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Once Turns 100: Once Upon a Time Season 3 Retrospective
For our Season 1 Retrospective, click here
For our Season 2 Retrospective, click here
Season 3A
It’s off to Neverland; as Emma, Snow, Charming, Regina, Rumple, and Hook journey to save Henry from the clutches of the demonic Peter Pan! In a land where time stops still, the gang are forced to revisit the events of their past! Little do they know, Pan has a sinister plot involving Henry’s heart, the heart of the truest believer! Also unknown to the group, Neal survived his trip through the portal back to the Enchanted Forest, and plans to reunite with them! In addition to Pan, new characters include Tinker Bell, Ariel, and Medusa. Fans had been waiting for over 2 Seasons for Ariel to appear, and it finally happened on the show’s 50th episode! That’s right, that means we’ve reached the half-way point in these retrospectives! Get your pixie dust ready, as we fly into our Season 3A retrospective!
Season 3A Promos:
Since this forum would not exist without this site’s podcast, feel free to give a listen to the podcast’s full discussions for each episode. Whether you want to re-listen to them, or just never got around to listening to them before! Click on each episode title for links!
301 – The Heart of the Truest Believer
302 – Lost Girl
303 – Quite a Common Fairy
304 – Nasty Habits
305 – Good Form
306 – Ariel
307 – Dark Hollow
308 – Think Lovely Thoughts
309 – Save Henry
310 – The New Neverland
311 – Going HomeDiscussion Points (A few rough ideas)
– Favorite Episode of the Season
– Favorite Character Introduced
– Favorite Moment of the Season
– Do you think the show spent too much time in Neverland, or too little?
– What were your thoughts on the show’s decision to make Peter Pan a villain?
– What did you think of the reveal that Peter Pan was Rumple’s father? Has your opinion of this reveal changed since?
_ What were your thoughts on Rumple’s sacrifice against Peter Pan?
– Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?Season 3B
“Wicked is Coming” as we enter as what could be described as a turning point for the series. 3B continues the Green Theme of the Season as we go from Neverland and Peter Pan to Oz and the Wicked Witch of the West. This half of the Season made an interesting start, as there was a timejump between everyone sans Emma and Henry’s return to the Enchanted Forest and the next Dark Curse. Therefore, a good chunk of our flashbacks took place during the missing year that was wiped from everyone’s memories. Our family relations got even more complicated, as it turned out that Zelena (the Wicked Witch) was none other than Regina’s mysterious half-sister. It’s Evil vs. Wicked, as their sibling rivalry gets under way! Notable guest stars included Walsh, Rapunzel, Lumiere, Glinda, and Dorothy. So get your broomstick, as we zoom into our Season 3B retrospective!
Season 3B Promos:
312 – New York City Serenade
313 – Witch Hunt
314 – The Tower
315 – Quiet Minds
316 – It’s Not Easy Being Green
317 – The Jolly Roger
318 – Bleeding Through
319 – A Curious Thing
320 – Kansas
321/322 – Snow Drifts/There’s No Place Like HomeDiscussion Points
– Favorite Episode of the Season
– Favorite Character Introduced
– Favorite Moment of the Season
– What were your thoughts on Zelena being Regina’s sister?
– How did you react to Neal’s death? ? Note: Please don’t bring up SwanFire vs CaptainSwan, for the sake of everyone’s sanity.
– Had Neal lived, how would the rest of 3B been different?
– What did you think of the twist that it was Regina who defeated Zelena with light magic instead of Emma?
– What were your thoughts on the show exploring the concept of time travel?
– Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?
– Did the split season work for this full season?[adrotate group="5"]Trying to do this from a less than stellar computer…forgive me if my response aren’t up to my usual abilities.
S3A
Favorite Episode of the Season
Favorite episode of 3A is probably Nasty Habits. I’m such a sucker for father/son dynamics on this show and this one delivered. I loved Neal finally being in Neverland, taking charge against Felix and Pan, loved his reunion with Rumple, and even their shouting match. Neal asserts his own identity and that what matters most to him is Henry. To me, it was a very well written, well performed piece. I loved Bobby and MRJ’s interactions.
Honorable mentions go to Going Home and Ariel.
Favorite Character Introduced
Pan without any hesitation. He’s still my favorite villain the show has ever had (though Cora is a very close second). Robbie Kay simply knocked it out of the park. I wasn’t sold on him being Rumple’s father (brother would have made soooo much more sense) but there’s no denying that Robbie did a phenomenal job as Peter.
