401 replies to this topic

[Howdyphillip]

Is anyone else still watching this one? I have been meaning to post about it for a while, but the only thread was one in which Grimm was also contained. I think it deserves it's own discussion.

I like this show. I am somewhat ashamed to admit how much I like it. It is obvious cheese and sometimes horrible special effects, but the modern twist on the fairy tale has been written well so far. I find myself somewhat invested in the characters, and the acting performances have been stellar as well.

I particularly like the Evil Queen/Mayor. I can't remember a villainess character written for television that has as much nuances as her. There just seems to be layers beyond what we see that motivates the character.
Or... It could just be that she reminds me of several ex girlfriends... I always go for the bad girls.

[Mya Stone]

Yes. Still watching. I love it. I haven't seen this week's ep, though, as football ruled supreme in my house on Sunday night. I adore it. I love it's LOSTisms (the flashback/fairytale part mixed with present day).

I adore Rumpelstiltskin. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but Jennifer Morrison is pretty good. (I hated her in HIMYM.)

[Demonblade]

I have all the episodes on PVR and someday I will get to watching them.  Someday.

[msdanya]

I watch it every Sunday.  Sometimes a little bit later in the evening, thanks to my DVR.

[Sonic The Hedgehog]

I really wanted to like it. I mean anything about fairy tales has my attention, and I liked Jennifer Morrison from House, but Once Upon A Time lost me after the first episode. I knew things were off to a bad start when scrawny Jen's character was a bounty hunter and decides to capture this guy without any assistance whatsoever, without carrying any weapons for subduing him, casually chases him to his car, and uses one hand to knock him out by smashing his head into the steering wheel.

There were other silly moments, like Jen's (under ten years old?) son tracking her down, traveling to her, and successfully blackmailing her into coming with him, but I'd be willing to forgive that if the show was otherwise good and smart. But the fairy tale characters seemed cheesy and not very subversive of the Disney sort.

If the pilot was the tone for how the series continues then I don't think the show's for me.

[the maid of woodlynne]

I like it a lot, too.

The careful parcelling out of Snow and Charming's backstory has been handled well, with some nice twists. And I especially like that the residents of Storybrooke are given pause when they see their reflection. Nice touch.

Plus, there are plenty of LOST Easter eggs for me to find, which I appreciate.

[drawkcabi]

I watch it, I love it, and I'm not ashamed one iota about it. It's awesome. Admittedly I like the fairytale world flashback parts the best, but the "real world" parts are ok.

Regina/Evil Witch and Mr. Gold/Rumplestilskin are my favorite characters followed by Emma (who I was meh about on House and didn't care for in the episodes of HIMYM I saw her in, but I love her in this).

I watch every episode Sunday night right as it airs, look forward to it every week.

The most recent episode with Stealthy was one of the best so far.

So, the guy who blew into town on the motorcycle with the typewriter, is he going to be the Big Bad Wolf?

[Minaku]

I was not a fan of LOST so I guess it makes sense that I'm not a fan of this show.  The acting is, to me, really horrible.  Soap opera horrible.  Which is, essentially, what this show is - fairy tale soap opera.

I want to like it so much, but I just can't deal with the queen and Jennifer Morrison's perpetually confused "Kid?"

[drawkcabi]

the maid of woodlynne, on 24 January 2012 - 06:42 PM, said:

I like it a lot, too.

The careful parcelling out of Snow and Charming's backstory has been handled well, with some nice twists. And I especially like that the residents of Storybrooke are given pause when they see their reflection. Nice touch.

Plus, there are plenty of LOST Easter eggs for me to find, which I appreciate.

Did you catch the one in one of the earlier episodes with Miss Blanchard in school, where instead of giving teacher an apple one of the kids gave her a pear?

I loved that.

[the maid of woodlynne]

Drawkcabi, on 24 January 2012 - 08:08 PM, said:

Did you catch the one in one of the earlier episodes with Miss Blanchard in school, where instead of giving teacher an apple one of the kids gave her a pear?

I loved that.

Totally missed that! And I thought I was detail oriented...

[ZombieWife]

I'm trying to like it.  I'm still trying.  The mayor is just nauseating to watch.  My husband and I can pretty much mute the television and predict every single one of her lines:

Henry is not your son.
Don't cross me.
You don't want to get in my way.

And, I can pretty much predict when and where she'll show up.  Oh, hey Emma, you're about to put on the badge and take over?  Ha HA!  (twists mustachio) I'm here.  Not so fast!

Robert Carlyle is being wasted on this show.  Someone fire him and get him on as Mance Raydar.  After seeing him play Dr. Rush for 2 years on SGU, I'm just . . . not impressed with the material they are giving him.  That said, he's one of the least annoying characters on the show.

The only reason I watched it last Sunday was because I was waiting for something else on my DVR to "buffer past" the 15-20 minutes I'd need to avoid all commercials.

There are some interesting moments and the idea is there, but geesh.  I'm so over the mayor and her over-the-top, cliche existence.  I get it.  She's a Disney villain. It's just too predictable with her.  She's such a flat foil for Emma.  Mr. Gold, at least, is far richer (no pun intended).

