I’m going to start this with a caveat – I’ve been very vocal about the fact that, for me, Once Upon A Time should have ended with season 6. Storytelling wise, in my opinion, it was time.
Now, I don’t blame the actors or even the writers, for, in a way, thinking there are more stories to be told. There probably are – it’s just that not all fans might be receptive to those stories. But, of course, there’s a level of ego involved in this decision, and not even the bad kind of ego, I’d say. If you don’t think you’re good enough, why are you even in show business?
However, just because the people behind Once Upon A Time think there are still stories to be told, that doesn’t mean fans want to see those stories put to screen. Or, at least, not all fans. Nevertheless, there are people truly excited about Season 7, just as there are people who are wary, people who just want to believe and people who’re scared of what it’ll mean.
And I think all – or most of them – can agree that, no matter what comes after, this is what we want from Once Upon A Time Season 7:
For the show to respect the happy endings
Look, at the end of Season 6, we got happily ever afters, a whole bunch of them. Not everyone deserved them, but people got them nonetheless, and, in fairy tales, happily ever after is usually the end of the story.
Does that mean the show can’t go on after that? Of course not. We just ask that, if it does (and it will), it doesn’t do so in a way that renders the past six seasons worthless. If we’re going to get the story of what happens after the happily ever after, let it be that …what happens after. Not a new happily ever after, just an alternate journey that ends in the exact same place.
No new love interest that breaks up the established TL couples
Look, there was a story here – more than one, really, and fans invested in those love stories for years. I don’t particularly care about Rumbelle, and I adore Captain Swan, but that doesn’t mean I want the show to just forget about what they build for six years. See, that’s the point I’m at. It’s not even about what I enjoy – it’s about not feeling like I wasted six years of my life investing in these characters.
So, no, I don’t want to see a new love interest for Hook. I don’t care if he’s cursed, I don’t want it. They could sell it, yes, and it might make sense, and Colin might act the shit out of it, but that doesn’t change the fact that I.just.don’t.want.it.
A rational explanation for the absence of Henry’s mother, Emma, his grandparents and the rest of his makeshift family
Not that I think the show could actually give me one, but I really, really hope they try. This is not something they can just sweep under the rug. We aren’t going to forget that Henry’s birth mother, the one that fought for him for so long, would be all like, yeah, my son’s in trouble, but I have better things to do. We’re not.
Same goes for Snow and Charming, and really, a lot more people in the makeshift family these characters built in Storybrooke. For so many years they went on all these kind of crazy adventures together, and now suddenly Henry’s in trouble and everyone’s got something they rather be doing?
I don’t buy it. And I just hope the show gives me an explanation.
For Emma to be doing something – anything – other than staying at home because she’s pregnant or she’s taking care of the kids
Women don’t stop being badasses when they get pregnant. Women don’t stop being badasses when they have kids. If Emma’s going to have a reason to stay behind, it better not be that she has kids, because this show has never had any problem with leaving infants behind so their parents can go on adventures, and I see no reason why the show would suddenly start to care now.
Other than it’s convenient, that is. And that just doesn’t cut it.
A love story we can invest in
Once Upon A Time was always a story we paid attention to because of the romances. Snow and Charming, Hook and Emma, Regina and Robin, Rumple and Belle, we fell in love with the couples and in many cases, the ships are why we stayed. And if we’re going to go on another journey with some of these characters, we want there to be as good a reason for us to go as there was in the first place.
Make us fall in love, not with adult Henry or this version of Cinderella, but with what they mean to each other. Make us want to go on the journey with them. That’s why fans tuned in six seasons ago, and that’s why they’ll do so now, if done right.
So, what do you think? Do you agree? What do you want from Once Upon A Time Season 7? Share with us in the comments below!
Once Upon A Time Season 7 premieres Friday, October 6th, on ABC.
