Once Upon A Time Season 7: What's Working
Once Upon a Time
WORKS: WISH HOOK
The show asked a lot of us, to be invested in this other Hook's adventures with Henry and Regina's side in the other realm. And while we may be projecting our affinity for the real deal onto his doppelganger, he's proving to be a helping... hand... in his own right. Plus, we see promise in his dynamic with Tiana. Moving forward, it'd be great to see more, subtle differences between him and the Hook we know.
Once Upon a Time
WORKS: HENRY/ELLA
...their true selives in the other realm are extremely charming (no pun intended). In fact, Episode 8's near-kiss was perhaps their most electric moment yet. (Plus: Ella smiles in this realm!)
Once Upon a Time
DOESN'T WORK: WHERE ARE THE DUDES?
Season 7 has introduced Ella, a new Alice, Lady Tremaine, Drizella, Tiana, a "Rapunzel," Gothel, plus Zelena and her grown daughter Robin are on the way... and then there's just this one Jack fella? (Who looks to be cannon fodder?) Doesn't ABC viewership skew heavily female?
LANA PARRILLA
WORKS: REGINA
Having opted to leave Storybrooke behind and reunite with grown son Henry for an adventure, the formerly Evil Queen is lighter and brighter than ever before, exhibiting an extra spring in her step. So badass is she, we'll forgive her getting duped by Drizzy.
Once Upon a Time
INCOMPLETE: RUMPLESTILTSKIN
His grand adventure with Belle, as their final decades together sped by toward a bittersweet end, was no less than magic. Since then, however, we've only had a glimse of him in the other realm (teaching Regina a rather obvious lesson about trust).
Once Upon a Time
WORKS: TIANA/'SABINE'
Tiana is a plucky princess every bit Ella's equal, while her Hyperion Heights persona boasts a highly attractive mix of fun and feisty; she seems like a real person, and someone we'd want to be friends/open a food truck with.
Once Upon a Time
WORKS: 'IVY'/DRIZELLA
...in every scene — but especially now that 1) we have been led to beleve she cast the new curse and as such 2) she has the upper hand with "awake" Regina.
Once Upon a Time
WORKS: LADY TREMAINE
Her twisted endeavor to resuscitate daughter Anastasia, and the means by which she will go to do it, makes for a fierce foil. We need more of her, frankly.
Once Upon a Time
WORKS: 'RONI'/REGINA
As fun was it was to see Regina rocking denim and a wavy 'do, Roni was a bit passive at the start. But now that Regina has awoken and is plotting best she can against Drizella — all while trying to do right by an oblivious Henry — she is exciting to watch in this unfamiliar underdog scenario.
Once Upon a Time
DOESN'T WORK: LUCY
Whereas young Henry was earnest and sweet, his daughter, now on her own "Operation Cobra," has thus far been a less active, less pitiable hero.
Once Upon a Time
WORKS: ALICE/'TILLY'
Tilly perhaps has the edge here, especially when matching wits with Weaver — her taunting him about the "masks" they wear is one of the season's very best scenes. Alice has been a bit uneven in the other realm, toggling between sassy (in her first encounter with Henry) and sappy (her squealing "Papa!" to Wish Hook was a weird, girly turn).
Once Upon a Time
DOESN'T WORK: 'VICTORIA BELFREY'
...especially now that we know that Drizella is the true puppet master at hand. (To be fair, it was near impossible to follow in Mayor Regina Mills' footsteps as the resident undercover witch.)
Once Upon a Time
DOESN'T WORK: ALLLLLLLL THE TIMEY-WIMEYNESS
I'm sure that on paper it all ostensibly tracks, but the progression of time for Henry vs. Rumbelle vs. Gideon vs. Hyperion Heights (where it's a good decade later than Storybrooke but is only 2017...?) is an awful lot to keep track of/reconcile.
Once Upon a Time
WORKS: (CINDER)ELLA
The spunky warrior princess has proven to be unpredictable, though her actual storyline in the other realm still craves a solid direction.
Once Upon a Time
DOESN'T WORK: JACINDA
We "get" that there is an irony to the aformentioned warrior princess being so down on her luck and downtrodden in Hyperion Heights. But the Lucy/custody arc already feels endless/repetitive, and her clashes with Ivy never crackle.
Once Upon a Time
WORKS: 'WEAVER'/RUMPLE
In and of himself, Weaver was an engaging mystery man to meet, a shady yet resourceful Seattle police detective. Now that Rumple has awoken, every encounter and line reading takes on a new, delicious meaning — perhaps never more so than when he "played dumb" with Roni/Regina.
Once Upon a Time
INCOMPLETE: 'ROGERS'
As the previous slide noted, it's one thing to find entertainment value in what is more or less a photocopy of a beloved antihero. But to muster up suffiicent "root for" value in his cursed, still-amnesic self is a taller order. The detective's search for "Eloise" was too quickly solved a mystery, and now that he's found her, it's hard to be excited, knowing the deceptive circumstances under which they first, truly met. Two signs of promise his warm friendship with Tilly, knowing what we know that they don't, and his ironic partnership with (shhh) Rumple!
(This entry has been slightly edited.)
Once Upon a Time
DOESN'T WORK: HENRY
As a phsyical match, Andrew J. West is perfect as a grown Henry, no doubt. But the character's "puppy love" pursuit of "true love" Jacinda in Hyperion Heights is not a page-turner, and only seems to acquire any heat when Ivy lobs wrenches into the works. Also, his "music buff" trait (which we vaaaaaguely remember from his Storybrooke youth) has been woven into story/dialogue perhaps once too often.
Once Upon a Time
DOESN'T WORK: THE SETTING
Storybrooke had a look and a feel, a distinct personality in its quaintness. And while it was a brilliant decision to relocate Season 7 to (a neighborhood within) a real city, I almost wish they had gone full-tilt in that direction. Hyperion Heights instead feels like it encompasses two to three generic city blocks.
Once Upon a Time
DOESN'T WORK: HENRY/JACINDA
Perhaps Season 7's biggest hurdle has been to make us root for Henry's very own instance of True Love, if only because outside of Lucy's insistence that they are meant to be, there has been little evidence of actual chemistry. Whereas....
Once Upon a Time
DOESN'T WORK: MOTHER GOTHEL
We would look past the highly distracting hairpiece (OK, that was probably a lie) if we had any inkling about her own end game, by playing Drizella against Tremaine. But through Episode 8, at least, it's been hard to care.
Once Upon a Time
WORKED: CAPTAIN SWAN'S HAPPY ENDING
All summer long, people wondered/worried/kvetched/trolled: "How can Emma and Hook have a happy ending if leading lady Jennifer Morrison isn't a part of Season 7?!?!?" Amazingly, and though it took some doing, the show managed to have its cake and eat it too, by revealing that CaptainSwan (and their baby-to-be!) are, have no fear, in love and well in Storybrooke, and we are instead following Wish Hook's story.
Once Upon a Time
WORKED: RUMBELLE'S HAPPY ENDING
One of Once's two sticky wickets for this "requel" season was to account for the absence of longtime characters such as Belle. To the show's credit, Rumbelle's Up-lifting, long life together (beautifully chronciled in Episode 4) did the couple justice, while Belle's ultimate fate jump-started the engine for Rumple's mission moving forward.