A few random season 3 theories

[shack1212]

I have some theories about Season 3

Flashback Distribution

When watching the 1st season of Once, one of the worrying thoughts I had is they had so many Snow/Charming flashbacks that it felt as if their entire backstory would be told in one season, leaving the writers scrambling to find material for 4-5 seasons after that. However in Season 2 they took a step back and gave Snow/Charming barely any flashbacks. With Emma having 1 flashback in the first two seasons, they’ve proven they don’t need centric episodes to make a character continue to feel important.

In Season 2 however, we were treated to an amazing barrage of Regina flashback episodes. If talking strictly flashbacks and centric episodes, this was the Regina season just like Season 1 was the Snow/Charming season.

My theory is they take a step back from the Regina centrics in Season 3 like they did Snow/Charming in this one and make another character(s) dominate the season in flashbacks. My pick: Emma and Neal. Emma racking up centrics is long overdue. There’s plenty of story to tell with her and they’re now unafraid to flashback on Earth. As for Neal we already saw the start of it. The two part Season 2 finale may all but wrap up the Dylan Schmid part of his story, then in Season 3 he’s Michael Raymond-James in the flashbacks. And there’s hundreds of years of flashbacks to work with for Neal. As for the present day story, it fits in quite well. There will likely be a lot of Neal scenes, looking to get back to find Emma. And Emma wherever she is, perhaps knowledgeable Neal is alive, also up to stuff. They can set up the Emma and Neal finding each other plot to go along with the flashbacks.

Separation from Regina

The main idea I have for what happens in the Season 3 finale though it’s hardly an earth shattering prediction. I see the plan for everyone to get away, is to get on Hook’s ship and use a bean while Storybrooke is getting down. There is 2 beans left for a reason. While they’re doing this Regina will be slowing down the destruction with her magic in the previews. Then she will jump in her own bean portal to survive as SB goes to ….. Regina will end up separated from the rest of the group for a while in Season 3. There’s been enough Regina+group conflict this season that some time away makes narrative sense especially if my theory about the Regina centrics slowing down is correct. I expect wherever the main group is in between FTL and Neverland, Regina is in the other, while Neal is either in the other one than Emma, or in a different world entirely. Another possibility I see is that Regina’s “escape” is just ending up somewhere else on Earth. She can leave SB without losing her memories I believe so I guess she can just poof poof to another destination instead of jumping in a bean portal. Regina surviving on Earth I guess is another way to separate her. Maybe Rumple and Belle would be with her since they can also leave SB (Rumple having his scarf). But I see the most likely scenario as everyone in Storybrooke is gone from Earth after the S2 finale.

Moderator’s Edit: edited for a small language problem. Please remember that ONCE podcast is a clean chat/forum site. Thanks–RG

[RumplesGirl]

I think you’re spot on about the flashbacks. I think they will focus a lot on young Bae in NL, Neal and Emma in the real world, and ALSO (along with young Bae) Hook’s story. I think we’ll be getting a lot of Hook in S3.

I am also of the opinion that SB will vanish from earth. Maybe for good. However, I think Regina will be going with the rest of the clan to NL. I think most of S3, if not all, will be set in NL. I think Regina is going to be a whole new ball game, she won’t be so much of an antagonist, but the CharmingStilstkins will become a true family. (though there will be lots of bumps in the road for both Regina and Rumple)

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[thelonebamf]

Brb, designing the “Charmingstiltskin” family crest…

Shack, while I don’t know if I think Regina will be separated from the group I can see that working really well. I lot of Regina’s problems come from the fact that she can’t let go. She can’t let go of her anger and this ends up keeping her from being able to get genuinely close to others, like Henry. He life since Daniel’s death has been wrapped up in hating Snow and everyone associated with her. If Regina was forcibly separated from the group, that would free her up to have a few character development episodes.It would really matter if she was in a magical world or our world, she’d end up meeting new people, people who didn’t have a preconceived notion of her. She would actually be able to start fresh.

This might not go well at first. It’s possible that she’d enter a group and her old habits would set in, and she’d end up being driven away. It could be a wake-up call that “Hey, part of the problem really is you” and she could try very hard to start on the path of redemption. Without Snow and the gang to cause blinding fury, she just might be able to do it.

If that’s the way the season went, by the time she rejoined the group she’d have a fresh perspective, and perhaps more empathy towards her former enemies. If we only get one more season, that would be a positive note to end things on.

"Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him."

[shack1212]

I’m not very worried about a 4th season thelonebamf. Even if the ratings fell to bubble range, which is still a big drop-off from where Once is now, ABC will have an incentive to renew it because of syndication/re-run rights usually requiring 80-90 episodes and they’ll be a season away from that. Once is also perfect for syndication because it’s family friendly. Once easily fits more channels and early air times, than shows like Revenge or Scandal. In addition, considering Once is flat out one of the best TV shows ever made its chances of finding diehard fans in syndication have to be high, ABC will see the long term re-run potential in its quality

Furthermore with the way network television is dropping like a rock and the failure rate of new shows, it’s becoming standard for established shows who fall to weak ratings, to stay around and start airing at midseason. This is because once all the new shows that are DOA get canceled, they need reliable replacements for the second half of the year. For this reason along with the syndication one, I’d be shocked if Once got canceled cold turkey after 3 seasons after its ratings fell. The more likely situation is ABC moving it away from the Sunday night sports/awards/Cable TV death night and giving it a Lost like 16 episode uninterrupted run on another night, for 1 or a few more seasons

[thelonebamf]

I don’t really know enough about how television ratings and renewals work which is why I tend to stay away from discussion about that sort of thing. There are so many people here (like yourself) who seem to be really familiar with how networks operate so I definitely bow to your greater experience.

The only reason I talk about things like “last seasons” is just because I think the writers are trying to do right by the audience, and while they would always want to leave things open ended and the audience wanting more, television can be full of uncertainty. Funding could somehow drop out, a pivotal actor could be in an accident and unable to resume their role, etc etc. I only mean to speak from a perspective of trusting the show’s creators and writers to come up with seasonal endings that make narrative sense for the sake of the audience.

"Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him."

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