Mitch

What da hell was that??? This episode, followed by the let us all down finale of Walking Dead together made me want to cancel my cable...luckily Ryan Murphy served up a campy platter of old Hollywood Oscar dirt on "Feud," and saved the day...(thanks Joan and Bette..especially you Joan, you could have really shown Regina how to be an EQ!) Speaking off, why did we waste so much time with the same old boring EQ when we had a REAL Evil Queen in Jafar? How I would have loved to see Jafar and "looks like he could go any way" Hyde team up to terrorize SB and make it fabulous ...Emma: "Tell me what's coming!" Hyde: "A total makeover of this drab little town, I think Edwardian Drawing Room meets Sultan's Palace.." We had to settle with a boring old retread when we could have had those two throwing shade and chewing the scenery for a nice change. Once again, this dumb show makes its villains too powerful and its "heroes" too pitiful...if only the villain wasn't an idiot there is no way they couldn't win...my fave moment was the three of them being put to sleep on that conveniently placed couch and Jasmine saying..."They are heroes!" and I wanted Jafar to say,.."No dear..they are napping!" That good ole super poweful one of a kind Twu Wuv kiss from S1..you know, the one that broke the original big bad curse which was the whole point of the show, and why they needed a savior...sure is a dime a dozen isnt it? Why did Emma need to be a savior when anyone who loved someone could just kiss and make it all good.. So now since Jasmine saved her whole city is she a savior too..??? Why is anyone ever cursed when they just have to find someone to kiss..are there any rules to this dumb thing that has become a convenient cure all for our lazy writers? And why didn't Jasmine throw Jafarwalkingstick into the nearest fire?Why are these characters so idiotic at all times? Also, I would think that Belle and Gold kiss..why hasnt that cured his curse since it almost did before??? Why do I continue to watch this when its just Hate Watching?? The Black Fairy looks good and kinda scary looking so that's a plus.

I have never understood why these people who live in the "real world," simply don't get on a roof and sniper Regina/Rumple/Zelena/whichever cartoon bad guy is standing in the middle of main street. I wish they would do a cross over and have the Walking Dead gang zapped into the Once world and just beat the crap out of everyone....with Carol getting the final by just knifing misogynist Rump to death and then giving Belle a lesson on standing up to one's abusive spouse.

And dragging us through stuff that doesn't mean crap or amount to anything. What the hell was the point of the balloon and all those characters we could care less about...what was the point of Agrablah and Aladdin and whatsherface that we saw every four episodes and had not connection to the rest of the show? Why bring up the Black Fairy so late in the game and this dumb thing with Rump's kid? Why didnt they pick one out and stick with it and make it interesting and have it make a connection to what came before......(They could have introduced the Black Fairy in the last episode last season and if they wanted to drag the EQ in have her grant Regina's wish, so she splits the two...and then we get done with that in two episodes and move on to her big plan...) Okay, like the Outlaw Queen fans and the Hook/Emma fans, I can never get enough of seeing my sweet pouty drama queen Jefferson..hopefully he found a nice guy to settle down with to raise Grace... : )

Yea, I could care less if we have a Emma/Hook wedding and leaving town together or staying or whatever. I like them okay, but have always thought Emma should end the series as it started, single, but with her family and friends and happy being single..for now. I dislike the message that any character needs a romantic relationship to be happy. Also, while I like the actor and he does fine in the part...I just don't see Emma being attracted to a skinny pretty boy with eyeliner...(not to mention he is about as believable as a pirate as Prince Charming is a skilled warrior...but...this show...) His character just screams, Harlequin Romance fantasy scrubbed up version of a pirate. But then, I always thought Snow and Charming were supporting characters not the main couple and think the show has actually shoe horned them into the plot just for them to be there. I would much rather all the loose ends be tied up...with flashes of all the minor characters getting happy endings too, (like Aunt Em being released from Hell, the Scarecrow getting his brains back and whatever happened to Lancelot, he is alive or dead???what happened to that Will Scarlet guy, where is Tink, where is Jefferson...) and why are they doing all of this in the last episode while we have been wasting time with the Land of Untold Stories, and whatever the hell is going on with this genie crap and Rump's son (the most ridiculous villain ever..) and going back to Neverland with this Tiger Lily broad or whatever the hell they are doing. Just plan the story out and give the characters room to breathe and no more new characters. Let the story gorw and lets the audience enjoy the last string of stories.

