Once Upon a Time: Fractured Fairy Tales
By Angela Roberts
November 14, 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Four episodes have aired already of Once Upon a Time, ABC’s take on the revisionist fairy tale genre. In Canada, the show airs on CTV on Sundays at 7pm. Fairy tales seem to have become the new ‘in’ thing for TV this season, with this series and Grimm both premiering this fall, and both purporting to feature fairy tales for adults. I haven’t watched Grimm; its premise of a “descendant” of the Grimms who can see fairy tale characters inside people just hasn’t interested me anytime I catch a commercial or a few stray minutes. It just seems too dark. And it appears to be billed as some sort of mystery/cop show but with supernatural monsters. Sounded convoluted to me. Once Upon a Time, on the other hand, had a different approach. Created by a couple writers from Lost, Once Upon a Time features Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, a woman who just might be the key to removing a terrible curse that has trapped all of the familiar storybook characters we know in our world, in a town called Storybrooke where none of them remember who they were. Emma is brought to Storybrooke by the persistence of Henry, the boy she gave up for adoption years before, who possesses a book filled with the story of how the curse came to pass, how it was unleashed on Snow White and Prince Charming and their friends by the Evil Queen. He’s convinced that he knows who everyone is supposed to be, and that Emma, being the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, is the only person who can break the curse.
Confused? Don’t be. The story actually unfolds much more easily and leisurely than I’m putting it here. Throughout each episode, we also see the story of a fairy tale character in the fairy tale world, and learn a bit more as we go about how events became what they were. And along the way, the writers rewrite some of the most recognizable stories in Western literature. We discover that the Evil Queen still lived on to exact revenge after the happy ending of Snow White. We have Rumplestiltskin, played with evil glee by SGU’s Robert Carlyle, playing a major role in every story. We see Snow White as a strong assertive fugitive princess and thief, who battles her way into her prince’s heart, despite his prior engagement. We see Cinderella make a deal with the devil in the person of Rumplestiltskin rather than get her wishes made true by the Fairy Godmother.
I think these fairy tale interludes are my favorite part of the show. Yes, the real world scenes present the unfolding mystery of the storyline, and certainly provide some interesting character moments. There’s definitely some skillful writing going on that they are able to balance the real world and fantasy elements to make them equally engaging. But the fairy tale parts are the more sumptuous. The production values for this show are really impressive for network television; a fact that influenced my decision to not review it until now. But ABC has ordered all 22 episodes, so it looks like we will get at least one full season of this intriguing story.
Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White was an inspired choice; she has the exact look for the role: black hair, rosy lips, and wide eyes. And a refreshing ability to play both a tough girl and demure woman. The mystery surrounding Snow White and the Evil Queen is one of the most interesting in the show; we are told that Snow White ruined the Queen’s life, but not yet how. And she’s also the one character we’ve seen really react to the presence of Emma so far, even going so far as to feel an immediate connection. And there is absolutely the mystery of how she obtained the book of fairy tales that she gave to Henry, starting this whole thing.
There are only two things that have given me pause in my enjoyment of this show. One is Henry. Perhaps I’ve just outgrown children as lead characters. The character is also somewhat annoying, and I’m not sure if it’s the character that’s annoying or if it’s the actor. The character has an odd relationship to his world. Yes, everyone believes he’s delusional because he can’t refrain from telling everyone who they were in the fairy tale past. Even Emma has a difficult relationship to what Henry tells her, something that she will have to figure out as the story progresses. It’s not easy being the only person who knows that everything around you is a fiction. But it also makes him a character that’s excessively reckless, completely ignorant of consequences, and pretty disdainful of authority. And pretty manipulative. I’m just not sure he’s anything more than a one-note character right now. And even more important, what is the benefit to Henry if the curse is broken? Will he even still exist?
The other thing is longevity. While I said that the story/mystery is unfolding at a steady pace through the episodes, I am concerned that it’s happening a little too quickly. I’ll admit I didn’t watch Lost; maybe the writers can keep things going. But as it is now, I have trouble seeing where it could go after this season. I have trouble imagining how the storyline might not be wrapped up in one season. And I suspect that was the writers’ problem as well; perhaps, with such a high risk property like this one, they wanted to make sure that the episodes would be complete enough to please viewers should the whole thing be on the chopping block too early. Such is the reality of network television. But I think as this show has progressed, I’m more and more willing to take the leap and see it through.
So if you have a nostalgic feeling when you think of fairy tales, and you like good acting and storytelling, see Once Upon a Time.
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