Once Upon A Time - I figured it out! The Writing Doesn't Fit The Characters! (My Analysis Breakdown)

The last two episodes, which were broadcast as a 2-hour special, were amazing, on the most part. So why is that? What has changed? As I watched, I observed the acting carefully and I realised that some of the new characters are not comfortable with the dialoque that is given to them. So then I observed the dialogue and realised that some of it does not fit the characters at all.

Allow me to elaborate. In the modern world, some of the dialogue feels forced, strained, and unnatural. Henry for example, is a big one for the strained part. His lines come out, but it feels a bit pushed; it doesn't feel natural. As much as I like the Star Wars references, that scene (which happens to be in the Enchanted realm) where Henry imitates the Han and Lando scene from The Empire Strikes Back, seems too forced. I could have imitated that better. In the Enchanted realm, it's okay for our Storybrooke characters to have modern speech, like Henry, because that's what they are familiar with, but in any realm he's in, I feel a lot of his dialogue doesn't flow that naturally.

As for Cinderella, it flows so much better in the modern world than in the Enchanted realm. A lot of the new characters speak as they would in the modern realm when they are in the Enchanted realm , which is not good. Some of them speak more convincingly to that of an Enchanted realm character, but the dialogue, a lot of the time, with the words they utter, doesn't fit the character in that situation. Cinderella's words are strained and come out strangely. In the modern world, she is more fluid with her speech and it's more natural. However, the writer's are missing out on a wonderful opportunity.

The cast of Once Upon A Time is diverse with various Ethnicities. Why not utilise that rather than hide it? We have a beautiful Hispanic woman, with a daughter to whom she could say something in Spanish, something endearing, something that's between them. The words she speaks are words of a typical American woman, but with her accent, she can do so much more and the language could be so much more diverse or written in a way that flows better. Similarly as in the Enchanted realm, why not have some dialogue in Old English type of prose, or something.

I am reminded of CSI Miami, which, despite its many flaws, knew how to use the various characters' Ethnicities and played with that, making use of their accents to make the language flow naturally when they spoke. Though it's funny to note, since the first hour of the last two episodes of Once Upon A Time began like a typical CSI episode, with a crime scene.

Cinderella's words might seem strained and might not flow that well in the Enchanted realm especially, yet her acting is not the problem. I observed her in many scenes and I noticed she plays a lot of scenes very well. Her most natural scene was at dinner with "her ex"; I could empathise with her and feel her emotions. Another more natural scene was when she shared her first kiss with Henry in the Enchanted realm. That felt real. Henry also felt a bit more natural in parts of that scene. I saw hints of Charming and Snow, which I liked.

The villainous characters are beginning to have better story lines, and maybe that is another issue where some of the new characters are lacking: compelling story lines. However, it still feels a bit, I don't know, lacking. I don't feel empathy. However, I am very much intrigued about this Guardian being and I am convinced that there is more to Belfrey than meets the eye. She seems more complex than what we may know and I am hoping that she will have no choice but to team up with her "enemies" and that we will learn more about who she is and why she is the way she is; perhaps she became thus through her obsession with Anastasia, through her grief.

Not all the dialogue is strained though. Rumple's acting, no matter what dialogue he is given, is always second to none. Robert Carlyle has come so far in his career since his Trainspotting days and anything Rumple says, it's with conviction. That scene where he is trying to explain to Hook in the modern world, how everything he is doing is to protect him, but he can't tell him, I was just wishing: "Do something, Rumple, make him remember!" Furthermore, I just can't wait for us to see more the "Dark One" and how his new "goodness" will be affected by the trials he must face in this cursed realm. I am eager to see how he will use his powers as the Dark One and I love it when he gets one over on Belfrey and uses his Dark One status. He can't die and that is one great advantage I want to see used in the future. Plus we saw the dagger, let's use it.

Regina was all right in the last two episodes, though the focus was not on her and that's okay. She plays well, but there wasn't much with her and she was more of a support to some of the other characters, which can help them. Whether she is the lead or the supporting role, she has the ability to make the others in the scene look good, which is something anyone can appreciate from their co-actors. It's something many of my theatre teachers tried to reinforce, that the way to make our acting better was to make our co-actors look good on stage.

Now, I save the best for last: Alice and Hook. There is just something about their interaction, about their acting, that makes me feel the feels. I know that, just as Alice and Hook do, Henry and Cinderella have cursed hearts, meaning that being together can harm or even kill the other. With Henry and Cinderella though, I don't feel it in the "feels". Whereas with Tilly And Rogers (Alice and Hook) it hits me "right in the feels". Seriously. That girl brought tears to my eyes a couple of times in the last two hours of the show. The first part was when she wanted to belong and she stood crying, watching Hook in the ambulance, who was disappointed in her. The second moment was at the end of the second hour when Hook proposes to play Chess with her and make it a regular thing. The dialogue they share, it truly is spectacular. It really is a daughter and father, who care so much for each other, who want to protect each other, but cannot because of their curse.

In the Enchanted realm, when Alice discovers they are NOT cured, it was sad, and both characters made me feel such emotion. I know this is not the Hook of old, it's the new Hook, and we are learning more about this new Hook, and I am feeling a lot of things for this new Hook too. I love "regular" Hook, but there is so much opportunity with this new Hook character and Colin O'Donoghue is giving us so much, he is not holding back. In the cursed modern realm, where Hook and Alice do not know each other, they are searching, looking to belong, looking to mean something to someone, and yet there they are, meaning so much to the other without even knowing it. Their acting takes the dialogue beyond the words that are written on a page.

I have to say, some of the other characters are coming along, but I think some of the dialogue could be better geared to fit the characters so the acting will seem less strained. I think playing with the language makes a huge difference. And I also think the writers should put as much effort into some of the new characters as they do with our beloved characters. The writers should not keep the best for just those three, but give the best to all.

That being said, the show is starting to pick up for me and I am starting to grow attached. It was about time! It wasn't as quick as when the show first started, but it's getting there. I still have my wishes about #BringPanBack, because I'm biased; he was my favourite villain. I mean, if there is a second Hook from the Wish Realm, then there could be a second Pan from the Wish Realm. Perhaps one of our villains went there to find something and encountered Wish Realm Pan. Perhaps this Guardian is Pan. Yes, I know #WishfulThinking, but hey. Pan had something about his acting and his character that made him unique, plus he is Rumple's father. I just loved their dynamic and I want the show to bring Pan back. Figure it out guys, you can find a way to bring him back, Pan could do a lot of damage, he could even team up with Drizella, oh my, oh dear. Good thing I'm not a writer for the show; I think they would have to stop me.