PILOT REVIEW: Once Upon a Time

ONCE UPON A TIME

Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla, Josh Dallas, Jared S. Gilmore, Raphael Sbarge, Jamie Dorman, and Robert Carlyle
Created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz
Written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, Directed by Mark Mylod

Once Upon a Time is a lavish new drama from ABC that blurs two worlds - the fantasy land of "Once Upon a Time" and modern day Storybrooke, Maine. The complicated plot involves a curse from an Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) on Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) that sent all the fairytale characters to the present day only none of them know they are fairytale characters. The Queen is the Mayor of the town, Snow White is a teacher, and Prince Charming - injured in a fight before the curse - is a comatose unknown patient at the hospital. Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle) tells Snow White and Prince Charming that their unborn daughter will return on her 28th birthday to battle with the Queen. Which leads us to the modern day where Emma (Jennifer Morrison), a bail bonds collector, is found by her biological son Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) who she gave up for adoption. He has discovered through a book from his teacher (present day Snow White) about the truth and brings Emma back to Storybrooke to fulfill Rumpelstiltskin's prophecy. By the way, Rumpelstiltskin is now a wealthy man and part owner of Storybrooke. Also in the main cast is Jiminy Crickett/Archie Hopper, a psychologist (Raphael Sbarge) and Storybrooke's Sheriff Graham (Jamie Dorman). Whew! That's the most difficult summary of any new fall show! And there's much more to it than what I just wrote.

THE GOOD: This show is unlike anything else on TV and it plays like an epic fantasy movie. There's a lot, I mean a lot of potential in this show if everything can fall the right way. The pilot was very promising. What might be an over-the-top concept is handled well with good production value and a really strong cast. Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Jared Gilmore are all promising in their roles while Lana Parrilla's Evil Queen and Robert Carlyle's Rumpelstiltskin are early standouts from the premiere. Both the worlds they created are really well-developed. The fairytale land looks exactly as it should while Storybrooke has a mix of quaintness and intrigue. As of now, it's hard to tell which world is going to be more intriguing because both were set up well. For such a complicated plot, it was well drawn out in the pilot. It's almost more difficult to explain than it is to just watch because everything kind of makes sense when you watch the pilot. This show is full of potential.

THE BAD: Of course there have been many promising high-concept pilots that have flamed out quickly and that is the danger with Once Upon a Time. As I already said, the plot is drawn out very well in the pilot but can we expect that to continue every week? The jumps between the two worlds are going to be tricky to manage and the fantasy world needs to be careful not to veer into the ridiculous realm. Basically, "the bad" is about what this show might become, not what it was in the pilot. Let's hope the quality stays high and the story stays focused. My only complaint about the pilot was the Blue Fairy scene which looked somewhat cheesy considering the stunning visuals in the rest of the episode.

BOTTOM LINE: Well, here it is. The big gamble of the fall season. Every year, there is one big production, high concept drama and while you sometimes get a Lost, it seems like you usually get a FlashForward or The Event. So where will Once Upon a Time fit in? It's going to require a commitment from the viewers and that is tricky, but it might be worth it because this show has a lot of stories to tell before happily ever after.