1) What was your favorite episode of S5B?
“Our Decay” (5×16)
This episode was an absolute looney-tunes of an episode, embracing the camp in every way they could. There is no reason why I should even remotely like the idea of Hades and Zelena, but gosh darn it the show totally sold me on this couple with their over the top personas. The final moment at the clock tower between the two had me on the edge of my seat and in agony when they didn’t kiss right then and there. I credit Greg Germann a lot for why this season was the best OUAT has been in a while.
Runner up: “Sisters” (5×20) and “An Untold Story” (5×23)
2) What was your least favorite episode of S5B?
“Last Rites” (5×21)
Ye gods, where do we begin? Robin’s death, the underwhelming Zeus, the deux ex machina’d Hook, the tacky make out in front of a fresh grave, the plot holes, the inconsistency in character and world building,Emma’s recklessness, and the fact that Hades was wasted in what should have been his moment to shine. A lot of good will was built up with me over this season and they almost ruined it all in the final moments with this episode. Really, a poor one.
Runner ups: “The Brothers Jones” (5×15); “Ruby Slippers” (5×18)
3) What did you think of Hades and the Underworld?
Greg Germann as Hades *made* this arc. In the hands of another actor, this would have been boring or played “evil to the hilt.” Instead, Hades was actually rather charming. I enjoyed having him on my screen and wanted to keep him around forever. He’d have made a lovely addition to the show.
The Underworld….was complicated. It started off with a lot of potential, looking like SB and all, but it soon got pretty tiring. The red tint was annoying and the world building on this show will never amount to anything stellar. Even though I appreciated Zades, I wish we had more backstory on Hades and his design of the Underworld and his rule there.
4) What was your favorite and least favorite moment?
Favorite moment: Neal and Emma in the bug; Hades and Zelena at the clock tower; Emma learning the truth from Milah; anytime Cruella showed up.
Least favorite moment: The make out scene in the cemetery and anytime Rumple acted like a mustache-twisting black hat just for the sake of power.
5) We had a lot of old favorite (and least favorite) return this arc; which character did you most like seeing? Who did you wish we saw?
I really loved seeing Henry Sr with Regina in 5×12; that made me go seriously teary-eyed.
Cora is always welcome on this show. Barbara Hershey is a class act.
Seeing Neal is always going to be a complicated matter for me, but there’s no denying that Neal and Emma have a true connection (even after death) and their scene together was heartbreaking but beautiful.
I wish we saw Graham, of course. I also wish we had some victims vs villains stories. It needed to be in this arc, as it really fit with the idea of “the past coming back to haunt us”
6) Thing you’re most looking forward to in S6?
All these untold stories! Who are these characters?!
7) Overall grade and final thoughts on S5B?
I don’t say this lightly, but this was easily the best and most fun arc of OUAT since Neverland (S3A). Yes, there are a host of problems including an unclear motivation for the seasonal villain, horrible morality, pointless plotlines that served no purpose, and some poor world building. But a lot of times, a charismatic character and an idea can override a lot.. Hades with all his charms, one-liners, and chemistry with Zelena made the episodes enjoyable; at least eclipsing the more eye-roll worthy aspects of 5B. While I still loathe that Emma’s entire story is centered around her romantic relationship, while I still don’t approve of Robin’s death, and while I still find myself frustrated with the themes of redemption, atonement, and forgiveness being paraded around this show, there was enough intrigue, thought, and interesting otherness happening that it elevated an arc that could have gone bottom up much quicker than it did. There was also a surprising amount of closure between characters and storylines. Regina got to say goodbye to her mother and father; Emma had a better final moment with Neal; Pan is out of the picture of good. The writers took what usually works, the dynamics between the characters, and tried to craft a story around those moments. I applaud Rumple’s story becoming (mostly) about being a father again; I like the way Belle’s heroic black and white world is being tested; I like(d) Zades and exploring the idea of love changing a person. However, there were definitely bad parts, like the travesty that was the LGBT tokenism relationship, the underdeveloped back story and motivation for Hades, the James/David storyline, and the super silly Hercules and Snow one-off. And of course, even though this should have really been Emma’s moment to shine as the Savior of this little enterprise, it wasn’t and the character is becoming increasingly hollow and pod-like
Final Grade: B