Once Upon a Time is an American fairy tale drama series that premiered on October 23, 2011, on ABC. The show takes place in the fictional seaside town of Storybrooke, Maine, whose residents are actually characters from various fairy tales transported to the "real world" town and robbed of their real memories by a powerful curse. Episodes typically feature a primary storyline in Storybrooke, as well as a secondary storyline usually from another point in a character's life before the curse was enacted. The show airs Sundays at 8:00Â pm ET/7:00Â pm CT.
Once Upon a Time was created by Lost and Tron: Legacy writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Its first season received "generally favorable" reviews from critics. Metacritic gave it a score of 66 out of 100 based on 26 reviews. The pilot episode was watched by 12.93 million viewers and achieved an adult 18â€"49 rating/share of 4.0/10. The second season premiered on September 30, 2012 to an audience of 11.36 million, while the third season began on September 29, 2013, opening to 8.52 million viewers. In May 2014, ABC renewed the show for its fourth season, premiering in September 2014 to an audience of 9.47 million viewers.
A spin-off series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland consisting of 13 episodes premiered on October 10, 2013 and concluded April 3, 2014.
Series overview
The series takes place in the fictional seaside town of Storybrooke, Maine, in which the residents are actually characters from various fairy tales and other stories that were transported to the "real world" town and robbed of their original memories by the Evil Queen Regina (Lana Parrilla), using a powerful curse obtained from Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle). The residents of Storybrooke, where Regina is mayor, have lived an unchanging existence for 28 years, unaware of their own lack of aging. The town's only hope lies with a bail bonds-woman and bounty hunter named Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), the daughter of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas), who was transported from the Enchanted Forest (which was also called Misthaven) to our world as an infant before she could be cursed. As such, she is the only person who can break the curse and restore the characters' lost memories. She is aided by her son, Henry (Jared S. Gilmore), with whom she has recently reunited after giving him up for adoption upon his birth, and his Once Upon a Time book of fairy tales that holds the key to ending the curse. Henry is also the adopted son of Regina, providing a source of both conflict and common interest between the two women.
Episodes usually have one segment that details the characters' past lives which, when serialized, adds a piece to the puzzle about the characters and their connection to the events that preceded the curse and its consequences. The other, set in the present day, follows a similar pattern with a different outcome but also offers similar insights.
Seasons
The first season of Once Upon a Time premiered on October 23, 2011. The season begins with the Evil Queen interrupting the wedding of Snow White and Prince Charming to announce that she will cast a curse on everyone that will leave her with the only happy ending. The majority of the fairy tale characters are transported to the town of Storybrooke, Maine, where they have been stripped of their actual memories and identities as fairy tale characters. On her 28th birthday, Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, is brought to Storybrooke by her biological son Henry Mills in the hopes of breaking the curse cast by his adoptive mother, the Evil Queen Regina.
The second season was confirmed by ABC on May 10, 2012 and premiered on September 30, 2012. Despite Emma having broken the curse, the characters are not returned to the fairy tale world, and must deal with their own dual identities. With the introduction of magic into Storybrooke by Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin, the fates of the two worlds become intertwined, and new threats emerge in the form of Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue), Regina's mother Cora (Barbara Hershey), also known as the Queen of Hearts, and sinister operatives from our world with an agenda to destroy magic.
The third season was announced on May 10, 2013 and premiered on September 29, 2013. It was split into two volumes, with the first eleven episodes running from September to December 2013, and the later half from March to May 2014. In the first volume, the main characters travel to Neverland to rescue Henry Mills, who has been kidnapped by Peter Pan (Robbie Kay) as part of a plan to obtain the "Heart of the Truest Believer" from him. Their increasing power struggle with Pan continues in Storybrooke, which ultimately results in the complete reversal of the original curse. All the characters are returned to their original worlds, leaving Emma and Henry to escape to New York City. In the second volume, the characters are mysteriously brought back to a recreated Storybrooke with their memories of the previous year removed, and the Wicked Witch of the West (Rebecca Mader) appears with a plan to change the past. Once again, Emma is needed to save her family.
The fourth season was announced on May 8, 2014 and premiered on September 28, 2014. A new storyline incorporating elements from the 2013 Disney film Frozen was revealed when the time travel events of the previous season lead to the accidental arrival of Elsa (Georgina Haig) from the Enchanted Forest in the past to present-day Storybrooke. As she searches for her sister Anna (Elizabeth Lail) with the aid of the main characters, they encounter the Snow Queen (Elizabeth Mitchell) in Storybrooke. Meanwhile, Regina Mills is determined to seek the author of the Once Upon a Time book so that she can finally have her happy ending while Mr. Gold seeks to use the Sorcerer's Hat to free himself from the control of the Dark One's Dagger.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Development and production
Conception
Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis conceived the show in 2004 before joining the writing staff of Lost, but wanted to wait until that series was over to focus on this project.