Favorite Moment of the Season
Anything involving Neal and Emma being adults and trying to raise their son together. I also tend to get overly weepy at the town line scene when Emma has to say goodbye to her mom and dad.
Do you think the show spent too much time in Neverland, or too little?
Honestly, too little. Or maybe to put it a different way: they spent too much but not enough of it was fleshing out the world and characters of Neverland. We’re left with so many questions from that arc and we’ll likely never get any of them. Neverland began to annoy my eyes because it was so freaking dark and looked the same every week.
What were your thoughts on Rumple’s sacrifice against Peter Pan?
Um…I cried for like a day or two. I thought it was perfect and rather beautiful. And, if I’m being totally honest, he should have stayed dead.
Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?
Slightly. I enjoyed 3A a lot when it aired but now looking back, I like to think of this as the season when “my” show ended a new show began, one that I’m not too fond of. 3A signals, for me, a shift in the themes of the show. It rebooted the show to OUAT version 2.0. So I have very fond memories of 3A but there is a level of bitterness because to me it’s when the show really ended.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I don’t think the split season has worked in the sense that two arcs per season means that neither arc gets fleshed out properly before it’s then on to the next arc of the new season. It would’ve been much better if it had been one arc that was split in half. Either a) the first half ends with the villain’s victory and the second half is the heroes over coming their defeat or b) the heroes win the first half and the second half is the villain plotting their revenge. (The only arc I’m glad wasn’t longer was the Frozen arc).
Neverland would’ve benefitted greatly from being spread over more episodes especially as they would’ve had time to insert a little bit of Storybrooke into every episode so it wasn’t missed and would also break up the constant darkness. They could flesh out the Neverland characters more especially the Pan/Felix/Tinkerbell dynamic. Why was Felix so loyal to Pan? Why was Tinkerbell supposedly trusted by Pan? What was Tinkerbell up to on Neverland? etc. They could explore the Neverland backstory of Hook and Baelfire more. Neverland has so many unanswered questions and had so much potential that was not utilised because of lack of time.
Again the Oz arc had potential that was not utilised due to lack of time. Neal’s death should’ve been this big momentous occasion that had far reaching consequences especially as Rumple trying to find him was the very basis of the show to start with. As it was, his death was 315, his funeral was a scene in 316, then that was it. Neal’s death should’ve had an impact on the rest of the season and continuing into the seasons that followed. Instead the characters seemingly forgot about him after the funeral. Had Neal lived, whilst he may not have been important to the story of 3B or season 4, he would’ve really come into his own and shined in the Dark Swan arc of 5A. 5A was made for Neal and they screwed it up big time by killing him off in 3B.
Zelena was annoying in 3B. Coming off of Pan, the show needed a high quality villain and Zelena wasn’t it. She was bratty and it’s kind of hard to feel sorry for her when Rumple shivs her in the jail cell. 5A proves that Zelena can be fun and she was the highlight of that half season. Either that’s a damning review on the quality of 5A or 3B completely wasted the potential of Zelena, turning her into a cardboard villain.
Another less than favourable thing about 3B was the creation of OQ. It was too rushed. There was absolutely no reason why Robin would be so gung ho about Regina upon meeting her for the first time. She was the evil Queen as far as he knew. Whilst he may have started to develop feelings for her over the course of the missing year when he realised she wasn’t so bad, which we didn’t get to see- another criticism, the fact that the reason given for the attraction was “soulmates” was completely ridiculous. Instead of taking the time to SHOW us why Regina and Robin should be together, the writers are telling us they’re meant to be without taking the time to back up their claim. Robin and Regina’s first meeting leads to an unintentionally funny moment where Robbin helps Regina up but leaves a clearly heavily pregnant woman lying on the floor.
This season is when Snow’s character was assassinated and the assassination has only continued as the series has gone on. She was so dumb in 3B, she was demanding, she was just a general pain in the arse. 3A, she’s one track minded. She wants another baby because she didn’t get to play mommy to Emma. She tells Emma, her daughter with abandonment issues, that essentially she’s not good enough as a daughter because the relationship they have is not what Snow wanted. To put it bluntly, Snow became a condescending bitch in season 3.
3A was a lot better than 3B and kind of tied up the story started in season 1 despite the wasted potential and rushed storyline due to lack of time. 3A could’ve easily been a bittersweet series ending. 3B was where PLOT and SHINY started taking control over CHARACTER and SUBSTANCE and where the quality of the series started to go downhill.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixDoing 3B in another post….
