Fandom and Viewer Issues: "Fan" Is Short for "Fanatic"

[Serena]

I'm not defending the Johnlock fandom, BTW, they are just as horrid to John's love interest (and RL wife) as the SQ fandom is to the OUAT actors and characters.

 

A&E may have said it once, but it seems it needs to be drilled repeatedly into the heads of some sections of the fandom.

I think those sections will never get it through their head, though. Like, Adam could tweet it everyday and they still wouldn't get it. He has stopped tweeting #havehope to any random Granny and Emma shipper, which was misleading, so I don't know what could he say. Any rational person can see SQ is not happening, and the rest is a lost cause.

[Featherhat]

I think the term "Queerbaiting" has become over used to have lost any actual meaning but I would pick Sherlock to be a leader that. Almost every single episode has everyone they meet think they are a couple and then the writers (and Watson) scream "no homo", if you have no intention of doing it that's fine, don't bring it up every episode. But they also want the kudos for being "edgy" about it.

 

IIRC it was ComicCon 2013 they announced SwanQueen would never be canon so don't get your hopes up, and I don't think they deliberately tried to bait fans about it on the show until this season. Twitter is another issue, but I can see why they have the urge to "play along" and engage the crack until it goes OTT. It's engaging the fanbase and non threatening to the writers (assuming people realise Granny/Emma isn't likely to appear on screen) and it creates more tweets about the show. It's only when you discover you've been feeding a crazy beast that is now demanding you write their crackship into the show and has no problem spending years harassing you, that you realise it's not always a great idea. And they engage where they should just ignore far too often (or did until recently).

[YaddaYadda]

It's not just Sherlock and Watson, it's also Sherlock and Moriarty.  I didn't even know SwanQueen was a thing until I started looking at this thread.  So are these the same people who scream rape culture (another thing I didn't know was a debate until I started reading this thread).

 

I'd like to send a $5 to whomever coined the phrase "ignorance is bliss".  Was it Walt?  No wait!  He's an Author.  Okay, nevermind.

[ABitOFluff]

I was curious about the Zimbio poll, and apparently SwanQueen lost in the Final Four. Is anyone on Twitter or Tumblr shouting, "In Your FACE, SQ?!!?11?!"

[Souris]

I'm sure some people did, but I didn't really see much of that.

[myril]

Interesting that the Sherlock co-creator has said that Holmes is not gay, for heaven's sake, people! He's asexual!

 

"People want to fantasize about it. It’s fine. But it’s not in the show.”

 

THAT is what A&E need to say about SQ.

 

Well, maybe he should ask people who actually know something about asexuality, because it doesn't exclude being gay. What a moron. Seriously, writers, do your homework, do resedarch and don't create just more BS wrong mythologies about something.

 

That said. A&E said SQ won't happen like aeons ago, but they said a lot of things over time. Their inconsistency in their world building and character development and their interviews gives people plenty of wiggle room to keep their hopes up - not to mention everybody likes to hear and interpret things only through their own biased filters.

Edited March 31, 2015 by katusch

[Souris]

Apparently some SQ fans are trying to drum up a boycott of the next ep.

[sharky]

That's actually kind of ingenious. Boycott the show when it's in a downward trend in ratings and then take the credit for the downward slide after the fact. They may be BAs, but they aren't dumb. Or, well, the other option is that I'm giving them too much credit. Yea, it's probably the second one.

[Souris]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the next ep will have a ratings drop after a week off. Of course, I doubt the ep after that will have a big uptick because they went back to watching. Crazy.

Ah, we can all rest easy. The boycott has been called off.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Souris

[legaleagle53]

When are these nutbags going to learn to pick their battles?

[Shanna Marie]

I would think that calling for a boycott of the show would be a really good way to get the producers to lose interest in catering to your whims. If you're not watching, who cares what you think?

[Mari]

I know on this board several of us have had serious issues with how this half season is going, but we're one litt corner of the Internet. Anyone have a sense of how it's playing out in the wider world?

