At the heart of every show, there is an essential plot-driving conflict: Will Jack and the others ever make it off the island in “Lost?” Can Leonard and Penny of “The Big Bang Theory” stay together? Will “Glee’s” New Directions win another Nationals?
Without these pesky issues, the aforementioned shows would have no reason to tick. So what happens to a show when the most central question of an entire series is answered in its first season finale? In the case of ABC’s “Once Upon A Time,” the show only gets better.
“Once Upon A Time” follows the lives of beloved storybook characters Snow White, Prince Charming and, of course, the Evil Queen. The show doesn’t just explore their perfect fairy tale lives, though; there’s a twist.
“Once” parallels the lives of the characters in a fairytale world, their homeland - where magic exists - with our land, where a curse placed on them by the Evil Queen, Regina (Lana Parilla), has left them with no memory of their previous magical lives.
They now reside in the fictional town of Storybrooke, Maine, where time has stopped and no one is aware of the person they used to be. That is, until Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas), comes to town to break the curse.
Played by Jennifer Morrison, Swan managed to do just that in the finale, thereby solving the one major conflict the series had to deal with. So, where do they go from here?
What wasn’t expected with breaking the curse was the return of the storybook characters to their fairytale homeland, which the second season has developed into another tantalizing conflict.
Even though all of the characters have their memories back, and magic has come to our land, they still are not home, and as an added twist, they can’t leave Storybrooke without losing their memories all over again.
In addition to Emma and Snow White’s recent separation from Prince Charming, smaller conflicts have led to the introduction of new characters, and further development of background characters.
Characters like Captain Hook (Colin O’Donoghue), Ruby/Red Riding Hood (Meghan Ory) and Belle (Emilie de Ravin) steal the spotlight this season with breakout performances that keep the show fresh, despite the broken curse.
“Once” is definitely picking up more steam as the season progresses, so be sure to tune in Sunday nights at 8 p.m. to watch the rest of the drama unfold.