Katherine

I was also disappointed by the lack of screen time for Snow and Charming. They were such a huge part of the first few seasons, and Ginny and Josh seem lovely. I felt like they deserved more than a two minute retread of their TLK (no matter how lovely it was). As others have pointed out, why was more closure given to Regina and Rumple when they're the ones staying? I did find it amusing that Regina shared the most screentime with..herself. How fitting.

Count me among the many who were expecting Hook to use the bean to open a portal before he fell. Is that what Adam and Eddy were trying to do? Set it up one way and then subvert our expectations with one of their "clever twists"? It just seems like there was so much set-up for a big Emma/Hook moment in this episode, but then it was never paid off. I guess that's their MO. We Captain Swan fans should just be glad we got that five minute wedding last week, I guess. I wonder if a large part of this was also due to their desire to prove that Emma is a strong female protagonist who doesn't need a man. I'm 100% for a female lead ending up single, and I really like the familial love theme in this show, but I think Adam and Eddy tried to satisfy both sides of the fanbase and the writing quality suffered as a result, so now neither side ends up happy. For me, Once Upon a Time will always be the show that never lived up to its potential. I don't know if I've ever been this consistently disappointed in a show. I guess the fact that I can be so disappointed indicates that Adam and Eddy must've done something right to get me so invested in the first place. But to be honest, I credit that more to JMO, Colin, Robert, and the actor who played Young Baelfire. Remember Bae? :(

Adam and Eddy are (unsurprisingly) being very #nospoilers about how Hook, Regina, and Rumple will fit into this new story. If it really is about the wish realm versions of those characters, they should probably let the cat out of the bag, since it would alleviate a lot of fans' anger. In the casting call for Adult Henry, didn't it say something about him coming from a broken home? That also makes me think that Emma and Hook and the rest of the characters got separated at some point. Unless the call was just talking about Wish!Realm! Henry, which would make sense, but that's just not the impression I'm getting from interviews. Also, the fact that Adam and Eddy are encouraging fans to be content with the happily ever afters from this finale makes me think that those happily ever afters really will be taken away in the reboot. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I have trust issues. The more the writers go all #nospoilers and talk about wanting to leave time for the fans to enjoy this ending, the more I suspect it'll all get blown to hell next season.

That EW article is so infuriatingly vague. I get that they don't want to spoil all of season 7 (or, more likely, don't have any real clue what it will look like), but they could have given fans some scrap of information to hold them over for the summer. A lot of fans were waiting to see what season 7 would be about before deciding whether or not to tune in. All we got from the finale was Emma/Henry redux with Adult Henry. I don't know about most fans, but that doesn't sound appealing to me and it certainly doesn't make me want to lend this show my trust or patience. I was hoping for some little tidbit about why Hook, Regina, and Rumple end up separated from their loved ones and maybe some glimmer of hope that they'll all be reunited again one day. We didn't get any of that from the finale nor from these interviews, and since most of the cast is leaving, I'm thinking there's a good chance we'll never get to see those reunions. Apparently we're just supposed to be satisfied with this temporary happily ever after. Adam and Eddy must be really confident that fans will tune in just for the sheer genius of the idea.

Well...this was a good finale in that it had a good set-up and got my hopes up but then failed to live up to its potential, just like every story arc in the last few seasons. I actually found myself excited during the first hour. I thought there was a chance that Hook might be the one to go get Emma in Boston. I thought there might even be a TLK to help her get her memories back. Fool me once, writers, shame on you...fool me for the past three seasons, shame on me. I didn't like the pacing in this episode, as per usual. They spent so much time on the boring Black Fairy stuff that I didn't care about, and then didn't leave themselves enough time for the conclusion of six seasons' worth of stories/characters. Wrapping everything up with a dinner party and a "they lived happily ever after" isn't satisfying when it doesn't feel earned. And once again, that sums up the last few seasons of the show. Good ideas, bad execution. I'll be watching next season because I'm a masochist, but I have no idea how this show can possibly work without Emma.

Wow, reading the different cast members' posts about being let go is very depressing, especially for a show that's supposed to be about hope. I'm actually glad for story purposes that the cast is being reduced because I've always thought it was too bloated, but it really sucks that for a cast and crew that once seemed so tight, it's all coming down to this. They've all been very classy in their responses, and maybe some are glad to be rid of the show, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are some hurt feelings there.

