S01.E01: Pilot

[yeswedo]

 

Emma does not believe in Henry's stories, and she brings him back to Storybrooke, where she is captivated by an unusual boy. Concerned for the boy, she decides to stay for a while, but soon discovers that Storybrooke is more than a simple town. It's a place where magic has been forgotten, but it's still there, where fairytale characters come alive, even though if they do not remember who they once were, and the Evil Queen, is now Henry's foster mother. An epic battle is beginning, and for the good side to win, Emma will have to accept her destiny and fight for it.

 

Episode description from TVDB

[MedievalGirl]

I watched the Pilot this morning and I realized that I've seen it so many times that I can't be analytical about it. The summer after the first season I had a bad time of things and watched the season over and over. 

[daxx]

I watched this morning due to my schedule today.
I was surprised at the feelings.

I cried when she lit the candle and closed her eyes, she has finally found her home, she will have lots of people that love her at her next birthday. I truly hope the show gives us that.


I always get emotional when Snow hands baby Emma to Charming to give her her best chance.

The fight between Hook and the black knights truly does parallel Charming and the black knights in many ways. They were both fighting to save Emma, protect her existence.

Few obvious retcons, Snow saying the Evil Queen hated her because she was beautiful, Regina saying she loves Henry, Emma recognizing it as a lie. Rumple saying Regina created the curse, although he could have just been lying.


It was nice to see Ginnifer looking all svelte, it’s been so long now. I was surprised at how much younger Robert looks in the pilot.

I know people make fun of the cgi, but there is no way a show like this could exist on a tv budget without the cgi. They do a very good job considering the types of locations they are giving us week over week.

We are so blessed to have such an excellent cast. This show’s strength really is the casting department. Most shows when you go back after a few years and watch the pilot you can mock the actors for being out of character, not being convincing, not understanding how to act against green screen, etc.


The main cast is perfect in the pilot. They really are.

Overall though the pilot holds up very well on rewatch.

Ps. The blue fairy is still shady.

[KAOS Agent]

One thing I noticed was the sparks from the powerlines when Emma slammed the door of her car when she first arrived in Storybrooke. I always thought it was because it was storming at the time or something, but given Emma was angry/highly emotional at that moment, I think this may actually have been the writers showing Emma's magic right from the start without it being at all obvious. It's just a nice continuity detail to have been included in the Pilot.

[daxx]

One thing I noticed was the sparks from the powerlines when Emma slammed the door of her car when she first arrived in Storybrooke. I always thought it was because it was storming at the time or something, but given Emma was angry/highly emotional at that moment, I think this may actually have been the writers showing Emma's magic right from the start without it being at all obvious. It's just a nice continuity detail to have been included in the Pilot.

I had noticed that in other rewatches as well. I think I first noticed it watching it after the episode with Henry's birth and the lights flickering.

[whisperstream]

 

I cried when she lit the candle and closed her eyes, she has finally found her home, she will have lots of people that love her at her next birthday. I truly hope the show gives us that.


I loved this moment when I watched the Pilot the first time, and JM got me right there.  Whatever happened, I wanted Emma to have her happy ending.

[Bort]

Ps. The blue fairy is still shady.

I have never trusted that damn Blue Fairy, even as far back as this pilot episode. Essentially, I am STILL waiting for the reveal that she's evil.

[formerlyfreedom]

After just one episode (which was very good, of course), I am SO glad we moved beyond the first season, when no knew who they were! It was a bit frustrating to watch old skool Mary Margaret go through the school teacher routine.

 

Of course, getting a little Jamie Dornan on my tv screen is quite the pick-me-up... ;)

[MMLEsq]

I rewatched the Pilot this afternoon.  What was interesting to me was how fast the episode seemed to fly by.  I had forgotten that Emma had the words on her door.  Henry looked so young.  Was the Blue Fairy always so, um, shapely?  It looked like she was going to pop out of her top.

 

I still really love that first shot of Charming on horseback, racing to get to Snow White.  It just sets the perfect tone for everything that follows.   

 

Something I noticed (for the umpteenth time) while rewatching the Pilot...a comment for all episodes really....In some shots Lana's lip scar is really visible; in other shots, you can't really see it at all.

[InsertWordHere]

 

Was the Blue Fairy always so, um, shapely?  It looked like she was going to pop out of her top.

