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Marty: I get through the day just fine. It’s not my story, nor is it my life, but certainly, it has helped to have this thread and others who let me know they kind of agree, or write things with which I agree, to know my point of view is not quite so isolated.
No matter how much I wish certain things would have been written one way or another, its no different than looking at any other book or film or show and being a critic of it, but realizing that you’re commenting on something already completed and done, without intent to change what was done.
I FINALLY watched Star Trek Into Darkness last night, and while I did enjoy it, I had the sense it was not as fun as the first reboot film. So I went online to find some reviews, and many of the things they reviewers mentioned about why they too found it not as good as the first, resonated with how I feel about comparing OUAT S3 to OUAT S1.
Too much plot, with too many holes, too much action over scenes to help create consistency with characters was one thing but there were other things and so many were applicable (I felt) to OUAT.
I love fantasy and sci-fi as a genre, and I have seen many examples of it both good and bad, but particularly in television, it tends to be a genre that doesn’t fare too well because it doesn’t always appeal to the “average” viewer. So many such shows don’t get the ratings and get ended early. In fact, the other day William Shatner was tweeting for sci-fi shows in general to support them for that reason.
There was this Den of Geek article on a related topic which I’ll link.
Worth Watching a Cancelled TV Show?
I’m the sort of person who hates jumping into the middle of a story, and normally it drives me crazy not to get to the end, but there are some sci-fi shows and stories that I enjoyed and don’t regret having started even though they did NOT really get to conclude but just sort of stopped. In no particular order, Flash Forward, SG Universe, Farscape, and I’m sure there are others but honestly, sometimes we do put too much emphasis on the end rather than the journey. Don’t get me wrong, the ending can turn a good story into a great one, or make something good into trash. All the same though, I have to look at OUAT as something that concluded already in Going Home, with an open ending of Henry and Emma driving off, knowing they’d touched everyone’s lives, and that Happy Endings aren’t always what we think.
The part where Hook shows up at the door? That’s where the “next chapter” started, but to me its a chapter that feels like something churned out and uninspired as any romance novel out there (and I have read my share, a friend of mine does that for a living). That stuff SELLS, and unless you get lucky with something more artistic, odds are, its hard to resist the lure of cold, hard cash. Plenty of people LOVE those kinds of stories, so again, its like I said about WWE not being my taste. I was mad it sort of took over half of the Sci-Fi channel’s schedule, but at the same time, I realize its something that brings happiness/joy/entertainment to many other people and kept the channel going.
If the writers, actors and crew don’t genuinely feel as excited about the story they are telling now, versus the one they started in S1,well I can’t imagine any of them would (except maybe RC because he strikes me as someone who ‘s too established to care that much about Hollywood politics) feel like saying it. That’s not how you stay employed in this industry, and there’s so many examples of people who tried to be critical of the shows they were on, or backdoor politics in Hollywood who ultimately negatively impacted their own careers. So whatever is happening in the show, whether planned or not, desired or not–no one is ever going to say anything to get on someone else’s bad side, not without some clear example of outrageous behavior (like that guy on Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen)–or until its water under the bridge and the show is over, and its not like the actor involved fears reprisals would matter.
I remember talking at one point about how Hook reminds me of how Seven of Nine came into Voyager, and had linked an article talking about how cast/crew felt about the whole thing, but it was overall a “we knew this was a game changer” positive spin type thing. The Gift
Here’s an article from an actor that was NOT as positive about it.
As I started watching Voyager on reruns, I saw it out of order. So Seven of Nine was already there for me, and I didn’t really question or feel resentful about how the show altered and shifted around to be increasingly about Seven. I wonder if I would have, had I started the show from its first episode in order?
At this point, I’m trying to just erase my memory of Seasons 1 -2, so I can just get in the frame of mind the writers appear to be in now, that half the fanbase is in now and maybe I’ll be able to enjoy and just pretend it is a different show that just happens to have the same actors.
“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass