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I wonder if there is no good in Hyde because he is nothing but evil?
Interesting question. My preference would be to leave just a smidgen of good in him. I am looking at this in terms of yin and yang. That symbol shows that there are no absolutes; everything has both a yin and yang aspect.
[adrotate group="5"]I may have just choked my coffee a bit…thanks for that.
My pleasure. I will go to bed happy because of your appreciation. 🙂
1) What was your favorite episode of S5B?
“Ruby Slippers”. The fact that this is my favourite highlights my low opinion of 5B. There were things I HATED about this episode, but also things I really liked. Ultimately, I liked seeing an LGBT storyline play out, rushed as it was. The poor execution was mitigated by the fact that the writers have pretty much wrecked all the ships on the show. Also, I loved seeing Red and Mulan. These days, I don’t take the plot seriously because of all the inconsistencies, plot holes and retcons and I’m indifferent to all of the main characters except Regina and Belle. So it’s the small things like seeing Red and Mulan that bring happiness to my jaded self.
Runner up: “Devil’s Due”
2) What was your least favorite episode of S5B?
“Last Rites”. For the reasons RG mentioned.
Runner up: “The Brothers Jones”
3) What did you think of Hades and the Underworld?
Greg Germann as Hades gets an A+ from me for acting. The air seemed to crackle with electricity whenever he was in a scene (and not just because of his hair). The writing for his character wasn’t great though. We never got a backstory or any clear motivations for him. There were also times when he threatened really bad things but never delivered. As for the Underworld, I didn’t like it. I hated the red tint. Everything down there (with the exception of Hades and Cruella) seemed kind of lethargic and without purpose. There was no threat to the heroes, no confrontations (from past victims), no real sense of urgency.
4) What was your favorite and least favorite moment?
Favourite: Ruby and Dorothy’s kiss (even though I had to work very hard to imagine Mulan in Dorothy’s place).
Least favourite: Hook deciding that he deserved to be resurrected because his brother was a mass murderer.
5) We had a lot of old favorite (and least favorite) return this arc; which character did you most like seeing? Who did you wish we saw?
Ruby. Also good to see Milah and have her meet Emma. Oh and Cruella with her incomparible wit. I wish we’d seen more of Merida. Her appearances had absolutely no purpose unless you count representing the higher frequency range of the visible light spectrum.
6) Thing you’re most looking forward to in S6?
Exploration of the theme of dealing with the darkest parts of ourselves. Seeing the main characters split into their good/bad selves.
7) Overall grade and final thoughts on S5B?
C-. 5B really didn’t cut it for me. The plot drifted aimlessly, stagnated, retconned and became filled with holes and inconsistencies. Character development stalled, with past favourites like Rumple and Emma becoming one-dimensional and annoying versions of their former selves. Some characters’ redemption was rushed, some were simply whitewashed and others had to deal with their ‘dark karma’ till the cows came home. Key points on the show like TLK were messed up so badly that they left everyone confused. Sleeping curses and portals were overused. Finally, from a personal point of view, I didn’t really like some of the messages coming out of this arc. Examples include: one good deed erasing decades of murder, love is sacrificing everything, being heroic means leaving your newborns behind to help your friends in hell.
LIKED
– Regina and the EQ facing off. ‘Nuff said!!!
– A potion that ‘separates good from evil’. INTRIGUING! I want to see everyone take a bit of this next season!
– The character of the Dragon.
– The idea that magic does exist in our world, it’s just hidden.
– Granny texting Emma. I miss Granny so much that even a text from her is appreciated at this point.
– Gold’s speech about how the darkness inside oneself can’t be stuffed into a corner. I actually agree with him about this; I’m of the opinion that repressing one’s shadow self is counterproductive. But I don’t agree that the alternative is to give the darkness free reign to the extent of committing murder. Anyway, it’s an interesting concept to explore.
– How they seem to be setting up Season 6 to be about battling the enemy within.
MIXED
– Henry’s speech at the wishing fountain. It was actually inspirational. I would have been mightily impressed with Henry’s guts and faith if he hadn’t been pontificating about the evils of magic literally five minutes before. The fast turnaround makes him seem almost bipolar. But I don’t think he’s bipolar; I think it’s just the Charming brand of dimwitted recklessness in him. The fact that it took so little to change his mind just highlights how poorly thought out his actions were to begin with.