There's a reason she's called the Boob Fairy. Does anyone know who coined that name? Was it someone on TWoP?

 

Rewatching the Pilot has only reinforced my opinion that she's not entirely on the up and up.

 

No matter how many times I've seen it, I'll never get tired of watching the Pilot. I do think it's obvious that they changed direction with regards to the Charmings being the central focus and the Regina/Henry relationship that we have today is so far from the relationship in the Pilot that they may as well be entirely different characters at this point.

[stealinghome]

I've always said that Snow Falls is my favorite episode of the show, but the pilot will probably always be the *best* episode of the show. Everything just WORKS.

Oh, the glory days. Sigh.

[MedievalGirl]

Keegan Connor Tracey said in an interview she was nursing her baby as she was being fitted into her costume the first time.

 

Milk, it does a body good. 

[Alex]

I watched the episode twice! The second time with A&E commentaries. They don't say much, the only thing I remember is that we have to look at Regina as someone who's suffered a lot. Nothing new there!

Another comment was about Emma's red jacket: it's a parallel to Charming's red coat during the war council.

I really like the camera movements when Regina arrives at the Charmings' weeding and when Emma follows her "date" outside the restaurant. Sometimes we have really nice camera movements or effects on this show!

Slightly off topic. I watched also some scenes of the second episode, when Regina goes to Malificent: Malificent tells her that Snow is about the same age when Regina married Leopold. So, I guess that Regina and Snow were about 20ish when they both married, which means that Emma is older than her parents.

[millahnna]

Keegan Connor Tracey said in an interview she was nursing her baby as she was being fitted into her costume the first time.

 

Milk, it does a body good. 

 

I was kind of wondering if maybe she'd had a baby.  When this show premiered, I had re-watched Jake 2.0 just previously.  The change is so dramatic but it could have just been a "time passes" thing.  She wears post baby weight well. 

[Leia1979]

I don't think I've watched the pilot since it first aired. It's hard to tell with this slightly non-linear story though. I loved Emma's hair.

 

A few things I hadn't noticed before:

Wishing on the star-shaped candle

Granny's has changed a lot (the inn is attached to the diner, right?)

Swans everywhere...on Henry's light and on the key Granny hands to Emma

I also didn't remember Charming being nearly dead when the curse hit--boy was Snow having a bad day

[yeswedo]

This was my third time watching the Pilot. I last watched it just before season 2 started so roughly 18 months ago. I remembered enjoying it and now I remember why! From the opening shot with Charming racing to Snow (anyone know where that was filmed?) to the final moments when the clock moves, just loved it.

 

Regina telling Snow they are going someplace 'horrible' is even funnier now that I know what Storybrooke is normally like. Boring might be a better description, except for when it's not.

 

I also didn't remember Charming being nearly dead when the curse hit--boy was Snow having a bad day

 

Me too! It's interesting that 

just before the latest curse Charming also dies!

(Spoiler tagging in case anyone is watching for the first time).

 

I think for me this rewatch has evolved from the selected episodes to the complete series.

[myril]

Regina telling Snow they are going someplace 'horrible' is even funnier now that I know what Storybrooke is normally like. Boring might be a better description, except for when it's not.

To some people, especially in this strange form humans take at some early age called teenagers, boring equals horrible, tops it even ;-)  I grew up in a village that in many ways had that charm of Storybrooke.

 

Already the first two minutes of the pilot have some nice photography, classic aerial shot establishes the place, a magical land (and BC has some grandious, cinematic landscapes to offer), the light and snow flakes in the woods for mood and more magic feelings, the colorful wedding (particular the bird's eye view shot, like a kaleidoscope), well done.

 

Lana Parrilla: Her entrance at the wedding as Evil Queen, the photgraphy with the somewhat swerving track in, then that slightly low angle, medium hip high shot of her majesty in all her splendour (and nice tilt up from the floor, as if someone daring to raise their eyes), the costume, makeup (the lips as red eyecatcher and color contrast to black or dark), the Evil Queen floating down the aisles, Lana's line delivery, her evil looks (if a look could kill...) and her voice - just wow, goosebumps. And that was just the beginning. Later as Regina in Storybrooke she shows such a different side, vulnerability, insecurity, honest fear to loose her son Henry.

