Recurring Characters: From Dwarves to Knights to Crickets

[FormerMod-a1]

The place to discuss recurring characters; they may have been regulars at some point, but can't quite support a topic of their own. Characters like Red, Lily, Grumpy, Jefferson, August, Archie, Granny...  just to name a few.

Edited July 28, 2015 by stacey

[Mathius]

The place to discuss character that don't have an individual thread and are here for an ep or two and then gone for a while (sometimes years) and then they reappear. Also known as "secondary and tertiarty" characters. Characters like Red, Grumpy, Jeffereson, August, Archie, Granny... just to name a few.

Ruby's absence REALLY ticks me off, because she's an important character in terms of her relationship to the Charmings. Is it THAT hard to find someone who resembles Megan Ory enough to recast in the role?

Edited March 29, 2015 by Mathius

[KingOfHearts]

 

Ruby's absence REALLY ticks me off

What I understand is that Snow and Red were supposedly BFFs in the Enchanted Forest, then they never really interacted in Storybrooke post-curse.* If anyone should be babysitting Snowflake, it's Ruby. Snow desperately needs some non-family friendships, aka not Henry, Charming, Emma or Regina.

 

* The exceptions are the initial reunion and the 3B finale, but those were both group gatherings. They hardly interacted at all.

Edited March 29, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

In some ways, the disappearing and reappearing characters are one of the highlights of most episodes, even if the scene usually lasts less than a minute and those characters have 5 lines.   I don't know if that's a plus for the show, or just sad.  

 

Just in 4B...

 

"Darkness on the Edge of Town": Yay, it's Blue and she didn't want to be nice to Regina. 

"Unforgiven": Go Geppeto go!

"Enter the Dragon": Did I just blink or was that Aurora.

"Poor Unfortunate Souls": Yay, it's Ariel.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Camera One

[Mathius]

I really think Ruby's situation is A&E being ridiculously stubborn and saying "no, we love Megan, she's the only Ruby for us!", similar to their sentiments toward Sebastian Stan.

The difference they fail to recognize is that Jefferson at least wrapped up his necessary role on the show, so his absence isn't glaring. He got his daughter back and his hat's been destroyed, what's there left to do with him? Whereas Ruby is someone Snow SHOULD be confiding in as opposed to Regina, she SHOULD be someone looking after the baby, she SHOULD be with Granny and actually give the poor old woman something to do on the show again.

Ruby's character is more important to have on the show than Megan Ory is. I can't believe that they'd recast a one-shot character in order to (sadly) give him an elevated role, but they won't bother to recast a necessary character who has been a part of the show since Day 1.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Mathius

[Camera One]

I don't think A&E have any interest in writing for Red, even if Megan Ory were available, which she was after "Intelligence" was cancelled.  I agree with you wholeheartedly that Snow should be confiding with Red, over her pregnancy in 3B, her worry for the baby, her relationship with Emma, her juggling being mayor and mother, etc. in 4A.  But if the writers were only willing to give Snow screentime as a prop to Regina in 3B, then I suppose there is little reason to think they would bother to add a character to support Snow.  Every half-season has their guest stars, so a character like Red just never gets her day in the sun.  I mean, when Ory was available and they wrote a scene for her (eg. in "Witch Hunt"), it was to launch a Snow/Regina conversation about how much Regina missed Henry.  What a missed opportunity.

[HoodlumSheep]

The difference they fail to recognize is that Jefferson at least wrapped up his necessary role on the show, so his absence isn't glaring. He got his daughter back and his hat's been destroyed, what's there left to do with him?

He's one of he characters that could have easily been left behind in the EF after dark curse #474738288. All the writers simply have to do is have some character go, "oh, he didn't get swept up in the last curse." There. End of story.

I wish we'd see more Smee. For some reason he has become my favorite secondary(?) character. One of the reasons I'm always so excited about Hook centrics is because that means we get to see him. At least we can assume he's probably always hanging out at the bar. I wonder what he thinks now that the Jolly is back?

