Season 1

**Original release**
 **Premiere**
 **Finale**
 **Previous**
 **Next**

The first season of the ABC television series Once Upon a Time premiered on October 23, 2011 and concluded on May 13, 2012. The series was created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. The series centers around the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke, and the Evil Queen's (Lana Parrilla) plot to destroy everyone's happiness so she can be the only one with a happy ending.

Once Upon a Time's first season received generally favorable reviews from critics who praised its cast, visuals, and twists on fairy tales, though some criticized its uneven tone. The pilot episode was watched by 12.93 million viewers and achieved an adult 18-49 rating/share of 4.0/10. Those numbers dipped late in the season to a series low of 8.36 million viewers and a 2.8/8 adult 18-49 rating/share in April 2012, but rebounded slightly for the season finale with 9.66 million viewers and a 3.3/10 adult 18-49 rating/share.

## Plot

The show is based on the theory that there is an alternate universe where every classic fairy tale character (new and old) exists—a world that has a loose connection to our world. On the night of her 28th birthday, bail bonds collector Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) is reunited with Henry Mills (Jared S. Gilmore)—the son she gave up for adoption ten years previous—and takes him back to his hometown of Storybrooke, Maine—a place where nothing is what it seems.

Henry has in his possession a large book of fairy tales and is convinced that Emma is the daughter of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas), who sent her away so she would be protected from a powerful curse enacted by the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla), a curse in which the queen is the only one with a happy ending. It's because of the curse that everyone in Storybrooke is frozen in time with no memories of their former selves—except for the Queen, who is Storybrooke's mayor and Henry's adoptive mother, Regina Mills. Emma refuses to believe a word of Henry's "theory" and returns Henry home, but then decides to remain in the New England town after getting attached to Henry which causes the hands of the clock tower to move for the first time in 28 years.

It's soon revealed that Snow and Charming, concerned for the safety of their unborn child, went to seek advice from the imprisoned trickster Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle). In return for the child's name, he would tells them their only hope is the child, who would return on her 28th birthday and begin "The Final Battle". The child, an infant girl, is born on the day the Queen enacts her curse and is placed in a wardrobe carved out of an enchanted tree which takes the child to our world, where she is raised by adoptive parents as Emma Swan.

As Emma stays in Storybrooke and is soon elected as Sheriff following the sudden death of the previous Sheriff, Graham Humbert (Jamie Dornan), Regina's antagonistic attitude raises her suspicions and prompts her to move in with Henry's teacher Mary Margaret Blanchard, who is really her mother Snow White. Regina's bitter rivalry with Storybrooke's wealthiest resident, Mr. Gold, becomes heated when she learns he is aware of his true identity as Rumplestiltskin when she asks about Emma's relationship to the curse. Mary Margaret falls in love with David Nolan, a coma patient who, in reality is Emma's father Prince Charming, wakes up after she reads Henry's fairytale book to him as a favor to Henry. David, however, is married to Kathryn Nolan, the woman who is (in the fairy tale world) his ex-fiancee Princess Abigail daughter of King Midas. Unable to deny their love, David and Mary Margaret soon begin a secret relationship that becomes public and upsets Kathryn.

Kathryn eventually decides to go to Boston and let David be with Mary Margaret only to disappear before leaving Storybrooke, due to an effect of the curse being that no one can leave the town. Some time later an antique jewelry box which belonged to Mary Margaret when she was a child is found buried near the old toll bridge and is revealed to contain a human heart which is proven to be Kathryn's via DNA testing. Mary Margaret is arrested for Kathryn's supposed murder and is about to be prosecuted by corrupt District Attorney Albert Spencer (Alan Dale), who's really Prince Charming's adoptive father King George, when Kathryn is found alive in an alley. She reveals that someone abducted her and held her captive in a basement for several days but she managed to escape. When corrupt Daily Mirror chief editor Sidney Glass (Giancarlo Esposito), who's actually the Magic Mirror, confesses to having abducted Kathryn in order to jump-start his career, Emma is not convinced and comes to the conclusion that Regina orchestrated the conspiracy.

Emma soon discovers that writer August W. Booth (Eion Bailey), who is the first stranger ever to arrive in town after she did, is from the Other World and that he is Pinocchio, who was sent to our world through the same wardrobe that brought Emma to watch over her. But he abandoned her out of fear and is slowly turning back into a wooden puppet. Emma then makes an attempt to take Henry out of Storybrooke forever, but is then forced to reconsider when he refuses to go. Emma makes a deal with Regina in which she leaves but still visits Henry on occasion.

But Regina knows Emma's true identity and has retrieved her poisoned apple (the same one she used on Snow White) in order to use it on Emma in the form of an apple turnover. Henry takes a bite of the turnover, collapses to the floor unconscious, and proves to Emma the curse is real. Emma, who now starts to believe after seeing flashbacks of her true past, is forced to forge an alliance with Regina and retrieves Rumplestiltskin's true love potion from underneath the Clock Tower, only to have Mr. Gold steal it leaving Emma halfway up the elevator shaft and Regina tied to a chair and gagged.

