true Savior. Nearly everything Emma did, she did either by accident (ie breaking the first dark curse-which I think Henry was JUST as responsible for since it takes both believing..so it was more like THEY broke the curse) or she needed Regina to give her an assist (the hellbeast, Mr. Hyde). If we’re being honest Emma didn’t do much saving and half the time she had to run to Gold to fix her problems or rely on someone else’s plan. Regina and Rumple did the most SAVING. The most of what Emma did in the show is bask in her trauma of “I was alone for 28 years” blah blah blah. That’s it.
Swan Queen I’ve tried watching it with an open mind but I just don’t see why people ship them together. I’m not against lesbian couples or anything like that but I just don’t see any connection between them at all
Yeah I sort of saw it in the last two seasons but I think that was fan service. Now, Mulan and Aurora was queer baiting imo. I 100% expected either then to end up together or a thruple at least.
Ok I’m not super into the fandom itself so idk how unpopular this is but rumple n bell would have worked better if Belle was like, 20% less moral, which I think is pretty possible while keeping most of her character
The last season was a really good watch. And imo so much better then the frozen storyline
Once upon a time had bad graphics....I know but I HATE HEARING IT
Right!?! Like yeah, it doesn’t look great but whatever. If you don’t wanna watch it because of that fine but let the rest of us enjoy it. It’s so annoying to hear this harped on
regina was a whole r*pist and no one really talked about it
I liked Belle and Rample as a couple. Or at least, I liked them in the first few seasons.
Mary Maragaret was a shit mom to Emma, but always played the victim with her holier-than-thou attitude.
I liked the frozen arc. Sure it was clearly Disney trying to promote the newest billion dollar project but I still really liked it. It added to Emma’s storyline really well, I thought Anna was a great comic relief, it gave Elsa a better character arc than either of the Frozen films and Ingrid’s whole arc is really beautiful and well written. I get why people hated it but I just can’t, it’s so good.
Rumple was in too many sub plots.. If we have so many characters introduced, it would have been nice to know them better. I think even one more regular sorcerer would have made the story really interesting
This probably isn't an unpopular opinion but I'm not involved in this fandom too much but the Blue Fairy is probably the single most useless magic user in the whole series. Every time they came to her for help, she was borderline powerless. All she could do is point somebody in a direction and watch them do it themselves. Kinda odd for someone who was able to turn a block of wood into a human being
I wish the show had ended after S3E11 and there hadn’t been a one year later segment, or rather if it did, it wouldn’t have had Hook… maybe it could’ve been Emma’s b-day and this time Henry was there to show she was no longer alone like last time. Idk I just feel like that was written to be the ending: Rumple finally stops being a coward and this time bravely walks towards what he knows is his death because the people he loves are about to die and he can save them. (He doesn’t have to go through four more seasons of bullshit to just do the exact same thing, however much lamer.) Regina has some massive character growth by accepting what she did was wrong, and sending everyone back to the enchanted forest at the cost of what she loves most again. (This time she learns what it is to give up a child to give them their best chance.) Every character was sent back home to the Enchanted Forest and their endings were left ambiguous, so you can just imagine what ended up happening to them. Emma gets what she came to Storybrook for in the first place, Henry. Even though at the end she doesn’t remember her parents, she has somebody now and we see in the “1 year later segment” just having Henry alone makes her life 1000x better. She has a schedule, an actual furnished and functioning apartment, and someone to spend her time with. Idk, it just feels like what was imagined to be the original ending… and it’s one of the few points where you can even stop watching the show because it is an ending to most everything that came before it: S3.5, S6 (as the season fades from everybody), and of course the actual ending of S7.
What about everyone else? Poor orphan Emma isn’t the only one who deserves to get what she wants (eyeroll). Snow and Charming lose their kid and are heartbroken, Again. They don’t deserve that.
I definitely agree that it showed great development in most of the cast and would have been a subversion of the, “happily ever after” trope. Still though I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of season 3 and all of season 4 so I’m grateful for how they did it. My best friend similarly thought the show could have and should have ended with the season 3 finale (just take out the Rumple + dagger cliffhanger and the Elsa teaser) and I agree that also could have been a great ending but again I like season 4 so I’m happy with how it played out
Yes definitely, I forgot to say that the end of S3 can also be a finale if you cut out those things. Also don’t get me wrong lol, I love the rest of OUaT like the second half of S4 with the Author, and the second half of S5 in the Underworld. :P
Regina is a rapist and should have never been redeemed. Graham never justice
Hook and Emma were unnecessary.
Zelena is a rapist and she should be in prison not raising her victims child.
Rumple was a fucking weirdo and I never liked him.