Stupid episode..but Parrila should get an award for saying some of those lines with a straight face."There is no telling what evil she is up to!" Okay so Regina wants to face off the EQ on her own..I get..but wouldn't it be smart to have back up...just in case the EQ won. She has the savior and the a super strong witch sitting there..shouldn't they have at least been waiting outside to attack EQ if she won? What did they say, "Hey Regina good luck, I'm going to go home and watch Walking Dead and Zelena said she had some laundry to do so give us a call tomorrow and let us know how it went." All of these characters just deserve to die for their stupid plans. So is the dream world real or not? So Regina did just kill the Charmings...these writers are about the laziest writers on earth. The EQ split thing would have worked better at the end of S2, after Cora dies Regina splits herself and then the EQ could have done all the dumb whack job things they had Regina do, like the Fail Safe..( Regina should have been totaly depowered with the split, so I would have had the EQ lock her up somewhere why she pranced around and then Regina had to actually use her brain to get out and warn the others...) then Regina could have made peace with her bad side and absorbed her and then the show could have moved on instead of this constant back and forth. Zelena has become the character that Regina should have been..not EVIL, and actively killing people but out for herself and totally dismissive of the "heroes" and their stupidity. Too bad the writers dont know how to write for anyone "in between" and can only write cardboard villains and heroes.

Good God...a show with no dim bulb Charming, dimwit Snow AND best of all folks, no Henry...and they still manged to screw it up and bore the hell out of me. What are doing posting here and not writing the show. I would have LOVED that....with a close up her cackling..."And NOW I have the greatest power of them all..and Rumple thought he was good at the long con!" Now that's a twist and we finally find out Shady is indeed Shady and that is why she never steps in to help..she just doesn't give a shit and is waiting to kill them all herself. Agree with all of you, standing by and letting someone do something bad and not intervening makes you complicit, especially if it was your plan to begin with and someone had to pull the weapon out of your hand to do it. So if I hire an assassin that makes me clean?? The show's morality keeps getting murkier, and not in an interesting edgy way but a WTF way. Mayor Mills of S1, gleefully manipulating all around her would never wear that hat..they should just start showing Regina looking more and more bedraggled and wearing dumb things until they find out that the EQ was the one with the fashion sense(Emma. "Uh Regina, mom jeans???") I liked Zelena and Robin teaming up...but really, what were they going to do once they got over the line...walk with a baby and a cobra..(and wouldnt the spell break on the EQ where there was no magic..) and what do Storybrookers plan to do in the LWOM...with no money, no SSN, no job history... ("Well, as a witch I impersonated a man's wife and managed to grit my teeth and sleep with him despite the fact I despised him so, yes an escort job would work...") I do like that Zelena likes New York, I could never see her living in that dumpy farm house. Okay, so Zelena and Robin don't last so we get the EQ and Dark Robin. They got rid of Hyde to team her up with boring Robin? Can we just have a pop up bubble where Cruella watching from Hades, makes comments about the utter stupidity of the show and the characters?

So true..a love interest of Regina's should always have a strong hand and give her shit right back to her. That would be fun to watch..( and I like Regina, but she works best when someone is giving her crap right back to her...) And yea, we don't need another David...(SNORE) but I had to laugh at good old ineffectual Charming roaming the streets of SB without a plan as usual to confront a super powerful magical being and "throw him in jail." uh, if by any odds you actually find him, and beat him, how ya going to keep him in jail? Thank God your pretty David as your dumber then even your wife and good intentions do not a "hero" make. I liked the episode, probably better then I have any since they started the convoluted "Dark One" mythology in Camelot which led to makes no sense Hades. It had a purpose, it was straight forward..(Emma and Regina need to get back home...Regina is torn as a look a like to the man she loves is there..) and Emma needs to confront her destiny and beat the bad guy (which reminds me, does the group all get texts or Twitter alerts when something goes down in the middle of main street, as they all appear there just in time.) Done and done. They get in over their head when they get too convoluted and throw too many storylines and extra characters in. So I hold no hope they will ever explain the Wish World and FakeRobin.

