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Sunday, November 25, 2012

Once Upon a Time

As of late, I have been really enjoying a show by the ABC (American Broadcasting Company).  As you can tell from the title of this post, the show is called Once Upon a Time.  Once Upon a Time has been a favorite T.V. show of mine for a long time now.  It's the kind of show that you easily grow fond of.  I came to know of it because I had seen the trailer for it when the show had just begun, and was instantly captivated by its enchanting atmosphere.  Being a fan of folklore, I was easily drawn in, and I was not disappointed when one day I decided to give it a try.  After seeing the first episode I knew I would love this show, and I have loved it ever since.  Usually I watch quite a few episodes before deciding whether or not I like a show, but with Once Upon a Time, I didn't have to.  And that's always a good sign, when you know you like a show just from watching the first episode.    

This is one of the trailers from when Once Upon a Time was first being introduced. 


I love how they have their own take on the original stories and twist them so that they somehow connect with each other.  It's very cleverly done.  I like what they did with the character of Rumpelstiltskin, for example.  It's extremely interesting to watch the twists and turns in the story unfold.  Part of the fun for me, when I first began watching this series, was guessing who was which fairy tale character.  For instance, when I saw a man walking down the streets of Storybrooke with an umbrella, I immediately guessed that he was Jimeny Cricket, and sure enough, later in that same scene he mentions listening to one's conscience during an exchange with one of the other characters.  This is an example of how Once Upon a Time leaves clues in places for the viewer to pick up, when guessing which fairy tale character a character was in their past.  

It's true that the fairy tales in this show are inspired by Disney's versions of the stories, ABC being owned by Disney, but since I grew up with Disney and love many Disney films to this day (particularly the classics and those that were made during the 90's, otherwise known as the Disney Renaissance), this isn't an issue for me.

One element that I find fault with in this show is the special effects.  Let's just say the special effects could....well....you know, be improved.  Because of their poor quality, the suspension of disbelief in this show suffers whenever special effects are being displayed on the screen.  Another fault may be that from time to time this show is slightly cheesy, just slightly, but I find that this contributes to the personality of the show.  It makes Once Upon a Time endearing.  Because of this, the occasional cheesiness is not a flaw in my eyes.    

I mentioned before that I become annoyed when villains are given tragic backstories in order to make them appear sympathetic. Unfortunately, Once Upon a Time does this a lot with their characters, as in the cases of Captain Hook, Rumpelstiltskin, and the evil queen from the story of Snow White, to name a few.  Surprisingly, the various tragic backstories don't bother me too much, and overall I think they are done well.  The backstories all seem to follow the same pattern.  Every character in Once Upon a Time, good or evil, has someone in their past that they cared about or lost.  Relationships seem to be a major theme in Once Upon a Time - relationships the characters have with the people in their lives, relationships with magic, relationships with the past, the relationship with themselves as an individual (their past self when they were a part of the fairy tale world vs. their present modern-day self), and many more.  This is something interesting that I have noticed.

Once Upon a Time does an excellent job of having their viewers constantly guessing who is who and what will happen next.  The premise is interesting and has so much potential, which has been proven true.  This is because of the talent of the creative writers, who continue to impress me with each new episode.  Once Upon a Time just seems to get better and better the more it progresses. 

I look forward to the next episode with anticipation!

P. S.  If I were asked which character is my favorite, I would choose Snow White.  I love all of the characters (each character is so well developed, after all) but Snow White has always been my favorite fairy tale character, and I like how she is portrayed in Once Upon a Time.

6 comments:

  1. Hello! I discovered your blog from Amy's over at Yet Another Period Drama but I've not left any comments before. Going by what you've written for your short blog profile we have a lot in common :D I'm also a massive OUaT fan although I've only season one in its entirety. My favourite episodes from S1 are The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Skin Deep and Hat Trick. My favourite characters are Rumpelstiltskin, Belle and Jefferson.

    I haven't seen all of S2. I got about halfway through it but then I went to France for a couple of weeks and lost track of the episodes. I've got it in pre-order though so I'll soon be catching up : ) I'm also really looking forward to S3 and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. I'm from the UK and they're not airing over yet. Are you enjoying them so far?

