Arc Ranking:
S1 (tied with S3A): Trying to figure out who was who and who knew what was just so much fun. They did a great job of showing the story, showing us that character motivations were more and more complex. Of all the arcs/seasons this still contains the most of my favorite episodes from the whole show. Even the “dud” episodes helped to build the world they were introducing.
S3A (tied with S1): Robbie Kay! Pan is still my favorite villain of the series. I loved the group being somewhere besides Storybrooke and the Pan being Rumple’s dad twist was awesome.
S2A (1-16): I loved Snow and Emma’s adventure in the Enchanted Forest and Cora’s arc was great to see – second favorite villain after Pan.
S5B: We got a great villain in Hades and some great closure for Regina, Zelena, Cora, and Henry Sr. However, we had Robin’s death and no backstory for him as promised and no origin story for Hades.
S4B: I enjoyed the QOD’s stories and seeing August again. However, we had been waiting for the author revelation since Season 1, and it just seemed like a bit of a letdown. He wasn’t a totally unexpected literary character, instead he was….a TV salesman…
S3B: This was where the plot started feeling recycled to me. They were cursed without memories back in Storybooke. Again. 3A had ended so strongly with bold writing choices and then….almost everything was undone an episode later. I did love the finale 2 episodes (tied with the Season 1 finale for my favorite) but it was pretty much unrelated to the rest of the arc.
S2B (17-22): Seeing Storybrooke in flashback, Groundhog Day style was great. I could have gotten on board with GOAT and the science vs. magic storyline, but it never went anywhere. We were never told why Tamara hated magic and Pan’s drawing of Henry in 3×22 continues to be the most frustrating non-explanation we’ve gotten in the show.
S5A: This arc left so much to be desired for me. They spent the entire season before building up the mysterious and all-powerful “sorcerer” only to have him easily killed before the arc was even finished. While I thought the actress was great for Merida, we didn’t need two episodes of backstory for her. Also, memory wipe. Again.
S4A: Casting is almost always spot on in OUAT and Anna and Elsa were no exceptions. I throughly enjoyed Ingrid as a villain – her quiet, deranged mannerisms were a nice contrast from Pan and Zelena. However, this was my least favorite arc because I felt like it became OUAT incorporated into Frozen, rather than the other way around. Every episode’s flashback but 4×11 featured one of the new-to-the-arc characters. 3 or 4 of them didn’t feature any of the main characters in flashback at all. I didn’t mind the writers including the new Frozen, but they allowed it to take over the show.