Once Upon a Time 1.03 'Snow Falls'

If this series is doing something wrong, I think I’m oblivious to it. Though this episode was devoid of the amazing plot development of the previous episode it made up for it with some lovely back story. I really love how well the series is tackling all of the fairytales it has dealt with so far, and ‘Once Upon a Time’ has already positioned itself as one of my favourite shows out there.

The mysterious John Doe in the hospital wakes up after Snow reads to him in ‘Snow Falls’. When he escapes to the forest, Emma, Henry and Snow race to save him. Flashbacks reveal how Snow and Prince Charming first met.

So far, the series has tackled all of the fairytales with remarkable flare and intelligence. While it changes the story and alters the characters to make it more feasible as a modern TV series, it never feels like it’s ruining any of the stories that we know so well. Snow White is a young rebel, and the type of girl you’d find it hard not to root for, and ‘Prince Charming’ is just that; charming. This episode also felt like the first time it felt like Snow was a great character in her own right, and added some much needed depth to her. I really loved all of the fairytale scenes again this week. Though they lacked the fireworks of the first two episodes, the love story held it all together nicely, and the addition of the troll bridge was quite amazing.

Over in the real world, Emma is still a truly great hero. The rivalry between her and Regina is one of my favourite parts of the series, and the not so subtle digs they make at each other are terrific to watch. Again, the fairytale story blended seamlessly with the real world one, with John Doe waking up and returning back to the bridge where he and Snow first met and all the interesting parallels with 'True Loves Kiss' being what woke him up in the end. Throwing in his fiancée was another stroke of genius on the writers’ part, and I’m excited to see the bond between him and Snow reaffirm itself over the course of the season. Although, I hope that people start to cop on to what’s going on around them, especially given the amount of blatant clues being thrown in their faces. They’re narrow-mindedness could prove to be frustrating after a while.

I’m still waiting for a major hiccup, but so far it’s been almost perfect.

9/10