Home › Forums › Once Upon a Time › Season Five › 5×12 “Souls of the Departed” › 5×12 “Souls of the Departed” spoilers › Another Mark Isham Leak: Neal's Warning? › Reply To: Another Mark Isham Leak: Neal's Warning?
But again, if MRJ is back, and not for just one scene in the beginning warning everyone, this could work. Especially if they planned this and killed Neal off knowing they would eventually be going to the underworld and could eventually save him, or at least have the opportunity to be saved.
Well, that would be a heck of a long con, and an impressive one at that. And you know what, if OUAT were a book series, I would totally get excited about this theory. But I don’t think that’s very realistic. These, after all, are not just stories, but also jobs — it’s not like with a novel, where the author could kill off a central character, and then bring them back at a later point. There’s gotta be some reasonable ethics (and planning) involved in hiring/firing actors, and I’m sure legal contracts are drawn up, agents negotiate renewals and timeframes and so forth. I agree that, in the right hands, it could make for an amazing story, but if, in the very unlikely scenario, they went that route, it would have to be a “huzzah! lets do this crazy thing and see what happens, can we get the actor back?” sort of thing. But I doubt they’d go that way, and I also doubt that they’d get MRJ back.
My point earlier, to which I think @The Watcher was partially responding, wasn’t that I wouldn’t love to see Neal, but that this ship has not just left the harbor, but arguably sailed off the edge of the map where it says “here be dragons.” Meaning, the show is so far gone from its original premises (to which Neal was integral) that a) re-integrating him into the present story would involve some serious hooplas, and b) the relationships and characters to whom Neal was structurally integral have been completely rewritten to erase those points of connection that made Neal essential. As I said, this is the case with Rumple and Emma the most (Henry just doesn’t get enough screen time anymore to really “change” his character). And arguably, those two characters are the most frustrating from the point of view of the writing — inconsistent back and forth and total lack of overall character development. Again(!) with Emma and her walls. Again(!) with Rumple’s power hungry but cowardly blah blah blah. Since S3 it’s been a constant “do not pass go, do not collect $200” for those two, to the point where the characters are no longer particularly likable, compelling, or realistic (arguably, with Regina, they were the best characters of the show). I think this sense of stagnation, forced retconning, and generally illogical character building comes from the writers’ attempt to minimize Neal’s role in Rumple and Emma’s arcs, while being unable to write them post/sans Neal.
And bringing Neal back now, whether as a cameo or on a permanent basis, no matter how cleverly it’s done, isn’t going to fix the show, because it’s not going to undo 3 years of, excuse my French, staggeringly s*** writing. And I think Kistowitz know this, and wouldn’t want to open that can of worms anyway, and rock the fandom’s rather toxic applecart. So I think the most logical explanation for the Neal’s warning bit is that it’s just the composer recycling a score, and being sloppy about his Istagram account.
But here, I’ll throw a monkey wrench into the discussion. 😉 What if they did decide to bring Neal back, but couldn’t get MRJ and recast an adult Neal ? How would folks feel about this?