Once Turns 100: Once Upon a Time Season 1 Retrospective

[MatthewPaul]

Once Turns 100: Once Upon a Time Season 1 Retrospective

Once Upon a Time will be hitting a milestone when it returns in just three weeks, as it will be airing its 100th episode. In honor of the upcoming premiere, me and RG have decided that as a community, we should look back at the show’s history Season by Season, and discuss our thoughts.

We’ll begin our retrospectives with Season 1, of course! How could we forget about the origins of the show itself? From the moment where Charming awoke Snow White from her glass coffin in the Pilot, to the moment where the curse was broken in the finale! Snow, Charming, Regina, Emma Swan, Henry, Rumple, Belle, Baelfire, Red, and so many others were introduced this very Season!

Season 1 Promos:

Since this forum would not exist without this site’s podcast, feel free to give a listen to the podcast’s full discussions for each episode. Whether you want to re-listen to them, or just never got around to listening to them before! Click on each episode title for links!

101 – Pilot
102 – The Thing You Love Most
103 – Snow Falls
104 – The Price of Gold
105 – That Still Small Voice
106 – The Shepherd
107 – The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
108 – Desperate Souls
109 – True North
110 – 7:15 A.M.
111 – Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
112 – Skin Deep
113 – What Happened to Frederick
114 – Dreamy
115 – Red-Handed
116 – Heart of Darkness
117 – Hat Trick
118 – The Stable Boy
119 – The Return
120 – The Stranger
121 – An Apple Red as Blood
122 – A Land Without Magic (Click Here for Part 2 of Podcast Full Discussion!)

A Few Discussion Points
– Favorite Episode of the Season
– Favorite Character Introduced
– Favorite Moment of the Season
– Since this was when the original Dark Curse happened, there was much more of a contrast between the Fairy Tale Land flashbacks and Present-Day Storybrooke. The residents in Storybrooke had no recollection of their Fairy Tale Land lives, nor was there magic in their town. Once everybody regained their memories and magic was introduced in Storybrooke, that all changed. In hindsight, what do you think worked and didn’t work about these drastic changes? Should the curse have lasted longer? Should magic have been left out of Storybrooke?
– Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?

As for the other Seasons, we will be posting threads for them at the rate of two Seasons per week with one posted on Sunday and another posted on Wednesday. For example, expect the Season 2 thread to go up on Wednesday, the 17th. Feel free to keep the discussion going in each Season’s thread for as long as you like, and don’t be shy to jump in!

For our Season 2 Retrospective, click here

[RumplesGirl]

– Favorite Episode of the Season

Still “Skin Deep” with an honorable mentions going to “A Land Without Magic,” “Desperate Souls” and “An Apple Red As Blood”

Skin Deep was one of those unique moments in my TV viewing life when I realized I was watching something that would stick with me forever. I went from being someone who was listening to the podcast and generally interested in the show, but mostly staying out of the fandom, to someone who simply had to talk about all of the things with all of the people. Daniel, luckily, had just opened the forums shortly before Skin Deep aired, so I came over here and…well, the rest is history.

I remember being highly skeptical about Skin Deep at first. While Beauty and the Beast was (and still is) my favorite Disney movie, I was *very* unsure about Rumple being the beast. I thought the idea was nonsense since how could Rumplstiltskin–a Germanic fairy tale–be the Beast–a French fairy tale character? But I loved Emilie from LOST and decided to approach the episode with an open mind. I remember being in absolute tears after the episode and watched it every day the following week because it moved me so much. The moment when Rumple in the EF is smashing all his possessions while Isham’s incredible score played over was simply breathtaking. This episode, in my opinion, elevated the show in a way that previous episodes hadn’t–in spite of all being very good. It complicated the narrative in the same way that Desperate Souls had, opening Rumple’s character up to being more than just some Trickster God in leather pants.

