Once Upon A Time is back! Seriously, this is the fall premier I couldn’t wait to see. With season 3’s ending full of mystery and the reveal of Frozen, Season 4 promises to be full of mystery, entanglement and of course magic.
First a quick recap…
The show starts off right where it left off with Elsa storming around town, the Evil Queen being screwed over by the Charming family yet again and Rumple dealing with the lost of his son and trying to fight his instincts to be bad.
With the return of Marian, Robin is forced to decide between Regina and his wife. Naturally the nobleman that he is, he choses his wife since he made a vow to her leaving a very sad Regina desperate for what she wants most, love. Convinced that she truly is the villain saying ‘Villains don’t get happy endings’ she begins to plot. This marks the return of the mirror, Sidney, who has been locked away in a secret room in the hospital. Put back in his place, the mirror show Regina when and why she captured Marium so she can find a way to kill her so that Emma has no way of bringing her back to Storybrooke with her. This dark place she is entering is a deep worry for David, Mary-Margaret and Emma since Regina has worked so hard to be good. In the end, Regina decides that if she ever wants to get her happy ending she needs to change the story, the story in Henry’s book that makes everything in Storybrooke happen. She wants to find the writer.
Belle takes Rumple to say goodbye to his son, Baelfire. At his grave he vows to be better and to finally give Belle the real dagger that can control him. While celebrating their honeymoon in a new house in Storybrooke, we get to see the charm of Rumple and get a real first look at Beauty and the Beast as Rumple lays on the charm as he transforms Belle and himself into the classic Belle and Beast from the movie, complete with amazing outfits, music and a big, beautiful chandelier.
But true to form, Rumple sneaks away after discovering a mysterious trinket that when he swipes his dagger over the top it transforms into the Sorcerer’s Hat, causing him to be troubled and aw strucken.
But the big news is all about Frozen! Elsa and Anna join the Once Upon A Time story taking place years after we left them, with Anna planning her wedding to Kristoff. While Anna tries on her mother’s wedding dress, Elsa discovers the journal from her parents where the express their fear of Elsa’s power leading Elsa to believe that her parent’s death was her fault. Even after visiting the trolls to trying and get more clarity about what their parents were doing, there are still more questions. Anna sneak away to the Enchanted Forest to try and get more answers to ease the mind of her sister.
In present day Storybrooke, Elsa is lost and scared causing her to lose control of her powers. No one in the town knows that Elsa is there, but that there is something snowy and magical causing problems, especially with the appearance of the Snow Monster.
What did I think?
I personally loved having so many stories coming to life. I found myself talking to the TV saying things like ‘No Regina don’t do it!” and “ Aw! It’s the Beauty and the Beast dance!” and my favorite “Oh My GOD! It’s the Sorcerer’s Apprentice hat!!!” I am so excited to see where things go with Elsa and the town and how all the stories will come together.
I felt there was too much Frozen stuff in the show. I mean all the characters (except Hans and Olaf) make an appearance and it all seemed kind of forced. I am hoping they were trying to put it all in there so they could get it out of the way to focus on the really good story that is being developed.
I have to say though, I was really disappointed in the Frozen visuals. The story is going to be absolutely amazing, but whoever translated the look for the Frozen world was being way too literal. I have always loved how OUaT looks with the nods to the original costumes and scenes, but with the Frozen stuff there was too much focus on making it like the movie. And whoever did the costumes seriously phones it in! The costumes the characters wear in the Disney parks look better than the ones on the show. Even looking at the same episode, the Beauty and the Beast dance scene was spot on with absolutely beautiful costumes. Clearly from the movie, but not a literal copy. Belle’s dress was full and textures with ruffles and sparkles while Rumple’s coat was lined with magnificent gold lace trim on a soft looking velvety coat. But Elsa’s dress, looks like a pattern from Joann fabrics just thrown together. Now extra flair or depth or even an attempt to make it look Norweigen or like it had evolved in the years since the end of the movie. And Anna and Kristoff, another literal copy. It’s like the designers didn’t think that their style would grow as they did.
So what now?
The first episode of OUaT was a lot to take in and really gets the audience excited for all the Disney magic that is heading their way. It was almost too much with the 3 separate stories going on at once. Obviously, with time the 3 stories will come together, but for now there are a lot of unanswered questions: Why was Elsa in an urn? What happened to Anna? What is with the Sorcerer’s Hat? Who is the author of the Once Upon A Time book? Is it Yen Sid, the sorcerer, the author of the book? Why was Sidney locked up all this time? Will Regina ever get her true love happy ending?
I can’t wait to watch this story unfold and come together. Next week the town meets Elsa and her chilling powers and we get our first look at Hans and the urn.
Alright Oncers, tell me, what did you think of the Season 4 premier?
