Somebody call Bill Wilingham.
ONCE UPON A TIME is a show that bares some obvious similarities to the comic book series FABLES. That (very adult) title is about the (not protected by copyright) fantasy characters from fables and fairy tales cast out of their homelands and living with us in the modern day. OUAT has the same basic premise, but attacks it from a slightly different perspective.
In this version, the Evil Queen from SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS is not dead and instead exacts revenge by sending Snow and all her friends to Maine, USA. I’ve never been to Maine so I don’t really know how much of a punishment that is. Besides the main villain being an entirely different character, the other major departure from FABLES is that none of the Fable Folk remember who they are. Neat.
The show does a great job of flashing back and forth between the past and present, showing us just what life was like for the Fable Folk before they went to hell (excuse me, Maine). These flashbacks are handled with style and sincerity. I don’t think the tone is quite right–it’s a little too serious–but I enjoyed these peeks at the life before. From the promos it looks like the flashbacks will continue. No surprise since the series was created by two of the better writers from LOST.
The main plot surrounds the daughter of two of the Fable Folk and her role in setting things right again. Her introductory scene was clever and unexpected. She’s an easy gateway into the world of the Fable Folk.
There are some smart scenes (any scene with the modern day Evil Queen is quite great–she’s one of the few Fable Folk with her memories intact) and some big ideas at play here, but the writing could be a lot stronger. Characters speak mostly in cliches and the whole thing can come off a bit cheesy, but there’s still a lot to love. I especially like that there’s no content issues and I’d have no problem showing it to my 9-year-old daughter. In fact, I’ll do that tonight.
I’d rate the show a solid B-, but there’s obvious potential here for better things and I’m looking forward to see if the creators can make good on it. I’m in… for now.
Written by : Brock Heasley
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Wife and I liked it too. Still too grown up for our 6 and 3 year olds. Are you going to catch the premiere of “Grimm”? That’s looking fun.
I can see 6 and 3 being a little too young. Grimm I’m not planning on watching. Looks like a procedural with new clothes and I’m just not into those. However, if you tell me it’s good, I’ll give it a shot.
Oh i almost fogrot about the endings mony, dog, sister. POINTLESS. why becasue if you chose the family one i think you DONT GET TO SEE YOUR SISTER. and money is so simple to get the only reason you do it is for the trophy/ps3. The only good one was Needs of the many i think.
To me this is a very clever argeloly. Initially one feels that the protagonist is somehow abnormal (from a medical point of view almost impossible) in not having salty tears. But if one changes focus from the individual not having salty tears, but that they are not able to TASTE the salty tears, then the story takes a new twist.Taste is extremely subjective. There are many compounds that taste very different depending on genetic make-up. Some compounds taste very bitter to some and tasteless to others, because the gene code to detect that taste is missing.How I view this story, is that she feels that something entirely fundamental is missing from her life, denoted by the absence of salt. When she embarks upon an encounter which brings out a set of behaviours that she had never previously considered as acceptable, she gained two things that were missing to her a sexual fulfillment unlike any other and acceptance by her lover, who was also unlike any other. Thus whether she actually tastes the salt or not is now of far less importance than whether her lover accepts her for her abnormality or deviancy (call it what you will).For me, this broaches the subject of those who live in alternative lifestyles; how they are made to feel by society and how they are fulfilled by their lifestyle choices, once they finally discover like-minded others.
So based on what you said, I decided to go ahead and give OUAT a try last night. And it wasn’t terrible. And I think the premise of the story is interesting. But the writing could be much much better. I felt like the actors had to really struggle to pull the show together, which made it hard (for me) to get into the show. We might check out the next couple of episodes, but I’m not holding my breath.
Now, Person of Interest. Excellently done. And although it is set up as a procedural, there’s definitely a larger story going on. Have you checked that one out at all?
I have seen a few episodes of Person of Interest and while I like the actors very much, it’s very hard for me to get caught up in it. I’m that turned off by procedurals. The beats the story plays are just too obvious. You never have to look at a clock when you’re watching a procedural because the twists and action set pieces and smattering of character and mythology development are on a rigid schedule. I want to like the show a lot more than I actually do.
Well then, mister, explain Angel and Burn Notice. Ha!