[Shanna Marie]

I mentioned this in the All Seasons thread, but a fantasy novelist I've been following on Twitter, Ben Aaronivitch, has been tweeting some hilarious commentary about this arc, including talk about how Catch the Idiot Ball is the national sport of Storybrooke, how the plots seem to center around people not telling other people stuff, and mentioning that Robin Hood is a disgrace to the legend. He's not hash tagging anything or directing the tweets at anyone, so it doesn't show up as part of fandom. I just saw it because I love his books.

[ABitOFluff]

I know on this board several of us have had serious issues with how this half season is going, but we're one litt corner of the Internet. Anyone have a sense of how it's playing out in the wider world?

While I haven't been checking Reddit or other boards this season, I have been listening to one of the Once podcasts and AfterBuzz TV recaps each week. They're definitely different corners of the fandom,a nd sometimes I have to wonder if they're watching the same show we are. Not to say I totally disagree with them, though. Sometimes I actually agree quite a lot. I should point out, that the recappers also seem to be completely unspoiled.

 

From what I can tell, this last episode got a really lukewarm reception from all the recappers. Everyone was confused about something. But, most of them seem pretty intrigued by what's going to happen next. Also, everyone seems to agree that CaptainSwan is being handled nicely, also that they love Regina's redemption arc. Plus they're surprised by Snowing's secret, but I haven't heard anyone express disgust or hatred towards them.  And then you have the one recapper who is totally convinced that all of Rumple's actions indicate that his going to turn good once and for all...Yeah.

[Mari]

Thanks for the replies.  :)  So, overall, it's sort of been "Enh" not "Aaaah!"  Since A&E seem to pay attention, I wonder what they're taking away from all this.  They seem to aim for a riled up, excited fandom.  "Enh" is the opposite of excited. 

And then you have the one recapper who is totally convinced that all of Rumple's actions indicate that his going to turn good once and for all...Yeah.

Really?  There's a recapper that thinks that?  Truly?  Because while I can see A&E pulling a last minute bait and switch, I've noticed absolutely no foreshadowing of that at all, and Carlyle's been pretty vocal about not wanting it. 

 

Is there logic to it, or is it wishful delusion?

[Zuleikha]

Now that I've caught up, I've found some other places that I regularly read (because all the anti-Regina sentiment here does get to my Evil Regal heart sometimes). I feel like most other places are more in line with my feelings--wariness and acknowledgement that a lot of the writing relies on contrivance/catching the Idiot Ball but overall still having fun with the show. This episode seemed to be considered particularly bad, though (which I agree with except for Kristin van Bauer's acting) and no one's excited or happy about the Snowing eggnapping twist. I think whatever A&E thought they were going to achieve with this isn't working.

 

What surprised me when I started reading other places is how many people were lukewarm on the Frozen parts of 4A. I liked the Frozen arc a lot and was under the impression that it was well received, but it seems to have been as much of a miss with people as it was a hit. I was also happy to see plenty of other people who missed Regina during the Frozen arc and wished she'd been more involved with the main plot. I also see a lot of Captain Swan fans and Swan Queen fans, some Rumpbelle fans (although fortunately the places I've read have all been people who acknowledge how horrible Rumpel is to Belle; they just still hope for some kind of sacrifice-for-Belle/quasi-happy ending), but I've never seen an Outlaw Queen fan in the wild. The closest are people like me who ship Regina + Happiness and so will try to accept Outlaw Queen if that's what we need to do to see Regina be happy. I don't know where all the Outlaw Queen fans hang out, or if they just all had their spirits crushed by the squick of Robin Hood in 4A.

[ABitOFluff]

Thanks for the replies.  :)  So, overall, it's sort of been "Enh" not "Aaaah!"  Since A&E seem to pay attention, I wonder what they're taking away from all this.  They seem to aim for a riled up, excited fandom.  "Enh" is the opposite of excited. 

