Once Upon a Time (TV series)

The first season premiered on October 23, 2011. The Evil Queen interrupts the wedding of Snow White and Prince Charming to announce that she will cast a curse on everyone that will leave her with the only happy ending. As a result, the majority of the characters are transported to the town of Storybrooke, Maine, where most of them have been stripped of their original memories and identities as fairy tale characters. On her 28th birthday, Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, is brought to Storybrooke by her biological son Henry Mills in the hopes of breaking the curse cast by his adoptive mother, the Evil Queen Regina Mills.

The second season premiered on September 30, 2012.[6] Despite Emma having broken the curse, the characters are not returned to the fairy tale world, and must deal with their own dual identities. With the introduction of magic into Storybrooke by Mr. Gold, the fates of the two worlds become intertwined, and new threats emerge in the form of Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue), Regina's mother Cora (Barbara Hershey), also known as the Queen of Hearts, and sinister operatives from the real world with an agenda to destroy magic.

The third season premiered on September 29, 2013. It was split into two volumes, with the first eleven episodes running from September to December 2013, and the later half from March to May 2014. In the first volume, the main characters travel to Neverland to rescue Henry, who has been kidnapped by Peter Pan (Robbie Kay) as part of a plan to obtain the "Heart of the Truest Believer" from him. Their increasing power struggle with Pan continues in Storybrooke, which ultimately results in the complete reversal of the original curse. All the characters are returned to their original worlds, leaving Emma and Henry to escape to New York City. In the second volume, the characters are mysteriously brought back to a recreated Storybrooke with their memories of the previous year removed, and the envious Wicked Witch of the West (Rebecca Mader) from the Land of Oz appears with a plan to change the past. Once again, Emma is needed to save her family.

The fourth season premiered on September 28, 2014. It was also split into two volumes, with the first eleven episodes running from September to December 2014, and the later half from March to May 2015. A new storyline incorporating elements from Frozen was revealed when the time travel events of the previous season lead to the accidental arrival of Queen Elsa (Georgina Haig) of Arendelle, from the Enchanted Forest of the past, to present-day Storybrooke. As she searches for her younger sister Princess Anna (Elizabeth Lail) with the aid of the main characters, they encounter the Snow Queen (Elizabeth Mitchell).[7] Meanwhile, Regina seeks the Author of Henry's Once Upon a Time book so that she can finally have her happy ending. However, later on, a banished Mr. Gold returns, with the help of Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit), Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten), and Ursula (Merrin Dungey), with his own plan to rewrite the rules governing the fates of all heroes and villains. Henry and Emma race to restore reality and the truth before the twisted inversion becomes permanent.

The fifth season was announced on May 7, 2015,[8] and premiered on September 27, 2015. It was once again split into two volumes with the first volume running from September to December 2015, and the second volume from March to May 2016. The characters embark on a quest to Camelot to find the Sorcerer Merlin (Elliot Knight) in order to free Emma from the powers of an ancient darkness that threatens to destroy everything. To complicate matters, King Arthur (Liam Garrigan) is determined to forever alter the balance between light and darkness using the legendary Excalibur and the help of a vengeful Zelena. As history and destiny collide, Hook's death makes Emma lead a rescue party to the Underworld in order to bring him back. During their mission, they encounter souls of those with unfinished business and must face Hades (Greg Germann). In an attempt to restore order to the chaos that has culminated, the characters' dangerous manipulations of magic lead to an exacerbation of the war between light and darkness, with the separation of Regina and her Evil Queen persona, as well as the arrival of Dr. Jekyll (Hank Harris) and Mr. Hyde (Sam Witwer).

The sixth season was announced on March 3, 2016, and premiered on September 25, 2016. The characters must defend Storybrooke from the combined threat of Mr. Hyde and an unleashed Evil Queen. They also must deal with the new people from the Land of Untold Stories as well as dealing with their own forgotten tales and the mysterious fate of saviors leads to Emma learning about the savior before her, Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz).[9] The ongoing war between light and darkness ultimately leads to the arrival of the creator of the Dark Curse, the Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) as well as the final battle that was prophesied before the casting of the original curse.

