Official Synopsis
The Evil Queen has cast an evil spell on an enchanted forest filled with fairytale characters. The curse trapped these characters in a place where all their happy endings were stolen – our world. Now the Evil Queen is acting as town mayor, and all of the inhabitants of the fairytale world of Storybrooke can’t seem to remember any details of their past lives. As the truth starts to unfold, the battle between good and evil begins.
When I saw the preview for this show (literally, a trailer) before it released, I scoffed at it. How can a show based on fairy tales really turn into something interesting? I mean, sheesh, this isn’t very original to begin with, right? As Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw said in the movie Prometheus, “We were so wrong.”
Once Upon a Time is original, as you go back and forth between the real world and a fantasy world. The real world involves a small town of Storybrooke where everything appears normal. People go about their business and don’t think otherwise. The fantasy world is straight from the fairy tales of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and a few others. The brilliance of the show is how the writers connect the two worlds. The connection is led by Jennifer Morrison’s Emma Swan, who hasn’t been the best of mothers to her young son, Henry, whom she put him up for adoption (played by Jared Gilmore). Emma’s love for her son is undying, but Lana Parrilla’s Regina is the parent and protector of Henry, and also the mayor of Storybrooke. She doesn’t want Emma’s presence disrupting the flow of things with her relationship with Henry, which makes Emma want to disrupt it more. Regina’s alter ego is the evil queen of Snow White, who does everything she can to keep Emma away from Henry. Those are the simple beginnings of the show, and then it gets going.
Also involved in this story is Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Blanchard, who has a strong connection to Henry. In the fantasy world, she plays Snow White. Opposite of her is Josh Dallas as David Nolan, who also plays Prince Charming. The season plays off a very lighthearted, though strong at times, love story between the two (duh).
Later on in the season we find an art dealer named Mr. Gold (played by Robert Carlyle), who has some magical connection between all the players involved. We later find out that he is also the infamous Rumpelstiltskin, who is the catalyst to the events that unfold in the story. Carlyle is one of the most underrated actors of our time and certainly excels in his role as the dastardly swindler. His Mr. Gold is by far one of the more interesting characters in this series and the type that you follow because he always has something up his sleeve. In my opinion, he makes the show work and constantly sets it in motion.
While I don’t want to give too much away about the show (because it develops really methodically), it brings a very satisfying strong tie between the real world and the fantasy world. This was a skeptical element for me, and the sole reason why people watched the show, so I didn’t have much faith the writers could bring it all together. The fact is that they did bring it together and nothing it does seems gimmicky. This is probably one of the more finely written shows for television. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not going to put dramas on CBS to shame, but for what it is the show really comes together in the most powerful way. If you go in looking for something compared to Breaking Bad or 24, then no you’re not going to find that serious type of detail here. If you go into it knowing that this show is tying together real world to fantasy, then yes you’re going to be very satisfied with the end results. It’s one of the few shows on television that isn’t a comedy that will hook you instantly. It’s driven by great writing and fantastic acting.
Overall, I’m really satisfied with the first season. It’s a home run. I can’t wait to see the next.
If that wasn’t a driving point to purchase this set, here’s another — the Blu-ray is perfect! I haven’t seen this sort of crisp, clean video in an HD transfer since Fox’s release of the Alien movies. There isn’t a single flaw in the transfer. There is no graininess, no artifacts, no color banding — nothing! I know it was shot in HD, but somewhere along the way there is usually some sort of video issue in a transfer. Once Upon A Time is the cleanest HD I’ve seen, especially from a television show, in some time. If you’re not getting the show for the story then get it for an example of how good HD can look on the Blu-ray format. I’m completely smitten with the quality. It’s completely perfect in every way.
The audio is delivered equally as perfect in 5.1 DTS-HD. If you wanted to complain about something then you can complain it wasn’t released in 7.1, but the majority of the world isn’t 7.1 capable yet. The aspect ratio comes to you in 1.78:1.
Rounding out the perfection, you get a lot of fun features with this one. Here’s what you’re looking at:
– Once Upon a Time: Origins
– Fairy Tales in the Modern World
– Building Character
– Welcome to Storybrooke
– The Story I Remember… Snow White
– Deleted Scenes
– Bloopers
– Audio Commentaries
This is much bigger than you think. The Blu-ray exclusive ‘Once Upon A Time: Origins’ is absolute gold. You get to learn the history behind each fairy tale and Josh Dallas takes you through it all. It’s informative and fun to watch. The rest is pretty strong, especially the audio commentary and (dare I say it) bloopers. A great set of features for a perfect Blu-ray release.