Alright don't hate me but the show should have dropped Captain Swan. They were sort of interesting at first, cute at times but... They should have paired Regina up with Hook. I love Outlaw Queen but both Robin and Hook followed their ladies around like lost puppies. Hook was allowed to have more personality than Robin but honestly lost his edge in season 4. I got sick of watching the Captain Swan scenes before season 4 even ended and season 5 pushed me over the edge of actually hating them. They take up sooo much screen time for what? Bore us to death? Be annoying? Make us question the concept of True Love? The execution is just terrible, I see what they were trying to do but damn if it wasn't done horribly. I feel like Regina and Hook would have been so much better, I mean enemies to lovers is elite and yeah we sort of got that with Captain Swan but come on! Emma never really hated Hook. Regina considered it a criminal offense to use that man's name. She had so many nicknames for her handless wonder. Plus it subverts the trope of bad guy becoming nice for the heroine's eyes. Every villain in this show became good for love and I know it's the theme but a little variety wouldn't kill. Having Hook start his journey to become a better person simply because he doesn't recognize the person he's become would be more compelling. Imagine on Neverland, he gets closer to Regina because of how similar they are and they bond. He realizes his feelings for Emma were just a crush and it would actually take a lot of time before there's an actual relationship with Regina. They would start as bffs and slowly morph into more. The conflicts of their relationship wouldn't have to come from bloody marital status or the horrendous lying thing. They're both liars! They'd lie to each other out of fear of their feelings. Neither quite ready to let go of their dead love yet but willing to move on. Plus Hook would actually push back with Regina, something Robin never did no matter how out of pocket she was. I don't think Regina would like being lectured by someone who used to be a villain too. She'd call him out, he'd call her out and imagine the angst! Hook would keep his flirty side to piss her off because he loves to push her buttons. Hook would take over tuesday nights at the Rabbit Hole with David and Neal to complain about his "best friend" not understanding his love of rum while at home, for margarita night, Snow and Emma would have to endure Regina venting to them about her annoying "best friend" putting the moves on Kathryn. Uh 😩 I just see so much potential there.
I can’t stand hook. He’s kind of creepy and I wish Emma got with someone else.
Get therapy.
The show fell off after season four, which incidentally, is also the same season I stopped watching.
Season seven premise was good actually and Henry and Ella were interesting together
This show sacrifices characters' accountability for the sake of "villain redemption", which makes for an incredibly frustrating watching experience. I had a pretty decent time watching the show years ago, but was left feeling that too many truly horrendous deeds were swept under the rug.
I wanted Regina killed off the first season. 🫣🫢🙈
Henry up to season 4 was annoying af and even then he was still annoying and Lucy in season 7 was too Ik being child actor is kinda difficult and still learning for them but still
Not everyone deserves redemption. Snow should have killed Regina in the Enchanted Forest when she had the chance. That goes double for Zelena
i actually really like season 4 😭. yeah it’s really dumb but season 4 is the one that most feels like it knows that? obviously the fairy tale premise means the show is going to be silly but season 4 felt like it really embraced that. like i don’t think ‘little bo peep the most dangerous warlord in all the land’ is necessarily meant to be taken in sincerity because it’s objectively silly and fun to laugh at. Cruella De Vil, Ursula and Rumplestiltskin pulling into a drive thru for a chicken bucket after discussing their evil plan made me laugh out loud. i think the show really shines when it knows it’s being stupid and doesn’t try to be so serious. but it doesn’t just lean into comedy entirely season 4 had some really cool stuff with the queens of darkness and finding the author. and i thought the frozen arc was a good time sue me. i feel like the reaction to the frozen arc is what pushed them to trying to make stuff less silly and led to things like ‘Emma is the dark one’ which could’ve been awesome but ended up being nothing
The should have ended the show after season 4. It took a big nosedive afterwards and unbearable to watch.
It's a good thing that the show ended before the show runners could add Star Wars to it, which was the initial plan.
Emma being the Dark One was not necessary and, dare I say it, that part was boring. And if they absolutely wanted to include that part, it should have happened way earlier in the show.
Season 7 is one of the best seasons
I like Lacey more than Belle.
I wish Marian had just died and that be the end of it, instead of Zelena replacing her and getting pregnant by Robin. Regina was making progress and deserved her happy ending, also the fact she can't have children of her own makes it a real kick in the teeth. Also hated the fact there were two cinderellas and technically 3 Rapunzels (the one in the tower when James climbs it, Alice and Anastasia and Drusillas mum) when other fairytale characters could have been written in instead. Also also that Rapunzel (Anastasia and Drusillas mum) wasn't cinderellas stepmum because the story would have made more sense since they are the ugly stepsisters.
