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Once Upon a Time: Season 1
  • Network: ABC
  • Series Premiere Date: Oct 23, 2011
  • Season #: 1
Once Upon a Time Image
Metascore
66 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 112 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: Henry locates his birth mother, whom he believes can save Storybrooke, which is a town of fairy tale characters that do not remember their lives in the fairy tale parallel world.
  • Genre(s): Action/Adventure, Drama

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Hank Stuever
    Sep 21, 2011
    100
    Once Upon a Time is a smartly-crafted reward for fans of light fantasy, with the right mix of cleverness, action and romance.
  2. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    Oct 21, 2011
    83
    What's best about Time is its ambition; it glows with a near-theatrical shine, challenging viewers to think about TV drama as something other than boilerplate.
  3. Zap2it (Inside the Box)
    Reviewed by: Rick Porter
    Oct 24, 2011
    60
    No other new show this fall is attempting to tell a bigger story, and we're hoping the rough patches smooth out and it fulfills the potential that's there in its very strong cast and premise.

See all 26 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 33
  3. Negative: 6 out of 33
  1. Dessy
    10
    There have been many comparisons between this show and Grimm, I assure you, this is the superior series. An extremely good Pilot; definitely the best of the year. I just watched it again and again and again.It was stunning;the sets and production value, with an amazing Cast, all breathing electric life into their roles, and Intriguing storyline. I cannot wait for more.… Expand
    • 3 of 4 users said yes
  2. SwarleyStinson
    5
    I was expecting this to be more of a MOTW format with each week there being a fairy tale character that needs help to get back to the fairy-tale world. Instead it is a continuous story set in the real world. The story is quite good at first, but the problem is that is all just too lightweight, there is no real sense of threat or importance to anything that happens. The fairy-tale characters are trapped in the real world but they are not in any danger, they don't even know they are from another world. They all have jobs, houses, friends; you could even say they have better lives than before since fairy tales are set in medieval times. Also, the evil queen sent them all to the real world as a PUNISHMENT, so why did she choose to COME WITH THEM? Once the story has established itself, the show becomes a lot more like a soap in which the characters just happen to be fairy-tale characters and the plots are boring. The element of fantasy is mostly gone and its more trivial human life drama.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  3. Viktor1109
    3
    There are some decent ideas here, but you have to wade through some mediocre acting and truly awful writing. Even some of the CGI is surprisingly bad. What was with the fairy godmother character floating around in one scene? She was lit incorrectly to fit in with the main scene. Just not well done. I was truly curious about some of the big questions in this story, but the overall vehicle is so clumsily done that I just can't give this show any more time.… Expand
    • 2 of 4 users said yes

See all 33 User Reviews

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