1) What was your favorite episode of S5B?
A tie between Our Decay, Sisters, and Untold Stories.
2) What was your least favorite episode of S5B?
Brother Jones // Last Rites
3) What did you think of Hades and the Underworld?
I thought Greg Germann’s portrayal of Hades was, for the most part, fantastic. I wasn’t a fan of the ear popping/blue hair effect, and Hades could have used a more fleshed out back story. As it stood, I still have no idea who Hades really was or what motivated him. UB was alright, but the world building ended up being shoddy, as usual. OUAT would do so much better if they actually treated the world it’s set in as an actual character — which, as I recall, was the explicit premise of Lost, right?
4) What was your favorite and least favorite moment?
Favorite: Neal and Emma in the bug; some of the complex dialogues between Rumple/Belle; Regina/Emma; and Gold/Regina. Every time we got to see Barbara Hershey. Cruella.
Least favorite: Robin dying. Emma and Hook making out in front of Robin’s casket. Actually, increasingly, everything to do with Emma. I’m hoping they don’t reboot her character yet again in S6. Also, every time Rumple does something because Powerz and Evilz, and where an actual exploration of what (ought) to motivate the character is replaced by a facile retcon.
5) We had a lot of old favorite (and least favorite) characters return this arc; which character did you most like seeing?
Cora, Cruella, Ruby, the Blind Witch, Henry Sr, and of course Neal.
Who do you wish we saw?
Graham. Also, is King George still alive? (not that I want to see him, but he’s been in those mines an awful long time).
6) Thing you’re most looking forward to in S6?
More of an exploration of darkness/light. Hoping for the romance sub-genre which has dominated the show for a few seasons to recede into the background a bit and let some other themes breathe. EQ and maybe other characters’ evil sides becoming enfleshed and running amok. More than anything, I will breathe a sigh of relief once we move beyond Disney. I’ve never been a huge fan of Disney to begin with, probably because I didn’t really grow up with it, and so I don’t associate it as much with a sense of childhood nostalgia. Coming to it more as an adult, I can’t help but see the “darker” side of it — like the latent misogyny coupled with just plain old capitalist greed. So while S1 was this really intriguing reconceptualization of really famous fairytales, with many renditions (Disney one among many others), the subsequent focus on “Disney brand” products (Frozen, Brave) started feeling really opportunistic and narratively lazy, probably in part because copyright issues prevented the show runners from taking liberties with the plot. I know I’m probably in the minority here in terms of my distaste for Disney, but I am relieved that S6 might be moving away from it. I think if the set-up for S6 had been another Disney movie, I would’ve called it quits, but now I’m actually intrigued by what S6 might bring. Stevenson, Verne, Cervantes etc might all be really fun authors to explore, and both Stevenson and Verne were terrifically prolific writers, so there’s a ton of stuff. I would also love for them to stick with the “gothic horror” aesthetic for at least part of the season.
7) Overall grade and final thoughts on S5B?
As an overall arc, the writing didn’t hold together. Individual episodes had some really interesting and chewy themes, and some witty dialogues, but the overall narrative didn’t gel. The acting, though, was really really good, and sometimes just stellar. B-/C+?