"The pilot is very deceptively, in some ways, the template for what the series will be. The question we got from everyone, including the network, when we wrote the pilot and produced it was, “Well, where does the series go?” The idea is that, yes, we’re going to go back and forth between worlds, but exploring these characters and the mysteries of what makes them who they are is where the show will go. At its heart, it will be a character show, and the mysteries will be characters mysteries. That said, we can’t resist the temptation to put in little Easter eggs and big pictures stuff, but it’s really about who these characters are, where they’re going to go, how they’re going to grow, and how they’re going to figure out the situation they’re in." ~ HOROWITZ


"The core idea of the show was you know Emma, the savior, arriving and bringing the happy endings - Also the idea that happy endings weren’t actually an ending but a continuing journey and that’s what we’re seeing particularly with Hook"
— Adam Horowitz - “Dark Swan” S5 DVD Commentary