One thing about 4a/4b is that there has been a decent amount of shady Blue on our screens this season. I have decided to compare her to the Eagles in the hobbit/lotr except for 10x shadier. she tries to not interfere with what's happening in the world (except when she can or will), and that's why she hasn't poofed all the villains into toads or something.

speaking of fairies, I miss Tink. I know the actress is busy with her show, but what are we supposed to assume has happened to her? Based on what we've seen of her character, she probably wouldn't be content with staying with the rest of the fairies and would be trying to help the heroes, or comforting Regina, etc. And I can't imagine her being sucked into that hat either.

We know for a fact that she's in Storybrooke because she was in a 3b episode, so where is she? did she build another treehouse in the woods somewhere?

And at this point my headcanon for Nova is that she wasn't brought over during the last curse, and is now in charge of all the EF pixie dust business, essentially becoming new, better Blue.

Also, where has Sidney been chillin' after he's free from Regina's clutches? If he was still running the newspaper, he'd be having a field day with all the drama lately.

Edited March 30, 2015 by HoodlumSheep

[Souris]

I think there was clearly some BTS animosity or something between Megan Ory and A&E, and that has affected their willingness to write Ruby back into the show even when Megan was available -- or her willingness to do it.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Souris

[Shanna Marie]

Wasn't Megan Ory promoted to a series regular in season 2 -- and then they promptly forgot to give Red/Ruby anything to do at all? She was kind of like the Will of that season, stuck in the opening credits and then existing as human scenery, if she even showed up at all. Then wasn't there something about them releasing her to go work on something else in spite of her being a regular?

 

I guess they promoted her in burst of enthusiasm, then got distracted by something shiny and no longer cared. Probably it had something to do with their plans to go to Neverland, where they wouldn't really need Storybrooke cast, and then they lost her. And in their push to make Regina the BFF to both Snow and Emma, they couldn't very well have an actual friend who had helped them instead of trying to kill them around.

 

What I find rather odd is that they don't even seem to bother with extras. They've got a person devoted to scattering leaves on the ground, but they can't rustle up a few people to make the town not look like it needs tumbleweeds rather than leaves? As many people as there are watching them shoot when they're on location, they can't pick a few people out of the crowd and have them walk purposefully down the street with shopping bags or parcels or be coming and going from a shop in the background of a scene? There seem to be maybe ten people living in the whole town, and then the villains lurking on the outskirts.

[Delphi]

http://community.ew.com/2015/03/29/ouat-bottle-episode/

Small article I don't think it's been posted, but pretty relevant to this current topic.

[FormerMod-a1]

I seriously love the ideas in that article.  

[Serena]

I think there was clearly some BTS animosity or something between Megan Ory and A&E, and that has affected their willingness to write Ruby back into the show even when Megan was available -- or her willingness to do it.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they are low-key pissed at each other. Meghan because they tied her up for a year and then gave her nothing to do, and being a regular on a show made it impossible to book other jobs, and A&E because she asked to be let go.

[Shanna Marie]

Archie pretty much had to stay offstage during the whole Author arc because he'd have had to point out how unhealthy it was to place all responsibility for one's happiness on some external object or person. Right now, he could be used for family counseling sessions.

[Camera One]

Likewise, Granny and Blue need to be kept offstage during most of a season since they'd have to point out that almost every decision the heroes make on this show are stupid and makes things worse.

 

Meanwhile, Gepetto is still passed out in his garage.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Camera One

[Zuleikha]

I think Ruby's absence would benefit from an explanation because of her useful tracking and shapeshifting skills, but she and Mary Margaret weren't BFFs in Storybrooke and I didn't interpret them that way in the Enchanted Forest either. They shared important events in their lives together and were certainly friends, but they also weren't platonic life partners or anything. Based on what we saw, Snow and Ruby weren't together during a lot of Snow's bandit on the run time, life with the dwarves, and life with Charming. So I never found myself thinking, hmmm... Snow should really be sharing this moment with Ruby or going to Ruby for advice. But whenever they show Granny or Snow tracking, I do question why Ruby's not doing it.

