“Once Upon A Time” is a TV Serial I just stumbled upon, while going through other subject matter. The premise did appeal to me that already famous fictitious characters find themselves stuck in another world under different circumstances. Wondering how that would play out, I decided to give it a try. I was quite pleasantly surprised.
THE MAIN CAST
Listing out the main cast here would be difficult as important characters are aplenty in this sitcom. But I’ll attempt my best at citing those who are a combination of most recurring and significant.
Jared Gilmore as Henry Mills / Author / Truest Believer
Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White / Mary Margaret
Josh Dallas as Prince Charming / Pauper / David Nolan
Lana Parnilla as Evil Queen / Regina Mills
Rebecca Mader as Zelena, “The Wicked Witch of The West”
Emile de Revin as Belle / Lacey
Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiltskin / Beast / Crocodile / Mr. Gold
Colin O’Donoghue as Captain Hook / Kilian Jones
Sean Maguire as Robin Hood
THE ESSENTIAL PLOT
The plot revolves around the idea that all the fictitious characters we know (although at the start of the series, the scope of characters was mostly fairy tales) are transported from their respective magical worlds to a fictitious neighborhood called “Storybrooke”, where they live in a world without magic owing to a curse which has transported them there.
The story starts with a kid showing up at Emma Swan’s door, who claims to be her son and that Emma is the daughter of Snow White and Price Charming. Emma Swan is a big city girl, who finds missing people and things for a living. She is flabbergasted at all this. The child however seems very earnest in his claims that all the stories in his fairy tale book, “Once Upon A Time” are true and all the characters were different people in different locations in different timelines. Completely befuddled by all this, she decides to take a leap of faith and let the child lead her to the place where he claims certain things are, as they are. That’s how the pilot episode of the first season begins.
The series has only ended now after 7 complete seasons. Needless to say then, the mystery child’s assertions must have lead to a lot, right? It sure did. The TV series covers characters both with and without magic in enchanted and normal worlds across several realms. This TV Series takes pretty much all the traditionally literary famous characters and some contemporary ones where they come together, despite maintaining their own identities and histories and conjures up some new fascinating stories of its own, where multiple characters are played by the individuals in various timelines and domains.
The interesting part about these stories is how they unfold and there’s no better way other than to find out yourself. Would be big "spoilers" if I mentioned it right here.
THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT THE SERIES
1) This TV Series uses existing fictitious characters, but while retaining their characteristics and history, it also uses the grey areas or what has not been mentioned in literature to make them come together as part of some interesting new story while remaining faithful to the history that already exists. In this way, fans of original characters don’t feel disappointed. At the same time, they have new stories with multiple characters to enjoy.
2) One actor / actress plays multiple roles in this TV series, but it never really seemed out of place as functionally, they seem apt to play the alternative role too. This, in part, also helps build up some crazy correlation between timelines and realms which is integral to the nature of entertainment it offers.
3) Pretty much all of the Brothers Grimm stories are covered here, together with contemporary Disney tales like Merida etc, old Disney characters and other popular literature characters like Robin Hood, King Arthur etc. It deals with Neverland, City of Oz, Enchanted Forest, several other neighborhoods, various pirates, various witches and some others who fit well into this diverse universe.
4) Surprisingly, some of the strongest characters here are the more evil ones - Robert Carlyle as “Rumpelstiltskin / Dark One / Beast / Crocodile”, Lana Parnilla as “Evil Queen” and some others. I think the reason why it is still acceptable is because in this series, characters are not portrayed “black and white” like “good and evil”. Every character has a bit of a good side and a bit of a bad side. Some are just more “good” or more “bad” than others.
5) I think the scoring of this TV series is pretty good, it is quite suited to circumstances and character, put together with the “mystery” element or the “happy” element circumstances may demand. Quite complete coverage that way.
6) The special effects department is also commendable in this regard. We see apt effects for various scenarios in this TV series. Quite satisfactory.
7) Regarding acting performances, most of them are pretty good. It would be sort of cruel to single some out. But perhaps it would be fair to say Robert Carlyle pretty much shines in all the roles he plays, quite consistently across all seasons. He really does get into the skin of all his characters quite naturally.
Lana Parnilla is great in this regard too. Others who deserve worthy mention are Ginnifer Goodwin (more in the early episodes) and Jennifer Morrison. Jared Gilmore is pretty compelling throughout too. Nobody really does a bad job though. Pretty much, most of the important characters shine consistently.
8) Perhaps, it was a good time to bring the series to an end now as with several characters already playing multiple roles across timelines and realms, introduction of yet another new neighborhood and yet another set of roles for some would maybe would’ve been a bit too much to keep track of.
9) There are quite a few pleasantly amusing things about this TV series. It never ceases to amaze you.
What comes to mind immediately is some of the evil characters not being happy with their story, as written in the books. They are desperate for a happy ending too.
You have some really unlikely romance blooming between various realms and kingdoms. Regina / Evil Queen finds an unlikely lover in Robin Hood while Captain Hook is in love with Emma Swan and also Rapunzel elsewhere. Of course, there are widely accepted ones too like Snow White & Prince Charming.
10) I hear there are some spin-offs happening for some characters. I would imagine “Red Riding Hood” with her dual portrayal would be a good candidate for the same.
I took a chance with this TV series and was quite entertained by it, over the years. There were times I considered giving it 10/10, although it would probably score 9 or a bit more out of 10 for me. I would recommend it those who like fairy tales and magical worlds with a more human touch and those who wonder what else is there to to these stories. Could there have been more to the story of "so and so" character and so on. This TV series kind of explores all that with some new baggage of its own.