Season Seven: The Reset Anticipation/Apprehension/Dread Topic

[KingOfHearts]

1 hour ago, Curio said:

If Adult Henry lost his memories and is living a fake life like Emma did in NYC, I'd hope the writers are smart enough to realize they can't keep him in the dark for the entire season. 

Then again, Henry was most tolerable in 3B when he had fake memories. At least then he acted like an actual person.

[Mitch]

This is turning into Archie Bunker's Place after Jean Stapelton wanted to quit. They talked her into a couple of episodes and moved the action to Archie's bar and filled it with new and boring characters. They would always say Edith was at home, or in the next room and they finally had to kill her. The show lasted a few years but it really sucked and hurt the legacy of the parent show just because Carol O'conner wanted to keep going on and the network wanted to squeeze more bucks out of a known entity instead of developing something new.

[profdanglais]

I can't think of a single subset of the fandom that would be happy about a Hook and Regina pairing. Swan Queen would hate it for obvious reasons. CS would hate it for ruining Hook and Emma's true love. Evil Regals would hate it because don't they tend to hate Hook? Outlaw Queen would hate it for ruining Regina and Robin's soul mateyness. Rumbellers would probably not care. I guess Swanfire folks might like it? 

But seriously, it's such a horrible idea. Please please no. 

[Mitch]

5 minutes ago, profdanglais said:

I can't think of a single subset of the fandom that would be happy about a Hook and Regina pairing. Swan Queen would hate it for obvious reasons. CS would hate it for ruining Hook and Emma's true love. Evil Regals would hate it because don't they tend to hate Hook? Outlaw Queen would hate it for ruining Regina and Robin's soul mateyness. Rumbellers would probably not care. I guess Swanfire folks might like it? 

But seriously, it's such a horrible idea. Please please no. 

Plus, its more fun that they really don't like each other much...but they deal with each other. Regina was best when she and Emma were circling each other Alpha Female-like but each had a grudging respect for each other ( a theme that should have persisted throughout the series..) and lets hope we see that from Hook and Regina. Every male and female "couple" doesnt have to be romantic.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

15 hours ago, Camera One said:

I'm assuming they need Emma back to explain why Hook is alone.  That does raise the issue of how they'll explain why Rumple is alone.  Will Belle return too?  Or will it be a "big mystery" and she will guest star later in the season?

She finally ran off with Will. (most out-of-the-blue pairing ever)

Edited May 18, 2017 by Noneofyourbusiness

[TheGreenKnight]

Part of me is warming up to the idea of Hooked Queen just to sit back and laugh at the fandom as it implodes.

[Arnella]

2 hours ago, TheGreenKnight said:

Part of me is warming up to the idea of Hooked Queen just to sit back and laugh at the fandom as it implodes.

I imagine that is the writer's attitude as well...

[tennisgurl]

22 hours ago, profdanglais said:

I can't think of a single subset of the fandom that would be happy about a Hook and Regina pairing.

You know, if nothing else, it would unite the majority of the fractured fandom in our mutual hatred of a Hook/Regina paring. United in facing against a common enemy... A & E, the true Dark Curse of Once! The only thing they could possibly do that wont make everyone throw their TVs out the window is have them just sort of become snarky friends or something, whereas now they more or less tolerate each other, with one or two nicer moments. I wouldn't really enjoy it, but it wouldn't really piss me off more than anything else about this stupid season.

I just have no idea why they are continuing, and nothing I've heard makes me understand it. The whole reason to make another season of a show, or a sequel or a spin off or anything like that is because someone sees more good stories that can be told with the plot, setting, or characters. This, however, just seems like a cheap way to wring out a few more bucks for the creators, and drag us poor fans along for the ride. I have yet to see one thing come out of the interviews or spoilers that makes me think that they actually have any new ideas, so...what's the point?

[Rumsy4]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

I just have no idea why they are continuing, and nothing I've heard makes me understand it. 

I am very confused as well. To me, it seemed like A&E were really bored with ONCE, and were out of ideas. They didn't even put in the minimal effort to write something interesting or new for the characters in Season 6. It was the same old muck, with added retcons and continuity issues. This was true for even their fav Regina. 

