You know those shows that go on and on? Where the most fun episodes are the ones that are so ridiculous and out of tune with the first season that it’s getting hilarious? That type of television were the whole crew seems to tug its hair out and just produce something awful, because their lives working on this show have been turned into something miserable. The network only demands more, but the premise of the series has already been fullfilled. So they recycle old ideas, look for more material to work with. But the inspiration is running low and the bureaucracy of big organizations is starting to kick in.
This happens to a lot of television series, but for me the main example is Once Upon a Time. This series manages to kill off good actors, keep the same storylines but with a tiny little twist and kills most suspension near the end of the episode. Crazy to think this used to be one of my favorite things that happened to television.I know, your favorite tvshow coming out with new episodes time after time doesn’t sound so awful, but be careful what you wish for. How can too much of what you love turn into something bad? Well, if it turns into something you can’t love when it’s dragged out.
I think Once Upon a Time started airing the new season. What once used to be a clever fairy tale retellings with a dark twist has turned into the never ending soap series with bad ships. It’s been that way for three/four seasons. Three seasons (or so) full of cringing, bad writing, forced acting and the occasional highlight that is Lana Parrila. But when a show can’t rely on your woman crush for the whole week anymore it might be time to let it go.
When to give up on a TV show, Vox wrote. Maybe it is time for me to stop watching. Like that time when I decided I wasn’t having any fun watching Glee episodes anymore and simply didn’t tune in after that.
Once is way past its primetime. The elements that I loved about this show are almost all but gone. There’s no guessing which fairy tale character you’re seeing, there’s no subtly and there’s no witty storytelling. There’s romance that is as illfitted as a PG13 version of Fifty Shades of Grey or Twilight and plotpoints with little research in the source material. It’s become another reason to sell Disney merchandise instead of an actual retelling. And even plotpoints I should rejoice about felt forced.
Maybe I will give in to see if it can become worse or if the saviour in the writing team can save this from its evil faith. At least Hook isn’t bad to look at. Then again some of my favorite things that happened to television always were meant to end (Merlin and Avatar the last airbender) and since this is past its 100 episodes it will take a while before this may reach its final chapter.
The Cardigan Collection 