Episode was an improvement on the first half of the season.. even last season...the only problem was, while I liked to that the writers were working hard to course correct, it was easy to see their heavy lifting. Maybe things will be smoother going forward. Okay, its a dream world and nobody is real but Robin is..please, please let this be a trick...(haven't Regina and Emma learned that bringing someone back from an alternate reality to save them is nothing but trouble) or that Robin is totally not interested in Regina...or he slowly disappears as he doesnt really exist! I can see Regina wanting to...if I saw an alternate reality version of my partner who would have to be left to be tortured by Rump I would bring him back too..that makes sense..what doesnt make sense is Emma suggesting it in the first place???Its like the Dr. Jekyl potion..I can see Regina taking it, she goes for the easy out and she relies on magic...but for Snow and especially Emma to agree. Emma is supposed to be the voice of the audience, and she should have been "Regina, bad sh*t happens when we do this kind of stuff..he isnt real." And really, since this is Emma's wish world, doesnt it all evaporate once she leaves it. Is it "real" now? Have the writers decided? Thank God the first round of the usual battle in main street took place quickly and I am okay with Gideon as a villian who maybe isnt. This sets up a good bit of tension between the Rumps and the rest of the crowd..and he can be redeemed fairly easily..(though they better explain his reasoning soon.) I know that the Snow actress wants time off but there has to be a better way to explain..the sleeping curse is really, really worn out its welcome, as had Twu Lurves kiss which seems to be a dime a dozen!

I love the Oscar promo..damn Parrilla still rocks those outfits and 30 seconds is about as much as you can take of the EQ camping it up...( I love Parilla's face when she mentions..happy endings...and I can never get enough of the EQ's BWAHAHAHA cackle laugh...) But it does seem they are doing a bit of a bait and switch...making people believe its the end so they tune in? I would have loved it if they had set up this whole season as the last one and the actual "Final Battle" that Rump was talking about in S1 and it would then make sense to bring the EQ back for that (and for the rest of the various characters left in SB that we havent seen or heard from in a while like Maleificent..to pick sides..) but as it is, its like they are trying to trick people into watching.

Agreed, though the whole show was set up to be a bit..more not dumb but more straight forward, more flat. It would have been an interesting if the characterizations went deeper from the get go of S1. So say Baby Snow as not just an innocent big mouth tricked by Cora but actually really, really wanted a Mom and was upset and blurted it out to Cora to stop Regina from running away...( I would have created a deep relationship for Regina and Snow, in that they knew each other for years thanks to Cora insinuating herself in the royals lives..so that Regina had more of a reason to feel betrayed as would Snow that Regina was running away from her family..) Also, no matter what Snow's dad comes off as a creep, even though they show him as a gentle guy..I would have made him only want to marry Regina to create a male heir for the throne...overlooking that Snow would make a kick ass leader (in my version, not how she turned out in the show...) He didn't really care for either Snow or Regina for what they were (making it more ironic that because of him they become arch enemies...) Also, it would be nice if they forgo the Disney "OOOOH MAGIC!! aint it great" and create a more complex world of magic and magical users...i.e. Cora and Regina were witches, and witches are born with magic and if you become a bad person the magic is dark and if you make a choice to be good it is white. So Control Freak Blue creates a law that ALL witches or magic users outside of fairies is banned in the EF and all magic users will be burned if the don't comply..giving reason for Cora and Regina to be more secretive instead of strutting it around. All of that would not be used to make Regina into a "hero" (see its everyones fault but hers) but to give the characters more depth and the world they live in more interesting.) Wouldn't have to include more sex and violence to be more adult, just a richer story then the basics we have gotten, even from S1.

I disagree here...I think the show was best in S1 when it was darker and more "adult." but it actually had more of a solid "moral." viewpoint in its storytelling..Regina and Gold were definately bad, and their actions were shown as such..but they showed more conflicting emotions in S1 and they had Emma who called them out. Emma showed more shades of grey then she has now when she is the Super Duperest Most Heroic thing ever. Snow and Charming, cursed embarked on an "affair" and showed remorse for what they did..they acted human, and now they are just Super Duper people spouting about Hope but doing nothing to ensure the safety of their family and their community. Its enough that they are "heroes." in title alone. A "dark" show is only truly dark when it shows that there are moral questions in the world, and not just "heroes" and "villains." The show since S1 has become a silly lighthearted show to market Disney characters but amazingly at the same time it lost its moral center. There is no right or wrong or ambiguity (which made me actually love the Regina character, Mayor Mills was a villain but they wrote her and Parrilla played her as someone with regrets though she would try not to show it, the same with Gold..he seemed tired and beaten and a bit sad even while he did really bad things, like threaten nuns...now they are full on cartoon, either good or bad..Regina whining yet not ever saying she was sorry to her hundreds of victims...Rump practically cackling in his latest dumb scheme for power. On the surface it all lighthearted and sunny, yet scratch the surface and its just empty...that wasnt the case in S1.

