Once upon a time
Year of release : 2011
Run time : 43-44 min, 22 episodes
Genre : Tv Series / Fantasy / Adventure / Drama / Romance
Cast : Jennifer Morrison, Robert Carlyle, Lana Parrilla, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Jamie Dornan, Eion Bailey, Sebastian Stan
Season 1
Coming home one evening from work, Emma hears a knock in the door. A boy stands there,telling her he is her son, and that he's from Storybrooke, a small town under a curse put by the Evil Queen,which made people of the town forget who they really are,fairy tales characters!
Emma takes him home, to Storybrooke, and although, at first she doesn't believe him, she slowly starts to. Emma can tell when people are lying,and she can sense the child is telling the truth! She also has the ability to find people.
Emma is an orphan, and the boy tells her she is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.
While we see the present, we see the so called past- the fairy tale world, in which the Evil Queen puts the curse on the town.
Rumple has his own plans and makes sure that the curse (it's his curse that he gave the queen who gave it to Maleficent ) will be broken on the 28th birthday of the daughter of Snow with Charming, Emma! And that before that date, he must be an important figure in the new world, and whenever he says Please, to the Queen, he'll get what he wants!
Oh,the boy's mother, or shall we say,step mother, is the Evil Queen, Regina, name which in Romanian means 'queen'.
In the first two episodes we see the Evil Queen struggling to get the curse and put the curse on the town, sacrificing the thing she loves the most, her father, Henry.
A man who's been sleeping ever since Regina became mayor, wakes up after Mrs Blanchard was asked by Henry, the boy, to read to him, for she'll wake him up,for he's her husband in the fairy tale world, Prince Charming. All of a sudden, he has a wife,so no happy endings for Mrs. Blanchard. Regina also seems obsessed with Mrs. Blanchard staying away from this man, as if it's any of her business.
The man had amnesia, and it might be due to the fact Prince Charming was dead when the curse took effect, thus putting him in the sleep mode,giving him amnesia upon waking .
Each episode tells the story of a character,after the first two which are about the curse, the 3d is about how Snow and Charming met, and the 4th is about Cinderella. Who apparently was tricked by Rumple to give him her first born, and in the real world we see her running from Mr. Gold ,Rumple in the real world, who bought her child!
The actress who played Cinderella wasn't that good, but she was prettier than the actresses playing the fairest of them all.
Episode 5 is dedicated to Jiminy Cricket, and I just loved the outfits and the actors who played his parents, who were a joy to watch !
Episode 6 tells the story of Charming, who is a twin, and had to replace the prince after he died, for the kingdom, who needed money to be able to get the money from king Midas.
In episode 7, the sheriff, who has an affair with Regina, tells Emma who doesn't approve of their relationship, that he can't feel anything, and kisses her. He has flash backs and starts seeing a wolf.
Before the curse, we see he was the huntsman and was raised by wolves.
Trying to solve the mystery, he ends up talking to Henry who tells him what he thinks and gives him the fairy tale book.
This episode lets us know,if we had any doubts, what's really going on.
Episode 8 shows us Mr.Gold and how he came to be Rumplestiltskin.
The mayor, Regina, is trying to keep Emma away from the sheriff's office,as being 2 weeks since the sheriff died, she can become the sheriff if no one is appointed.
I don't know how things are working in this movie -Emma has a criminal record. How can one with a criminal record become sheriff, not to mention, work in the police force? Also, she has no training in the field, she didn't go to the police academy, and this is one of the many things that bother me about the movie.
In episode 9, Emma finds two children who seem to be living on their own. Regina wants to call security services for them.
In the fairy tale land we see they are Hansel and Gretel, and The Evil Queen appeared in their path asking them to help her get a satchel from the witch who lives in the ginger bread house.
She seems to be the one keeping them from their father.
Episode 10 takes us back to the Snow White and Charming aka James drama, as in Storybrooke he is married to Abigail, and Snow swoons over him.
In the fairy tale land she tries to forget him as he is to marry Abigail.
At the same time they all try to figure out who is the stranger visiting their town as no one can leave or enter Storybrooke, Or so they think!
Episode 11 tells Sydney's story, as he says he had a fallout with Regina and knows her secrets,wanting vengeance.
We then get to see who he really is, as in the fairy tale land he used to be the genie, set free by Regina's husband, the king, repaying him by falling in love with Regina and doing her bidding.
Episode 12 tells the story of Rumple, as he was the beast in the Beauty and the Beast story. He asks to have Belle as payment for helping her father's kingdom, and ..you know the rest.
In Storybrooke, Mr. Gold's shop was broke into, and he's looking for the perpetrator, or more specifically, for what he stole,as it was of sentimental value to him .