 

When Emma asks Regina, if she loves Henry, I don't think Regina was lying, although she might not have actually felt anything, but she believed that she was loving Henry, or wanted to believe it. Nor was Emma necessarily assuming, Regina might have told a lie, but she picked up, that something about the whole situation, with Regina, her feelings and the town was off, so she decided to stay.

 

Jennifer Morrison/Emma: While a part of me is always still marveling at the view of Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen (so most of the times I barely notice Henry's first appearance) the next main female character gets her impressive entry. Elevator doors opening (some nice interior set design there, lines, curves, - and the elevator somehow reminded me of  Star Trek turbolifts, couldn't help it), and there she is, magenta tight skirt, blonde, determined look, and have you seen those upper arm muscles? A lovely smile later even (yes, she can smile and laugh, showed it in the pilot, not that she often had reason to). May we introduce: Emma Swan.

 

Funny thought: While the Evil Queen kinda busts (crashes) the wedding party, Emma busts this guy and his hot date / infidelity plans.

 

Not to forget: Emma's red leather jacket she wears later (It has its own Twitter account by now)

 

As Lana Parrilla Jennifer Morrison shows a range of emotions, less expressive, less explicite, more subtle, as it fits the character. Their characters had so much dimensions. And some tension and chemistry between them. I can understand why people booked the SwanQueen ship, without shipping it myself (not much of a shipper anyway)

 

The lie detection superpower: I never took it as a "real" superpower of Emma and still don't do it, whatever the writers have said in interviews. It just cracks me up (as does, or even more so the use of lie detection machines on any crime or sci-fi drama)

 

Robert Carlyle / Rumple: What a brilliant imp, multi-layered, somewhere dancing on the thin line between genius and crazy, calculating, temperamental and volatile.  What acting. Not a character I would trust with my life in real life, but a great character for story telling.

 

Some great lines (not jotted them down though)

Little details, references to the animation movies, the stories as most know them, and more like...

- the blue bird

- a kid giving Mary Margaret a pear (no apple!) before Regina comes into the classroom

- Snow's Gaia like hair do and costume in the Enchanted Forest

- the yellow bug (I have fond childhood memories of a 1970's beetle like that one, though it was skyblue - two mothers, four kids, shared family car, bliss)

- Rubik's cube in Emma's kitchen

- blue star candle

- Tinkerbell figure in a garden Emma's passes on the way into town.

- the sparking aerial line

- Pongo!

- the Clocktower

- the nursery

- Granny's Bed&Breakfast reception

... and more I haven't noted.

 

The last scene of the episode, Granny and Ruby bickering. Pretty much fell in love with those two that moment. (and I could swear, it looks a bit like Ruby is checking Emma out).

 

And then Mr. Gold appearing out of nowhere

 

The writing was good, the pacing mostly, photography (maybe going to rewatch it just for that to take note about more details), acting, costumes, props. I was skeptical before the show aired, but the pilot got me interested.

Edited May 28, 2014 by katusch

[Camera One]

I find it kind of funny that Regina's aggressive and rude demeanor in the end actually ended up causing Emma to ask the "Do you love him?" question which resulted in her staying.  Regina is such an idiot and she doesn't even know it.

 

I remember wondering why Regina got a hold of the book at the end, and she just gave it back to Henry.  I wondered the same thing when I just rewatched.

 

The pilot was like a little standalone movie, and every character was perfect with the perfect amount of screentime.  The two-hour S3 finale was sort of like a standalone movie too, and it was pretty good, but it still pales compared to the pilot in terms of the depth and complexity of emotion.

Edited May 31, 2014 by Camera One

[KAOS Agent]

 

I find it kind of funny that Regina's aggressive and rude demeanor in the end actually ended up causing Emma to ask the "Do you love him?" question which resulted in her staying.  Regina is such an idiot and she doesn't even know it.

 

I love how Regina is the one to screw herself over and is too stupid to understand that. Emma was more than ready to head out of town back to Boston. All she did was share a little tidbit about how Henry had made her birthday wish come true and smile over it and Regina completely freaks out on Emma enough to piss her off and make her stay. So typical of Regina to overreact to a little thing, but never figure out that her actions are what's causing all of her problems.

