Souris

It does seem like Zelena is getting focus in this ep. I'm not sure I believe they're planning to kill her off (I more believe they'd send her back to Oz), but if they are, I'm sure it will be presented as just another horrible thing that's happened to poor Regina.

They can't even move the plot along in nonmusical episodes!

Yeah, I bet her return will coincide with the musical ep. Gotta have someone for Hook to sing with. (It obviously won't be Emma.)

Adam has said he deletes so as not to draw attention to what he's replying to. If you believe that.

Adam continues to troll untagged tweets. I think he searches "A&E."

We must keep in mind that there was a regime change last midseason. Paul Lee was a big Once supporter, so he and his regime may not have had concerns about the show or felt they needed to step in (except for Frozen, and that probably came from higher up in Disney). When Dungey came in, ABC had about a million fires to put out and still does, so they probably didn't have much time or energy to spend on an aging show whose best days are behind it, regardless. They have only so many fingers to stick into all the holes in the dike. (Enough metaphors in this post, LOL?)

Just because they were in the studio at the same time on his birthday doesn't mean they filmed together. We know Hook is still elsewhere, so why would they be filming together? Heck, Jen could have come by the studio just to wish him a happy birthday because she wouldn't see him otherwise. They couldn't tease anything real and concrete because there IS nothing real and concrete to tease. They're stringing along CS fans and using them for ratings to get a S7 at this point, nothing more. I think you're spot-on -- they know CS is loved, so they put out vague teases in a deliberately misleading way to get CS fans excited, but that's as far as it goes. They're not actually writing anything to back that up because of -- take your pick of reasons: 1) They have no interest in CS anymore; 2) They took the CS hate from last season to heart and are writing to please those folks; 3) They're undermining CS's importance because they don't think Jen will be back next season but Colin is still contracted, so they're preparing for a S7 with no CS. Part of the latter would be doing things like having Emma fat shame Hook or say no to his proposal, so CS fans would be mad at Emma and not care if CS ends and Hook is on his own.

It's 3+ episodes now of Hook being separated in a different realm from Emma and the rest of the group. (Various posts about it here.) What good CaptainSwan-age that is! Eddy is a lying liar who lies. How many more eps do you think they'll keep them separated? The rest of the season? Then there will be a 6-second reunion where Emma punches Hook in the stomach and tells him he's put on weight so he's going on a diet. Swoon! So no, there is nothing remotely positive regarding Hook & Emma in 6B, unless you believe A&E's lies. My guess is Hook proposes in 6x14 and Emma says no, so he goes off on some pointless side mission.

How awesome Regina is.

They suck giant monkey balls.

Of course. Just like her ditching Hook to go have shots with Regina. And I am right there with you on the disdain for August. Can't stand that guy or this retconning. He's in the same cesspit as Neal to me -- and with the same BS hero retconning on the show.

You'd think Adam would be a little more aware of fat shaming given, as you say, he's not exactly svelte. That comment to MM was really bad, especially given that it was said to a woman who was pregnant in real life at the time and who had been subjected to some ugly fat shaming online. This whole thing makes me think back to that link somebody posted here about A&E insisting they're comedy writers. Yeah, not so much based on the "comedy" they've included in Once. Their humor seems to run to personal insults, which I almost never find funny.

Nope. No breathers for anything, ever. I still think Emma is going to die or "die" this season. Then she will no longer be the Savior and it'll apparently transfer to somebody else. Probably Regina, knowing this show. I think it would be much nicer if the Savior mantle transferred to everybody, so they all work to save people -- we all have the power to be a Savior within us, etc., etc.

Yep, yep, yep. But they don't directly imply it. It's hard to know whether the nebulousness is deliberate because they: 1) are too lazy to make it clear; 2) want to keep it that way in trying to appease various fandoms; or 3) are simply inept. I hope it's not Dorothy again. I don't know that I believe they'd be sending off Zelena back to Oz. I mean, it's possible, it would save them a bit of money for S7, and they don't seem to know what the heck to do with her. It seems too early for the musical ep because this Once composer has heard only some of the songs.

I don't think they clearly established the actual why's of why the realm was constructed how it was or who made the "rules" of how the characters behaved or were presented. The EQ wasn't shown developing the wish or saying, "OK, Emma's a weak ninny and Hook is an old, fat drunk." It's all nebulous and poorly thought out as well as poorly explained, like everything they do. Adam also said it was meant to "punish" Emma for daring to have a stray thought about not wanting to be the Savior. The writers couldn't even agree whether the wish realm was real or not. So I don't think we can say with certainty that the EQ "created" old drunk Hook. It was created because A&E are terrible, surface-only writers who think they're funny when they're really not and don't think characterization matters, especially if it would get in the way of a "cool" idea.

6x18 title: Where Bluebirds Fly

Yep. Just because one or two people didn't think it was problematic doesn't mean it's not problematic. I've also seen feedback from others who were there who did find it problematic. So it's a personal reaction, not a universal one. And if I remember correctly, that person on Tumblr never gets upset at anything on the show, so it's best to take into account a person's proclivities when judging their reactions -- that goes for anybody's reaction! Seems like a lot of reading into the situation that isn't actually presented in the writing, based on other descriptions I've seen. Again, YMMV obviously. It wasn't just rum. It was rum and desserts she wanted him to lay off of.

Same. I mean, I do like Brooke, but a deconstructed parfait? Really? That should not have gone through. That is not a Top Chef-level concept. I really liked Sylva. I'm glad that at least Top Chef seems to have jump-started his drive again, and I hope he'll find success with this exposure.

The fact is, we'll never know. People will have to twist it themselves to make it palatable to their own self, because the writing gave no thought to anything beyond "Hahahaha, fat drunk old Hook is funny, hahahahaha!"

I cannot tell you how glad I am I decided not to go. A&E really do seem to despise CS and their fans at this point. So Eddy promises good stuff for CS & CSers will like this season? It's also pretty sick they showed dead Belle's bones -- and after teasing that we'd see her as we never have before. A&E are a couple of twisted mofo's.

Roundup of who shot today.

I don't want any peppermints she has in her sweater pocket.

Rumple and the Black Fairy on set. Pic. Gideon will film by himself later.

Now Snow has her bow and arrows, so that implies she's not cursed MM at that point. Hmm, could it be some sort of dreamscape where Snowing have to find each other?