Episode 13 shows us princess Abigail doesn't want to marry James or Charming, either, as she's in love with a knight who was turned into gold, saving her father's life.
She tells James of a bewitched water, which can turn him back, in which lives a mermaid who kills the ones who venture in, and having nothing to lose, James decides to try his luck.
In Storybrooke, Abigal wants to move to Boston, and she finally finds out about her husband and Mary Margaret,from Regina, after David breaks up with her.
Episode 14 tells the story of Grumpy who was first Dreamy, a dwarf who fell in love with a fairy.
In Storybrooke, since Emma's arrival who's stirring things up, Grumpy,the town drunk, notices a nun who needs help, and falls for her. She looks just like the fairy in the fairy tale land.
At the same time, Mary Margaret is treated as the town's tr@mp having written this slur on her car more than once.
Episode 15 tells us Ruby's story, as she's Little Red Riding Hood. She lives with granny, who doesn't let her go outside, due to the wolf who's killing people, and forces her to wear the red riding hood as she thinks it repels wolves.
I liked the twist at the end, but instead of showing us the transformation, we just see a bad CGI of the wolf. Not to mention, when she changes back, she's fully clothed,with gloves and all! I guess the wolf has the ability to morph into clothes too! (eye roll!)
In Storybrooke, Ruby fights with granny and decides to get a job working for the police station as she's very good at tracking people. Problem is, she is afraid of doing anything on her own,always thinking she's not good at anything! Even when she keeps on finding things,she keeps on saying she's bad at it!
Episode 16 goes back to Snow and Charming, with whom I'm honestly sick of. She took the potion which made her forget Charming, in the Fairy Tale world, so she's evil now. I honestly liked her more, evil,she was fun and funny.
Charming hears about it, and is told in order to break the spell of the potion ( eye roll), he has to kiss her, as true love's kiss can break any spell! How convenient!
In Storybrooke, Mary Margaret ends up in jail, as all the evidence of Kathryn's disappearance lead to her k!lling her !
Episode 17 tells the Mad Hatter's story, who was asked by Regina to take her to Wonderland, a place only he could access through his magic hat.
In Storybrooke, Mary Margaret runs away from jail (finding one of Regina's town keys under her mattress) .
Emma tries to find her, and ends up in the house of a man who thinks himself to be the Mad Hatter, who also has Mary Margaret as his unwilling guest / hostage.
He wants Emma to make him a hat that can take him back to the fairy tale land,to be with his daughter.
Episode 18 tells Regina's story, who was a good,kind, girl, in love with Daniel. Her mother has other plans for her, as she wants her to be queen. Regina saves Snow who was about to fall off her horse, and her father, the king, proposes to Regina.
In Storybrooke, Regina antagonizes Mary Margret telling her she hates her, while Mary has no idea what she's talking about as they barely know each other.
Episode 19 tells the story of Rumplestiltskin and his son, whom he loved so much. Because he k!lled whoever harmed his kid, everybody feared them,nobody wanting to play with his son,Baelfire. His son wants things to be like before he became the Dark One, and talks to the fairy to take them to this realm,without magic.
In Storybrooke, Mr. Gold thinks the stranger whom he caught in his store might be his lost son.
Kathryn is found,safe and sound, a bit scared, and Mary Margaret is released.
We find out Regina was working with Mr. Gold, who wanted Mary in jail and Kathryn dead, but Mr. Gold derailed her plans.
We also find out Mr. Gold, aka Rumplestiltskin, created the curse which brought the fairy tale characters to this realm. Because he wanted to reunite with his son!
Episode 20 tells the story of Pinocchio, and we find out why the stranger / writer , August, wants Emma to believe so much. He is Pinocchio, and was supposed to take care of her, and tell her of who she was, so she could break the curse, but he left her in the orphanage right after they were found .
Now Emma doesn't believe in any of this, and doesn't want to be the savior.
In episode 21 Emma takes Henry and tries to leave Storybrooke, but Henry refuses, telling her her family is there and they need her.
Regina has nightmares about the people she cursed getting their vengeance on her for what she did to them.
In the fairy tale land Snow and all the others try to rescue Charming,as the king wants to k!ll him, and Regina gets him in order to catch Snow.
She meets Snow and asks her to eat her poisoned apple , as payback for her beloved Daniel being dead. By the way, she loves Daniel so much, she sleeps with the Huntsman, who doesn't even want her! She loves Daniel so much, even in Storybrooke she made the Huntsman her lover! Like I said, unhinged!
