About Once Upon a Time Season 4. (Spoilers, Also It's Super Long, Edited Twice)

The show I was and am MOST excited about this season is the return of Once Upon a Time. I have been PUMPED for the premier since season 3 ended and we found out the next arc was FROZEN. The premier tonight did not let me down in the slightest, dude. I am SO excited. I've got a lot of feelings so I decided to do a little blog about them and my hopes for the future based on the premier itself and spoilers from other sources (articles and the like).

Frozen Storyline:

ALL the casting was perfect. Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Grand Pabbie, and even SVEN were on point, dudes. Everything that happened in Arendelle immediately had me hooked. I am so all about seeing where ever Anna goes and how Elsa gets trapped in the jar. I know Hans is coming into play sometime and so is the mysterious and villainous Snow Queen, so I am even more pumped for that.

Besides just LOVING everything about the Frozen stuff in the premier (ESPECIALLY THE CASTING), I am mostly just more EXCITED for what's coming since we don't know a lot of specifics!

Regina and Robin Hood/Outlaw Queen:

Starting with Regina herself, a lot of people were disappointed in her in the premier, but I was not. I found it very realistic for her character. She literally JUST discovered the light magic inside of her and accepted herself as a hero THE DAY BEFORE the setting of the premier. Her knee jerk reaction to blame Marian and want to kill her was WRONG, but understandable given her character.

The most important part is that when she saw the scene with Marian, she reigned it in. She has so much rage exploding inside her right now that she accidentally shattered a mirror, but she reigned. it. in. That's insane growth, dude.

Even more important than that, she SAVED Marian and everyone else. She had the opportunity to let the monster kill Marian and even if everyone else survived, no one would have known. She would have gotten off easy. But she didn't. She saved her. I am excited to see her character continue to grow in that direction.

As for Robin Hood's decision, I think everyone could have predicted that. Their wording was interesting though. Robin said he LOVED Marian, making the word past tense implies that the feeling has changed. Robin has already gone through his grieving period and HAD moved on with Regina. I'd be surprised if his love for Marian was anything like what it used to be.

Personally, I don't think Outlaw Queen is in danger even in light of this. I think Robin will realize his heart matters more than his vows. I would LIKE for everything to work out neatly with Marian, but I have a sneaking suspicion she's going to die.

Regina and Henry & the Book:

So, we now know Regina is on a mission to find the writer of the book. We also know from various interviews that Regina and Henry have an "operation" this season and that Regina was supposed to hint about it in the premier. I think the obvious answer is that they're going to work together to find the writer of the book. It makes perfect sense, especially when you consider Henry's connection to the book.

I am very excited for this. I am all about the families on this show and getting to see Henry and Regina get close again from a healthy place will be wonderful. AND I HAVE BEEN WANTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE BOOK SINCE THE BEGINNING AND WE'RE FINALLY GETTING IT SO WOOOHOOOO!

On Henry himself, we also know that he will start working with Gold at the pawn shop sometime this season. Since Henry has never REALLY had much of an independent story line, this is another exciting thing to look forward to. I am curious about him and Rumple's relationship and what leads to Henry working there.

Rumplestiltskin and Belle/Rumbelle:

I'm starting with Rumple in this one. I really loved them showing him talking to Neal's grave. I never liked Neal, but it was important to Rumple's character. I'm also glad they did try to give an explanation for Rumple lying to Belle. It doesn't excuse it, but at least it's out there.

I am very curious about how much Rumple will grow this season. On one hand, we saw him give her the real knife back, but then he used it secretly AGAIN to mess around with that box. That does not bode well. I know the creators are iffy about him ever TRULY reforming, but he has to make SOME progress - some REAL progress - or there will come a point where the Rumbelle ship no longer makes sense.

The Rumbelle scenes were BEAUTIFUL though. I loved seeing Belle give Rumple strength (as she always does) to go talk to Neal. Their scene where she was like "let's crash in this house we don't know who is belongs to so we can bang on our honeymoon" was perrrrrfect. She was adorable, he was adorable. I loved it all around. The dance though? UGH, KILLER. So sweet, so romantic - it really symbolizes the pure love they have. It wasn't NEAR long enough for my tastes though.

With Belle's character, I am hoping to see some real fire from her when she finds out Rumple lied to her and is (presumably) still lying. She's at the point now where, yes, they're married, but she needs to stand up for herself. I think that her giving Rumple chances this long are perfectly in tune with her character, but girlfriend needs to tell him what's up this time. Something's gotta give and I hope she's the one who lets him know that.

We're supposed to be getting flashbacks of her life pre-Rumple and I am PUMPED for that. I've always wanted more Belle, so I hope this means we'll be getting more of her in present time too. If Ruby is available to come back in, I hope we see more of their friendship.

Back to Rumple's lying, the hat got me intrigued. I am not in line with the popular tumblr theory that Walt Disney or Mickey Mouse wrote the book, but I am in line with a Fantasia-esque wizard being the culprit. I wonder, though, DOES the hat have to do with the book? OR is it planting the seeds for the 4B arc? OR does the book mystery extend INTO the 4B arc? Again, I am just super intrigued by everything that's going on here.

EDIT: MORE INFORMATION ON THE BOOK FROM AN INTERVIEW
This tumbr just posted an interview and in it, we get this little piece of information:

There’s a fantastic tease that Regina is going to find the author of the fairytale book. How will that play out this season, and will that be an answer we get sooner versus later?

Edward Kitsis: That one’s a bigger arc. Some seeds that were planted will be dealt with right away, and others will take a longer journey. The end result is you will find out who wrote the book.

Is the author someone we’ve seen before?

EK: You’ll have to wait and see.

So, obviously, the book arc is going to extend into 4B at least. I am super happy.

