The Writers of OUAT: Because, Um, Magic, That's Why

[KAOS Agent]

I don't think they've watched TV or movies in the last decade if they think that the villain's story being told is something that you don't see. That's almost always what you get these days. Even the superheroes have been reduced to darkness and villainy to make them more "interesting". I was watching a talk show the other day where the entire panel was complaining about how everything is about villains and how there are hardly any good hero stories anymore. It's not at all unique to Once and not at all something to pat themselves on the back about for being super creative.

[KingOfHearts]

Looks likes the entire writing staff drank A&E's kool-aid...

[Camera One]

They're of one mind.  It's like the hooded Dark Ones sitting at one table.

Edited March 29, 2016 by Camera One

[Shanna Marie]

Yeah, these guys have been living under a rock if they think it's new and innovative to give meaty backstories to the villains to explain how they got that way and make them sympathetic.

 

I think it's becoming increasingly obvious that they're making it up as they go, that there's no planned character background and the backstories are thrown together to create flashbacks that fit whatever they need to have happen in the present. And they're doing that in such a willy-nilly way that it usually goes over the top and extreme, only to be swept aside.

 

Last season, it was the eggbaby nonsense. There is no way that was planned. But they needed to tear down the heroes, give a reason for Emma to be on the outs with her parents, and a reason to fear Emma being filled with darkness. But it was such an over-the-top action for them to take in such a bizarre situation that made no sense, and then it ended up not mattering to the story at all.

 

With Hook, it really doesn't seem like they planned much of anything about his background other than his history with Rumple. We got the story about being abandoned when he needed a way to bond with Bae, and then we got the "Good Form" flashback purely to shock us with how different he used to be and to explain his history with Neverland, as well as give his pirate origin story, but then there was the problem that there was a massive disconnect between the story he told Bae and the past we saw. Not that they contradicted each other, but there were clearly a lot of untold stories, and it doesn't sound like they made much effort to create those stories so that there would be a coherent character arc for Hook's life, even if they didn't share that info with us until they were ready for it. Then they fleshed out the abandonment story, which worked, except it created even more questions and potential untold stories. They threw in the encounter with Brennan, which seemed to be just to make a point in the present, and which seemed not to fit very well with anything else (plus all the weirdness like getting a true love's kiss between people who hadn't actually met at that point). And now, they needed to find a way to make Killian forgive himself, so they dragged Liam through the mud and came up with a rather odd and not very satisfying bridge to "Good Form" that doesn't entirely fit. All of that strikes me as being a case of "what do we need for this episode?" rather than "Here's Hook's life story, now which piece can we use for this episode?"

[Camera One]

Last season, it was the eggbaby nonsense. There is no way that was planned. But they needed to tear down the heroes, give a reason for Emma to be on the outs with her parents, and a reason to fear Emma being filled with darkness. But it was such an over-the-top action for them to take in such a bizarre situation that made no sense, and then it ended up not mattering to the story at all.

 

They probably earnestly believe that was a great use of Snowing, and they succeeded in making these characters deeper and more grey and more complex.

 

Delusional is their middle name.  I think being a fly in the Writers' Room would actually be a very frustrating experience.

[Mathius]

They probably earnestly believe that was a great use of Snowing, and they succeeded in making these characters deeper and more grey and more complex.

Have you read A&E's interviews where the subject comes up? No "probably" about it.

They said that they think it deepens their portrayal in the Pilot because now there's this added layer of what they did to Maleficent and Lily, and their determination to save Emma so she can break the curse (even to the point of Charming almost dying in the process) is now just as much to redeem themselves and be "heroes" again as it is to save their baby daughter.

In reality, A&E just "fixed" something that wasn't broken (in other words, they broke it.)

Edited March 30, 2016 by Mathius

[Camera One]

Jane explained to someone on Twitter the writing process for "Once":

 

Jane Espenson ‏@JaneEspenson  Mar 27
@bellaswanmills The writers gather around a table to take the broad story elements  and break them into acts/scenes/moments.

 

Jane Espenson ‏@JaneEspenson  Mar 27
@bellaswanmills Once all the scenes of an episode have been determined by the group, one writer takes the story off to outline and write.
 

[Camera One]

I was just thinking, we would all know exactly what to say if we were to be interviewed for a Writer position on this show, LOL.  

[Curio]

I was just thinking, we would all know exactly what to say if we were to be interviewed for a Writer position on this show, LOL.  

