So, color me surprised that season five avoids such a thing, well not entirely, and it seems to not only tap into what made the show interesting and great in season one, but it doesn’t waste time on things that don’t add to the excitement/enchantment of the overall storyline. The Disney characters it does introduce are used as a catalyst to a dark rollercoaster ride that sadly ends too soon.
Without further delay, let’s get this going.
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The original season of Once Upon a Time hanged its hat around Robert Carlyle’s character, Mr. Gold or the Dark One, as he is known. Everyone’s story was built around Gold’s evilness and it helped to intertwine an entire town’s life and eventual motivation to stop Gold. It was one of the more interesting and dark stories in the nearly six seasons of the show. It was tough to beat that one, but the show managed to at least even things out in season two, but never quite got to that bar again…until season five.
Season five reignites the Dark One’s story, creates a bit more depth to everyone’s life and plunges Emma Swan into the dark depths as she takes full control of the town of Storybrooke, its residents and the future of a lot of major characters. It does a good job of patching up some holes that would have sunk the overall body of work, while creating new adventures and introducing fascinating characters that don’t feel forced — that’s a huge plus when you’re trying to reignite the flame of interest.
The season begins with Swan facing her own fears, which are led by the fact that she has a simple choice to make — will she continue as the town’s savior or fall into her destined role as the Dark One. The first two episodes have her struggling with her own emotions and feelings, even going so far as to seek out Merlin in Camelot to help her break away from her wicked ways and its eventual Darkness. All doesn’t go as planned, though, and eventually she gives into the evil powers and emerges back Storybrooke as the Dark One. In addition, she has wiped everyone’s memory, so they can’t recall how she got to that point in her decision-making. This carries on for a few episodes, but everyone finds a way around it (neat solutions), but then the season dips a bit.
The near middle of the season shifts over to a weak King Arthur and Lancelot story, which is used only as a stepping stone for the rest of the main story, though it does push Merlin into the mix. There are some fun adventures to be had with King Arthur’s storyline, but it’s an odd-man-out deal. It does bring in the characters of Brave, and introduces the familiar crisis in that story, but both sets of characters don’t add much to the overall flow of the main story. Again, it has entertaining moments, but nothing that holds water. The main focus of the Camelot piece is to bring Excalibur into the Once Upon a Time world, which has strong ties to the dagger of the Dark One.
Again, in my opinion, Arthur and the Brave storyline probably are throwaways. They create some familiarity with the audience, as well as the younger folks in the household, but honestly do little to add depth to the overall storyline. They don’t hurt the story, but they kind of stall it. In addition to these stories, the main storyline brings Regina slowly back to her form, as she is trying to elude her past, but can’t shake off the people she hurt. This is a part is more of a foretelling of the near future, especially once the crew get back to Storybrooke. It does add some depth to her character, not that she needed it, as well as some details. In short, it’s not completely a waste of time in Camelot, though I’m still thinking it was a bit long in the tooth. Once the majority of the characters and their crisis are through, the story gets back on track.
As the season starts to turn from Emma’s crisis, it shifts to find Hook as the Dark One (hellbent on revenge for what Gold did to him), which nearly leads to the destruction of Storybrooke. Lots of deaths occur during the process, including a main character’s, which then forces the usual suspects of Storybrooke (Emma and crew) to go diving into the underworld in hopes of retrieving their fallen comrade.
This is the part of the season where the show starts really kicking on all cylinders.
The heroes visit the underworld and end up meeting the charming, yet conniving Hades (played by Greg Germann — who is perfectly cast, though they could do with out the corny blue flames). The story kicks up another notch at this point and introduces characters from Hercules, as well as mixes them together with the original crew’s backstory, Snow White’s specifically. During this time in the story, an endearing moment of season five crops up when Regina meets up with her fallen father, whom she disposed of in early episodes of the show, and finally ties up that storyline which had hung loose. This particular story, though short, is quite emotional, as it is powerful. It seems to close a dark chapter of her life, though I wouldn’t say it’s completely gone.
Anyway, back to the review.
If season five had spent its entirety in the underworld, I would have been fine with it. The story is strong here, as most of the main characters, especially Gold and Hook, visit their ghosts from the past. More depth is created for Hook and Gold, which creates an opportunity for the return of Gold’s powers, as well as opens the door for more horrible things to happen to the residents of Storybrooke. Again, it’s a fascinating portion of the season’s storyline that fits so incredibly perfect into the overall scheme of things.
As it is a soap opera of sorts, nothing is as cut and dry as it seems, especially with Hades and loose ends are left untied. On that sweet note, I’ll depart from further spoilers of the season and of the rest of the season’s story. It does end quite good, though.
Overall, season five starts off strong, slumps a little towards the middle, but picks everything up in both characters and story when the cast/crew hit the underworld. From that point on, the story ends on a tough note, which, of course, leaves the audience drooling for season six. Season five proves that there is more gas left in Once Upon a Time’s tank. It does a better job in season five than in season four and treats its characters and story much better. Definitely pick this one up.
On the special features side of things, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Merida in Storybrooke
– Tales from the Underworld: A Knight with Cruella
– The Fairest Bloopers of Them All
– Deleted Scenes
– Once Celebrates One Hundred
– Cast & Crew Commentaries
While I have never been a fan of deleted scenes, unless they’re Star Wars related, the rest of the special features are pretty solid. They extend season five quite a bit and add a little more love to the package. Good stuff.