And all the information we have for Season 7 indicates more of the same. Are A&E that desperate for a paycheck?? Did abc strong arm them saying they would be replaced with new Showrunners if they did not continue? 

[scenicbyway]

What might've been interesting...instead of an immediate (this fall) reboot would've been to actually wait 3-5 years.  Sure, who knows if any actors would've been available.  But the idea of adult Henry being alone in Seattle and his Fairytale daughter finding him isn't a bad one.  Even bringing back only some of the cast isn't a bad one, because they could've used the excuse of who was available at the time.  If they aren't going to Steveston, even the sets wouldn't be a problem because they would be new.

It would've made a lot more sense then firing a few in the cast and the others not wanting to come back because (family Snowing and tired Jmo).  A whole new story could've been written with a nod to the cast yet, it wouldn't seem like the old story is being thrown out because it would be years later and changes are inevitable.

[Camera One]

5 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

I am very confused as well. To me, it seemed like A&E were really bored with ONCE, and were out of ideas. They didn't even put in the minimal effort to write something interesting or new for the characters in Season 6.

What we saw WAS their best effort.  They're not bored, except with those pesky characters they wanted to get rid of anyway.  They think they were still writing good stuff.  

Edited May 19, 2017 by Camera One

[Rumsy4]

3 hours ago, Camera One said:

What we saw WAS their best effort.  They're not bored, except with those pesky characters they wanted to get rid of anyway.  They think they were still writing good stuff.  

But pretty much a lot of people in the fandom noticed the drop in quality, regardless of "ships" and what-not. They may have sidelined Snowing a lot more this season, and started sidelining CS and Emma, but what they gave for Regina was pointless and ultimately led nowhere. The whole OQ subplot with the EQ and fake!Robin was pure fan-pandering, right down to the proposal. Rumple got to repeat the Peter Pan arc, but with less sacrifice. The CS proposal drama was worse than soap operaishly bad. They couldn't even care about Untold Stories or Aladdin. I can't think of a single original or well-thought out element this season, unlike with other seasons I disliked a lot (like S4). They completely gave up on character and timeline continuity. It was like bad fanfiction. And now they're writing a sequel to the bad fanfic. 

Edited May 20, 2017 by Rumsy4

[Camera One]

They gave a lot of BS about the whole Regina/Evil Queen stuff, and they probably believe it.  Untold Stories was another shiny toy... they just wanted to show Jekyll was evil and Hyde was the good one.  I definitely agree about the drop in quality, but to me, it's a case of them reaching the limits of their creativity and still not realizing it.  

Just like they don't see how Season 7 is basically a retread.  They're claiming that it will be such a different take, but I have serious doubts.

[RadioGirl27]

A&E are grasping at straws. They are not going to get another show any time soon and they know it. They just want to make this one last as much as they can, even if it meens destroying everything.

[Camera One]

I doubt anyone cares, but here's a non-answer to speculation on EW's Spoiler Room questions.

As soon as I saw the Polynesian mask on the portal door in the hat during theOnce Upon a Time finale, I knew right away that Lucy’s mother will most likely be Moana. — Roger

Not so fast. “To examine those doors as clues to what season 7 would be is not necessarily what they were there for,” EP Adam Horowitz says. “It’s more of a symbolic thing that’s telling us how big our universe is and that there are many places left to be explored.” So, it’s probably unlikely, but never lose hope!

----

So Adam thinks there are "many places left to be explored", eh?  As if he'll actually "explore" any of them.

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

So Adam thinks there are "many places left to be explored", eh?  As if he'll actually "explore" any of them.

Well, if you're going to remind the audience you have a limitless multiverse, just show them 12~ doors.

[CCTC]

I saw an interview of Lana where it came off that she really was not even that sure of what next season entailed.  Part of her vagueness could have been a gag order not to spoil things, but it left me with the impression besides the very basic idea of the reboot, not a lot had been planned besides the girl being the new Henry and Henry being the new Emma and the other characters being in some sort of cursed state similar to season 1.

