With unique, high-concept shows, it's a different story. You never know exactly what you're going to get in the pilot, and even after the pilot, its hard to tell what you're in for in the long-run. While you can instantly break down a crime procedural into story arcs and seasons within about 10 minutes of the pilot, shows that fall outside the tightly defined circle are less predictable, and in my book at least, a welcomed change. A show like Pushing Daisies, Glee, Being Human, or Dollhouse will instantly win itself a lot of points in my book because I haven't seen it before. Unfortunately, that seems to be the same reason that shows like these oftentimes have a hard time finding a substantial audience. For whatever reason, a lot of people out there like to know what to expect. That's totally fine. If you don't want to come home at the end of a long day and have to really dive into a show and pay attention, I totally get it. I have a few of those on my slate as well. More than anything though, I tend to enjoy shows that surprise me and keep me on my toes. Even if its more a matter of structure than story, anything that's fresh and unique gets a lot of leeway from me. When you're making a show that no one's ever seen before, you're writing your own playbook. It's the reason I give Glee as much of a chance as I can, even when it's patently awful. Say what you will about the show, they don't have 615 previous examples of what works and what doesn't to follow. As such, even at their worst (and there's plenty of that to go around), I give them a wide berth and a lot of leniency.That lengthy preamble sets the stage for my thoughts and views of ABC's new high-concept drama, Once Upon a Time. Based on my appreciation for shows that step out of the box, it should come as little surprise that I quite enjoyed the pilot. That said, as with any unique show, it's going to take some time to assess the long-term potential of the show. Based on the pilot alone, I'm intrigued and excited for as many episodes of this show as the network is willing to give me.
Once Upon a Time is a high-concept show. I define a show as "high concept" when I can't sum it up in six words or less. While I appreciate genre shows for shortening my reviews with such stirring descriptions as "crime procedural with stoic anthropologist" and "medical drama with lots of sex" (generally saving me a whole paragraph), they don't exactly stir the cockles of my heart either. Indeed, I find more often than not that the longer it takes me to describe a show, the more I enjoyed it. Not a hard and fast rule by any stretch, but anecdotal at least. Once Upon a Time is... really hard to describe on paper. In as short as I can possibly muster, the show is a blend of modern-day fairy tale and actual, literary fairy tale. An evil sorceress has cast a spell on all of the beloved fairy tale characters in the land so that they can't remember who they were. They now live is Storybrook, Maine where time stands still and no one knows that they're Snow White, Geppetto, or one of the Seven Dwarves. We're drawn into the story by Emma Swan (played by Jennifer Morrison), the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White, who was spared from the witch's curse at the last moment, transported from a magical wardrobe to the real world where she grew up a presumed orphan. Now, the son she gave up for adoption 10 years prior (and who was adopted by the evil queen--dun, dun, dun!) has tracked her down and brought her to Storybrook so that she can right the wrongs and save all the characters. I know, it sounds like a horrible mish-mash, but they actually pulled it off pretty well. The Emma Swan angle didn't quite captivate me as much as the magical kingdom angle, getting a bit sluggish here and there versus the sparkle of Snow White and Prince Charming, but for this kind of a pilot, I'm pretty forgiving. It must have been hell trying to figure out how to present this set-up in a way that worked.The show is a blending of the modern context with Emma Swan and the fairy tale context, set before the evil queen cast the spell. From what I can tell and conjecture from the pilot and scenes from next episode, this is the motif the show will employ for the long-run, using the fairy tale timeline to elucidate the backgrounds for all of these characters and the "now now" timeline to tell Emma's story to save the kingdom, essentially. As mentioned, this is new
territory in a lot of ways, so it's hard to tell exactly where we're going from here. I, for one, am thrilled at the promise of making no promises. This show has the liberty do whatever it likes, essentially, and while I can't be sure it'll succeed over the course of several seasons, I'm excited to see it regardless.It sounds completely ridiculous on paper, I grant that, but that's one of the things I liked the best about it. It's a bizarre conceit, one that I've never seen before, and they actually pull it off. I wouldn't say the pilot was perfect and I'm not entirely sure how everything works, but I got swept away. I can see where a lot of viewers would find it completely cheesy and lame, but I have a soft spot for fairy tales and fantasy, so it hit home with me in a big way. The writers and producers embraced the crazy and ran with it, seemingly deciding that if they were going to fail, they were going to fail big. Fortunately, Once Upon a Time was not a fail. The blending of timelines and the overlap of characters was effortless and clearly spelled out. There's little room for confusion, although I can see where some of the ways in which they define their universe might get muddled down the line. Like I said, I'm not sure how everything works exactly or who knows what or why, but I'm confident I'll find out and that the writers will present these answers in a way that follows the rules they choose define. Most high-concept shows end up changing the rules as time goes by, but I'm largely fine with it. So long as the changes themselves make logical sense (relative to the show's surroundings), I'm more than happy to allow the writers to take as many liberties as they wish.