Really?  There's a recapper that thinks that?  Truly?  Because while I can see A&E pulling a last minute bait and switch, I've noticed absolutely no foreshadowing of that at all, and Carlyle's been pretty vocal about not wanting it. 

 

Is there logic to it, or is it wishful delusion?

Definitely wishful delusion of a Rumple fangirl. :) I mean, she cited examples along the lines of when Cruella offered to slit Regina's throat, he didn't let her. Also the recapper found his little visit to Sleeping Belle touching (ptooey). But the other recappers with her were like, "Uhhh...okaaaay."

 

That said, I could see A&E pulling something like that. Of course, a man who (IN JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS) has a young boy kidnapped, tortures a man, steals another man's identity and spies on and dupes his wife into giving him a lethal weapon is totally on the path to redemption.

[Rumsy4]

They're definitely different corners of the fandom,a nd sometimes I have to wonder if they're watching the same show we are. 

 

Sometimes I feel like that too. lol I listen to ONCE podcast, and they generally try to present a non-biased perspective (doesn't always happen though!), and Greetings from Storybrooke podcast. The GF people typically have exact opposite reactions to everything. They hated the Frozen arc, love OQ, and liked the latest episode. They felt that this might have made Snowing unredeemable if it were not for Regina and Rumple being presented as capable of redemption. Go figure... On imdb, the reaction is mixed--some feel the episode ruined the Charmings, while others are taking it in their stride. The general reaction over there is that this half-season isn't going well. Most people outside Prev. are finding this author plot confusing at best, but some appreciate the fact that at least they are exploring the mythology of the book origins.

 

A tumblr CSer who is a fan of all the villains (Hook, Regina, and Rumple) expressed that ONCE had lost its rewatch value with the episode because of the blatant retconning, and the vilification of heroes to make the villains look better. I have some twitter buddies who also watch ONCE, but are not engaged with the fandom otherwise. A couple of them are done, or close to being done with the Show. Some of them dislike what is being done to the Charmings. One of them disliked SF, but likes OQ. So, it's really quite an eclectic mix of reactions! 

[RadioGirl27]

 

What surprised me when I started reading other places is how many people were lukewarm on the Frozen parts of 4A. I liked the Frozen arc a lot and was under the impression that it was well received, but it seems to have been as much of a miss with people as it was a hit. I was also happy to see plenty of other people who missed Regina during the Frozen arc and wished she'd been more involved with the main plot.

This is exactly why they didn't like the Frozen arc. Regina's hardcore fans hated it because it hasn't enough of her while those of us who dislike/hate her liked it for that very same reason.

[YaddaYadda]

That's not true.  I really disliked the Frozen arc because it took too much place on the show.  I didn't watch the movie, I could care less about the characters.  I liked Elsa just fine but I hated Anna, I mean hated her so much!  She got a backstory with Rumple and Belle which ultimately ate up screen time and was useless in the grand scheme of things.  I was glad when they were gone.  So this for me has nothing to do with Regina whom I can barely stand on a good day and everything to do with Frozen eating up the screen time.

 

Anna and Elsa's scene about the wedding and chocolate was longer than Captain Swan's heart restoration scene.  

[Rumsy4]

Oh, and someone on imdb started a Change.org petetion to kill of Hook. It has 5 signatures out of 2 million. :-p

[RedKeep]

I couldn't stand the Frozen arc either, regardless of how I feel about Regina. I did actually see the animated movie and liked it too, but because it's still so recent I didn't see the point of bringing it over to OUAT as well to begin with and it definitely took up way, way too much space on the show and pushed too many characters I care about more than a of bunch new guest stars who would only be around for 11 episodes tops to the sidelines. I found Anna slightly more tolerable than Elsa, but overall I was just glad when the lot of them finally left. And on top of that I found their take on the Snow Queen disastrous, too.

