Primal Slayer

I think it is just an excuse to set up Emma for a win by the end of the season against the QoD, and it is her turn down the "evil" road.

renka21

Agree, the producers are grasping for straws IMO, after season 1 they have been making this up as they go

Primal Slayer

They are just to hellbent to try to think outside of the box.

Captain Riterra Smith

I think you're right. And those phrases always make me uneasy.

Primal Slayer

They just keep going along the same line.

Introduce villain in FTL, somehow they get to Storybrooke, they know Rumple and make a deal with him since he is ALL POWERFUL, we find out that they have interacted with Snow/Charming at some point, someone is related to someone.

Jinzle

If Rumple is trying to "sneak" into town, why is he walking down main street just as pretty as you please?

fox24

Well it said potential for wrong we know still has insecurities the Queen could make her doubt her parents, say Henry prefers Regina, and Hook and cause her to snap. I don't think she'll be as dark as Regina was

Primal Slayer

I found that whole scene weird. I think there is no way that they would just allow Ursula/Cruella to enter Storybrooke and then just let them go on their free way. You don't know what they are about, you would be keeping tabs on them for a while, watching them.

DR76

Why shouldn't Emma have potential for darkness? She's a sentient being. A human being. And like all human beings, she has the potential for both good and evil. Being the product of "true love" isn't going to prevent that. It is still possible for the right situation or the right moment to either tempt Emma into committing evil or surrendering to evil. No one should be immune from that.

I wonder if people forget that real love can be just as chaotic as other emotions. This show has already proved that love can drive people to do either good and evil.


In regard to the QoD, don't jump the gun. The story has just begun. As for Emma, I had earlier stated my belief that Emma should have the potential for evil like everyone else. Real love isn't all popping heart, puppies and bright lights. It can lead to something ugly or sinister as well. And perhaps Emma is at a moment when her potential for evil is at its strongest.

I'm sorry but I don't believe that Emma is the personification of goodness and purity. If that is what Kitsis and Horowitz were trying to sell in the past, it was just bad writing to me.

DigificWriter

And we're back.

I really liked the opening scene with Ursula and Cruella showing up at the Forbidden Fortress unannounced and, at least from Maleficent's POV, uninvited. It made for a nice setup of their eventual partnership, and gave us a chance to see Cruella's powers - which are awesome, I might add - in action. I also liked that it was Rumple who brought them together.

I didn't really get why Regina destroyed the bird painting in the Mayor's office, but liked the rest of the "normal life" montage, which I thought was an effective way to transition from the first meeting of the QoD and Rumple in the EF and present-day Storybrooke.

I liked the scenes in the library with Belle and Hook, especially the way neither of them could really bring themselves to truly vilify Rumple. It made for some nice character development for both.

I do wish the writers had made it a little less obvious that Rumple was still playing puppetmaster relative to freeing the fairies and unleashing the Chernabog, but I can understand what they were going for and why they went that route.

Speaking of the Chernabog, including it was a stroke of brilliance, as was making it feed off of the darkness - or potential for darkness - in someone's heart.

It continues to baffle - and perturb - me how people who call themselves fans of the series can criticize it for including or utilizing story ideas that are not only central to what it is conceptually, but that aren't a secret. Adam and Eddy have made it clear - repeatedly - that the series as a whole - and this season in particular - is, among other things, about what makes someone a perceived hero vs. what makes someone a perceived villain, and Emma having in her heart immense potential for darkness is very much in line with that idea and is entirety consistent with the series' other core conceptual tenets.

I thought it was interesting that the assumption that the Sorcerer and the Author are one and the same turns out to be a false one, and thought it was great that it turns out to be yet another example of Adam and Eddy not doing things the predictable way. I also thought it was interesting that Blue seemed hesitant and slightly jumpy throughout the entirety of her conversation with Emma, Regina, and Henry, and am hoping it won't take us too long to learn why.

I'm not sure quite what to make of Snow and Charming's behavior in regards to Cruella and Ursula right now, but am hoping we'll get a clearer picture of things on that front soon.

If there's one thing about the episode that bothered me, it's the incongruency in Maleficent's flashback costuming. I know this isn't the first time we've seen her in the EF wearing the classic movie-style black dress and headdress, but for some reason it bothered me in tonight's episode that she wasn't in the purple garb we saw her in in The Thing You Love Most more than it did in Heroes and Villains.

Primal Slayer

I don't think that anyone thinks that Emma is the personification of goodness and purety, but when it comes to a monster finding that sniffs out who has the greatest potential for evil and it goes after Maleficent the first time and Emma the 2nd time when Regina and Snow are around, things just don't seem to add up.

And when introducing some of the most evil/powerful/iconic villains, don't show me an entire hour of them failing at everything. Snow and Charming THREATENED them like they were nobodies. Ursula/Maleficent fought like two little school girls upon meeting each other, there was just nothing intimidating about them.

It is easy to be a fan of the show and not agree with every single thing that they do and wanting the show to be the best it can be. I see the potential in the show and feel that the writers are holding themselves back by not thinking outside of the box and continually going with their A/B/C ideas and just switching characters out each season or half season.

DR76

Like I said, it is possible that Emma is at a point in her life when her potential for evil is at its strongest. It might not be the same for Regina and Snow. Not at this point.

Primal Slayer

Could be and if they do it believably I will be totally fine with it.

Hookified

She destroy it because it was something Snow put in there while she was mayor. Regina was not fond of the painting but she was all like its your office so do whatever.

DigificWriter

So you're basically criticizing the writers for staying true to what the show is and always has been about. All righty then.

It seems as if there's this idea out there that writers are only good if they act like J.J. Abrams, which makes absolutely no sense given that Abrams' best works are those in which he adhered to the 'KISS' model and didn't try to overthink things narratively.

It will never cease to baffle and perturb me how writers/storytellers can be criticized - by fans, no less - for sticking to familiar patterns and tropes, especially when those patterns and/or tropes have proven to be successful and/or are an integral part of whatever story they're telling.