[Camera One]

It was sort of strange how Emma shared such a personal thing with Regina, about her birthday wish, since her walls were normally always up.  How strange the walls came down at that moment, to Regina of all people.  Between that scene, and the cupcake birthday cake, I just loved Emma right from the beginning.

Edited June 1, 2014 by Camera One

[YaddaYadda]

Honestly, the pilot is what made me love Regina so much.  She was bad and made no apologies for it.  These days I'd like to slap Regina.  Charming fighting his way through the Black Knights with his barely one minute old baby Emma, that scene for me is all kinds of epic and just heartbreaking.  He died for her (or was in a coma for her?  I don't know). 

 

And Emma, can she have an actual birthday celebration with the people who love her in S4?  I mean, really?  Before the ish hits the fan?  Please show?

Edited June 1, 2014 by YaddaYadda

[stealinghome]

Charming fighting to get Baby Emma to the wardrobe is honestly going to be, I think, one of the (if not the) iconic scenes of this show. It's just...so epic. And I always get choked up when they show him in the hospital at the end, too.

 

Honestly, the pilot is what made me love Regina so much.  She was bad and made no apologies for it.  These days I'd like to slap Regina.

Honestly, part of what kills me about the Woegina we've been subjected to for two seasons now is that S1 Regina would have bitchslapped the hell out of Woegina! She would have been all "woman, stop snivelling, pull yourself together, and get on with getting on." I mean, Regina inclined toward self-pity in S1, don't get me wrong, but it was nowhere near the levels it is now. S1 Regina was awesome in an "I love to hate this character" kind of way. Now I just hate her.

[FurryFury]

I remember how, after watching the pilot, I've said to myself: "Wow, Henry's awesome! Finally, a kid that's his own character, that seems to have a complex relationship with his parents without being a brat, a kid who probably had some really weird and damaging childhood, too. It's so refreshing to see a kid character who isn't a plot device to be kidnapped, who has his own agency!"

 

Isn't it ironic?

[Dani-Ellie]

I remember my reaction to the pilot being pretty much along the lines of, "What, you mean I have to wait til Sunday for more now?!" From that moment, I knew I was a goner.

 

And Emma, can she have an actual birthday celebration with the people who love her in S4?  I mean, really?  Before the ish hits the fan?  Please show?

 

Right?! Emma buying herself one lonely little cupcake on her birthday because she has no one who would buy her cake and no one to even share a full cake with has got to be one of the most gut-wrenching things. From that moment, I just wanted to hug her, and I've never stopped wanting to hug her.

[FurryFury]

I suspect the writers have some sort of aversion to holidays, because then, they'll have to start adhering to some sort of calendar.

[Shanna Marie]

And Emma, can she have an actual birthday celebration with the people who love her in S4?  I mean, really?  Before the ish hits the fan?  Please show?

Yes! That would be a nice bit of full circle, going from the solo birthday to a huge birthday party with her family and friends and the pirate who pines for her. And a big cake with lots of candles.

 

I've promised myself the DVDs as a reward when I finish my current project, and I'm looking forward to rewatching this. I was skeptical (I remember the sitcom The Charmings), but I was singing in a concert the night of the premiere and recorded it. It might have been one of those things I got around to watching later, someday, but my mom called the next day and was talking about how much she'd liked it, so I watched it the next night and was hooked.

[YaddaYadda]

Yes! That would be a nice bit of full circle, going from the solo birthday to a huge birthday party with her family and friends and the pirate who pines for her. And a big cake with lots of candles.

 

I think she was pining and yearning as much as he did.  Emma and her non poker face when it comes to him!  Pfft!

[Camera One]

ana Parrilla: Her entrance at the wedding as Evil Queen, the photgraphy with the somewhat swerving track in, then that slightly low angle, medium hip high shot of her majesty in all her splendour (and nice tilt up from the floor, as if someone daring to raise their eyes)

 

I thought it was interesting how everyone was averting their eyes from the Evil Queen/Regina during the wedding.  I think even Grumpy had his hand in front of his face, like she was Medusa or something.  

[myril]

I thought it was interesting how everyone was averting their eyes from the Evil Queen/Regina during the wedding.  I think even Grumpy had his hand in front of his face, like she was Medusa or something.  

It was interesting, though because of not so great acting of some people it had something comical. Guess they did it to give a sense of fear the Evil Queen was meant to spawn: Look, the people are so afraid, they don't even look at her and sort of try to hide from her. Had that thought of Medusa as well, but they never work with it again.

