When 'Once Upon a Time' first started, it was highly addictive and made the most of a truly great and creative premise. Really loved the idea of turning fairy tales on their heads and putting own interpretations on them and the show early on clearly had a ball. Watched it without fail everytime it came on and it was often a highlight of the week. Which was why it was sad when it ran out of ideas and lost its magic in the later seasons.
Although with a few not so great episodes, Seasons 1-4 gave me a lot of pleasures. Season 5 was decent to brilliant from personal opinion in its first half but the quality became uneven in the Underworld arc. Season 6 started off very promisingly, really liked the first three episodes while feeling more mixed on "Strange Case". "Street Rats" however left me quite conflicted. So did "Dark Waters" and actually even more so. Like "Street Rats", it is not a terrible episode by all means, but there is not enough of what makes the show so good when it's on form and it is a good example of the run out of ideas and lost the magic criticisms. Something that can be seen in the decreasing ratings and the relatively mild critical opinions.
There are definitely good things about "Dark Waters". As is always the case with 'Once Upon a Time' it is a visually handsome episode (on the most part), it's photographed beautifully and the settings have colour and atmosphere without being too dreary or garish. Loved the design of the submarine. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable theme tune.
From personal opinion, the cast mostly do very well with what they had to work with. Colin O'Donoghue has the right amount of charisma and swagger and some of Jared Gilmore's acting is intensely heartfelt, though the writing doesn't do him justice. It is hard to go wrong with Lana Parrilla and Robert Carlyle and Faran Tahir brings the right amount of enigmatic mystery to Nemo.
Parts of the story engage. Hook's backstory is intriguing, as is the interestingly villainous depiction of Nemo, and Hook has more personality and development than he has had since the Underworld arc in the second half of Season 5. Great chemistry between him and Nemo, which was quite suspenseful in places. Do love Regina and the Evil Queen and there is some wit and tension in scenes between them and the Evil Queen and Zelena. The dynamic between the Evil Queen and Gold was weird and appears randomly but was quite fascinating. There is some heart, like in the reconciliation.
However, the story on the most part is messy and there is definitely a sense that the show has run out of ideas. Too over-stuffed and rather rushed, meaning things don't make as much sense as they ought to, for instance Henry's chemistry and manner with Hook needed more explanation which never really comes, and things happen too abruptly either in introduction or how characters behave, Henry and Hook and the Evil Queen and Regina being the prime examples. The Charmings' roles are present and correct but somewhat predictable and doesn't really compel, and the Aladdin and Jasmine part is completely superfluous to the episode and also confuses.
Other episodes do a much better job at character and plot advancing, it doesn't feel like the story is progressing or adds much to what was seen before in the previous episodes feeling like somewhat of a filler episode. The characters have also been more compelling elsewhere and the writers seem to have forgotten what made them great in the first place, when you compare them from the earlier seasons to now they are unrecognisable and it's not for the better. Felt for Emma in the first three episodes but since "Strange Case" have increasingly started to like her less. The writing is far too camp and often very melodramatic.
Usually have nothing to complain about the costumes but some of them here are dodgy, especially for the Evil Queen and Emma. Liam's role is too reliant on coincidence while Nick Eversman and Karen David are forced sore spots in the acting stakes.
In conclusion, another disappointment. 5/10 Bethany Cox
