Once Upon a Time: The Complete Third Season

Newcomers to Once Upon a Time will likely be pretty befuddled by the central conceit of having a huge cast of fairy tale characters warp between fantasy realms and alternate lives in the real world. Season three begins on a sea voyage captained by Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) to the new setting of Neverland, where an evil Peter Pan (Robbie Kay) has captured heroic young Henry (Jared S. Gilmore), grandson of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas). Although the Evil Queen's (Lana Parrilla) curse was broken in season two, another one is on the way—this time from Pan, et al. The Wicked Witch of the West (Rebecca Mader) also has some trouble in mind planned for everyone, whether they exist in the Enchanted Forest or Storybrooke, ME (and now even New York City). The show's ingenious panache binds the worlds and character dynamics together in a loopy, loony universe of dramatic make-believe that is soap-opera-complicated and demands a healthy interest in literary fantasy. But all of this creative reach can sometimes exceed the show's grasp, and the ambitious execution occasionally looks a little cheap. The large cast is a hit-or-miss bunch, although they all dive into the crazy with gusto (Robert Carlyle is splendid as ringmaster Rumpelstiltskin). Compiling all 22 episodes from the 2013-14 third season, extras include episode commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a bloopers reel (exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a skit with the show's writers, and more deleted scenes). Diehard fans will still appreciate, so consider this a strong optional purchase. (T. Fry)