[Rushmoras]

2 hours ago, CCTC said:

I saw an interview of Lana where it came off that she really was not even that sure of what next season entailed.  Part of her vagueness could have been a gag order not to spoil things, but it left me with the impression besides the very basic idea of the reboot, not a lot had been planned besides the girl being the new Henry and Henry being the new Emma and the other characters being in some sort of cursed state similar to season 1.

Wow... um, could the network hire competent show runners and script writers, and a decent budget for CGI in that case? Wait, what am I saying, of course not.

[Rumsy4]

It was the same thing last season too, though. None of the actors had a clue where their storylines were going, either before the season started, or while it was in progress. Not even the most eloquent of them (like JMo) had much to say. 

[Camera One]

12 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

It was the same thing last season too, though. None of the actors had a clue where their storylines were going, either before the season started, or while it was in progress. Not even the most eloquent of them (like JMo) had much to say. 

It's really hard to tell when A&E are lying.  They will always claim that they had everything planned out.  One could say that they must have a plan of *some* sort because Channing and the other ABC execs signed off on it, but I don't think much of them for green-lighting this horrible reboot idea in the first place.  The fact that they knew this reboot would only include half the cast and yet they didn't bother to give any of them a proper exit storyline in 6B shows their inability and/or lack of care about the characters.  As someone else said above, why should we expect them to treat the new characters any differently.  They're just chess pieces. I wouldn't be surprised if they write this Henry like he were a brand new character... yeah, he's nothing like Young Henry because people grow and change blah blah blah no accountability.  

[Souris]

And that is also why they will have zero problems destroying the happy endings. They really don't care about the characters. It's all about the "shocking" plots.

[Curio]

What I'm most nervous about is the short amount of time A&E have to plot out this entire reboot. This isn't just plotting out a new season which is usually a continuation of an existing story...they're essentially starting from scratch and creating a brand new TV show. The last time they created a show from scratch, they had years to plan out the plot and characters, and even then, they had mentors and executives giving them details on what to change months before they shot the OUAT pilot. But now, they have one summer brainstorm session to plot out an entire new season with no mentor and less executives giving them notes.

And isn't Andrew Chambliss leaving for another show? He was supposedly the writer on the team who was in charge of the continuity and timeline stuff. So if OUAT's continuity was already terrible with him on the team, what is it going to turn into when he's gone? But I guess since Season 7 is basically an entirely different show, they don't have to worry about continuity so much.

[Camera One]

16 minutes ago, Curio said:

What I'm most nervous about is the short amount of time A&E have to plot out this entire reboot. This isn't just plotting out a new season which is usually a continuation of an existing story...they're essentially starting from scratch and creating a brand new TV show. The last time they created a show from scratch, they had years to plan out the plot and characters, and even then, they had mentors and executives giving them details on what to change months before they shot the OUAT pilot. But now, they have one summer brainstorm session to plot out an entire new season with no mentor and less executives giving them notes.

Well, they're basically rewriting Season 1 switching out the genders so it should be okay.  Henry and his WALLS.  Lucy and her heart of the truest believer.  Regina and Hook with their Cursed personalities.  Rumple with his "delicious evil" and mindgames.  A flashback story where Henry and his wife falls in love (insert whatever leftover fairy tale story hasn't been told here).  Regina, Hook and Rumple with backstories about what happened between Season 6 and Season 7.  All they need is a big grand villain, and A&E love writing for those.  If Henry's wife is Rapunzel, it would be Mother Gothel.  If Henry's wife is Princess Leia, it would be Darth Vader.  Etc.  If Henry's wife is Nala, it would be Nala's evil uncle Scar (for a gender-reversed Lion King!).  This stuff writes itself.

Quote

And isn't Andrew Chambliss leaving for another show? He was supposedly the writer on the team who was in charge of the continuity and timeline stuff. So if OUAT's continuity was already terrible with him on the team, what is it going to turn into when he's gone? But I guess since Season 7 is basically an entirely different show, they don't have to worry about continuity so much.

