Can a Major Reboot Save Once Upon a Time?
Photo: ABC/Eike Schroter
Rebooting a TV series after six seasons is not only somewhat revolutionary—it’s also a dangerous and potentially unwise move that could sink a show faster than the Titanic. Of course, if said show is already suffering from low ratings and has written itself into a corner, a total reset could be a last-ditch attempt to breathe life into what’s become a tiresome and exasperating hour of viewing. It’s hard to say which of these two outcomes we’ll be faced with when Once Upon A Time’s seventh season debuts this week, but perhaps cautious optimism is a good approach.
On the plus side, ABC has somehow managed to maintain two of its biggest assets in Lana Parrilla (Regina Mills/Evil Queen) and Robert Carlyle (Rumplestiltskin). Their always nuanced and often brilliant performances have been many viewers’ sole reason for sticking with the show through Once’s numerous slumps over the years, so their continued presence is a good thing. Those who were in it for the Captain Swan eye candy will be pleased that Colin O’Donoghue (Killian Jones/Captain Hook) is still on board as well, though integrating him as a three-dimensional character in his own right now that Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan) is out should be an interesting feat.
Perhaps the most exciting elements of Once’s upcoming season are the new setting and characters. Rightly criticized for years for its treatment of people of color roles were short-lived and generally relegated to criminals, damsels in distress and murder victims—showrunners Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz have finally decided to ramp up the show’s diversity. Adding Dania Ramirez as Cinderella, Mekia Cox as Tiana and Alison Fernandez as Henry’s (Andrew J. West) daughter, Lucy, among other new characters, is a step in the right direction. We’re also moving out of the Evil Queen’s curse-created town of Storybrooke, Maine to Seattle, Washington, where a new curse has given our characters new names and identities. How they’ll break it and rediscover their true selves is the premise upon which the show was originally based, and it will form the crux of the new season. It’s also sure to include plenty of flashbacks to the Enchanted Forest, Wonderland and other fairy tale lands as we discover just what’s happened in the decade or so separating the Season Six finale and the Season Seven premiere.
If that all seems like a lot to unpack, that’s because it is. While anthology series like True Detective and American Horror Story treat each season as more or less separate, with new characters and storylines, it’s questionable at best and downright insane at worst to spend six years doing some pretty strong world building only to tear it all down and start from scratch when you decide it’s not working anymore. It’s the ultimate deus ex machina that’s usually employed early in a series’ run—AMC’s Preacher is a good example of the decision to hit the reset button actually working—but this far in, when many questioned whether Once would even be renewed for the 2017-2018 season, you have to wonder what they were thinking.