Favorite Episode of the Season
Probably New York City Serenade. The pre-press screening of this episode worried me; I was convinced I was going to loathe it. I didn’t. I actually quite enjoyed it. Everyone got something to *do* and that was exciting. I loved seeing everyone in their fairy tale costumes again, Emma’s adventure in NYC was really great. Tons of fun all around.
Favorite Character Introduced
I honestly don’t know. This is the first season where I hated the arc-villain. I found Zelena annoying, shrill, and her plot to be simply stupid. Everyone in Oz seemed lifeless and lacked any emotional depth.
Favorite Moment of the Season
Gah. I don’t know either because I’m really not a fan of this season but if you were to force me to answer then there are two:
1) Emma getting her memories back–the flashes focused on her own Savior status, her family and Henry, and Neal. In the moment it seemed like the show was telling me the things that were important to her and the show.
2) Neal using the last little bit of life in his body to get a note to Hook to find Emma. He’s the true hero.
What were your thoughts on Zelena being Regina’s sister?
Predictable. This show can’t resist family drama. But I didn’t hate it and at least it didn’t screw up the timeline too much.
How did you react to Neal’s death?
Poorly!
No, everyone knows how I reacted so I’m not going to go into any great depth here, but needless to say, I miss Neal Cassidy. I miss him a lot.
Had Neal lived, how would the rest of 3B been different?
I will believe until the end of time that Neal was supposed to go on that trip to the EF with Emma. And then they came home–their new version of Tallahassee–together. That’s the story. That’s the story right there.
What did you think of the twist that it was Regina who defeated Zelena with light magic instead of Emma?
Eh. Predictable that Regina, who has the closest ties with Zelena, would defeat her, like Rumple defeating Pan. But they haven’t used Regina’s light magic since, really. Zelena’s take down in the barn was rather lame too.
What were your thoughts on the show exploring the concept of time travel?
You did it once, show. Don’t do it again.
Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?
Nope. Still strongly disliked everything after the second episode “Witch Hunt.” It was a mess and it really showed that the show was shifting in theme and tone. The only thing that’s worse, for me, is S5A but…not by much.
Did the split season work for this full season?
No and here’s why:there are no common threads. Nothing that extends over the entire season. That’s a big difference with season 4 and that’s why S4 split works a bit more, you had one story that was told over an entire season (the search for the Author) instead of two totally separate seasonal stories.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"– Favorite Episode of the Season
Going Home, this is the episode where the story really ended, I liked that it was bitter sweet. I really liked the resolution each character got, I liked how it mirrored early season 1:
Emma and Henry leaving Storybrooke together just like how they came.
Regina giving up her happy ending in order to save everyone, it’s a contrast to the pilot where she cursed everyone to suffer.
Rumple being brave and making the right choice by sacrificing himself in order to save everyone.
Snow and Charming giving up their daughter again, but this time, knowing she has a happy life and everything will be OK.
The stories returned to being just stories.
The only thing that bothered me about this episode was the redundant cliffhanger just for the sake of cliffhanger. It didn’t reveal anything new and it wasn’t shocking at all. “You’re family needs you” NO KIDDING. I just think that when you decide to end it and have a beautiful closure, you don’t need to insert anything new. Just end it and start something new after, people would have still continued to watch it even if it hadn’t been for that final scene.
– Favorite Character Introduced
I really liked Peter Pan. He was a great villain, Robbie is a wonderful actor. I liked the mind games he played with the characters.
– Favorite Moment of the Season
I liked the scene with Emma and Snow in 302. It was a small quiet moment that we rarely see now.
– Do you think the show spent too much time in Neverland, or too little?
I think they didn’t utilize Neverland properly, I think that they didn’t have enough backstories for the Peter Pan’s characters.
– What were your thoughts on the show’s decision to make Peter Pan a villain?
I thought it was great and very original and creative. How many adaptation of Peter Pan were dark? It was interesting, it was something that we’ve never seen before.
– What did you think of the reveal that Peter Pan was Rumple’s father? Has your opinion of this reveal changed since?
I thought it was weird at first, but it made so much sense. All the flaws of Rumple comes from his father, which is very appropriate for a show that depicts family dynamic.
_ What were your thoughts on Rumple’s sacrifice against Peter Pan?
I thought it was great and very emotional.
– Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?