Yes, he stopped tweeting about the show ever since his new job was announced.  Though he was about as useless as the rest of them.  

Remember, this new show would work perfectly for a new viewer, so the old continuity doesn't matter.  They're probably forget to do math and have Henry sire a child when he's sixteen.

Edited May 22, 2017 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

They're probably forget to do math and have Henry sire a child when he's sixteen.

Which is going to make things really weird if his lover is Elana of Avalor.

[Camera One]

I'm still going to put my bet on The Lion King, since it's the bigger blockbuster they haven't touched yet.  Nala will be Henry's wife, the strong female who should have been Queen, but her father is killed by Scar (though we will discover was treated unfairly by Mufusa as a child).  In flashbacks, Henry (who had gone back to the Enchanted Forest to do his Author duties when he turned 18) will encourage Nala (who had become a Bandit) to fight for her kingdom, after an initial encounter where they are antagonistic to each other (maybe Nala will give Henry a scar on his forehead).  But then, Henry "loses" Nala somehow, and he blames himself, going back to The Land Without Magic, too embarrassed to face his family in Storybrooke (because of some other "secret" he has which we will find out... some big mistake he made as Author, so he too is hiding from his destiny).  

Meanwhile, Hook and Regina find out about a new threat which will hit Seattle, and they go to help Henry, only to get caught up in the Curse themselves.  Rumple will be there too but what happened to Belle will be a season-long "mystery".  We will also find out Regina found love in the intervening years between Season 6 and Season 7 and her estranged lover will also be in Cursed Seattle.  A&E will get some well-known actors to play Nala and Scar, to entice viewers to tune in.  

Edited May 22, 2017 by Camera One

[Kktjones]

I've seen people talking about the 10 year time jump. Did I miss something and it has been confirmed that the jump is only 10 years? How would that even work if Henry is only 14 (and really how is he 14 if he was 13 in S5?)? How old would he have been when he fathered Lucy? I think the jump has to be a minimum of 15 years, but probably closer to 20. 

[KingOfHearts]

9 minutes ago, Kktjones said:

I've seen people talking about the 10 year time jump. Did I miss something and it has been confirmed that the jump is only 10 years? How would that even work if Henry is only 14 (and really how is he 14 if he was 13 in S5?)? How old would he have been when he fathered Lucy? I think the jump has to be a minimum of 15 years, but probably closer to 20. 

Or in A&E years, "A long, long time".

[Camera One]

33 minutes ago, Kktjones said:

I've seen people talking about the 10 year time jump. Did I miss something and it has been confirmed that the jump is only 10 years? 

Yes, Adam said Henry is 10 years older in the EW interview.  And no, A&E still can't do math.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Camera One

[Kktjones]

1 minute ago, Camera One said:

Yes, Adam said Henry is 10 years older in the EW interview.

Yikes. So Henry is 24 and he has a daughter that appears to be somewhere between 8 & 10 (the actress is 11)? Any way you do the math, that's just wrong... Then again, math has never been A&E's strong suit...

[Shanna Marie]

44 minutes ago, Kktjones said:

How would that even work if Henry is only 14 (and really how is he 14 if he was 13 in S5?)?

And worse, he was 12 in season 3 when Snowflake was born -- and Snowflake is still a baby. Henry is magically aging faster than his uncle is.

[Camera One]

10 minutes ago, Kktjones said:

Yikes. So Henry is 24 and he has a daughter that appears to be somewhere between 8 & 10 (the actress is 11)? Any way you do the math, that's just wrong... Then again, math has never been A&E's strong suit...

Teenage pregnancy.  See all the parallels?  The mark of great writers.

[Rumsy4]

I always knew Henry was going to knock up some poor girl sooner than later. He was going on dates at 12?/13?, and his parents were still treating him like he was 10. I'm sure nobody gave him "the talk", or educated him on protection. It's not like he was going to school regularly either. Bad combination. 

If Henry was 16/17 when he fathered a child, that's going to be a huge turnoff for me. How old was the babymomma? I can't find teen pregnancies romantic, no matter how "epic" the love story is supposed to be. Unless the mother was older than Henry, and that brings us into creepy SF territory, only inverted. Ugh...

