Original Air Date: 6 November 2011
Prince Charming: It's the only way to catch thieving scum.
Snow White: Oh. Aren't you a real Prince Charming?
Prince Charming: I have a name, you know.
Snow White: Don't care. "Charming" suits you. Now cut me down... Charming.
Review: Last week and after only two episodes, One Upon a Time received full season pick up, and why wouldn't it? It's visually stunning, very well written and benefits from an amazing cast. There have been very few shows that I fell in love with right from the start and this is one of them.
OUaT's Snow White is almost the opposite from the character imagined by the Brothers Grimm. She's on the run from the Evil Queen, that is true, but she's not one to seek refuge in a tiny house and clean and cook all day; instead, she's a self sufficient, kick-ass woman who sometimes robs rich people and doesn't mind dealing with trolls. That's the Snow White that Prince Charming - boringly named James - met.
We've seen them together in the pilot, but I didn't connect with them more than I'd do with any positive character from a story. But this episode shows us the moment they met and the journey they took together to recover an engagement ring he was supposed to give to his fiance, and the chemistry between them was just amazing. It's not the classic love at first sight story, where he saves her and they live happily ever after. Instead, they banter, save each other's lives and share as many meaningful glances to suggest they are beginning to fall for each other and the entire journey is as amazing as the most powerful love stories ever told. It's as far away from the original tale as it can be and it couldn't be better; I mean, in the original story Prince Charming falls in love with Snow White after seeing her dead in the glass coffin, which was completely lame, if you ask me.
Ginnifer Goodwin is not only stunning in her beauty, but also an amazing actress: she manages to play two different characters to perfection; Snow White and Mary Margaret may have the same determination and be essentially the same person, but the real life teacher is more close to the Brothers Grimm character than her enchanted forest persona. I've never given her much credit as an actress before, but I'm starting to change my mind.
Back in Storybrook, Emma and Mary Margaret indulge Henry when he asks that his teacher read to John Doe from the book, only to prove him wrong, but it's they who are surprised by the comatose patient's reaction to being read the story of Snow White and her prince. Not only does he wake up from his coma, but he is saved by Mary Margaret almost in the same way he saved her in the story: with a kiss.
Of course, true love is never easy and the annoying fiance from the fantasy realm becomes John Doe's (whose name is David) wife in the real life, so all we were left with in the end was a longing glance he and Mary Margaret exchanged while he was being embraced by his spouse. Which, amazingly, Regina found only after he woke up, despite her being his emergency contact for so many years.
So, how much does the mayor remember exactly? That is a question that still lingers in my mind. And are Emma and Mary Margaret starting to believe Henry's stories? And how did Henry figure out that Storybrook's inhabitants are really fairy tale characters in the first place? As for Sheriff Graham, my guess is, after seeing his skills in the forest, that he's actually the hunter from the same Snow White story. What do you think?
Once Upon a Time 1x02: The Thing You Love Most Back to Season 1