In May 2017, the series was renewed for a seventh and final season consisting of 22 episodes,[10] which marked a soft reboot.[11][12][13][14] Years later after The Final Battle, Lucy (Alison Fernandez) arrives in the fictional neighborhood of Hyperion Heights in Seattle, Washington with her Once Upon a Time book to find her father Henry Mills (Andrew J. West) who is needed by his family.[15][16][17] Henry along with characters from the New Enchanted Forest[18] were brought to Hyperion Heights under a new curse and are caught in a rising conflict involving Cinderella (Dania Ramirez) and Lady Tremaine (Gabrielle Anwar) whose dangerous history with Mother Gothel (Emma Booth) is revealed as well as the agendas of Dr. Facilier (Daniel Francis). Lucy must try to break this new curse and free her parents with the help of the now cursed Regina, Wish Realm Hook, Rumplestiltskin and Zelena. Two worlds collide when the arrival of Wish Realm Rumplestiltskin and Wish Henry Mills were culminated a devious plot by separating the characters into a separate realm inside their own storybooks. While someone will be making the ultimate sacrifice to save their happily ever after.

Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis conceived the show in 2004 before joining the writing staff of Lost, but wanted to wait until that series was over to focus on this project.[42]

Eight years before the Once Upon a Time pilot (the two had just completed their work on Felicity, in 2002), Kitsis and Horowitz became inspired to write fairy tales out of a love of "mystery and excitement of exploring lots of different worlds."[44] They presented the premise to networks, but were refused because of its fantastic nature.[45] From their time on Lost, the writers learned to look at the story in a different way,[45] namely that "character has to trump mythology."[43]

They explained,

"As people, you've got to see what the void in their heart or in their lives is to care about them ... For us, this was as much about the character journeys and seeing what was ripped from them in coming to Storybrooke – going at it that way as opposed to making it the 'break-the-curse show.'"[46]

Despite the comparisons and similarities to Lost, the writers intend them to be very different shows.[45] To them, Lost concerned itself with redemption, while Once Upon a Time is about "hope".[47] Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof aids in the development of the series as a consultant, but has no official credit on the show. Kitsis and Horowitz have called him a "godfather" to the series.[48][49] To differentiate the storytelling from what the audience already knew, the writing staff decided to begin the pilot with the end of the typical Snow White fairytale.[46] Themes concerning family and motherhood were emphasized, in contrast to the focus on fatherhood in Lost. Kitsis and Horowitz sought to write strong female characters, rather than the classic damsel in distress. Horowitz stated their desire to approach each character the same way, asking themselves, "How do we make these icons real, make them relatable?"[45]

The pilot is meant to be the "template of the series".[44] Kitsis confirmed that every week will contain flashbacks between both worlds,[43] as they "love the idea of going back and forth and informing what the character is missing in their life."[50] The writers' desire to present a "mash up" of many small characters can be seen in a scene of the pilot, in which there is a war council featuring Geppetto, Pinocchio, and Grumpy. Horowitz elaborated, "One of the fun things for us coming up with these stories is thinking of ways these different characters can interact in ways they never have before."[45] Since then, the creators have added more elements, and given its ties to Disney, have managed to expand the universe to include more recent material, by throwing out hints that they might look ahead at incorporating characters from Brave and Frozen in future episodes, if they get the green light from Disney.[51] The Season 3 finale introduced Elsa in the final minutes of the episode.[52]

The general premise, importing the Snow White core characters into the "real world", was previously seen on ABC television in the short-lived 1980s comedy The Charmings. The show also has a similar premise to Bill Willingham's ten-year-old comic series Fables, to which ABC bought the rights in 2008 but never made it past planning stages. After Fables fans raised controversy over possible appropriation, the show writers initially denied a link, but later said they may have "read a couple issues" of the comic book and while the two concepts are "in the same playground", they are "telling a different story."[50] Bill Willingham responded to the controversy in an interview, where he stated he did not feel the show was plagiarism and said: "Maybe they did remember reading Fables back then, but didn't want to mention it because we've become a very litigious people."[50][53]

The cast as they appeared in season three.

Secondary character casting director Samuel Forsyth started the casting process in 2010. Horowitz stated that everyone they initially wanted for roles in the series accepted their roles after being sent a script.[44][45] Ginnifer Goodwin was cast as Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard,[54] who appreciated that she would be playing a strong character that was fleshed out for the audience. Goodwin had stated in interviews that she would love to play Snow White, and called her acceptance of the role "a no-brainer."[55] Both Kitsis and Horowitz are self-described big fans of Goodwin's previous series, Big Love, and wrote the part of Snow White with her in mind.[45] Josh Dallas, who portrays Prince Charming / David Nolan, was pleased the writers took "some dramatic license" with his character, believing the prince had become more real. He explained,

