drunkalice

Of course RM breaking up for good would be great for OQ, but it would still make cheap writing on every front imo. Marian was brought in to bring drama, frozen off only to be cheated on and then woken up to give her blessing to the cheating husband. Then she fell ill AGAIN to bring drama AGAIN. The speech that had given her some sort of dignity and agency, if still cheap, was completely overlooked with the new turn of events and she gave no sign whatsoever to be bothered or saddened by what you rightfully don't see as a happy ending for anyone. Who's happy with the SL, in the end? Not the OQ shippers (I am one, btw), certainly not Marian's (I'd be a fan of hers too, even though the writers did EVERYTHING they could to make her impossible to grow fond of) and definitely not me as someone who deeply loved Robin and now can only see him as a spineless, weak-minded shadow of a man.

amomentintime3

Are you guys assuming that Robin and Marian got back together? I didn't see that at all. I thought that Robin left because, logically, Rowan was going with his mother and Robin wouldn't want to be separated from his son. Lots of divorced dads move to be closer to their children, even leaving girlfriends that they love behind because children come first. I did not see this as a romantic reunion for them at all.

I was pretty disappointed with 4a. I discovered OUAT on Netflix and ate up the first three seasons pretty quickly (loved S3), but like in all shows I have my favourites and least favourites. I felt like 4a really veered away from the main core of characters to focus so much on Frozen (which, admittedly, I have never seen). Unlike previous seasons where there was only one main villain (per half) this one was balancing not only the villain but guest hero (!) story lines as well. I have never connected with Emma as a character and this half was also very Emma-intensive.

What really irritated me was the Rumble storyline. I adore Robert Carlyle so I was logically going to enjoy Rumple. On screen we saw someone flip quite dramatically from who he had progressed to last season to a single-minded villain. Off screen the writers are giving interviews explaining what is driving him (addiction, fear, having been controlled and resurrected to watch his son die) but on screen we had nothing to demonstrate this (baring the convo with Regina and the but at the town line that felt manipulative). It is a MAJOR pet peeve of mine from the past when a writer says something in interviews but does not translate it to screen AT ALL. Sooner or later you have to go with what is on screen, and looks like Gold has fully transformed back into the worst version of Rumplestiltskin). I am not excited to watch Rumple because one of the main villains in 4b, I know Mr. Carlye will kill it, but I find myself not caring much about his character anymore. I'm glad Belle banished him (though a cane might have been nice...I'm sure she wasn't thinking of that in the moment though). Emilie and Robert did rock that scene though.

So I won't be watching 4b but maybe I will PVR it and check it at the end.

Kelaine

The Robin/Marian thing was a mess from the moment they introduced it, IMHO. There are some legitimate conflicts in the initial scenario. A guy's wife has been dead (so he thinks) for years. He has moved on in an honest, healthy fashion. Then, his wife shows up alive. For her, it's only been a matter of days. For her, this is the same as coming home after three days away and finding her husband in another woman's arms. Also, because of what's happened, she's in an extremely vulnerable position of starting over a new life and needing his help and support. She also has very strong reasons to dislike the new woman that have nothing to do with that woman dating her husband.

Unfortunately, there were two problems from the beginning. First, this is the kind of complex character story Once often has trouble with. It was a scenario that didn't play to their story creation strengths. Second, we've been told for months that Robin and Regina are a destined, True Love pair.

Apparently, that means we get treated to every cliche any guy ever used to justify cheating on his wife because he's fallen for another woman--and we're supposed to buy it because they're TL.

Would it have killed them to have talked to a couple of marriage counselors? Some family therapists? And maybe some counselors who deal with children of divorce? To ask for ideas that would make what they wanted a good choice rather than an easy choice?

In the end, Robin proves that absolutely none of his time in this world has been spent reading any of the research on the effects his actions will have on his son. He's teaching him that people are disposable and that your obligations to them aren't based on commitment or the other person's needs, they're based on your wants. His son will also probably worry, having seen his dad dump his mother for reasons he doesn't fully understand, that his dad will dump him some day if something better (like a new sibling) comes along.