Not so much. I think it was a strong season and very underrated (for some reason fans seem toblike it less than other seasons and I don’t understand why, but I think it has to do with the fact that characters actually talked about what they felt instead of having ships and Disney distraction, have you seen the “100 episodes” promo? All distractions). There were moments that I didn’t like and still do and those are Hook and Emma’s kiss and Hook and Neal fighting over Emma. By the way, after 5A, I can say that 302 was a much better adaptation of the Arthurian Legends. 5A just used the names of the characters when they removed all the essence of these characters while 302 used the essence with different names (Arthur = Snow, Morgana = Regina, Merlin = Charming).
SEASON 3B DOES NOT EXIST TO ME (just kidding, doing it in a different post, but let me just say that I did not like that season AT ALL).
"All your questions are pointless"
– Favorite Episode of the Season
probably 313.
– Favorite Character Introduced
IDK, Glinda? Rapunzel? I didn’t like Zelena at all and all the other new characters were just meh.
– Favorite Moment of the Season
My favorite moment was from the episode I hated most 320, which was the Charmings family with the new born baby.
– What were your thoughts on Zelena being Regina’s sister?
I didn’t like it and it never made sense, just reeks of bad retcon along with 318 retconning Cora’s backstory.
– How did you react to Neal’s death? ? Note: Please don’t bring up SwanFire vs CaptainSwan, for the sake of everyone’s sanity.
It was a bad decision, regardless of who should be with Emma. Neal had a connection with other characters, mainly Rumple and Henry. I didn’t appreciate that they just pretend like he never existed.
– Had Neal lived, how would the rest of 3B been different?
A lot. There wouldn’t be any lips curse to create tension and some kind of conflict between Emma and her love interest because Neal and Emma had already had a well developed conflict, However Emma would have still lost her powers because “Regina needs to save the day” I guess.
– What did you think of the twist that it was Regina who defeated Zelena with light magic instead of Emma?
It was horrible. They totally did a disservice to Emma’s character and her Savior status. Moreover, they treated her like a big plot device. They said that she was the only one that can save them, they cast the dark curse to get to her, they sacrificed Charming’s heart in order to do it just so she could ultimately do nothing. They never needed to do all of that, they only needed Regina to believe in herself, that’s crap.
– What were your thoughts on the show exploring the concept of time travel?
Never again.
– Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?
No. I hated it then and I hate it now. Besides the point that I already mentioned, this season felt fanservicy. The writing was simetimes bad – “The Queen may be evil, but I’m wicked, and wicked always wins”, ” This isn’t the wild west. No it’s the wicked west” (they’re not even in the west), “what did I ever do to you? You were born”. It was filled with inconsistencies and retcons – Cora’s backstory and sharing a heart nonesense. It had a lot of OOC moments to enable situations and plot like 320, which was the worst episode of s1-3, and it felt rushed, all the season was messy and rushed.
– Did the split season work for this full season?
Yes. Cause I can seperate the good OUAT (1-3A) from the crappy OUAT (3B – ???hopefully not more than 6).
"All your questions are pointless"
This isn’t the wild west. No it’s the wicked west” (they’re not even in the west),
Omg THIS line. This line is one of the clunkiest pieces of dialogue the show has ever had. Ugh. I cringe.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"SEASON 3
3A
Favorite Episode: Save Henry 3×09
Not only did we cast aside the rumors that Regina’s adoption of Henry was illegal, but Regina did the (beep) thing in Neverland. She brought down the one man even Rumplestilskin feared, saved her son, and used Pan’s Shadow to get them the heck out of Neverland! And it was also this episode, even Rumple had to tell her that she raised Henry well, despite her initial fears of parenthood.
Favorite Character Introduced: Tinkerbelle
I just found this little green cupid to be a wonderful addition to Once Upon A Time, and not only did she try to help Regina find what she needed. Plus she really stuck it up to the Blue Fairy. And nobody can talk some sense into Regina like Tinkerbelle could, well Maleficent did too. Her and Regina’s relationship was just really good….and I really miss Tinkerbelle, we could really use her during these trying times.
Favorite Moment of the Season: The Queen’s Sacrifice
Coming full circle with the curse, Regina cursing everyone to gain her own happy ending. Regina sacrificing her happy ending, aka her son, to save everyone she cursed…for me personally, I think this was the highlight of her redemption arc! Her undoing the curse was just a perfect parallel to her casting the curse.
Reflections:
I think we spent enough time in Neverland, that was the whole promotion and plan, so I expected to be in Neverland for quite a while.
