Expectations were quite mixed before watching "Leaving Storybrooke", not just Season 7's last episode but also the last ever episode of 'Once Upon a Time'. Some promising ideas here and season finales always picque interest when you want to see how it ends. Expectations lowered however after seeing and being underwhelmed by the penultimate episode "Homecoming", which felt like the first half of a two part finale and like the step in the right direction seen in "Is This Henry Mills" did not happen.
It is with great relief that "Leaving Storybrooke" was a great improvement and a worthy way to end Season 7 and 'Once Upon a Time', leaving on a high if you will. Very good if not exceptional in quality, improves on everything that disappointed in "Homecoming" and one of the top five Season 7 episodes along with "Beauty", "Wake Up Call", "Pretty in Blue" and "Is This Henry Mills". Also being one of the episodes of the season that came closest to evoking the spirit of prime-'Once Upon a Time'.
Even for an episode intended to tie things up and reunite characters, "Leaving Storybrooke" still perhaps has too many characters and for such a lot happening it feels too short and hurried. It would have done well being either feature length or a two parter, so that the things that were left hanging in the air were actually resolved.
Yet despite all that, "Leaving Storybrooke" still managed to have a story that was absorbing and much more coherent than most of the episodes of Season 7. A lot happens but it doesn't feel as bloated as before in the season. It has a good deal of intensity and delivers a lot on the emotional impact. Rumplestiltskin's final scene being one of the show's most moving moments, the single most moving moment of Season 7 and certainly the season's most moving moment since the whole of "Beauty".
Not just successful in the story development, but "Leaving Storybrooke" also had characters that were interesting and worth rooting for, even those that didn't do anything for me before didn't bother me anywhere near as much here. The chemistry between all is witty and also heartfelt, while there is less of the cheesiness and melodramatic dragged out soap-opera that passed for dialogue in most of the season. It looks good, nicely scored and directed and regarding the acting the most consistently good actors have not lost what was so sparkling about them, those that haven't been in the show for a long time are remarkably true to character and the usually weak actors were not too bad here.
In conclusion, a worthy way to end a show that was good to brilliant for five of its seven seasons but ran out of steam in the last two. 8/10