What about something similar to how Fringe structured their last season? The premiere opens with a happy Emma and Hook, then something goes wrong, and Hook and Regina spend the season trying to fix it (maybe through time travel or involving some sort of alternate reality). Then the very last scene goes back to the moment where things went wrong, but this time it goes right, and Emma and Hook pick up where they left off with their happily ever after. That would take care of JMo's absence in the finale. She'll have already filmed the scene for the premiere.

I have mixed feelings about the renewal. I'm mostly disappointed, but there's a part of me that isn't ready to say goodbye yet...although I guess this is still a goodbye because the show won't be the same without Emma. Emma and Hook are pretty much the only reason I watch, so I'm just not sure Hook alone will be enough to hold my interest. If they break up Emma and Hook permanently or leave things between them unresolved, I'll never forgive the show. But if the reboot turns out to be an alternate reality or just flashbacks, I don't think that would be enough to hold my interest either. I think the best case scenario would be, as someone else speculated, if Hook and Regina go off on an adventure and Emma stays back (maybe with her and Hook's kids?), so the season only spans a short period of time. I really, really, really hope they can film a scene with JMo for the finale. Since Hook's sticking around, I'm actually glad that Rumple is too (assuming that Belle doesn't return with him). I really like the interactions between Hook and Rumple. Rumple used to be one of my favorite characters back in the Bae-days, but being around Belle really brought down his character. I wonder if they'll make him go full-on villain, or if they'll actually explore his humanity outside of Belle. Nevermind. I think I just answered my own question.

Is it possible there's something more exciting in the finale, and it was filmed in studio? I'm just having trouble accepting that the show as we know it will end with a repetitive fight in the street, where Emma does all the fighting and everyone else stands around. That can't really be the big climactic battle they've been building toward for 6 seasons, can it? I hope we at least get a Rumple death to give the finale some kind of oomph. And what about Regina's ending? I always hoped that Regina would sacrifice herself to save Snow, but of course knew that would never happen. But if this really could be the last episode ever, A&E must have planned for her to get a lot of the spotlight. Or were they so confident that the show would be renewed that they felt no need to give a swan song to characters they plan to use in the reboot? Not that I want any focus on Regina in the finale...I would love for her to take a backseat to the other characters and to just have a lowkey happy ending with Zelena. As for Snow and Charming's ending...them ending up living happily ever after on a farm with baby Snowflake is just sort of...meh. Does anyone think it's possible that Emma finds out she's pregnant in the finale? Probably just wishful thinking, but it would be a nice bookend for her character. Then if the show does get picked up for another season, one of the new characters could be Emma and Hook's child, and the show could focus on Hook and the child reuniting and then trying to get back to Emma. But that doesn't seem very likely, given that Jennifer Morrison is only signed on for the S7 premiere, not finale. Unless the plan would be to kill Emma in the premiere, but I refuse to entertain that as a possibility.

Well...this sucks. After last night's episode, I decided that I definitely wasn't ready to say goodbye to this show and wanted a renewal. Now I have to say goodbye. If they renew, I'm sure I'll still watch (as long as Colin is in it), but it won't be the same show I've been obsessing over for the past five years :(

Why can't all episodes be as fun as this one? I was heavily spoiled but still really enjoyed it. Maybe I had just lowered my expectations enough because I was actually pleasantly surprised that Emma and Hook had as much emphasis as they did (even if it was only in the last ten minutes of the episode). I was also surprised they didn't give any moments to the Emma/Regina friendship. It felt like they actually let the focus be where it should--on Emma and Hook, Emma and Henry, and Emma and the Charmings. I wish there had been more time spent in the present day and way, way more build-up to the wedding, of course, but I had already been prepared for that. Out of all the songs, Happy Beginnings was my favorite. It was just so upbeat and fairytale-ish. It felt like what's been missing from this show for a long time. I also loved Hook's song. I thought Colin had the best voice but I thought they all did great. I wasn't fond of Lana's singing or dancing, but I'm sure lots of Evil Regals loved it. I was disappointed with Emma's wedding dress and make-up. I would've rather she had her long, flowy princess hair and had worn something less covered-up and formal, as it didn't fully feel like Emma, but oh well. I guess Jen picked the dress and seemed to put a lot of thought into it. Overall, I thought the wedding was well-done, though too brief of course. As a Captain Swan fan, this whole season has been so disappointing. The moving in together and the engagement were both letdowns, and Hook murdering Charming's dad almost completely ruined the couple for me. That being said, after four seasons of rooting for Emma and Hook, I couldn't help feeling a little giddy that they're finally married. If next week's finale disappoints, I'll be content to pretend this was the series finale.

