[Keb]

Well, at least there’s hope that they WILL conclude the Camelot plot. Right now Merida and the entire population of Camelot are just on the back burner, stuck far from home and in Merida’s case from her family as well.

[Keb]

Rites could pun on magic, too, which might mean the end of someone’s magical abilities?

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

New updates! Everything from Camelot and earlier flashbacks is up (through 511). Present timeline events are up through 503.

Check it out, offer constructive criticism, and with any luck I’ll have the rest up before S5B hits.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

Rumple was able to harness it for over a century and, while he hurt a lot of people in pursuit of his goals, he hung onto his humanity until after he lost Baelfire. He also used the system of deals to restrain his power slightly; even though they hinted that all Dark Ones can’t resist making deals, I still believe what I believed in S1 and S2–that Rumple used it to keep himself from going too far, as well as to protect himself from the price of magic.

So I could see his being the one who could wield it for good…just not for long. His story has to end with his giving up the power willingly somehow, because he is an addict whose arc has always revolved around choosing power or love.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

I’m VERY glad that he’s back. I wish there were reason to believe he’d be back for more than just the occasional glimpse–I wanted to see him as part of Henry’s life, as part of Rumple’s and Belle’s, and yes, Emma’s, fighting against the cycle of abandonment and fighting for family.

This going to hell/the Underworld to save someone was the path that I hoped/wished for when Neal first died (there are posts in this forum from back then saying just that), and it hurts like heck to think that they’re doing it for someone else but wouldn’t for him when I feel like everyone had so much more investment in saving Neal (then, not now, obviously, since the writers have had everyone but Henry and Rumple in rare moments forget he ever existed).

It is cruel, especially if it’s used to give the characters permission to forget him/blessings for the ship that necessitated his death to sail (don’t know if they’re going that route but it seems likely enough). But it’s also necessary to the story and characters that he be addressed, and I’m glad they’re doing so by actually having MRJ present. Many mixed feelings about this, and some frustration expecting that Belle will be excluded from probably her last chance to be with her stepson.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

This isn’t Game of Thrones, though. We were told and promised that this was a story about hope and family, and for a lot of us, Neal was the lynchpin that helped make this show about family. He filled in the piece that connected Henry to everyone–he even gave Hook cause to care for Henry, if you remember back to season 2 when it wasn’t just about Hook trying to impress Emma.

Neal’s death marked a shift in the show’s focus from family-centered love to romance-centered love, ie, the ships. Rumple’s motivations had to shift from his son to Belle/Power, and Regina and Emma both lost their focus on caring for their son in favor of their boyfriends. Even the Charmings, who provided the key romance in S1, which again was always family centered because it was about their finding their daughter, are now willing to go off to the Underworld without a second thought for their infant son because Emma and Hook must be together? I feel like this waters down their characters significantly; almost all of them have done something in the last season that feels very unnatural based on the characteristics they were given in previous seasons, without the sort of satisfying dynamic change that would explain their actions–basically, the characters are being forced to fit into the plot instead of following what makes sense for who they are. IE, we need more Rumbelle Drama, let’s have Belle break his heart this ep and go back to him next ep, never mind that she’s not an unstable character who’d want to hurt him that way.

The show works best when the action and drama come out of the characters themselves–how their pasts affect them, how they relate to the other characters, and how they overcome challenges and learn from them. It stops working for me when the needs of the plot force them into positions/actions that don’t make sense for who the characters are. A woman who only a few months ago couldn’t bear to leave her infant son for a single hour out of fear that he’d be taken like her daughter was is not going to go to the Underworld leaving him with the fairies. It’s POSSIBLE to make that make sense, but you have to really twist things to do it, or give a situation where she feels forced to make that difficult choice; as it was portrayed in 511, Snow didn’t give it a second thought. (512 could fix this, but I don’t have much hope for that.)

TL;DR thesis: Neal in S2 and S3 helped keep the show focused on family relationships, as it had been in S1 (Baelfire was part of that too); his death freed the show to focus on romantic ships and plot, to its detriment.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

It is, but the whole Neal arc has been anyway, for anyone who liked him at all.

They’re basically doing the story I half expected and dearly hoped they’d do at the end of S3…but for someone else’s benefit. It would have made so much more sense for everyone to go after Neal than it does for Hook, because blood…nothing against Hook, but he still, after all this time together, doesn’t have the same deep connection to the other mains that Neal does. In his relationships to them he’s still almost as periphery as Belle or Robin–very important to one person, almost irrelevant to the others (though he does have that mortal enemy thing going with Rumple–but that’s not a reason to go to hell and back for someone).

(In fact, of the group, Belle is probably the most likely besides Emma to actually want to go to the underworld to save Hook–they’re actually friends now. But noooooooooo…)

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

I’m both glad–because he needs to be part of this celebration and has to be addressed in this arc somehow–and a little frustrated that even the promotion of this fact seems like an afterthought (if you wanted it to be a big surprise, you don’t confirm it two weeks before…). I suppose we can only hang on for the ride at this point…but I’m with you RG on the fact that no, his death was anything but resolved. He never even got to say goodbye to his son.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

I wish we had seen more of it, honestly, but one of the threads that made 5A interesting was the relationship between David and Arthur. Arthur’s more redeeming moments were those in which he expressed affection for, and regret over betraying, David. I really wish that they’d played up the inner conflict in Arthur more; he comes off as almost straight up villainous but there are moments when you almost see his perspective of trying to protect his kingdom and gain that legacy he was promised not just for himself, but for his people. And the moments when he seems most genuine are those with David.

I’ve also found the dynamic between David and Rumple fascinating, though it’s been played down since S3. (We did see an echo of it when Rumple takes on the David role of White Knight in the AU though.) They don’t exactly like each other, but Henry’s grandpas have a mutual respect (David’s for Rumple’s brains/power, which he’s willing to tap into as needed, and Rumple for David’s courage/strength, which, well, same) that makes for a fascinating contrast. And you definitely get the sense that each wants some level of what the other has, Rumple more than David. 122, 204, and 219 were delicious moments in this relationship, and I’d love to see more development of it.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

Well, one thing that’s important is that as deep as some of the characters are and as awesome as the actors are in their personalities, this is a show FULL of pretty, pretty people. The men are hot (even the ones who IC consider themselves not to be), the women are hot (regardless of age), even some of the CGI monsters aren’t bad. The children are all adorable.

And that somewhat affects the portrayal of gender, I think.

So, on to masculinity: One interesting thing that hasn’t been played up quite as much as it was early on is Rumple the Fashionista (he is fun). As I said earlier, we have seen all the leading men in tears, and we have seen two men raped (via magic). We’ve definitely seen men portrayed as equals or inferiors to powerful women, and while Rumple and various kings manipulated things behind the scenes, women are often the ones leading the situation or response to it. We’ve also often seen women in fighting roles besting male fighters, or even training them. And yet none of that has made the men less manly that I can see; it’s mostly boosted the awesome of the women and demonstrated their power as at least equivalent.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

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