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TV Review: Once Upon A Time
Once Upon A Time. ABC, Sundays at 8 EST.
The Plot: Fairy tales are real; Fairy Tale Land is real. An evil curse attacked the land and the people, and they all now live in Storybrooke, Maine, unaware of their “real” lives. One person, young Henry — born in our world — is aware of the curse and seeks out help to try to break the curse.
The curse-breaker? His birth mother, Emma, born in the Fairy Tale world and sent to our world when the curse was made, unaware of her origins as the child of Snow White and Prince Charming, and not believing any of Henry’s stories about fairy tales.
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The curse-maker? Snow White’s stepmother, the evil queen, who also happens to be Regina, the Mayor of Storybrooke and Henry’s adoptive mother.
The Good: I have to admit, I heard the premise of the show and was all, “really?” But it has some of my favorite actors in it (Ginnifer Godwin, Roberty Carlyle, Lana Parrilla) and show creaters Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis were writers on Lost, and Jane Espenson from the Whedonverse was also involved, so that’s some pretty darn good reasons to watch.
I’m really, really glad I did. It’s a ton of fun, yes — spotting the fairy tale characters (Red Riding Hood is now called Ruby, wears a lot of red, and works in the local diner) and the many references to the fairy tales. Disney is producing the show, which means it can use the familiar images and references from the Disney version of films. Before you get scared that it’s all Disneyfied — no. no. no. This Snow White is unlike any other you’ve seen before. If you haven’t been watching, I don’t want to give much away, but I’ll say this: when she and Prince Charming meet for the first time? She’s not some damsel in distress who needs saving. The sparks fly, and at that moment I became a total Snow/Charming shipper.
Once Upon a Time is part romance (the Snow White/Prince Charming relationship, in both the Fairy Tale world and Storybrooke), part adventure (princes killing dragons, Emma battling the evil Mayor Regina), part mystery (what is the curse? who is aware of their other lives? how does all this work?) The last question — how does all this work — is almost headache inducing. All the Fairy Tale people look like they did in the fairy tale world: they haven’t aged a day. Henry explains to Emma that time stopped in Storybrooke. Time began again when Emma stepped into town. Because Emma was sent to our world just before the curse, she was never in Storybrooke and is now in her late 20s. Henry is about ten; so Henry has apparently been raised in a town where no one around him ages, except for Henry who was born here. What is great about Once Upon a Time is rather than these things being flaws, they are strengths, because these are not mistakes but rather secrets to be discovered.
In many ways, despite the Disney connection, Once Upon a Time goes back to the darker roots of fairy tales in both how the characters are portrayed in the fairy tale world and in the present day. People die; people are hurt; bad things happen. The back-story of Rumpelstiltskin / Mr. Gold (Carlyle) has been both sad and horrifying; he is both evil, one of the “bad” characters, yet also one whose origin story leaves one thinking, “oh, no.” Grimm Fairy Tale purists, as well as Disney purists, may not appreciate some of what goes on (“but that’s not what happened in the original story/film”), but I adore the way they play with the stories, weaving them together, making them fresh.
Filed under: Reviews
About Elizabeth Burns
Looking for a place to talk about young adult books? Pull up a chair, have a cup of tea, and let's chat. I am a New Jersey librarian. My opinions do not reflect those of my employer, SLJ, YALSA, or anyone else. On Twitter I'm @LizB; my email is lizzy.burns@gmail.com.
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