Mitch

Agreed...I think the Curse in S1 worked at the whole point was that they were indeed trapped, with their free will taken,( which is a better way of putting in then that dumb ass happy endings thing...) and being brow beat by Mayor Mills. Now the SB from the pilot was far different from the SB in the rest of the season in that it looked ominous and depressing. I know they didn't want them to carry that out for the viewers but I was always hoping someone would say, "Have you noticed since around the time Emma arrived its seems so much sunnier and the trees are blossoming" or something with Regina looking pissed realizing the curse is slowly breaking. In HH..who cares, people come and go as they please and our world has always been preferable to the medievel hell hole they lived in..despite their airy fairy magic. I actually think Zelena would LOVE living in San Francisco and trading snark with the boys in her spin class. Gothal is slumping around town, Victoria is dead, Driz is not a threat in their everyday lives...without Mayor Mills looming over everything is looks like the saddest more pathetic curse ever...."I CURSE you to a land with central air and indoor plumbing, where you can pick up what is called a phone and food appears, even without magic!" The big threat..if the curse breaks Henry dies doesnt make sense. Breaking the curse didn't bring magic to SB,..Rump did....so dimbulb is still in the LWOM. Plus, it was fun seeing Mayor Mills being deliciously evil, all the while acting like her s*it didn't stink, and waiting for her comeuppance...which we didn't get to see...(AND I was rooting for Regina to outsmart them all and come out as best her wily self could but we didn't even get that...just a lot of crying.. and people kissing her butt.) It would have been fun to see a bleakly realistic contrast to CGI land..which is what I was hoping for but shouldnt known better.

I think Gothel is good, she fits in with the "urban" thing they are going for as she looks like a homeless person who could either be harmless, or knife you. But I think the whole urban thing has been wasted this year, not only in terms of "how do these people appear in an apparently existing hood" but that it has been confined to three not every convincing sets and an obviously fake hood to film.

Gaaghhh...haven't the EFers had enough with "Those two idiots" being in charge for years and never protecting anyone from anything. Imagine dim bulb Henry being the king.. he makes his grandparents look like intelligent and fierce leaders. One would also think that living in the real world would give them a sense of something other then royals running things simply because they were born into it. Also, wouldn't Henry growing up in the real world..not be interested in that..(though nothing of his adult character makes sense, from being upset that his little self isnt in a goofy book to living in the Faux EF without running water or indoor plumbing or central air and not seeming to mind... However, since they think this character is a stand in for them, I have no doubt it would happen.

I like Dr. Voodoo ..its about time we had a male villain besides Rump..I also like Regina being tempted by him in the real world and a "flirt" with the darkside could be interesting as long as she does not backtrack..sigh, but I know it will not be as this show does not do subtle at all well. But yes, how did Regina have time to get it on with the Dr. Voodoo while being all EQ and hunting Snow and decimating the village populations, and how did he get to her version of the EF? They really aren't even trying to explain things anymore. I wish that he was in last year's show...it would be interesting to see him and the EQ together and him trying to seduce Regina to the darkside and I would have loved the howls from posters on Regina being in a triangle with herself! I think the combination of witchcraft and voodoo doesnt' mix well with this shows take on Disney's goofy "biblybopity-do" magic but I like it better. At least they have to have spells, etc and it seems more sinister, rather then goofy. I like the three villains teaming up and as usual, Zelena gets the best lines leaving Regina looking like a grumpy cat all the time. How long have they been in HH that Regina would have a "Bon Jovi" tat? They were in SB in the 80s and 90s during the height of Bon Jovi fame and I can't see Mayor Mills getting a tat. Speaking of, why is Regina still wearing the aging hipster look. She really looks terrible in it compared to when they showed her in the dress for the wedding. I want to see a scene where she comes out of a shop with a black business suit on..."There, that feels much better!" The alligator CGI was bad but it seemed appropriately weird for their world. The CGI starts to bug in the LWOM as it looks even dumber there. How many sets does HH have? SB seemed like a real town as they filmed in a real town and picked appropriate homes and places to gather. Here it is the bar, the viaduct and Cinderhardlookings apt. I don't get a sense of a neighborhood here. The Henry actor is really charisma free in this role..he looks uncomfortable and they should have made him be cursed as a bitter pr*ck as he was in WD, now he is just dorky charm free Henry all grown up. And finally...a) why the hell would a random kiss break the curse...(Snow and Charms kiss didn't break the first curse) and why would Henry die if it broke, they are in the LWOM and Rump had to smuggle magic in first time.