Eight years previous to the Once Upon a Time pilot (the two had just completed their work on Felicity, in 2002), Kitsis and Horowitz became inspired to write fairy tales out of a love of "mystery and excitement of exploring lots of different worlds." They presented the premise to networks, but were refused because of its fantastic nature. The two learned from their time on Lost to look at the story in a different way, that "character has to trump mythology"; they expanded, "as people, you've got to see what the void in their heart or in their lives is to care about them ... For us, this was as much about the character journeys and seeing what was ripped from them in coming to Storybrooke â€" going at it that way as opposed to making it the 'break-the-curse show.'"
Despite the comparisons and similarities to Lost, the writers intend them to be very different shows. To them, Lost concerned itself with redemption, while Once Upon a Time is about "hope". Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof aids in the development of the series as a consultant, but has no official credit on the show. Kitsis and Horowitz have called him a "godfather" to the series. To differentiate the storytelling from what the audience already knew, the writing staff decided to begin the pilot with the end of the typical Snow White fairytale. Themes concerning family and motherhood were emphasized, in contrast to the focus on fatherhood in Lost. Kitsis and Horowitz sought to write strong female characters, rather than the classic damsel in distress. Horowitz stated their desire to approach each character the same way, asking themselves, "How do we make these icons real, make them relatable?"
The pilot is meant to be the "template of the series". Kitsis confirmed that every week will contain flashbacks between both worlds, as they "love the idea of going back and forth and informing what the character is missing in their life." The writers' desire to present a "mash up" of many small characters can be seen in a scene of the pilot, in which there is a war council featuring Geppetto, Pinocchio, and Grumpy. Horowitz elaborated, "One of the fun things for us coming up with these stories is thinking of ways these different characters can interact in ways they never have before." Since then, the creators have added more elements, and given its ties to Disney, have managed to expand the universe to include more recent material, by throwing out hints that they might look ahead at incorporating characters from Brave and Frozen in future episodes, if they get the green light from Disney. The Season 3 finale introduced Elsa in the final minutes of the episode.
The general premise, importing the Snow White core characters into the "real world", was previously seen on ABC television in the short-lived 1980s comedy The Charmings. The show also has a similar premise to Bill Willingham's ten-year-old comic series Fables, to which ABC bought the rights in 2008 but never made it past planning stages. After Fables fans raised controversy over possible appropriation, the show writers initially denied a link, but later said they may have "read a couple issues" of the comic book but while the two concepts are "in the same playground", they are "telling a different story." Bill Willingham responded to the controversy in an interview, where he stated he did not feel the show was plagiarism and said: "Maybe they did remember reading Fables back then, but didn't want to mention it because we've become a very litigious people."
Casting
Secondary character casting director, Samuel Forsyth started the casting process back in 2010. Horowitz stated that everyone they initially wanted cast in the series accepted their offered role after being sent a script. Ginnifer Goodwin was cast as Snow White, who appreciated that she would be playing a strong character that was fleshed out for the audience. The actress had just completed her work on the series Big Love, and was looking for a new project; she turned to television after film scripts failed to interest her. Having said previously in interviews that she would love to play Snow White, Goodwin called her acceptance of the Snow White role "a no-brainer." Both Kitsis and Horowitz are self-described big fans of Big Love, and wrote the part of Snow White with Goodwin in mind. Josh Dallas, who plays Prince Charming, was pleased the writers took "some dramatic license" with his character, believing the prince had become more real. He explained, "Prince Charming just happens to be a name. He's still a man with the same emotions as any other man. He's a Prince, but he's a Prince of the people. He gets his hands dirty. He's got a kingdom to run. He has a family to protect. He has an epic, epic love for Snow White. He's like everybody else. He's human."