Regina asks the Mad Hatter to help her again ( I don't understand why would anyone help her out of their free will, as she never keeps her promises, she never intends to, but she tells people Rumple is not to be trusted! Whoever helps her in any way ends up -Hansel and Gretel,without a father, the Mad Hatter,stuck in Wonderland- in a worst way than before, as she planned bad things for them. She is the perfect embodiment of "Whom you don't let die, won't let you live" ), he helps her, and then she doesn't keep her word, again, what a shock, because the apple pie she cooked was meant for someone else!
In episode 22 Henry eats the apple pie Regina cooked for Emma to prove her Regina is the Evil Queen and all he's been saying so far is real. He collapses.
The Mad Hatter releases Belle from Regina's prison (mental institution),telling her to find Mr. Gold and tell her Regina locked her away. Regina told Rumple in the fairy tale land, so more than 28 years prior, Belle is dead.
In the fairy tale land, Rumple helps Charming find Snow and wake her from her slumber.
Emma is told she has to fight the dragon,just like her father before her, to get what's inside it ( we find later on it's magic). Speaking of the dragon, that was Maleficent, Regina's friend, whom she had imprisoned underground in dragon form. That's what she does to friends, she's so despicable!
The soundtrack was good.
Most of the actors had to play 2 different characters. Robert Carlyle who played Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold was my favorite. He stole the show!
The Evil Queen is evil and mean,in the fairy tale world acting like a spoiled child. She hates Snow White for telling her mother about her and Daniel,when Snow was a kid (!) -and tricked by Regina's mother who was a powerful witch-,but doesn't hate her own mother who k!lled Daniel right in front of her! She k!lls her own father (whom she loved the most!) to put the spell,but not her mother who's fault is for all her misfortunes and misery! The first time I watched the series she and Rumple were my favorites, now I just hate her,she's unhinged!
I've never seen a villain so eager to tell her plan to anyone who would listen!Mostly they don't .She's honestly like a child who seeks attention!
In Storybrooke she's exactly like the villain in a soap opera, always plotting and scheming to destroy others' happiness. She calls Kathryn a friend, but she wanted to k!ll her just so she could frame Snow!She's disgusting!
This movie is like a contradiction, as at the same time it has good costumes, and really bad ones, like for example, I like what they did to Rumple's outfit, Prince Charming's, Snow's outfit from when she was an outlaw..the Evil Queen's.. I like the outfits they have in the real life.. but at the same time, when they had some ball, in fairy tale land, the dresses looked like the ones we have today..and ugly! Abigail wears this ugly blue dress with feathers around the naked shoulders, with long sleeves in a few scenes(which have nothing to do with a ball)!!
Speaking of contradictions, the same goes for when they have real landscapes, making the movie look amazing, really fairy tale like, against CGI, which makes the movie look bad and cheap, as the movie has some of the worst CGI . Surprisingly, the episode about Pinocchio ( the way Pinocchio was created), has good CGI.
The first time I watched the series I watched the first three seasons, and stopped because I started hating it more and more. They kept on introducing more and more characters,with their problems and backstories, which was too much like a drama or soap opera for me (which I don't like),- even Elsa from Frozen -,and I was out!
So, I'll only review the first season as this soap opera / drama vibe bothered me the whole time.
Another thing that bothered me so much about the series was the fact they didn't care to put really beautiful women and men in the roles which said ' fairest of them all'. The evil witches were always more beautiful, and worthy of the 'fairest' title. The witches were always one more beautiful than the other ,while the opposite was true about the princesses. Even the fairies and Red are more beautiful than 'the fairest of them all'. What a joke!
Aurora, (although I think this comes in the 2nd season), known for having "rays of sunshine in her hair",so her hair is blonde, is a red haired,plain woman!
My sister thinks the creators do this on purpose to mock us.
The same thing goes about the princes, who look average, plain, while Pinocchio and Hook look great!
It seems their priorities weren't to have people who looked like the part,they only wanted them to act the part.
I got angry whenever I heard someone saying " My God, you really are the fairest of them all" to Snow White when to me the actress looks plain at best,as I don't find her attractive at all,quite the opposite!
She even says the Evil Queen tried to k1ll her for thinking her more beautiful than her in one of the first episodes which made me laugh since Regina has no competition when it comes to looks in Snow! Oh, and that was a lie, the Evil Queen wants her dead because she considers her responsible for her misfortune,not because she's the fairest! So what was that all about?!
Completely unrelated to this, the weather where they filmed looked atrocious, as the skies were 98% of the time, dark, and it was always raining, while the actors were parading around in skimpy outfits, the steam of their breaths rising in the air in long patches.
You can find all the "Once" seasons on Hulu for 30 days free, Disney+ with subscription, and for sale on Amazon, AppleTv, and Fandango at Home.
Rating : Could have been a contender !