FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE MOMENTS from this FINALE : OPERATION MONGOOSE

[PriceofMagic]

I really enjoyed this finale and is probably my favourite of the overall season. There are some nitpicks but they are minor.

Liked:

Henry being a hero- It was about time he had something to actually do.

Isaac- I enjoyed the author character especially his “come on Henry please be dead” line. It’s a shame to lose him as a character.

The RumBelle side of the story- I like how there were ties to the good old RumBelle days, Rumple not believing anyone could love him, him seeking out Belle’s advice when he’s not sure on what to do. The RumBelle fire still burns strong! Also Rumple’s been carrying around that load of darkness for centuries and only really started succumbing for the last season yet has still retained his humanity. That in itself is a testament to how strong Rumple is even if he doesn’t realise it himself.

AU Hook- I liked AU Hook more than normal Hook.

AU Snowing- I liked AU Snowing particularly AU Snow, she’s more zazzy than normal Snow. Normal Snow needs to style her hair like AU Snow, it suits her.

Everyone trying to help Rumple despite what he did- I thought this was a nice little moment and hopefully a sign that the characters aren’t going to hold season 4 against Rumple when they’ve already forgiven Regina and Hook for worse.

Baelfire being acknowledged- It was the elephant in the room and the more the writers tried to avoid it, the bigger it became, so it was nice that it was addressed. I just wish they’d had this acknowledgement from the characters sooner.

Mixed:

Emma chainshotting DragonLily and sending her into the ocean- I know Lily survived but still, Emma sent her plunging into the ocean potentially drowning her with full knowledge that this was her old friend. Did Lily retain her memories like Emma or not in the AU?

AU Robin- I actually liked him more than normal Robin. I would happily ship AU Robin with Regina. Didn’t like that he married Zelena anyway despite seeing Regina at the door and clearly loving her hence the long hesitation but that’s normal Robin seeping in. If normal Robin was more like AU Robin, I’d be happy.

Emma sacrificing herself- When Emma said the darkness had to be attached to a person, I’m glad she chose herself rather than offloading it on someone else because I actually thought that is what the “heroes” might do.

The “Villains only care about their own happiness” line- I thought this line was a little hypocritical because we have seen the “heroes” being selfish like this in the past but still remaining “heroes”.

What the apprentice said to Henry about Baelfire- It’s more the fact that the writers completely avoided the topic of Baelfire for so long yet have a character say “when someone is gone you should continue telling their story” which is the complete opposite of what they did with Neal.

Dislike:

Regina taking so long to go in the church- It’s minor and was obviously meant to be for dramatic tension but still what was Regina waiting for?

Henry driving a car- Since when did he learn to drive so well when he only had one lesson and crashed into a mailbox? He’s 12!

Hook going back to himself- I had hoped that his experience as AU Hook would’ve made Hook reflect on his treatment of SpinnerRumple and at least acknowledged that he’d been in the wrong at that time. However, him referring to Rumple as “the crocodile” this episode (which he’d originally coined as a derogatory term) makes me think this is unlikely and that Hook has learnt nothing. (Rumple should at least get some respect for the sheer amount of darkness he was carrying around and yet still maintained his humanity).

Will being a completely pointless character- Even Belle says, I never loved Will. What was the point of Will this season?

[LOST LOVER]

LOST LOVER wrote:

Maybe I am not remembering right but didn’t henry say something like “I had a really good teacher”. Which of course means Neal and also that hook taught Neal …so I actually thought it was a super sweet moment that was honoring both hook and Henry’s memories of Neal.

He says, I had a really good teacher: you (meaning Hook)

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Thanks.  I missed the “you” part …

[LOST LOVER]

LOST LOVER wrote:

Maybe I am not remembering right but didn’t henry say something like “I had a really good teacher”. Which of course means Neal and also that hook taught Neal …so I actually thought it was a super sweet moment that was honoring both hook and Henry’s memories of Neal.

He says, I had a really good teacher: you (meaning Hook)

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  Thanks.  I missed the “you” part …

[onceaholic]

Writing this without looking at other people’s responses.

LIKED:

-Henry and JG’s acting (except for the part when he was tied to the cart…his acting was as wooden as the cart in this scene).

-RH and Regina on the horse together. Ooh! I want more EF scenes like this, preferably from the missing year (and when will we see more of that, anyway?).

Bandit Regina: great acting!

MIXED

-Where the heck was Malificent? We had Lily but not Mal? They have done a whole half season in this AU, and then we would be able to see a wider range of characters and a richer plot.

-Evil Snow was a bit wooden in parts. I liked the colder version of evil, rather than the flamboyant version of evil that LP does for EQ, but still, some of GG’s acting felt a bit off.

DISLIKED

-Regina doesn’t get a Happy Ending no matter what reality she is in, unless the Savior intervenes in our reality.