 

Lack of writing for Blue has been a problem since s2, so it's not new, but it does drive me crazy the way the show forgets about her until she's absolutely needed. 

[KAOS Agent]

I think Archie is currently holed up in his house protecting Pongo from Cruella and her mitten making.

[Camera One]

It would be interesting to see his reaction.  Ditto for Aurora and Philip seeing Maleficent in town.  But then again, Henry, Emma, etc. hardly blinked at Ursula and Cruella.  

[Souris]

I'd love to see Mulan's reaction to Emma & Hook being together. And Tiny's.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Souris

[Writing Wrongs]

Dr. Whale has been MIA since Baby Snowflake's birth, I think.

[Shanna Marie]

I was mentally comparing downtown Storybrooke to my hometown, and I think I know why it's become so deserted: Curse 2 not only brought over the mysterious mansion, but it created a Wal-Mart Supercenter near the edge of town (the other edge of town, not that same spot on the road where they always go). That's where all the townspeople are. It's the reason few people other than the main characters and the occasional random dwarf are ever seen at Granny's -- they're all off eating at the MacDonald's in the Wal-Mart (or the Chili's next door -- I think Chili's are naturally drawn to Wal-Marts). It's the reason Belle and Hook can set up a conspiracy board in the middle of the library -- everyone's buying discounted paperbacks at Wal-Mart. And it's the reason there are never any customers in Gold's shop -- why buy your own old stuff back when you can buy new stuff? And it's the reason there are no people walking around town with packages and shopping bags. Pretty soon Bo Peep's butcher shop will have to close and she'll have to hope she can get a job at Wal-Mart. Sneezy's pharmacy is probably on its last legs, and he'll be running the Wal-Mart pharmacy soon. Archie's over there observing people as he researches a paper on consumer behavior. Ruby's now an assistant manager. That's where she went.

[Camera One]

Curse 2 not only brought over the mysterious mansion, but it created a Wal-Mart Supercenter near the edge of town (the other edge of town, not that same spot on the road where they always go).

 

Ah, so the TRUE Darkness at the Edge of Town.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Camera One

[FurryFury]

Dr. Whale has been MIA since Baby Snowflake's birth, I think.

 

Ironically, he became a zombie.

I agree with those wanting a recast for Ruby. I loved Meghan in the role, but the character is more important for me in this case than the actress. If you've done it with Robin (whom nobody really gave a damn after his first episode), why not do it with a character that was once popular? Of course, the real reason is that they simply don't care about Snow anymore. They'd probably write her out if she wasn't as connected to Emma and the premise of the show.

[HoodlumSheep]

I wonder how Abigail and Frederick are doing and if they've been officially married yet.

[orza]

What I find rather odd is that they don't even seem to bother with extras. They've got a person devoted to scattering leaves on the ground, but they can't rustle up a few people to make the town not look like it needs tumbleweeds rather than leaves? As many people as there are watching them shoot when they're on location, they can't pick a few people out of the crowd and have them walk purposefully down the street with shopping bags or parcels or be coming and going from a shop in the background of a scene? There seem to be maybe ten people living in the whole town, and then the villains lurking on the outskirts.

No, they can't just use random people off the street because OUAT is a union shop and everyone who appears on-screen needs to be a SAG member and get paid to scale. Background actors cost money and if they don't really add anything to a scene it is an unnecessary expense.

 

This show is no different than other shows that are produced in the real world. Actors cost money and are subject to availability. Every show has to work around that with recurring characters and they all handle it pretty much the same way - don;t talk about them if they don't appear on-screen. They also only have 42 minutes to tell a story. Inserting lines of filler dialog in scenes to reference minor characters that do not even appear in the episode is dumb and boring and a waste of limited screen time. I would rather see that time spent on the current story than talking about characters who may or may not make a future appearance.  

 

The "leaf lady" is a set dresser. That is a full-time job and when she is not scattering leaves she is taking care of the sets in the studio.

 

I think the animosity between Meghan Ohry and A&E is also because she talked about internal personnel stuff with the press. That was a dumb move.

