This is the same as the S5 finale, for two straight years OUAT did not improve from finale to premiere.
The good news: we didn’t fall from our finale last year.
The bad news: we didn’t rise from our finale last year and a 1.2 is a low way to start off the season.
Seasons of TV fall as time goes on in the season; it’s just what happens. What matters more is how hard they fall before they find their floor. Usually what happens with OUAT is that we stay steady(ish) for the first 3 episodes before the real decline begins. I’d say we will hover around a 1.1-1.2 until episode 604 when we’ll see our first drop (1.0). From there, who knows. Episode 605 might actually gain some traction because it’s an Aladdin-heavy episode and he and Jasmine are beloved Disney characters