Midseason Report Card: Did ‘Once Upon a Time’ season 4 leave you ‘Frozen’ with delight?
We admit that when we first found out that “Once Upon a Time” was going with a “Frozen” theme for its fourth season, we were not too pleased. As a matter of fact, we were concerned if there was any way that this show could pull off taking a big movie, and shifting it over to TV so quickly.
What happened in the end was a season that did start a little weaker, but by the time we got to the final episodes this fall, we had the best stuff that the show has given us since the second half of season 2 with the whole Greg / Tarama crisis and the buildup to Neverland (which ended up being kind of a bummer).
What worked – The “Frozen” characters, mostly. While it was a little frustrating how little the characters changed from the Disney movie, strange given how willing they were to make Peter Pan evil, Anna and Elsa actually played very well into the story. Their story touched on familiar themes, and they led to a great villain in Elizabeth Mitchell’s Ingrid / the Snow Queen.
Also, the way they build up the Rumpelstiltskin / Sorcerer story was rather fantastic. The show took its time making this important to the story, so by the time the winter finale rolled around, it did not seem to be suddenly out of left field. The same goes for everything with Regina, from her romance with Robin Hood to Operation Mongoose. We didn’t even mind less Snow and Charming, since they haven’t really had anything good to do for a while.
What didn’t – As we said, it took a while for the season to get going, and there were a few characters that could have been given some more time (Sidney Glass, Aurora). Also, where in the world are Archie, Dr. Whale, and Red? Shouldn’t Meghan Ory be at least reasonably available? While we ended up liking the “Frozen” gang, we didn’t like how they seemed to take away from other recurring characters.
Also, can we find something interesting for Henry to do? Despite getting older, the show doesn’t seem to be reflecting that. It’s the classic struggle of having a kid in the cast.
Overall – While not completely magical, the best 11 episodes of “Once Upon a Time” since they started having definitive fall and winter seasons. This ultimately gives us hope for the Queens of Darkness, and everything else that the show has coming up in the second half of the season. Grade: B+.
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applejax
January 25, 2015 @ 5:11 pm
I really liked this season. I think it’s my favourite season so far, and not just because I liked Frozen. For some of the other seasons, a couple of the back stories were irrelevant and made some of the episodes tedious to rewatch (ei, Madusa). The back story of what happened to Elsa and Anna was relevant, and just as intriguing as the present day story. It made the episodes flow really well.
Also, I think they did an awesome job casting the Frozen characters. I’m kinda sad we probably won’t see them again. Not that I don’t like Charming and Snow, but their story has already been told and there’s not much Snow can do having a baby to look after. They could have added more of Red, and Archie, etc. but maybe the writers felt these characters didn’t add to the story they were focusing on.
The only thing I thought was silly in the season was when Charming told that bogus story about his dad drinking and driving with a horse and buggy. Just thinking about it
makes me laugh out loud. It’s rare that I talk to the tv when watching a show, but I actually groaned and said “You gotta be kidding me!”. That was painful.
All in all, I think they did a great job.