When 'Once Upon a Time' first started it was highly addictive and made the most of a truly great and creative premise. Really loved the idea of turning familiar fairy tales on their heads and putting own interpretations on them and the show early on clearly had clearly had a ball. Watched it without fail every time it came on and it was often a highlight of the week. Which was why it was sad when it ran out of ideas and lost its magic in the later seasons.
It is not easy at all for any episode to be as good as Season 2, and 'Once Upon a Time' in general, high points "The Queen is Dead" and especially "The Miller's Daughter". "Welcome to Storybrooke" overcomes this splendidly, its emotional impact may not quite be on the same level as the previous two episodes and the past fairy tale flashback and present Storybrooke worlds connection is a little more seamless in those episodes. That is not to say that they are not done well here, they are (extremely), just not quite as good.
Generally, "Welcome to Storybrooke" is among the better Season 2 episodes. Like the previous two episodes, the progressions of characters and their stories continue to go in the right direction and what could have been conventional feels fresh. This can be seen by a lot of significant plot developments, that feel natural in how they're placed and given full depth, and already interesting characters made even more so with clearer motivations, more complexity and a stronger sense of how and why they became who they are. Regina especially, the most interesting and conflicted she's been since "The Cricket Game" and she is actually somewhat relatable here.
Very like what was said for the previous two episodes, especially "The Miller's Daughter", quite rightly there is a focus on characters that were there since 'Once Upon a Time' first started, and is highly successful in making them and their dilemmas and feelings interesting and worth emotionally investing in. Similarly quite rightly, it focuses much less on adding and introducing new characters that Season 2 did with varied success. The past and present scenes are balanced and connected with ease, with a good deal of emotion and urgency.
The acting is great, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas and Robert Carlyle command every scene. It's Lana Parrilla's episode all the way though, she brings so many nuances in a way that one doesn't expect from a character that could easily have been played as a standard villain when actually there is much more to Regina than that.
Furthermore, "Welcome to Storybrooke" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme.
Writing has the right balance of humour, pathos, mystery and intrigue.
Overall, excellent and well worth the welcome. 9/10 Bethany Cox
It is not easy at all for any episode to be as good as Season 2, and 'Once Upon a Time' in general, high points "The Queen is Dead" and especially "The Miller's Daughter". "Welcome to Storybrooke" overcomes this splendidly, its emotional impact may not quite be on the same level as the previous two episodes and the past fairy tale flashback and present Storybrooke worlds connection is a little more seamless in those episodes. That is not to say that they are not done well here, they are (extremely), just not quite as good.
Generally, "Welcome to Storybrooke" is among the better Season 2 episodes. Like the previous two episodes, the progressions of characters and their stories continue to go in the right direction and what could have been conventional feels fresh. This can be seen by a lot of significant plot developments, that feel natural in how they're placed and given full depth, and already interesting characters made even more so with clearer motivations, more complexity and a stronger sense of how and why they became who they are. Regina especially, the most interesting and conflicted she's been since "The Cricket Game" and she is actually somewhat relatable here.
Very like what was said for the previous two episodes, especially "The Miller's Daughter", quite rightly there is a focus on characters that were there since 'Once Upon a Time' first started, and is highly successful in making them and their dilemmas and feelings interesting and worth emotionally investing in. Similarly quite rightly, it focuses much less on adding and introducing new characters that Season 2 did with varied success. The past and present scenes are balanced and connected with ease, with a good deal of emotion and urgency.
The acting is great, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas and Robert Carlyle command every scene. It's Lana Parrilla's episode all the way though, she brings so many nuances in a way that one doesn't expect from a character that could easily have been played as a standard villain when actually there is much more to Regina than that.
Furthermore, "Welcome to Storybrooke" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme.
Writing has the right balance of humour, pathos, mystery and intrigue.
Overall, excellent and well worth the welcome. 9/10 Bethany Cox
