Matt has been telling me I ought to watch Once Upon A Time for a while now. This weekend was pretty intense for me, so by Sunday afternoon I just wanted something to distract me and keep my mind occupied so I figured I'd finally give it a try. Tonight I finished the first episode of the second season, which started on Sunday. That means that in about two and a half days I watched 23 episodes. This is why I'm always cautious about letting myself get sucked into new TV shows.
because my brain doing the obsessive equivalent of this is also pretty dangerous...
If you don't know, Once Upon A Time was one of two shows that came out last year that are based on the idea of fairytales in the real world. The other is Grimm, which apparently was darker and a little bit more subtle. Haven't watched Grimm and I probably wont. Once tells the story of Storybrook, a town populated by all the characters of your favorite fairy tales and children's stories (they do branch out from traditional fairy tales with characters like Mulan and the Mad Hatter). They have been brought into our world, their memories of their former lives erased, by a curse from an evil queen. Emma Swan, daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, was the only one spared from the curse and is the only one who can break it and restore the townspeople to their happily ever afters. The first season centers on Emma, her arrival in Storybrook, and the breaking of the curse.
is it just me or does blond hair just not look right on her?
have a picture of the Mat Hatter too. Because he's beautiful with perfect hair, magnificent three piece suits, and delicious guylined puppydog eyes.
While Once, pretty predictably, suffers from some problems with logic and logistics, I think that overall it is a really really well done show. Matt was quick to point out that it is written by two of the Lost writers (Lost is a show he's been lobbying for me to watch for over a year now) and I think I can see the family resemblance. There are plenty of twists and big reveals and mysteries. But what has really impressed me is the quality of the basic storytelling. I feel like so many TV shows are more concerned with those twists and surprises and keeping people hooked on overinflated drama than they are on actually telling really good stories. Once, on the other hand, kept up a decent level of storytelling, sometimes caving to cliched plot devices or purely "gotcha!" twists, but overall utilizing some very good thematic development. Part of this, I think, is a result of the principle of constraint. Which is a principle I just made up, but it's still valid. Basically, if you tell someone to write a story about anything they'll think a while and then they'll come up with some random story that probably won't be much good and probably will be kind of generic. If instead, however, you tell them to write you a story using the phrase "Oh, I don't need the dishes", contains a pair of tweezers, and takes place in one single late night then you'll get something rather more interesting (if any of you would like to write me that story, please do and email it to me). In this case, the constraint was to tell a story fundamentally based on magic in a world that has none. This really led to some very fun story telling moments and interesting thematic ideas.
because why wouldn't you translate "queen's huntsman" into "mayor's sheriff and sex-slave on the side"
I will acknowledge my inner feminist for a moment here and say that I also really really appreciate how kick ass the women are in this show. Snow White, when accosted at her wedding, draws her husband's sword and stands between him and the evil queen Regina. Little Red Riding Hood? ...well, I don't want to spoil anything, but I kind of have a woman crush on her. Even more so do I have on one Belle (but we'll talk more about her a little later). Cinderella begins as a bit of a ditz, but she really grows and finds her strength. Even Katherine, a proverbial "other woman" who simply exists to come between the two star-crossed lovers, is a really strong good woman who does her best. And she may be evil, but you can't get much more hardcore than Regina herself. And last of all is Emma, who is so unrelentingly tough and sure of herself that I'm able to ignore the fact that she is Cameron from House--a feat not to be sneezed at. These are not your traditional damsels in distress waiting for their men to come save them. They can and often do save themselves. I love that so much.
not only is she maximum hardcore, she is also mind-bogglingly beautiful...sorry Snow White, but you ain't actually the fairest of them all. Your besty Red is.
But most of all--above all the other characters and all the good story telling and all the fun plot twists--above all that stands my love for one character. And that character is Rumpelstiltskin, aka Mr. Gold.
so true.
Oh my gosh Rumpelstiltskin. Matt and I have given many of the characters in the show nicknames, mostly because Rumpelstiltskin is really hard and long to type and then it was fun to give them to the rest. I call him Skinner. Which is a perfect name for him because you really never know if he's going to help you or skin the flesh right off your back.
Skinner...why are you wearing gloves and an apron and carrying a shovel out here in the middle of the woods??
This character is so delectably ambiguous. Usually, when a character behaves badly in a show it is one of two options: it is a bad character behaving exactly how we expect him or her to act and is therefore boring or it is a good character acting out of character and really stupidly which is immensely irritating. But Skinner is neither of these. Skinner is a deeply self-interested character acting incredibly deviously, powerfully, and intelligently to further his own ends. And sometimes he is just straight up screwing with your head because he's Rumpelstiltskin and what the heck else do you expect? I love the fact that at any moment he might betray someone and that I don't have to hate him for it because it's just who he is and what the heck, it may end up that that betrayal is actually going to somehow make everything better (sheriff's election anyone?). One of the things I love most about him is that he's always completely honest. He'll straight up tell you that he's screwing with you or that the magic you want from him will ruin your life completely. But somehow, without ever lying, he manages to constantly play with the people around him and keep them all in the dark.
dude, you found a girl who laughs at your horrible jokes...you keep her!
And, unlike Regina with whom I was initially fascinated but have since come to regard as a lost cause, I can't help feeling like Skinner deserves to ultimately be happy. Which is why I am dying with anxiety over the upcoming season. Skinner has an opportunity to be with Belle (a truly genius twist on the Beauty and the Beast tale) and let himself be happy. I want him to take it so very very badly and I am so terrified that he's going to ruin everything as he has so consistently done for himself. I am more invested in his relationship with Belle then I am in any other relationship in the entire show.
no matter how much love him I cannot deny that he is a super awkward kisser...possibly because he has a frog face?
Rumpelstiltskin, aka Skinner, makes up at least half of my love for this show. Despite everything I've said, I really can't fully explain how much I love him and why. I think it's just how very complex and interesting he is. I'm always a sucker for an interesting guy--a guy who will never ever bore me no matter how well I know him. As evidenced by Skinner, this often leads me to take an interest in really hard guys. That is something I should probably watch out for in my life, but for now it means that I will keep watching this show as long as it keeps giving me plenty of Skinner. And I'm pretty sure it will...