Edited April 3, 2015 by orza

[KingOfHearts]

 

Inserting lines of filler dialog in scenes to reference minor characters that do not even appear in the episode is dumb and boring and a waste of limited screen time. I would rather see that time spent on the current story than talking about characters who may or may not make a future appearance.

Lost was very good about writing characters out of the show, though. Very rarely did people disappear without reason, and they were almost always back to make an appearance when it would be too weird for them not to be there. The problem with Once is that there are too many characters and they're always introducing more. With more new characters come new actors who need to be paid. I don't think budgeting is an issue with secondary characters. It's the ADD-style writing and the lack of consistent actor scheduling that's more to blame.

 

I personally wouldn't mind a few throw-away lines to explain absences. It wouldn't take anything away from the main story, imo. They could even say something like, "Ruby is babysitting" or something. The inconsistency is only really apparent with Ruby and Mulan. 

Edited April 3, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

There's a carelessness with the use of the minor and supporting characters which shows a severe lack of forethought.  In just "Best Laid Plans", there were a few cases of that.  For example, they had Blue there when August first arrived, but she's MIA later when August is telling Emma about the Rogue Author, and when the Rogue Author was freed from the book.  Blue should have been able to supplement, contradict or support what August said, since she would presumably know more about the background of the Author.  But clearly, they still want the Author stuff vague to provide more room for "surprises" later on.  Another omission was Gepetto.  Adult August was now back after the child was kidnapped so there's no way Gepetto wouldn't be at his bedside.  In fact, we haven't seen the old man since he was left lying in his garage.  

 

Then, there's the Apprentice, a brand new supporting character they made up for Season 4.  Why would the all-powerful Sorcerer have such an incompetent and powerless Apprentice?  He was turned into a mouse by Rumple in 4A, easily found in Storybrooke and trapped in a hat, easily found by Ingrid, unable to figure out her hiding place, forced to make a deal with her, and now, he can be controlled by an "author" that he himself chose and hired.  WTH?

 

Speaking of anyone-who-was-under-a-sleeping-curse-stayed-awake, where was Aurora?  Wouldn't she have called Snow and Charming?  I know that's irrelevant to the plot, but you can't help but ask these questions in a fantasy/sci-fi type show with a universe that has been created populated by iconic characters.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Camera One

[Zuleikha]

I don't think lines that establish where characters are or why they're not present are throwaway. They're lines that respect the audience's memory. It was important to Mulan's story that she ended up with Robin Hood and his Merry Men. That was her final scene. So when they're in Storybrooke 2.0 but all of a sudden she's not a part of them, it's confusing and distracting for the viewer and having to resolve it with the "well, Jamie Chung has moved on to bigger and better things" takes us out of the story.

 

Likewise, in "Enter the Dragon," Maleficent putting Aurora under the Sleeping Curse was a memorable, climactic character moment, so it's reasonable that some people will be wondering what Aurora is doing while she's awake and everyone else is asleep. "Enter the Dragon" was just two episodes ago! And Maleficent is the main villain of Aurora's story, plus she and Phillip have a new baby, so it's not likely that Aurora would just calmly ignore the sleeping spell as some weird Storybrooke thing that would pass.

 

With Blue, it's like the show wants her to be under a memory spell where we forget about her when she's not on our screen. I often do because I know the writers have no interest in taking her or the fairies' presence seriously, but it is sloppy writing for them not to bother involving her when she logically should be involved. 

[orza]

Every show has characters that appear in a single episode or a short story arc and then we never see them again. It if were a big problem for viewers that characters are only seen once or twice then networks would be doing things differently, but it is not an issue for the vast majority of viewers. No one can afford to cater to the tiny minority out on the fringe because it would alienate all the mainstream viewers who are their bread and butter.

 

This show was never planned as an anthology series with a constantly changing cast of characters. In general. those kind of shows don't do very well because most viewers would rather see then same group of characters week after week. I have zero interest in a show that focuses on lots of minor characters portrayed for the most part by actors with limited range. There is a reason that some actors only appear in bit roles. Most of the minor characters on the show are fine with one or two lines but, as we have seen, cannot carry longer a scene, never mind a whole episode. And if they are not seen again most viewers will not miss them.