Edited April 1, 2015 by RedKeep

[Curio]

I actually quite enjoyed the Frozen arc for the most part in Storybrooke, but I felt like it took up way too much flashback screen time. I really enjoyed Elsa and especially her friendship with Emma, so I wanted to see some more magical adventures between those two. Instead of the pointless Regina/Emma trek through the woods, I wanted an episode where Elsa and Emma just went off and practiced their magic together and did cool magic things. The other good thing about the Frozen arc meant that there was also decreased screen time for Henry and Regina, which I quite enjoyed. (With Henry, I plain can't stand the character or the acting - sorry Jared. And Regina is a character who has gotten so much screen time in the past three seasons that I was completely okay with her not being front and center for once.)

[Zuleikha]

So this for me has nothing to do with Regina whom I can barely stand on a good day and everything to do with Frozen eating up the screen time.

Yeah, that's what I generally saw as the main complaint.

 

My desire to see Regina better integrated into the plot wasn't about screen time. I don't track it or anything, but I felt like she was on screen comparable to when she's part of the B plot. It was more about quality of screen time and desire for internal logic. Emma was trapped in a magical ice wall, but Charming and Hook didn't try to get Regina to help even though Regina has been a solid ally for a season now and her primary element is fire? Emma and Elsa both need to learn to control their magic but they don't go to Regina for help even though Regina's already been teaching Emma magic? Regina's attempts to rescue Marian all fail, so it's not even like Regina got to do something significant in the B-plot. Regina got the Blue treatment, where her presence was inconvenient for the plot so rather than write an actual reason for her to be unavailable (like on a quest with Robin to find a rare ingredient for a potion to defrost Marian), her potential usefulness wasn't acknowledged. 

[Curio]

like on a quest with Robin to find a rare ingredient for a potion to defrost Marian

Ugh, why couldn't we have gotten that and been spared crypt sex??

[OnceUponAJen]

Oh, and someone on imdb started a Change.org petetion to kill of Hook. It has 5 signatures out of 2 million. :-p

LOL!

[pezgirl7]

Now that I've caught up, I've found some other places that I regularly read (because all the anti-Regina sentiment here does get to my Evil Regal heart sometimes).

 

I really admire you, because if there was as much Hook hate on this board as there is Regina hate, I don't think I would be able to stick around.

 

Looking back, I actually didn't mind the Frozen arc too much, because I liked most of the characters, and I liked Elsa's friendship with Emma. What I didn't like about it was that the main characters seemed to take a back seat in a lot of the episodes, and certain scenes seemed shortened or cut out all together to show the Frozen characters. I think there were even plot points that the writers had mentioned before the season began, but were never realized, due to the change in storyline. I really wish the writers didn't always feel the need to introduce new characters and focus so much time on their backstory. Can't there just be a villain who is a villain? One who doesn't have a tragic back story, and is just there for the main characters to conquer?

Edited April 1, 2015 by pezgirl7

[Serena]

Regina got the Blue treatment, where her presence was inconvenient for the plot so rather than write an actual reason for her to be unavailable (like on a quest with Robin to find a rare ingredient for a potion to defrost Marian), her potential usefulness wasn't acknowledged. 

 

The rumor is that the Frozen head honchos vetoed integrating Regina into the Elsa storyline. At the very end of season 3, all the post season interviews had A&E going "Elsa is going to fit so well into our show! Just like Regina, she's a misunderstood villain!". Then a few weeks later, we heard that Lassiter and the people in charge of Frozen had been sent to oversee Once. And all of a sudden A&E changed their tune to "Elsa and Emma are so similar! Both have magic they can't control!". Word on the street it, the Frozen people did not like that their family friendly cash grab would be linked to an actual mass murderer, and lo and behold - Regina and Elsa didn't share so much as a glance in all of 4A. I really doubt that A&E would have passed up the opportunity to link their favourite character to THE buzziest storyline they had. And it also explains why Regina's storyline and OQ was such a failure - she was supposed to be a lot more involved with Elsa, but then they had to scramble and rethink their plans at the last minute. 