 

"Emotional conversations are okay, but what I really excel at is writing exposition and setting up plots that go nowhere."

"Wouldn't it be cool if..."

"Regina is my favorite character."

[KingOfHearts]

 

I was just thinking, we would all know exactly what to say if we were to be interviewed for a Writer position on this show, LOL.

"I can only write for villains."

[Rumsy4]

"I love tearing down the veil of heroism behind which the good guys hide. Showing them up as flawed characters enhances the moral complexity of the story."

[KingOfHearts]

"I love tearing down the veil of heroism behind which the good guys hide. Showing them up as flawed characters enhances the moral complexity of the story."

Something tells me they'd hire Isaac on the spot.

[Rumsy4]

Isaac and Henry are basically Adam and Eddy self-inserts. 

[Shanna Marie]

I sometimes wonder how much Rumple in the Rumple/Milah/Hook triangle is a self-insert. The way that's written often comes across as though it's from the perspective of someone who was rejected or dumped in favor of the quarterback -- she's just a shrew and the quarterback is a villain, but then the nerd who was rejected gets a real Disney princess who loves him for his good heart, what's inside, rather than for his looks or his courage, and her love is utterly unconditional.

 

It's like a revenge fantasy out of fan fiction.

[Rumsy4]

The writing explicitly seems to sympathize with the idea that a woman who commits adultery/runs away from her marriage deserves to be brutally murdered.

[Shanna Marie]

The writing explicitly seems to sympathize with the idea that a woman who commits adultery/runs away from her marriage deserves to be brutally murdered.

Or possibly that a good woman will stick with her man because it's wrong to reject a man for any reason -- Belle always seems to be the one apologizing when she takes Rumple back or comes back to him. A bad woman leaves her man and is punished.

 

What's weird is that Jane seems to be the main Rumple writer, and yet this is the message that comes out with him. Maybe that's an effect of them breaking the story as a group. She may not be the one who comes up with the main plot beats of the Rumple episodes, and Belle taking him back or coming back and Milah being killed or thrown into the River of Souls are all major plot points that are put in by the team (or the bosses). If those events have to happen for the plot, there's not much room for writing a different relationship message into the episode.

[Camera One]

I doubt she would continue to be part of this writing team if she does not agree with their take on these characters and participate fully in the Writers' room.  She loves Rumple and Regina as much as any of the others.

[Rumsy4]

We can use "so everyone's a writer now" as the non-response to every question in this thread, just like we use "your questions are pointless" in the Continuity thread. Authorial self-insert ftw?

[Faemonic]

The way that's written often comes across as though it's from the perspective of someone who was rejected or dumped

I feel like that's been the triangle dynamic since after Abigail-Snowing. Even the Katherine-David-MMargaret side allowed it to be more emotionally complicated, but Milah, Tamara, and ultimately Zarian were just...

 

 

revenge fantasy out of fan fiction.

That's it. That's the show.

 

We can use "so everyone's a writer now" as the non-response to every question in this thread, just like we use "your questions are pointless" in the Continuity thread. Authorial self-insert ftw?

On the one hand, I'm all for "the birth of the reader comes at the death of the author" so Authorial Intent is just really passe. What's usually more constructive would be the focus on individual audience relationships to the work, even though the intent and process of the creator can be interesting, it's not as big and important a thing as it used to be. On the other hand, I do understand that everything in a creative piece is going to be borne of some part of the creator's psyche, and reflects their understanding of the world. If the author doesn't intend to write boring kitchen sink bonding conversations, we're probably not going to get it.

 

On the gripping hand, a work like This Show earns a writers thread that's mostly amateur psychoanalysis.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Faemonic

[Camera One]

There were a thousand other options for handling Neal, yet A&E somehow picked one of the worst. He went from an aspiring hero, to a total jerk, then back to hero with no stops between. It's like Eva going from a snob to Founder of the Hope Commission or Regina's flip-flopping without rhyme or reason. Hey, writers - character development requires development to work. You can't just go from A to C then back to A again without any B.

 

 

It struck me when I read this, that the Writers' goal of "surprise twist" is opposite of the processes that's needed for character development.  This is especially the case with supporting characters or guest characters like Eva, or Liam, or Neal, but it's also the case for main characters who flip-flop like Rumple or Regina.  

 

The surprise twist goal also interferes with logical storytelling and methodical worldbuilding.  For example, the "surprise" that Snow and Charming were able to trick/outwit Arthur for 10 seconds, necessitated completely skipping over their thought processes.  And with magical objects/spells, they always work suddenly for no reason as a surprise, so there is no rhyme or reason to the universe.