Jennifer Morrison was hired for the part of Emma Swan. The actress explained her character as someone who "help[s] her son Henry whom she abandoned when he was a baby and who seems like he's a little bit emotionally dysfunctional", but noted that Emma does not yet believe there is a fairytale universe. Ten-year old Jared Gilmore, known for his work on Mad Men, took the role of her son, Henry. The role of The Evil Queen/Regina went to Lana Parrilla. She explained the character, "There's always two stories being told when playing Regina. There's the threat of her knowing she's an evil queen and then there's just the pure simple fact that the biological mother has stepped into her world and the threat of losing her son is just enormous. That's a fear that I think any adopted mother would have. I think that's going to really help the audience relate to Regina in some level." The role of Rumplestiltskin was given to Robert Carlyle; it was written with Carlyle in mind, though the writers initially thought he would never accept the part. Horowitz recalled Carlyle's prison sequence, which was the actor's first day on the set as "mind-blowing ... You could see Ginny actually jump, the first time he did that character. It was fantastic!" The writers offered the part of the Blue Fairy to recording artist Lady Gaga, but never heard back from her management staff.
For the second season, Meghan Ory (Ruby/Red Riding Hood) and Emilie de Ravin (Lacey/Belle) were promoted to members of the regular cast. New supporting characters for the season include Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), played by Sarah Bolger; Mulan, played by Jamie Chung; Prince Phillip, played by Julian Morris; and Captain Hook, portrayed by Colin O'Donoghue. On October 3, 2012, it was announced that O'Donoghue would be billed as a series regular from episode 14 of the second season.
Cast changes for the third season included Michael Raymond-James being promoted to a regular cast member for his portrayal of Neal Cassidy. Furthermore, Meghan Ory (Ruby/Red Riding Hood) did not return as a series regular (due to the actress having been cast in another series), while Giancarlo Esposito (Sidney Glass/The Magic Mirror) re-appeared as a guest star, after being absent from the show since its first season due to his commitments to the TV series Revolution. On April 1, 2014, it was revealed that Michael Socha was in talks to be a series regular on Once Upon a Time as Will Scarlet/Knave of Hearts from the show's spin-off, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, suggesting a possible Season 4. On April 20, 2014, it was revealed that Socha would become a regular should the series be renewed for a fourth season. First day of July, it was confirmed that the actors Elizabeth Lail and Scott Michael Foster would be part of the fourth season in the roles of Anna and Kristoff respectively while two days later it was announced that Georgina Haig would portray Queen Elsa.
Filming
Principal photography for the series takes place in Vancouver, British Columbia. The village of Steveston in the adjacent city of Richmond doubles as Storybrooke for the series, with props and exterior sets disguising the existing businesses and buildings. During filming, all brightly-colored objects (flowers, etc.) are hidden to reinforce the story village's spell-subdued character. Certain sets are additionally filmed in separate studios, including the interior of Mr. Gold's pawn shop and the clock tower, which are not found in Steveston.
Setting
The actual spread and scope of the Enchanted Forest is currently unknown. Several independent kingdoms are implied by an array of different rulers, including Snow White's father King Leopold (the kingdom later ruled by his widow (the Evil) Queen Regina); Cora's father-in-law King Xavier; Princess Abigail's father King Midas; Charming's (secretly adoptive) father King George (Charming and Snow rule his kingdom after deposing him); Cinderella's father-in-law; and Sir Maurice, Belle's father.
In the series' first season, Storybrooke, Maine, is depicted as a typical ocean-side small town. Although it has a "trapped in time" factor, modern conveniences such as TV broadcasts and the internet are available. Because of the curse, residents cannot remember how they came to live there or meet each other, though they are unconcerned by this. They are also unable to venture past the town limits of Storybrooke. When characters have attempted to leave, something prevents them, such as their cars breaking down causing them to get into some sort of danger (in a similar fashion to how residents of The Village were unable to leave in the 1960s TV series The Prisoner). Some of the series' characters are partially or entirely free of the curse, however. One of these is Henry, who was born years after the curse was cast, in the "real world". He leaves Storybrooke in the pilot episode to retrieve Emma from Boston. She is revealed to have escaped the curse in the enchanted wardrobe. Later, August Booth (Pinocchio) and Neal Cassidy (Baelfire) are introduced; August came to the "real world" with Emma, and is similarly not cursed, and Neal left the Enchanted Forest through a portal many years before the curse was cast. Regina, Mr. Gold, and Jefferson (the Mad Hatter) are aware of the curse and remember their previous lives, but the latter two characters are still forced to remain in Storybrooke by the curse.
