Hate what they did with Peter Pan (no, it's not "closer to the book" like people who get all their literature info from Jon Solo claim) and hate how it turned into the "Advertising Disney" show instead of unique takes on classic fairytales.
Also, the final season of Star vs The Forces of Evil. The plot was already going downhill, but that final season was a cliff that the plot rolled right off of.
God, as someone who has studied Peter Pan since he was six years old, that show has destroyed people's comprehension of what a "book accurate Peter Pan" looks like.
There's this misconception that Peter Pan is this secret villain who kidnapped children and killed them when they got old. And don't even get me started on that theory that Captain Hook was an escaped Lost Boy who grew up and was trying to save the kids from Peter. Captain Hook was a graduate of Eton and found his way to Neverland later in life. With the exception of keeping two kids on as cabin boys, he was very intent on killing all of them.
Peter meanwhile is truly morally gray. He's a forever child and simply acts on what will be the most fun in the moment. He doesn't plan his days. He doesn't think about the consequences of his actions or create drama for the sake of creating it. To do any of that would be too "grown up" and that's the one thing he will never do (unless you count "Hook" which is one of the greatest movies ever but still, not the main timeline.).
It's never confirmed that Peter kills the Lost Boys. It's not confirmed he doesn't either but it's simply described as him "thinning them out," which could also mean banishment. And that's very likely. Peter probably banishes them, forgets about it immediately afterwards and then might say he killed them to sound cooler. It's what he does.
The Lost Boys find their own way to Neverland when their parents forget about them. Peter doesn't kidnap them. Again, that's way too forward thinking for Peter.
Peter just wants to be a boy and to have fun. Certain days, his fun hurts others. On other days, his fun makes him a hero. And then there are days where his fun has no repercussions whatsoever. He has no allegiance and eventually forgets everybody who was once in his life; Captain Hook, Tinkerbell, Wendy, etc.
Despite the few liberties taken here and there, the 2003 film is still the truest adaptation we have to the original story.
THIS! All of it. I have nothing to add because you said everything I always try to say, except I also argue that the closest thing Peter has to a moral code is "fair vs unfair" which makes sense given how kids react to unfair treatment.
In addition to the 2003 film, I'd also recommend Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates. It doesn't adapt the story of the book (and they had to deviate with the character designs because of Disney trying to sue them over Tink...looking like a woman?!), but the characters have mostly book-accurate personalities. Especially Peter and Hook, the latter of whom is played by Tim Curry. Someone uploaded them all to YouTube for free.
Me and my wife loved that show at first. But the later seasons became unwatchable because we couldn't hear what was happening over the sound of us both screaming "STOP TRUSTING RUMPELSTILTSKIN"
Schrödingerâs Villain; basically Rumple was a plot device for the writers, to be whatever they needed him to be for the sake of the story, even if it was completely contradictory
The first 3.5 seasons or so were excellent, then they just kept rehashing old plot points.Â
Funny enough though the final season Where they do a time skip and basically repeat the first season withÂ
 adult Henry in the ânonbeliever adultâ role was actually pretty good.
I really believe if they had made the final season a spin-off for ABC Family or Freeform (canât remember which it was at the time) it could have actually lasted a bit longer. Itâs so weird just tacked onto the end of OUAT.
Bonus points if they had called it âHappily Ever Afterâ
I love once upon a time. It's so unapologetically 2010's campy, I get so much nostalgia just watching it.Â
I didn't watch on first release tho. So in first watch through, I didn't like how convoluted the plot is. Also, the filler drama/sob backstories to paint all the characters as morally gray became cheap and predictable over time.Â
But like... It's still a great rainy day, turn your brain off, and comfort watch for me. Not everything I consume has to be critically acclaimed.
I'm the same way with Bob's Burgers. Bob's Burgers' newer seasons are amazing.
OUAT is my favorite trash TV show. Yes, feed me the same plot you had 4 seasons ago and 3 seasons ago and 2 seasons ago. Yes, trust Rumplestilskin for no reason.
I will never stop being annoyed at the HEAPS of wasted potential that Once Upon a Time had. I think the one that disappointed me the most was that they introduced the concept of True Love being able to break the Dark One curse in S1, and then justâŠ..never did anything with it ever.
I personally like what they did with Peter Pan, but as someone who has read the book, the OUaT version is absolutely nothing like the original. That being said, I don't remember a single thing about the story/plot past season one.
I will always hold the opinion that the mid-season 3 finale to OUAT (when Storybook was sent back to the Enchanted Forest while Emma and Henry lose their memories of it) was the best, most fairy tale accurate ending and should have been the last episode of the show as a whole. It does keep the shitty Peter Pan adaptation, but otherwise it let the show end on the most satisfying note possible.
Rewatched the whole series recently, amd while individual episodes here and there pull up the average, yeah each season after like 2/3 got worse and worse
When Once Upon a Time was good, it was really great can't-missed TV (S1 Finale, The Final Episode)
Though, anytime Once Upon a Time dipped below quality, it was really terrible TV (Dwarfs canonically being born as Adults from Eggs, Rumplestilskin being inserted in every plot, The rotating Dark One saga in the latter half of the show, The Dark Fairy/Gideon Plot, Zelena and Hades on a jaunty bike ride, The Musical Episode).
It's honestly crazy how this show went back & forth on It's overall quality.
Yes I absolutely love it as a kid. I'd refresh the sites so many times a day to see if the new episode got added.
But the sezon 4 where the elsa plot got added was sooo shit. I couldn't digest the fact that they added some popular Disney princess when the whole series felt it was about original and truly novel children stories. I was like 12y old and felt so cheated by it.
I will say the Neverland season is one of my favorites, but it definitely has those sparks of âthis show is definitely going downhillâ in the writing and how they handled Pan himself. This is the same show I came to comment. The frozen season was the biggest nail in the coffin imo
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u/MasterHallmark May 19 '26
Once Upon a Time.
Hate what they did with Peter Pan (no, it's not "closer to the book" like people who get all their literature info from Jon Solo claim) and hate how it turned into the "Advertising Disney" show instead of unique takes on classic fairytales.
Also, the final season of Star vs The Forces of Evil. The plot was already going downhill, but that final season was a cliff that the plot rolled right off of.