– Favorite Character Introduced

Rumple, obviously. I was mesmerized by his performance from the get-go but it wasn’t until Desperate Souls and then Skin Deep that I really got him. At first I thought he was a fun, but ultimately crazy, chaotic force who liked to make deals and turn peoples lives upside down. The fact that, at his heart, he was just a father searching for his little boy and doing complicated, nasty, but human things to achieve his ends made me realize that the show was more than just Disney-In-Real-Life. Bobby brings an electricity to the screen that other actors would never be able to do in this role. He made Rumple, and thank goodness A and E gave him free reign to do so because it worked so well.

– Favorite Moment of the Season

This one is hard because there are so so many. From the clock tower moving after Emma decides to stay (what a message of hope!) to the aforementioned revelations in Desperate Souls and Skin Deep to Henry eating the turnover. But I think my favorite is really twofold, and both of them involve Ms Emma Swan, a character I truly loved (second only to Rumple) for the first season.

The first is Emma using a father’s sword to defeat a dragon. I mean, you don’t get much more “traditional hero” than that. That’s just straight up classic. But I love how it was presented. First, Emma’s a woman so that’s something new right there. Second, Emma’s not really a hero yet–she’s still in her mundane mindset (remember when she tried to use a gun first?!) and isn’t quite ready to accept all the crazy going on around her. It was only by internally accepting that maybe this problem has a non-mundane solution (sword infused with history and tradition over gun and bullets) that Emma really put on the hero’s mantel (and then rose from the depths to save everyone!) Ah, hero imagery. You slay me.

The second and probably my absolute favorite is Emma waking up Henry. I remember being so stunned. A curse being broken by TLK between romantic partners are pretty much expected–that’s what fairy tales have taught me to expect. But a TLK between mom and son, as the son is being taken off his hospital equipment, after the mom literally fought a dragon and is now being forced to say goodbye?! I mean holy powerful moment, Batman! That moment. That moment still makes me cry. It still makes my heart sore.

– In hindsight, what do you think worked and didn’t work about these drastic changes? Should the curse have lasted longer? Should magic have been left out of Storybrooke?

I think you absolutely needed the curse to end in S1. They were stretching credulity of Emma not beveling by this point. I remember so many of us getting irritated that Emma continued to deny what was clearly going on around her. Breaking the curse early on opened the doors to so many story lines, many of which we actually saw in S2.

I think magic did need to come to SB because without it, there’s no tension between the heroes and villains. If the villains don’t have an equal footing then it’s hard to root for the heroes to overcome them. However, I think it should have taken longer for magic to get to SB. Have Regina and Rumple really struggle with being “normal” for awhile. Make the heroes question what should be done with them now that everyone is awake but the villains are impotent. If they are declawed are they really a threat? Maybe Cora helps bring magic to SB when she arrives and Regina is faced with those consequences.

– Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?

Largely, no. It is still the very best season this show has ever done. It was complicated and nuanced and forward thinking with some truly great characters that you either loved or hated–but the point is that you felt something. This show made you feel. The idea that everyone needs a community isn’t a revelation but it’s powerful and so was S1.

I’ve even come to appreciate the episodes that I wasn’t too fond of when they first aired, like Dreamy and True North, or plot lines that I thought dragged on for too long, like Katheryn’s disappearance.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[PriceofMagic]

– Favorite Episode of the Season

Skin Deep without a doubt. Not only was it the birth of RumBelle, but it added so many layers to Rumple’s character. IMO Skin Deep is not only the best episode of the season but of the entire series.

– Favorite Character Introduced

Rumple. He was such a complicated and layered character that wasn’t good but neither was he evil. You never knew what side he was on, he could be your greatest ally or your worst enemy.

– Favorite Moment of the Season

It’s hard to pick a single moment because there is so many great ones across various episodes so I’m going to pick a scene from Skin Deep, where Rumple is in his tower, spots Belle returning, runs down to his spinning wheel then tries to act all cool about it when Belle comes in which leads to RumBelle’s TLK (before everything went wrong)

– Since this was when the original Dark Curse happened, there was much more of a contrast between the Fairy Tale Land flashbacks and Present-Day Storybrooke. The residents in Storybrooke had no recollection of their Fairy Tale Land lives, nor was there magic in their town. Once everybody regained their memories and magic was introduced in Storybrooke, that all changed. In hindsight, what do you think worked and didn’t work about these drastic changes? Should the curse have lasted longer? Should magic have been left out of Storybrooke?