I've tried to look for the positives in Emma's dress, but I can't find any. I'm really disappointed. I don't like how buttoned up/covered up it is, I don't like the headdress, I don't like the hair and makeup, and I really, really don't like that it doesn't suit Emma in any way. I'm not sure what they were thinking with this one. At the very least, she should have got to keep her flowy princess hair! I remember there being some criticism of Emma's first date outfit as well, and Jen had similar input into that. I didn't mind the dress but I would agree that it didn't particularly suit Emma. I get that Jen sometimes uses these types of opportunities to showcase a different side of Emma, but I just can't see Emma choosing these types of dresses. I felt like the ball gown she wore in the season 3 finale was a better fit for her. It managed to be fancy and over the top but still Emma-ish. Funny, since Rumple was the one who selected it. After an extremely disappointing season, I guess it's only fitting to disappoint fans who have been waiting for this wedding for years. I know this is just a dress and maybe the wedding could still end up being great, but to me it feels like they've 100% lost touch with their characters and the story they set out to tell. Is there any chance at all that the musical episode will be good enough to make up for these strange wedding choices? Like maybe Emma and Hook will get an awesome duet? Nevermind. I have a feeling I'm going to cringe my way through the whole episode.

Once again, I missed the first half of the episode. When I turned it on, Emma was about to get killed by...a giant spider. I don't even know what to do with that. Did I miss much during the first half? This show used to be a must-see for me. Now I can't even bring myself to watch YouTube clips to catch up. If they insist on separating Emma and Hook for multiple episodes during what could be the final season, why don't they at least use this opportunity to do something more interesting with both characters? Blackbeard and Hook were funny together, but it's not exactly the stuff of great adventure or character defining moments. Then again, maybe I should just be glad that neither Emma nor Hook underwent further character assassination in this episode.

This is probably an unpopular opinion but I actually don't mind this Aladdin. He definitely hasn't done a whole lot, but that's true of most of the characters these days. I feel like he's got a bit of a personality at least and I do like the actor. I also kind of like that Jasmine ended up playing more of the hero role than Aladdin--a bit of a gender role reversal there. Aladdin is my favorite Disney movie and obviously this show hasn't come close to doing it justice, but that's par for the course.

I feel like I've set my expectations so low this season that I don't really know how to go about evaluating an episode anymore. I don't think there was anything in this one that made me feel super ragey so...yay?

I would bet on the Emma/Regina/Henry scene as the final scene over the Emma/Hook one, unfortunately. The writers pride themselves (eye roll) on Once not being like other fairytales, so I don't think they'll end it with Emma and her husband driving off into the sunset. More likely they'll use the Emma/Regina/Henry scene to reinforce the idea that this is a show about "strong women". Also, I can't see them ending it with Hook and not Henry. I'm not saying I think the E/R/H scene is necessarily the final one...just that the writers won't end it without including Henry and Regina in that very last scene. I think the best I can hope for is a scene with the full cast. Maybe, as someone else predicted, everyone crowded around Emma as she celebrates her birthday. "And she lived happily ever after..." I always assumed this show would get a season 7 but I'm starting to feel like this is the end, and I'm not prepared for it. There's so much more I would've liked to see happen. And it would've been nice for both cast and fans to have more notice and get a farewell season. But again, I don't think there's much chance of this show righting all its wrongs if given a final season. I'm not sure how I would feel about everyone ending up in Storybrooke. For some reason I kind of had it in my head that maybe they would all end up back in the Enchanted Forest permanently and Emma would get to live in actual fairytale land, like she was meant to. But Storybrooke does have its benefits, like plumbing. I agree with those who want the final battle to be something more epic, with all characters playing a role. The Battle of Hogwarts in Harry Potter was an amazing sequence, and every character/creature got their moment to shine. I especially love the idea of Hook and Charming fighting side by side. But I should probably lower my expectations...

