Once Upon A Time - Review

Once Upon A Time is about Emma Swan who is brought to the small town of Storybrooke, Maine on her 28th birthday by her 10 year old son, Henry, whom she had given up for adoption when he was born. She is shocked that Henry found her and concerned about the fact that he went to Boston by himself. She decides to take him back to his town and on the way she notices a story book he is holding on to. He informs her that she is in the story book. Henry tries to convince her that she is the Savior and everyone in the town is actually a character in his storybook and that they were brought to this land because of curse enacted by the Evil Queen in an attempt to get revenge on Snow White. He tells her that she is the daughter of Snow White and the Prince and that only she can break the curse and set them all free. Henry insists that no one knows who they are and time is frozen in the town. Of course she immediately thinks he is crazy.

She takes him to his house where she meets the town Sheriff and his mother Regina Mills, who is also the mayor. Regina is grateful to Emma for bringing him home, but Henry is upset and insists that his mother is the Evil Queen. Emma prepares to leave, but she wants to make sure Henry is ok. After seeing another side to Regina, she decides to stick around for a while and get to know Henry better. This infuriates Regina who is the only one in town who knows Emma is the Savior- or so it seems.

While all of this is going on, flashbacks are occurring to the Enchanted Forrest where storybook characters Snow White, the Prince, the Evil Queen, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Rumpelstiltskin, Belle, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, the Mad Hatter, King Midas, and more live. In these flashbacks, you see how they lived their lives and all of the events that led up to the curse being enacted.

Main Cast (through season 4):

• Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
• Ginnifer Godwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard
• Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen/Regina Mills
• Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
• Josh Dallas as the Pauper/Prince "Charming" James/David Nolan
• Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiltskin/Beast/Crocodile/Mr. Gold
• Meghan Ory as Red Riding Hood/Wolf/ Ruby
• Emile de Ravin as Belle/Lacey
• Colin O'Donahgue as Captain Killian "Hook" Jones
• Michael Socha as Will Scarlet/Knave of Hearts/White King

Recurring Cast & Guests (through season 4):

• Raphael Sparge as Dr. Archie Hopper/Jiminy Cricket
• Jaime Dornan as Sheriff Graham Humbert/Huntsman
• Eion Bailey as August Booth/Pinocchio
• Michael Raymond James as Neal Cassidy/Baelfire
• Sarah Bolger as Princess Aurora
• Julian Morris as Prince Phillip
• Jaime Chung as Mulan
• Sean Maguire as Robin Hood
• Lee Arenberg as Leroy/Grumpy
• Gabe Khouth as Tom Clark/Sneezy
• David Paul Grove as Doc
• Faustino Di Bauda as Walter/Sleepy
• Mig Macario as Bashful
• Mike Coleman as Happy
• Jeffrey Kaiser as Dopey
• Beverley Elliott as Granny/Widow Lucas
• Keegan Connor Tracy as Mother Superior/Blue Fairy
• David Anders as Dr. Whale/Dr. Victor Frankenstein
• Tony Amendola as Marco/Geppetto
• Sebastian Stan as Jefferson/Mad Hatter
• Rose McGowan and  Barbara Hershey as Cora Mills/Queen of Hearts
• Rebecca Mader as Zelena/Wicked Witch of the West
• Georgina Haig as Elsa
• Scott Michael Foster as Kristoff
• Elizabeth Lail as Anna
• Rose McIver as Tinkerbell
• Brighton Sharbino and Elizabeth Mitchell as Ingrid/Snow Queen
• Joanna García Swisher as Ariel
• Gil McKinney as Prince Eric
• Stephen Lord as Malcolm
• Robbie Kay as Peter Pan/Pied Piper
• Christie Laing as Maid Marian
• Sonequa Martin-Green as Tamara
• Jessy Schram as Ashley Boyd/Cinderella
• Tim Phillipps as Sean Herman/Prince Thomas
• Chris Gauthier as William Smee
• Anastasia Griffith as Kathryn Nolan/Princess Abigail
• Alan Dale as Albert Spencer/King George
• Giancarlo Esposito as Sidney Glass/Genie of Agrabah/Magic Mirror
• Zak Santiago and Tony Perez as King Henry
• Benjamin Stockham as Owen Flynn
• Ethan Embry as Greg Mendell (Owen's older alias)
• Kristin Bauer van Straten as Maleficent
• Merrin Dungey as Ursula
• Yvette Nicole Brown as Ursula's voice
• Victoria Smurfit as Cruella De Vil
• Alex Zahara as King Midas
• Quinn Lord as Nicholas Zimmer/Hansel
• Karley Scott Collins as Ava Zimmer/Gretel
• Nicholas Lea as Michael Tillman/Woodcutter
• Eric Lange and Richard Schiff as King Leopold
• Eric Keenleyside as Moe French/Sir Maurice
• Amy Acker as Sister Astrid/Nova
• Noah Bean as Daniel
• Rachel Shelley as Milah
• Jorge Garcia as Anton
• Eva Bourne and Rena Sofer as Queen Eva
• Freya Tingley as Wendy Darling
• William Ainschough and Matt Kane as John Darling
• Benjamin Cook and James Immekus as Michael Darling
• Christopher Gorham as Walsh/Wizard of Oz/Flying Monkey
• Alexandra Metz as Rapunzel
• Sunny Mabrey as Glinda/Good Witch of the South
• Matreya Scarrwener as Dorothy Gayle
• Tyler Jacob Moore as Prince Hans
• Robin Weigert as Bo Peep
• Ava Marie Telek and Pascale Hutton as Queen Gerda
• Nicole Munoz as Lilith "Lily"
• Timothy Webber as The Apprentice
• Bailey Herbert and Sally Pressman as Helga

Overall review: a MUST watch (pay close attention as it all intertwines)

Tune in Sunday nights at 8 PM EST on ABC