Official Synopsis
Love. As seductive and dangerous as magic, this potent, unpredictable force proves to be the ultimate weapon in the epic battle between good and evil in ABC’s Once Upon a Time: The Complete Fourth Season.
Soon after Emma and Hook unwittingly bring Elsa of Arendelle to Storybrooke, they encounter the mysterious Snow Queen, whose relentless obsession with both Emma and Elsa has chilling consequences. Meanwhile, it appears Regina has at last found true love with Robin Hood, but how will she react when her happy ending is thwarted yet again by a maddening twist of fate? Then, a banished Rumplestiltskin enlists the Queens of Darkness (Maleficent, Ursula, Cruella De Vil) in an insidious scheme to rewrite their own endings and corrupt the Savior by turning her newly blissful heart pitch-black.
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Sometimes adding more characters to the mix, while finishing out the development of other character storylines can be a complicated feat. Of course, this hasn’t stopped the good folks behind ABC’s Once Upon a Time before, who have maintained a structured formulaic series of intertwining stories that play well off familiar fairytale (and Disney grown) characters, acting as an endless soap opera. Having said that, season four is a horse of a different color in comparison to the previous.
Season four starts with Regina back in the emotional firing range of her Storybooke citizens — mainly Marian and her arrival onto the scene (they have had a rocky past regarding Robin). The smaller storyline of Marian’s rivalry with Regina gives birth to a secondary storyline that introduces Disney’s mega-popular duo, Elsa and Anna…well, the arrival of one at least. If you’re not familiar with Elsa and Anna, they are the characters from Disney’s Frozen movie. If you have any kids, you know this too well, so we’ll ‘Let it Go’ and move on.
Anyway, Elsa is on the search for her sister, who has gone missing, and Elsa is determined to freeze and rip the town a part in order to find her. She unexpectedly bumps into Emma during her raging, they talk about magic and suddenly the are friends (and we find out later that they’ve known each other a while).
At this point in the show, Elsa, Anna and Emma become the focus of the season, while other smaller storylines start sprouting underneath them. For example, we learn a bit more about Prince Charming and his fight with a warlord named Bo Peep (yes, THAT Bo Peep), which leads back to Anna, who helped Charming become more than a simple farmhand.
Anyway, while Elsa searches for Anna, and begins to find a trail through flashbacks, the story swings back to Emma, whose relationship with Captain Hook starts to intensify. The relationship is strong between the couple, though along the way yet another storyline buds where Rumplestiltskin and Hook make a deal for a hand (literally — and it’s for good reason). This deal blooms into various storylines that set up Gold as a lead antagonist somewhere down the line in season four, and brings his own relationship with Belle into focus — as well as his need to dominate the world through the item guarded by the ’Sorcerer’s Apprecentice’ (no, seriously). As that storyline cultivates, the story shifts back to Elsa, Emma and Anna.
Oh, and a Snow Queen.
As the season spirals towards the midway point, the Snow Queen and the three ladies become the pure focus, with Gold and Hook playing on the side. The season reveals a bit more about Emma’s past and gives a lot more information about the Queen’s association with the trio. Nothing I want to giveaway, but the trip to this point in the season is certainly worth the effort of attention.
The show’s story shifts after the Snow Queen’s story concludes,and we’re introduced to some more of Gold’s past with Belle, as well as a healthy (yet sad) conclusion in Regina’s passionate love for Robin. I will stop there, as I don’t want to give away how it all ends in season four, but it does end on an interesting note that will have you pining for season five.
I really do think that season four is a good one, though I wouldn’t say it is one of the best of the bunch. The introduction of Elsa and Anna into the overall mix seemed a bit odd, if not forced. The writers did a great job with incorporating them into the story, but their presence feels more like a rest stop than a permanent place of residence. They seem more like good ways to gain more viewers, rather than add any real strong substance to the finished product. Again, don’t get me wrong, the characters are entertaining, but they didn’t fit as strongly as the rest of the cast.
Anyway, the underlying stories are far more well-written than the main bodies. For example, Rumplestiltskin’s storyline, which drives the ending of the season, develops nicely and ends on a high (yet tragic) note. It’s intellectually more stimulating than Anna and Elsa’s story — at least in my opinion.
Overall, not the strongest season of the bunch, but still worthy of a watch.
On the Blu-ray side of things, the release is visual appealing. While I can’t say much for the special effects budget that goes along with this show (it can’t be a lot, as the special effects are a bit rough in some areas, but generally television shows don’t spring for that side of the equation much), the transfer is perfect to the Blu-ray format. Once Upon a Time does a great job with its magical color scheme and its Disney-esque visual flare, which helps it to shine when it comes to HD. In short, a darn good looking Blu-ray.
In terms of special features, here’s what you’re getting:
– Defrosting Frozen
– Behind the Magic Tour
– Three Who Stayed
– The Fairest of Them All
– Deleted Scenes
– Audio Commentaries
You get quite an assortment of added value to the overall package. I’m particularly impressed with the quality of the features. Most television releases usually leave room for maybe a single feature, maybe some commentary and then a whole bunch of deleted scenes that don’t affect the story one way or another. Anyway, there’s a lot here that makes the release good. You won’t be disappointed with the above.