As much as I enjoyed the music, the episode felt really rushed, disjointed and out-of-place. And with all the added publicity, and rumours of cancellation, this episode really just made the show look pathetically desperate in it’s attempts to get people to tune in. I honestly think a full episode surrounding the wedding and intimate character moments would have held more viewers. Instead we got CGI-fest. It is particularly bad when you have a character like the Black Fairy who is supposed to be the originator of evil, who stands awkwardly not knowing where to look when Emma is singing, rather than just releasing the black fairy dust to shut her up.
I just wish we could go back to a time where plot wasn’t everything. They seed in these really great character moments in some of these episodes and I crave for more of that. Scenes like Regina talking to Emma in New York about her struggle with the darkness inside of her. That is one of my favourite scenes. If they didn’t feel the need to throw in gimmicks, macguffins etc all the time, I think some of us might just enjoy these characters trying to live a normal life without the threat of a curse every five minutes.
I think another problem is that a musical episode came way too late in the show’s run. Had it happened when the show was still considered pretty successful, perhaps it would have fared better. But let’s face it, a significant chunk of the general public has clearly moved on from this show, and they weren’t going to be swayed back that easily.