I don’t think the curse should’ve lasted longer but I think it needed the 22 episodes before it could’ve been broken. However, I think they could’ve had Emma starting to believe a little earlier than they did, such as she starts noticing little things that can’t be explained away, and she only fully believes in the finale because I thought Emma’s change from non-believer to believer happened a little too quick literally within the opening two minutes of the finale.

I think bringing magic back to Storybrooke was a good idea because it complicated things for the heroes and upped the stakes. Rumple and Regina wouldn’t have been as much of a potential threat if they didn’t have magic.

– Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?

I think season 1 remains the best season of OUAT because it feels like it was planned out from start to finish. It’s a full season based on one storyline with minor plotlines happening that serve the overall story arc eg. Emma saving Ashley’s baby from Gold led to her owing him a favour which was then utilised in season 2. It was consistent. Things were introduced which then became relevant later rather than the current phase of plot devices for all which are never used or mentioned again. Also season 1 was such a satisfying season, it didn’t feel rushed. The writers weren’t trying to fit 22 episodes worth of story into 11 episodes so characters were more fleshed out because there was time to do so.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[MatthewPaul]

Favorite Episode of the Season: Without a doubt, “A Land Without Magic.” Just so much happened in that episode, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I’m a sucker for climaxes, and this may still be my favorite finale out of all the Seasons. Emma finally believes, fights a dragon, and wakes Henry with true love’s kiss. The curse finally breaks, everybody remembers who they are, and Rumple reunites with Belle. Even the flashback was exciting, as we see Charming escape from Regina’s dungeon, have a sword fight with Rumple, get the egg inside of Maleficent’s dragon form, and it all comes full circle to the Pilot with him finding Snow and waking her up with true love’s kiss. It’s such a powerful ending, with the streets of Storybrooke being engulfed in purple smoke, as Rumple brings magic into town. What really makes that end scene for me is Mark Isham’s amazing score. His music there really added to the scene’s momentum. The track is called “Magic”, and it was released as a part of his Season 2 soundtrack.

Favorite Character Introduced: Rumple. He’s by far the most complex character. What I enjoyed about him from the start was that he was the eccentric trickster. He was manipulative and worked behind the scenes. Regina cast the Dark curse, but in reality it tied back to Rumple’s master plan: to get to the Land Without Magic and find his son. Learning about the relationship with Baelfire and his developed love for Rumple further added depth to his character. Rumple wasn’t always the twisted little imp, but started out as an ordinary man trying to protect his son. I also love the difference between when Bobby plays Rumple in Fairy Tale Land and when he plays Gold in Storybrooke. Rumple is energetic, playful, over the top, and dresses in flashy attire. Gold is calm, solemn, reserved, and dresses in a dark colored suit.

Favorite Moment of the Season: Emma fighting dragon Maleficent. Can’t go wrong with fighting a dragon in the climax! The visual effects and choreography looked great, and still hold up. Unfortunately dragon Maleficent’s CGI got a serious downgrade in Season 4, but we’ll get more into that in the Season 4 retrospective.

Should the curse have lasted longer? Should magic have been left out of Storybrooke?: I think the curse ended when it needed to end. While at the time breaking the curse felt like a final Season sort of deal, I think it would have gotten frustrating had they gone that route. Just how much longer could Emma remain close-minded? Henry eating the poisoned apple turnover was the perfect way to get Emma to do what she needed to do. “You may not believe in the curse or in me, but I believe in you.” Besides, there was still plenty of story set up for when the curse broke, such as Emma getting accustomed to her parents and Rumple’s search for Baelfire. As for magic in Storybrooke, I have mixed feelings. Yes magic can make things more interesting, and it certainly adds to the stakes. At the same time, though, you lose a lot of the compare and contrast between Fairy Tale Land and the Storybrooke. With no magic in Storybrooke, there was more real world situations and problem solving. Fairy Tale Land was all fantasy and action-packed, while Storybrooke was modern and slower paced. The other issue with introducing magic is that I feel the later Seasons over rely on it for plot purposes. Don’t we criticize how much the show currently uses Magical MacGuffins, with many of them carrying over into the Storybrooke plots as well? I’m not saying that magic shouldn’t have come to Storybrooke, but I think it still could have been a lot more balanced.