Making Peter Pan a villain was purely unique, there was always something odd about a boy coming to whisk children off into the night.
I remember when we all suspected brothers, so it was quite a surprise when Peter Pan turned out to be Rumple’s father. But the groundwork they laid into the characters, as well as the backstory that they share…I can see why Rumple was frightened of his father given their history, though I really would have loved to explore it a little more when Rumple was the Dark One Rumplestilskin.\
Rumple’s sacrifice was perfect….end of story. Like Regina undoing the curse, Rumple manning up to face his father even without magic, showed that he was not so much of a coward like we thought, he stood tall and faced his number one fear and defeated it, saving everyone he’s brought misery to….this was the Rumple I wish they had continued developing!!!!
It’s been a while since I reflected on Season 3, but it was a nice season.
3B
Discussion Points
– Favorite Episode of the Season
– Favorite Character Introduced
– Favorite Moment of the Season
– What were your thoughts on Zelena being Regina’s sister?
– How did you react to Neal’s death? ? Note: Please don’t bring up SwanFire vs CaptainSwan, for the sake of everyone’s sanity.
– Had Neal lived, how would the rest of 3B been different?
– What did you think of the twist that it was Regina who defeated Zelena with light magic instead of Emma?
– What were your thoughts on the show exploring the concept of time travel?
– Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?
– Did the split season work for this full season?Favorite Episode: 3×20 Kansas
I think I had more favorite moments out of 3B than favorite episodes, but Kansas was a pretty good episode. Parallel Regina coming to get Baby Emma, to Zelena coming to get Baby Snowflake….Henry believing in his mother, who defeated Zelena using the light magic in her, which we never saw again. Kansas was just one of the better ones I remember.
Favorite Character Introduced: Zelena
Because there’s really no one else to choose from, and despite her backstory which could have been done so much better, I’ll have to say Zelena. When we first met her, Bex and Lana just had those sister vibes that beamed I love and hate you at the same time, and it just clicked. Plus Zelena has one of the best one liners besides Regina.
Favorite Moment: Too Many
There were just too many….I’ll just list them and save the best for last. Regina first meeting Zelena, All of Regina and Zelena’s showdowns, the sassoffs between Regina and Robin in the missing year, the mother/daughter friendly talks that Regina and Snow had, Regina trying to save Snow from Cora (irony). But the two that stood out the most to me had to be Regina and Zelena’s talk in the jail cell…I think that was the first time we really saw these two look at each other as sisters and not mortal enemies. And the picnic Regina and Robin had in her office….that is still one of my favorite OutlawQueen moments….when it was easier to ship.
3B Reflections:
My thoughts on Zelena being Regina’s sister….that I was right! I called that thing right after 3×11 went off and they showed the spring promo….you guys thought I was crazy, but I hung onto that Headcannon until it came true. I still have a lot of cookies from all the bets against WickedSisters! XD
Neal’s death….let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. I do remember a lot of screaming and sobbing both at my house and in the SF Thread, after that we all sort of blacked out and were in a state of shock, then denial, and right now we’re kind of stuck between anger and acceptance, but we’re getting there. Slowly but surely.
Neal surviving would have done a lot better to the show because there were moments that could have been, but due to his death, will never be.
I personally loved the fact that it was Regina to defeat Zelena rather than Emma. It wasn’t Emma’s fight nor sibling, so obviously it should be Regina to win…I’m bitter about the fact it happened so quickly…there wasn’t even a magical showdown. At least with Regina vs Maleficent, we had spears and fireballs flying….I think they could have done a bit better with Evil vs Wicked Showdown, especially since they hyped it all up.
Time Travel was…hmm…interesting. It was neat for Emma to see her parents before they became the legends they are now.
My opinion hasn’t changed that much concerning this season, but I do miss the flow this season had.
Yes and No….for myself, I can’t imagine watching twenty two episodes of Neverland or their version of Oz, however certain storytelling points were lost due to the limitation of eleven episodes an arc.
Ending thoughts on this season is that I really wish Rumple hadn’t tried to kill Zelena at the end of 3B because I do think she was actually considering Regina’s offer to change her ways, but what Rumple did both himself and her back. And having Zelena and Regina witness the relationship Elsa and Anna had in Season 4, I think that really could have helped them grow in their sisterly relationship. And it just kills me that Adam and Eddy cut Regina’s line to Zelena in 3B, when she looked back at her sister in her cell and told her “It’s nice to have family in town.”
