‘Once Upon a Time’ Wait is Hard On Us All
Whether you are a new fan, a returning fan, a young or an old fan, the wait for the season 5 premiere of Once Upon a Time is hard to endure. The good news is that tomorrow, August 18, OUAT Season 4 comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray, and on August 28th, Season 4 arrives on Netflix. It should be expected that fans around the globe will begin a month long binge watching event. For the in between moments, though, you will have to be content with little treats and snippets Once creators are tossing your way. A must see is the first minute of season 5 episode 1! Some people call them spoilers, while others call them teasers; po-tay-to, po-tah-to.
Throughout the past 4 seasons of OUAT, there has been a very precise formula. Each season opens with a dark puzzle. The middle episodes (from premiere to mid-season finale) are filled with much digging and research on said problem, then Emma brings her A-game in the finale and saves the day. Everything gets packaged up with a nice little bow but, in the last seconds, the next puzzle is hinted at and the audience is forced to spend the absence trying to figure it out. The next premiere is broadcast and the formula begins anew. It’s a tried and true recipe, and leaves fans desperate for its return.
Once’s season 4 finale, however, deviated from this formula. The savior of Storybrooke, the lovable yet hard Emma Swan, turned dark. What are the fans to expect? In the last moments before a multiple month hiatus, every single thing was changed. The beautiful Emma will turn into the awkwardly creepy thing you can see in the video below.
How much of this creepy Emma is the result of Rumplestiltskin training her? It’s like a mentoring program for dark ones. I’m sure they’ll get along splendidly. After all, Robert Carlyle (Rumple/Mr. Gold) makes sure to tell us that it’s not Rumple that’s in a coma – it’s Gold. At least you know (hope) that a good portion of Once’s season 5 is going to be spent on returning Emma to the light.
That will require going to Camelot to find Merlin. Even though Once Upon a Time has taken the audience there before (doesn’t anyone remember Lancelot?) in some capacity, the new season will bring you King Arthur and Guinevere. That should put an exciting spin on things. It even, thankfully, may be what’s necessary to bring Charming back to who you saw in season 1; a strong and worthy opponent. Not to be outdone, Camelot also brings something for the OUAT leading ladies: wardrobe. Lana Parilla, who plays Regina, says that the clothes are something to look forward to. You’ll be able to see them in all their glory during the ball in episode 2 of season 5.
Last but not least, Once’s new season will bring us a relatively new but beloved character. She’s the first to appear from the Pixar brand, and she is a fiesty, bow and arrow-wielding red head who goes by the name Merida. Are you just as excited as the rest of the world to see her in live action form? Is she maybe the the guest of honor for the ball in episode 2? It’s not entirely clear yet where they are going to take her character, but Zap2it reports that she will be able to interact with a good number of the current characters.
While it’s obvious that Once is adding some new characters, you get the feeling that you won’t be overwhelmed with them like you have been in the past. The relationship between Hook and Emma will still feature prominently, as any true Oncer would demand, and we’ll get to see how one person can affect the romances of every person she knows. Season 5 is going to be about relationships, changes, and dark versus evil. While that does sound an awful lot like the previous 4 seasons, you have to remember that everything has changed. Every person and dynamic has been altered so, even though the focus continues to hone in on the dark versus light base line, it promises to put a brand new spin on it.
Once Upon a Time returns to you Sunday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Make sure to invite the family over, cook a big feast and gather around the TV to prove whose Once theories were right and whose were wrong. Maybe Uncle Sammy is right and everyone just had a really elaborate and connected dream. So connected that everyone experienced the exact same things. What, you don’t think that’s possible? Weigh in and let us know what your theories are. How do you think season 5 will pan out?
[Image via TVLine]