I think you are all on to something with this SORAS..they are really stuck in Soap Opera Realm...and the final big bad will be Erica Kane...who could give both Regina and Zelena lessons in bitchy quips.

Thank you for making me spit out my Diet Coke all over the screen on that last, unsuspected line!

It would actually make a great show..the Blister Sisters running a bar..except they still have to get on each other's nerves, they aren't as much fun when they like each other. Is Regina just a big old grumpy sourpuss now that Zelena stole all her "snark"? It was probably stolen with some dumb amulet that the Curse would conveniently put in a sign that everyone would look at each time they came in. I have always liked Parrilla but she takes all this material too seriously, Mader just "gets" how to act on this show, she almost breaks the third wall with her sneers and her snark as if she is along with the audience on how stupid everything is. Zelena did acknowlege that she knew there was another Hook, she just said, "Did'nt I just see you and Emma sherifing together?" and then was like, "Oh yea, there's another one." She probably didn't expect him to look just like Hook as Cinderella doesnt look like Ashley.

First, I think any of the non magic people would get in their cars and drive over to the LWOM instead of waiting for the next Big Bad in a low cut dress to threaten everyone on Main Street...( I have never understood why these idiots talk so positive about magic...it does not good for anyone but the user...) I guess maybe no one is SB has to worry about unemployment or health care or street crime that we have to deal with but as you say, never bothered to explain how SB works...(if the real world can't find them how do they good food and goods?) Regina did say in S2 that this world is to her, the best..but we never heard what anyone else had to say about it. As for the internet..come on, you know Regina is trolling all the SB Message Boards for any comments on her...(Zelena posting as "Prettier then Glinda" "Did you see Regina's F Me boots the other day..tacky, when is the biotch going to see that she aint all that..Oh, by the way, that lasagna she is always plying is microwaved Stoufers!" .....Regina posting as "More Glorious Everyday" "I have NEVER seen anyone more beautiful then Regina..we should all bow down to our QUEEN! She is fashionable, kind, funny, sincere AND makes the best HOME MADE lasagna in ALL the realms. Why there has not been a more beautiful witch since Samantha Stephens and SHE was'nt real!Oh, and Zelena has crabs but she says she got it from her broom..LMAO!" In S2 she tells Hook she is going to take everyone to a LWOM..but did she know what that world was like? When she wakes up in SB she does not seem to be freaked by anything...but again its the writers missing the most interesting things to explore. I can't believe I remember all this crap!

Yea, but..central heat, air and working toilets, and internet as opposed to taking a dump in a hole, unsanitary conditions, bad CGI and Ogres.. so....Regina was a really bad curse giver. The promo actually looks good and I can go with the redeemed villains jumping into action...it takes crazy to fight crazy. The missing Charming family is NOT IMO what is wrong with this season.

Why does breaking the curse kill Henry? Regina cast the curse to get to the LWOM so Henry wouldn't die from the poison (which I thought was actually a good way to cast the curse and made more sense the the stupidity of Snow casting it before...)The breaking would not bring magic to the LWOM unless they are even lazier with their writing then usual?

I liked the sneak peak and agree, they needed to do more of that with the mash up and how interesting would it have been to focus on Henry, Robin, whatever the Charms kids name is, etc. instead of a boring retread. People who grew up in this world but have a knowledge of the other..(or would they even tell the kids..it would be interesting if SB was discoverable by the world and everyone kept the new kids in the dark about what really happened until a big bad comes..or the last episode of RealOnce should have had magic wiped from this world by Emma's sacrifice and and even Rump a dump is powerless, except for Gothal or someone who has been hiding out since the original curse)and its up to the kids to help their parents...(that way people could make cameos but not be on every episode.)

