The problem is that they split the season and then there was more filler, not less. That was the problem. They just filled the episodes full of stuff that had nothing to do with anything except characters who were always going to either die by the end of the half or just disappear to never be seen again. They wouldn’t use those characters to develop the regular characters. The regulars are the show.
Though i also really hate things about being in Storybrooke like Snow is still a teacher because just why or that Charming is the or a sheriff instead of Emma’s deputy. It is also nonsensical that Regina cares about being the mayor or that that even matters when she vanishes or goes evil now and again and no one does those things. Then you have things like the merry men living in the forest or the fact that their are houses for sale or how they can even be bought. The problem is that the show really should have worked through all the how does the town still function in much earlier seasons and they never did, so there are so many just logical, world building questions that you just can’t think about because it just doesn’t make sense.
PS. What is going on with the posting? It seems like it takes hours for a post to appear? Is this a moderator problem or a server problem or just something that is happening to me?