Reply To: Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

I don’t ship SQ romantically, but I like their relationship and I think they bring the best of each other. The season finale was the only time in this season I felt like Emma was really Emma and that’s thanks to Regina, along with Henry and Rumple.

I agree, especially when Emma was apologising to Regina for being selfish. For a split second it was like we had the old Emma back. Hook and Emma are much more bearable when they are in separate scenes from each other.

Henry was such a pain in the arse this episode, he is currently my least favourite of the regulars at the moment. This is how I currently rank them (the bottom 3 tend to be interchangeable)

Regina- The past few episodes where she has called Emma out on her hypocrisy and Lana’s brilliant acting showing Regina dealing with Robin’s death have put Regina to the top of the list. Also she is the character that has shown the most hard earned progression since season 1.

Rumple- The only reason he’s not top is because the writers are constantly relegating him to villain to fill in the gaps between villains. As a consequence, his character evolution has become static and is constantly going round in circles. RC’s acting is the only thing saving Rumple and showing that he’s not quite past the point of redemption yet.

Zelena- Considering I absolutely despised her in season 3B, it’s impressive that she now ranks in the top 3. I’m actually half tempted to watch 3B again and the desire to rewatch past seasons is something that hasn’t happened since pre-season 3. Season 5 has been a great season for Zelena and has actually made her likeable. I love how she snarks the “heroes”.

Belle- The only reason that Belle doesn’t rank higher is because she doesn’t get enough screen time and what she does get is constantly the same thing of telling Rumple not to do something, he does it anyway, she leaves then eventually comes back to him. Much like Rumple, her characterisation is going in circles. Seeing RumBelle squabbling like an old married couple and working together even if they didn’t agree on the methods in “Her handsome hero” was a refreshing change. It also doesn’t help that RumBelle’s plotline in 5B was so separate to the rest of the cast. Emilie is a real trooper for putting up with the way her character is treated.

Charming- I prefer Charming over Snow because he doesn’t get high and mighty like Snow does. There’s nothing dislikeable about him but he’s not the most exciting of characters so he sits comfortably in the middle. He’s a bit more open minded than Snow.

Snow- They ridiculously dumbed her down in season 3 and made her wildly insensitive and narrow minded. She’s still not one of my favourite characters. She’s never getting back to her season 1 status but 5B has made her more bearable.

Hook- Since I dislike him at some point almost every season, the fact he’s this high shows just how much I dislike some other characters. He’s fine when he shares a scene with another male character like Charming, when he’s not in a scene with Emma, and when he’s not provoking Rumple then crying foul when Rumple gets his own back.

Emma- Emma’s character has been wrecked because of CS. There’s a difference between character evolution and completely rewriting a character to make a ship work because otherwise it won’t. Emma has become Snow 0.2 but worse. All she cares about is Hook. That scene where she’s making out with Hook at Robin’s funeral when is coffin wasn’t even in the ground was awful. It was inappropriate and disrespectful.

Henry- The last two episodes have caused Henry to be ranked bottom of the list. He’s such a brat but no longer has the cuteness factor to get away with it. It’s the whole dynamite at the well situation again, and still I’m rooting for the dynamite. Henry is so irrelevant these days, he’s just become an annoyance. The show would’ve been better off keeping Neal alive, have him move back to New York, then have Henry stay with him for quite a bit and only reappearing now and then every few episodes. This new “romance” with violet is corny. He’s a teenager, showing interest in girls (or boys) is one thing, but to try and go the full blown puppy love romance route is unrealistic. I hope Henry gets his heart broken so we don’t have to sit through his “relationship” any more.