Once Upon A Time Season 5 Discussion Thread -Spoilers

[JD]

Glad to hear it. I still love the show.
So I wonder who the "dueling brothers" could be?
I've been trying to think who else they could bring into the show, but now that they've done Hercules and Brave, I'm starting to have trouble coming up possibilites.
Looking through the list of Disney animated movies on Wikipedia, I could see Tarzan or maybe Hunchback of Notre Dame having potential.
What about humanizing animal characters from movies like The Lion King?

 

[Enterprise is Great]

How about the Brothers Grimm?

 

[trekkiebaggio]

I still want them too visit Narnia. And I know Jafar was in the Wonderland spin off but I'd like to see Aladdin and Jasmine too.

 

[John Clark]

Glad to hear it's back for another season

 

[Morpheus 02]

Yea, Regina!

She really became a hero. And glad Henry met his namesake.

 

[DigificWriter]

After two episodes' worth of disappointing narrative decisions, Once returned to top form with tonight's episode (which is the 101st of the series in spite of what places like Wikipedia show) by not only offering up a very strong milestone episode and giving us a chance to see some familiar "guest characters" again, but also finally shedding light on one of the few remaining unrevealed backstory elements introduced way back in Season 1 (how, why, and when Henry Mills the First ended up in a heart box in Wonderland).

 

[Gryffindorian]

This was a very good midseason premiere. The interaction between Regina and her late father was very touching. The elder Henry was a man with good intentions, always trying to guide his daughter to the light path, in life and in the hereafter. It appears this version of the Underworld isn't really hell per se; it's Purgatory. Now that her father was successful in convincing Regina to stay and help the others, his soul moved onto a better place.

It was nice to see old and new characters like Cora, Peter Pan (and later Cruella) - and Hades. Can't wait to see Hercules next week.

 

[JD]

This was a great return.
The flashback was a nice story for Henry Sr. I was a little confused though, I thought Regina hadn't seen her mother since she banished her to Wonderland? I guess you could get around that by saying she was talking about the second time, but it still seemed like a potential inconsistency to me.
I loved getting to see all of the returning characters.
Hades was a lot more low key than I was expecting. I was expecting a bigger more over the top performance along of the James 'Hades. Even if it wasn't what I was expecting, I did like what we got here and he seems like he should be a good villain for the rest of the season.
I'm really looking forward to getting to meet OUaT's versions of Hercules and Megara next week.

 

[Mr Light]

Great episode and I really geeked out at all the returning characters.
I'm getting sick of these flashbacks, though. How many more new unmentioned stories can they cram into the "Evil Queen Hunts Snow White" era? I don't follow the minutiae enough to know, but are these new stories consistent with Season 1 and whatnot?
Also, I was severely disappointed that the Underworld was just the pre-existing sets with an orange light filter. I was looking forward to seeing a spooky hellscape. Oh well. Budget.

 

[Naira]

^ Me too, I'd like a change of scenery.

It was a nice episode. Nothing memorable, but nice. I love how expressive Lana Parrilla is. She is a very good actress. Jennifer Morrison on the other hand is anything but expressive, she only seems to have one acting face for all emotions: pain, surprise, anger, disbelief...

I miss full seasons! With all those winter breaks, I never seem to remember plot details, it's all fuzzy to me.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

I loved the fact that Regina used the remainder of the potion to talk with her Dad instead of with Daniel.

She really had grown over the last 5 years.

Having Henry meet him was a nice touch, especially since she never bothered to say he was adopted. Just, "this is your grandson."

 

[Dream]

I was surprised the 100th episode was a Regina episode. It was good, probably the best in a while. Nice to see Henry Sr finally get some kind of resolution.

They should never do that Hades CG blue fire hair ever again, it looked so cheesy! Some things only work in animation!

 

[Dream]

Michael Socha describes his time on OUAT as "Soul Destroying"

Fuck me, yeah. Massive, massive deal. When I first got there and did the spin-off [Once Upon A Time In Wonderland], I was working an awful lot. It was great to work in the green screen studios and all that sort of stuff. It opened my eyes and I got to see a completely different world. I got to see LA. I got to live in Vancouver for two years, eventually.

But then I joined the main show and I wasn’t really used, so I found myself in Vancouver for a long time not really doing owt, which fucked me up a bit really. I thought, if I’m going to be here, fucking do something with me. I’ve got a boy at home and it’s crucifying me being here and not working. If I was here working, I’d feel I was doing something at least, but it kind of fucked me up a bit really.

Wonderland was incredible, but Once Upon A Time, I found it quite soul-destroying. My mam came out for three months eventually because I just wasn’t doing owt. I found it sort of unfair. It wasn’t the fault of the powers that be, it was just the way the cookie crumbled I suppose, but I didn’t really enjoy it by the end.

Link:
Michael Socha interview: This Is England, Once Upon A Time

 

[Kai "the spy"]

They should never do that Hades CG blue fire hair ever again, it looked so cheesy! Some things only work in animation!

Especially since Greg Germann does not need it.

 

[Arrrrgggh]

They should never do that Hades CG blue fire hair ever again, it looked so cheesy! Some things only work in animation!

It wouldn't have looked bad if they actually did the effect justice. The problem is the effect didn't look like his hair was on fire; it looked like someone scooped out his brain and the top part of his skull and filled it with some blue flame whose flames stopped just above where his hairline was. It was horrendous.

 

[Gryffindorian]

This was a great return.
The flashback was a nice story for Henry Sr. I was a little confused though, I thought Regina hadn't seen her mother since she banished her to Wonderland? I guess you could get around that by saying she was talking about the second time, but it still seemed like a potential inconsistency to me.

Cora (Barbara Hershey) made an appearance in 2013 and even came to Storybrooke to try to win over Regina.

 

[JD]

Oh, sorry I wasn't clear enough there, I meant before she came to Storybrooke.

Michael Socha describes his time on OUAT as "Soul Destroying"


Link:
Michael Socha interview: This Is England, Once Upon A Time

Usually in these kind of situations I would try to find a way to defend the show, but I don't think there is one in this case. They even made a pretty big thing of moving him over from Wonderland, but then never did anything with him. I was hoping he was going to used to tie the events of Wonderland into main show, or at least for some more appearances from Anastasia, Alice, or Cyrus, but I don't think we even hear their names mentioned. I can't blame him for being pissed.

 

[Mr Light]

Yeah that was a bizarre decision. Why add him if you didn't have any idea of what to do with him? What was his final appearance?

 

[Gryffindorian]

I had completely forgotten there was a Wonderland spin-off.

 

[Gryffindorian]

While the actor who played Hercules was quite handsome, I personally didn't like the way he was portrayed on the show. (1) He was a depowered version of Hercules. If he defeated the Nemean Lion, how on earth could he have failed in defeating Cerberus, thereby allowing the creature to kill him and send him to the underworld? (2) This episode was his only appearance, which is such a wasted potential for great storytelling. I thought he would take on a more prominent role, the way Peter Pan and the Queens of Darkness did.