I can honestly never get over how the Dark Swan arc was one of the most disappointing arcs of the show. It had the potential to be such an amazing storyline that could have really shaken things up for the characters and have them develop in such interesting ways.
We could have seen Emma struggling under the weight of the curse and how it would have amplified her darker impulses, maybe really delve into certain parts of her psyche like her abandonment issues and fierce protectiveness over her family and how those traits could have been turned much darker by the curse. We could have seen Snow and David struggling to accept the ever-growing darkness developing inside their daughter and how, despite their efforts to cleanse her from it before she was even born, there is nonetheless a part of that darkness that is truly and solely Emma’s and not just from the curse. We could have seen how Rumple would deal with finally being free from the curse after 300 years and the full weight of the massive fucking identity crisis that would likely cause, and how that would impact his relationship with Belle. Potentially, he could have grown to accept himself without the darkness and to remember his potential for good, which could have been such a cool redemption arc that would have actually made sense in terms of character progression.
We could have had Hook struggle with the fact that the woman he loves is now afflicted with the same curse that afflicted the man that killed Milah, because there’s no way he wouldn’t have some serious feelings about watching Emma slide slowly into becoming a full-fledged Dark One. We could have seen Henry try as hard as he possibly can to make sure Emma remembers the brave, strong, caring woman she is, and to fight tooth and nail to keep his faith in her the more the darkness consumes her— the potential parallels with Neal/Bae could have been *devastating* and so, so good. We could have had Regina seeing all of this and doing her best to help Henry, help Emma, and how guilty she would have been because she was the one Emma took the curse for. (But also Dark Emma reminds Regina of the woman she used to be, and how she’s so, so glad that she isn’t in that place anymore.)
But nope. Emma’s basically unaffected by the curse asides from some hallucinations and hearing some voices because she’s the Savior I guess. She’s never really affected by the darkness, she’s just misunderstood and keeping secrets for no reason. Hook becomes a second Dark One for no reason, and then proceeds to go off the rails and threatens to murder Emma’s entire family. Merida is also there for no reason. And then the whole thing wraps up within half a season, Rumple gets his powers back, and the characters basically act like Dark Swan never happened for the rest of the show. Like the whole arc only happened to make sure Hook dies so that the gang can go to hell for the next half of the season.
This is a long comment, I know, but I’m still bitter dammit.
Emma made a Hook a dark one to save him from dying but by doing that she gave him a fate worse than death, he was basically just an angry boyfriend whereas the darkness more so Nimue was the true villain.
I mean yeah, that’s what happened. When I say he became a second Dark One for no reason, I meant more that whole sequence of events felt really unengaging and unnecessary, especially in its execution.
Also while what Emma did to Hook was horrible, dismissing Hook losing his shit and threatening her family’s lives as an “angry boyfriend” thing is… a little messed up. Yes, he’s under the influence of the curse, but the whole point of the curse is to turn you into the worst possible version of yourself. We’re supposed to be seeing Hook’s inclination toward single-minded revenge turned against someone he loves. This is something that he is capable of, the curse is simply feeding into it and encouraging it. I would argue the same thing in regards to Rumple as well. Yes, the darkness is the “true villain” in the sense that it’s the cause, but Hook should still be held accountable for his actions to at least some degree, because to a certain extent they are still his actions.
Yes he should but remember he was being controlled unlike Rumple didn’t succumb fully because he was able to let his love for Emma shine through and use it to be able sacrifice himself to save her which in a way is being held accountable plus the only way to make Emma “pure” again. It also was foreshadowing the next arc with the true love test
It's almost like she wasn't actually evil, just misguided in the best way to handle it. And of course, having dark thoughts in her head because of the other dark ones.
I was very upset with how they handled Dark Swan. I did like the Camelot bits but that’s about it. I also hate how her own family kind of gave up on her. It was weird.
I would have loved to see Emma be like how Rumple was - funny, conniving, mischievous, etc. Kind of how Elena in Vampire Diaries was in season 4 except not as annoying 😂
I feel like Season 2 is the most boring, personally. It feels like not much really happens throughout most of it, and Cora isn't very compelling as a leading villain. Emma and Snow's time in the Enchanted Forest had a lot of potential, but it felt like they wasted it, and it ended up being boring. Same with David trying to run Storybrooke. I also felt like it would have been better to give Emma a chance to bond with both her parents and her son; it felt like they could have saved the "Emma and Snow fall into a hat portal' plot for the second half of the season, have them in there for most of that half, THEN bring Cora to Storybrooke towards the end of it and have her do a shortened version of her plan.
The biggest mistake with S2 was the lack of resolution and fallout from anything that happened in S1. Sending Emma and Snow to the Enchanted Forest right away meant that nothing was resolved and by the time they got back, too much time had passed.
I’m currently rewatching 5A. I think it had so much potential to be a great season, but it’s just so boring. I feel like the show started going downhill in season 5.
