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*watches videos* So lovely you guys!!!!

If anyone needs me I’ll be crying in the corner here…. 🙁

 

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Wow early sneak peek release…I smell a bit of desperation going on here…

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Catching up to everyone’s post here.

Yeah….last night I kept to my word and I didn’t watch the episode live because I still can’t stomach what the writers did, but I saw snippets of Neal’s funeral and Hook and Henry’s “bonding” time and read some of the threads so I got the general gist of what’s going on.

All I can do is just lament. It’s been a week and I’m still not over it. As I watched Neal’s funeral, I had to pause it for a second just to catch my breath, and let my broken heart rest for a bit, because I starting feeling that heavy anvil size stone in my heart begin the weight at me again. It was just heartbreaking to me. And then I was angry that they’ve spent like what? 2 minutes on his death and moved on so quick into the next dilemma of the day with no mention about him from anyone, save Hook. When in 3A all Emma kept harping about was Neal, this and Neal that. I just…UGH! They’re really pushing Neal out of the way fast. I suspect the GA won’t even remember he was alive to begin with because it was done so quickly. And that just rips at my heart even further. Because most people don’t remember the details unless reinforced, like they’ve been reinforcing how Hook cares about Bae every chance they got. And omit the other “detail”.

I can’t look at Hook knowing how the writers completely butchered his redemption. I can’t even enjoy OutlawQueen like I wanted to because it’s so clearly obvious that the writers are making it every way possible to just shove Robin in wherever Regina goes for no rhyme or reason and make them the new hot couple. (Sorry OQers, I do like them, but I can’t enjoy them.) Not to mention the fact that both Hook and Regina have done little to nothing that warrants a second chance for anything.

The only consolation I got was that Henry was back to his normal observant self. He could really care less about Hook’s bonding time. He just went along with it because he wanted to hear more about his father. Showing us that he does crave to know about his REAL dad despite what Emma told him. And I would’ve been ok with Hook in this scene if not for the fact that the writers completely ignored what he did to Bae in the past, and just go on acting like they’ve been best buds all the time they’ve known each other. *Massive Eye Rolling here*

Never did I think a show that is about Hope and Happy Endings, lead me to feel anything but bitterness and regret, not to mention create a cynicism in me about NOT getting my HOPES up. Way to go writers!
It actually wasn’t hard to miss OUAT, normally I would dash home and turn on ABC just 5 mins before it started. Sad that I’ve lost interest in the show and yet I keep coming on the forums. Maybe I do have a small smidge of hope in me that Neal is not permanently dead. Or am I just torturing myself even further? I see threads are saying OUAT might be going down the route of breaking the laws of magic, trying to get Zelena to change the past. I don’t know about this plot. They could easily write out Neal. And I fear that this plotline would also erase Henry as well. Since Regina would not cast the curse, thus Emma would have never went to our world and meet Neal to have Henry. I will forever hate OUAT if they erase Henry from existence forever and squash the last remaining shred of Neal’s connection to Emma, just like CSers wanted.

*Sigh* Ok sorry for being such a Debbie downer. For me it’s the story and everything the writers have left open/unresolved and the nonsensical “redemption” of the villains. And the kicker was that I watched the premier of Game of Thrones (my saving grace) and was reminded of how a good redemption story actually is (a la Jamie Lannister)

*Spoilers for GOT*

GOT actually lead me to sympathize with a man that actually pushed a child out the window and had arrogance up the wazoo. I had to think back at how that’s even possible…. Because they show the gradual build up to his character redemption. They never omitted anything he did wrong. In fact the protagonist of the show constantly threw it at his face and remind him of the fact every chance they got. No whitewashing for anyone. They literally dragged him through the mud, degraded him to a horrific point and cut off his hand to strip away his pride. (His pride was his skilled sword fighting abilities) He slowly chooses to change for himself and not for anyone else; once he had a taste of his own medicine. Because his eyes were finally open to the disgusting ways his evil family handles things.

This was the type of redemption I wanted for Hook. Not as gruesome but at least acknowledge his wrong doings to show that the heroes aren’t stupid and don’t have amnesia from the past year. There should be a healthy balance of both good and evil winning. Mostly I see wrongdoings just being side swept by OUAT for their fav characters. They constantly reinforce the idea that it’s ok to commit misdeeds because they can go unpunished and even rewarded. I have yet to see any of the main villains have karma dished back out to them directly and have it STICK, as in not have it rebooted or reversed. A la, Regina gets to see Henry again, erasing the price of the second curse. Hook gets another chance at Emma now that Neal is out of the way. Rumple gets another chance at life, nixing his sacrifice in the beginning. While the heroes get punished and not be able to retrieve what they’ve lost. Charmings will never get their chance to raise Emma, the damage has been done. Emma will never be able to have a second chance with Neal. Neal will never have his second chance at anything. Why is it that the hero’s punishment cannot be reversed but the villains who actually DID commit the crime can? That’s what frustrates me because that’s NOT REDEMPTION, when you constantly rebooting something that negates the first punishment. That’s what I don’t understand.

