[Keb]

Day 27- Most Obvious Plot Device

The Gauntlet from 411.

They had laid down an obvious and beautiful solution for Belle to find out about the hat/dagger from Anna. Belle was motivated to help Anna by their previous friendship (406) and her involvement with the fairies (409); it only made sense that once things calmed down and Anna was fine, Belle would seek her out for closure. And besides, she’d worked with Elsa and Emma to help the whole season (mostly in the background, boo A&E).

Having Anna warn Belle would have made a LOT more sense from Anna’s perspective (and oh, wouldn’t it have been fun for her to react to Belle’s marrying Rumple?) than her telling Emma, and Belle would have been more likely to say oh, you’re right, than Emma, and they still could’ve kept the stupid gauntlet for Belle’s final proof if they wanted to. Overall, though, it would have been about 3000% more satisfying to have the characters actually interact (that’s the best thing about Once and always has been–when you get to see your favorite fairytale characters mashed together) than to have Belle just randomly and coincidentally use the Gauntlet of Plot Deviciness in time to save Storybrooke.

This was, in my opinion, a much bigger failure than the taser–the taser didn’t make sense, but it did make sense for Tamara to have some kind of anti-magic weapon and use it in the contexts she did within the storyline. The setup and execution of the gauntlet was AWFUL as well as last-minute-esque and they had a ready-made, drama-filled, emotionally satisfying, character-driven alternative RIGHT THERE that had been set up throughout the arc. (It would even have challenged Hook more, since he was under orders to keep Belle away from Anna–yay obstacles!–which was evidently not a problem at all. Oh, and it would have made it make bloody sense for everyone to show up in the tower simultaneously as they all would have been coming from the same place.)

This resolution was, for me, about the third-biggest disappointment so far in the series, with Neal’s death beating it and pointlessly leaving Belle in Storybrooke during the Neverland arc immediately under that.

[Keb]

Maybe Belle & Hook figured that if they released only the fairies, then the fairies could help them figure out the rest?

I’m amused that everyone knows their battle stations.

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]

Day 26- Least Favourite Plot Twist

Going back in time days after his death and NOT finding a way to save Neal’s life? WTH?

VERY close second being Marian’s coming back and Robin basically cheating on both Marian and Regina as a result. Screw the code so he can screw the queen? No thank you.

Honorable mention being August’s return to boyhood WITHOUT dealing with ALL the issues…

…and I’ll address this more tomorrow, but finding Anna and NEVER letting her speak to Belle.

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’s a Japanese thing. There’s no explaining it–but it’s older than you might think. Like most things Japanese. (Nintendo has existed as a game company for well over a century, for example…)

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]

Favorite plot twist:

Well, the one that made my jaw drop most recently was the reveal that Arendelle had been frozen for 30 years. I think I literally shouted “WHAT?” at that point, taking in the timeline ramifications.

But my favorite is probably Henry being Neal’s son and Rumple’s grandson. I LOVE that they’re one big family. And I really hate that they set up and then scarcely used Henry’s working in the shop–we could have had some really great grandpastiltskin moments, but they only left two in the show.

Oh, and Belle’s being alive at the end of Skin Deep is probably a close second. That little bit of hope at the end probably kept me watching for the rest of the season.

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]

True, but as I’ve said elsewhere, Bobby & Emilie work so well together that they shine in almost every scene they have together. He tends to bring out the best in his coworkers, and it shows–Lana’s amazing, but her scenes with Bobby have an extra tingle somehow. (It was really missing in 4A, when they were in the same scene all of once for a whole arc.)

But he built the character of Rumplestiltskin around this centuries-long fight to get back to his son…and then took that core drive away, with only the hat to replace it. Unless they manage to make Belle the new Bae without destroying both characters in the process, they will never recapture even a shadow of that dynamic. Rumple NEEDS a goal to function at all in this series. If the goal doesn’t have a shred of humanity in it (like the hat goal–which might have if they’d just dwelled on it for more than one conversation at the last minute), he just becomes a farcically evil, sadistic misanthropist. He loses the loveableness that makes him fascinating and tolerable, even when he’s being horribly cruel.

And then what’s left is just the beast.

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 feel like Rumple without Bae as his bedrock & goal has lost an important component of his character, and they haven’t successfully made either Belle or Henry a replacement. For the actor, losing a key component of the character’s structure can’t be easy.

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 just feels a bit retconny for FTL Rumple to view himself as a villain. I’m going to have to see it in context but…FTL Rumple as we’ve seen him thus far wants people to fear him and trade with him so he can accumulate power & safety, but he was always focused on the goal of getting to Baelfire. He DID call himself a villain in S3A, but that’s after years of Storybrooke…it just feels out of place in the past.

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 think Zelena and Mal’s returns will be linked–and I think they’ll go back to what Rumple said in 403 about magic changing forms but not being able to be destroyed. (At least I HOPE so.)

With both Zelena and Mal, we saw them turn to magic dust at some point. (And in both cases, they were killed by a blade with high significance to the wielder–we know that objects CAN take on a kind of magic if they’re important enough.) And in both cases the dust was capable of acting AFTER the villain was dead–in ways that seemed to go along with the villain’s desires.

So I think that Rumple may bring back Mal and Regina may realize she can bring back Zelena the same way. Or Rumple will accidentally bring back Zelena doing whatever he does to reactivate Mal.

Either way, I’m excited for Zelena’s return–while Rumple’s killing her made PERFECT sense, she was a fun character to have on the show and I think she balanced Regina out a bit. I’d like to see Regina have a chance to deal with her more.

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]

There’s no one episode that I’ve completely disliked–Quiet Minds started off being the episode I had wanted to see for several episodes, until it turned horrible in the second half. Going Home had some great stuff, too, until the end. (Both of them left me feeling drained and unable to even look at the timeline for a while–drama’s fine but when your show is leaving you downright DEPRESSED, and in some cases over a whole hiatus…ugh.)

And even my nominee for least favorite episode, In the Name of the Brother, had some truly amazing moments…they were just tucked into a story I couldn’t stand rewatching because it was so poorly scripted and acted.

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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