"Prince Charming just happens to be a name. He's still a man with the same emotions as any other man. He's a Prince, but he's a Prince of the people. He gets his hands dirty. He's got a kingdom to run. He has a family to protect. He has an epic, epic love for Snow White. He's like everybody else. He's human."[55]

Jennifer Morrison was hired for the part of Emma Swan.[56] The actress explained her character as someone who "help[s] her son Henry whom she abandoned when he was a baby and who seems like he's a little bit emotionally dysfunctional", but noted that Emma does not start out believing in the fairytale universe.[55] Ten-year-old Jared Gilmore, known for his work on Mad Men, took the role of her son, Henry.[56] The role of The Evil Queen/ Regina was given to Lana Parrilla.[57]

The role of Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold was given to Robert Carlyle,[58] after having been written with him in mind, though the writers initially thought he would not accept the part.[43] Horowitz recalled Carlyle's prison sequence, which was the actor's first day on the set as "mind-blowing ... You could see Ginny actually jump, the first time he did that character. It was fantastic!"[44] Jamie Dornan portrayed the Huntsman / Sheriff Graham[59] as a series regular before being killed off in the seventh episode,[60] while Eion Bailey was cast as Pinocchio / August Wayne Booth[59] in a recurring role,[61] starting in the show's ninth episode, "True North", where he was credited as "Stranger", he was promoted to series regular status for the fifteenth episode, "Red-Handed".[62] Raphael Sbarge portrayed Jiminy Cricket / Dr. Archie Hopper.[59]

For the second season, Meghan Ory and Emilie de Ravin were promoted to series regulars as Red Riding Hood / Ruby[63] and Belle / Lacey[64] respectively, while Bailey made guest appearances in two episodes after departing the series[65][66] and Sbarge joined the recurring cast.[67] Colin O'Donoghue was cast as Captain Killian "Hook" Jones,[68] and was upped to series regular for the fourteenth episode of the season.[69]

For the third season, Michael Raymond-James was promoted to a series regular as Neal Cassidy,[70] while Ory did not return as a series regular due to commitments to the TV series, Intelligence.[71]

For the fourth season, Michael Socha was brought onto the show as Will Scarlet / Knave of Hearts from the show's spin-off, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,[72][73] while Raymond-James was dropped from the regular cast[74] when the writers decided to kill off his character.[74] Bailey returned in a recurring arc towards the end of the season after being absent from the show since the second season.[75]

For the fifth season, Rebecca Mader[40] and Sean Maguire[40] were announced to have been promoted to series regulars as Zelena / Wicked Witch of the West and Robin Hood respectively, while Socha was confirmed to not be returning as a series regular.[76] Ory also returned to the series in a recurring capacity after being absent since the third-season finale.[39]

Before the series was renewed for a seventh season, Jennifer Morrison announced that, if the series were to be renewed, she would not be returning as a series regular for that season but agreed to return for one episode to wrap up Emma Swan's storyline.[77] Later that week, actress Rebecca Mader announced that she would also be leaving the series after the sixth season wrapped. It was later announced that Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Jared S. Gilmore and Emilie de Ravin would also be leaving the show after the sixth season's finale aired. Along with departures, Andrew J. West and Alison Fernandez were announced to be joining the seventh season of the show as series regulars after guest starring in the previous season's finale. They will portray an older Henry Mills and his daughter Lucy respectively. In July 2017, actresses Dania Ramirez and Gabrielle Anwar were announced to be joining the cast of the seventh season as series regulars, playing new iterations of Cinderella and Lady Tremaine, respectively. In September 2017, Mekia Cox, who portrays Tiana, was promoted to a series regular.[78]

Steveston, BC doubles as the town of Storybrooke, Maine.

Principal photography for the series takes place in Vancouver, British Columbia.[79][80] Steveston Village in the adjacent city of Richmond doubles as Storybrooke for the series, with props and exterior sets disguising the existing businesses and buildings. During filming, all brightly colored objects (flowers, etc.) are hidden to reinforce the story village's spell-subdued character. Certain sets are additionally filmed in separate studios, including the interior of Mr. Gold's pawn shop and the clock tower, which are not found in Steveston.[81] Downtown Vancouver mostly doubles as other major cities such as New York City and Boston.