Edited April 1, 2015 by Serena

[Souris]

If that is true, God bless the Disney honchos. At least somebody with some authority recognizes Regina's toxicity.

[Curio]

I kind of doubt that theory is true, because they had Elsa outright encouraging Emma to go be friends with Regina in "Breaking Glass." And if Disney was truly apprehensive about their precious characters not interacting with the villains, there wouldn't have been an entire episode devoted to having Rumple trick Anna into wanting to kill him. There might be other reasons the writers avoided a Regina/Elsa storyline, but I doubt Disney interference was the real reason. 

[YaddaYadda]

Anna interacting with Rumple, they weren't comparing the two characters.  It was the villain being the villain trying to take advantage of the naive, sweet heroine.  Elsa interacted some with Rumple and she trekked the woods with freakin' Captain Hook.  She was in the same room as Regina once, when Marian was frozen.

[Featherhat]

In theory I could be an EvilRegal, I don't mind enjoying charismatic and complex villains on TV and in S1 I thought they played it off fairly well. What I cannot stand is "WoobieRegal" and her never ending habit of self pity and victim blaming. I first lost my rag with her when she got upset she wasn't invited to the lasagne party by people she had mind fucked for 28 years and who only recently got persuaded to not lynch mob her by one of her biggest victims. Wah, wah wah and its mostly been down hill from there, but I do still like Lana Parilla in the role and sometimes there are flashes in intriguing.

 

It's interesting about the Frozen gossip. I can't remember what I read before it premiered but it would be more like the OUAT writers to pair the world's currently most beloved Disney ambiguous villain with *their* favourite *not so ambiguous* villain. I think Emma/Elsa parallels ended up working ok, way better than the pity fest Regina would have turned it in to. They'd have correlated Elsa running into isolation in order never to hurt people again with Regina being so upset that she got spurned again that she had to massacre an entire village. I really don't think there's any good parallels here. Regina nurtured and sort power to avenge her wrongs no matter who she had to kill (her father), sisterly love was key to Frozen, its very different, so I'm glad that Disney may have put a stop to that.

 

I wonder if that was also why OQ was.... patchy at best, even in basic storytelling, if Regina's screentime was meant to be eaten up elsewhere and not almost entirely consumed with a guy she met a few days ago who's wife she tried to execute has now turned up.

 

I've been following on Twitter, Ben Aaronivitch, has been tweeting some hilarious commentary about this arc,

 

 

Uh, ROL Ben Aaronovitch?, did not know that, off to twitter!

Edited April 1, 2015 by Featherhat

[snarkastic]

I really admire you, because if there was as much Hook hate on this board as there is Regina hate, I don't think I would be able to stick around.

 

Funnily enough, I remember a LOT of Hook hate over on TWOP (where these boards mostly spun off of) for all of season 2, and even in the beginning of season 3 it was 50/50 on extreme hate/extreme love. It's also the board that first illuminated me to Swan Queen, before a bunch of them went crazy.

[Curio]

Funnily enough, I remember a LOT of Hook hate over on TWOP (where these boards mostly spun off of) for all of season 2, and even in the beginning of season 3 it was 50/50 on extreme hate/extreme love.

 

Heh. I didn't post as much back then, but I remember a few times I had to throw out my love for "Captain Floor." And whenever someone complained that he was an ineffectual slapstick villain, I tried to point out that he was supposed to be an ineffectual villain because he's actually more of a hero at heart.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Curio

[ABitOFluff]

Heh. I didn't post as much back then, but I remember a few times I had to throw out my love for "Captain Floor." And whenever someone complained that he was an ineffectual slapstick villain, I tried to point out that he was supposed to be an ineffectual villain because he's actually more of a hero at heart.

I remember Captain Floor! Maybe that's where my love began.

