Pilot

Once Upon A time pilot has to be one of my favorite pilots of all time on TV, if not the best. The setting it placed? Iconic. The unique, very original plot? Fantastic. The acting esp from Jennifer Morrison (and all cast)? Phenomenal. I loved the idea of taking our beloved fairy tales and giving them a modern twist. The characters are wonderful, an written so well. Especially Emma Swan. She is one of my all time favorite characters. The whole setting for S1 was amazing and it continud to bloom into brilliant six seasons. OUAT is timeless, beautiful and addicitve - I am going to rewatch it so much. The best show ever made.

The episode is pretty flawed, the fairy tale part is a little cheesy and corny, the acting is good, but they can overact at times, the cut aways are really random and can confuse you, the characters aren't really developed that good, but I'll let that one pass because it's the first episode.

I must say the story is pretty clever and interesting, the acting is good as well and I am pretty hyped to see the other episodes.

I hope that the next episodes will mix the fairy tale part and Storybrooke part better, I'm hyped to see more fairy tale characters, I hope the series will get more serious instead of cheesy and corny and I hope the overacting won't be getting worse.

It's a great entertainment option and family friendly.

After I watched half of the first season's episodes on this show, I decided to watch the first ten episodes starting with this one. Later, to my surprise, it really kept me really hooked to it. While it may not be a perfect episode as there are times where the dialog can be a bit clichéd, not to mention corny, and a bit childish for the most part, this is a really good start to an interesting first season. The storyline is really perfect with a very nice concept (a modern world crossed with a fairy tale world wasn't a bad idea after all), it has some nice back-stories for the characters that are so relatable. The acting is surprisingly good and the script is very smart. Emma Swan and Henry Mills have some solid chemistry together, the side characters are solid too, but the two characters Regina (AKA The Evil Queen) and Mr. Gold (AKA Rumplestiltskin) steal the show and showed off their talent really well. The scenery is fantastic; the special effects are terrific, the music score is beautiful and atmospheric and the costumes are radical. Overall, not nearly perfect, but a good start that kept me hooked. 8/10

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.

"Pilot" starts off the show and is a very good start, establishing the characters and the world well while understandably still having a not quite settled yet feel. The writing and acting did get better later, which again is understandable as "Pilot" is the very start and a lot of shows don't fully settle straight away and have elements that get much stronger later. Mostly neither are not bad at all but occasionally the writing is a touch cheesy and the acting does try too hard or doesn't look entirely comfortable.

However, "Pilot" is a very handsomely mounted episode, with settings and costumes that are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. It is photographed beautifully and there were some make-up that suited the characters perfectly and pretty good effects work, at their best fantastical. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme.

Much of the writing is humorous and engaging and while the story is very clichéd it does establish the concept and the alternate worlds pretty well. The wedding entrance is a highlight and it was enormous fun spotting and recognising the different fairy-tale/story-book characters.

Not all the acting is great as said, but there are certainly strong performances here. The acting honours going to Lana Parilla and Robert Carlyle, two of the consistent acting highlights of 'Once Upon a Time'.

In summation, a strong start for a frustratingly uneven show. 8/10 Bethany Cox