Snow and Charming/Snowing:

Not NEARLY enough Snowing in the premier if you ask me, but Ginny Goodwin is probably still recovering and considering their story is pretty chill right now, it makes sense.

We did get some Snow seeing through Emma's shit right in the beginning and some of her sass face when she turned the stroller around and that was lovely. We also got several bits of Charming, him saying Emma has what they need to defeat the monster (magic) was adorable.

But most of what I'm excited for concerning them is just stuff we've learned from articles and junk. I'm excited to see how Charming reacts to Hook and Emma. I am excited to see Snowing raising a baby and dealing with it in terms of how they DIDN'T get to raise Emma. They also hinted at Snow taking up a new position in town where she would have to "rule like she did in the Enchanted Forest," which to me SCREAMS mayor and since Regina is otherwise occupied it makes sense. I would LOVE to see Snow as mayor! I am also hoping to see more of Snow and Emma, similar to how they were in S1.

EDIT: ARTICLE TALKED ABOUT IN ABOVE EDIT HAD MORE CHARMING INFO

Above, I linked to a tumblr post of an article that talked about the book but it also had this bit about Charming:

As Snow and Charming deal with their new baby, will that be their main focus for the earlier episodes? Or will there be some outside trouble?

EK: Episode two is a very big Charming episode.

MORE CHARMING, I AM EXCITED!

Emma and Killian/Captain Swan:

SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST, AMIRITE?!

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START.

OKAY, YES I DO, WITH KILLIAN. Okay, so. Not a WHOLE lot is known about Killian's independent 4A arc in specifics. From articles, we know he's going to struggle with his identity in a way - fitting into Storybrooke and still being a pirate, but a hero at the same time. We know his rivalry with Rumple will ignite once again. There were also spoiler pics where it SEEMED like he had his hand back!

Because none of is very obvious yet, I don't know WHAT to think except that I am PUUUUUMPED. Killian is my second favorite on the show and I have been WAITING for his arc to be more prevalent since they did some growth with him in Neverland and a bit in 3B. I am ALL FOR him having an independent arc this year. ALL FOR IT.

As far as them as a couple? DUDE, THE PREMIER WAS BEAUTIFUL. We have Emma avoiding him, and him calling her on it, then BOOM crisis and they're a fucking perfect team, and THEN HIM ENCOURAGING HER ABOUT HER MAGIC?? HIS "YOU CAN DO IT" GIVING HER CONFIDENCE TO WHERE SHE DOOOOEEEES?? (albeit ineffectively)

AND THEN THE FOREST SCENE?? I have SO many feelings about the forest scene. They have their little flirty moment where Emma falls in with it for a moment before stepping back and ONCE AGAIN, he calls her on her shit. She talks to him about feeling guilty and he AGAIN calls her out - saying there is more to it. In the moments after that, she simply stares and he has this little gulp and you know we're all expecting her to walk away like she normally would or snap at him, but she kisses him. She gives him a gentle kiss and asks him to be patient.

THAT'S LEAPS AND BOUNDS FOR EMMA SWAN, GUYS. AND THE KISS WAS PERFECT. I AM DEAD AND READY FOR MORE, PLEASE.

AND WE'RE GOING TO GET MORE TOO. They've already spilled that they'll go on a DATE and that they are fighting to make their relationship work, just like any true love couple has. We're getting to see them reach their True Love Status in REAL time and it's glorious.

Onto Emma, my FAVORITE OF ALL FAVORITES. Her character has grown so much and we're going to see even MORE growth this season. So many articles have talked about it, lemme just give you a fantastic list okay:

- FLASHBACKS! EMMA CENTRIC FLASHBACKS WHERE WE SEE HER AS A TEENAGER. I have been waiting for these for so loooooong guys.

- UNKNOWN INTERNAL ISSUE SHE HAS TO DEAL WITH. JMo revealed at Comic Con that Emma will be avoiding Hook at first for an internal struggle she can't reveal to us yet. She said sometimes it's not about protecting her own heart, but others. SQUEEEEL OF EXCITEMENT FOR EMMA STRUGGLING AND GROWING.

- EMMA'S MAGIC POTENTIALLY GOING OUT OF CONTROL AND HER COMING TO TERMS WITH IT. We know she's accepted her magic per the season finale and the premier where she willingly used it. Articles have told us about how this season will be about Emma TRULY accepting her magic and learning how to use it and control it. A video shot in the town where they shoot OUAT revealed that at some point, Emma's magic is going to go out of control. We also know she's being compared to Elsa so that solidifies the theory as well. BASICALLY MORE EMMA STRUGGLING AND GROWING OKAY.

- EMMA AND ELSA BECOME FRIENDS. I REPEAT, EMMA AND ELSA WILL BE BESTIES. They've already said in articles that the two become friends because of their numerous similarities AND that Elsa will serve (in a sense) as Emma's Anna when it comes to helping her control her magic. SO not only will Emma get a bestie who TRULY understands her, but also someone who will help her with her magic. I AM SO EXCITED.

- EMMA IS GETTING HER TRUE LOVE AND I DON'T CARE IF ITS UNCONFIRMED, ITS HAPPENING. Independent of that fact that I adore Killian, I have been ROOTING for Emma to get her true love since season one. Girl deserves it. The path is CLEARLY being paved and I will be SORELY disappointed if we don't get a Captain Swan TLK by the end of 4B.

In Conclusion:

Basically, the Frozen arc is gearing up to be my FAVORITE so far and I don't know how 4B can possibly top it. I still like the split seasons they're doing though, because I feel like it doesn't allow them to drag stuff out while still giving them more room to do MORE in general. But right now I can't even think about 4B. I will be excited for it when it gets here. For now, I am all about 4A and Frozen.

SO. MUCH. EXCITEMENT.