Camera One

Good point. So the Curse liked the Mobile, but not the crib. Weird Curse.

Excellent points, but they could just say Robin Hood, Roland and his Merry Men were in Cora's dome even if it makes no sense. They could say the Merry Men travelled into Aurora's kingdom for a job, and got Domed. Alternatively, maybe Sherwood and Aurora's kingdom are side by side and both got protected in Cora's Dome. They seemed to be implying that Sherwood Forest was close to Regina's Knifington Palace. Presumably, Aurora's kingdom is also within trekking distance. So in addition to timeline headaches, there are clearly geographical headaches as well. Robin Hood was not at the safe haven, but he was in the post-apocalyptic Enchanted Forest when Neal landed there after the Tamara Incident. And everything in the Enchanted Forest was presumably either in the Dome, or ripped to Storybrooke. Another weird thing is why were there still objects left in Rumple's castle, unless it was also in the Dome radius?

Thanks for the link... interesting interview. This instills confidence. So let me get this straight... they had no idea the show would get picked up for a second season, and yet they had time-wasters like Maxine? So did the timeline go: 1. First half of the season, written as if it was a one-off 13-ep. 2. Showrunners find out they are renewed for a second season. Oops, already killed off two potential season villains. Decide to kill time by introducing Maxine, fight club, etc. 3. Throw in a cliffhanger for the season which will lead to who knows where, since they still have no plans. But no worries, the arc of the second season will be "terrific". It still doesn't explain why they made characters which seemed intelligent in the first half of the season (Joe, Linda, Dodie) into blithering idiots in the second half.

Thanks! :) This is probably what the Season 3 DVD cover looks like in the headwriters' head. I couldn't fit in any more Reginas.

I agree they totally come up with the endings first when they write this show. There is a slight possibility where they actually already decided before 3B they wanted to end with Emma time-travelling back, and having a "There's no place like home" moment where she realizes she wants to be in Storybrooke (even though they actually did not spend any time developing this DURING 3B, or arguably even during the 2-hour finale). They probably also decided they wanted to end with an Emma-Hook kiss. In that case, they might also have come up with Marion popping up at one point or another to throw a wrench into Regina/Robin to set up Regina's next big arc.

A translation of what the DVD promotional info *really* means: ---------------------------------------------- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has announced that ‘‘Once Upon a Time: The Complete Third Season’‘ will be available to own on Blu-ray and DVD on August 19, 2014. Can five heroic characters including two psycho murderers set aside their personal grudges and private demons to rescue Henry – and themselves – from the ultimate evil who spends seven episodes doing practically nothing? Experience the heart-pounding action of characters running around on one wild goose-chase after another and tantalizing suspense of how characters can be systematically ruined in ‘‘Once Upon a Time: The Complete Third Season’. The stakes are higher than ever for nobody in a Neverland that’s the stuff of nightmares, but only for those who care about character development. At the dark heart of its mystery is Peter Pan, an ageless entity with a diabolical agenda and a chilling secret which as usual will require DNA testing. For Emma, Henry, Hook, Rumple, Regina, Charming, and Snow, Pan’s actions have far-reaching consequences that will change their lives forever (by forever, we mean one episode), create new alliances and introduce both Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest to a powerful new villain of legendary wickedness – the Wicked Witch, who chillingly also spends seven episodes doing nothing. Bonus Features Include: Wicked Villains – What makes the villains of ‘Once Upon A Time’ tick-like and completely dominate the entire show? These complicated characters are not only wicked, evil and dastardly but "sometimes" aka always, more heroic, charming and brave than the actual good guys. The actors who embody these bad guys and the writers who create them take an in depth look at the show’s interpretation of everyone’s (aka the headwriters') favorite foes. The Tale of Ariel – Follow the tale of everyone’s favorite mermaid, Ariel, played by Joanna Garcia, as we track the character’s development and story, or lackthereof, throughout the season, including the stunning 40 second payoff. We will see the development of her look, track her story and watch her introduction to the other characters of Storybrooke/Fairytale Land. This is a great glimpse at how epic characters can be sidelined and used as props for other characters. Inside the Writer’s Room: aka The Next Big Character Is All We Care About: How To Use Snow, Charming and Emma as Props – Get an inside look into the secret chambers of the writers of ‘Once Upon a Time.’ where delusion and villain worship is always victorious.

