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Just a heads up, but usually Marc Berman of TVMediaInsights gives us the Household ratings (HH) and his analysis early in the morning while we wait for demos, but there’s a note at SpoilerTV that:
It seems that TVMediaInsights in closing down and as a result we get no early ratings analysis or HH. Marc will resume in the new year with a new site.
So no early analysis or HH for episode 5×11 “Swan Song.”
The live eyeballs and demos will be posted a bit later. Remember that it’s probably going to be fairly off just because of President Obama’s speech from 8-8:15pm
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Shock. They are basically going to repeat a storyline.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Morning. Yes, Neal/MRJ is the clear winner of this nonsense.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"P.S. Borrowed the structure from your previous “In Review” threads, RG.
I see that…. lol.
1) What was your favorite episode of 5A?
1) My favorite episode was “The Dark Swan” (501). The season opener had a lot of promise; it really focused on Emma and her heroes journey (something I’m such a sucker for). I loved her interaction with DO Clippy Rumple. The Camelot gang wasn’t fleshed out but what I saw, I liked. While the romance was still present, it was not predominate, which I appreciate. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a return to form, but it was as close as the show can get now in S5. It had a strong idea about how dark and light interact and work apart and together that I thought was intriguing.
Runner up: Dreamcatcher (505) Family focused, Neal references, Henry centric, with some surprising twists.
2) What was your least favorite episode of 5A?
2) My least favorite episode was “The Broken Kingdom” (504). Three words: Magical. Rape. Sand. This episode was offensively bad. Not only was the Magical Mcguffin truly horrible but the writers took Arthurian legend and watered it down to be insipid and dull. Lancelot and Guinevere were in love for “reasons” but their love never felt natural or real. Merely something that the writers threw in because they knew they had to. While Arthur was shady all along, the level of villainy he displayed in forcing Guinevere to stay and alter his entire kingdom was ludicrous. Also, shocking! He was poor and an orphan before going evil! Meanwhile, the plot in SB came to an utter halt and everyone stood around talking about the plot instead of doing anything. Really, a very poor episode.
Runner up: Swan Song (5×11) I really have nothing good to say about this one. At all. I rank it as about offensively bad as “The Broken Kingdom” but I do give it some credit for Colin’s great acting, Zelena’s off-kilter vile humor, and some nice moments between Emma and Snow.
3) Overall thoughts on the Dark Swan/Camelot arc?
3) I think Jennifer Morrison did a mostly good job. She has a tendency to get nasally and talk out of her nose which makes her sound mumble-y but there were times when she was quite powerful (most of these times were with Regina, funny enough). I thought the character herself was underwhelming in the end. They could have really pushed the Dark Swan and her villainy but they chose to ultimately make her “mostly good if doing problematic things.” She took a kids heart and manipulated her own son and threatened to kill another villain but all in the guise of ending the Darkness and she never felt truly malevolent. She spent way too much time in her Secret!Basement staring at a sword. And in Camelot, when she was not kissing Hook, she was moping around and laying down because of how overwhelming it all was.
Camelot was a total waste. The characters didn’t matter, the CGI was painful, the plot was even more painful.
4) Who was your favorite new character?
I guess Merlin? Apart from Merlin, the Camelot gang was either totally forgettable (Guinevere), easily dismissed (Lancelot) or horribly repugnant and villainous (Arthur). What the writers did to King Arthur is almost insulting. Merlin is really the standout Camelot character but like so much in OUAT, the story they neglected to tell is more interesting than the story we got. I really want to know more about Merlin pre-Magical Cup. Why was he running and from whom? What was his early life like? The writers really underestimate the amount of interest the audience has in the world they’ve created. Instead they keep giving us more and more watered characters instead of fleshing out the backstory and back-world. I’m not asking for a history book of the Enchanted Forest since the dawn of time, but they build these interesting tidbits and then neglect to do anything with it.
As an aside, I have some issues with Merida. Merida, Merida, Merida. Totally didn’t need her insertion this arc. I feel like the writers came up with Merida on a whim when they realized they wanted to make Rumple “brave.” So naturally bring in the girl who’s movie is called Brave. She didn’t fit, didn’t add anything, and was totally forgettable in the end. Well, for me at least. Also, if I never hear those bagpipes ever again…..
5) What was your favorite moment?
Ummmmmmm. I guess Emma and DO! Clippy Rumple? Maybe some of Zelena’s snark?
6) What was your favorite plot twist?
The Dagger and Excalibur being one and the same. That was a reveal that actually had me gasp out loud. That was a *great* season one worthy twist. It was also totally applicable to the thesis of the show that light and dark are two sides of the same coin. Wish that thesis had remained for the rest of the season, but the reveal itself was great.
7) What was your least favorite plot twist?
It was going to be Dark One Hook, but the worst plot twist has to be Rumple as the Dark One again. Not only does it not make sense from a mechanics perspective, but from a character perspective it’s disrespectful and just down right tedious and sloppy. There is no motivation this time around except that the writers want to make Rumple the most evil so that he can be contrasted to other characters (Hook, mostly, and also Regina). It’s just…so disappointing.
Runner up least favorite plot twist: The Holy Grail is in the EF. *twitch* *twitch* and Dark One Hook for casually throwing all the mythology out the window and hoping I wouldn’t notice.
8) Overall grade for 5A and final thoughts?
s5A had potential and I was prepared to see it out and accept it had it stuck to its original intent to be Emma focused and all about her hero journey. Sadly, this did not happen. It turned on its head about 7 episodes in and became all about Hook. Sure, he’s a character and a leading one but so much of this season and arc was supposed to be focused on Emma’s self actualization. This is to say nothing of all the horrible Magical McGuffins, the continued disregard for the LGBT community, the ongoing racial and class problems, MORE rape and wonky consent story telling, clunky dialogue in which the character stood around rationalizing and explaining the plot, horrible timing in which the story either slowed down to a crawl or sped up so fast as to be confusing, and the disregard for previous established mythology. It was sloppy and ill conceived. It feels very much like the writers got bored halfway through and began planning for 5B instead of focusing on 5A. Also, I have never denied that romance is an important part of OUAT (and fairy tales in general) but there is a point when you need to put the brakes on all the romance! And s5A really needed to learn that. Emma had next to no important or significant conversation with her parents but heaven forbid she be separated from Hook (or Regina) for more than an episode. Remember when this show was actually about the power of familial love?
Final Grade: C- / D+
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Like, was this arc about evil Arthur, or Dark Hook? It was sort of both, but really they just changed gears in the middle and abandoned their own storyline! >_<
Well it was *supposed* to be about Emma but that didn’t happen.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"he’ll be more evil than ever
GREAT. I TOTALLY CAN’T WAIT. JUST SO AWESOME.
*drink. I need a drink*
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Also, if it’s a life for a life…who will sacrifice their life to allow Hook to come back to Our World?
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Hook and Emma are going to make pottery to Unchained Melody in Hell, aren’t they?
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I love this community, and especially the conversations I’ve had with folks here on SF. But at this point, I think I’m done with OUAT
🙁 I don’t blame you. But I’m sad that someone who is as well articulated and well “spoken” about such complex issues won’t be here to voice criticism.
Don’t be a stranger, though!
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"For what its worth, Amy Manson retweeted some not so nice fan tweets about the show tonight, so she may not be happy herself that her scenes for the episode were cut: https://twitter.com/AmyMansonLondon
Whoa. Yeah she did. Hey, good for her.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"
