During a panel ahead of their upcoming Freeform show, Dead of Summer, Kitsis said, "This season is going to be different from past because it's not going to be Hyde comes to town, we fight with him for 10 episodes, and then in the winter finale, he dies and we move on. We are changing around what we're doing this year and going back to that season 1 mentality of small town stories and smaller arcs."
Horowitz added, "We're also planning a 22-episode story as opposed to breaking it up into two halves this year. It's been really exciting and fun."