How unsurprising about the major death. It would actually be a surprise NOT to kill anyone off. Why tune in when your favorite character might die. I actually liked Dodie, that doctor mom and the woman who owned the diner but they were cannon fodder.

Ha at the names starting with the letter R. I think you hit the nail on the head, unfortunately.

The "good guys" on this show never actually have a plan beyond the vague outline. In the flashbacks, sometimes their "plan" is simply to go ask the dreaded but not that dreaded Rumplestiltskin for help. Meanwhile, the bad guys have elaborately convoluted nonsensical and roundabout plans that take half a season to unravel.

Unfortunately 3B showed that the writers did not value giving Ginnifer scenes with Jennifer anymore, and they pretty much wasted Ginnifer's screentime on unrewarding scenes with Zelena and then propping Regina once again. It is such a waste and even strange since the writers did put time into Snow and Emma for one and a half seasons, to the extent that they completely neglected Emma with David. And then with the dawn of S3, at least half of Emma's time in S3 was with Hook, which left even less time with her parents after factoring in the time for PLOT PLOT PLOT.

And the worst thing is the episode hardly developed Emma's love of family, despite the episode supposedly being the pivotal turning point for that progression. She hardly had a scene with her dad or her mom. And as you said, they ended her all satisfied and happy in Hook's arms, as if nothing else in that adventure mattered or affected her in any way. She should have been horrified and disturbed at the things Regina used to do.

The recap will probably be 40% the pilot, and 40% the season finale, since very little of consequence happened in between. The recap is meant to build up some hype and grab some new viewers. People wouldn't have the patience to rewatch the whole season.

Could it be that Snow never told Charming the real reason? I don't remember if they've discussed Daniel?

The writers did the same thing with Emma by having her throw Henry and her own existence under the bus by doing mouth-to-mouth on Hook to revive him from drowning, knowing that she was presumably the only one with the light magic needed to stop Zelena from changing the past. She prioritized Hook over her own son, her own parents, her own future sibling and herself. Sickening for sure how these writers destroy the characters.

I just loved Mary Margaret and Emma in this one. The "surprise" ending was so annoying, though. Discussing this episode in light of Season 3:

Thanks, regularlyleaded. I just noticed that you saved the Journeyman thread. Thank you so much! I loved that show... so disappointed when it was cancelled.

The S3 finale won a bunch of awards voted by readers of EW: http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/05/28/once-upon-a-time-hook-regina-emma-elsa-frozen/ So we get an interview with Horowitz and Kitsis patting themselves on the back. Good grief. Positive reinforcement.

So Maleficient had a huge opening weekend. The good news is this will probably mean we will finally get to see Maleficient's backstory, or maybe even a resurrection of her character, and hopefully at least an episode of Aurora and Philip (who got thrown to the monkeys in 3B). I know the actor who played Maleficient way back in Season 1 was supposed to be famous, but she didn't look very much like Maleficient to me. I wonder if Maleficient will be the focus of Season 4B, or if they will wait until Season 5. If they go the disgraced fairy route, we could potentially see more mythology building with the fairies. Probably shouldn't get my hopes up, though. Maleficient will probably be Rumple's half-sister and Regina's old schoolmate who Ava accidentally injured with a fly-swatter or something. And she became evil because Aurora's mother accidentally stole her boyfriend.

I thought it was interesting how everyone was averting their eyes from the Evil Queen/Regina during the wedding. I think even Grumpy had his hand in front of his face, like she was Medusa or something.

That's a good point. It is harder to make it "timeless" in regards to technology, especially smartphones, which would change how investigations are carried out.

I'm really sorry to hear that, Cindy, and that is such a tough situation. I think you did the right thing by letting him make the decision. If he does end up going to the getaway, maybe he can find some other way to honor his grandmother when he returns.

It was sort of strange how Emma shared such a personal thing with Regina, about her birthday wish, since her walls were normally always up. How strange the walls came down at that moment, to Regina of all people. Between that scene, and the cupcake birthday cake, I just loved Emma right from the beginning.

I hated most of the characters by the time the show ended. I'm a little annoyed that I will be dragged back into the vortex of suck, just because I'm such a completist.

I had five links on my Bookmarks bar to the TWOP forums... one to General Gabbery and one to Citizens, and some to other shows. I deleted four of them but I'm going to keep one there for now.

Yeah, the web address is now ending in offline.html It is so sad. :(