Why do you think that A&E and the writers have been portraying Rumplestiltskin's character more and more uncharacteristically dark ever since 3B? To be fair, they've ruined all of these beautiful characters to the point of being unrecognizable, but it seems like they have had a particular personal bias against Rumple and Rumbelle ever since the end of 3B with the writing. It breaks my hear too because Rumplestiltskin has always been my favorite character too. I feel your hatred of this show.
Hey, anon! I saw this message earlier, but I was on mobile and wasn’t able to reply until now. I hope you see this!
If you were looking for a short answer, here it is: the writers have a boner for Hook, and they’ve thrown Rumple and Rumbelle under the bus because of it. Along with practically every other character, including Hook himself.
If you were looking for a long answer, here it is: from a writer’s perspective, what this boils down to is nothing more than poor planning. Season one, as well as the first half of season two, felt cohesive. It felt like a story that the writers had put genuine thought and effort into. It flowed, it made sense, it was enjoyable to watch because it included a little of everything: there was action, romance, humor, good vs. evil, parent/child relationships, etc. It never felt stagnant. Each of the characters, even the minor ones, were treated fairly. They had some importance to the plot, be it big or small. They weren’t flat. There were characters we loved, characters we hated, characters we loved to hate… but they were well written.
I didn’t hate the show OUAT used to be. It was mid-season two when things began to roll downhill. They didn’t plan ahead. They steamrolled into Neverland and gave us a half-assed plot, complete with a half-assed “redemption” for Hook. The Lost Boys were barely touched upon, the Darlings were used as a plot device in what should have been their story, Pan was a confusing villain (and his feelings towards Rumple are still a source of confusion for me – was he possessed by the shadow? did he genuinely care about his son, hence the “thinking tree” and naming himself after the doll? was he being honest when he said that he’d never loved him? Pan was all over the board and it doesn’t add up), and what could have been an incredible arc was… lackluster at best.
It only got worse from there. The lack of planning on the writers’ part made consequent arcs just… confusing, to say the least. They’re retconned most of the first season for the sake of making their current plots make sense. The guest stars have no depth to their characters and are used solely for views (AKA, the Frozen crew) or as plot devices (poor Rapunzel). The villains, too, are not as intimidating as the Evil Queen was in season one. Regina was the primary antagonist, followed by Rumple, who acted as more of an anti-villain. Not a hero, but nor was he entirely working against the heroes. Hook entered into season two, alongside Cora, as the primary villain.
Cora died. Hook was “redeemed.” Regina had more or less joined the heroes by mid-season three. Rumple, too, was redeemed by his sacrifice in 3.11. That left the series in late season three without a primary villain. Again, due to poor planning, the writers had to make a decision. Somebody had to revert from the “good” side, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be their new romantic lead.
They’ve done not only Rumple and the others an injustice, but Hook, too. His redemption doesn’t seem believable because it was rushed. They’ve framed the story around CS with very little lead-up, which is a discredit to both characters, and the other characters have been OOC since 3b in order for the story to make a lick of sense.
Choosing to stop watching the show was a long time coming for me, but after the train wreck that was 5a, I can’t handle the disappointment anymore.
tl;dr The writers didn’t plan past 2a, and in their desire to “redeem” Hook and set him alongside the heroes, they were forced to throw everyone else (and their characterization) under the bus.
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