Totally agree on Oz because of Baum's books and all his successors, of all the "realms "on this show Oz has the most developed set of rules, history, culture and even geography. The Enchanted Forest is just really as generic "place," for all of Grimm's and Disney's characters to be placed, where Oz, in the books as a land is a character of itself. But leave it to A & E to pick the most easy and boring and just goofy way out...stealing a little from Wicked and a little from the bad Disney Oz movie...(it would have been more interesting if Zelena was just the Wicked Witch, a Big Bad out to terrorize the country and rule her land, and instead of making her pathic and wanting to time travel, it was to get possesion of the ruby slippers which, because of Dorothy were in our world...so she and Rump were desperate to get them...also it would have been cool if Regina's sister was actually...Glinda..setting up a real conflict with the sister's after Zelena was defeated and neutralized.)Dont even get me started on the stupidity of the Winged Monkeys just being something that Zelena could easily turn someone into...(why didn't she just turn all of SB into monkeys and wait for Snow to have her baby???) I am still hoping that good old Mombi is somewhere in Storybrooke, laying low as she keeps gender confused Ozma as her "ward." Stealing a little bit of magic here and there until she is ready to kick some ass.

Also, how do two evil people have True Love? Isnt True Love supposed to be special and rare and completely pure (or as Mae West would say, "Well not COMPLETELY pure")

Yes, and it was weird that the Charmings, Regina and Zelena , who are all pretty much used to castles..were so in awe of slightly altered CGI Castle Design 330. I had hopes that Camelot and the Dark One storyline would add to the mythos of the show and tie it all together, if instead of jumping to another realm, which is somehow stuck in time yet we know all the story though its concurrent with our timeline...the trip to Camelot was a trip back in time...to our world, at a time when magic (not the same as what we see) existed here. To banish the DO curse Merlin did something to banish all magic from our world, and sent it into an endless abyss, conviently found in what would one day become the Maine woods, which he sealed off. The banished magic created worlds of its own, where magic flourished and became stronger. Which would kind of explain how easy it was for the Curse to create SB and would make it the "crossroads," for all of the realms hence why portal hopping is easier then it was in the EF. True, but even that was stolen from of all things Days of Our Lives and the infamous Salem Stalker storyline. About 10 characters were "killed off" but (after some obvious rewriting) they were really sent to a tropical island which had an exact replica of the town they live in, called Melaswen..."New Salem." and the were desperatley trying to get back to their loved ones while an omniprescient bad guy tormented them.. A & E never saw an idea they couldnt steal! Though soap sets look even more realistic then this shows CGI!

Yea, I really get bored with the realm hopping...I guess it may be because the CGI is so freaking bad if I see one more "group scene," in an obviously fake castle background. I also can't help but ask..."where are these people sleeping, eating, taking a dump???" They also don't distinguish the culture or the rules from place and to place and magic is all the same everywhere. Its just another kingdom with cartoon looking backdrops. I do agree that SB is a problem now as in S2 they didn't really explain how it works now that the Curse is lifted...(again, where does food come from, where does power come from how do credit cards or cell phones work) or why the characters want to stay there and really, live in the same houses and do the same jobs as when they were cursed. What do the main characters want to do with their lives besides the shear stupidity of mouthing off "Being a HERO and finding my happy ending?" What do they want to contribute. Is Regina still mayor? Why and how, does she have a town council she listens to? What does she want to do with her life? Why would the non magical people not want to go live in the real world? Why hasnt someone tired to poison her or aim a rifle at her? Instead of the stupid land of untold stories they should have just gone with the idea that the original Curse has started a chain reaction and is slowly destroying all the magical realms, and SB is the only place for them to go, so people like Hyde and Nemo can be introduced more "organically" People are landing that are just as powerful as Regina and Rump,and pissed of that their selfishness has destroyed their world.. thought they may not be neccesarily "bad" So power struggles ensue and add that to the general feeling from the EF people that they have had enough of the Charmings idiot rule...things are volatile. Then it would make sense that the Charmings and Regina, and Rump ban together to protect themselves from the other people. They should also actually make SB more mysterious and dangerous and surreal...with things happen that even Regina, Rump and Blue don't understand or can control and other people trying to harness magic to protect themselves and their families and have more direction in their lives then just waiting for the next crisis and for the idiotic heroes to save the day.

