Once Upon a Time: A Pilot That Takes Us On The Rides of Our Lives!

Hello Once Upon A Time fans,

My name is Jackie from New Zealand and I welcome you to our newest series coverage where Snow White, Emma Swan, The Evil Queen, and Rumpelstiltskin all live.

These Characters take you into a world where Happy Endings rule, true love will always find you and Evil is always defeated…or is it?

All great stories begin with it, all happy endings inspire it. Now let me take you into the world of… Once Upon a Time! I will begin with episode one and catch up before the series returns on November 27, 2011.

Once Upon a Time is about the land of fairy tales and an evil queen, played by Lana Parrilla, who wants her own happy ending and placing the Darkest of Curses upon the realm and trapping them in a place where all their happy endings are stolen. Our World.

The premier episode of Once Upon A Time was something that this writer had been looking forward to ever since she learned that Robert Carlyle, star of ‘Stargate Universe‘ and many Hollywood films including ‘The Full Monty’ and ’28 Weeks Later’ was cast in it. The premise intrigued her even more, as she loved fairytales, as all do, as a child; Especially Snow White.

Her opinion aside, this show had something from the beginning. The shots and the scenery, the costumes and the acting; all beautiful, all memorable. The opening sequence had a breathtaking quality; Prince Charming, played by Josh Dallas, riding as fast as he could down a man-made Damn, across a Lake that lead to range of Blue snow-topped Mountains in the distance, his maroon cape flying behind him in the Wind.

The locations for this show are just amazing. The forest scenes alone make you feel like their realm would be just behind the next tree if you were to enter the woods; But enough about the scenery.

We enter into the Once Upon A Time story with an Iconic scene. Snow White, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, lying dressed in white, her black hair flowing around her in a Glass Coffin with tree roots growing slowing over the top. The 7 Dwarves surrounding her in mournful gaze and Prince Charming bounding from his horse and running to the coffin’s side.

We all know this scene, the scene where True Love wins; Where Snow White and the Prince get their happy ending.

“I will always Find You” at the whisper of these words, nearly every heart of each viewer did a giant “awwwwwwww” in unison. Everyone wants a happy ending like that, don’t they?

Cut to the wedding scene…now THIS is absolute amazing…the Visual effects in this scene are excellent..The Windows! oh, the stained glass windows! And all the costumes! As a Costumer, this writer would like to note that she wants to make all of those costumes!

There is one thing that freaked this writer out a bit, and it is something that she is sure many, if not all of you have noticed…Snow White’s Hair in this scene…it. is. HUGE…when the camera cuts to her saying ‘I Do’ this writer was physically taken aback by the size, she was not in any way expecting that kind of size when it came to Snow White’s Hair.

The entrance of the evil queen…subtle, yet well done. The way that the wedding guests don’t look at her as she “glides” down the aisle towards the newly weds to congratulate and threaten, a nice touch.

Most Snow White stories have her as this fragile thing, but in the premier we get to see a new side of her. A side that has her grabbing her now Husbands sword and pointing it at the evil queen, ready for a fight, even in her wedding gown.

The transition in to our world is quite a good one, it gives the viewer a hint at something that they are not quite sure about. Turning the shot of Snow White and her Prince into a book illustration and revealing our world through a little boy named Henry.

“It’s more than just a Book” gives the audience more of a hint to what is going on…well, really it is a full blown slap in the face with the book itself, but lets keep it subtle as we see with dual charcter Marco / Geppetto played by Tony Amendola perhaps best known as Bra’Tac from Stargate SG-1.

We enter our world through Henry (Jarod Gilmore). Henry is the son of the Mayor of Storybrooke, Maine and has come to Boston for a purpose. Not only to save Storybrooke, but to find his Birth-mother! Jarad Gilmore, who plays Henry, is so cute, and plays him so well.

We meet Emma Swan, played by Jennifer Morrison, on a date. She’s dressed in a pink dress and the guy she is on a date with, is Warren Christie who played Hicks from Alphas. The writer thought this scene was funny. Emma doing anything to get her man as she is a Bail-Bonds Person and really is there to arrest the man for “Bailing on his Bail” see what I did there.

This writer also laughed at the fact that Emma got to knock the guy out. A good giggle happened as this point.

