SummaryHenry 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.
SummaryHenry 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.
This season, with flatly played new characters introduced in the world of fantasy, I found myself itching to get back to Storybrooke, although the way the lands eventually intersect makes for a nifty cliffhanger.
The season shows the emergence of Cora, one of the best villains ever. New characters and a new plot make this season even better than the first. Each episode is filled with drama and action, a perfect combination for a great show and an awesome story.
Honestly I expected more after the first season. Since the standard flashback fairy tale/current Storybrooke format is changed, characters seem more and more out of place. Henry is also markedly worse acting-wise. I'd pass on this installment if I were you.
Once upon a time, ABC was in talks with an amazing creator named Bill Willingham, whose comic series "Fables" is a long line of brilliance, mature exploration of character and fairy tale tropes blended into a modern setting. It is hands down one of the best series I have ever read, and it's still going (at least into 2015 when the story comes to a close).
At some point, those talks fell through. Then, half a year later, ABC announces Once Upon a Time, based on the same basic conceit as the Willingham comic from Vertigo (DC). I'm sad it's not Fables, but I'm excited at the idea.
Then, I watch it. I tried. I really did. It's so watered down, trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator, with annoying leads (though I liked Jiminy Cricket and I liked Rumpelstiltskin for what they were worth). It had a less-intriguing premise. It was far too soft and Disney-fied. They basically took this amazing mature story and tried to make it have mass appeal to the family audience. Already not what I wanted, but hey, I like a good family show on occasion, so I stuck it out.
And the writing ****. The plotting, the dialogue, the generic tropes done with a straight face, bland as could be. The kid is obnoxious. Snow's 'daughter' is obnoxious. Snow is less interesting than a bottle of Ambien (and it's sad, too, I loved the actress in Big Love).
Jiminy and Rumpel are the only reason this review didn't get a '0'.
If you want something that's actually good in this vein, go read Fables. Or watch Grimm.