Addictive Apples

Storybrooke, ME

I’ve been all over the place with my nerd viewing in recent months.  I’ve bounced around from The IT Crowd (which I love and recommend) to multiple rewatchings of Star Trek, Star Trek Voyager, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, to shows like Luke Cage and Robotech.  My wife, who rarely becomes passionate about any fantasy or science fiction programs, often had me watching Grimm with her.  While I enjoyed the series, I never felt a need to continually watch it.  In other words, I can view one or two episodes and I’m good for a few weeks.  My wife is a rabid fan of the show, however, and has watched all of the seasons repeatedly.

Over the weekend we decided to watch a new (at least to us) series entitled Once Upon A Time.  If you know me at all, you know that I am a huge Disney fan.  I’m also a big fan of fairy tales.  I really enjoy Disney’s take on fairy tales as well and don’t mind the liberties that the Mouse That Walt Built has taken with those wonderful stories.  I do, however, find myself hesitant whenever a classic fairy tale is injected into modern times.  After skimming the web for information on Once Upon A Time, I was a bit worried over what I might be getting into.  Thankfully the show has been a very pleasant surprise.

Be Forewarned:  This series has been out since 2011 and I’m playing catch up.  Any post I make about this show from here on out will contain spoilers for all of the existing seasons.  But don’t worry, I’m still on Season One, so I’m not going to spoil anything recent for awhile!

The series starts with Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison, Kirk’s mom in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie) reuniting with her son that she gave up for adoption, Henry (Jared S. Gilmore).  In Fairy Tale World, the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla, Boomtown) storms into the wedding of Prince Charming (Josh Dallas, Fandral in the first Thor film) and Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin, Big Love) and casts a curse in which she’ll be the only person with a happy ending when their tales come to an end.  This curse transports numerous popular fairy tale characters to Storybrooke, Maine, where they lose all memories of their former lives and live in a never-ending cycle of life under Mayor Regina Mills (the Evil Queen).

Sounds kinda silly, right?  Stay with me here.

Henry shows up at Emma’s home and tells her that she is the key to breaking the curse placed on the people and beings of the Fairy Tale World because she is the daughter of Charming and Snow.  According to a prophecy of Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle, Trainspotting, Ravenous, The Full Monty), Emma will return to break the curse on her twenty-eighth birthday.  Emma doesn’t believe Henry and brings him home to his adopted mother, Regina Mills.

Henry tells Emma that no one can ever leave Storybrooke because of the curse and that anybody that does try to leave ends up having something bad happen to them.  He also tells her that Regina only pretends to love him.  Knowing how tough the life of an adopted or foster child can be, Emma decides to stay in town for a bit.  She comes into contact with a number of characters in the first few episodes and we get to learn a little about each of them in our world and in the fairy tale realm.  She eventually winds up as a deputy in the town under the watch of Sheriff Graham Humbert (Jamie Dornan, Fifty Shades of Grey), who happens to be the Hunstman that was sent to kill Snow White and bring her heart to the Queen.

With each episode, we learn that certain citizens of Storybrooke know exactly what is going on and that many others experience flashbacks to memories of their other life.  Mr. Gold (Carlyle) is apparently fully aware of what is going on and makes deals with any and every citizen that becomes desperate in the town.  He also manipulates Emma into running for sheriff and thus forcing Regina to run her own candidate.  Of all of the characters in the show so far, Gold and Regina are definitely two of my favorites.

Another favorite is Dr. Hopper/Jiminy Cricket, portrayed by seasoned character actor Raphael Sbarge.  Science fiction fans will no doubt recognize Sbarge from his time as a recurring character in Star Trek Voyager and as numerous other characters from TV and film in productions as varied as Independence Day, iZombie, Risky Business, and Pearl Harbor.  This guy has been all over TV and film and his role as Hopper is excellent.  He’s one of the first citizens other than Mr. Gold to stand up to Mayor Mills.  He’s also Henry’s therapist, and has a strong bond with the boy.

Meghan Ory portrays Red Riding Hood/Ruby in the series.  While she’s primarily nothing more than a source for information and eye candy for the locals, I’ve already looked ahead and know that her character has bigger things to come later in the series.

Josh Dallas’ Prince Charming/David Nolan hasn’t done much in the series so far, but that’s primarily because he’s been in a coma for most of the episodes in our world.  He’s been really busy in Fairy Tale Land, though, managing to chase down the wrongfully accused Snow White and eventually fall in love with and marry her.  He also slayed a dragon for King Midas (Alex Zahara) in order to bring Midas’ kingdom and his father’s together.  I won’t reveal the twist in that particular story if you haven’t seen it yet.

In our world, David has only recently awakened from his coma and is struggling with feelings for Mary Margaret Blanchard/Snow White despite being married to Kathryn/Princess Abigail.  He suffers from amnesia and is only beginning to discover his place in Storybrooke.

While the plot left me a bit hesitant at first, one cast member drew me in like a moth to a flame.  I’ve always been enchanted by the lovely Ginnifer Goodwin since I first saw her in HBO’s Big Love, and she is the primary reason that I decided to give Once Upon A Time a shot.  Her portrayal of a tough, smart, and quick-witted Snow White plays in wonderful contrast to her somewhat meek and caring Mary Margaret.  She has quickly developed a strong friendship with Emma, and is only beginning to build her relationship with David.  Her story has been very interesting so far, and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

I was entirely unfamiliar with Lana Parilla until seeing this series, but she has quickly become my favorite part of the show.  Parilla plays bad at a devilishly good level.  I love hating her, and am always surprised by how evil she can be.  At one point in the series she physically dukes it out with Emma and despite all of her magical power in the other world, it’s this fierceness and jealousy-driven hate in our world that makes me love her so much.  When I grow up and become the Evil King, I hope to rule just as bad as Lana Parilla.

The show overall is extremely fun to watch.  There are a few moments were it becomes a bit disjointed, but the ship is usually righted before the end of the episode.  I’m only ten episodes in, so I know that there’s a lot of story left to be seen.  The CGI and practical effects are pretty good, with the CGI only faltering in a few spots.  There’s a Disney purity that lingers over each episode, but there’s an adult tinge to it as well.

As each episode plays out, the story gives the viewer just enough of a taste of what’s really going on to want them to continue watching.  That’s the sign of a truly good story, and considering the fact that this particular show is based on stories that have stood the test of time, that’s saying quite a lot.

I give it four poisoned apples out of five.

As always, thanks for reading.  Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever watched this series and how much you like or dislike it.