During the first six seasons, the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke, Maine are the main settings of the series. The Enchanted Forest is a realm within Fairy Tale Land, but the actual spread and scope of the realm is not known. However, they are later united during the Ogre Wars, which played a part in the formation of the War Council that is formed by Prince Charming and served as the catalysts in the backstories involving Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen. Several independent kingdoms are implied by an array of different rulers. Most of the stories detailed their earlier lives before ascension to power and being influenced by their mentors through their upbringings. Meanwhile, Storybrooke serves as an isolated town separated from the rest of the Land Without Magic, where the cursed inhabitants are trapped by various forces.

During the seventh season, the New Enchanted Forest[18] is shown as the main setting, along with Hyperion Heights, Seattle. As a realm in New Fairy Tale Land, the New Enchanted Forest is divided into several independent kingdoms with different rulers. The inhabitants are in conflict with each other, most notably between Lady Tremaine, Cinderella, Drizella, a resistance led by Tiana, and the Coven of the Eight led by Mother Gothel. Most flashbacks shown involve events that happened before the original curse and before the latest curse that brought everyone to Hyperion Heights, where unlike Storybrooke, its cursed inhabitants are living among ordinary people.

The show, including its spin-off, have explored beyond the main settings to numerous realms, each based on fairy tales, literature, and folklore. Known realms are Fairy Tale Land,[82] the Land Without Magic,[82] Wonderland,[82] the Dreamscape,[83] the Land Without Color,[82] the Netherworld,[84] Neverland,[82] Victorian England,[85] the Land of Oz,[82] Kansas,[86] Asgard,[87] 1920s England,[88] the World Within the Book,[89] the Underworld,[90] the Worst Place,[91] Mount Olympus,[92] the Land of Untold Stories,[82] 19th Century France,[93] the World Behind the Mirror,[94] the Dark Realm,[95] the Wish Realm,[95] New Fairy Tale Land,[18] the World Beyond the Bridge,[96] the Mansion Realm,[96] the Edge of Realms,[96] New Wonderland,[97] and the Prison Realm.[98] All the realms are then merged via a variation of the Dark Curse, known as the United Realms.[99]

Critical response to the first season was generally positive. On Metacritic, it was given a score of 66 out of 100 with "generally favorable reviews".[106]

Common Sense Media rated the show 4 out of 5 stars, stating : "Parents need to know that although Once Upon a Time is inspired by classic fairy tales such as Snow White, Pinocchio, and revivals of popular stories such as Mulan, Brave, and Frozen, it's not always age-appropriate for younger kids. The content is often violent -- including murder, sword fights, and death threats -- and much of the story is clouded in a sense of peril and shifting loyalties. There's some implied sexual content (including shirtless men, women buttoning up their blouses, and lovers escaping out of windows), some innuendo, and some iffy language ("hell," "ass," "suck"). The upside? It has multi-generational appeal, but parents may want to preview before sharing with tweens".[107]

E!'s Kristin dos Santos cited the show as one of the five new shows of the 2011–2012 season to watch.[108] Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe gave the show a "C+" grade commenting

"From a pair of Lost producers, this is a love-or-hate proposition. The ambition is impressive, as it asks us to imagine Goodwin's Snow White and Parrilla's Evil Queen as moderns. But Morrison is a wooden lead, and the back stories – a random collection of fairy tales -- don't promise to surprise."[109]

In a review from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, TV critic Gail Pennington hailed it as one of the "Most Promising Shows of The Fall" and, unlike Gilbert, had high marks for Morrison.[110] USA Today's Robert Blanco placed the series on its top ten list, declaring that "There's nothing else on the air quite like it."[111] Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times preferred the series to another fairy-tale themed drama, Grimm, citing that the premise takes its time building up the charm and that the producer "has that part nailed". She also gave excellent reviews for Morrison's character: "Her Emma is predictably cynical and prickly – fairy-tale princess, my Aunt Fanny – but she's sharp and lively enough to keep audiences begging for 'just a few more pages' before they go to bed."[112]

Several feminist outlets were pleased with the show for its feminist twist on fairy tales. Avital Norman Nathman of Bitch stated that she liked the show for "infusing a feminist sensibility" into the stories.[113] Genie Leslie at Feministing commented that Emma was a "badass", that she liked how Emma was "very adamant that women be able to make their own decisions about their lives and their children", and how Emma was a "well-rounded" character who was "feminine, but not 'girly'".[114] Natalie Wilson from Ms. praised the show for a strong, "kick-butt" female lead, for including multiple strong women who take turns doing the saving with the men, for subverting the fetishization of true love, and for dealing with the idea of what makes a mother in a more nuanced fashion. Wilson went on to state of the lead: "Her pursuit of a 'happy ending' is not about finding a man or going to a ball all gussied up, but about detective work, about building a relationship with her son Henry, and about seeking the 'truth' as to why time stands still in the corrupt Storybrooke world."[115] The show began to receive less favorable reviews beginning with the second season. Reception became mixed overall up until the end of the final season.