[SkynJay]

I forgot about it really.  My wife and I watched it for about five weeks, and it was hit and miss but I liked Mr. Gold.  But then, I dunno.  Guess we missed one, then another, and I don't see adds for it anymore.

[Just a peasant]

Minaku, on 24 January 2012 - 08:07 PM, said:

I was not a fan of LOST so I guess it makes sense that I'm not a fan of this show.  The acting is, to me, really horrible.  Soap opera horrible.  Which is, essentially, what this show is - fairy tale soap opera.

I want to like it so much, but I just can't deal with the queen and Jennifer Morrison's perpetually confused "Kid?"

I loved LOST but I could not stomach Once Upon A Time. I like Alcatraz more with its LOSTness. It was just too Disneyfied. I high hopes and they were dashed. I will stick to Grimm.

[drawkcabi]

Great episode last night!!!

The thing about OUaT is that I pretty much know what's going to happen once an episode starts because the real twist is usually revealed in the first act as a catch to draw you in and then the characters are so readable (but I think that's intended). Though from episode to episode, which back story they are going to jump to next, how they are going to twist it, and how they make it fit into the entire tapestry of the series is what's really clever.

Then in the "real world" the characters are "really" predictable but it's so much fun watching them go through the motions. It's soap opera scmaltz but it's such well done soap opera scmaltz!

As to the most recent episode:

Spoiler

Now that we know Sidney Glass/Magic Mirror was also the genie in the lamp, how glad are we that they departed from their Disney analogues a bit with Giancarlo "Gustavo" Esposito? Can you imagine dealing with Robin Williams*in that part?

*I still like Robin Williams but he's just been way too over-exposed and his routine too over done.

[QuickTidal]

Here's what drove me nuts about last nights ep, and it's a total nitpick.

Emma: Hey, the mayor is using large quantites of your city funds without your knowledge to build herself a swanky house in the woods!

Town Meeting atendees: Boooo!!!! What the heck?!

Mayor: No, I was using large quantities of city funds without your knowledge to build a playground in the woods for your kids!

Town Meeting Attendees: Oh, that's okay then Yay!!!!

...


wait what?

#ScreenwriterFail

[drawkcabi]

QuickTidal, on 30 January 2012 - 02:30 PM, said:

Here's what drove me nuts about last nights ep, and it's a total nitpick.

Emma: Hey, the mayor is using large quantites of your city funds without your knowledge to build herself a swanky house in the woods!

Town Meeting atendees: Boooo!!!! What the heck?!

Mayor: No, I was using large quantities of city funds without your knowledge to build a playground in the woods for your kids!

Town Meeting Attendees: Oh, that's okay then Yay!!!!

...


wait what?

#ScreenwriterFail

I am hoping, hoping, hoping, that was intentional.

Emma is supposed to be able to tell when someone is lying. I'm hoping (some more) that she knew from the get go Sidney was the mayor's creature and she's stringing them both along, like she learned from Mr. Gold (same exact type scene with council meeting) come off looking like the loser/bad guy and then she has the mayor let her guard down knowing Sidney's spying for her and Emma has the room to investigate & maneuver without the mayor showing up to confront her all the time.

If so then #ScreenwriterWin

But if not, then yeah, #ScreenwriterEpicFail

[Howdyphillip]

Another winning episode last night. I just finished watching it on demand as I missed recording it. I still think that there is subtlety in the evil queen's character. I think that she truly loves her kid, and that she really does have the best interest of Storybrook in heart even though she is unable to fulfill this because of her twisted her world view. As the show goes on, I have developed more and more of a crush on the evil queen.

I think the writers are walking a fine line to not just develop the good vs. evil story line even though this is a centric theme in telling fairy tales. I particularly enjoyed the shades of grey that were being addressed with the real life affair between Snow and Prince Charming.

Edited by Howdyphillip, 30 January 2012 - 06:16 PM.

[Ser Lany Cassandra]

I enjoy watching the show.  Caught most of them on demand, so I had a marathon of the first few episodes.  Now that football is (mostly) over, I will try and watch them when they air.

I relly enjoy the flashback parts the most...some nice little twists in there.

[RedEyedGhost]

QuickTidal, on 30 January 2012 - 02:30 PM, said:

Here's what drove me nuts about last nights ep, and it's a total nitpick.

Emma: Hey, the mayor is using large quantites of your city funds without your knowledge to build herself a swanky house in the woods!

Town Meeting atendees: Boooo!!!! What the heck?!

Mayor: No, I was using large quantities of city funds without your knowledge to build a playground in the woods for your kids!

Town Meeting Attendees: Oh, that's okay then Yay!!!!

...


wait what?

#ScreenwriterFail

But, but, but it's fantasy you can't complain when people don't behave like they would in the real world!  Suspend your disbelief, man

[Cat Stark]

I haven't seen enough of the show yet to decide if it's great or just entertaining. One thing I do like, is guessing which character is which Jimminy Cricket is my absolute fav, he's kinda cute