[KingOfHearts]

 

For example, the "surprise" that Snow and Charming were able to trick/outwit Arthur for 10 seconds, necessitated completely skipping over their thought processes

Another example, and probably one of the most prominent, was the gauntlet. We didn't see Belle unraveling the mystery nor doubt Rumple. She just saw the gauntlet, automatically assumed he's not to be trusted, and found him trying to obtain more power. The writers forwent any setup in order for the audience to receive more shock value in that moment she shows up with the dagger. The cost, however, was Belle looking gulliably dumb and impulsive. Nevermind that the gauntlet could have just poofed in Gold's shop with the curse like everything else. Shock value > logic.

[Curio]

I'm catching up on Season 2 of Better Call Saul at the moment, and it's such whiplash going from that style of storytelling to this show. I just finished watching a fantastic episode where it was mostly just people talking, but the way they write their dialogue on the show is so engrossing that it makes you forget that the same conversation has been going on for nearly 8 minutes. But on Once, I'd pass out from shock if they were able to make a single conversation (that doesn't include any exposition or villain monologuing) last longer than 3 minutes.

 

Why are they so afraid of having long-dialogue scenes? Why must every other line of dialogue be related to the plot or the monster du jour? Are these writers even capable of allowing the characters to sit at a table and have an uninterrupted 8-minute long conversation without cutting to a flashback? The closest the writers got to something like this in recent memory was the conversation between Emma and Hook on his ship where she stole his cutlass. And unsurprisingly, that was one of the best scenes of the season. (It'a amazing what happens when you let your characters breathe and your actors act, huh?) But even that scene had a cut to another scene inbetween, so we didn't even get the full conversation.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Curio

[YaddaYadda]

You're comparing hamburger to filet minion. Better Call Saul is so very well written, and when the episode is over, I always wonder how it is that the hour went by so quickly. And you'd think conversation is boring, but it's actually not.

 

I wish A&E would do that. The worst part is that season 1 was filled with conversations, and it was good! 

[Curio]

I know it can be a personal preference thing, and maybe I'm just one of those viewers who prefers conversation over action, but at some point the writers need to recognize that this show could be so much better if they balanced action and conversation better. They somehow manage a slow overall season timeline but refuse to slow down the pace by adding in longer conversations. How does that even happen? It's like an oxymoron.

[YaddaYadda]

They could easily mix both action and conversation. Instead of doing a bunch of filler episodes with some rando, they can I don't know, have conversations, and normal stuff. That lull that happens between episode 5 and 10, they can use it to have conversations that will give us character growth, and maybe fill in the million plot holes.

 

You (Curio) brought up episode 5x03 and the conversation between Emma and Killian. All of a sudden, we know they talk about stuff like his past, and that they have one on one dinners, and that they go out on his ship. One conversation gave us all of that. And in 4x22, we found out that Killian has been teaching Henry how to sail, and that it wasn't just some one off that happened in 4x05 while Regina was yelling at Emma. 

 

I mean wow! These people have actual lives that are happening during a crisis. They're not letting a crisis consume them to the extent where they stop living completely like they're showing us on screen.

 

Or in 5x17, Killian actually took the time to tell people what happened at the bridge in 5x15. That's super important information. Is that the reason they decided to try and take the elevator down to Hades?

 

They could have enough to stretch that into 11 episodes if they bothered. 

Edited April 14, 2016 by YaddaYadda

[KingOfHearts]

Whenever I attempt to write fanfiction, it's almost always just conversations I've wanted to see. I'm someone who loves good dialogue. However, in order to care about it, you have to care about the characters and their emotions. A&E are more concerned with events like going to the Underworld, Belle killing Gaston or Zelena giving up her baby. What's funny is that the only time I see any energy put into writing dialogue from them, it's snark for the villains. (Although, even that gets repetitive and phoned-in sometimes.)

Edited April 14, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Curio]

What fascinates me is that ABC thinks this show has the potential to last for several more seasons—and they're not wrong—but if Adam & Eddy keep going at the break-neck pace they've been using for the past two seasons, there's no way this show lasts beyond Season 7. Creating longer dialogue scenes between the characters seems like a pretty simple solution to extending the show's longevity. ABC is a money-making company that isn't afraid of making their series last beyond 10 seasons, so I feel like they'd want to see this show last at least that long. And honestly, I could absolutely see this show lasting that long if they switch up the current storytelling format. 

