Once Upon A Time returns to ABC this Sunday, and Disney is pulling out all the stops. Despite being less than a year old, the family animated feature Frozen will be supplying the newest residents of Storybrooke, including Elsa, Anna and Kristoff. We've already caught a glimpse of Elsa, but will figure out just how she fits in during the season opener. But to get back on track and ready I re-watched the Season 3 two part finale, and checked out Frozen for the first time. I needed to know the character to make sense of the inclusion with the ongoing tales. GLEEful singing aside, Broadway's Idina Menzel and Jonathon Groff who sound wonderful in the film, aren’t in Once.
The reboot, based on the lingering spell cast by the Wicked Witch of the West as she died at Rumplestilskin's hand, gives Storybrooke a clean start. If you are saying, what? Then this show hasn't captured your collective imagination and you've really missed a diamond offered on free TV. Binge and catch up on the series... it’s worth the suspension of disbelief.
Ginnifer Goodwin (He's Just Not That Into You) is delightfully real as the fictional Snow White, who along with the effervescently evil Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty) as Mr. Gold/Rumplestilskin, are the heart of the show. They set and deliver the main plot points and amaze the audience with their facility to pop in and out of time periods and stay true to their characters.
Yet in the 2013-14 finale, we left the citizens of Storybrooke safe and happy. Killian (aka Captain Hook, played by Colin O'Donoghue) and Emma Swan (the non-fairytale character and Savior of all the other fairytale characters in their modern incarnations, played by Jennifer Morrison) are back from the Enchanted Forrest because "home is the place you miss." And, they are truly home. Hook and Emma declare their love when she realizes his sacrifice, selling the Jolly Roger to get a magic bean and therefore back to her, she breaks down and finally kisses him. She kisses him a lot! However kissing aside, this is a crackling couple. The new season suggest we will see Morrison's best work since House, and together with the Irishman, O'Donoghue (who fills our screen with a swaggering pirate second only to Captain Jack Sparrow), the opportunity for these two to become a real couple. Personally though, I really want to see them explain the hook on HOOK.
Still, in the reworking of the fairytales, Once Upon A Time is a wonderful tutorial for families on ideals of love, valor and loyalty. A general audience show and one that truly entertains with moral tales. We will head home to Storybrooke where our friends are happy, one caveat…. we must always remember the explosive Queen (stunning Lana Parrilla), who after finally trusting her heart to Robin Hood sees him embrace his wife and son. Ba!
The gotcha moment is that his Marion has been brought to the future because she had been freed by Emma and Hook in the Enchanted Forrest. The phrase "actions have consequences" forces the beleaguered Queen to again turn evil.
The last image of the Season 3 finale was Elsa's back as she is brought to life, starting toward the town. What's next? Ah….. that's why they called it Storybrooke.
Stacy enjoys sharing her occasionally polarizing opinions to elicit discussion. In a phrase, she states: "I don't want readers to be parrots...unless they are of the Python variety wherein a "palindrome of BOLTON would be NOTLOB." A former university professor and current secondary educator... Ms. Embry is also a writer, Educational Psychologist and Grief Counselor in Indianapolis, Indiana USA.
