I just finished THE ENTIRE FIRST SEASON of "Once Upon a Time". I decided to check out all of it due to all the hype going around it. What did I think of it?
I LOVED IT.
But before I even begin to talk about why I loved it so much, let me get the negatives out of the way first. I will join everyone in the belief that the show does have flawed script writing. The concept is fantastic, the back stories for each character and how they are tied to present day Storybrooke is fantastic. But it also features some really stilted, at times wooden, and even silly dialogue. It kind of reminds me of the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) in that they feel like the dialogue needs to be grand, epic and theatrical, and instead comes off as being pretentious as silly. "Once Upon a Time" doesn't go that far, but it is noticeable. There are also some stories that just seem to "end", like Ruby's story.
Then there's the first half of the first season. We get this elaborate, epic set up along with fascinating flashbacks for each character. Then we get what is basically a very pretty soap opera with all the love triangles, the backstabbing, the two female leads butting heads constant, so on and so forth. I feel the show loses steam when it focuses on the tired relationship stories...
HOWEVER.
The show greatly succeeds at one thing: keeping the audience interested and watching till the end. I feel this is set up greatly thanks to all the flashbacks and back stories the show presents to us. Part of that successful equation in the characters of Henry and Emma. I did read once that some believed that the characters weren't all that interesting and failed as characters because they weren't as developed as the other characters.
I will agree that the show gets us to sympathize with the two of them, and that their schtick does grow old at times. But for me at least, I didn't mind these flaws. Because I saw them as our guides to the complex story. Emma, despite being the hero, is more like a blank slate for the viewer to relate to. She, like us, is confused about everything going on in Storybrooke, seeking answers that are not given right away, and just like Emma, we stick around and try to make the best out of everything just to see a conclusion through it all. Emma also represents our emotions as we witness the events. Emma gets angry because we get angry. We grow happy at the same time as she does.
Henry is our guide, a part of us that does that these characters are real. He is there to make sense of everything, and we believe him. I do agree that they should have let us know why he knows so much about the curse while he isn't related to any of the characters or stories. But for me, his role as a guide as great, and at the end we grow to be fond of him to make the ending that more powerful.
Speaking of which, we already know that the characters are cursed. The fun of it all is seeing how they will eventually break out of it, and how their present lives mimic or contrast their stories in the realms. I loved that the stories manage to pay tribute to the classic stories and even Disney, while still putting a new spin on them. It doesn't feel critical or satirical, like "oh these stories are rubbish, we must make them realistic to meet our standards blah blah blah", but it doesn't keep them light or fluffy in terms of characterization and plot.
Snow White, for example, gets the biggest push here (notable since the main characters ARE from this story). I loved that it is a very layered story, that it is more than just a "vain woman gets jealous of beautiful young lady" story. The fact that they made the Queen's past a complex one is more than fantastic in my eyes. The Queen/Regina is a very effective villain for that: she does have a reason as to why she is so angry and bitter, and we sympathize with her for that, but we still don't forgive her sins and what she did to the other characters.
The stories they told were also great. My favorites so far are Dreamy/Grumpy's story, Jiminy Cricket's story (the one with his parents), and Prince Charming's story (with King Midas). I can't say there are any bad ones for me, Riding Hood's story seemed to be the weakest for me, and that still took me by surprise. The Belle/Rump story was also a favorite of mine, and I believe that's when the story took a turn for the better.
I think that after episode 15 or so, the stories finally realized that things needed to be stepped up in terms of conflict. All we were getting were stories of how Emma tried to foil Regina, and Regina always had the upper hand. But once the "murder" takes place, we finally see just how Regina can be and we get a plot worth investing time in.
As for the season finale, I LOVED how it finished a major story arc. I was afraid that Once Upon a Time was going to turn into one of those goal driven shows where they try to establish an ending, but never reach it. The season finale did a good job of closing the first arc of the story while teasing the second arc. I hope that season 2 manages to close the book (no pun intended) on some of the other story arcs, and that the fairy tales they choose to tell are there to provide something engage, not be included for the sake of fanservice and "because they could" (something I think happened with Glee, but that's another thread to troll
).
So long story short: Once Upon a Time is worthy of its praise and hype. It is still a fairly flawed show, but I am glad that I saw it, and can't wait to see what happens in season two.