[Camera One]

To me, many of those actors playing minor or intermittently appearing characters are very capable and have had much more extensive supporting roles on other shows.  The vast majority held their own when they were given a centric in Season 1.  Many shows can juggle and make use of these types of characters in a meaningful but supporting way, while maintaining the focus on the main cast.  Who knows, maybe the lack of these characters did matter to some of the viewers who dropped the show along the way.  If viewers don't care about them at all, then the writers wouldn't be arranging to have a cameo or two in every episode and advertise it via twitter.  

[RadioGirl27]

 

Every show has characters that appear in a single episode or a short story arc and then we never see them again. It if were a big problem for viewers that characters are only seen once or twice then networks would be doing things differently, but it is not an issue for the vast majority of viewers. No one can afford to cater to the tiny minority out on the fringe because it would alienate all the mainstream viewers who are their bread and butter.

It's not that I want every single character that has ever appeared in Once to show up again, but if you are dealing with Maleficent and Aurora is in Storybrooke, you need to show her, even if it's just a scene where Emma or Snow reassure her that they are not going to let Mal touch her or her baby. Or, if you are turning little Pinocchio in adult August, you need to show Gepetto's reaction. It's, like always with this show, a writting problem.

[myril]

This show is no different than other shows that are produced in the real world. Actors cost money and are subject to availability. Every show has to work around that with recurring characters and they all handle it pretty much the same way - don;t talk about them if they don't appear on-screen. They also only have 42 minutes to tell a story. Inserting lines of filler dialog in scenes to reference minor characters that do not even appear in the episode is dumb and boring and a waste of limited screen time. I would rather see that time spent on the current story than talking about characters who may or may not make a future appearance.  

 

 

 

While I agree, that this show is not different than other shows, has to work with availability and keeping budget, I disagree about some recurring characters being just some minor characters not worth referencing. IMO Red was no minor character in season 1, got her own development arc, which went on in season 2. Red was a recurring character showing, that the whole curse and family feuds business of Rumple, the Mills' women and the Charmings was effecting significantly other people, including the interesting question, if being in a world without magic was maybe even a good thing for some (something they dropped though the minute it came up). As Archie could have been, and was at the beginning, the voice of scepticism and reason in both worlds, Blue a mysterious power in the background sparking plenty of conspiracy theories, or there was Grumpy as the average working class guy. By now this show has been reduced to be some revenge soap opera royal fairy tale drama mostly ignoring the cost the idiot behavior of royal villains and heroes have on average people, peasants, pretty much what most of us would be in such a world.

 

Having these supporting recurring characters and showing their stories as well was something that made this show different from the average takes on fairy tales on big and small screen. I fell in love with the show in season 1 because it was not just princesses and kings and powergrabing evil wannabe queens and despots. It was a world of people and not just some squabble of royales. That charm is gone and with it went my love.

 

 

 

I think the animosity between Meghan Ohry and A&E is also because she talked about internal personnel stuff with the press. That was a dumb move.

 

Did she? I haven't read anything like that, but maybe someone has a source for it.

 

I am more than aware that any person with some PR sense would try to keep smiling and be nice in public even if there were something, but unless someone has official statements I take all that bad blood talk as just gossip and speculation. Let us speculate about the story and character development, but think we should not speculate about relations in the cast and crew, I don't find that charming for any fandom (and that goes not just for the situation with Meghan Ory).

Edited April 5, 2015 by katusch

[Rumsy4]

By now this show has been reduced to be some revenge soap opera royal fairy tale drama mostly ignoring the cost the idiot behavior of royal villains and heroes have on average people, peasants, pretty much what most of us would be in such a world.

One of the things I enjoyed about S1 was figuring out which fairy tale character the real world personalities belonged to. While Dreamy was a dreadful episode, I do think reducing Grumpy to mere town crier was a terrible idea.