Other viewers might not be so forgiving or willing to learn a whole new set of universe vocabulary. Which is fine. This is not a show for everyone. What I found magical, others may find hokey. I'm hoping the more traditional viewer will give the show a chance, however, because even if fairy tales aren't your bag, there's a lot to enjoy about this show. The cast is wonderful and neither takes themselves too seriously nor writes this gig off as a flight of fancy. The writing and acting makes for a nice balance of modernity and fantasy. When I first saw the trailer for this one, I was a little afraid that it might get carried away with itself (and not in a good way), but to my delight, it paints a picture that's both grounded and whimsical at the same time. The transitions between the here and now never felt jarring or forced and I found myself genuinely invested in both.What really helps to sell the concept is the production values. In essence, the show has the money to make this work. I'm not saying a show needs a high budget to make fantasy work (indeed, most of my favorite fantasy was made on a shoestring), but for a network show with this kind of concept, a few extra dollars certainly doesn't hurt. I'd more than likely be on board regardless, but to draw in the errant viewer, a heavy dose of "oooohs" and "awwws" goes a long way. Borrowing visual aesthetics based in fairy tale and Disneyland, this high concept is presented in a warm, visually stimulating, but familiar way. It actually kind of had an Enchanted vibe to it with mix of new and old, reality and fantasy, which I quite enjoyed. Even the best visual effects and set designs won't save you if the writing is bad, however, so they're lucky they've got capable writers and charming actors en tow. "If you care about the characters, nothing else matters. If you don't care about the characters, nothing else matters." Words to live and die by, in the television industry. In only a pilot, it's hard to really form connections
with characters right off the bat, so the "else" matters a lot more. When Ringer Buffy's greenscreened boating expedition is the only thing you can remember, you're in trouble...All in all, I rather enjoyed the pilot, although not without reservations. I'm not sure I found the modern storyline as captivating as the fairy tale background, but I'm willing to wager that will even out over time. I think that may be because I don't know the modern characters as well as their fairy tale counterparts. Even though this was only the pilot, I know who Snow White is and what the Seven Dwarves are all about, Rumpelstiltskin's true character, and how Jiminy Cricket rolls. It was easy to care about these characters because I already do. Emma Swan and her son don't have that kind of background with me. That said, I think Jennifer Morrison did a lovely job and I honestly didn't hate the kid (which is big for me). I'm not sure I found the whole show quite as enchanting as I would have liked, but it was enchanting enough. At the very least, I'm excited for more and I was even a little bummed when the pilot ended. I want to see what happens next. That's about all a pilot can ever ask of its audience.
Will this work for a whole season? Or several seasons? I haven't the faintest idea. Am I really, really hoping that it does? Yes, absolutely. I think this show may have a hard time finding a sizable enough audience to justify its budget, but a girl can dream, right? According to the show at least, that's a big yes. I may be more attuned to this kind of concept than a lot of people, but I think even the casual passerby could find a lot to love about this show. It's familiar and unique at the same time, which is a tall order to fill. Unlike a lot of fairy tale reimaginations (like Wicked), this show doesn't seem so much bent on reinventing who these characters really were so much as putting these characters in a whole new context. In most ways, who these characters are are who we've always thought they were. That makes the show accessible to even those who might pooh-pooh a higher concept show in general. I certainly hope so.Pilot Grade: B+
1 comment:
Here, here! I couldn't have said it better myself.
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