Monday, May 15, 2017

A Happy Ending. No, Really. Serious. That's The Ending. Go Home. Why Are You Still Here?

Recap/Review Of Once Upon A Time - The Entire Last Bit. SPOILERS!


I'd like to say that I fell off the OUAT blogging wagon because of some kind of illness or crazy-life thing that was completely out of my control and that took all of my time and attention away from fun things. But honestly? I didn't really feel like talking about it too much. It happens.

But after the events of the Season 6 finale (hereafter called the Not-Series-Finale), I felt the need to talk about everything that's happened since this post. In-universe and otherwise.

The Black Fairy was a heinous bitch. There. I said it. You know how much I hated Cora? Fiona was all of that, plus a side of Dolores Umbridge. This was no more evident than in the finale, where she became Season 1 Regina all over again. I kind of want to go back and rewatch Season 1, just to remind myself how much I despised Regina back then and also to reflect on how much worse it could have been. Then again, that was probably the point - you're supposed to hate the Black Fairy for everything she's done to Emma and Team Storybrooke.

But Fiona's evilness had one good thing about it - it gave all the heroes a chance to have one more big hurrah before everybody (mostly) splits off into other enterprises. I actually enjoyed revisiting the Enchanted Forest with everyone in their present-day personas. I also would have enjoyed exploring more of those other realms again. But, time was limited.

Before the finale, though, a few things -

- Fiona's backstory - Don't care. She got everything she deserved.

- Rumple could have been a Savior - Well, crap happens. Though that angle makes the Dark Swan storyline even more layered and interesting.

- The Wedding Musical - What's not to love? Captain Swan gets married, people get to sing, the Dark One makes a joke about not singing. And Zelena's number was my favorite (Hook's was great too, but they used that as one of the sneak peek promos, so it kind of lost its "oomph" beforehand).

So... where do we go from here? Henry at some point goes to live in the Enchanted Forest, grows up, has a daughter, entrusts her with the storybook, and they all end up back in the real world with Henry repeating his mother's origins.

I sure hope this just isn't a carbon copy of OUAT 1-6.

From the cold open of part one, I had the thought that the dad in the EF could be an older Henry. The fact that he had the storybook kind of solidified that theory. And then it turned out I was right.

What do I think of this "twist"? Um... I'll get back to you on that. Honestly, the whole show could have ended with the pseudo-Thanksgiving dinner at Granny's and I would have been satisfied. I even would have been okay with the "Henry! I'm your daughter!" stinger being the ending. Tie that ribbon around the package as if to say "they still had adventures and you'll just have to explore those in your own theories."

But ABC had to renew the show, flagging ratings and all.



Truthfully, I'd pretty much said all my goodbyes to this show - and when the onslaught of announcements came that most of the cast wasn't coming back, I figured that was that. But nope. The suits at ABC want to keep it going. For reasons that have nothing to do with storytelling and everything to do with beating a dead horse.

I dunno... maybe the show will feel new and exciting with different characters and storylines. But I have my doubts. I just don't want this to turn into something that we're begging for it to be canceled because it's overstayed its welcome.

But at least the Charmings finally moved out of that itty-bitty studio apartment and got an actual house. About barking time.

***
What's next? I haven't really decided. I haven't been terribly inspired by a lot of the TV shows I typically watch lately. I'll finish watching this season of Agents of SHIELD, even though I'm kind of "meh" on the whole endeavor. The DC TV universe lost me at the midseason finales (honestly, four separate TV shows was a lot to have to keep track of. Made even more obnoxious by the fact the CW took the shows off Hulu and put them on their crappy in-house app). Even Doctor Who has been going full potato over the last little while (I'm still going to give it a few more episodes before I declare it a lost cause. At least, until next season). I do still have the Sailor Moon recaps to get through, though. And if Viz ever gets off their collective rear-end and released the new dub of the third season of Sailor Moon Crystal, that would be nice.

Maybe I'll go back and read more books or something. I'll think of something to write about. There's always something.

(That's my "I'll always find you," btw.)