This is SO very random and not my normal content but I’m re-watching Once Upon A Time for the 4,000th time and here are my greats and grievances.
I have many gripes about the show even though I TRULY adore it, and there is ONE hill I will die on every single time.
I really love the characters and their development. Almost every single one is incredibly complex. I LOVE the ups and downs of both Rumple and Regina’s characters, and Regina’s character arc is literally one of the best I have ever seen.
I love Emma and the real and raw emotions she goes through finding out the curse is real and that Snow and David are her parents. Not immediately being giddy with joy at finding them because she spent 28 years alone and searching for family.
I love that even the purest heart in Snow White turns to darkness in desperation, showing literally everyone is capable of good and evil under the right circumstances. Absolutely no one on that show is “good” through and through.
The sets, the costuming, the music, it’s all wonderful. The way the story weaves all of these fairytales (and even some normal stories) together is ingenious.
Most of the acting is spot on. And yes, I said most.
- Emma should have ended up with Neil. And that’s hard for me to say because I really do love Hook and Emma. They’re one of my favorite ships. But Neil deserved better!!!
- The first three or four seasons are FANTASTIC. But I do wish they would have drawn the curse out a little bit more, and the later seasons just get…eh. There are some fantastic plot points of course, but for me it starts going downhill around Elsa’s arrival. I always laugh and say “wow. What TIMELY storytelling!”
- The arc where Regina separates herself from The Evil Queen makes me SO mad. It’s an annoying plot point at best, but it also literally erases the ENTIRE point of Regina’s journey, again my point about everyone being capable of good and evil. She says “I always have that urge” but the point of it is she chooses NOT to act on it. I wish she could have learned that without creating a literal carbon copy of herself that’s annoying at best
-The singing episode. Enough said.
-The episode where Regina and Snow change places. I know it’s a “curse” of the writer, but I CANNOTTTTT take Ginnifer Goodwin seriously as the evil queen. That entire episode makes me cringe for that reason. She’s fantastic as Snow and I love and adore Snow’s snarky side. But she isn’t an evil queen.
- And the HILL I WILL DIE ON. Sometimes the costuming is incredible, especially in the earlier seasons. Sometimes it sucks (Rumple’s spotty makeup and Emma’s clearly hair-sprayed Dark One hair.)
But the same show that gave Snow and Regina their gorgeous wedding dresses, Regina’s badass Queen attire. The gorgeous ballgowns. Gave Emma THIS - wedding dress?!?
Like COME ON. Not only does it not do Emma any justice, it just does not seem like her style. And in comparison to everything else she and the others wore, it is an absolute failure of a choice. Emma is NOT a frills and lace girl, and if she is, I do think it would be vastly understated and she wouldn’t put that hideous headpiece in her hair.
Her outfit in Camelot is better, FFS.
I was so happy for her to get her happy ending but when I saw that dress my jaw dropped to the floor in the WORST way.
I’m not even going to mention the last season either. I don’t think many do lol
