If you haven’t seen it already, you need to check out my Emma Swan cosplay from yesterday’s new video. I am in high excited gear for the new season of Once Upon a Time premiering tonight on ABC at 8 PM! So excited that I felt like this was the perfect time (and maybe the last time it would be relevant) to finally realize my dream of cosplaying Emma Swan.
OUAT’s season 7 will begin with a big absence as it’s main character for the last 6 seasons is leaving the show. Emma has always been my favorite character, and I’m sad to see her go (and admittedly, curious as to how they’ll explain her exit from the show), but I’m also incredibly excited for this “reboot” as we now recenter with adult Henry as the hero of a new storybook world and curse!
OUAT has been in need of a good reboot in my opinion. At first it was always exciting to go to a new “land” every season (e.g. Neverland, Oz, Camelot), but I suppose, the gimmick got old especially when it stopped seeming as important to the story. I love exploring new Fairytale lands and characters, but if you look at season 6 and the introduction of the “Land of Untold Stories,” we were actually there for such a short period of time and it seemed like more of a device to throw in some extra characters for one off stories rather than full arcs. Things just started to feel rushed, I guess. I like diving into the backstories of characters, but it started to feel somewhat disingenuous, especially since new fairytale characters only seemed to be brought on to somehow further the story of the main cast (i.e. Emma, Snow and Charming, Regina, Hook, Gold, etc). One and done style, basically.
But that’s enough negativity! Because despite my gripes with the show, I still love it. And I have hope that maybe a reboot with new characters will lead to deeper character exploration and more interesting (or rather, less convoluted) stories!
So What Do We Know So Far?
We’re jumping into the future when Henry’s older (29, perhaps?) and has experienced new storybook worlds on his own, but somehow has fallen prey to a curse that wiped his memory.
And it’s up to his daughter Lucy, much like Henry’s original mission with Emma in season 1, to make him believe again!
We’re in a new land with new versions of characters we’ve seen before: Cinderella, Alice, Tiana from the Princess and the Frog so that gives me hope for even more takes on those fairytales.
Also, no more Storybrooke, Maine! We’re now in Hyperion Heights, Washington, just outside of Seattle. We find our characters under a new curse, seemingly instituted by Cinderella’s evil stepmother and somehow Regina, Hook, and Gold have been caught up in the magic too!
Also, Henry drives a (August’s?) motorcycle and it’s AMAZING. (I love this picture of Cinderella in her big, poofy ball gown on the back it with Henry!)
Should You Be Excited or Scared?
I saw a lot of super negative comments when it was announced that OUAT wasn’t ending after season 6, but instead rebooting itself after Jennifer Morrison’s exit. “Once Upon a Time is done for me after season 6!” “How can you get rid of the main character and expect people to keep watching!?” And yes, it’s extremely sad to see Emma/Jenn go, but the great thing about a show like OUAT with an ensemble cast and based on fairy tales, is that it’s completely possible and logical for a new hero to take center stage. As long as the show doesn’t negate any of the journey we’ve been on for the last 6 seasons in doing so (i.e. breaking up Captain Swan when they were supposed to be true love; killing Emma without any sense of a happy ending, etc), I feel like change is good! I feel like there are definitely still stories to be told. (That’s one reason I’m super excited that Zelena got added back to the cast since I feel like there’s still some sister bonding that Regina and Zelena need to do!) And while sad to see some of our favorite characters go (i.e. Charming and Snow, Belle), I think it will give the show more room to breathe and develop new characters and stories!
OUAT has had so many great characters they let fall to the wayside because I think they’d overextended themselves story-wise and focused too heavily on side stories for the main cast. (Some of my favorites were Mulan, Aurora, Ruby/Red Riding Hood, and Ariel! Plus whatever happened to the rest of Camelot’s townspeople?) But hopefully with a pared down cast, new characters, and a new curse and set of main heroes, I think we have the possibility of finding a new OUAT groove!
But then, it also might not work at all. And that will be sad, but okay too. I’m just excited that we get more OUAT and to explore new worlds. So here’s to another season of magic and mayhem!
i IMAGINE (blank) 