Except, when a new problem came along, Regina told Robin he had to man up and think of other people. Good for her.

fox24

Well one can argue that it's not good for parents to stay together just because they share a kid. I have seen that fail in R/L. I do agree the story was sloppy from the beginning.

Anyway there are two ways Robin can come back without Marion dying they find a way to cure her heart once they break the barrier Marion and Roland can live in a nearby town like Augusta and Robin can visit them on weekends

DR76

There is no justification for Robin cheating on Marian. Both he and Regina realized it after their one night stand. But that doesn't mean he has to stay with Marian for the rest of his life, especially since she has made it clear that she knows about him and Regina. Marian doesn't want to be with a man who loves someone else. And I don't blame her. But thanks to Ingrid's spell (and Sean Maguire's movie project), they have to leave Storybrooke . . . together. Marian cannot survive in 21st century America alone. At least not yet. When she learns to adjust, hopefully both will realize their marriage is over and break apart.

Yes, the writing was sloppy. I would have liked to see a Robin/Marian scene in which they discussed Regina. I find it hard to believe that Marian simply "guessed" and decided to leave Robin. But the outrage over Regina and Robin's one night stand and the bad writing will not lead me to stop hoping they will eventually become a couple. Why? Because despite their mistake, it's obvious that they genuinely love each other. Their time together was not simply a case of two people indulging in their lust. "ONCE UPON A TIME" is not the first TV show that featured adultery between a couple that genuinely loved each other. And it won't be the last.

But for this whole mess, the one person I blame is Emma . . . for changing the timeline and saving Marian in the first place. And the problem is that she is the one person who has not suffer any real consequence for what happened.

drunkalice

I am not. But they still are married, at least in a *conventional* sense (not sure how the laws of Sherwood forest work for a widower who's no longer a widower and has moved to another world/age) and they are going to live together for a while. They have to *break up* somehow, but I do assume Marian, even though the script didn't bother to give us her thoughts on the matter after she blessed her cheating husband's love story, knows he didn't exactly willingly come back into her loving arms.

ICA.

Gwen107

I cannot agree with this at all and I do not understanding your way of thinking or what you think Robin should have done because would it have been better for Roland if Marian and Robin Hood stay together for although he is in love with someone else and she knows it too and does not want them to be together like this either? So they only stay together for Roland although both are unhappy like that and could be happier if they were parents together and friends but no longer married and with the possibility to find romantic happiness with a new partner. How do you think Roland will feel if he notices it that Robin and Marian are together but unhappy and they are only staying together for his sake? Children pick up on this quickyl and they often blame themselves which is terrible. I'm sorry but some sentences in your posting are so polemic for me that they have no connection to the series at all like saying that Roland will think Robin will dump him any minute only because Robin Hood and Marian are not staying together romantically but Marian and Robin are still parenting him together.

Violet Faust

Let's just hope the nearby town Marian and Roland move to isn't Haven...

Kelaine

First, I'm not saying it would be better for Robin and Marian to stay together. Thirty years apart with him having moved on may be the killer for their relationship.

You're also assuming Robin and Marian have nothing that can be salvaged. Fair enough. Maybe they don't. I didn't see that in the show. I saw them as till having a lot in their favor--but he's thought she was dead for over 30 years. I get that. This may be over.

But, whenever a guy says he's leaving his wife for the other woman because he's setting a good example for the kids, he's lying to himself.

fox24

I wasent happy with the way the Regina/robin/Marion triangle was handled and this is someone who loved Oq in 3b and still likes there chemistry. I felt Robin should have least been torn since he and Regina only dated 2 weeks and unlike Emma/ Neal who were broken up for ten years. R/m were in a good place and Robin said he woul do anything to get her back in 3.22. However, since Marion gave her blessing I am willing to be okay with it but I don't want Marion to die and have Roland lose his mother nor to have Robin later abandon his child
which is why I vote for the town barrier comes down and Robin is able to go back and forth to see Roland

sourburst

Episode 12 was so sad Belle and Rumple destroyed me

DestinyWritten

What confuses me is that I thought anyone could be the writer of the fairytale book. After all, didn't Pinocchio write his story in to the book in season 1? I think this whole concept of "villains never get their happy endings" line is all in the villains heads. It's the course of action they take that write the story. It's just an idea that I have been thinking about...