A good mix of awkward and caring is in the scene where Henry meets Emma for the first time. It is a quick little scene, but we learn a lot for the story ahead, so though it is short, it is sweet as well.

The visual effects for the shot of the Castle back in the fairytale realm is fantastic, and the way the shot comes in to see Snow White in the door frame, taking it back to the original with a Bluebird of her finger. Time has passed since the wedding and we see that she is pregnant. The props and sets in this show are beautiful! And the Nursery in the castle is no exception. The scene also sets up another important character, Rumpelstiltskin.

When he is revealed, he is quite creepy. Robert Carlyle plays him very well! Anyone would think twice in giving him anything in return for information. He be CRAZZZAH!

“Welcome to Storybrooke” Indeed!

When Emma and Henry get to Storybrooke, I love how when Emma gets angry and slams the car door, we see a light bulb blow. This subtle happening is intriguing.

Also, when they meet Henry’s shrink, we see for the first time a fairytale character, and the Guess-Who Game begins!

The scene back in the FTR (Fairy Tale Realm) where they are deciding what to do is actually a well placed scene. For the viewer, it gives a taste of the failing hope for Snow White and the kingdom. It is suspected, even before the Curse, they are fulfilling it themselves.

Back in out world, when Emma and “Mother Mayor” meet, I love the tension that you can just sense when it’s revealed to the Mayor that Emma is Henry’s real mother. The viewer also has their first piece of suspicion when the Mayor offers Emma some Apple Cider, as it is obvious who Mother Mayor is meant to be…

The thing that got this writer when she watched it for the first time, was whether or not the Mayor can actually remember who she is. This question keeps popping up through out the episode and this writer thinks they will keep the viewers guessing until the end.

The reveal of Mary Margaret, namely Snow White is a subtle one; Again, it leads the viewer back to the Original with the Bluebird on her finger. The choice for Snow White to be a teacher is perfect. Who doesn’t look up too their primary school teacher as if they are perfect.

Another thing this writer loves, is that instead of an “Apple for Teacher” the child gives her a Pear. This review is full of “subtle” but so is this show. Every time you watch it, you see something different. Oh, the scene where Snow and Charming give up Emma to save them all…there were a few tears shed. The way Charming fought to save Emma, to protect her. *tear*

The scene where Snow finds Prince Charming on the floor in the Nursery! *tears* The way she tried to bring him back, like he had done for her.

It is heart breaking to see that it does not work. As the evil queen enters the room, this writer believes it was done this way to show someone to hate for what had happened, and it was done well, as this writer did “dislike” the queen as she walked in…

But the fact that at the end, Snow White gets her hope back, brings the viewer back from the hate and into believing that “Good Will Always Win”

The way the transport scene was accomplished, it is very well done. It reminds the viewers of the twister in The Wizard of Oz, since the Flying Monkey’s from the book were see already in Henry’s Book. The way the glass shatters and floats in the air around the Queen, Snow and Charming; Very powerful look to it. The Queen standing over the two heroes like that., and then the cloud engulfing them.

To this writer, the way the Mayor defends Henry as her son is a bit too over the top. And the look on Emma’s face when she asks if the Mayor loves Henry speaks volumes. When the Mayor takes the book from Henry’s room, this is one of the times that made this writer believe that she remembers who she is, or at least has an inkling.One of the  final scenes in the premier episode of Once Upon a Time, made this writers heart skip a beat, and smile. Also, the appearance of Mr Gold, still as Creepy as ever, Rumpelstiltskin.

But the final scene, with Henry looking at the Town Clock, that has not moved all his life, you know, sometimes there is cause for hope. All in all, this new show is fantastic. It finds the child-like need for a happy ending inside you and doesn’t let go, the hope that one day, even the loneliest of us, will find our happy ending.

Over the coming week (until the next episode) we will bring our reviews up to date before “That Still Small Voice” airs on November 27, 2011. In the meantime, please find included below the entire pilot episode courtesy of ABC and Disney Parks via Hulu.

Enjoy!

Thank you for reading my review of Once Upon A Time and for visiting our teams at WormholeRiders News Agency.

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Thank you.

Warm Regards,

Jackie Chapman