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Everything has changed in the little town of Storybrooke, Maine. In the first season of ABC’s Once Upon a Time, we met a cast full of fairy tale characters who were cursed to spend their lives in a small New England town, where they had no magic and no memory of their old lives. But once Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) came to town, life in Storybrooke began to change, setting the stage for a very different sophomore season.
The show’s second season finds Storybrooke’s curse broken. Magic has returned to the town, and everyone remembers who they once were. Some are disappointed to find that they’re still in Storybrooke—not back in their fairy tale land. And they’re even more disappointed to learn that, if they leave Storybrooke, they’ll lose all of their memories.
As the townspeople set out to get revenge on Regina (Lana Parilla), the Evil Queen who placed them all under the curse, Emma and Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) find themselves magically transported back to the land of fairy tales, where a few people remain.
While the first season of Once Upon a Time focused on introducing the characters and telling their stories, the second season focuses on further developing the characters and their stories as they try to come to grips with their strange new situation. After a season full of character introductions, it’s nice to get to spend some quality time with some of the returning characters—especially Goodwin’s Snow White, who shows a stronger, tougher side this season while making some difficult decisions.
Of course, we also meet a few new characters along the way—which is where things get a bit muddled. Jamie Chung joins the cast as Mulan—a character who’s not so much a fairy tale character as she is a Disney character. This season, we meet knights of the Round Table and Dr. Frankenstein. We also meet a couple of villains who plot to destroy Storybrooke and everyone in it, once and for all, giving the season a grim twist.
Meanwhile, this second season is definitely a confusing one. The stories once again travel back and forth through time—and back and forth from Storybrooke to the fairy tale world. And, even in Storybrooke alone, names are now interchangeable. Snow White can also be Mary Margaret. Josh Dallas’s Prince Charming can also be called David, and so on. It’s sometimes enough to make your head spin.
When it comes to classic, sword-fighting action, Once Upon a Time is at its best. But the muddled fairy tales are just as frustrating this season as they were last season (and maybe even a little more). And the deeper you get into the season, the darker and uglier things get—until the show’s fairy tale charm all but disappears.
Once Upon a Time does have its captivating moments—especially for fans of Disney’s fairy tale princesses. But, once the novelty wears off, you’re left with a confusing mess of characters and stories. So if you’re in the mood for a good fairy tale, you might be better off re-watching some of your favorite Disney movies instead.
Blu-ray Review:
If you pick up a copy of the five-disc Blu-ray release of the second season of Once Upon a Time, you’ll find plenty of extras—from deleted scenes, audio commentaries, and bloopers to a handful of making-of features.
If you want to take a closer look at the characters, you’ll want to check out Sincerely, Hook, which spends some time getting to know actor Colin O’Donoghue and his trouble-making pirate, and Girl Power, which takes a look at the tough chicks of Once Upon a Time. And if you need a little help sorting through the show’s complexities (and, really, who doesn’t?), you might want to watch A Fractured Family Tree, which traces the twisted relationships found on the show.
While those features are all interesting and informative, though, I prefer Good Morning Storybrooke, a fake morning news program with a fairy tale twist. It may not take you behind the scenes of production or help you figure out the show’s twisting, tangled storylines, but it’s highly entertaining. So if you have just a few minutes for extras, watch this one first. If there’s time left over, check out A Fractured Family Tree.
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