DR76

So what do you want him to do? Stay with Marian until Roland becomes an adult . . . despite the fact that he doesn't love her the way he used to, Marian's awareness of his feelings, and her own desire not to be with a man who is in love with another woman? All for the sake of "setting a good example" for Roland?


I say that it's better for Robin to honest about his feelings than do a "David Nolan" and keep both Regina and Marian stringing along out of fear what others might think of him?

Kelaine

If a relationship is over, deal with that separate from a new relationship you want to form. That's the question Robin should be addressing. One person's make-or-break issue in a relationship may not be someone else's. I get that.

Now, I don't get the idea that Robin is a passive, inactive entity. He's not some helpless pawn who has no power over how he feels or how he acts. Relationships are things that can be nurtured and strengthened. After all, the reason he's no longer in love with Marian is because, for him, he's had thirty years to move on--he's had thirty years where that relationship was over.

If Robin feels there's something there that is worth nourishing, then he can work on it. If he feels that time is past, I get that too.

He has choices that other than cheat on Marian or leave Marian. David's problem was that he didn't want to hurt Kathryn by leaving her even though the relationship was over/had never existed and he wasn't willing to face that.

As for Marian, here I'm speaking from experience. When a woman gets dumped--that is, when the guy decides it's over before the woman knew it was over--there is crying and talking to friends for hours and eating large quantities of comfort food (usually ice cream, but I can understand if Marian passes on that) long before the woman is in a place where she can tell her rival the road is clear and she can step in, no hard feelings. Trust me, I've known a lot of female human beings in my time.

On those rare cases where she says it's OK before all that, it's not OK. She's just holding it all inside to try and hide what's really happening. She's still going to go through all those phases (and, trust me, if you're the guy, you do NOT want to hear what she's going to say about you to her friends).

I've seen kids be devastated by their parents' divorce. I've seen them question their self-worth, wondering if their parents will stop loving them or if the divorce is their fault. I've seen kids lose faith in parents who they feel betrayed the other parent--especially if there was an affair involved. I have never known someone who congratulated Dad for dumping Mom for the other woman.

I've seen kids go through pain from divorce even when I'd say the divorce was the right thing. The fact that it hurt is not, in and of itself, an argument against it. Kids where a parent was abusive, had a substance abuse problem, a mental illness, or other problems that the other spouse couldn't or shouldn't have had to deal with still had problems. We're talking about breakups that were probably 100% in the child's best interests. They still hurt.

But, do not ever tell a kid having an affair and dumping their mom for the other woman put you on some kind of moral high ground. Do not tell a kid you did that for him. If you say that, you're trying to invalidate the pain of the person you cheated on and the pain of your kids who don't understand what's happening. You're saying it because, if you can convince yourself what you're doing is good and that it doesn't hurt anyone, then you don't have to feel any guilt over your choices.

Which is where we get back to choices. If it's over, end it because it's over. If what you had or have isn't worth the cost to you of trying to make it better--or you don't think the end result can be good enough to justify the hard work of trying to save this relationship--then admit that. These are honest reasons for ending things. They're valid reasons, especially in Robin's case (once again: thirty years).

Gwen107

Kelaine I don't want to tread on your toes, but I think you bring too many issues from situations in real life to a situation on television drama that is not much at all like in real life with time travel, magic spells, curses, the rushed writing of Kitsis and Horowitz where things happen even quicker than on other television shows... and I can understand that many of the things you talk about in your postings can happen when couples with children seperate, but what can happen in real life situations like that are not often what does happen in the fictional situation on Once upon a Time.