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.
After a very solid Season 3, generally one of the best 'Once Upon a Time' seasons and the best one of the three seasons up to this point where the weakest episodes were still decent, Season 4 had a lot to live up to. With the season opener "A Tale of Two Sisters", first impressions proved to be extremely promising, showing at this very early stage that with the right execution it could be just as solid.
"A Tale of Two Sisters" is a great start to Season 4. It is the episode to introduce the story between Elsa and Anna, the two main characters in Disney's 'Frozen' (personally love the film and consider it one of Disney's best recent films, while not being completely obsessed with it, despite it being one of the most hated films on the internet these days even though it's also extremely popular). Although some of the acting could do with some polish, particularly from the Kristoff, it's already proving to be a relatable story and the two characters are remarkably true to personality. Despite how this sounds and people's concerns, this felt much more than 'Once Upon a Time' capitalising on 'Frozen's' success. Something that the episode has sometimes been criticised for.
Despite really liking the story and the promising new direction (something that remarkably is although focused on sizeably doesn't take over too much), personally actually found the stories for Regina and Rumplestiltskin more interesting, the two characters getting some significant development and major strides forward. Particularly Regina in one of her most nuanced storylines to date, the character is similarly written in a nuanced manner, being written with humanity and realism to balance out her evil in a way that makes one understand once more how she came to be that way.
Really loved too Rumplestiltskin's, another one of the show's most consistently interesting characters, story, with his chemistry with Belle being both heartfelt and heart-warming. These two stories show early indication of shaking off one's fears of the season being too 'Frozen' oriented.
Can't fault any of the acting, there is a lot of meat for everyone to sink their teeth into which all do with aplomb. Lana Parrilla is the highlight, very powerful performance, and Robert Carlyle is not far behind.
Furthermore, "A Tale of Two Sisters" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme.
Writing has the right balance of humour, pathos, mystery and intrigue.
Overall, great Season 4 opener. 9/10 Bethany Cox
After a very solid Season 3, generally one of the best 'Once Upon a Time' seasons and the best one of the three seasons up to this point where the weakest episodes were still decent, Season 4 had a lot to live up to. With the season opener "A Tale of Two Sisters", first impressions proved to be extremely promising, showing at this very early stage that with the right execution it could be just as solid.
"A Tale of Two Sisters" is a great start to Season 4. It is the episode to introduce the story between Elsa and Anna, the two main characters in Disney's 'Frozen' (personally love the film and consider it one of Disney's best recent films, while not being completely obsessed with it, despite it being one of the most hated films on the internet these days even though it's also extremely popular). Although some of the acting could do with some polish, particularly from the Kristoff, it's already proving to be a relatable story and the two characters are remarkably true to personality. Despite how this sounds and people's concerns, this felt much more than 'Once Upon a Time' capitalising on 'Frozen's' success. Something that the episode has sometimes been criticised for.
Despite really liking the story and the promising new direction (something that remarkably is although focused on sizeably doesn't take over too much), personally actually found the stories for Regina and Rumplestiltskin more interesting, the two characters getting some significant development and major strides forward. Particularly Regina in one of her most nuanced storylines to date, the character is similarly written in a nuanced manner, being written with humanity and realism to balance out her evil in a way that makes one understand once more how she came to be that way.
Really loved too Rumplestiltskin's, another one of the show's most consistently interesting characters, story, with his chemistry with Belle being both heartfelt and heart-warming. These two stories show early indication of shaking off one's fears of the season being too 'Frozen' oriented.
Can't fault any of the acting, there is a lot of meat for everyone to sink their teeth into which all do with aplomb. Lana Parrilla is the highlight, very powerful performance, and Robert Carlyle is not far behind.
Furthermore, "A Tale of Two Sisters" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme.
Writing has the right balance of humour, pathos, mystery and intrigue.
Overall, great Season 4 opener. 9/10 Bethany Cox