– Regarding this Season, has your opinion changed at all looking back?: Yes and no. I think Season 1 is still the strongest Season of the series, and holds up fairly nicely. If I had any gripes, I wasn’t a huge fan of the whole Mary Margaret/David/Kathryn love triangle, and also felt that the Kathryn murder mystery plotline dragged a little. “Dreamy” is certainly a better episode than I originally thought, looking back at it. I think a lot of the gripes with that episode had to do with how it felt fillerish at the time, but on its own it’s a harmless and sweet episode. Even the weaker episodes of Season 1 aren’t so bad compared to some of the worst episodes of the later Seasons.

[RumplesGirl]

Skin Deep is not only the best episode of the season but of the entire series.

I completely agree. There are a few that come close, but I think Skin Deep eclipses them.

I think season 1 remains the best season of OUAT because it feels like it was planned out from start to finish.

I think this is a large part why S1 was so successful. A and E had been sitting with this idea of theirs for years. It was fully formulated.

Henry eating the poisoned apple turnover was the perfect way to get Emma to do what she needed to do. “You may not believe in the curse or in me, but I believe in you.”

That line was great. Actually that whole episode is great.

and also felt that the Kathryn murder mystery plotline dragged a little.

So did I. It got a bit wearing.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[MatthewPaul]

I completely agree. There are a few that come close, but I think Skin Deep eclipses them.

Thought you said your favorite was “Manhattan”, unless that opinion has changed? Of course you can elaborate more on that episode in our Season 2 retrospective.

That line was great. Actually that whole episode is great.

Now the only real criticism I had with that episode was the whole time-traveling apple, while using Jefferson as a bit of a plot device. Which does bring up one little criticism I had with the finale: Jefferson somehow learning about Regina keeping Belle locked up in the asylum, and that she and Rumple had a past. Adam and Eddy mentioned on the defunct Once Upon a Time podcast that Jefferson learned this knowledge because he had been spying on the town. Still felt a little too far-fetched and convenient. Other than those issues, I felt both episodes were still very strong.

[WickedRegal]

SEASON 1

Favorite Episode: The Stable Boy

This episode put a lot of things into perspective concerning Regina’s character…why she hated Snow so much? Why she seemed so bitter and filled with darkness? How evil was born into someone who once had the purest soul. Lana Parrilla and Ginny Goodwin/Bailee Madison really pulled something magical off with this episode, all from Young Snow telling Regina what she had done and how we literally saw the evil wheels turning in Regina’s head, to when Regina confronted Snow White in that jail cell scene.

And dear God Daniel….oh how I rooted for him and Regina to just run away and never turn back. He was nine times out of ten, Regina’s only friend in her life up until his death. Which is why I could understand why Regina was so hell-bent on vengeance because not only did Snow’s slip kill her true love, it really killed her only friend. And I know everyone wants to say Snow was only ten, but in Season 2 we learned that she was also ten when she promised to keep the Blue Fairy (Aka Cora) secret about their arrangement, and she not once snitched, therefore she knew the importance of keeping a secret.

And just for the whole episode, Lana and Ginny outdid themselves and it was most impressive seeing the transition their characters had from how they started to where we know they ended up. This episode really showed how “accidents” can have haunting life long consequences.

Favorite Character Introduced: The Evil Queen Regina

C’mon…I mean really, after all these years with each other, do any of us need to hear the long list of reasons why Regina is my favorite character when more than likely you’ve already heard it a hundred times before. LOL

To put it simply, she’s an amazing, strong, independent genius who has the most resilient heart, and she doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her because she marches to the beat of her own drum. Although at times she’s impulsive, she eventually learns her lesson one way or another. And the actress who plays her is a golden hearted, wise, and remarkably brilliant woman who stands up for what she believes is right.

