I don’t watch television. The only shows I’ve really watched in the past four years or so are “Arrested Development,” “The Office” and “LOST.” “LOST” was more literary than anything; with the repetition of themes, philosophy-based characters and (obviously) the long list of books characters like Sawyer read on the island.
Anyway, this is not a “LOST” review. What I’m getting at here is, I was really excited when “LOST” aired its last episode. I thought I would never have to watch TV again. And then my roommate told me about “Once Upon A Time.” Since I had gotten her into “LOST,” she started watching this new ABC series that just happened to be created by two of the writers of “LOST” and produced by J. J. Abrams.
I was skeptical at first. I mean, a TV show about fairy tales? Sure, I’ll always hold Snow White close to my heart, but I’m almost 22…do I need to watch a show about her?
But dammit. This show is good. Really good.
Here’s a quick synopsis of the plot: Basically every fairy tale character you can think of lives in an enchanted story world until the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) gets pissed off (for a yet-to-be-revealed reason) and sends all the characters into the real world where they are unaware they were once fairy tale characters. Phew, take a breath. Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) have daughter named Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), who is supposedly the only one who can save all the characters from their hell.
“Once Upon A Time” embodies the same sort of feel that “LOST” brought. The stories are similar with constant flashbacks and the characters are all interconnected within their storybook lives. The writing is solid and all of the actors were chosen perfectly for each role. Even the cinematography is similar to “LOST.” It’s beautiful and magical and quite surreal.
I guess I’m overtly pleased that “LOST” can live vicariously through “Once Upon A Time.” I’m not complaining. I’m thoroughly interested to see where the series will go, but at the same time I’m really, really hoping it won’t be six series long, like “LOST.” I can’t watch that much TV.
4 stars