 

 

Few obvious retcons, Snow saying the Evil Queen hated her because she was beautiful, Regina saying she loves Henry, Emma recognizing it as a lie. Rumple saying Regina created the curse, although he could have just been lying.

 One could say, Regina did create the curse, but Rumple gave her all the instruction how to. Rumple would not have even lied then - and knowing how much he likes to play with language, word meanings and phrasing that would be exactly something I think Rumple would say and think.(at least when Jane Espenson has a hand in the writing)

 

Regina hating Snow because of being beautiful: Still find that sentence somewhat odd, because doubt they ever had it that simple in mind. It's more a bow to the traditional, or have to say, best known version of the tale of Snow White. On the other hand, when looking a bit deeper into the tale and how it was told, beauty doesn't just mean physical beauty, it very well means in Snow White as much if not more the beauty of the soul, her innocent, gentle, even somewhat naive nature. The inner beauty then shows in outer beauty, as evilness in fairy tales likely reveals in ugliness, eventually hidden by a certain, mysterious, glamorous kind of beauty for a while (look at drawing of witches, trolls, look at Disney's animated Evil Queen and Maleficent). Research in psychology about perception suggests that we still tend to assume that good looking people are more trustworthy and respectable. 

 

Occasionally there was a glimpse of that on the show, how easy it seemed to be for Snow to make friends, get help,, that Regina raged that the people didn't accept her as their queen (only by fear) though she was doing them some good (or think I remember she said something like that in an episode, in some flashback). Besides evil shows in some form of ugliness idea is visible in the appearance of Rumple as Dark One or recently Zelena. Of course on screen, family Sunday eve prime time show even ugly is still in a way beautiful though.

 

That Snow said it felt to me out of place even when I first watched the episode, it felt like a forced reference to the classical known tale, not organic in the tone of the episode. One can call it retcon, but I wouldn't, because doubt they ever had the intention to go with that. To me it's more a clumsy attempt of a nod to the Disney movie.

[WildeNight]

"She thought I was prettier than her."

 

Since that isn't really the case for this telling of the tale, I pretend Snow said that with some sarcasm.  :)

[Camera One]

Regina hating Snow because of being beautiful: Still find that sentence somewhat odd, because doubt they ever had it that simple in mind.

 

Could it be that Snow never told Charming the real reason?  I don't remember if they've discussed Daniel?

[stealinghome]

They had, though, at least obliquely in Snow Falls when Charming asks if Snow really ruined Regina's life and Snow says "Yes." Plus in 2x05 Charming knows who Daniel is, which means Snow must have told him by the time the curse hit.

I really think they just hadn't decided yet on why the Evil Queen hated Snow so much, so they just used the traditional story as a placeholder. Things from pilots get retconned all the time.

[KingOfHearts]

I'd like to add that in 1x02,

Regina and Maleficent also discuss why Regina hates Snow, albeit very vaguely. Maleficent mentions that Snow ruined Regina's plans to get married. She also says "You must know that not even [The Dark Curse's] unholy power can bring back your loved one from the dead". 

Edited June 8, 2014 by yeswedo
added spoiler tags

[SiobhanJW]

Haven't watched the Pilot since I think it originally aired.

Few things:

-Henry is such a baby!! It's crazy how much older he looks now

-Emma is great in the pilot! From her Entrance, to her shock of Henry showing up, to crying when she was talking to Henry at his castle, even when she spoke to Regina about her candle. She was my favorite Character then and still is!

-I think my favorite scene is when Charming fights the black knights while carrying Baby Emma such a great scene. Looking back it Makes me wish that we had more scenes between Emma and him in future episodes.

- They clearly changed Granny's. Looks totally different now.

- I agree with someone up above if Regina wasn't so nasty after Emma told her the birthday candle story she probably would of left (well maybe not cuz then the show would go no where). Haha

-GRAHAM!! How I miss you!!

-Ginnfer looks gorgeous when she is in the glass coffin! I think that might be one of my favorite scenes between her and Charming

Anyway I have more thoughts but I have to get back to work!!! I'm so psyched for this rewatch it's fun to look back at old episodes!! One of my coworkers started watching the show so she's been asking me questions and I apparently have forgotten a lot of what had happened so I'm glad I'm rewatching!!

