Truth, Beauty & Ramifications of Darkness

The Season 4 Finale Interview with Adam Horowitz & Eddy Kitsis

By Diane Reed - @DianeJReed

How fun is it to talk with Adam Horowitz & Eddy Kitsis before the Season 4 Finale on May 10th, 2015. As always, OUAF shot them our most provocative questions from staff & fans, and Adam & Eddy generously teased as much as they could about the last two episodes: “Mother” on May 3rd & the 2-hour “Operation Mongoose, Part 1 & 2” on May 10th. 

With that said, here is our dialogue!

Adam:  Hey Diane! How are you? 

Diane: I’m good—thanks for talking with us today, guys!

Adam: Of course, our pleasure. 

Diane: I have a lot of questions from staff & fans that I have to rattle through—you ready?

Eddy: Yes, we are ready!

Diane: We know the last episode is going to be a two-hour finale, and you’ve said it’s cinematic, more like a film. Can you give us any scoops about what to expect from this finale that’s different from seasons in the past?

Eddy: Well, I think this finale is unique to its own concept, which we’ve never done before. And the tease I would give is that Regina said in the beginning of the year that she wanted to track down the author and have him do some rewriting. So the finale will be the result of what happens when the author starts rewriting.

Adam: The finale is the culmination of Season 4, all the stories we’ve been telling, which I think makes it different from what we’ve done before.

Diane: I’ve heard that it’s called “Operation Mongoose, Part 1 & 2.” Does this mean we’ll see a lot of Henry & Regina working together in the finale?

Eddy: I would say you’ll see that!

Diane: And I’ve also heard that there will be journeys into other worlds, times and places. Can you hint what other worlds you might go to? Some people are curious if it will feature Agrabah from Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. 

Adam: I think we’d rather keep it a surprise what we do in the finale.

Diane: Okay. Well, the upcoming episode is titled “Mother.” And boy, do you have a lot of mother energy going on in the show! You’ve got the surprise with Zelena being pregnant, you’ve got Lily coming back to Maleficent, and you’ve got Emma really mad at her mother! 

Eddy: Yeah, this is the episode that is going to dive into all three of those things. We are going to get Regina’s reaction towards Zelena, and Robin Hood’s reaction to that. We’re going to get more with Emma and her parents. And we’re going to see the reunion with Maleficent and Lily.

Diane: So who doesn’t grow up being mad at their mother once in a while? Is there a sense of moderation at some point? Do you think that there will be any harmony with the mothers, like when people grow up a little bit and realize that their mothers were doing the best they could? Or are there going to be some serious fights going on?

Adam: We will have a bunch of different reactions. Relationships between mothers are complex, and we’re going to reflect the complexity in those relationships.

Eddy: Yeah, I don’t think it’s realistic to say that people get over something in just one or two acts, or within one episode. For us, we like to explore the reasons why characters are doing what they’re doing.

Diane: So a fan had a fantastic question. It’s kind of out there, but it’s intriguing. Is there more than one book, or is there only one book? And the reason this question came up is because fans are wondering: Can some people get their happy endings while other characters get entirely different stories?

Adam: I think that we would say we’ve set up set up some questions about the nature of the book you see on the show, and we intend to answer those questions and talk more about the mythology of the book and the author. All that falls under that umbrella.

Diane: And that will be in the finale? 

Adam: That will be in the finale—yes.

Diane: And will we see more information about the author or the authors plural, like how they become the author and who’s going to be driving the train?

Adam: Yep, you will see all of that. All those questions will be answered in the finale.

Diane: That’s exciting! That’s what we’ve been waiting for!

Eddy: [Laughs] Well, hopefully you’ll like the answers as much as we liked coming up with it.

Diane: Will elements of the plots from Season 4 roll over to Season 5, or will you be starting new story arcs in Season 5? 

Eddy: I think that you will have character arcs and relationships carrying over. I think every year we may do different plots and different adventures like a movie, but the character growth remains.

Diane: I’m getting a TON of questions about Emma and Hook and Rumple and Belle. Will there be some conclusions there in the next season?

Eddy: Conclusions . . . I don’t know how to answer that because you’re saying, will we decide exactly what happens to them and stick with that forever?

