It wasn't a bad start, all things considered. CGI certainly hasn't improved much I see. The high point is naturally the interactions between Emma and the Dark One. I felt most of it was on cue, if somewhat accelerated, but that last bit where Emma rips the heart out of Merida was too soon for me. Already in the first episode she succumbs to the darkness? They could have stretched that arc a bit further. Also, I do hope this isn't the last we've seen of Merida. Using her character just for this episode would be such a waste. Indeed, they could've even invented a character instead of throwing references to every Disney property ever. I'd better not see Mickey that's all I'm saying.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I think it may have overplayed its hand too soon. It seems the writers decided against the will her/won't her arc and instead focus on the how of her transformation. It probably got viewers hooked if that's what they were going for. I am not, however, much of a fan of time skips but I suppose they did that in order to split the narrative as usual: in Storybrooke you'll have the Dark Swan and everything that transpires; while back in Camelot we'll see how Emma becomes the Dark Swan. I do believe they need to take a "less is more" approach. What do I mean by that? The scene where Emma turns Sneezy into stone works perfectly on its own to showcase how far she has fallen (if indeed she has for she could've easily turned him to dust); but then the writers had to ruin it by throwing some line like, "There is no saviour any more." I think we got the message, there was no need to spell it out for us.