Regina (Lana Parrilla) had me at the pilot episode when she crashed Snow White and Charming’s wedding with three simple words that literally dripped with the perfect mix of sarcasm and venom: “Sorry I’m late.”

Favorite Moment:

When the curse broke, and everyone remembered who they were, and magic was coming to town. Flashing from Emma and Henry to Rumplestilskin and Belle to Regina to Snow White and Charming who held onto one another as purple smoke covered the entire town, leaving us with one last shot of the clock moving before it got covered….that entire scene gave me goosebumps!

What Worked & What Didn’t Work:

The flipping back and forth between Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke worked brilliantly…however, as far as the curse, I’m mixed on it breaking early. Sometimes I think they could have waited, other times I realize the shock value they had with breaking it as early as they did. But I’m all for magic being brought to Storybrooke, that was definetly a good idea.

Something that really didn’t work was the original relationship between Henry and Regina. Even though I understand what they were trying to do what with her being the villain and all, it sent out an anti-adoption message, which was an issue many people had with OUAT in the beginning. Like I said, I know what they were trying to do, but I just wish they did it in a more careful manner…Henry constantly bashing and telling the woman who did her best in raising, loving, and caring for him his whole life that he found his “real mother” was a problem which I’m glad Lana Parrilla stood up and called the producers out on, and had them fix. I am forever happy that she stood up for Regina and Henry’s relationship and had it mended, because just because Emma stuck around and got to know Henry for a few months did not all of a sudden make her the perfect “real mother.” That is the one thing I certainly do not miss from Season 1!

Season Regards:

Season 1 still reigns as one of the best, if not the greatest season Once Upon A Time ever had. The reason why being Adam and Eddy focused purely on storytelling and not shock value or shiny toys. The formula they used for Season 1 was one that focused on the dysfunctional relationship between the CharMillStilskins Family and it was utilized both wonderfully and satisfactorily.

In all…I miss Season 1.

"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor

[RumplesGirl]

Thought you said your favorite was “Manhattan”, unless that opinion has changed? Of course you can elaborate more on that episode in our Season 2 retrospective.

Manhattan is very very very very close second, with A Land Without Magic being a very very very close third. I’ll go into Manhattan more in S2. But no, it’s always been Skin Deep at #1

Now the only real criticism I had with that episode was the whole time-traveling apple, while using Jefferson as a bit of a plot device

Yeah, it’s one of those things that I tend to believe A and E had some loose plan with but ultimately had to let it go when Sebby went to Hollywood’s door and it became next to impossible to really get him for more than one or two episodes. Exploring August and Jefferson’s connection is up there too.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[MatthewPaul]

Yeah, it’s one of those things that I tend to believe A and E had some loose plan with but ultimately had to let it go when Sebby went to Hollywood’s door and it became next to impossible to really get him for more than one or two episodes. Exploring August and Jefferson’s connection is up there too.

Remember when many of us thought that Jefferson fell into the hat, after he got kicked out the window? That was what the editing of the scene implied, as there was a whoosh sound effect. However, when asked about it on the official podcast, Adam and Eddy clarified that he didn’t. He simply fell, quickly ran away, and took care of his injuries. It does make me wonder if they really did mean for him to go through the hat, and they had to change their plans. By the way, that was actually one of my own questions that got asked for the official podcast, and the first time I recall Adam and Eddy responding to me, though indirectly. On a side note, I really miss the official podcast. It was a chance to get into Adam and Eddy’s mindset for every episode, and get some interesting tidbits. I recall the reason it discontinued was because Estelle, the person who hosted and edited the podcast, left ABC in between Seasons 2 and 3. A shame that ABC didn’t feel the need to continue the podcast with somebody else.

[RumplesGirl]

Remember when many of us thought that Jefferson fell into the hat, after he got kicked out the window? That was what the editing of the scene implied, as there was a whoosh sound effect

Yes! I was convinced that he had gone through that hat to Wonderland.

He was such a great guest star–one thing I really loved about S1. They knew how to utilize the guest stars really well. They felt natural because so much of S1 was learning about the town. Jefferson, Granny, Ruby, Ashley, even one offs like Nova.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Author]

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