[Camera One]

It's kind of ridiculous they're giving these interviews and saying these things.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that a typical 24 year old doesn't have 11 year old children.  I mean, how stupid do you have to be.  (don't answer that)

[Katherine]

This seems like a no-win situation. If only 10 years have passed, then that means that when Henry fathers a child, he's only a year or two older than he was in season six, which just seems wrong. And it also means that the characters' "happily ever after" lasted a decade at absolute most, which is depressing. If the writers contradict themselves and decide to go back on the 10 years thing (which seems likely once they actually bother to do the math) then that brings up the problem of Hook, Regina, and Rumple not having visibly aged. So either these characters have aged unbelievably well or they've been trapped in a curse for several years, which again means that the supposed "happily ever after" didn't last long at all. And what about Emma and Killian's kids? I always imagined Emma would want another child. But as others have pointed out, this new curse could mean that Killian got separated from Emma and the baby and missed out on years of the child's life. I think it's probably more likely that they won't have had kids, which also makes me sad because it means we'll never get to see it happen. The more I read this forum, the clearer it becomes that the writers didn't put half as much thought into this as the fans have.

[Souris]

I sincerely hope Adam meant "ten years older" than when Henry left town and not "ten years older" than he was at the season finale, because eeeeew. Say Henry left town at 18, that would make older Henry 28, which would of course be the same age as Emma in S1. Because shamelessly copying oneself is the height of creativity, apparently.

That would make the time jump about 15 years.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Souris

[Camera One]

9 minutes ago, Souris said:

I sincerely hope Adam meant "ten years older" than when Henry left town and not "ten years older" than he was at the season finale, because eeeeew. Say Henry left town at 18, that would make older Henry 28, which would of course be the same age as Emma in S1. Because shamelessly copying oneself is the height of creativity, apparently.

That would make the time jump about 15 years.

This was the exact quote, so hopefully it can be interpreted as you suggested:

Quote

HOROWITZ: Jared was amazing, and we couldn’t love him move; watching him grow up has been amazing. Now, we’re going to see what that character becomes in a 10-years-older version. 

[Camera One]

I just read another disturbing quote...

Quote

KITSIS: Like American Horror Story? We talked about that, but we didn’t feel that it was right for our show because the truth is, is you know we still love writing Rumplestiltskin. 

[Souris]

12 minutes ago, Camera One said:

This was the exact quote, so hopefully it can be interpreted as you suggested:

Eddy had mentioned Henry leaving town in the previous paragraph that Adam was building on, so here's hoping!

Edited May 23, 2017 by Souris

[Camera One]

Plus the actor is a lot older than 23 or 24.

[KAOS Agent]

My assumption is that they'll show this "epic" romance between Henry and his baby mama via flashbacks, which means Henry would need to be old enough to be played by Andrew West (who is 33) and not Jared. At the very least we should see a 15 year time jump, but a 20 year jump would be necessary to make the story truly palatable.

[CCTC]

8 hours ago, Camera One said:

KITSIS: Like American Horror Story? We talked about that, but we didn’t feel that it was right for our show because the truth is, is you know we still love writing Rumplestiltskin. 

There might not be another sentence that could be written that would make me balk more at watching the next season.

[Olivia Y]

I remember in the final(?) season of Sabrina the Teenage Witch the actress who played one of her aunts wasn't available so they had this plot point where she got turned into a ball of wax for a year (or something along those lines). Maybe Emma will appear as an inanimate object for the season and then reappear for the final when the new curse gets broken.

Took me a while to get through this whole thread, but I was wondering why so many people seem to be invested in the Wishrealm? I thought that was just a throwaway concept for that couple of episodes and we're not meant to think about it again. Much like so many of the other realms. 

Jennifer Morrison posted a happy birthday message to Ginnifer Goowdin on Instagram yesterday (along with a cute photo of them at dinner, which was probably from a while ago). She also frequently posts photos withe Jamie Chung, who I recall took a not-so-subtle swipe at the writers not long ago (possibly for abandoning whatever storyline they had set up for Mulan). I wonder if that influenced Jennifer's decision to quit the show. 