I think restricting Snow and Emma's main interactions to Regina, Hook, David, and Henry hurts their credibility as empathetic people. They've become too self-absorbed. Even defeating the villain of the month is presented as something that mainly concerns the safety of the core 5 to 6 people. ONCE has lost its sense of greater community. It's a story just about the royals, their lovers, and their enemies now. No one apparently ever thinks about the common folks.

[Camera One]

I think restricting Snow and Emma's main interactions to Regina, Hook, David, and Henry hurts their credibility as empathetic people. 

 

Yes, and it completely ignores the premise that these are rulers of kingdoms.  It's even worse than that... they can't even be bothered to write a sad reaction when a friend like Blue gets "killed" or when other friends get turned into Flying Monkeys. It makes them less than complete individuals.  

[Shanna Marie]

The costs/challenge of extras or crowd scenes shouldn't be something unique to this show. Other shows filmed on location seem to manage it. There are people on the beaches rather than deserted beaches on Hawaii 5-0. The New York sidewalks in Person of Interest look almost as busy as the real thing. Friday Night Lights managed to fill football stadiums instead of only having the main characters sitting there. If the streets of Haven are completely deserted, it's because some Trouble has kicked in and the main characters see it as a danger sign. There are cars driving down the streets and people for the main characters to pass as they move through town.

 

That's why it's weird that Storybrooke is pretty much deserted. There are no cars. People aren't walking down the street. We only see the main characters. If everyone's holed up in their personal bunkers after one too many monster attacks, then they should at least tell us that. There's supposedly an entire kingdom living in this town, but we only see maybe ten people.

 

It's particularly weird that Aurora's missing in the arc that centers on Maleficent, considering they brought her back for the Disney Princess Mommy & Me group (the kind of thing I wish this show would do more often), which was just enough to remind us that she's still in town, and that makes it even stranger that we've yet to see her learning about Maleficent's presence. They even got the actress long enough to show Maleficent putting her to sleep in a flashback, but they couldn't touch base with Aurora in the present? She would have been immune to the sleeping spell, so where was she?

[Camera One]

When I was rewatching last night, they did bring aboard a bunch of extras for the 4B premiere.  And even in "Unforgiven", there were a few random people walking around in the background.  Maybe the problem is moreso that the characters act as if there's no one else actually lives in this town, and it is rare that any of the representative townspeople have any reaction to what's going on.  Wouldn't people be banging on the Mayor's door about the Chernobog, and the free visa given to Ursula and Cruella to enter Storybrooke?  So all those concerned citizens harping at Snow don't care now that Regina's back in charge?  Since she and Henry are using the Mayor's office as if it were their kitchen table.  

 

In "Unforgiven", Maleficent prefaced her info about the Tree of Wisdom with "according to the fairies" or "the fairies say" or something to that effect.  So how about asking Blue about the tree, and HER take on why the tree rejected them, instead of just believing Maleficent's off-the-cuff random interpretation of the magic of that tree?  Pretending that these minor characters don't exist makes the characters' reactions and actions nonsensical.  

Edited April 5, 2015 by Camera One

[Zuleikha]

Per IMDB, Sarah Bolger is a lead in a new show, so that may be why they've only been able to get her back for glorified cameos. I don't know anything about TV show contracts. I imagine it's a fine line between locking down the actors so they're available when needed and not being a-holes to them by keeping them from bigger, better parts. I wish Aurora and Phillip had just been left in the Enchanted Forest if their contracts weren't such to guarantee they'd be available when needed. 

[Camera One]

From what I could find, Sarah Bolger's new series "Into the Badlands" is 6 episodes and began filming in New Orleans a week ago.  It probably works both ways, though.  If A&E had intended to do a heavy full-on Maleficent/Sleeping Beauty storyline in 4B and needed Aurora as much as they used Elsa or Anna in 4A, then she might have been more likely to set aside time in her schedule for that.  But for random insignificant cameos, you can't tie up someone's schedule for months.  

