The Snow Queen...can we please get some new writers for OUAT, please
So we are now 7 episodes into season 4 of OUAT and all the hope I had at the beginning of the season that the writers had finally learned their lesson about poor storytelling has been quite thoroughly crushed. I was willing to go along with the season of Frozen merchandising; I was willing to go along with Captain Swan (tho I am a die-hard Swan Queen shipper); I was willing to go forego asking questions about how or why things happened or didn’t happen; I was even willing to overlook the drastic simplification of multiple characters (such as Belle and Rumple…and really everyone else if we’re being honest here); but I cannot go along with the ridiculous storyline they are traversing with Robin Hood.
First, let’s start with the fact that Robin Hood is an excellent character outside of what OUAT has done to besmirch him; he is a nobleman who fights in the crusades and when he comes home finds everything so corrupt he ends up living as an outlaw as he tries to make the lives of those around him better (namely through the whole “steal from the rich, give the poor” concept); Robin Hood (& Marian) are NOT peasants; Robin Hood was not a thief by trade who got redeemed by the love of a good woman, he is so much more than that. But OUAT sort of usurped the Robin Hood story in the telling of Snow White’s bandit years, so instead of creating a different but equally noble story for him (or just choosing a different character for the love interest of Regina), they just made him a generic redeemed thief (‘cause we didn’t have enough of those already).
Second, let’s be real that OUAT is not a drama; it cannot handle serious real-world/relationship issues with any modicum of delicacy/sense/depth, so why in the world is it attempting to broach possibly the darkest possible dramatic storyline with a minor character (who has had virtually no back-story established, and who is barely seen in any context other than as a love-interest)? I mean his storyline is basically: I can either follow my heart & be with the person I love and allow the mother of my child to essentially DIE or I can attempt to save the woman I not-so-long-ago loved (& the mother of my child) but I will have to let go of the person I now love. I mean, this isn’t even your average affair, which comes with a boatload of baggage, this affair comes at the cost of someone’s life…and not any someone…the woman you used to love & is the mother of your child. OUAT cannot handle the extremely complex emotions of this situation…so why even try to broach it?
Third, how exactly am I supposed to like a character that is willing to sacrifice the life of someone, moreover sacrifice the life of his “ex”-wife & the mother of his child, in order to pursue his personal happiness? I’m all for doing what’s right for you, but this is really a new low for humanity…and it’s from Robin Hood of all people. I just can’t fathom what they were thinking putting the audience in the position of rooting for Regina’s happiness but making the person who is supposed to bring about the happiness an absolutely horrible human being? I mean, again, I ship Swan Queen, but I want Regina to be happy and I want to enjoy OUAT, so I try to go with the Outlaw Queen thing, but they have officially made it impossible for me to think that Robin Hood is even a decent human being, so why in the world would I want to see him with Regina? Or Marian, or anyone for that matter.
Fourth, I really, really want to know why we have not seen an attempt for “True Love’s Kiss” with Marian & Roland or a desperate Robin Hood asking Regina for a forgetting potion so that he can forget his love for Regina & love Marian again & break the curse. I mean, they could even have gone that route (forgetting potion) & traveled an easy path to Outlaw Queen…Regina is pursuing her happy ending via storybook…Robin & Marian have some marital issues…Robin & Regina flirt innocently at a public location that has some past meaning for me & Robin has a twinge of that familiar feeling despite the forgetting potion…there’s a True Love’s Kiss that breaks that potion’s spell…Robin & Regina get together & Marian is alive. It’s not a difficult story, it’s not an overly complicated story, both Robin & Regina get to be the self-sacrificing heroes; no one is downright horrendous as a human being; all in all it’s a respectable storyline option. But OUAT didn’t go that route, and I just don’t know how I am supposed to even try to care about the route they are going.
Fifth, what does the Robin Hood/Marian/Regina story have anything to do with any “moral”/thematic issue that OUAT has ever purported as a crux of the series? It’s not “True Love’s Kiss conquers all”, it’s not about redemption, it’s not “do the right thing”, it’s “be a selfish person but try to play it off that it’s ok because normally you’re a really good guy”, or at least that’s what I’m getting from Robin, who is inexplicably the main character of that storyline despite the fact that Regina is CLEARLY the main character of the pairing and one of the absolute main characters of the entire series & Robin hood is a third tier character at best (c’mon, I know more about Grumpy as a human being than I do about Robin Hood).
I am just so thoroughly disappointed that even with low expectations for s4, I am seeing them dashed before my eyes with ever-increasing overly-simplistic characters, poorly written (& conceived) storylines, and a general “just plow through this as quickly as we can to get to some sort of end goal” mentality. They are treating us (the audience) as if we are stupid, naive, and generally morally questionable (at best) people and I am tired of it. More than ever I am missing season 1.