-I don’t understand why the Alternative Reality ”never happened” just because it was not in the pages of the book….the characters seemed to remember what happened, they have collective memories of the events, therefore these events did happen, just were not recorded??!! I understand that they wanted to kill off Hook and then bring him back to life to get Emma to face her feelings for him right before she sacrifices hereself, but surely there must be another way to do this without creating plot holes?

-All of the points at which the author intervened and changed things were not addressed. Are we to assume that he only influenced Charming and Snow, and that Regina’s actions as the EQ were entirely her free will?

 

 

Keeper of Regina's bravery

[WickedRegal]

All of the points at which the author intervened and changed things were not addressed. Are we to assume that he only influenced Charming and Snow, and that Regina’s actions as the EQ were entirely her free will?

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This!!! This is the issue I’m having too….what is free will on this show? How do we know whether or not Regina was being controlled by the Author to do evil, how do we know Cora really wanted to kill Daniel, how the heck do we know if Snow White was supposed to tell Regina’s secret or not! Did Rumple let Bae go through that portal of his own free will, was Cora supposed to abandon Zelena?

I just….I don’t know anymore what was supposed to happen and what wasn’t! What was free will and what wasn’t!

"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor

[nealfanforever]

Favourites: The two iconic LOST scenes. The first one when The Apprentice presents Isaac with quills and says, “Pick one” and tells him this is a test. Goes back to when Richard Albert, in a flashback, goes and visits the child, John Locke, and asked him to select items that belonged to him in the future. This was a test to see if Locke was ready. The second one was when they were playing Three Dog Night’s Samballa. This was a nod to the scene when Hurley got the Dharma Initiative work van running and they all took a spin, up and down the valley, while playing Samballa. Loved that Isaac identified Henry as the “constant” that he couldn’t be written into the story because his story didn’t originate in the EF or book. Thought it was great how they nodded to Disney as being the author who had just died. Really enjoyed Adam writing/mirroring himself in the story by having Isaac say, at his book signing, “No spoilers.” Laughed out loud over that one. As well, we all knew The Sorcerer is Merlin. Looking forward to seeing Camelot come S5. On a side note, I’m all for Michael Keaton guest starring as Merlin. Least favourite moments: Gosh, where do I begin? I can live with the fact that my theory is dead. I can deal with the evidence, from tonight, that the original quill & ink, that wrote Rumple & Bae’s story, can only write a fake version of it and that nothing can bring back the dead for real. But then there are all the exemptions to this, like Zelena, Anastasia, ect. That Neal/Bae wasn’t important enough was a huge let down. I am thoroughly disappointed that they knew fans would be hoping that it could eventually bring back Neal/Bae, and they gave us that hope from the very opening of this finale by teasing us with what Isaac said to Rumple. That they would open with this, only to squash our hopes in the final few minutes, is unforgivable. It’s downright dastardly. To add insult to injury, they actually had Henry tell Hook that Hook taught him how to sail the Jolly Rogers. Ya, that never happened. It was Neal who taught Henry how to sail that ship, back in S2x16, The Miller’s Daughter. For me, this was absolutely sacrilegious. They invented something that never happened and intentionally ignored what did. I really wanted to take a swing at A&E at that point. If that all weren’t enough, they go and use the hat to change Rumple from the DO. Give me a break! As if Rumple wouldn’t have figured that out and spared us all the nonsense of getting Isaac to rewrite his story. Nor does Rumple deserve to have his HE. Even as a hero, he still caved into darkness and murdered someone. And what’s with the Dark force not returning to its original master, Rumple? Instead, it seeks out anyone BUT Rumple? Come on now! I’ll get over it, as I’m still not giving up on the show and I’m not going to let that damper my spirit or stop me from having fun. However, for tonight, I’m going to vent.

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Great observations!

Twitter - @Milkglass123

[sherazade]

Liked (in no particular order):

– Isaac was an unexpected pleasure to watch. The actor playing him did a great job!
– The nods to Lost.
– Henry as the new author. It was predicted by a lot of people, but only because it made so much sense.
– Evil Snow and Charming. Ginnifer clearly had a blast!
– Regina saying “I don’t need a man to be happy.” It went a bit against what the show has been telling us (according to the writers she clearly does need a man to be happy), but I was happy to hear her say this. There’s more to happy endings than getting into a relationship! Also I’m still not convinced of Regina/Robin’s chemistry.
– The Dark One story finally being adressed.
–  The sorcerer is Merlin. Feels right somehow.
– Emma sacrificing herself for Regina.

Disliked (still in no particular order):

– The whole author thing (what can, and what can’t be done by an author? what part of what they write is real and what isn’t?) has become very muddled. I’m not even going to try and understand it anymore.
– Emma being happy about shooting Lily in the face with a canon (that’s your friend!)
– Henry’s acting. Sorry, I know I’m being harsh, but it does not convince me.
– Removing the Dark One from Rumple. Well, that was easy… I don’t mind that it happened and I want to see where this will take our characters, but the way in which it was done seemed very anti-climactic.
– So I thought the villains were getting their happy ending? Instead the villains became the heroes. It was still enjoyable, but it was not what we’ve been told. (Not what Isaac told the fans of his book either).
– More a problem with the season than this episode, but I agree with everyone asking what the point of having Will around was.