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Morning guys!

@RG Listened to the podcast last night and I wanted to tip my hat off to you. You made a wonderful stance on behalf of all Neal fans out there. I just wanted to thank you. It sounded a bit tough to debate about, and it’s understandable that people don’t have the same view,  but I think you made you’re points beautifully. And I think it’s hard to dispute even from non-Neal fans, looking at the overall story, that this episode was a botched job to Neal’s character no matter how many excuses you make for it. The writers have the power to write it as they wish but there should be some consistency for the characters they write. They chose to vilify Neal in his last hour and then suddenly become the “Hero” in death which is pretty insulting since he was a hero all his life.

 

Also trying to write a post for my tumblr page. Its pretty much the same as what was said over and over but I also wanted to make this point:
What still makes me bitter about Neal’s death is that they’ve stripped away the potential to evolve the other main characters in a different way then what we’ve seen already and actually deal with all the baggage that they’ve left hanging out in the open. Ever since season 1, all the characters interaction and Rumple’s manipulations was for the purpose of finding Baelfire. He was the central figure in which the story evolved and grew from. They could’ve devoted 1 or 2 episodes (which is hardly many considering all the needless Regina/Charming flashbacks that ate up screen time), to fleshing out Neal’s character in his own right. I’ve seen a lot of comments on how people that weren’t Neal fans, finally connected with his character even in a small way. WHY? Because “Quiet Minds” was an episode that was pretty much devoted to HIS character, HIS personal dilemmas, HIS thoughts and conflicting emotions, HIS story with very little extension of Rumple’s internal struggle. It was HIS OWN episode.

They could have developed a more realistic relationship like Swanfire that is an abstract from the usual cookie cutter fairy-tale story of boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, THE END, scenario. And show the messy parts in-between, portraying a REAL relationship, the struggles, the hardships, and the forgiveness. Neal could bring more out of Rumple then just being the Dark One. Their interactions were what made Rumple so three dimensional, because of the love for his son and his struggle on the dark side. Also Belle finally had a strong bond with another character other than Rumple, since the writers seem unwilling to let Belle have any other meaningful interaction besides the Stilskin family. Neal’s character could have also helped Hook’s character develop and grow into a more interesting individual other than just a love interest for Emma. They could’ve explored Henry’s thoughts on having a father besides his moms and a whole perspective to what it means to be a father on this show. (Mostly they’ve only dealt with moms, besides Rumple’s relationship with Bae and Charming’s latest thoughts on fatherhood) Not only did they waste Neal’s character, they wasted helping other characters grow and evolve differently.

What does Neal’s death really bring to the show? Not much that I’ve seen. Other than an end to the shipping wars. We’ve already explored what happens to the other characters resulting in Neal’s death from 3A. So it becomes repetitive. Hook is still going to be Emma’s love interest, nothing more. Emma is still cynical about happy endings and love. Rumple’s back to square one in losing his son. Belle just lost her connection for more personal interaction and growth and will probably recede back into the background again. Henry lost the opportunity to explore his feelings on having an actual father in his life and it will go back to just being about Regina and Emma again.

Neal’s death may bring them closer to stopping the Wicked Witch but they were already actively seeking to defeat her anyway, so not much impact on that front. Instead I predict more plot devices and “shocking” twists that turns out not to be shocking at all. They’ve pretty much shot themselves in the foot for destroying any natural growth of the character’s internal struggles and continue to focus on external repetitive plots, because Neal was and will always be the original reason for why they all came to be who they are now. He was the original reason on why the show started in the first place.

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And then Will goes and gives a speech totally WRITTEN FOR SF. And then Ana comes back because “not her time.” Love Ana, glad she’s alive but come on. How was it NEAL’s time?!

Oh the irony again. A&E just loves to screw with us… Who the heck decided when it was Ana’s time???? They pull the reality tragic card with Neal as in Good can drop dead anytime but pull the convenient plot device wonder water for Ana???