[Delphi]

I actually don't think there is any bad blood between Meghan and the creators, to be honest. They had Ruby present in 3b for a few episodes abd brought her back for literally eight seconds in the 3a finale. I think it's more along the lines that that they don't know what they want to do with Red or don't have the time to it and Meghan doesn't want to restrict her schedule for a role that requires so little of her every three episodes, much the way she left in season 2. Its a waste of Meghan's time and the shows budget. I have no doubt that if they wanted to give Red an actual storyline in season five Meghan would be back.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Delphi

[Whodunnit]

I thought back when Belle and Rumplestiltskin were married that Friar Tuck should have officiated, but at least it gave Archie something to do.

[Mathius]

Speaking of whom, his absence was glaring in the last episode. Shouldn't he be concerned that Cruella kidnapped his dog?

[orza]

Raphael Sbarge has other stuff going on. The appearance of minor recurring characters is subject mostly to actor availability. None of the actors can live from just the occasional appearance on a single TV show. They need to have other work lined up. If a minor character is missing from a scene it is most likely because the actor was busy with something else.

[Camera One]

On rewatch, I didn't like August's scenes.  The actor delivered the lines with a weird knowing look which made it seem like he didn't believe the lines himself.  I found him to be better in S1/S2.  It doesn't help that I still don't buy that August garnered all this info from The Dragon, or how he knows any of this.  I also don't blame the actor for horrible condescending lines like, "You're not the unbelieving woman I knew" or whatever he said.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

Especially during the explanation in Best Laid Plans, his childlike smiling was awkward in a tense moment. His line deliveries in 4B have been a little unsettling, imo. He seems so out of place.

Edited May 3, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[RadioGirl27]

Yeah, I like Eion a lot, but his acting was weird in his scenes this season. I don't know if it was a bad acting choice or just disinterest, but something was off.

[HoodlumSheep]

My one problem with August is that he's a little too mysterious-like. I liked him well enough in season 1, and the mysteriousness was fine back then because he knew about the EF/magic stuff and Emma didn't. But in 4b he still acts like he knows a lot more than he lets on, and I wish he'd tone it down.

[Curio]

Just saw Patrick Fischler as a random character on Silicon Valley. Is it weird that I think he looks much better rocking the natural silver hair with the dark brows? I don't know why Once wanted him to die his hair dark for the role of Isaac, because the lighter hair is a much more distinguished look.

Edited May 6, 2015 by Curio

[Camera One]

Maybe they were used to him with dark hair on "Lost"?

[Mathius]

Since Lily's going to be sticking around for a while, I thought she deserved her own thread.

I see her presence on the show now as having two possibilities:

1. She'll be Emma's stand-in while Emma is the Dark One. The light savior going bad, the dark savior going good...sounds about right.

2. She's Ruby's replacement: a brunette girl with kind of a bad attitude who has difficulties with shapeshifting into a monstrous form and has a mother figure with the same abilities.

[HoodlumSheep]

I'm glad that Lily seems to have gotten over the revenge on Snowing idea quickly.

I enjoy her character enough. i'm hoping we can get some more Lily/Mal scenes.

It'll be interesting to see who she interacts with the most from the main cast while Emma's gone.

You got Mal and Regina that can help teach her magic, the Snowing dynamic, I think she'd get along with Hook and Will. granted it's this show, so we'll probably never see any of that.

Edited May 11, 2015 by HoodlumSheep

[Camera One]

Patrick Fischler (Issac, The Author), on his stint on "Once Upon a Time":

 

PF: This has been a pretty fantastic job. I didn’t audition for this, I got offered this because these guys, Eddie [Kitsis] and Adam [Horowitz], wrote on Lost. When I got the call to do this, I remember my manager calling and saying, “You’re not going to believe this, but it’s The Author.” At the time, I’d only watched a little bit of the first season so I didn’t have a huge knowledge of it. But it seemed like a pretty big deal, and it’s turned into a pretty great gig. This was another character where I found him vocally. It’s a fun show because it’s very theatrical, very over the top. In a lot of TV acting you have to be very simple, but this is a show where you can really go for it. So I found a little vocal thing for him and it’s been a real joy.

 

http://www.avclub.com/article/patrick-fischler-mad-men-lost-and-secrets-mulholla-218573