This is the first time it's occurred to me that Emma might be separated from her parents AGAIN (if JMo renews and Ginny and Josh don't). Hopefully Ginny and Josh are at least able to return for the series finale so the separation isn't permanent. I'm really starting to want the show to be cancelled. Best case scenario appears to be Jennifer, Lana, and Colin in the leading roles. I'm not super interested in seeing even heavier emphasis on the Emma/Regina friendship. And if JMo doesn't renew, then I have even less interest in the show. Ideally I would've liked the show to get one more season to say goodbye, but after this season, I really don't think the writers are capable of fixing what's gone wrong, and even less so if half the cast is gone :(

I only caught the last 10 minutes of the episode so Regina and the Evil Queen hugging it out seemed extra ridiculous and over the top. Was there any satisfying build-up to it? Haha, nevermind. I know the answer. Are we really supposed to find it surprising that Regina basically fell in love with herself? Again, no need to answer. That being said, I didn't mind the Evil Queen ending up in Wish Realm with Robin. She doesn't deserve the happy ending, but at least it gives Outlaw Queen fans something? I'm sure most of them are still pretty disappointed by this Wish Robin arc, but it ended better for them than I was expecting. However, I still can't get over the fact that we're supposed to think of Wish Robin as real--so real that the Evil Queen gets to live happily ever after with him--but we aren't supposed to care that Regina murdered Wish Charming and Wish Snow. The writers thought this plot through even less than usual. I missed most of the Hook stuff but youtubed his fight scene with Emma. I really wish he hadn't decided to get rid of the memory. No wonder she was upset. Then again, she claimed that the man she fell in love with would never lie to her, and that isn't exactly true. Isn't this at least his third or fourth major lie? I'm never going to forgive the writers for this whole plot line. How can we root for a couple when one murdered the other's grandparent? Then again, Emma's bestie murdered her other grandpa, so at least she isn't holding Hook to a different standard there.

I'm glad the series ended with a Defan scene. I loved seeing Elena reunite with her family and I thought Nina did a lovely job in that particular scene (I don't think we've ever seen Elena look so happy!), but I still prefer the Defan ending we got. Since Nina left, it makes sense that the writers chose to give the final scene to two of the actors who stuck around. The ending of a TV show doesn't just need to reflect how the show began; it should also honour what the show became, and in the last two seasons (no matter how flawed they were), the show was about the brothers. It kind of reminds me of the finale of The Office. Michael was the main character for 7 seasons but then he left and the show carried on without him (though IMO it shouldn't have). Steve Carrell agreed to do a brief cameo in the series finale but felt that the focus should remain on the characters the show had followed for the last two seasons. Clearly others will disagree, but I felt the final scene of the Vampire Diaries was fitting both for the way the story started out (I loved the parallel of the two "hello brother" scenes) and what it later became.

I wish I could get back that hour of my life. Somehow the writers had me rooting *against* my favorite couple getting engaged. That proposal should have been payoff for longtime Captain Swan fans. It should've been a great moment. Instead it was shoved into a 30 second scene of a boring episode and completely ruined by an unnecessary storyline about Hook lying to Emma yet again. The only thing I still liked about this show was Captain Swan and now it feels like that's been ruined. I miss when Once was something to look forward to on Sundays. Now it just brings boredom, disappointment, or rage. And yet I continue to watch (or at least half watch. There were scenes I completely tuned out for. Couldn't even tell you how the episode ended).

Ugh. I shouldn't be surprised. Everyone predicted that stupid "twist" before the season even started. But then as I was watching this episode, I actually thought to myself, "Thank God the writers decided not to go that route. That would have been beyond stupid". Well. Aside from the morality issues, there's also just the issue of why. Why would they do this? To shock the audience? It was predictable. To create even more angst for Emma and Hook? There were so many other, less damaging ways to do that. To lower Hook to Regina's level? Maybe. To piss off Hook fans? Mission accomplished. I know this won't lead to Captain Swan breaking up (at least not permanently), but it's still frustrating and unnecessary. Someone put this show out of its misery.

I totally agree with your whole post, and I especially love the bolded part. You're right--killing Stefan meant that the romance essentially won out over the family aspect, whereas killing Damon would have meant the opposite. Not everyone will agree with that view, but I feel like I see the brothers' relationship very similarly to how you see it. And for those reasons, if given the chance to change the ending to one where Damon died instead of Stefan, I would definitely take it. But somehow thanks to the Defan moments we did get, I still feel happy with the finale. Did it do complete justice to the story we've been told for the past 8 seasons? No. Did it fulfill the potential of the brotherly dynamic that was set up in season 1? No. But did it leave me with all the feelings I hope to get from a series finale? Amazingly, yes. I knew going into the finale that my enjoyment would depend pretty much entirely on how the brothers' relationship with each other played out. Somehow I walked away feeling satisfied, even though on paper it really shouldn't have worked for me.