Edited June 3, 2014 by SiobhanJW

[Mari]

It was sort of strange how Emma shared such a personal thing with Regina, about her birthday wish, since her walls were normally always up.  How strange the walls came down at that moment, to Regina of all people.  Between that scene, and the cupcake birthday cake, I just loved Emma right from the beginning.

It was strange, but at the same time I sort of get it.  Sometimes it's easier to share random information with someone you never expect to see again, than it is with people you know.  There's not much vulnerability there, because the person you're telling has no context for the comment and won't have the future contact that would allow it to be a weapon.

[TheGreenKnight]

Re-watching the pilot is interesting just to see how work-in-progress they were with Rumpel and Regina in some ways.

 

I was confused at the beginning of season 2 when Regina was conflicted about Henry because didn't the show imply she was lying when she said she loved him here. And they also imply that she is cruel, cold, and uncaring to Henry pre-Emma, but all I'm left with as the series has progressed is that Henry is just borderline brat who is happy to have an escape latch whenever one parental figure doesn't let him do whatever he wants

 

Also, Rumpel in the flashbacks looked way more crazy than he ended up being. The psychotic/sped up way he jumps around the cell doesn't really fit with how he appears in most other flashbacks.

 

I don't think the episode is perfect. When I first saw it, I was left more with a question mark since some of the actors seemed kind of boring and a few of the costumes/scenes were very campy in the flashbacks (especially the wedding), but the Emma-Henry-Regina interactions were golden and the idea of fairytale characters in real world forms was interesting (the fairies as nuns, Grumpy as the town drunk, Jiminy Cricket as a therapist, etc.). I have to admit the 2nd episode is what clenched it for me to become a long-term viewer, when you learn

the Queen/Regina killed her father to enact the Curse and that is how Henry got his name

.

Edited June 8, 2014 by yeswedo
added spoiler tags

[Shanna Marie]

I finally got DVDs and rewatched this, and boy, does Henry look so teeny tiny. He's grown a lot since then.

 

They've really whitewashed Regina and her relationship with Henry, since he pretty much hated her in the pilot and seems to have conveniently forgotten that since then.

 

I was a little surprised by how brutal and bloody the fight scene between Charming and the knights was because most of the fights since then have been so sanitized, where instead of stabbing the opponents, they whack them in the head or kick them, and no blood shows. But here we get lots of stabbing, dead bodies, and Charming with blood all over his shirt. I wonder if they've been trying to aim for a younger audience, or something like that. That was such a great scene.

 

There was a real storybook aura to the town that doesn't seem quite as strong now. I don't know if it's a pilot factor, where the set design was a little different, or if that was part of the curse. The town seems more like a real town now and less like an almost magical place. It's hard to describe what I mean here, since it's mostly a feeling I got.

[Camera One]

There was a real storybook aura to the town that doesn't seem quite as strong now. I don't know if it's a pilot factor, where the set design was a little different, or if that was part of the curse. The town seems more like a real town now and less like an almost magical place. It's hard to describe what I mean here, since it's mostly a feeling I got.

 

The first shots of the town were eerie and created a lot of atmosphere.  Maybe it's just a case of getting used to seeing the town more.  The pilot has the feeling of discovery, of coming to the town with Emma for the first time.  I get the feeling again whenever I watch it.  The cinematography in the pilot seems a notch above the usual episode, even with the same locations and sets.

 

 

 

I was a little surprised by how brutal and bloody the fight scene between Charming and the knights was because most of the fights since then have been so sanitized, where instead of stabbing the opponents, they whack them in the head or kick them, and no blood shows. But here we get lots of stabbing, dead bodies, and Charming with blood all over his shirt.

 

The main bloodiness and gore was the stabbing from behind of one of the "good guys", the loyal knights guarding near the baby's room.  Charming got cut on his shirt, but the Black Knights did not even leave blood on Charming's sword.  So it's not something I wanted to see more of, to see the innocent guy's gruesome last moments, and the bad guy nothing. I agree it was very well choreographed, though.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Camera One

[stealinghome]

I agree that familiarity breeds contempt, but I do also think there's something genuinely less magical about Storybrooke now. I think in part it's because the vibe of the town itself has changed since the curse broke--S1, and the pilot especially, communicated so so well that sense of suspended animation and repression that has been just gone since the curse broke--but it's also because, ironically enough, there's MAGIC! in Storybrooke these days. In S1, the writers had to be subtler. Now, when you have Regina and Rumpel flinging fireballs around, magic seems less special, and the vibe has changed to be "really a normal town, just with fireballs." In place of small creepy things that you couldn't quite explain happening, you have (ridiculous) explanations for big huge obvious things.