 

Adam & Eddy should take a step back and rethink comments like, "Pssh, the audience would be bored with scenes like Emma and Hook watching Netflix! No one wants to see Hook struggle with the popcorn maker!" Actually, that's exactly what the audience wants, and those are exactly the kind of scenes that need to be included if this show has any prayer of lasting beyond Season 6.

 

What's funny is that the only time I see any energy put into writing dialogue from them, it's snark for the villains. (Although, even that gets repetitive and phoned-in sometimes.)

 

I wish they'd use the energy they put into writing villainous snark into the main characters' normal, every-day conversations.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Curio

[Camera One]

I guess all dogs don't go to heaven. As for feeding, do they even need to eat? Does anyone except the living people need to eat? They have a bar and Granny's but would the dead miss food if those places didn't exist? 

 

This raised the question once again... new realm, new., uh... practically no worldbuilding.

 

A&E seems to present themselves as sci-fi/fantasy geeks, but I wonder if that is actually the case.  If that were the case, wouldn't there be more discussion about questions like the one above, about food?  I can imagine a Writers' Room easily getting off-track with discussions like that, before hammering down the rules and the world they're playing with.

 

The phone booth haunting was a cool example of world-building, but it stuck out partially because it's so rare.

[Curio]

The phone booth haunting was a cool example of world-building, but it stuck out partially because it's so rare.

 

I don't even know if you could consider that world-building though because it was a completely random idea that probably won't appear ever again. It would be considered world-building if the writers went back into their previous work and looked for details and canon that could pull off the same effect as the phone booth. So instead of one of the writers saying, "Hey Adam, I like your Dr. Who TARDIS statue on your desk! Wouldn't it be cool if there was a phone booth on our show? Maybe we could use it to let Snow and Charming haunt Snowflake in his sleep." ...instead, they should say, "Hey, Snow and Charming really want to communicate with Snowflake because it was kind of a stupid idea to leave him all alone. What magical item have we already introduced on the show that allows people to communicate across realms? Oh, right! A mirror! We can have Snow and Charming find a mirror in the Underworld that allows them to check up on Do-Over."

 

Why don't all the characters carry around pocket mirrors? I feel like it's the perfect magical FaceTime solution for keeping track of characters in different realms.

Edited April 15, 2016 by Curio

[Shanna Marie]

The phone booth haunting was a cool example of world-building, but it stuck out partially because it's so rare.

I'd almost call that a case of world wallpapering rather than building because it didn't seem to be linked to anything else in this universe in any way. We've never had any mention of anyone having dreams about dead loved ones that provided comfort or correction (wouldn't bossy big brother Liam have been haunting the hell out of his wayward baby brother?). It really had nothing to do with explaining the way the Underworld works. Is this something only people stuck in the Underworld can do? Or is there a phone booth in the good Afterlife, and that's how Neal got his message to Emma? Did no one make the connection between Neal's message and the Dial-a-Haunting of Snowflake? And it really didn't have anything to do with the story, other than to spur the "We're going to beat Hades and get out of here now" declaration, and did they need that to come to that conclusion? Isn't the fact that they're stuck in the Underworld enough?

 

And, weirdly enough, we saw them standing in line but didn't get to actually see the haunting. What kind of writing is that, when you see people waiting in line and then later have someone read a (rather badly written) fictionalized account of what happened, and yet we never actually saw the real action? Beginning writers tend to be bad about having a scene in which the characters talk about what they're going to do, and then a scene in which they actually do it, and then a scene in which they talk about what they just did. It's rather odd to have the scene in which they talk about what they're going to do, and then the scene in which they talk about what they did, and entirely skip the part where they did the thing, but that happens way too often on this show.

[KingOfHearts]

 

It's rather odd to have the scene in which they talk about what they're going to do, and then the scene in which they talk about what they did, and entirely skip the part where they did the thing, but that happens way too often on this show.

Like when Snowing told Emma their eggnapping secret? Good times, good times.

[Curio]

Like when Snowing told Emma their eggnapping secret? Good times, good times.

 

Or when Hook escaped an entire curse by himself, sailed to a place we don't even know about because they've never told us, traded his ship to Blackbeard supposedly (but that could be a wrong assumption because they've been so vague about it), and realm-hopped to NYC to find Emma in her security-protected apartment? Good times, good times.