[Featherhat]

Hook was brought on as the fairly standard "bad guy with a heart of gold, or maybe not" bait an switch which isn't to everyone's taste even after two years, he was never a favourite of mind at TWOP. IIRC I disliked most of the Neverland arc and the earlier Hook introduction by extension. But I think to a large extent IMHO they've managed to guide CS to a place where it's believable, if clearly not everyone's cup of tea.

[Zuleikha]

IMHO, Hook was written as a creeper in 2A, so I'm not surprised that he had a mixed reception. I am so glad the writers figured out that he works better as a fun, flirty romantic.

 

Word on the street it, the Frozen people did not like that their family friendly cash grab would be linked to an actual mass murderer, and lo and behold - Regina and Elsa didn't share so much as a glance in all of 4A.

I'm skeptical about that because the plot with Ingrid could only have worked with Emma, and I doubt that was a late addition. Regina should have been used better, but she shouldn't have been central. 

[YaddaYadda]

I think Ingrid was meant to come on as the villain in 4A before they got Frozen.

[KAOS Agent]

No. The author storyline and upcoming massive retcon which involves major spoilers was the planned storyline for 4A.  After spoilers came out with a lot of fans calling foul, the writers were talking on Twitter about how they'd set up the storyline in the finale because they did not have the go ahead on Frozen until very, very late in the game.

 

To bring this conversation back to the fandom, you cannot judge the general viewership based on fandom. Millions of people have quit watching this show. Those are the people whose opinions mattered, not those who will continue watching no matter what because they worship Regina or flail at every little Captain Swan moment. Why did these viewers quit? Were they confused by the endless plot nonsense? Did they have issues with the skewed morality? Are they annoyed by endless villain sob stories? Would they like to actually root for good people? Did the lack of emotional payoff chase them off? When looking to improve the show or retain viewers, you have to look at why you lost the viewers you had and see if you can correct things. It doesn't even necessarily entail the writers having to change the stories they want to tell so much as working to improve the way they tell them.

Edited April 2, 2015 by KAOS Agent

[Souris]

Do networks still do focus groups? Though I doubt they'd spend the money on one for Once at this point in its run.

[tennisgurl]

 

Funnily enough, I remember a LOT of Hook hate over on TWOP (where these boards mostly spun off of) for all of season 2, and even in the beginning of season 3 it was 50/50 on extreme hate/extreme love. It's also the board that first illuminated me to Swan Queen, before a bunch of them went crazy.

Some of the Hook hate was probably me! I REALLY didn't like Hook in season 2. I thought he was a lame attempt at a "misunderstood bad boy", thought he was sleazy, a wimp, and was generally a pointless minion to whoever had beat him up most recently. I started warming up to him in season 3, and eventually it developed into full blown love. It helped that they toned down the sleazy, and stopped letting him get his ass handed to him so much :)  

 

My how things change!

Edited April 2, 2015 by tennisgurl

[retrograde]

sorry wrong thread

Edited April 2, 2015 by retrograde

[Rumsy4]

One more thing--even the most die-hard supporters of A&E on tumblr have been disgruntled with the writing this half-season, and with the author plot overall.

[Shanna Marie]

Some of the Hook hate was probably me! I REALLY didn't like Hook in season 2. I thought he was a lame attempt at a "misunderstood bad boy", thought he was sleazy, a wimp, and was generally a pointless minion to whoever had beat him up most recently. I started warming up to him in season 3, and eventually it developed into full blown love.

That's pretty much my trajectory, and that tends to be the recipe for making me a die-hard fan of a character -- start him as someone I'm not supposed to like, gradually humanize him, and then let him fight to win me over. I guess it's the opposite of Mary Sue writing, where the writing is telling me "YOU MUST LOVE HIM" without showing me anything. Instead, all the other characters and even the show itself are telling you he's awful, even after he starts doing good stuff, and he keeps trying. I think it helped that even after he turned himself around, it took a long time for the other characters to buy it and believe in him (they still don't 100 percent). Now I wish I could see my old posts on those boards because I don't remember what I said about him before "Good Form." I know I resisted because initially he was a type I don't like (I don't do bad boys).

