Once Upon a Time Review: A Snow White Worth Fighting For

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As a young girl, I loved Star Wars because of Princess Leia. At the time, most female characters weren't much more than damsels in distress and that never appealed to me. Even though Leia was held prisoner and needed to be rescued, she soon grabbed a blaster and started fighting right alongside the boys. I was hooked.

Which was probably why I was never a big fan of the Snow White story. She always seemed much too prim and proper to be any fun. I simply never related to the dainty girl Disney showed in the movie. That was, until Once Upon a Time retold her story. "Snow Falls" had me on the edge of my seat and enjoying the ride.

When Charming Met Snow...

As usual, I loved the way this show threw us into the heart of the fairy tale world. Charming's carriage was fit for a prince with white horses and plush seats. The first surprise was the nagging blonde in the seat across from him. I'd certainly never read about her.

Then were we introduced to Snow White... as a bandit. I didn't see that coming but it made sense. Once the Evil Queen banished her and she wandered the woods, she'd have to fend for herself. But the Snow White I read about was never nearly this spunky.

I loved that she and Charming, as she insisted on calling him, didn't quite get along but the romantic chemistry was definitely there from the beginning. Still, she's stealing from the Queen to survive and he's planning on a loveless marriage for the good of the kingdom. Not exactly the fairy tale I was expecting - and I couldn't be happier about that.

Who needs seven dwarfs when you've got angry trolls?!? This girl's got guts doing business with these guys. They were truly frightening. And instead of the Prince riding in on his white steed to save the damsel in distress, we had Snow White and Prince Charming swapping the rescuing moments between them. I've always preferred equal opportunity heroics.

When the story moved back to Storybrooke, we had Mary Margaret reading to coma patient John Doe per Henry's request. Emma thought she could prove to Henry that his fairy tale musings weren't real. Talk about best laid plans going awry.

I almost expected a happy ending here when they finally found John Doe in the woods. Would he and Mary Margaret finally have their reunion? Not so fast.

Regina swoops in with his wife, the nagging blonde from the carriage. Damn. She's not just a fiance in this realm, she's a wife. Well, that will put a definite crimp in the happy ending, but then again I suppose true love never did run smoothly.

Emma was automatically suspicious, which fit her character well. After years of being John Doe, Regina found his identity and his wife on the day he woke up. That's a heck of a coincidence.

And I loved the way the show continued to play on whether or not Regina knows about the curse. When she got the phone call from the doctor about John Doe waking up, I thought it proved she knew he was Prince Charming. But then they explained that away when she said she found the injured John Doe years ago and became his emergency contact. Too coincidental? Yes, but also plausible. And why would the doctor lie to Mary Margaret about what he saw on the monitors? So again, it's anyone's guess how much the illustrious Mayor knows about Storybrooke and it's residents' alter egos.

We didn't get a lot of Emma this week and as much as I like her, I didn't mind. Snow White, the character I had the least interest in two weeks ago, held her own and then some. Heck, I was so enthralled by her story that, for the first time ever, I can't wait to learn more.

Snow Falls Review

Editor Rating: 4.7 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.6 / 5.0 (278 Votes)

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.

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Once Upon a Time Season 1 Episode 3 Quotes

I guess if true love was easy, we'd all have it.

Mary Margaret

I'm a teacher, not a nun.

Mary Margaret