I have a slightly different format in mind for this review because the Once Upon A Time pilot's entirely set-up with character moments few and far between. The reason for this is it’s an ensemble show. I assume the episodes will follow LOST's structure in which a single character's spotlighted. Pilots, in general, are difficult to write about because so much is unknown about a series after one episode. I wrote about many pilots in September, so I wanted to change things up for my own sanity.
-Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are a very talented writing team. The gentlemen began their TV writing career in the rooms of various WB shows. One such show involved Carlton Cuse. Their friendship with Carlton eventually led them to LOST during its first season. Kitsis & Horowitz spent nearly six seasons writing for LOST. In their last two seasons, they were executive producers and tasked with some of the most important episodes in the series. Following LOST, they developed Once Upon A Time with Damon Lindelof. Lindelof left the series because of his commitment to the Alien prequel as well as an untitled sci-fi script for Disney. The pilot episode of Once Upon A Time includes several references to the series that essentially defined and re-invented their careers.
I felt a certain temptation to write about the pilot through the lens of two writers who were letting go of LOST because the references sort of asked for such an interpretation of the pilot. There's a scene when Jennifer Morrison's Emma Swann wakes up in a prison cell. The scene begins with an iconic LOST shot of the eye opening. The mystical town of Storybrooke is frozen in time--8:15 to be exact. The house number of the Evil Queen is 108. The references are fun for LOST fans. There's a symbolic scene that closes the episode, though. The frozen clock moves to 8:16, which signifies that Kitsis and Horowitz aren't frozen in the narrative or world of LOST. More importantly, no matter how many advertisements and commercials connected the new series and LOST, Once Upon A Time won't be LOST and doesn't want to be LOST. Thankfully, Kitsis and Horowitz worked for LOST, so they know that LOST will never be copied or repeated.
-The story behind the collision of fairy tales and reality isn't complicated. I won't summarize the story because the bulk of the pilot's devoted to telling the story of that collision. I know that it's rare for The Foot to write a review without massively spoiling each and every aspect of it; however, pilots are easy to write about without spoiling much. The majority of people are interested in the acting. Jennifer Morrison is terrific as Emma Swann, the daughter of Snow White. Morrison's taken her bumps as an actress because of House and How I Met Your Mother. I've always been fond of Morrison, though her time on HIMYM left a bad taste in my mouth. I adored her in Urban Legend: Final Cut. Emma's a woman with walls around her. Since birth, she felt like she was abandoned. On her birthday, she wishes for company because she's lonely. Moments later, the son she gave up on for adoption arrives on her door step and invites her to Storybrooke, Maine because she's the key to saving the town from the curse.
-Fractured childhoods as a result of absentee parents is a major theme in the series. Henry, the little kid, and Emma are connected biologically, but they're also connected because they've been given away by parents who seemingly didn't want them (in their respective perspectives). Of course, this isn't the case in either situation. Both parents wanted to give their child the best shot to succeed in life, and find happiness. Emma's arrival's met with resentment by Henry's mother because she feels threatened by the presence of the biological mother. It's a basic story about a mother's fear of losing her child to the biological mother. The dramatic scene between the mothers is a great indicator of what to expect from the series' villains.
-Ginnifer Goodwin's Snow White was a bit bland. In fact, the entirety of the flashbacks to the fairy tale world was bland. The sets and the graphics were alive with color and dimension, but the acting and the writing needed some work. The show might have trouble integrating the different fairy tale characters into one world. The characters appear together in two or three scenes but none are distinctive unless they're recognized by name. Goodwin's Snow White possesses a back bone. For instance, she draws a sword when her step-mother confronts her and Prince Charming on their wedding day. In Storybrooke, she helps Henry locate Emma and allows the boy to wander where he wants to because she empathizes with the child's plight in Storybrooke. Snow White doesn't know why she's so sympathetic to the adopted boy's situation because she doesn't remember her own life because of the curse. Goodwin and the show runners promised a more complex Snow White, so I hope she emerges in the second episode.
-The pilot's succeeds because it lays the foundation and successfully builds the world with all the important connections between characters. The two narratives allow the audience to understand how much enchantment and magic the show will use in its episodes. I'm really interested in how the ensemble will be used. The show boasts several interesting characters that includes Rumplestitskin and Jimminy Cricket. I need to watch several episodes before I form an opinion on the sustainability of the series. Certainly, the ingredients are present for a satisfying season. The main character, Emma, has a number of things to overcome. The fairy tale characters need to remember who they are. I suppose the series is about identity. Emma sort of lacks one. Professionally, she tracks down criminals who shouldn't be out of jail then returns home to a lonely life. I'm encouraged whenever a series or a book focuses on the human heart because that's what makes a compelling story. I liked the pilot but I'm anxious for episode two and three and four and so on.
-Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz wrote the pilot. Mark Mylod directed it. I should mention that the show runners hired one hell of a group of writers. I'm hopeful the ratings are good for the premiere because the series has a ton of potential, based on just who's in the writers room.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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