Might as well start off with the story!
Story
The first half is much more of a character study as each of the group have to come to terms about who they really are & what they have to believe in whether it's magic, themselves, their loved ones & what they're capable of & to their credit it's pretty clever. But there are some issues. Especially the slow pacing! Heck, even Regina made fun of the fact that the group got to nowhere with saving Henry after 6 episodes! Also, the plot involving David being poisoned by Dreamshade & potentially having to stay on the island to survive was entirely unecessary besides being some sort of conflict for the Charmings which was very quickly resolved thanks to Rumple. Speaking of, I didn't like that the Charmings only wanted Rumple to benefit themselves as well as the Emma/Hook/Neal love triangle, but that's just nitpicking! If anything, Rumple's arc was the best. His arc involving fearing his father & the prophecy involving Henry being his undoing was wrapped up excellently as the undoing is revealed to be him accepting the fact that he is a villain, which is also an amazing addition to his very complex character arc. But unfortunately, the factors of the slow pacing, annoying love triangle & mostly pointless flashbacks do avoid it from being 'amazing'. The word I can describe it is 'great'. Hey! This is still much better than both halves of season 2 put together!
The second half of the season is much more action packed & plot orientated. But thankfully, unlike season 2, they don't cram in too many plots to deviate from the main plot, & the subplots (which are very limited in this case) actually connect well to the main one, specifically Neal's death, Mary Margaret's pregnancy & the events afterwards, or Rumple being taken prisoner by Zelena as he becomes her slave. I also loved how the characters actually think more logically this time round & take advantage of the situation and Emma finally using her powers. That's not to say there are flaws, specifically with Mary Margaret immediately trusting Zelena despite it being painfully obvious that she's the Wicked Witch & the whole stupid CaptainSwan 'love story' being shoved down our throats, but they can easily be glossed over. Oh yeah, and I love that Belle contributes much more to the plot unlike in season 2 & is actually treated equally with the others! Just wanted to put that out there!
Overall, the second half wins me over. While the first half is good in terms of character development, it did drag a bit too long & was quite repetetive. The second half though is more action packed, fast paced, & honestly, much more memorable & heartwarming! Point goes to 3B!
Winner: 3B
Villain
Now for this one I'm gonna switch it up & talk about 3B villain first!
OK, no should I say it,- ZELENA SUCKS! *insert BOOS* OH COME ON! Sorry, she was just intolerable for me! OK before I go into why, let's look at the good stuff! She does have a tragic backstory (despite not being very justifiable for her actions ) at times she is intimidating & makes us hate her & Rebecca Mader does a good job hamming it up when she needs to. But besides all that, she's just a spoilt brat! Her plan of going back in time is childish, the fact she whines all the time is stupid & seriously, why did she think Rumple would wanna be with her after tormenting him & his family including killing his son? And after that she just cries like a child! Sorry, I was glad she died in the hands of Rumple in 3x20! Also, it was pretty hard to take her seriously when literally everyone else didn't recognise that new lady with the giant emerald brooch & black cape & hat!
OH COME ON SHE'S NOT EVEN HIDING IT ANYMORE! CAN'T YOU GET A CLUE MARY MARGARET?!
Yeah, pretty obvious who I prefer now, isn't it? Pan is a much more sinister villain & is much more interesting to know about! Also, his reasoning for being evil is much more spiteful & selfish compared to chidlish jealousy from Zelena's part and he shows no remorse for any of the terrible things he does to people! Even taunting Rumple & pretty much saying that he never loved or wanted him! And his presence is actually intimidating & threatening despite the fact that he's a teenager, especially when it comes to his own son! Robbie's Kay performance is just flawless, even for his young age by giving him a very sinister prescence, as well as his looks being very uncanny to the Disney version of Peter Pan. Overall, Pan exceeded my expectations after all the hype in the season 2 finale while Zelena really disappointed me. She's not the worst Once Upon a Time villain I've seen (we'll get to that another time), but she's definitely on the weak side! Point goes to Pan!Winner: Peter Pan
Since this is a 3 parter, I thought it would be best to look at the 2 primary settings of each half!
Setting
Both designs for both universes are rather creative & interesting to look at as they're mostly original, but they also manage to pay tribute to other versions of the lands from other Peter Pan & The Wizard of Ozadaptations But, honestly, the problem I have with both is we didn't get to see much of them! Oz is a huge universe with many different countries yet we only see the Heart of Oz, The Wizard's Chamber, Zelena's cottage, a well & a panning shot of the Emerald City (I'll admit, the CGI is pretty good & the designs do look pretty cool!) Neverland on the other hand is mostly just generic jungle with a Skull Rock & some treehouses. OK, I lie there since we did see the Echo Caves, Tinkerbell's hideout & Dark Hollow, but I didn't think any of them were as creative as they could've been due to the dark twist on the Peter Pan story. It doesn't really help that Neverland itself can easily remind people of the island from Lost! Oz on the other hand does manage to get creative & interesting, even if most of the influence comes from the 1939 film like the Yellow Brick Road & the landscape of the Emerald City. Also, I love the originality of the Heart of Oz as well as the Wizard's Room with that zany yet whimsical style you'd know from Oz. This one is a very difficult one for me as both have the same good & bad points, but since this is a 3 round one, I'm gonna go with 3B as the designs are much more creative & fun, and it also felt like Oz unlike Neverland which mostly consisted of a generic dark jungle.
Winner: 3B
And overall 3B wins! Sorry that there aren't as many sections as last time, but this was all I could come up with & I needed to make it an odd number! And honestly, although I prefer 3B over 3B mostly due to the much more engaging story, both arcs are still good in their own domain & are giant improvements over season 2!
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