Home › Forums › Once Upon a Time › Season Five › General S5 discussion (no spoilers) › Season 5A In Review › Reply To: Season 5A In Review
1) What was your favorite episode of 5A?
Probably Dreamcatcher, although more by omission than based on its own merits. Overall, the whole season was so sub par, that the episodes where things actually came together in a believable way are really the only ones I can vaguely recall
2) What was your least favorite episode of 5A?
Bear King. I fail to see its point.
3) Overall thoughts on the Dark Swan/Camelot arc?
Both had potential, but were done really poorly. It seems that they tried to cram what should have been an entire season into 1/2 season. It would have made so much more sense to have it broken down into two sub-seasons: 5A could have been Camelot, and 5B Dark Swan proper. Instead, they seemed to have forgotten about Camelot altogether at some point mid-way. Character development was jerky: kind of a “shake’n’bake” approach which was very dissatisfying.
4) Who was your favorite new character?
Gorgon the Invincible
5) What was your favorite moment?
Honestly, I’ve no idea. With previous seasons I can still remember specific episodes and scenes. With this one, it’s all already a vague and messy blur. Some of the things that stand out is Clippy!Rumple’s snark, JMo when she does Dark Swan, some of the conversations and repartee between Emma and Regina, and some moments between Rumple and Belle.
6) What was your favorite plot twist?
I think Evil!Arthur had potential, and when it was revealed early on that he had his own agenda, I was intrigued. What they did with the rest of the Camelot story is just laughable.
7) What was your least favorite plot twist?
Take your pick. Rumple reverting to DO (no rhyme or reason to it, awful characterization), Dark Hook (totally flushing the whole DO cosmology down the drain), Merlin being killed by Hook, Guinevere being mind-controlled by her psychotic husband. The heroes planning to rescue Hook from Hell while leaving their young children in the care of the fairies. But taking teenage Henry along.’
Good thing SB isn’t hooked into the main grid. I can see Social Services having a field day with that one.
8) Overall grade for 5A and final thoughts?
Overall, the quality of the writing has deteriorated so much that I’m honestly not sure I want to return to OUAT again in 5B. The only reason I would is because I’m intrigued by what they might do with Hades, but I’m at the point where I am not really interested in any of the main or supporting characters and their plight. The dialogue is still, on occasion, done well — especially when Jane Espenson is involved. But that’s the only part of the writing that has kept any sort of quality.
S5A has methodically assassinated most of OUAT’s best characters, has continued to peddle an insidious but seriously objectionable gender ideology, and wasn’t even able to carry a minimally coherent or logical narrative.
C- for the plot / D+ for characterization