🙁

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Frankly, I think the show has been headed in a downward trajectory for quite a while now. The main reason I held on was my hope in Neal getting a second chance. I realize that Neal was the main reason I enjoyed parts of S2. All of my favorite episodes included Neal: “Tallahassee,” “Manhattan” and “Second Start to the Right.” The rest of S2 was just average, nothing special. S3a should have been exciting. Neal fighting to get back to Emma and Henry. Neal fighting for his second chance. Hook going head to head with Peter Pan. It was Neverland for Pete’s sake! Yet, in the end, it was a big let down. Rumple’s sacrifice proved partially in vain because Neal didn’t get that second chance at happiness. At least Belle survived. Yet, Rumple said Neal was his happy ending. No matter how much Rumple loves Belle, he’ll never get have full happiness without his son. And the fact is, Emma lost her true love. That’s the price of her being the savior. Henry doesn’t get to know his dad.

Same the Neal scenes was what excited me in Season 2. I had high hopes for season 3. It started out great. But went on a downward spiral quickly. I might be in the minority here, but I disliked that they made Peter Pan Rumple’s father. Instead of actually developing something new and utilizing established new characters, Hook, Nealfire, The Darlings, Tink and weaving it into their own mythology but keeping the essence of Peter Pan story, like they did with Snow White. Instead it was a rehash of how tough life was for Rumple. In the end he progressed and made a noble sacrifice for his son and his love. But that was tossed aside to revive him back again only to watch his son die and nullify his first sacrifice. Then push the reset button as if season 1-2 was irrelevant. *Head banging the desk* Now another villain of the season with childhood issues/related to everyone is wreaking havoc, something that was already explored with Cora and Peter Pan. I have yet to see anything new Zelena brings to the table that wasn’t just a slight modification of the previous seasons. This is why I protest by not watching it live, the shoddy writing and rehashed plots. Unless they truly do turn it around in a major way.

but i must say i feel free, im no longer craving for spoilers,

Same, I don’t feel any excited interest in the show anymore. And I don’t crave for spoilers as I use to the moment Neal got written off. I guess my craving for spoilers was due to the fact that I would hope to get a glimpse of Neal’s development. I peek in every now and then but it doesn’t gauge my interest. Even Hook sexy new look doesn’t spark anything in me.

 

 

 

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BTW-Just found out during my lunch that my cousin is in the hospital having heart problems. If you could send some good thoughts or prayers his way that would be really appreciated (no news on his overall condition yet). This week has GOT to stop with the emotional trauma for me before I lose what’s left of my mind.

 

Thoughts and prayers to your cousin heather! Hope he’s ok. 🙁

Ah GOT is just the medicine I need. I need me some Arya Stark and Tyrion. Which BTW I saw Peter Dinklage on the streets near my workplace, the other week, cruzing down with his scooter. He’s adorbs! 🙂

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Unlike everyone here I’m not tuning in live next Sunday. I realize it’s a bit petty. But I won’t give them the satisfaction of ratings. They’re slated for most likely renewal of S4 anyway. But this is the only way I can protest on the direction I the show is going. The bitter taste in my mouth is still hard to swallow. I’ll probably catch the episode later or read about it from tumblr so I might pop in the forums, but like I said Neal was my constant. He had the potential to bring something new to the show and I kept hoping that the writers will give him more to do. They could literally take his character anywhere. They could have easily explored more of his backstory and make him more interesting for viewers. But they chose to shaft him and write him off and push the reset button. Which killed the show permanently for me. At this moment the main characters and story are just too repetitive to watch. Neal was the only character that didn’t make my eyes roll.

 

I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I just rewatched parts of 3×15. A few things stood out to me. The scene between Hook and Neal in the hospital didn’t sit right with me. Neal thanked Hook for getting the message to Emma. Neal is indeed the one who sent the message to Hook. That is the secret Hook is keeping from Emma and lied about to her parents.

That part stood out to me as well. I pointed it out but everyone was too busy grieving at the time. I’ve read from the spoilers that they’re going to address Hook’s missing year and that he was tricked into something? Not sure what that has to do with Neal thought and if Neal really did send the message. Confused….

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I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or scream. Yup.

 

Tragic doesn’t even begin to cover it. More like sheer torture throughout his entire life to the highest degree.

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If they do a total 180 with the CS interactions from here on in, sorry not sorry but that will be the (second) biggest load of BULL#&%$ this show has ever pulled (first place goes to Neal saying that Rumple finally taught him about selfless sacrifice). I will honestly be dumbfounded if they go from writing them as awkward and Emma being disinterested to Emma wanting to pursue a relationship with him in the space of 2 or 3 episodes. It would completely destroy Emma’s character in my eyes.

@Phee at this point I have little faith in the writers. I didn’t think they could have a character exit worst then August but they actually did. So I wouldn’t be surprised if that scenario happens. Maybe instead of 3 episodes it will take 5-6 but eventually it will get there. It would be my worst nightmare come true. I stopped giving excuses for them the moment Neal died. They had plenty of opportunities to turn it around but missed the mark every time. I just stopped waiting for it.

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