I'm almost completely certain that the reason the writers aren't giving any details is because they don't have any. They're most likely just making things up as they go along so there's no point in trying to discern clues or whatever from what we have. Also, would they have to recast the young girl if she grows too quickly between now and start of season 7?

[daxx]

The reason I'd like to see the Wish realm is it leaves our faves happy beginnings alone and they get to stay happy while still allowing the show to do something with the actors/characters we have left. Pretty much the only reason. Well, perhaps the selfish reason that I'd like to see Colin play a different version of Hook.

[Rumsy4]

50 minutes ago, daxx said:

Well, perhaps the selfish reason that I'd like to see Colin play a different version of Hook.

See--it's your fault. The Genie granted a twisted version of your wish. :-p

I don't care about the Wish Realm at all. But as @daxx said, it would've been the perfect way to keep on the remaining trio and not mess with the Happy Beginnings of the originals.

[Shanna Marie]

11 hours ago, KAOS Agent said:

My assumption is that they'll show this "epic" romance between Henry and his baby mama via flashbacks, which means Henry would need to be old enough to be played by Andrew West (who is 33) and not Jared. At the very least we should see a 15 year time jump, but a 20 year jump would be necessary to make the story truly palatable.

That's what I was thinking, that if Henry is 16 or so when he has this epic romance, then he could be played by Jared. It would be weird to have totally different casting for 14 (though it really should be 13, at the most) and 16, when the actor is actually that age. Then again, they had different casting for Emma at around 14 and at 17, so who knows? But with Emma, it was a one-episode flashback of her at 17, not an ongoing flashback storyline.

[Arnella]

Well, they went with that statutory-rapey storyline with Douchfire and 17 year old Emma and thought it was a love story for the ages {gag}.   I seriously wouldn't put anything passed them.  Some witch could pull a Graham on Henry at 15 and A&E will somehow explain how it not rape - statutory or otherwise.  {GAG}

[Noneofyourbusiness]

10 hours ago, Olivia Y said:

I remember in the final(?) season of Sabrina the Teenage Witch the actress who played one of her aunts wasn't available so they had this plot point where she got turned into a ball of wax for a year (or something along those lines). Maybe Emma will appear as an inanimate object for the season and then reappear for the final when the new curse gets broken.

Zelda got turned into a kid in order to save Sabrina from being stone, and in the finale she was a ball of wax temporarily so that Sabrina's mother could attend the wedding without being turned into a ball of wax for laying eyes on Sabrina.

18 hours ago, Camera One said:

I just read another disturbing quote...

If only they loved giving Rumplestiltskin meaningful character development.

[pezgirl7]

On 5/22/2017 at 0:38 PM, Camera One said:

I'm still going to put my bet on The Lion King, since it's the bigger blockbuster they haven't touched yet.  Nala will be Henry's wife, the strong female who should have been Queen, but her father is killed by Scar (though we will discover was treated unfairly by Mufusa as a child).

I can't see them making any of the main characters from The Lion King Hispanic. Yes, they've done some unusual things with casting before, some good, and some bad, but I think this would cause a lot of people to call foul.

I was thinking that maybe Lucy isn't Henry's biological daughter. He could have adopted her, at any age, and then that way, Henry might not have ever gotten married, and Lucy's real parents could be inconsequential.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

1 hour ago, pezgirl7 said:

I was thinking that maybe Lucy isn't Henry's biological daughter. He could have adopted her, at any age, and then that way, Henry might not have ever gotten married, and Lucy's real parents could be inconsequential.

I don't think so, since they've said Henry's romance with Lucy's mother will be significant. To be adoptive parents together, they'd have to have been married. It's more likely they're her biological parents.

[pezgirl7]

3 minutes ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

I don't think so, since they've said Henry's romance with Lucy's mother will be significant. To be adoptive parents together, they'd have to have been married. It's more likely they're her biological parents.

Oops I missed that part! LOL Well she could be his step-daughter then? She just doesn't look like older Henry at all.