When Henry is pronounced dead, Emma and Regina return to the Hospital to say goodbye to his body. Emma kisses him on the forehead, causing a pulse of energy to engulf the entire town and restore everyone's true memories while freeing Henry from the effects of the poisoned apple. Snow and Charming reunite with each other and Regina returns to her mansion alone as Emma begins to wonder why no one is returning to the Other World since the curse is broken. Rumplestiltskin reunites with his true love Belle (Emilie de Ravin) and takes her to a Wishing Well deep in the heart of the forest, a well with the power to restore that which one had lost. He takes the potion and drops it into the well, causing a purple cloud to emerge and consume Storybrooke as the Clock Tower strikes 8:15.

## Cast and characters

### Regular

* Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard
* Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
* Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen / Regina Mills
* Josh Dallas as Prince Charming / David Nolan
* Eion Bailey as Pinocchio / August Booth
* Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
* Raphael Sbarge as Jiminy Cricket / Dr. Archie Hopper
* Jamie Dornan as Huntsman / Sheriff Graham Humbert
* Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold

### Recurring

* Meghan Ory as Red Riding Hood / Ruby
* Beverley Elliott as Widow Lucas / Granny
* Lee Arenberg as Grumpy / Leroy / Dreamy
* Gabe Khouth as Sneezy / Tom Clark
* David Paul Grove as Doc
* Faustino Di Bauda as Sleepy / Walter
* Mig Macario as Bashful
* Michael Coleman as Happy
* Giancarlo Esposito as Genie / Magic Mirror / Sidney Glass
* Jeffrey Kasier as Dopey
* Anastasia Griffith as Princess Abigail / Kathryn Nolan
* Keegan Connor Tracy as Blue Fairy / Mother Superior
* David Anders as Dr. Whale (*He did not portray Frankenstein in this season so it should not be included as such*)
* Alan Dale as King George / Albert Spencer
* Tony Perez as Henry
* Tony Amendola as Geppetto / Marco
* Emilie de Ravin as Belle
* Sebastian Stan as Mad Hatter / Jefferson

### Guest

* Jakob Davies as Pinocchio / August Booth (*August never went by Pinocchio so the distinction is not required.*)
* Kristin Bauer van Straten as Maleficent
* Jessy Schram as Cinderella / Ashley Boyd
* Tim Phillipps as Prince Thomas / Sean Hermann
* Dylan Schmidt as Baelfire (*There was no adult version this season.*)
* Richard Schiff as King Leopold
* Barbara Hershey as Cora Mills / Queen of Hearts (*Her surname was confirmed on her tombstone and she provided the voice for the Queen of Hearts.*)
* Ingrid Torrance as Nurse Ratched
* Harry Groener as Martin
* Carolyn Hennesy as Myrna
* Gabrielle Rose as Ruth
* Alex Zahara as King Midas
* Brad Dourif as Zoso
* Karley Scott Collins as Gretel / Ava Zimmer
* Quinn Lord as Hansel / Nicholas Zimmer
* Emma Caulfield as the Blind Witch
* Geoff Gustafson as Stealthy
* Eric Keenleyside as Sir Maurice / Moe French
* Amy Acker as Nova / Sister Astrid
* Jesse Hutch as Peter
* Noah Bean as Daniel Colter
* Bailee Madison as Young Snow White

## Crew

Once Upon a Time is created and produced by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. In addition, Jane Espenson, Steve Pearlman, Kathy Gilroy, Damon Lindelof, and Brian Wankum are also producers. Liz Tigelaar also serve as series executive producers. Paul Kurta, Chad Oakes, Michael Frislev are producers, while Jordan Feiner and Keri Young are associate producers. Writers for season one episodes include: Kitsis, Horowitz, Espenson, Liz Tigelaar, David H. Goodman, Andrew Chambliss, and Ian Goldberg, with Daniel T. Thomsen writing an episode teleplay.

## Reception

### **Critical response**

Rotten Tomatoes gave the season an approval rating of 80% based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 6.06/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Charming and fantastical, *Once Upon a Time* is tonally uneven but derives strength from an outstanding cast and handsome visuals."

Metacritic gave it a score of 66 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". *Washington Post*'s Hank Stuever called the series "a smartly-crafted reward for fans of light fantasy, with the right mix of cleverness, action and romance." Verne Gay of Newsday said the series "glows with a near-theatrical shine, challenging viewers to think about TV drama as something other than boilerplate." Several feminist outlets were pleased with the show for its feminist twist on fairy tales. Avital Norman Nathman of *Bitch* stated that she liked the show for "infusing a feminist sensibility" into the stories. *Feministing*'s Genie Leslie commented that Emma was a "badass", that she liked how Emma was "very adamant that women be able to make their own decisions about their lives and their children", and how Emma was a "well-rounded" character who was "feminine, but not 'girly'". Natalie Wilson from *Ms.* praised the show for a strong, "kick-butt" female lead, for including multiple strong women who take turns doing the saving with the men, for subverting the fetishization of true love, and for dealing with the idea of what makes a mother in a more nuanced fashion. Wilson went on to state about the lead: "Her pursuit of a 'happy ending' is not about finding a man or going to a ball all gussied up, but about detective work, about building a relationship with her son Henry, and about seeking the 'truth' as to why time stands still in the corrupt Storybrooke world.

## Soundtrack

### Extended play

All tracks are written by Mark Isham.

### Album

The album was released featuring five different collectible covers.

All tracks are written by Mark Isham.