 

I generally, though, find that for all it was the darkest season, S1 in general had a far more whimsical, magical, joyful tone to it than anything that's come after. Adam and Eddie hadn't started believing their own hype yet; S2 and S3 have felt to me simultaneously like the writers are overly self-satisfied/think they're too cool for school, but also like they're trying way too had. And they take themselves (and the show) way too seriously.

 

I wonder if they've been trying to aim for a younger audience, or something like that.

Yes. S1 was a show for adults that kids could watch. S2/S3 is a show for kids that adults watch too.

 

I agree it was very well choreographed, though.

The last well choreographed fight this show has had! ;) Seriously though, the fight choreography on this show ranges in quality from pretty decent to terrible. But I think the general level of fight choreography was the best in S1. The pilot fight, Charming's fight with the soldiers in 1x03 (some editing problems aside), and the Charming/Rumpel fight in the finale all stand out as quite well done. Whereas a lot of the fight(ish) choreography in S2 and S3 was just awkward--the only fight scenes that stand out to me are Cora/Regina vs Team Charmings in 'Miller's Daughter' and Charming kicking ass in 2x03 (and that one wasn't particularly well choreographed).

Edited June 16, 2014 by stealinghome

[Shanna Marie]

I agree that familiarity breeds contempt, but I do also think there's something genuinely less magical about Storybrooke now.

Yeah, the town in the pilot seems more magical to me, even after having had three seasons of seeing the town. There's a sense of wonder and mystery. I guess they did a really good job of putting us solidly in Emma's perspective, so we see it through her eyes even if we've seen it before.

 

So it's not something I wanted to see more of, to see the innocent guy's gruesome last moments, and the bad guy nothing.

But they did at least show Charming sticking his sword into a bad guy, even if we didn't see the blood. They actually remembered that the reason for fighting with swords is that they have a pointy end and, depending on the kind of sword, a sharp blade. I don't necessarily want to see Game of Thrones-style fighting, with blood spurting all over the place and severed body parts flying left and right, but there's got to be a happy medium between that and dancing around banging sticks against each other, which is where the fight choreography on this show seems to be now. This fight fit in that happy medium in that it felt like a real fight.

 

I wonder if the show's wonky morality has something to do with that, where good guys aren't allowed to kill or draw blood, even in self defense, but then the bad guys can't do too much against the good guys if the good guys are going to win. As a result, you get a bunch of "fights" that may as well be using cardboard gift-wrap rolls as weapons. I think I'm going to take the fight discussion to the "All Seasons" thread because getting specific will end up spanning episodes.

 

One other thing I noticed in the pilot: They were really taking advantage of the facial similarity between Ginny and Jen. Their coloring may be different, but they have strikingly similar facial structure, and they did a few transitions where they'd cut from a close-up shot of Snow's face to a close-up shot of Emma's face, and it took a second to realize that we were seeing a different person because they were framed the same way and at the same angle. Even before we learned that Emma was Snow's daughter, they seemed to be giving us visual clues.

[KingOfHearts]

I've rewatched this episode so many times it's all pretty engraved in my mind.

At face value, there's a lot to digest and the show requires a stupendously long suspension of disbelief right out of the gate. The story elements are bizarre and full of wish fulfillment. The audience has to absorb the concept of fairy tale flashbacks, Henry's situation with Regina and Emma, and Storybrooke's cursed state. It's all pretty unbelievable. The flashbacks have the stories we know and love but not as we know them, Henry's custody situation is far fetched, and Storybrooke's false memories isn't something you see in a lot of fiction to that scale for a long period of time. The majority of the hour is spent on exposition rather than setting up character profiles, but that being said, it does it very well. If you had to explain ridiculous fanfiction, this would be the way to do it. It would be very easy to keep Henry in exposition fairy mode, but thankfully the writers didn't over-rely on him to deliver information. The main character beats are between Emma and Henry, and that's all that's necessary for the first episode, imo.