[sherazade]

To add insult to injury, they actually had Henry tell Hook that Hook taught him how to sail the Jolly Rogers. Ya, that never happened. It was Neal who taught Henry how to sail that ship, back in S2x16, The Miller’s Daughter.

Didn’t Hook also teach Henry some sailing tricks during those times Hook babysat Henry back in season 4? (Or am I completely making stuff up now?).
Edit: found it, it was actually episode 3×16, where Hook was teaching Henry about knots and navigating with a sextant.
“Hook: I taught him to navigate with one. Just like I’m gonna teach you.”

And what’s with the Dark force not returning to its original master, Rumple? Instead, it seeks out anyone BUT Rumple? Come on now!

I think Rumple was “used up” as the darkness had almost killed him. The Dark force would have had to find a new host in moments anyway. It seems that the “only” thing the apprentice did was save Rumple’s life.

[nevermore]

I liked some aspects of this, and was not particularly impressed with many others.

Liked:

1) Part I. Author and Henry meta. Isaac’s quip about “40 years life expectancy and no sanitation.” The Regina pin.

That whole first part was clever, reflexive, both tongue and cheek and dramatic, in the finest tradition of what made me like this show in the early seasons.

2) Rumple as “the Light One,” especially in the ironic moments — while RC seemed to be using one of the iterations of the Dark One’s EF voice and persona (“Good deeds are their own rewards!”)

3) Dark!Snow was amazing, as was Outlaw!Regina, it was fun to watch the team take on each other’s characters.

4) I sort of appreciate that Rumple lives in what looks like a fairly modest home. Does the ostentatious castle appeal more to the DO persona?

Mixed

1) Part II. That very promising part turned into something…actually, I’m not sure what that Part II was. The first half  of the second part (yeah, that sounds funny) felt like a historical adventure/romance done in a post-modern series of disjointed vignettes, which may or may not have had much to do with each other, and in retrospect might have been some weird experiment in gestalt psychology designed to test the audience’s ability to make order out of narrative chaos. Which is to say, the romantic subplot(s) powering the action demanded a whole lot of suspension of disbelief because they were done too fast.

The second half of Part II was at least conceptually interesting, in that it dealt with the nature of what the Author does, his/her power, and the Dark Curse.

Disliked:

Isaac being simply interested in “fortune and glory” and bitter at the Charmings because, what, David reminded him of a former boss?

The town going back to normal and partying at Granny’s — apparently, no lessons were drawn from the AU. The conversation between Emma and the Charmings just felt completely flat. “Wow, you guys weren’t very nice!” “Yeah, sorry ’bout that!” “Well, whew! Glad it wasn’t real!” And, what, that’s it?

Nitpicking:

In the AU, Belle and Rumple have a small infant, who is probably breastfeeding, it being the EF after all.  A&E, with this in mind, did you absolutely have to but Belle into a tightly corseted dress? Unless this was deliberate and it was meant to be Isaac’s “oversight.” Yes, I know, it’s the iconic yellow dress, but if Isaac wanted to make his AU realistic, the devil is, as they say, in the details…No wonder everyone seemed to take the whole “you’re part of a book I’ve written” in stride so easily.

[RumplesGirl]

I said this elsewhere so I’ll just say it again

We’ve never seen Hook actually teach Henry how to *sail*. I know that it exists in Off-Screen-Ville, but the only thing we’ve seen is Hook teaching Henry how to use a sextant. The point is that the writers deliberately made it out that Hook was Henry’s sole teacher which is not true at all, and once again attempted to erase Neal from the picture. Henry easily could have said, “you and my dad taught me” when he was referring to his teacher(s). But in that moment the writers chose to completely forget about Neal which brushes against Henry’s own internal struggle to bring him back at the end of the episode. The writers haven’t had Henry remember his dad *at all* this season, including in this sailing moment, but then suddenly throw in a rather emotional scene about Henry wanting Neal back. It’s a disconnect.

The writers have a tendency to completely ignore Nealfire except when they need to drive home that he’s dead than a doornail, as if they still can’t believe that they need to address him and his death to the audience (since I have yet to see a Hot Seat or the like that doesn’t ponder whether or not Neal could come back after a season that ended with time travel and then a season that ended with everyone’s lives being re-written). So the writers pretty much ignored him all season until Zelena showed up and then “yes, Neal is dead and this is his apartment, he’s dead, and this was a dreamcatcher that meant a lot to him, and he’s dead.” Rumple ignores his dead son until Isaac brings him up but only to reinforce the idea that Nealfire is dead and he ain’t coming back. Henry never mentioned his father all season (except once in trying to manipulate Rumple) including during this sailing moment and then suddenly “I want to bring back my dad with this magic quill because I’m totes sad about it even though I haven’t talked about him or mourned him at all but I can’t cause dead dead dead” followed by the Apprentice, “yes, very good. He’s dead.”

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

[Author]

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