User blog comment:Rena Phoenix/Miniview - 5.01 - "The Dark Swan"/@comment-26986467-20150929154216

I just saw this tweet by new writer Brigitte Hales (https://twitter.com/InkTankGirl/status/648340863827881984) and remembered how much I disliked the "twist" of Regina exploiting Zelena's pain or whatever after she summoned the twister. What the hell was that all about? As I was watching that scene for the first time, having already been spoiled by Lady's reveals that Zelena would open the portal but Regina would change its direction, I thought this was what would happen: since they needed a personal belonging of Emma's to get to her, I thought Regina would make use of Rumple's famed "sleight of hand" trick to switch Zelena's glamour pendant with a thing of Emma's, in disguise (like how someone else's dead body was disguised to look like Archie). So Zelena would make use of that pendant and call the twister, but it would actually take them to Emma because it was a thing of hers all along. And Regina would reveal that eventually. But the whole thing with Zelena being "weakened"... And the clunky line about exploiting pain... Ugh. If, in the few seconds that led to that moment, I could think of a way for that scene to turn out that I honestly think is better than what they did, why couldn't the writers do something better themselves? "I also knew it would weaken you." Seriously? Why? Why even? How would you know? Based on what exactly? Ugh. We've seen spellcasters look tired after trying something big, like Regina lifting the deadly spell from the well in 2.09 or trying to stall the diamond's effects in 2.22, but what even happened in this episode? It was like Zelena was struck by something coming from the sky, like lightning? Or was that Regina attacking her, and she was too weak to fight back? What actually happened?! Please enlighten me if you know.

Also, I know OUaT can't show much blood due to it supposedly being a family show or whatever, but that bitch chopped off her own hand and all we got was a few droplets? Seriously? My point would be: if you can't show the blood, don't use the gore. Write something else in. I mean, they actually did this already before with Rumple in 3.11, but they made it subtle. They didn't show us, they implied he would do it and never showed us. I didn't mind that (as much, anyway). Why are they rehashing their creative decisions and actually making them worse? And what bothers me most is how built up this move was by the advanced previewers, who went on and on about Zelena doing something so shocking and gruesome their jaws dropped. Really?!