“ONCE UPON A TIME: Making Excuses”

"ONCE UPON A TIME:  MAKING EXCUSES"

For those of you who believe that Emma Swan did the right thing by killing Cruella de Vil in the “ONCE UPON A TIME”Season Four episode, (4.18) “Sympathy For the de Vil” . . . I could not disagree with you more. 

Emma could have used another way to save her son, Henry Mills, from Cruella. She could have teleported him from Cruella’s grasp. She could have teleported Cruella’s gun. Someone on FANFORUM.COM had pointed out that Emma could have saved Henry . . . and not kill Cruella. After all, she managed to stop Zelena aka the Wicked Witch of the West from killing Henry in (3.19) “A Curious Thing”. Yet, she could not have done the same with Cruella in (4.18) “Sympathy For the de Vil”? What made Emma’s action even more problematic is that she did not even warn Henry that she was about to attack Cruella. She just did killed the latter . . . magically shoved her over a cliff. If Henry had not ducked, there is a good chance he would have been dead, as well.

I have written a good number of articles criticizing Emma and other members of the Charming family. And there is a reason why. Many fans like are ALWAYS making excuses for their more questionable actions. The only reason these same fans are now being critical about Snow and David’s actions toward Maleficent’s baby, revealed in (4.16) "Best Laid Plans", is they had lied to Emma about what they had done. They revealed that they were not as "noble" as Emma - and many fans - originally believed they were. 

A lot of fans like to pretend that Emma and Snow did nothing wrong, when the latter tried to kill Mulan in (2.08)“Into the Deep”. So do show runners Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. They have made sure that both Snow and Emma have never paid the consequences for their actions . . . or lack of action in that episode. Many fans have claimed that Snow only attacked Mulan during their fight, after the latter was prevented from stealing away with a magical compass that would have taken them from the Enchanted Forest and back to Storybrooke. What happened was the following . . . Snow and Mulan fought. Snow won and held down Mulan. Mulan told Snow and Emma that she took the locket to save Aurora. Snow lost her temper and decided to kill or maim Mulan anyway. Aurora stopped Snow. Emma did nothing but looked on. She never lifted a finger or raised her voice to stop Snow from a murder attempt.

Many fans still make countless excuses for Snow’s murder of Cora in (2.16) “The Miller’s Daughter”. In fact, they still react the same way as Emma did, when she tried to make excuses for Snow by using Cora’s murderous actions. Snow was not concerned about saving Storybrooke. She wanted revenge against Cora for the murder of her mother, Queen Eva. And she used a cruel way to get her revenge. That is why David was upset at what she had done. He had even offered to kill Cora himself . . . to save Snow’s moral compass and the town. Snow rejected his offer and proceeded to get her revenge anyway. And Emma could not handle the truth when Snow told her why she had killed Cora. These same fans still cannot handle the truth.

Many fans still make excuses for Emma’s possession of the yellow Volkswagen. Neal had first stolen the car. Then Emma tried to steal the car from him. Both ended up using the car together, when they became a couple. When I pointed out that Emma was still driving a stolen car in previous articles and forums, many fans either ignored the topic or responded with some drivel about Emma not being guilty of murder, or the fact that Neal had arranged the car’s registration to reflect her as the true owner. As if that was supposed to excuse Emma knowingly being in possession of a stolen car. 

Many fans still make excuses about Emma’s decision to change the timeline and save “Maid Marian” in (3.22) “There’s No Place Like Home”. These same fans continue to claim that saving a life is more important than maintaining the storyline. No, it is not. Especially not for someone who had died in the past. I realize this is a harsh thing to say, but changing the timeline for any reason is a very . . . dangerous . . . thing to do. Both Hook and Rumpelstiltskin had warned Emma not to change the timeline for any reason. But she refused to listen. And what happened? As it turned out, Emma’s decision to change the timeline gave Zelena the opportunity to return to Storybrooke in Marian’s place. I am quite certain that Kitsis and Horowitz will never mention or criticize Emma’s bad decision in a future episode. If they do, I will be happily surprised.

What is it about these fans who seem incapable of dealing with Emma or the other Charmings actually being guilty of a crime or a serious mistake? Is it really that important that the Charming family be portrayed in some idealized manner? Do these same fans really need idealized fictional protagonists who are incapable of a bad deed or mistake in order to deal with this crazy old world of ours? Do they need to cling to some kind of illusion about humanity that only the world of fiction can maintain with any real thoroughness? What is it? 

Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz used to be part of the writing staff for "LOST", a television show in which most or nearly all of the characters were guilty of serious mistakes or crimes. The cast of characters could have been easily nicknamed “Murder, Inc.”. Apparently, the show runners for "ONCE UPON A TIME" seem bent upon portraying nearly all of their major characters in a similar light . . . including "the Savior" herself. Is this so hard for many fans to accept? Or are they among those types who can only deal with characters with a one-dimensional moral compass? If the latter, I hope that none of them ever become writers.