I think Charms has been bland from the get go. The actor is good looking and always did a fine job but he never really brought any "zest" to the role. He was just cute...and nice...and he looked like the cartoon, angst wasnt his strong point. Snow had spice at the beginning, and I do think that they should have killed Charms off pre curse...an angry Snow totally being at odds with Regina with Emma trying to balance because of Henry could have been good...(who am I kidding, they would have never allowed that.) The show's strongest asset was that it was like a movie from the 30's with strong women and the men were just window dressing (sorry Hook fans, but I think he brought Emma down too.) Despite Belle , I always considered Rump asexual so he doesnt count. At any rate, by S3 the Charmings were, what we call in soaps, tentpole characters...Snow should have taken over SB as Mayor and Charms did what ever Charms would do (never bought him as a cop either..) and we wouldnt see them each episode, etc. It got especially ridiculous the more Snow looked like someone's unathletic Mom, but she would drag her baby to Hades to just..stand around doing nothing. The witch thing is weird..besides Zelena..none of the magic lady called themselves witches..so it was weird to see Drizella call herself that? I do think magic and symbols and trying hard to produce magic should have been how it worked in Storybrooke, as they kept saying..."Magic works differently here." but that shipped sailed...(but they are getting so sloppy or cheap they are forgetting to put the purple effects when someone waves their hands to produce magic...they should just go Bewitched and have sound effects when Regina waves her arms...(we could only hope Endora is one of the witches coven...she could call Henry "Dumbo"!)

Oh that's too bad...its too bad people can't just do their jobs but then, that biz is all about ego. Its also too bad that the audience can't just watch the show they get into this weird cult like adulation (or hate) of someone. I mean, I think the character of Cinderella this year blows, and I think the actress does not bring any charm to the role, I HATE the Henry character kid and adult, and I think the actor is not that charismatic in the role (to be fair I don't think George Clooney could make Henry work) but I have nothing against them. Now the writer's the writers work is fair game...they stink!!!

I actually think the underused actors will find it easier to get work...I think Parrilla will be typecast for a while, and since she was the face of the show, people might just think of her as a niche actress in that goofy show, they will forget S1 where Regina was more of a complicated character and the actress got to play everything from regret, wistfullness, humor, sadness, wily, smart and devious...even the EQ wasnt as blustery campy and was scarier in the first season...later seasons all she got to play was snarling, crying and over the top camp. I guess the closest I can think of Regina and the actress is my old soap Guiding Light...the actress playing Reva would give intererviews all about her and how she wasnt getting enough screen time when the show, which was an ensemble show before, twisted in knots to give her a storyline...(they even cloned her!!!) Her fans just LURVED everything she did and the actress seemed to be oblivious on how she came off. The rest of the audience began to really resent her, even though she wasnt writing the show and she was an actress who wasnt getting any younger who had to push herself.

I thought so..I like them both as actors...though I do think the Parrilla was the breakout star of the show the first season...but I admit her performance weakened with the writing and them making Regina flip flop between crybaby and snarling villain, but that is all on the showrunners. I like Morrison, she grounded the show in a less flashy role and I think both actresses worked well off of each other...(I am not a SwanQueen I think they call them but I think both actresses had better chemistry together then they did with their male stars..but it was best when there was friction between them and Emma stood up to Regina and Regina knew she met her match.) But sometimes you would think people were reacting more to Regina and Emma then these two being actresses with different personalities.

Wow..why all the cattiness to Parrilla? I know people don't like Regina but why is there this weird Parrilla vs. Morrison thing? I don't follow their Twitter things..so maybe things happen there....

Oh Zeus..we really need Cruella to be in whateverthehellthenameofthestreet is...I would just love to see her deal with a hipster doufus from our world!