[HoodlumSheep]

Or when Hook escaped an entire curse by himself, sailed to a place we don't even know about because they've never told us, traded his ship to Blackbeard supposedly (but that could be a wrong assumption because they've been so vague about it), and realm-hopped to NYC to find Emma in her security-protected apartment? Good times, good times.

I agree that they left it vague enough about who he traded his ship to.

But yeah, good times.

Edited April 15, 2016 by HoodlumSheep

[Rumsy4]

And, weirdly enough, we saw them standing in line but didn't get to actually see the haunting. What kind of writing is that, when you see people waiting in line and then later have someone read a (rather badly written) fictionalized account of what happened, and yet we never actually saw the real action? Beginning writers tend to be bad about having a scene in which the characters talk about what they're going to do, and then a scene in which they actually do it, and then a scene in which they talk about what they just did. It's rather odd to have the scene in which they talk about what they're going to do, and then the scene in which they talk about what they did, and entirely skip the part where they did the thing, but that happens way too often on this show.

Or when the Captain Swan first date was so heavily promoted, but we got to see nothing of the actual date other than Will spilling wine on to Emma's dress.

I too was underwhelmed by the phone haunting scene because we didn't actually see them make the call. Snow and David singing a lullaby into the phone receiver would have been awesome!

[Shanna Marie]

We also have Belle talking about what the gauntlet showed her, but they skipped the part where she used it to discover that she wasn't Rumple's weakness/thing he loved most. Meanwhile, we skipped straight from Anna telling them that Rumple lied (shocking!) to Emma showing up, and then to the return of Hook's heart, skipping the part where Emma realizes that Rumple is right that minute up to something and that Hook is in danger and skipping the part where she reacts to seeing his heart nearly be crushed while she's helpless to do anything. And I still don't know why they waited all that time and went to Granny's before putting his heart back.

 

I might also count Anna telling us how she punched out Hans and they took back their kingdom upon their return. Not that I necessarily wanted to see it, but when they left, Hans was in charge and the entire military seemed to have gone along with it, so how did Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff coming back really change things? Plus, we were also told that Elsa imprisoned Blackbeard and shrank the Jolly Roger into a ship in a bottle (with bonus mermaid). All of that sounds more interesting than any of the other Arendelle stuff they showed us.

 

Then there's everyone learning that Regina had decided Operation Mongoose was a bust and it turned out that she was the one getting in the way of her own happiness, though in that case they didn't even tell us about her telling them. We don't even know if they know she changed her mind.

[KingOfHearts]

Another event to add to the list - Mulan and Aurora saving Phillip from the wraith's damnation. They talk about it, go on their quest, then in 3A Phillip is suddenly alive and well. That could have so easily connected Mulan to the Underworld, but we're getting Dorothy shoehorned in instead. Makes me mad. She could have had valuable information for retrieving living souls. It's amazing how A&E bring back characters only to not utilize them for who they already are.

 

A&E said in an interview it was never going to come into play too.

 

 

That would have been a great idea.  Though that's how much Aurora and Philip bores them.  Who knew you could have a Maleficent arc without them (Aurora's 30 second scene almost doesn't count).

Maleficent is another example of a totally wasted character who the writers gave new material instead of taking advantage of what was there. Regina locked her up for 28 years, Emma killed her, Charming broke into her castle, Will stole from her, and Aurora... well, was born. She had every reason to plot revenge, but an eggnapper plot had to be retconned in. And not only that, but she suddenly stopped caring about all the other stuff entirely. Since when was Maleficent a "let bygones be bygones" kind of person?

Edited April 17, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

That would have been a great idea.  Though that's how much Aurora and Philip bores them.  Who knew you could have a Maleficent arc without them (Aurora's 30 second scene almost doesn't count).

Edited April 17, 2016 by Camera One

[Curio]

Maleficent is another example of a totally wasted character who the writers gave new material instead of taking advantage of what was there. Regina locked her up for 28 years, Emma killed her, Charming broke into her castle, Robin stole from her, and Aurora... well, was born. She had every reason to plot revenge, but an eggnapper plot had to be retconned in. And not only that, but she suddenly stopped caring about all the other stuff entirely. Since when was Maleficent a "let bygones be bygones" kind of person?

 

Don't forget Maleficent also had connections with Will (stealing from her castle) and Hook (who somehow recognized her zombie form). And yet, the writers didn't do anything with all of those connections and instead created a brand new connection with Lily and the eggbaby nonsense. Why are these writers so allergic to their own canon? Do they not like what they write in the past and decide to change the current events just because they can and say screw it to continuity?

