Oh, you guys are all so smart and interesting in your analyses.
It would be interesting to compare the writers for each seasons. Wasn’t there a bit of a change between 2 and 3? Some left, new ones came. The first two seasons almost seem like a different series. Yes, we had twists and playing on fairy tale characters (e.g. Rumple the beast, croc, fairy godmother, etc) but essentially each character had a foothold in their original stories. We recognized and could identify Mary Margaret as Snow or David as Charming or even Ruby as Red. They had variances, but they embodied their stories. Now none of the characters are similar to their original tales. They have no connection. Snow White and Prince Charming infect a baby with evil and throw it down a portal? Belle is naive and lets people control her?
On top of the shipping problems and subpar writing, the fact that they’ve strayed so far from their beginnings adds on to the discontent viewers have with the show. There is a show growing and evolving and then there are train wrecks. I think you know the track we’ve gone on.
Now it’s just sad to watch Season one and think of what might have been.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.