With Emma's arrival, the curse began to weaken, with clocks moving forward, crickets chirping, and Regina's apple tree showing signs of spoilage. Once the curse was broken, residents who passed the city limits found their newly restored memories of being fairy-tale characters erased; they only remembered their Storybrooke identities. Also, those who have magic powers will lose them upon leaving town. In addition, as alluded in "The Outsider", the weakening curse resulted in individuals from the outside world entering Storybrooke; characters include the arrival of Greg Mendell (who, along with his father were witnesses to the town's "arrival" in 1983) and later Tamara (after she followed August from Hong Kong). The episode "Hat Trick" shows Wonderland of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It revealed that other worlds or universes exist; in "The Doctor", Dr. Frankenstein is brought to the Enchanted Forest for a short while, and later in Storybrooke, (as Dr. Whale) he expresses concern over whether all the worlds have disappeared. It was also revealed in "An Apple Red as Blood" that it is be possible to retrieve an item from the Enchanted Forest and bring it to the present day.
In the second season, it is revealed that not all of the Enchanted Forest was cursed, due to a protection spell cast by Cora. The survivors were frozen for 28 years and awoke when the curse was broken. They established themselves in a safe haven, waiting for news of the fate of the remaining Enchanted Forest. In the season two finale, Greg Mendell and Tamara take Henry to Neverland, after creating a portal with a magic bean. During the fourth season, it was discovered that The Snow Queen also escaped the curse through another method, in which she ended up in the real world as Sarah Fisher, the foster mother during Emma's years as a teen, of which she would erase their previous past until she showed up in Storybrooke.
Cultural references
As a nod to the ties between the production teams of Once Upon a Time and Lost, the show contains allusions to Lost, and is expected to be a continuing theme throughout the series' run. For example, many items found in the Lost universe, such as Apollo candy bars, Oceanic Airlines, Ajira Airways, TV Series "Expose" and MacCutcheon Whisky, can be seen in Once Upon a Time.
Opening sequence
Beginning with the second episode of the first season, the opening sequence that appears below the show's title includes the image of a mythical creature, person, item, or structure featured in the episode.
Music
Mark Isham composed the series' theme and music. On February 14, 2012, an extended play album featuring four cues from the score was released by ABC Studios. On May 1, 2012, a full-length 25-track official soundtrack album was released by Intrada Records to accompany season one. On August 13, 2013, another full-length 25-track official soundtrack album was released by Intrada to accompany season two.
Broadcast
The series has been licensed to over 190 countries.
Season 1
In Australia it first aired on Seven Network starting May 15, 2012. In Canada it airs on CTV from October 23, 2011. In Hong Kong and Malaysia it premiered on Fox Movies Premium on June 4, 2012. It also airs on ntv7 starting October 28, 2012. In India, Pakistan, and the Philippines the series airs on STAR World. In Ireland it airs on RTÉ One from September 15, 2012. It premiered on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2012. In Brazil the transmission of the series began airing on February 3 to 10:15pm on Rede Record.
Season 2
In Hong Kong it premiered on May 5, 2013 in a new timeslot. It premiered in Ireland on May 18, 2013.
Season 3
On December 17, 2013 it was confirmed that Channel 5 would not be picking the series up for the third season airing in the UK.
Reception
Critical response
Critical response to the series was generally positive. On Metacritic, it was given a score of 66 out of 100 with "generally favorable reviews". E!'s Kristin dos Santos cited the show as one of the five new shows of the 2011â€"2012 season to watch. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe gave the show a "C+" grade commenting "From a pair of Lost producers, this is a love-or-hate proposition. The ambition is impressive, as it asks us to imagine Goodwin's Snow White and Parrilla's Evil Queen as moderns. But Morrison is a wooden lead, and the back stories â€" a random collection of fairy tales- don't promise to surprise." In a review from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, TV critic Gail Pennington hailed it as one of the "Most Promising Shows of The Fall" and, unlike Gilbert, had high marks for Morrison. USA Today '​s Robert Blanco placed the series on its top ten list, declaring that "There's nothing else on the air quite like it." Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times preferred the series to another fairy-tale themed drama, Grimm, citing that the premise takes its time building up the charm and that the producer "has that part nailed". She also gave excellent reviews for Morrison's character: "Her Emma is predictably cynical and prickly â€" fairy-tale princess, my Aunt Fanny â€" but she's sharp and lively enough to keep audiences begging for 'just a few more pages' before they go to bed."