Edited April 17, 2016 by Curio

[KingOfHearts]

 

Don't forget Maleficent also had connections with Will (stealing from her castle)

Oops, I meant to put Will not Robin. Fixed.

 

 

Why are these writers so allergic to their own canon? Do they not like what the write in the past and decide to change the current events just because they can and say screw it to continuity?

The writers are generally good at setup. They just fail in the execution. So instead of payoff, they setup a new story.

Edited April 17, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[InsertWordHere]

That would have been a great idea.  Though that's how much Aurora and Philip bores them.  Who knew you could have a Maleficent arc without them (Aurora's 30 second scene almost doesn't count).

I will never forgive the fact that they had an episode revolving around sleeping curse survivors, featuring Maleficent, and they totally forgot about Sleeping Beauty.

[Curio]

Oops, I meant to put Will not Robin. Fixed.

 

Well, technically you were kind of right, because Robin was with Will when he stole Maleficent's item. He just didn't know about the theft until afterwards. :)

Edited April 17, 2016 by Curio

[KingOfHearts]

 

Well, technically you were kind of right, because Robin was with Will when he stole Maleficent's item. He just didn't know about the theft until afterwards. :)

It's true that Robin stole from her and that Maleficent probably didn't know it was Will that stole the looking glass. So, in her eyes, she would have blamed them both anyway.

Edited April 17, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[YaddaYadda]

There was plenty of blame to go around with Maleficent. They could have easily filled all of 4B with her. Rumple, Charming and the egg, Regina and the imprisonment, Emma and the dragon slaying part, Hook and whatever he might have done, Will and Robin.

 

Instead of having a how Maleficent got her groove back, we could have had the Aurora/Maleficent thing because Aurora is in Storybrooke. 

 

Instead of doing a centric with Hook/Ursula, we could have found out how they knew each other. And instead of getting that horrible episode Heart of Gold, we could have had more with Maleficent/Will/Robin, and ditched the whole zomg! Zelena is pregnant!

 

They could have made Mal the Black Fairy that they've been talking about and that's part of the show's fabric.

 

You know when you're sitting on a gold mine, and you decide that you prefer the rubbish instead? 

 

I was expecting so, so, so much when we found out Maleficent was coming back. That balloon deflated so very quickly. They killed my enthusiasm for the arc, and nearly did the same with the show.

[Camera One]

It's true that Robin stole from her and that Maleficent probably didn't know it was Will that stole the looking glass. So, in her eyes, she would have blamed them both anyway.

 

Or she wouldn't have blamed them at all.  I mean, it was all "No worries!" to Regina, who met out the special punishment of keeping her underground in dragon form, and "Bygones!" to Rumple, who put an egg inside of her knowing Emma would slice her open.  The only people worthy of her wrath were of course those evil babysnatchers since only the lowest most despicable people who do such a thing.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

 

 

We all agree this show's got 99 problems, but LOL at this article: "12 Steps to Get Once Upon a Time Back To Basics".

http://zap2it.com/20...back-to-basics/

More like 12 Random Things Random Blogger Wants To Say.

 

I don't really see how giving Henry solo adventures, getting rid of Cora, or giving Emma and Regina even more bonding would "bring this show back to the basics".

 

Here are my 12 steps:

1. Add more character moments and kitchen sink conversations

2. Employ more realism in the present

3. Don't jump from plot to plot so quickly

4. Shift the focus back to main characters like Snow

5. Stop using flashbacks as an excuse to use more CGI sets

6. Make Emma the protagonist again

7. Let villains stick to villainy and treat them as such

8. Exercise worldbuilding with working rules

9. Stop using the twisted "heroes and villains" morality system

10. Use men like Charming and Robin as characters, not bland props

11. Don't condense the timeline to a week per arc

12. Show, don't tell. Give us actions to support what the characters are saying

Edited April 18, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[YaddaYadda]

I don't know which thread to put this in, but since he was one of the writers, I thought I'd put it here.

 

Scott Nimerfro passed away.

[Rumsy4]

Oh wow. That's sad. 

[HoodlumSheep]

Dang. Didn't care for his writing, but that's sad nonetheless.

Edited April 18, 2016 by HoodlumSheep

[Amerilla]

Seconded, HoodlumSheep. His last tweet was in Jan on the importance of genetic testing for cancers - wonder if that was cause?

[KingOfHearts]

I was wondering why he stopped writing for the show. It's sad it was probably for health reasons.