Once Upon a Time

[flywoman]

I just finished watching the first season of Once Upon a Time, the fantasy series co-starring Big Love's Ginnifer Goodwin, The Full Monty's Robert Carlyle, and our very own Jennifer Morrison. For anyone who's not familiar with it, the show is about Emma Swan, a woman who has never known her real parents, and her reconnection to her biological son, Henry, whom she gave up for adoption. Henry believes that his small Maine town, Storybrooke, is populated by fairytale characters who can't remember their past lives, and that Emma is destined to save them from the machinations of his adoptive mother, the Mayor - a.k.a. Snow White's evil stepmother.

I see Once Upon a Time as part Buffy the Vampire Slayer, part Gilmore Girls, minus the witty dialogue (and, as it happens, Jane Espenson has written for all three of these shows). That doesn't mean that it isn't enjoyable; I really like the way that the individual episodes are constructed, with the character's motivations and relationships playing out in flashbacks to their past lives as well as events in the nonmagical present. (It must be an interesting challenge for the actors: their modern selves are played very naturally, like any quirky characters you might meet in a small town, while their fairytale selves take on a certain self-importantly epic quality that often makes them seem a little stiff and cartoonish, in my opinion.) I also appreciated how there were no superfluous characters or details: the  entire season had clearly been planned out from the beginning, with everything interwoven, building up to the climax of the final episode. It's virtually seamless and tremendously consistent, despite having a large ensemble cast and a stable of writers.

I probably won't see the second season until it comes out on DVD, but is anyone else following this show? (You may remember from House that I'm not especially spoilerphobic.)

Comments

[yarroway.livejournal.com]

I tried to get into the show, but I just couldn't. The initial story was interesting, these fairytale characters who think they are people, but there wasn't enough focus on that to keep my attention. There were too many characters and too many plots. I dislike large ensemble casts.

[flywoman.livejournal.com]

It took at least five episodes for me to get into it, maybe in part because of the challenge of keeping up with so many characters. But when I realized how everything was fitting together and that seemingly random characters were always introduced for a purpose, I liked it a lot more. YMMV.

[barefootpuddles.livejournal.com]

There were too many characters and too many plots.

My daughter had already watched half of the first season when she convinced me to give it a try, so I had help from her to muddle through the early episodes when everyone was an unknown. That is something that is tough for a show like this I would think, to keep initial viewers through the initial confusion. But as the characters get unveiled the concept becomes easier to follow and indeed a tiny bit predictable even. I agree though that there are too many plots, and plots can sit on the sideline a fairly long time until they are gotten back too. But it does seem like they at least have a long term plan.