I never understood why they didn't make Snow's father intentionally creepy. He came off as a combo of a moron (now we know where Snow got it) and a perve...(come on..there is no way this old man married a buxom young hottie to just. "Give my daughter a mother.") Regina's redemption would make more sense if she was forced into a marriage with this creepy old guy who only truly loved his daughter and she was indeed not able to live up to his first wife's image. Doesn't mean that eventually killing him and turning EVIL was a good thing but it would give everything more depth.

Those three would made Gothel, the EQ and Zelena all road kill! I can't believe they never brought in fairytale characters who arent that well known (well, okay, I know...its not a plastic plaything from Disney...) they could have done a ton of things with Mombi and the Gnome King, etc. Princess Langwediere is the kind of dark thing this show should have done (and might have actually attracted the kind of demos they want on a Friday nightll) and stay away from fake Disney bland cheeriness all the while Regina is killing people by the hundreds. Has anyone seen that there is streaming service called "Britbox," that has a show called "Dickensian" it is a mashup of all the Dickens characters living together on one fictional street. Sounds familiar. It looks like Once with some imagination and a brain...(and not so corporatley bland...) ..

It would be interesting for Regina to have a "normal" reaction to both dealing with her son who is now an adult..and dealing with someone who looks, talks, acts, and basically is a clone of a person she knows but is not that person. That the kind of interesting problems that this show and all fantasy shows can create, but they need to be explored, which this show refuses to do so they can move on to another boring plot point we have most likely seen before...(why skip all the Storybrookers geting their memories back and dealing with the fact that their "spouse" from the EF has been "married" and sleeping with someone else for 28 years...) at least have Regina at this point say, "Hook, remember when we were fighting Pan and...." Hook, "That wasnt ME!!!!"

Wow..these "spoilers"!?!?! Tuning into this show now is like tuning into "I Love Lucy," and getting "Here's Lucy"!!!

I went back to Rotten Tomatoes to see the reviews for the pilot of Season 1. Many of the critics picked up on problems that were going to become glaring holes in succeeding seasons and has put a stake it the heart of this weird season. Critics pointed out the two show runners past of "illogical writing" ...the "odd rift between tone and subject matter"...the bad CGI (which was just used in the EF so it was okay, but whoah when magic came to SB..) as in ..."Hopefully, the creatures and CGI touches are kept to a minimum so the story can shine through instead of being tarnished by unnecessary smoke and sparkles." Some picked up on Gilmore's "over earnest and cloying" acting ..(haha, wait till they see the new girl...) and finally..to "draw out the story by looping it through subplots and minidramas runs the risk of turning it into a fairy-tale soap opera." and another critic worrying that Storybrooke Maine will really turn out to be Pine Valley PA! (which actually the drama created by the over the top fantasy...when treated realistically in context between the characters and the famiies is/was my favorite part of the show. The one thing that most of the critics like was the acting of the five adult leads and the supporting characters. Too bad this year we don't even have that. Anyway it is obvious that the showrunners did not read those initial reviews as they doubled down on all of it. And the show unfortunatley lost all its charm on the way.

I really hate that they made Emma have magic. She should have always been the hero who used her brains, skills and athletic abilities to beat the bad guys. They could have still had Cora not be able to pull out Emma's heart with Emma punching her in the stomach...(why do people just stand there when some stupid villain is pulling their heart out and not give them a good knee to the crotch???)Or just because her heart is strong and untouched by darkness that is rejects Cora... I think the show should have shown that magic was useless, or at least weaker, against someone with a strong will and a good heart...(for example, when Regina makes her wallpaper limbs grab Charming..its dimmie Henry who runs in to stop it..so what stopped Regina from killing Charming before? They should have shown Charming using his head and brains by fighting is way out of the limbs and then grabbing Regina by the neck and THEN Henry runs in to stop it.) After S1 the stakes disappeared with magic, as you knew, that the evil person would overcome a poor hero, unless they were dumb enough to let said hero live or a magic object saved that hero. Boring.

