I still think the pixie/fairy dust (the show has referred to it as both?) should have led to Snow. After all, originally it was supposed to lead to Regina's happy ending.
To explain;
Regina would have assumed the dust led her to Snow because her happy ending was indeed "Snow's head on a platter". This would have further strengthened (as if it needed it) Regina's hatred of Snow, and her desire for vengeance/justice and the belief that her happiness would be found through Snow's death/suffering.
Tink would argue this, possibly say they needed to give the dust another shot as it can be tricky to use. Pixies (and fairies to some extent) are traditionally known as tricksters after all. So Regina pushing Tink away, as well as Tink losing her wings would still occur, because obviously Blue would still be pissed - for want of a better word.
Of course in reality, the dust leading Regina to Snow was because the latter gives birth to Emma, who in turn gives birth to Henry - and Regina's happy ending is with her son and Emma. Naturally this would not even occur as the faintest of possibilities to Regina. She would see what she thinks she should in it - like vague 'predictions of the future'. You interpret it as you want to, whether unconsciously or not.
There would be less retconning this way, and hopefully no character assassination. Hood would have remained as a minor plot point (and far truer to the character than what we have currently suffered through), and in turn if the writers ever did decide to bring him and characters related to the legend back to the show, they would likely have an actual story or role in it (if the writers became more competent again). After all, what we did end up getting was a guy showing up for no reason and being nothing more than a 'love interest', while adding nothing to the story; a frozen mcguffin (that was forgotten about) that is there for the 'drama' - at least when she wakes - and an instant son/family to try to draw in 'supporters'.
And the tension between Emma and Regina at the end of Season 3 (if the writers felt they needed it) could easily be about Emma's decision to take Henry back to New York without consulting Regina - even after he regained his memories.
Or, maybe they could finally have spoken about Graham and what happened there. Maybe as a confession or an accusation of sorts (I believe Emma, must have at least an inkling of what truly happened by now. Though has she ever seen a heart crushed? She knows they can be taken, and that a person can be controlled by it. Hmm). Of course that would also go further into showing just how much Regina has changed; something Emma has now seen first-hand. That still doesn't excuse what Regina did of course.
This wouldn't excuse the other problems in the show and the terrible PR, but it would have been something. Or maybe it would have also been nonsensical - but hey, at least it would have been better than what we did get.