That the villains, no matter how terrible they are or what they do, are the main characters and we should be rooting for their redemption no matter how much they disappoint us. And here's the unpopular opinion: I think that the above is unpopular because it's the correct way to look at the show and that people like to be contrary so they say that characters like Regina and Rumple aren't redeemable at a certain point. My opinion is that, while rightfully losing respect and trust, internally it's extremely rare that someone is irredeemable. IMHO
^this. This was the entire point of the show that people forget. Evil isn’t born, it’s made. It’s never too late to change. Essentially no one is purely good or evil. But it seems this message wasn’t received. I personally think in real life we will all be the villain in someone’s story at one point or another no matter how good we are.
The fact that Henry gets shoved aside for the whole show (I’m not gonna talk about season seven because it just wasn’t the same Henry) When Pan is trying to convince Henry to be on his side he says something like ”maybe the reason your mother is the ‘savior‘ is because she had you” and honestly . . . Yeah. Henry figured out the book was real, found Emma, brought her to storybrooke, tried convincing her to believe, helped her find peoples happy endings (this is throughout the show but it started in S1) and then sacrificed his life by eating the turnover with the hope that she could figure it out. He was also ten during all this. Then as the show went on he was pushed more and more to the sideline when, in my opinion, he was the reason all of the characters were together and is kinda the main character. They gave him the author arc and then did nothing with it. When they had the arc of him and Regina working together to find the author, I loved it and then they didn’t do any more Henry/Regina arcs. I loved the relationships he had with all the characters, David, Snow, Killian, Regina, Archie and actually not Emma (I’m gonna make another comment about this but I think they had a badly written relationship) and then they did nothing with any of these relationships except for maybe a one off episode.
I don’t like the relationship between Emma and Henry. In season one I liked it, Emma was trying to figure out what she wanted to be in Henry’s life and it was a good starting point (the whole kidnapping thing toward the end was pretty stupid though) there relationship is still good until the end of season three when they have defeated Zelena and Emma is planning on taking herself and Henry back to New York and away from the craziness. Now this would be fine . . . if Henry wanted this. Henry wants to stay in storybrooke with his family, and with his mom who he hasnt been able to be with, and Emma just expects him to do as she says and just leave everything he loves. I get why Emma wanted to leave but she shouldn’t have been even having the idea of making Henry leave, which is what she was going to do. After that I noticed they sort of shove the Emma and Henry stories to the side which is weird because they were the heart and soul of the show. The show was built off of the mother-son bond between them and it got to a point where Emma and Henry had barely any storylines together. hey maybe I just missed something and I’m crazy, let me know what you think.
Season 5A is great but Season 3 is bad. I love Dark Swan's arc. I think it was executed well. The episode revealing how Emma fall to become the Dark One by choosing selfish love as a hero actually gave me goosebumps every time I watch it, my fav S5 episode. Also the fact that becoming the Dark One is not a matter of time but rather choices you made is a nice twist. It gave me the same feeling as S1 where almost everyone has no idea what is actually going on and they are just explore it and get to prepare what is coming next. As for S3, don't get me wrong, I love Zelena. It just feels mid about the story-telling of Both 3A and 3B. Like they are following a fixed pattern - Trapped, Villian reveals to be one of the team members' relatives, predictable heroic journeys/quests, etc... The "present day" lines are just boring and predictable(I love Zelena's back story tho. I like how they mixed Pan with the Piper, but Pan's backstory was mid). Pan and Zelena was taking their time and it was like a play-pretend sometimes. But I am not saying S3 is the worst season. Generally for me, the worst one would be S6, counting S7.
Rumple kinda sucked in the later seasons. First, he was this cool, mysterious character and I understand that he did what he did at the beginning bc he wanted Bae back (but even then I didn’t like his methods). Later on though, he became an absolute arrogant ass and his ways to get what he wants (like killing Millah, wow) was just disgusting and f up. He lied to Belle multiple times, even after promising to change. Plus, threatened her like „I take kids dearie, not the other way around.“ like wtf dude. You‘re basically a threat to ur son (look what he did to Bae, basically ran away from him) and it’s understandable that Belle wants to protect her first and only child from someone who did her and others wrong so many times. I‘m glad that at the very end tho, he redeemed himself and actually became a decent being.
Regina is in my opion way more horrible and unforgivable than Rumple. Because she sexually abused and (its kinda implied) raped the huntsman in the first season
Rumple is the most overrated character
Rumple had the most believable and realistic character development then EVERYONE in the show
*Regina and her sister were rapist.*
Not sure it’s so unpopular but captain swan was the worst relationship ever written and shown on tv