One night, I strangely had free time on my hands and decided to watch some TV, but couldn't find anything familiar. A listing came up for something called 'Once Upon a Time.' The title alone screamed my name, though I'd never heard of it. So, I went into it blindly - quite pleased with the outcome of that hour of my life I let ABC take from me.
If you've seen LOST (The writers for both shows are one in the same), Once Upon a Time is a drama/fantasy series that lends itself quite similarly to the concept of two different worlds... only instead of plane crash survivors, we're introduced to our favourite well-known fairytale characters. In the pilot episode, we find ourselves at Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding. The party is soon crashed, as the Evil Queen bursts in uninvited, and threatens the promise an evil curse that will ruin the lives of every being in the entire land - save herself. Snow and Charming are soon expecting a baby, whom they are desperate to keep safe from the Queen's prophecy. They discreetly go to visit the most sinister of all - Rumplestiltskin, who explains that if she can escape the dark magic, that this baby will become the saviour.
On the day the baby is born, the Queen's curse has also birthed - and all is to be doomed. But, Snow White and Charming's baby fortuitously makes it into a magical wardrobe where she will be transported somewhere safe. In getting her there, Charming is brutally attacked right as the winds violently begin to turn, tumultuously sending all of Fairytale Land into desolation as the Queen watches triumphantly.
Flash forward to modern day. We find ourselves in the quaint town of Storybrooke, Maine where time is frozen. No one can enter Storybrooke, and no one can leave. Our fairytale characters have all resurfaced. Snow White is a school teacher named Mary Margaret. Prince Charming is now a vegetable only known as John Doe. Granny owns a B&B and can hardly keep a handle on her promiscuous granddaughter Ruby. Rumplestiltskin is a man named Mr. Gold who essentially runs the town because of his wealth. And the mayor of the town... you guessed it, the evil Queen herself - moonlighting as a woman named Regina Mills. Her adopted 10-year old son, Henry however, has a book of fairytales and somehow knows the true fate of all who live in this banished town. He also is determined to bring his birth mother to Storybrooke, who he secretly ventures out to find in Boston. Once he finds bounty hunter Emma Swan, he convinces her she must travel back with him in order to break the curse. Yep, you guessed it - Emma Swan is the golden child who made it out alive. According to a news story, she was discovered in modern day world as an infant on the side of the road. Though jaded and sarcastic, Emma agrees to travel back to Storybrooke - mostly to return her newfound son to his adopted mother, Regina. But, as soon as Emma enters Storybrooke, things start to change.
As for the rest - you'll have to watch for yourself! You can watch all the episodes for free on CTV's website. At present, the series is only about ten episodes in. In each episode, time is equally divided between modern day world and fairytale world, which is quite fun - to discover all the characters' backstories, especially the villains'. One of the most fun parts is trying to figure out who each character is, as some people we've met in modern day, and not yet in fairytale world, and vice versa! Many characters have been introduced so far, and it'll be interesting to see who else we meet (some people we still haven't met are Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Robin Hood, etc.). As OUAT is an ABC network show, their ties with Disney have married quite well with this script (For example, the fire department's Dalmatian is actually named Pongo). Learning the backstories of characters is also an enjoyable part of this show (We learn about Snow White's not so nice side, how the evil Queen got the poison apple, why Rumplestiltskin is so evil, etc.)
Not only is the concept for the show clever, and the writing quite well done - but there are some fantastically executed performances from the cast. Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, 28 Weeks Later) who plays Rumplestiltskin has the ability to go from charming and lovable, to ruthless and snivelling within a matter of seconds. It's amazing the way you want to love him, but also know you can't, as he's not batting for Team Good. Lana Parrilla (Spin City, 24) is a new face to me - but her performance as the evil Queen is spot on, and beautifully played. Other notable mentions go to Ginnifer Goodwin (He's Just Not that Into You) as Snow White.
Well, now that I've hyped it up - what are you waiting for? Go get you some fairytale awesomeness! You're welcome.
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