And yeah, I also think much of this had to do with the fact that A and E are not only incompetent storytellers,
Yes. That’s the root cause.
We’ve often said this before but Neal’s death could have actually been a worthwhile story if they were to ease up off the throttle of PLOT all the time and really have it be a character study of loss and regret–told from Rumple, Emma, and Henry’s perspectives. It’s the fact that A and E simply couldn’t write anything that was believable and heartfelt and worthy of killing off one of the heart’s of the show that speaks volumes.
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"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"