Several feminist outlets were pleased with the show for its feminist twist on fairy tales. Avital Norman Nathman of Bitch stated that she liked the show for "infusing a feminist sensibility" into the stories. Genie Leslie at Feministing commented that Emma was a "badass", that she liked how Emma was "very adamant that women be able to make their own decisions about their lives and their children", and how Emma was a "well-rounded" character who was "feminine, but not 'girly'". Natalie Wilson from Ms. praised the show for a strong, "kick-butt" female lead, for including multiple strong women who take turns doing the saving with the men, for subverting the fetishization of true love, and for dealing with the idea of what makes a mother in a more nuanced fashion. Wilson went on to state about the lead: "Her pursuit of a 'happy ending' is not about finding a man or going to a ball all gussied up, but about detective work, about building a relationship with her son Henry, and about seeking the 'truth' as to why time stands still in the corrupt Storybrooke world."
Ratings
The first season premiered as the top-rated drama series. The pilot episode was watched by 13 million viewers and received a 4.0 rating/share among 18â€"49 year olds. It was the season's highest-rated drama debut among the age range and ABC's biggest debut in five years. With DVR viewers, the premiere climbed to 15.5 million viewers and a 5.2 rating/share in adults 18â€"49. The show's next three episodes had consistent ratings every week with over 11 million viewers. The series has become the number one non-sports program in the U.S. with viewers and young adults on Sunday nights.
Awards and nominations
Once Upon a Time was nominated for a 2012 People's Choice Award for "Favorite New TV Drama", but lost to Person of Interest. The show was nominated at the 39th People's Choice Awards in four categories: Favorite Network TV Drama, Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show, Favorite TV Fan Following, and Favorite TV Drama Actress (Ginnifer Goodwin); it lost to another ABC show Grey's Anatomy in the first category, Supernatural in the second two, and Ellen Pompeo in the last category. the show was nominated at 40th People's Choice Awards, but lost to Beauty and the Beast and The Vampire Diaries, respectively.
the show was also nominated for "Best Genre Series" at the 2011 Satellite Awards, but lost to American Horror Story. The show was nominated in this category again at the 2012 Satellite Awards, but lost to The Walking Dead.
The program also received three nominations at the 2012 Visual Effects Society Awards, but all lost to Boardwalk Empire, Gears of War 3, and Terra Nova.
At the 38th Saturn Awards, the series received a nomination for Best Network Television Series and Parrilla was nominated for Best Supporting Actress on Television, but lost to Fringe and Michelle Forbes, respectively.
The program was nominated for the former award again at the 39th Saturn Awards, but lost to new series Revolution.
Jared S. Gilmore was nominated for Best Performance by an Younger Actor on Television at 40th Saturn Awards, but lost to Chandler Riggs for The Walking Dead
The show received trophies for "Favorite New TV Drama" and "Favorite Villain" for Lana Parrilla by the TV Guide.
The show was nominated at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards, but lost to The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars and Awkward and the show was also nominated at 2013 Teen Choice Awards, but lost to The Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars.
The show was nominated again 2014 Teen Choice Awards, but lost to The Vampire Diaries and Dylan O'Brien, respectively.
It was also nominated at the 64th Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Awards, but lost to Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead and the show was nominated again at 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, but lost to The Borgias and Game of Thrones.
Tie-in material
Novel
In 2013, Disney-owned Hyperion Books published Reawakened by Odette Beane, a novelisation of storylines from the first season, expanded to include new perspectives. The narrative is from the points-of-view of Emma Swan in Storybrooke and Snow White in the Enchanted Forest. The novel was published on April 28, 2013 as an ebook and May 7, 2013 in paperback form.
Comic book
A comic book, titled Once Upon a Time: Shadow of the Queen, was released on September 4, 2013 in both digital and hardcover forms. The story was written by Dan Thomsen and Corinna Bechko, with art by Nimit Malavia, Vasilis Lolos, Mike Del Mundo, Stephanie Hans and Mike Henderson. Shadow of the Queen details what happens after the Evil Queen takes the Huntsman's heart. She forces the Huntsman to commit evil, and try and capture Snow White yet again. The Huntsman faces his past, and also meets Red Riding Hood, who is trying to cope with her beastly alter ego. Together, they team up and try to save Snow White before all is too late.
Spin-off
In February 2013, Kitsis & Horowitz, along with producers Zack Estrin and Jane Espenson, developed a spin-off focusing on Lewis Carroll's Wonderland. The series was given the proposed title Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. A "teaser presentation" began shooting in April 2013, with the pilot being shot in late July or August. On May 10, 2013, ABC announced that it had green-lit the spin-off and on May 14, 2013, announced that the spin-off would air in the Thursday night 8:00pm time slot instead of making it a fill-in for the parent series, which had been hinted in the early stages. The series premiered on October 10, 2013, for a thirteen-episode run that ended on April 3, 2014.