– The portal created by people wishing at the fountain. It was a sweet moment, but a little simplistic for my taste. I still yearn for the days when travel between realms was ‘as hard as it gets’.
– The land of Untold Stories. Interesting enough, but it didn’t really excite me as much as it should have.
DISLIKED
– Snow suggesting that Regina use the potion to separate the EQ from herself. Really, Snow? I can’t believe Regina and Emma actually got on board with this plan. Besides, Regina trying to stay good by murdering her shadow self was ironic. Personally, I believe in a yin/yang type duality and balance – both in people and the world at large. There is always light in darkness and darkness in light, and the two coexist and always will. Same goes for good and evil.
– Violet’s dad being from this world. Total retcon and far too convenient. Besides, I don’t want more Violet. She’s boring, and frankly so is her romance with Henry.
– They didn’t make it totally clear what Hyde wanted. Or maybe I just need to rewatch that part.
LIKED
– The moment where Gold punctures Henry’s ridiculous bravado by putting him to sleep in the library with a flick of his fingers. So much for putting up a fight.
– The moment where Hyde steals Pandora’s Box from Gold’s hotel room. One moment Gold was strutting around, the next he was crying for his wife’s box while clutching his crystal (which has rather an unfortunately suggestive shape). The contrast was hilarious.
– Jekyll and Hyde. They were rather intriguing, so I tentatively like them at this stage.
MIXED
– Gold mentioning Belle’s desire to see the world. It was nice to see someone talking about Belle as a person who has feelings and desires. Far too often, she’s treated as nothing more than a pawn in people’s games against The Dark One. It makes me sad to remember the girl who wanted to decide her own fate.
– Regina’s speech about redemption and suffering. It was good in that it confirmed that she now has a conscience. But it’s baffling how she thinks that her suffering is the result of being good. Also, it’s darn unfair how Regina is the only one who has to deal with the fallout of her dark past.
DISLIKED
– Henry’s behaviour. Stupid, selfish and reckless. He was messing with immensely powerful forces he didn’t understand. All because the people in his own family have serious issues. Besides, when he was spouting off his list of ‘bad things magic has done’, he conveniently forgot that he himself wouldn’t exist without it. Without Neverland’s magic to keep Neal young, his father would have been long gone by the time his mother was born.
– How Henry got away with his bad behaviour. His self righteousness overpowered both his mothers as it always does. For once, they should have told him that he was wrong and not given into the guilt that he always manages to invoke.
– Violet. She was nothing but a passive cheerleader. Boring.
– How little we got of Merida.
– All the macguffins we have to keep track of these days. The box, the crystal, the wand – it’s like a fantasy video game.
– The idea that Neal wanted to destroy magic. It came out of nowhere.
For someone who is supposed to be smart, Henry is being incredibly stupid and reckless. Magic seems to be a natural force in most universes and destroying it will have disasterous repercussions. Countless people will be affected, entire realms could collapse into chaos. Yet…..he’s going ahead just because it’s causing dysfunction in his own little family? The mind boggles.
Now, if he was trying to remove it from our world only, that would make more sense as it never belonged here to begin with.
Is it just me or does Lana not sound as upset as Sean did about the death of Robin?
I thought that too. She’s certainly being a lot more gracious about it. But from what I’ve seen of her, Lana comes across as generally very diplomatic and tactful. I do hope she still enjoys her job. The whole main cast came across as a bit flat in 5B, and I’d like to see Regina go back to having a commanding presence on screen.
If it’s not real then I hope someone writes a fanfic based on this. It has potential for scintillating human drama, the likes of which we haven’t seen for a long time on OUAT. I would LOVE to see points 2, 5, 6, 7 and 11 played out.
Don’t forget, Snow White probably harbors feelings of deep guilt over the death of Daniel (even though Cora manipulated 10-year-old Snow). So, Snow telling Emma not to blame herself for Robin’s death is likely Snow’s way of reassuring herself that she’s not to blame for the death of Daniel (even though she partially was).
The frustrating thing is that both of Snow’s extremes (deep guilt, blame absolving speeches) miss the point. Nobody wants a character to undergo constant self flagellation for all the wrong they’ve done. Guilt in and of itself helps nobody. It’s about taking responsibility and learning from their mistakes. Emma never seems to do that, and THAT for me, is the most frustrating part. Perhaps that’s also one of the (many) reasons why Regina is so popular. Instead of getting mired in self loathing, she’s used it to propel herself forward in a new direction.
