Once Upn a Time Reactions Part 6

And now we wrap up season 4.

Season 4 Part 2:

Camelot! Another reference to Camelot! I wonder what unlucky knight lost their hand...I hope it's not just a model.

I'm also hoping the Sorcerer they keep referencing is Merlin. Too bad they killed Lancelot already. Hopefully we'll get a flashback to fill that in.

Ursula and Maleficent I get. They've appeared before. But...Cruella? How the heck does an old 1920's flapper type fit into the Enchanted Forest? Is she an eccentric sorceress who uses animal skin as magic components? I was expecting her to be modified, not appear straight-up in her movie outfit.

At least the dalmatian motifs are finally paying off, four seasons later.

Rumple: I'm assembling a team.
Ursula: For what?
Rumple: We're going to find the writers of this show and kill them.

Sadly, if you kill the Author, the Great Will of the Macrocosm will just reset everything.

"I don't know what those tentacles are for." - Maleficent

Okay, THAT was a good one-liner.

Bald Mountain! I knew Chernabog would get in here eventually. Only a matter of time with the other Fantasia reference.

The writers seem to be giving all the best snarky lines to Regina now. She has Emma's season 1 sarcasm.

Maleficent's costume in season 4 got a serious upgrade over season 1. Nice.

Season 4a was fun and good. Since I like Frozen, there was minimal annoyance and I really liked a lot of dialogue and costumes. Much better than all of season 3.

We'll see if this half can keep it going. Giving Snow and Charming a hidden dark secret that's only just coming to light and has never been mentioned before ever is kind of dumb. I'm worried I'm about to be very disappointed.

And Rumple and Belle. RUMPLE AND BELLE. That had better pay off in a good way or I'll be pissed.

Wouldn't it be funny if the donut shop in Storybrook was on Drury Lane and staffed by the Muffin Man and Gingerbread Man?

Belle...Your taste in men sucks. I hope Rumple rips his heart out.

I'd be fine with Belle's dark side (seen in her cursed life) coming back and going on to be the wife of the Dark One.

Honestly, I really want them to follow along the lines of Integra and Alucard from Hellsing. Him as the servant monster and her as the increasingly tough leader. That's the kind of dynamic I was hoping they were building toward.

Ernie Hudson is Poseidon? Long way from busting ghosts.

I like the back story for Regina and Maleficent. Now we finally have an idea of what happened to Philip and Aurora in the timeline.

That scene where Rumple is disguised as Hook. UNG. Feels. I really want him to get Belle back. I hope the actual Hook gets to punch Will a few more times.

Still wondering who is the father of Maleficent's baby.

Did they combine Ursula and Tiana? That's actually interesting.

I was wondering when they were going to use the voice stealing bit. Nice execution there.

So, Elsa can put ships in bottles now? That's a far cry from ice powers. Or was it the Snow Queen?

I'm still struggling to figure out how Cruella's back story fits the aesthetic of the Enchanted Forest. Unless she's from another realm?

Damn Regina. That was cold. I kind of hate you for that.

I like how their using the red under Emma's eyes to show her descent to evil. Though the "heroes don't kill" thing is stupid. Prince Philip killed Maleficent in the original. Snow White killed the Queen in the original tale. Fairy tales had plenty of cases of the heroes killing the villains as punishment for their crimes.

I loved the reference to Disney when they mention that Walt was one of the authors for the OUAT universe. Wonderful.

I want Emma's car to end up as Bumblebee at some point. I just do.

I like Zelena in season 4b a lot more than season 3b. She's much more competent in how she approaches things.

Season 4b is picking up. A bit of a meh start, but good progress.

Is it wrong I always think of Robin Hood as a fox because of the Disney film? I keep expecting the Sheriff to turn into a wolf.

I feel like the Sheriff got mashed up with Gaston. Belle's Gaston was actually a halfway decent fellow.

The author's origin story is set in the 1960's. Just after Walt Disney passed away. THAT IS SO COOL.

I like the guy they picked as the Sorcerer's Apprentice. I hope they get him out of the hat eventually.

...Oh, there we go.

I guess the writers realized the time travel of season 3 was well done, so they decided to do yet another "two part AU" story for the season finale again. I'm not complaining too much.

...They made HENRY the lead on this? This is going to hurt.

Belle and Rumple are married with kids? YAY. I feel happy now. This AU isn't all bad.

I love how they poke fun at the OUAT fanbase with the "Heroes and Villains" fan scene. They also lampshade our society's tendency to worship villains over heroes.

I though this would be bad, but Henry's actor is actually not bad anymore. I guess he recovered after the whole puberty thing.

"Who could ever love me?"
"I don't love Will."

Right in the emotions.

DAMN IT WRITERS.

MERLIN NAME DROP.

Whoo! (Called it.)

"Now we must ride...to Camelot!" If they don't put folks banging coconuts together or swallows somewhere in there I'll be very disappointed.

--

Assessment: season 4 was much better than season 3. Not quite as great as season 2, but better than season 1. It had some pacing issues here and there, but the tension was better.

The Frozen tie-in was a lot of fun. If the writers of Frozen 2 have a clue they'll borrow some of that material. I hope we get to see Elsa and company return!

The second half started with an absolutely gut wrenching scene. Seriously. That was the worst emotional distress I've felt from a TV show in a while. Good job, OUAT writers. And screw you. At least the resolution was okay, if mostly deferred to season 5.

Second half had more pacing issues than the first. A bit of the Peter Pan "We need to wander around and find the x before anything happens" syndrome. The flash backs were better. The concluding two episodes did not feel as punchy as the two-part finale for season 3, probably because you knew Henry would win in the end. With season 3, you had no idea what might trickle down into the future via butterfly effect.

I did like both Rumple's story arc and Emma's choice. Lily's father search should be fun. Maybe the daddy will be Mushu? Or Smaug? Or voiced by Sean Connery? Who knows?

And MERLIN. FINALLY. We get to go to Camelot after 3 seasons of teasing! If he's not the crazy one from Sword in the Stone I'll be unhappy. I'll be fine if he's a Connecticut Yankee, though.

So...yeah. Season 3 was disappointing. Season 4 has convinced me to keep watching. I just hope season 5 keeps being okay.