Bringing magic to Storybrooke really ruined the show and destroyed the set up of S1. If they HAD to bring it to SB then, yes, they should have delayed it for another season and magic should have worked totally different then it did in the EF..even for Rump. As it was SB was only different then EF is that there was no bad CGI backgrounds. That would have been great! I was looking forward to the curse breaking to see how everyone reacts (and how Regina was going to sneak out of that one) and to see what other villains were in SB unaware their true selves...(I wanted to see Cruella working in a shelter and yes, Ursula frying up fish at the dock. ) If we slowly saw them revealing themselves it would have been much more entertaining and the writers wouldn't have had to go to realm hopping and writing ridiculous things like the Queens taking magic from an egg to keep them young. Having them wake up and working for or against Regina, and getting their own individual revenge would have taken the show a full season. Plus, sneaky Mayor Mills and manipulative Mr. Gold made far better villains without magic.

I thought S2 was going to do this..have the characters deal with magic being back, keeping that hidden from the rest of the world, and bringing Regina to justice (or trying to) using real world methods...it would have been interesting to see Emma and whomever, trying to come up with something to charge Regina with that would stick and would not send out warning signals to the rest of the world..they couldn't charge her with Grahams murder as there would be no evidence to tie her to it, and they could have Emma say, "People, there are no rules on the books for Evil Queens kidnapping hundreds of people in a town frozen in time for 28 years.." The closest they could get her on is corruption, which I would think Regina would be smart enough to at least keep the prophecy in mind and to funnel tax dollars to a secret account in the outside world so she could make her escape if she needed to. They needed to have put Regina on trial for that, and an off the record trial for casting the curse. That would have been a great time for them to do some world building and explaining of the rules of the curse...( Regina: "Do people think I had all the time in the world to create new identities for you? As if I care enough to make the town crier mute...though that is a good one! I cast the curse, it did the rest on its own..I don't do details..I'm too busy dressing fabulous in both worlds!" Rump, "The curse took us through space and time... the rest of the magical realms left behind have been frozen in time since the start of the curse as we are all tied together because of magic. While we have been here for 28 years it has been hundreds of years that the rest of the lands have been frozen." etc. It would have helped them to create the rules going forward and also, give both Parrila and JM great opportunities to act, especially if during the course of the trial Graham was brought up. But they were so busy jumping into "Magic is BACK.." that instead of the slow build up of the mystery of SB we got in S1, we jumped right into cartoonville. Then the totally screwed things up with "Welcome to SB" where Storybrooke was always cut off from the rest of the world, though we saw in S1 that it wasnt. I can buy the curse providing food and clothes and power, but after the curse broke, where is the food coming from? Where do they get Iphones...who is their carrier??? Why even have the ruse of being a modern small town if no one knows you exist???

According to this show, to be a "hero" you need to be stupid, self righteous, and boring. If I lived in SB I would definatley want "the Author" to make me a villain.....they have all have one liners, and outrageous fashion senses. They continually give out the wrong message as Regina is whiny and sad and the EQ seems to be having a lot of fun..all she needs is a best friend/sparring partner..like Cruella..(please writers.) Which reminds me..what does Malificent feel about her old friend/enemy being back in town? I am all for killing Regina and having the EQ as an anithero?? ( "EQ we need help with the latest Disney merchandise opportunity, we mean villain..." EQ sipping an apple martini...before noon, on a Tuesday, "What's in it for ME???" )

And I can't tell you how happy it makes me when any woman, evil or not, throws Mr. Misogyny around! I loved it when she grabbed his throat and just kind of said "F you" and was gone! Last season Emma bossed him around in a couple of scenes, etc. I even liked the EQ just pouring salt into his wounds last episode. Why or why couldn't we have gotten the Black Fairy this arc instead of Retread Queen?

