Once Upon a Time

Here's something a little different for you-- a review about a television show.

Now wait. This blog is about books. This blog is about publishing. How does TV work into all this?

Well, it's a television show...about a book. Hah, got you there. But in all seriousness, this is something different. And in the realm of fairytales and stories, that's something to pay attention to.

Once Upon a Time is a new television show about a 'fairyland' where every fairytale character in any story exists, all in one world. Snow White, Prince Charming, Rumplestiltskin, The Evil Queen, Maleficent, Hansel and Gretel, Pinnochio, The Blue Fairy, Red Riding Hood, all of them are here in one land. And when the Evil Queen desires her final revenge on Snow White, she send everyone to the modern, human world, in a town called Storybrooke, where there is no magic, and they have no memories of anything or anyone they ever loved; except for the evil queen, who 'rules' triumphant. Time is stopped, nothing ever changes, and no one ever leaves.

Until main character, heroine Emma Swan arrives, brought by her biological son Henry who knows about the curse and the truth and is trying desperately to convince Emma that she is the savior who can rescue the people and break the curse.

You have Rumplestiltskin, who you witness as a real man and as magical entitity, and you see his degeneration into the darker magics reflected in his appearance as he becomes less  man and more monster. Also, his giggle gets a bit more unhinged with every passing spell.

Why is he insane? Partly the magic...partly because he can. Don't be fooled, he can go from cackling to serious without blinking.

 Contrast with Mr. Gold, Rumplestiltskin in the real world-- sort of the village maffia in one. He runs the financial aspects of the town, is generally feared or mistrusted because he never breaks a deal...or lets one run late. He's also the only other person in Storybrooke who has any idea -- and every idea -- what is going on.

Snow White and Prince Charming? They're a school teacher and a coma patient in the modern world, respectively, and they have no idea who the other is, but their past, cursed memories struggle in ways they can't understand to bring them together.

Every single fairy tale links in with the other. I'd tell more, but I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it. There are some more melodramatic areas, of course; no show is perfect. And I rather find the modern character of the Evil Queen to be shallow and one-trick. She spends almost every line being degrading or threatening someone (usually Emma about staying away from Henry) and that gets old fairly quickly, but what can you say. Someone has to be the foil of the trite, amusing, creepy, powerful Rumplestiltskin. The Evil Queen is indeed powerful, but she's not as tricky as the gold-weaver. And he knows it, at least.

I love retold fairy tales, and I love when they're told in a new way that brings them together. I spent nearly two days straight watching the episodes of this show, and I couldn't stop. There may be some scripting errors that I could see changed, but there is no flaw in the storyline. I would want this story written into a book, to visit this world where every fairy tale exists in one place. All the big players are here, and some not so big characters that you'll be surprised to notice. Beauty and the Beast, magic beans, Cinderella, the Mad Hatter, Peter and the Wolf, and each one somehow spliced with another, so that however you turn the tale, stand it on its head or turn it inside out, the original story still exists, but a whole new meaning comes from the other end.

Enjoy your stay in Storybrooke.