FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Once Upon A Time Season 5

So, season five of Once Upon a Time debuted last Sunday. And let me tell you, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Of course there were annoying things. Like Belle receiving the same rose from ‘Beauty and the Beast’ – but this time with bad CGI – with an explanation that if there’s petals on the flower it means Rumple is still alive… So it’s a countdown? Or if someone pricks the petals Rumple dies? I really didn’t have the energy to understand or care.

Also, Merida shows up!

Yeah, she’s from the same universe as Merlin and King Arthur. And of course her storyline on the show doesn’t at all match her canon ending in the movie, as expected. Her personality also seems to switch between usual Merida to a major bitch who will kill you if you get in her way. Suffice to say I did not like her.

What truly irks me is that including Merida onto the show was not necessary. You already have a plot – you’re going to find the great wizard Merlin. You really don’t need another Disney character to add to the pot of people that will probably never be developed or touched upon ever again!

But of course including her would get them more passionate Disney fans in their viewing section; I should’ve seen this coming to be honest.

The pregnant Zelena subplot is also becoming too annoying. That she raped Robin is brushed over with a “Quite unwillingly” without much emphasis on what she did to him was beyond fucked up. But that was to be expected as well.

I’m sorry, I guess I’m ranting so much you probably think I hated this whole episode. Which is untrue, but this show has so many “little” problems it’s easy to get lost in them.

What I did like though was the Dark Swan storyline. I was completely surprised by how well they dealt with Emma’s descent into darkness. I anticipated that after the whole “sucked up by a vortex of evil” thing she would immediately turn dark, but no. Emma is instead shocked to see the personification of the dark powers – it deciding to take on the form of Rumpelstiltskin – and him being the voice in her head who’s always tempting her to cross the line and give in to the darkness now inside of her.

It is a mental struggle Emma has to face, one that leaves her exhausted and miserable, and a path that I’m afraid is inevitable. This makes a great contrast between her and Regina, who finds out she no longer possesses the darkness that’s been in her heart for so long, as Hook tells her “Oh, you’ve got the fire, love. But not the blackness, not anymore.”

She’s done “too much good” and thus the villain title suits her no longer.

I can’t wait to see the interactions they’ll now have thanks to the change between them, especially since they have joint-custody of Henry. How will he react and behave around Emma now that she’s the Dark One? And will Emma try taking him away from Regina? Does Emma even love Henry anymore now that she let the darkness take over?

The answer for the last question is probably a maybe. When Rumple was the one making deals he could still develop sentiment towards others (Cora, Belle and his son are good examples of that), so perhaps Emma does still love Henry and her parents, but her resentment for them failing her might be too much at times.

She did say they were going to be punished so they’re not off the hook just yet!

Furthermore, we also discover the dagger of the Dark one is part of Excalibur, which makes Merlin a highly suspicious character. There’s even a possible theory going around that Morgana was the first holder of the darkness, and Merlin used the Excalibur to contain it and reduce its power. But those are just speculations, so we’ll have to wait and see if they hold any water in the upcoming episodes.

Also, thank God for no badly CGI Minions! Because that would’ve been a disaster (I hope I’m not speaking too soon).