Thanks for the clarification! I kind of remember that picture but..you know, it was the Author storyline so I glazed over...(probably doing to many shots when someone would mention "hero" or "happy ending.." ) Yea, it would make more sense if the AU was tied to the page, but then the Author storyline ended with an alternate universe which just had the good people trade places with the bad people and the writers thought it was creative...it would have worked better if they just twisted the motives of all involved...(i.e. Regina was forced into a loveless marriage with Snow's dad, Snow is still princess but bitchy and jealous..and Snow poisons her dad by accident...it was supposed to be Regina and then she pins the murder on Regina...etc...)

I know I really didn't pay much attention during the Author storyline....(thought it was great they finally dealt with that damned book and what could have been great was really stupid and made no sense...) but what is page 23???

I totally didn't remember him in that scene at all...I thought it was that new guy who said it... This is one of the reasons the ratings are in the tank...does anyone really care about these two and Agrawhatever the hell it is? Why should the viewers care that another cheap looking CGI land is "missing," and how to get it back? How does it effect the main characters? Its like they just are relying on Disney properties for people to be watched where in S1 they used those properties to create a central story. If they created a story where Agrawhatever was the first realm to disappear, signalling the start of the destruction of all the magical realms, meaning SB is one of them, and that the cause of it was something like the original curse which broke down walls between the realms, (meaning that Regina and Rump are responsible for this and they will die like everyone else) and all the magical realm hopping that has happened since Curse 1 broke...that might be interesting..but the writers would have to think their universe out.

The only thing more disgusting and unbelievable would be the EQ making out with Leroy and telling everyone that she and Grumpy always had "chemistry"!

LOL. "Gina," would be hilarious if someone referred to that ridiculous "entity" that way! But "Gina" actually was hesitant to kill Zelena, but she did it all for a "man." Now another stupid message that this show sends out....I mean, really, every powerful woman on this show, besides Emma and Ingrid, had the hots for him? And now the formally cold ruthless selfish EQ is going around killing people so that a boy would like her? WTH show..and we are supposed to think she is supposed to be some scary uber villain??? Tell me why we lost Hyde for more rehashed blah from the EQ and Rumple? They are always so literal on this show, (like a physical EQ and Zelena out and about at a salon..I mean, to borrow from Emma seriously show???) but it would have worked better that the EQ is a split entity but she is more like a ghost, not able to do anything in this world, at least at first, (especially since Regina squeezed her heart) so she needed Hyde to do her physical bidding. And since Hyde is immune to magic (did they ever explain this, if I lived in their freak world I would ask for a shot of that..) she could have used him to torture Rump a Dump...( instead of making out with him she should be wanting to string him up by his jewels...) And with each nasty thought and deed from Regina ("Geez, Snow really hasnt lost the baby weight...I am going to drop by in a super tight outfit this afternoon.") she brings the EQ more to life.

Good God has this show become really, really stupid...almost as stupid as Snow...( I feel sorry for the actress to mouth those lines..) I really hate that the writers are basically saying that evil is power...(as opposed to S2 when Emma won over Cora in protecting her Mom by saying Love is power...) The EQ can beat Zelena as now Zelena is not an all out EVIL..so she is weak...The Blue Fairy, shady as she is, was supposed to be the highest power of all in S1, and she is ineffectual against Rump and she needs Regina to reverse the other fairy's age spell...(coudn't they just leave Regina out of it for a change...) Emma is now weak and ineffectual with a shaking hand thing...(why didn't she go and protect Belle when Rump went after her..all she did was stand around and talk to Hook.) I seriously wanted to see Zelena get up and kick EQ's butt, simply based on having a kid to protect...."I don't need my dark magic you dumb b*tch...I have someone I love to protect and I am going to live to raise her.." and having the EQ looked shocked that her dark magic is useless against that kind of power..they could have left Regina out of it period and then we wouldnt have had that really confusing speech. . For a show that they keep mouthing on as being about hope...they sure are sending the most bizarre message. Evil and anger is power...good people are stupid unless a quick fix falls in their lap, etc.