The first season premiered as the top-rated drama series. The pilot episode was watched by 13 million viewers and received a 4.0 rating/share among 18- to 49-year-olds.[116] It was the season's highest-rated drama debut among the age range and ABC's biggest debut in five years.[117][118] With DVR viewers, the premiere climbed to 15.5 million viewers and a 5.2 rating/share in adults 18–49.[119] The show's next three episodes had consistent ratings every week with over 11 million viewers.[120][121][122] The series became the number one non-sports program in the U.S. with viewers and young adults on Sunday nights.[123]

Once Upon a Time was nominated for a 2012 People's Choice Award for "Favorite New TV Drama", but lost to Person of Interest.[149] The show was nominated at the 39th People's Choice Awards in four categories: Favorite Network TV Drama, Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show, Favorite TV Fan Following, and Favorite TV Drama Actress (Ginnifer Goodwin); it lost to another ABC show Grey's Anatomy in the first category, Supernatural in the second two, and Ellen Pompeo (from Grey's Anatomy) in the last category. The show was nominated at 40th People's Choice Awards, but lost to Beauty and the Beast and The Vampire Diaries, respectively.

The show was also nominated for "Best Genre Series" at the 2011 Satellite Awards, but lost to American Horror Story.[150] The show was nominated in this category again at the 2012 Satellite Awards, but lost to The Walking Dead.[151]

The program also received three nominations at the 2012 Visual Effects Society Awards, but all lost to Boardwalk Empire, Gears of War 3, and Terra Nova.[152]

At the 38th Saturn Awards, the series received a nomination for Best Network Television Series and Parrilla was nominated for Best Supporting Actress on Television, but lost to Fringe and Michelle Forbes, respectively.[153]

The program was nominated for the former award again at the 39th Saturn Awards, but lost to new series Revolution.[154]

Jared S. Gilmore was nominated for Best Performance by an Younger Actor on Television at 40th Saturn Awards, but lost to Chandler Riggs for The Walking Dead

The show received trophies for "Favorite New TV Drama" and "Favorite Villain" for Lana Parrilla by the TV Guide.[155]

The show was nominated at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards, but lost to The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars and Awkward and the show was also nominated at 2013 Teen Choice Awards, but lost to The Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars.

The show was nominated again 2014 Teen Choice Awards, but lost to The Vampire Diaries and Dylan O'Brien, respectively.

It was also nominated at the 64th Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Awards, but lost to Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead and the show was nominated again at 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, but lost to The Borgias and Game of Thrones.

The Show won 3 Choice Awards at the Teen Choice Awards 2016.

In 2013, Disney-owned Hyperion Books published Reawakened by Odette Beane, a novelization of storylines from the first season, expanded to include new perspectives. The narrative is from the points-of-view of Emma Swan in Storybrooke and Snow White in the Enchanted Forest. The novel was published on April 28, 2013, as an ebook and May 7, 2013, in paperback form.[156]

In 2015, production company Kingswell Teen published Red's Untold Tale, by Wendy Toliver, a novel telling a story of Red's past that was not seen in the show. The novel was published on September 22, 2015 and consisted of 416 pages.[157]

In 2017, Kingswell Teen published a second novel, Regina Rising, also written by Wendy Toliver, which depicts the life of a sixteen year old Regina. The novel was published on April 25, 2017.[158]

In 2018, Kingswell Teen published a third novel, Henry and Violet, written by Michelle Zink, which follows Henry and Violet on an adventure to New York City. The novel was published on May 8, 2018.[159]

A comic book, titled Once Upon a Time: Shadow of the Queen, was released on September 4, 2013, in both digital and hardcover forms. The story was written by Dan Thomsen and Corinna Bechko, with art by Nimit Malavia, Vasilis Lolos, Mike del Mundo, Stephanie Hans and Mike Henderson. Shadow of the Queen details what happens after the Evil Queen takes the Huntsman's heart. She forces the Huntsman to commit evil, and try to capture Snow White yet again. The Huntsman faces his past, and also meets Red Riding Hood, who is trying to cope with her beastly alter ego. Together, they team up and try to save Snow White before all is too late.[160]

On April 14, 2014, a sequel to the first comic book called Once Upon a Time: Out of the Past was released.[161]