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    1. Those are all fantastic episodes from season 1! They're some of my favorites, too. I also love Rumple, Belle, and the Hatter. They're great characters, especially Rumple, in my opinion.

      I thought season 1 of Once was practically perfect. Season 2 had a lot of good episodes, but overall I felt season 1 was a bit better. I am loving season 3, though!

      Do you ship any couples? I shipped Emma with August in season 1, but now I ship her with someone else. I don't think I should tell you who, though, since you haven't seen season 3 yet, or finished season 2. I also ship Rumbelle, Frankenwolf, and Snowing. Snowing is pretty much my OTP.

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  2. Yeah, I have noticed that none of the other fans seemed as taken with S2 as they were with S1. I wasn't as fond of S2 either from what I saw. The episodes were all pretty consistently good but they weren't really any great ones I thought. But the fans all seem to be really loving S3! I try to avoid spoilers but because I'm on tumblr I inevitably find out about things! So you don't have to worry about giving stuff away. I've either heard it before or will hear about it soon enough!

    I got as far as Manhattan last season and my OTPs are Rumbelle and Captain Swan :) I'm guessing you either either support Captain Swan or Swanfire? Have you seen Once Upon a Time in Wonderland yet? What do you think of that show?

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    1. I agree. Season 2 was good, but not great (at least not quite as great as Season 1 was). I'm also sad that a lot of the characters from season 1 are hardly ever around now. Some characters have disappeared completely, like Kathryn Nolan. We never really got to see what happened to her and Jim/Frederick.

      Aaaaah!!! I ship Captain Swan too! :D I think Hook has fallen for Emma. I wanted to ship Swanfire, but honestly, Neal and Emma don't have any chemistry. Their romance seems really forced to me. The show will probably have them end up together, but I don't really want them to.

      I was never sure about Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. I didn't get what the point of it was. But the trailer for it interested me, so I watched the first episode. For the most part, I didn't like it that much. I forgot about it for a while, then I caught up and watched the next 4 episodes. I liked the second episode much better. So, while I don't think it's great, I do plan to keep watching it. :) I love the friendship between Alice and the Knave of Hearts. But one thing about Once in Wonderland that I can't really take, is how bad the special effects are. I mean, they're probably doing their best. Maybe they have a low budget or don't have enough time...but the special effects are just sooooo bad.

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  3. I love Captain Swan! I almost wish that I didn't because it's doomed! DOOOOMED I tells ya! :D You just know that the writers are going to have Emma get with Neal at the end so that they can have this Neal-Emma-Henry happy family. But try as I might I just can't bring myself to ship Swanfire. I think Michael Raymond-James is miscast as Neal and I can't sense any chemistry between him and Jennifer Morrison either. Also, I don't like Neal. I liked him when he was still a kid but I didn't like what I saw of him in S2. Yes, August told him that dumping Emma was actually in her best interests but did he HAVE to abandon her and let her go to prison?! Grr!

    I've heard that Wonderland is getting better as it's going along and, from what people are saying, I think I'm really going to love the Knave. I hope that Barbara Hershey and Sebastian Stan will show up at some point as well!

    You know, one thing that I would love OUaT to do is to go back to that black-and-white world that Frankenstein was from. I think it would be AMAZING if all of the great villains of gothic literature were from that world: Mr Hyde, Dorian Gray, The Phantom of the Opera. I love gothic literature and I think it would be awesome!

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    1. I think Michael Raymond-James was miscast too. He looks nothing like young Baelfire, and I'm sorry to say he has zero chemistry with Emma.

      Once in Wonderland does seem to be improving. The Knave of Hearts is awesome. Although it is kind of amusing to me that he says "bloody hell" so many times. It feels like he embodies what Americans think the British act like. XD Kind of how Jack Harkness in Doctor Who sort of embodied what the British may think Americans act like. Well, that was my impression any way.

      That would be so so so cool! I'm not sure if Once would bring in Dorian Gray, but Mr. Hyde is a possibility! Seeing their version of The Phantom of the Opera would be interesting too!

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