Television Series Update: Once Upon a Time

Megan Geller

Once Upon a Time is an ABC television series that first aired on October 23, 2011 and whose premise focuses on Emma Swan, a young woman with a troubled past, who is drawn to the small town of Storybrooke, Maine because of her adopted son, with whom she was recently reunited. In Storybrooke, characters including Snow White, Cruella De Vil and Jiminy Cricket, all originating from either Disney movies, Western literature, folklore and fairy tales are transported to this “real world” town void of any memory from their former selves. Each character’s memory was taken from them by the mayor, Evil Queen Regina, using a powerful curse stolen from Rumplestiltskin and only Emma Swan, believed to be the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, holds the power to break the curse. Emma holds this power because she escaped Storybrooke as a newborn infant before the Evil Queen could put a curse on her, and she is a child of “true love.” As any fairy tale reader knows, “true love” she has to ability to conquer all, since love is the most powerful magic of ever. Assisted by her son Henry, the two embark on a journey to break the curse using the Once Upon a Time book of fairy tales.

Now in its sixth season, the series opens with the characters defending Storybrooke from the threat of Mr. Hyde and the Evil Queen while Emma still is under the powers of the ancient darkness that threatens to destroy everything. Mr. Hyde is finally killed by Dr. Jekyll, and Emma defeats the darkness while learning about a new character, Aladdin, who joins the cast of characters set to defeat the Evil Queen Regina. Aladdin’s past as a previous savior and Emma’s role as the current savior is expected to solve some other conflicts in the show.