This has always been my biggest problem with the show. I spent seasons hoping they were doing this intentionally to build up to a series finale where Damon finally prioritizes Stefan over everyone else (including Elena). I really wanted the series to end with Damon sacrificing himself for Stefan's happiness or with the brothers dying (or maybe just leaving Mystic Falls) together. On paper, I really don't like how the finale went down. It seems wrong that after Stefan consistently put Damon first his entire life, he's still the one who ends up sacrificing so that Damon can get a happy ending. But for some reason, the way the finale played out onscreen really worked for me. It hit enough of the right beats for me to feel satisfied as a Defan fan, and it pulled an emotional reaction from me that I wasn't really expecting. I think a lot of it comes down to the scene where Damon tried to make the sacrifice and finally acknowledged that he had been a shitty big brother and apologized. If it wasn't for that, I would be a lot angrier about Delena as endgame. I had been expecting Stefan to give the cure to Damon so that Damon could live happily ever after with Elena. What I feared was that Damon would accept that sacrifice. Thankfully he didn't; Stefan forced it on him and Damon's claim that a happy ending with Elena would "mean a lot less without [Stefan]" turned out to be true. That, coupled with the final scene of the entire series featuring a hug between the brothers, was enough to leave me satisfied. Maybe I'm easily emotionally manipulated or maybe I just lowered my expectations enough these past few seasons, but I feel very content with the way the show ended. I agree that the writers' claims that the whole series was about family rings false. There has always been way more focus on the teen romance angle, which IMO has been really disappointing (though not surprising). But I'm glad the series finale, at least, turned out to be about family. Is it a retcon? Sure. But it's a retcon that I'm pleasantly surprised by and thrilled to accept.

I was also surprised at how little emotion there was in the Delena reunion scene, but I actually appreciated it. I think it was probably largely because Stefan's death seemed to have still been quite recent, so of course Damon wasn't as happy as he had been during the first reunion where Katherine was pretending to be Elena (and Stefan was still alive). I'm sure Ian wanted to make sure that grief shone through in his performance. I found his acting very good through the whole episode. It was Nina's acting that felt off to me--not bad necessarily, but just not quite the same as it used to be. As for Damon's future as a human, I assume the writers intended the message to be that once Damon began to get over the initial shock and grief of losing Stefan, he would eventually go on to live a fulfilling, happy life with Elena, but I agree that they didn't do a good job of showing it. Even the future Delena scenes seemed quite restrained. Again, though, I'm actually quite pleased about that. My Defan loving heart wants to believe that Damon never fully recovered from the loss of his little brother and that his future with Elena, which was the one thing he had been after for so long, just wasn't enough without Stefan. I guess I'm just twisted like that :)

I loved it. It ended in the exact way I feared it would--the one way I didn't want it to--and yet somehow I loved it. I had two preferred endings: either Damon sacrificing himself for Stefan or the two brothers dying together. My number one wish (which I knew wouldn't come true) was that Delena not end up together. I hated them as a couple, and I feared them ending up together would just take away from the Defan relationship. But somehow the writers found a way to make Delena endgame while actually making Defan the true love story. As others have said, Delena felt like a side note in this finale. All along, my investment in this show has been primarily due to Defan, and with tonight's episode, the writers honoured that more than I ever expected them to. There were three things I found mildly disappointing. The first was Katherine. She just wasn't the Katherine I remembered. I think part of the problem was that Nina's acting seemed off. It's also too bad that Nina couldn't appear in last week's episode. Trying to cram both Katherine's and Elena's reappearances into one episode meant that they both got shortchanged. My second complaint is that I would have liked a Bamon moment. I know there were other relationships to attend to, but Bamon has been an important part of the last few seasons so it would have been nice to see one last interaction. Lastly, I wish they hadn't included the Klaus letter, thereby leaving open a possible Klaroline endgame (though this didn't bother me quite as much as I would have expected). Overall, I think this finale will help me look back on the show fondly. I don't usually become emotional about TV shows, but tonight's episode got me. There were plot holes and disappointments, sure, but what I'm going to remember most are the Defan moments, as well as Elena's reunion with her family after a lifetime without them. In the end, The Vampire Diaries was a show about family, and I'll always love it for that.