In retrospect, I can see A&E's "abrasive independent woman" archetype in Emma's introduction. Slamming the guy's head into his steering wheel was so unnecessary. But you know - women can only be badass if they're assaulting men, am I right?

[CheshireCat]

1 hour ago, KingOfHearts said:

Henry's custody situation is far fetched,

I'm assuming you mean because Regina's a single, working mom and was still allowed to adopt?

Edited June 1, 2018 by CheshireCat

[KingOfHearts]

10 minutes ago, CheshireCat said:

I'm assuming you mean because Regina's a single, working mom and was still allowed to adopt?

I mean that Regina is his step-great-grandmother and that...

Spoiler

she just so happened to adopt her step-granddaughter's child from Phoenix of all places.

[CheshireCat]

48 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

I mean that Regina is his step-great-grandmother and that...

  Reveal hidden contents

she just so happened to adopt her step-granddaughter's child from Phoenix of all places.

Spoiler

That she adopted him from Phoenix never struck me at all although now that you mention it, how did Gold manage to arrange that? (Especially since he seemed to be as unadapted to the outside world as everyone else).

But I always assumed that Henry was meant to be adopted by Regina, that it was part of fate/his role in the story so I never really questioned it in that regard.

[CCTC]

Anything in the episode foreshadowing that Regina

Spoiler

will be the greatest Mom, friend, ruler ever?

[Rumsy4]

This episode still has the power to move me. I even got teary in a couple of places--like Charming's iconic fight scene with the Black Knights while holding baby Emma in one hand. The emotional beats were spot on. I loved the scenes of Emma meeting Mary Margaret, and Emma finding Henry at the castle. 

Ah! Jamie Dornan. He could never act. But he was nice eye-candy.

Spoiler

There were plenty of signs of Snow's asinine stubbornness and refusal to listen to anyone when she got going. She completely overruled Charming and did her own thing several times in the episode. She was also very pessimistic compared to her persona of optimism the show tried to peddle in later seasons.

Charming's "it's a boy" was spot on too. He is a bit sexist, but he's very ineffectual in getting either his wife or daughter to actually listen to him. No wonder he always took it out on Hook.

Lana was so much subtler in her portrayals of the Evil Queen and as Madam Mayor.

Spoiler

The full on camp we got in later seasons seem ridiculous in comparison.

Jared Gilmore is so cute as young Henry. Robert Carlyle looks much younger than he does now. So do Ginny and Lana. However, Josh Dallas looks almost the same as he does now. JMo is so much skinnier now than she was in the pilot. The curls apparently took forever to put in. The fake eyelashes were kinda distracting too. 

Spoiler

Still the experience was sort of ruined knowing that the series ends with Regina being crowned as Queen of all the Realms. And the scene where Emma's lie-detector goes off when Regina says she loves Henry becomes meaningless in light of later season retcons turning Regina into the bestsest mother ever. The Show strayed pretty far from its original mark.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Rumsy4

[CCTC]

12 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

Lana was so much subtler in her portrayals of the Evil Queen and as Madam Mayor.

Yes - as much as I have made negative posts regarding her character in later seasons, I can see why she took off.  Both Regina and Mayor Mills were compelling to watch, and were complex characters, but still portrayed as a villain who we were supposed to love to hate.

It really was a well done pilot and you could tell they had a little more money than the premier of season 7.  The overhead shot of Charming's horse back ride is a little more epic than

Spoiler

Henry's bike ride through the woods.

They really did do a good job casting this show.

 

14 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

Robert Carlyle looks much younger than he does now.

This is really petty of me, but there were a few times during this season that I noticed how Robert has aged.  Not that he looks bad now, but you really notice his face is fuller and his longer hair style now seems to be compensating that it is not as full. 

Spoiler

I don't think the Weaver style did him any favors.

[Rumsy4]

29 minutes ago, CCTC said:

The overhead shot of Charming's horse back ride is a little more epic than

The very first shot "Charming" seemed like an obvious body double, and that did deflate me a little.

[CCTC]

3 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

The very first shot "Charming" seemed like an obvious body double, and that did deflate me a little.

Maybe it was really James.

[Rumsy4]

21 minutes ago, CCTC said:

Maybe it was really James.

Hahaha