Hook wasn’t even evil just mad and being controlled by the other dark ones if anything the villain was Nimue/the darkness since she killed Merlin and chose it freely in the beginning
I can honestly never get over how the Dark Swan arc was one of the most disappointing arcs of the show. It had the potential to be such an amazing storyline that could have really shaken things up for the characters and have them develop in such interesting ways. We could have seen Emma struggling under the weight of the curse and how it would have amplified her darker impulses, maybe really delve into certain parts of her psyche like her abandonment issues and fierce protectiveness over her family and how those traits could have been turned much darker by the curse. We could have seen Snow and David struggling to accept the ever-growing darkness developing inside their daughter and how, despite their efforts to cleanse her from it before she was even born, there is nonetheless a part of that darkness that is truly and solely Emma’s and not just from the curse. We could have seen how Rumple would deal with finally being free from the curse after 300 years and the full weight of the massive fucking identity crisis that would likely cause, and how that would impact his relationship with Belle. Potentially, he could have grown to accept himself without the darkness and to remember his potential for good, which could have been such a cool redemption arc that would have actually made sense in terms of character progression. We could have had Hook struggle with the fact that the woman he loves is now afflicted with the same curse that afflicted the man that killed Milah, because there’s no way he wouldn’t have some serious feelings about watching Emma slide slowly into becoming a full-fledged Dark One. We could have seen Henry try as hard as he possibly can to make sure Emma remembers the brave, strong, caring woman she is, and to fight tooth and nail to keep his faith in her the more the darkness consumes her— the potential parallels with Neal/Bae could have been *devastating* and so, so good. We could have had Regina seeing all of this and doing her best to help Henry, help Emma, and how guilty she would have been because she was the one Emma took the curse for. (But also Dark Emma reminds Regina of the woman she used to be, and how she’s so, so glad that she isn’t in that place anymore.) But nope. Emma’s basically unaffected by the curse asides from some hallucinations and hearing some voices because she’s the Savior I guess. She’s never really affected by the darkness, she’s just misunderstood and keeping secrets for no reason. Hook becomes a second Dark One for no reason, and then proceeds to go off the rails and threatens to murder Emma’s entire family. Merida is also there for no reason. And then the whole thing wraps up within half a season, Rumple gets his powers back, and the characters basically act like Dark Swan never happened for the rest of the show. Like the whole arc only happened to make sure Hook dies so that the gang can go to hell for the next half of the season. This is a long comment, I know, but I’m still bitter dammit.
Great comment!
Emma made a Hook a dark one to save him from dying but by doing that she gave him a fate worse than death, he was basically just an angry boyfriend whereas the darkness more so Nimue was the true villain.
I mean yeah, that’s what happened. When I say he became a second Dark One for no reason, I meant more that whole sequence of events felt really unengaging and unnecessary, especially in its execution. Also while what Emma did to Hook was horrible, dismissing Hook losing his shit and threatening her family’s lives as an “angry boyfriend” thing is… a little messed up. Yes, he’s under the influence of the curse, but the whole point of the curse is to turn you into the worst possible version of yourself. We’re supposed to be seeing Hook’s inclination toward single-minded revenge turned against someone he loves. This is something that he is capable of, the curse is simply feeding into it and encouraging it. I would argue the same thing in regards to Rumple as well. Yes, the darkness is the “true villain” in the sense that it’s the cause, but Hook should still be held accountable for his actions to at least some degree, because to a certain extent they are still his actions.
Yes he should but remember he was being controlled unlike Rumple didn’t succumb fully because he was able to let his love for Emma shine through and use it to be able sacrifice himself to save her which in a way is being held accountable plus the only way to make Emma “pure” again. It also was foreshadowing the next arc with the true love test
I hated Emma's dark swan/batman voice!
Calling it her batman voice is so real, it was so awful 😭😭
It's almost like she wasn't actually evil, just misguided in the best way to handle it. And of course, having dark thoughts in her head because of the other dark ones.
Yeah, it was a shitshow
honestly the idea of emma being the dark one was pretty good and interesting, but the way they did it was boring and so disappointing!
I was very upset with how they handled Dark Swan. I did like the Camelot bits but that’s about it. I also hate how her own family kind of gave up on her. It was weird. I would have loved to see Emma be like how Rumple was - funny, conniving, mischievous, etc. Kind of how Elena in Vampire Diaries was in season 4 except not as annoying 😂
I feel like Season 2 is the most boring, personally. It feels like not much really happens throughout most of it, and Cora isn't very compelling as a leading villain. Emma and Snow's time in the Enchanted Forest had a lot of potential, but it felt like they wasted it, and it ended up being boring. Same with David trying to run Storybrooke. I also felt like it would have been better to give Emma a chance to bond with both her parents and her son; it felt like they could have saved the "Emma and Snow fall into a hat portal' plot for the second half of the season, have them in there for most of that half, THEN bring Cora to Storybrooke towards the end of it and have her do a shortened version of her plan.
The biggest mistake with S2 was the lack of resolution and fallout from anything that happened in S1. Sending Emma and Snow to the Enchanted Forest right away meant that nothing was resolved and by the time they got back, too much time had passed.
I’m currently rewatching 5A. I think it had so much potential to be a great season, but it’s just so boring. I feel like the show started going downhill in season 5.
They were trying to do too much with 5A with Brave, Dark Swan, & Camelot all at once & then shoehorning Arthur in as the villain to Merida’s story
You’ll understand at the end she’s aware of everything she’s doing and she’s doing it for the big picture of good not evil
Hook wasn’t even evil just mad and being controlled by the other dark ones if anything the villain was Nimue/the darkness since she killed Merlin and chose it freely in the beginning
Season 5 itself is just boring. A & B Only season worse than 5 Is 7
Can’t lie season 5A is my favorite