New Fall Shows: Once Upon a Time

If you have read this blog, it’s no secret that I’m a big LOST fan (and for the record, I loved the finale, it wouldn’t be LOST if we weren’t left with a few a questions).

But I should also warn you that I have a tendency to be one of those super annoying “happily ever after” saps that most people would like to hit over the head with a copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.  

All of this together means that I have discovered the perfect television show for me:

 

“Once Upon A Time is, at its core, a story about hope. ‘For us, that’s what a fairytale is. It’s that ability to think your life will get better. It’s why you buy a lottery ticket—because if you win you get to tell your boss that you’re quitting and you get to move to Paris or wherever and be who you always wanted to be. And that’s Cinderella, right? One day she’s sweeping up and the next she’s going to the ball. Adam and I just wanted to write about something hopeful that for one hour a week allows one to put everything aside and have that feeling that your dreams just may come true.’ - Edward Kitsis, Co-Creator/Executive Producer

Emma Swan’s life has been anything but a fairytale. A 28-year-old bail bondsperson, she’s been taking care of herself since she was abandoned as a baby. But when Henry—the son she gave up 10 years ago—finds her, everything changes. Henry is desperate for his mom’s help and thinks that Emma is actually the long, lost daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Yes, the actual Snow White and Prince Charming. Even stranger, Henry believes that Storybrooke, the sleepy New England town he calls home, is really part of a curse cast by the Evil Queen, freezing fairytale characters in the modern world with no memory of their former selves.

Of course the seen-it-all Emma doesn’t believe a word, but when she gets to Storybrooke, she can’t help sensing that everything’s not quite what it seems. As Henry shows Emma around with the help of his fairytale book, the town, and its inhabitants like Henry’s therapist Archie Hopper and the enigmatic Mr. Gold, seem just strange enough to set off her already suspicious nature. She becomes even more concerned for Henry when she meets his adopted mother, Regina, who he suspects is none other than the Evil Queen herself!

Storybrooke is a place where magic has been forgotten—but is still powerfully close—and happily ever after seems just out of reach. In order to understand where the fairytale world’s former inhabitants came from, and what ultimately led to the Evil Queen’s wrath, you’ll need a glimpse into their previous lives. But it might just turn everything you’ve ever believed about these characters upside-down.

Meanwhile, the epic battle for the future of all worlds, modern and fairytale alike, is about to begin. For good to win, Emma will have to accept her destiny and fight like hell.

Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, two master storytellers behind Lost and Tron: Legacy, invite everyone to brace themselves for a modern fairytale with thrilling twists and hints of darkness, brimming with wonder and filled with the magic of our most beloved stories.

‘We kept circling back to the idea of fairytales. The very first stories that you hear when you're a kid. They're full of magic and heroics and fear and joy. But we also found fairytales are full of all these unanswered questions. Like why is Grumpy grumpy? Why is Geppetto so lonely that he'd actually carve a little boy out of wood? And did the Evil Queen really try to kill Snow White simply because of vanity? With Once Upon A Time, we set out to explore those questions and not re-tell these stories but attempt to dig beneath what we all know and try to discover something new.’ - Adam Horowitz, Co-Creator/Executive Producer” –ABC.com

This show is perfect for all the hopeful cynics out there (shush, they exist…trust me, I am one).

To prove my point, mon moment préféré in the premiere was when The Evil Queen declares she is sending everyone in the fairytale world to a place (wait for it…) “where there are no happy endings” (hey there Cynicism!).

And, why yes, she did in fact mean “our” world (like, the one we are in right now). Geesh, what a Debbie-Downer. What did we ever do to her anyway? I know that we tend to portray evil queens as, well, evil, and kind of, um, ugly, and heartless, and nobody ever likes them, but still. No happy endings? Has she never seen the show Happy Endings (she should have since they are on the same network)?

But I think Snow White has because she counters the queen by saying that “good always wins”. See? What did I tell ya? Optimism and Pessimism all in one!

But no matter if you are an optimist or a pessimist, this is a great show. The quality of acting is unsurpassable. I mean, Ginnifer Goodwin, Lana Parilla, Jennifer Morrison, and Robert Carlyle? Seriously, who the heck was the casting director and how can I thank him (probably not with a basket of apples though right?)? Not to mention, it’s getting some pretty great feedback from both critics and viewers.

I’m already looking forward to next Sunday at 8:00 when I can have another “one hour a week allows one to put everything aside and have that feeling that your dreams just may come true”

All photos from ABC.com