I completely agree with you hjbau. The characters are key to the initial plot. The creators of the show said in an interview that they wanted the plot to actually take a back seat in order to have the main focus on character development. Unlike their other show Lost (which had a crazy, complicated plot) their goal in OUAT was to create characters that are multi dimensional (like the good/evil of Rumpel) which the show would revolve around with a moderately easy story line to understand (while still having the audience guessing because confusion is just their style) 😉 I understand you frustrated because the “main” plotline has not been advanced, but it’s the characters that have had major development, which does affect the plot. I get it’s a slower process, but why rush to finish OUAT? I’m obsessed and care more about the state the of characters lives.