This ABC series recasts classic tales of heroes, magic, witches, and curses in the template of small-town melodrama. The season begins with the evocatively named Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) finding a boy named Henry (Jared Gilmore) on her doorstep—claiming to be the son she gave up for adoption 10 years earlier. Henry shows her a strange book and insists that she's the only one who can undo a curse cast on his hometown of Storybrooke, ME. Dubious, Emma nonetheless accompanies Henry to Storybrooke, where she encounters manipulative mayor (and Henry's adoptive mom) Regina Mills (Lana Parrilla), who—revealed in flashbacks—is also the Evil Queen threatening Snow White, aka elementary school teacher Mary Margaret Blanchard (Ginnifer Goodwin). Emma quickly gets caught up in the travails of the assorted townsfolk who have forgotten their past fairy tale existences, and the series reworks familiar characters (Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, and so on) into the mix. A clever, handsomely produced series, Once Upon a Time serves up familiar narratives that are rewritten with inventive tragic twists, while also providing powerful motivations for the iconic figures. Compiling all 22 episodes from the 2011–12 debut season, extras include audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and bloopers (the Blu-ray release includes an additional featurette on the fairy tales behind the show). Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Once Upon a Time: The Complete First Season
Buena Vista, 5 discs, 946 min., TV-PG, DVD: $45.99, Blu-ray: $79.99 Volume 27, Issue 6
Once Upon a Time: The Complete First Season
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