I hated Neal but agree, his story was so rushed and as usual, the dramatic beats were missing. Instead of Regina stupidly aligning herself with Cora (Regina, did you really think Henry would forgive you for killing his entire family, even if it was Cora that did the actual deed and not you??) because her feeling swere hurt (even though she actively worked to stop Cora from getting to SB only episodes before..) .they should have had Neal show up in SB and threaten to take Henry away to New York, where Regina had no magic or apparently legal standing...(how can someone who doesn't exist in this realm adopt a kid???) to get him away from both Regina AND Rump. That would be a good push for her to align herself with Cora as she would be powerless against Rump and Emma and Neal. We hardly got to see Regina have a reaction that her arch enemy (oh..I forgot, they had "something") Rump was her kid's grandfather. Why build this story up to not use it???

I finally caught this episode and don't hate on me but I liked it...if you looked at it on its own, and not the rest of the season's sloppy and lazy buildup to this. I liked that they need to be more creative with the magic now that they are on a tighter budget. I think Gothel and the witches entrance to the birthday party was really good with the lighting and the cuts. I like that magical people can be overcome with swords and ..hooks, instead of is the past where they just waved their hands and people fell over. I liked the effect of Rumple, the Step Mother (shows how much I pay attention this year...I don't even remember her name) thrown up in the shock wave of Gothel's arrival. I liked that they forced Regina to cast the curse to save her kid, and I even was okay with the work around that her blood can be used to recast it...(which would bring up an interesting point that Regina still has some darkness in her) it is much better then Pan's "The heart of the person you hate the least," casting or the two dimwits using Charms heart...(the never made sense to me I thought the Curse had to be cast with anger...) I liked that the Curse looked ominous and powerful again and they retired the purple smoke, and characters didn't stand around having long conversations waiting for the Curse to hit...(hey, want to pick up some lunch..they might not have tacos where we are going...) I liked Hook having compassion for Regina's situation and I liked that Regina and Zelena were getting along and working together. I really liked SparkleDark looking old, weary and sad...Carlyle plays it perfectly and like Parrilla, is at his best when toning it down..) The actor playing whatshisface who is Cinders ex-husband in HH is hot and why couldn't he have been cast as Henry (Henry "sexy"...nahhhh wouldnt work..) The Tatianna actress is everything Cinders is not....if she played Cinders I would actually give a crap about what is going on. Okay, to the negative...I understand how Anastacia has magic in HH as she seems to be like Emma and naturally born with it, but how does Gothel? The show needs to quit referencing better times with repeating past scenes...(Gothel's entrance at the hospital/Regina's entrance at the Town Hall/Drizzella's appearance at the party to threaten everyone/Regina's threats at Snow's wedding) it just makes you realize how cheap it looks now. Did they forget or can't afford the purple magic effects anymore...Zelena zaps the Curse instructions out of Driz' hand and then Regina waves her hands over Henry and both looked like they did it with the intent of adding in the effects..it looked weird. What is so bad with being sent to Seattle..the hood they live in looks okay...Regina's bar looks cool..what was with Gothel's "Let the suffering begin,"??? How did Driz know that Regina was going to show up so she could cast the Curse? Both Cinder and her daughter are TERRIBLE...I am sorry to be mean to a little girl but she was even annoying knocked out... The casting of the Curse would have been more momentous if I was invested in the new characters and their relationships..hell, even our old characters relationships needed to be fleshed out..how are Regina and Zelena on good terms, Regina split with the EQ but how is Zelena so nice all of a sudden? (I like them being friends but they still should get on each other's nerves constantly...)Why is Zelena living in the Faux EF and how did she get there? Woudlnt she have gone to the original EF or Oz?? How did Zelena get her magic back? How are Whook and Zelena friends? What is the point of the whole damn Curse..couldnt Driz have done the same thing in the FauxEF? We always get why Regina did it, but Driz seems to have a hell of a lot more options..TWU WUVS kiss has gotten so cheap since the original that anyone can do it to cure anyone of anything.. again...I thought the Savior was the only one to break the Curse...anyone can with a kiss???