Adam: I would ask this question in response: If anyone is in a relationship—if they’re married, dating, or just falling in love, is that a conclusion? Or is that part of an ongoing story? Ongoing story is the approach we take. Relationships don’t necessarily have a conclusion—they have many milestone events.

Eddy: For us, it’s about the journey.

Diane: The underlying question to that is people want to see the big “True Love’s Kiss” scenes between Emma and Hook and Rumple and Belle again. Is there a chance that will ever happen?

Adam: I don’t think we want to say what’s going to happen, which would spoil it in a way.

Eddy: But we can say this is a show about HOPE. So hopefully, the show continues to be hopeful!

Diane: That’s a great answer! So what has been your personal highlight of Season 4?

Eddy: I think it’s really tough to say, because as a writer, you’re always interested in the new thing you’re doing. But this season did have a lot of highlights for us. We really, really loved the Snow Queen arc, and loved watching a lot of the characters grow and play different dynamics and be put in different situations. That’s been a lot of fun for us. And this season’s finale is one of our favorites. 

Adam: I’d say the highlight is just being able to continue to tell the stories for the most amazing fans out there!

Diane: Can you hint at anything regarding more information on the sorcerer? Some people are actually wondering whether Henry is secretly the sorcerer.

Eddy: I can tell you that we will answer that very question in the season finale. We will tell you who the sorcerer is.

Diane: Another question is this: you’ve experimented a lot with storytelling structure. Will Season 5 have any new kinds of storytelling structure that we haven’t seen before?

Eddy: I would say that for us, we’re always trying to push it. You know, make the show fresh and keep challenging ourselves in fun ways that we feel like are still within the spirit of the show. So we don’t like to rule anything out. We don’t like to restrict any creativity in any form it comes in.

Adam: And it’s not about the format for us—it’s about the characters. And it’s about what’s going to be the best way to tell the stories for these characters. And that can be a million different ways. But ultimately, at the end of the day, it’s about their journeys and the how we best can express that.

Diane: So will you stick to the 2/11 episode arc format that you had this year?

Eddy: Yeah, that’s been the one we like the best. We just like writing it and airing it as much in a row as we can. The other way of trying to stretch it over the year just didn’t work. It ruined the flow, we thought.

Diane: Now I’ve heard that in the final episode that we’re going to see some familiar faces, like August and the Blue Fairy, but in ways we haven’t seen before. Can you tease anything about that?

Adam: Not really! That is sort of the tease—seeing them in ways we haven’t seen before. What’s fun for us is showing characters in hopefully a new way, and we think that will be exciting for the audience. We want to preserve the surprise of the experience of what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and why. We’re really excited for everyone to see what we’ve done with these characters with this finale.

Diane: Many fans have asked how they can be an extra on the show. Do you have any tips for them?

Eddy: I believe we do all the hiring for extras in Canada, and my guess is that they would have to be Canadian citizens as a law. And there is someone whose entire department is to do that. To be quite honest, we don’t know the minutia of that or the code of how it’s done.

Diane: Will we see more of Hook in Season 5?

Eddy: Yeah, absolutely.

Adam: If he’s still alive . . .

Diane: Oh no! Don’t say that! And will there be any relationship between Rumple and Henry in Season 5? Grandpa and grandson.

Eddy: I hope so! It is his grandfather.

Adam: If they both survive, then we would like that, too.

Eddy: You’ll have to see what happens at the end of the finale.

Diane: One last lingering thread is Anastasia from Once Upon a Time in Wonderland and her relationship to Will. Will we ever see Anastasia again? 

Eddy: We have not, and we won’t this year. It is a story we’d like to tell at some point. It’s just that we didn’t have room for it this year.

Diane: This is your last wild card question: We know William Shatner is a huge fan of the show. Any chance he’ll ever have a spot?

Eddy: Oh, we’re huge fans of his! So I think if the right opportunity came, we’d all be excited.

Adam: We’re honored to have him as a viewer of the show. So never say never!

Eddy: Exactly.

Adam & Eddy: Thank you Diane!

Diane: Thank you guys! Have a great day.