 

I would be interested in hearing what the people who watched because of the Frozen hype thought about the show, if they left and why and if they stayed and why. I think if I had kids and initially let them watch "The Frozen Show," I'd have stopped it pretty quickly because it would get awfully confusing having the Beast from Beauty and the Beast (with such an obvious reference in that waltz scene) being a real bad guy who's lying to Belle and having Robin Hood wanting to leave Maid Marian. I'd have been like "Hey, let's just watch the real Frozen for the three zillionth time, and then we can watch the real Beauty and the Beast, and then we'll watch the fun Robin Hood where he's a fox who actually loves Maid Marian (and Lady Cluck would kill him if he even thought about straying)." But I'd be curious to know if other people had that reaction and if that explains the ratings slide from the season premiere.

[OnceUponAJen]

Some of the Hook hate was probably me! I REALLY didn't like Hook in season 2. I thought he was a lame attempt at a "misunderstood bad boy", thought he was sleazy, a wimp, and was generally a pointless minion to whoever had beat him up most recently. I started warming up to him in season 3, and eventually it developed into full blown love. It helped that they toned down the sleazy, and stopped letting him get his ass handed to him so much :)

My how things change!

I wasn't vocal on the Once TWoP board, but I really didn't care much for Hook when he was introduced, either. I know what you mean by sleazy. I could easily see him being Cora's house boy or pool boy...I'm sure fic has been written. Anyway, everybody loves a reformed bad boy, hence my vocal support here.

[FurryFury]

Funnily enough, I remember a LOT of Hook hate over on TWOP (where these boards mostly spun off of) for all of season 2, and even in the beginning of season 3 it was 50/50 on extreme hate/extreme love. It's also the board that first illuminated me to Swan Queen, before a bunch of them went crazy.

 

Yeah he only started to become popular around "Lost Girl" and then there was the kiss trailer/sneak peak... Before that, his implementation felt patchy at best, especially when Colin broke his leg and had to be written off a few episodes. Basically, he was an ineffectual villain with a pretty generic revenge story. Which - unpopular opinion ahead - was still way better than in season 4. I don't care about CS sweet moments (well, I can acknowledge they do have some chemistry and cute, but that's it), and the relationship itself hasn't been explored well at all. Plus, he had an absolutely horrible arc in 4A which made him no favors. I'm quite sure the fact that people here still love him hinges on the goodwill earned in 2B finale/3A.

[Curio]

I'm surprised Hook took so long to warm up on y'all. The moment Colin was cast in the role before Season 2 even began, I looked up all of his previous roles on imdb to try and get a feel of what the Once casting team was going for with this version of Hook. After watching a couple Youtube interviews he'd done at that point, I knew exactly where they were going to take him. (Bad boy on the outside, probably a little adorkable on the inside.) And lo and behold, they did.

[FurryFury]

Oh, it was all obvious ever since Tallahassee (which I liked, at least the non-flashback part). But he just didn't work well as a villain, thus the reaction.

[Serena]

I knew where they were going to take him when I saw his picture. I remember JMo going "they're probably going to give me a couple of love interests", then saw they went in a totally different direction with the Hook casting, and thought "he's gonna be her love interest for sure". The writing was on the wall.

[pezgirl7]

I didn't really like Hook at first either, but I also didn't hate him. I guess I was just indifferent. It wasn't until the end of season 2 when a lightbulb went off, or more like exploded into a thousand pieces, in my head. I posted this on my tumblr a while ago; fan comments from EW.com when they posted the first photo of Hook:

http://hooked-on-hiddles.tumblr.com/post/104359589360/feeling-nostalgic-we-lost

 

It makes me smile. :) I don't have problems with people not liking Hook - it's normally the reasons they hate him which I have issues with, but I won't get into that.