Overall, 3B was neat and nice. Nothing to do a big Hurrah over, but I’ll settle for what it was. For old times sake I’ll scream this out….OUTLAWQUEEN AND WICKEDSISTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#HenryApproves
"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor
and I really miss Tinkerbelle, we could really use her during these trying times.
One of the most disappointing aspects of 3A was the fact that we never saw Tink and Peter in a scene together. We get the impression that Tink and Peter are friends and that he trusts her, but given no indication as to how that happened. The characters from NVL, in the end, felt like their story counterparts in name only. While it was fine (even great) to make Peter the villain, the writers pretty much robbed the story of anything resembling Barrie’s original–even the deep and unyeilding animosity between Hook and Peter.
That’s probably the biggest problem with 3A–they spent almost too much time in Neverland, but not enough of it was fleshing out the world and the characters. Like why is it dark all the time? Who told Peter about Henry and gave him that drawing? Is Greg still alive since the Shadow was vanquished in SB? If the Peter and the Lost Boys could imagine what they wanted into existence–like food–then why was Peter sending Hook out on missions in the EF? Why did Hook even come back? And why was Hook searching for a way out of NVL in his final NVL flashback if Pan had been sending him out all along?
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Season 3A:
Favorite Episode: Going Home
Honorable Mentions: The Heart of the Truest Believer, Think Lovely Thoughts, Save Henry
Favorite Character Introduced: For me, it’s Peter Pan. Robbie Kaye was awesome.
Honorable Mentions: Ariel, Roland, Felix,
Favorite Moment: Regina giving good memories to Emma and Henry and watching them drive off, and tied is Rumple’s speech and then killing Pan
Honorable Mentions: the scene with Snow and Emma in Lost girl about being an orphan, Pan killing Felix for the curse, the scene in the cave with Emma and Neal, the end of the premiere when Pan is revealed and he says, “Let’s play.”
I think the show spent the right amount of time in Neverland but there’s no doubt a couple episodes dragged. It got old kinda fast. But once they got to skull rock, it was fine again.
Making Peter Pan a villain was awesome. I loved it. I loved the twisted take on the shadow stealing kids and forcing them to be lost boys and then brainwashing them to actually enjoying their lives in Neverland. I think the concept worked so well and it was so original, and creepy. I also enjoyed the twist of Pan being the piped piper and that’s how he lured the boys.
I think the reveal that Pan was Rumple’s father was cool. That whole episode was cool. Although it did open up more questions and I would have liked the shadow’s backstory etc. etc., it was cool that his father became Pan, I thought.
Rumple’s sacrifice was great. I’m not sure how the sword was long enough to go through Pan and Rumple, or why Pan just let Rumple grab him and hold him with no magic, but the sacrifice was great. It was where Rumple should have died and remained dead.
My opinion still remains the same. Season 3a certainly had it’s flaws. Splitting them up, and wandering in the woods got boring and old quick, and Regina basically telling them they can’t use magic because they don’t know where it will poof them to, etc etc just so they could do it on foot was lame. But Peter Pan was so manipulating and maniacal. One of the best villains on the show. And the finale, was one of the best.
Season 3B:
Favorite episode: A Curious Thing, New York City Serenade, It’s Not Easy Being Green, all tied
Favorite New Character Introduced: No one seems particularly memorable here. Glinda and the witches maybe.
Favorite Moment: Regina taking down her sister
Honorable Mention: Rumple “killing” Zelena in the cell
No huge issues with Zelena being Regina’s sister. I just thought it was kinda thrown together and all of a sudden, Cora like deserted this other baby.
I honestly had no real “issue” with Neal’s death. At the time, I thought Captain Hook was more interesting and Neal got boring because he had no magic ability or real fighting skills. But the death seemed a little rushed, and after a couple more seasons now since the death, I do miss him and wish they did him justice a little better. He didn’t really die a hero like they say.
I liked that it was Regina who defeated Zelena. Big moment for her arc I thought.
I liked the time travel. Having Emma see her parents fall in love was so cute. I enjoyed it. However, I wish they had killed Charming instead of the whole shared heart thing. And then he could have been the one they saved in the past.
Looking back on it, I think it was the weaker of the two halves of season 3. I recently rewatched season 3a and 3b and got a bigger appreciating for 3a because of how many issues I had with 3B.
The split was OK. Had it’s flaws, but it was fine for me. It worked way less for season 4 I thought.
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