Season 1 poster
22 episodes

Once Upon a Time - Season 1

First aired Oct 23, 2011Season 1

Emma Swan wonders if the residents of Storybrooke, Maine are somehow actual characters from legendary children’s tales. Parallel worlds unravel in this modern take on classic fables where a curse has trapped famed storybook characters in our world.

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Reviews

Community reviews for Once Upon a Time, shown here with its season details.

O

Oldnewbie

A superb series finale but... It is not! Truly this would have been the end the show deserved had this been the final episode. Apparently it was written as such until the show was renewed BUT with most of the cast moving on contractually already! Yes, a wrap around\ tag on scene\tale opens the show up to an all new reset of the beginning, only with a now adult Henry being approached by his unknown to him daughter (about the same age Henry was when he found Emma in ep 1 season 1)! She says he must go with her cause "his family needs him". Sound familiar? It would seem Henry, like Emma in that ep, is clueless and so another forgetting spell was cast. Or whatever! For those who do not know, the next season will no longer have the following characters\actors: Emma Swan, Snow White, Prince Charming, Belle, young Henry, and I am sure I am forgetting one other. The core will be the now adult Henry, Hook, Gold, and the evil queen\not evil anymore. How the show intends to carry on or explain where everyone missing has gone (yes there was a time jump in the tag on scene of several years) will be interesting to see, but I frankly have little hope for the continued success of the show. It was all about Emma, Snow, Charming, and how everything revolved around them. Without those characters I think it will be a rebooted show trying to be it's old self but simply unable to. I mean everyone is together, happy, sitting down to a thanksgiving like meal in this ep's natural end! Somehow along the way all that is torn apart? Is the ultimate lesson learned to be that there are no happy endings or happy beginnings because even in a fantasy world life sucks? Crap happens to the best of people regardless of what they have overcome to get to a place of stability? This should have been the end; a fitting finale.

G

GenerationofSwine

2.0

This SHOULD have been Fables shouldn't it? Or at least it should have been more like Fables, it should have at least ripped the plot off that Bill Willingham gem a little more than it did. But I think this was Disney related and Warner Brothers own the rights to all things DC. So legally I think they were forced to make something vastly different. The thing is that it looked like they were going for a Fables story, and because of that some obvious plot threads kind of dropped off in the 1st season when it looked like they were getting too close to the comic for litigious safety And then it kind of tapered off tangentially before catching it's footing halfway through and falling apart at the end because it ran too long

m

misubisu

5.0

I didn't get to the end of season 1 before I lost interest. It starts of somewhat intriguing, and pulls you in... but it takes so long for things to happen that it just becomes a chore to watch. Might give it another go some day... or may not.

Episodes

Pilot still

Episode 1

Pilot

7.0
Oct 23, 201145 min41 votes

Emma's life turns upside down when she is visited by Henry, the 10-year-old child she long ago gave up for adoption; Emma brings Henry back to his foster mother in a strange town called Storybrooke.

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Episode 2

The Thing You Love Most

7.2
Oct 30, 201144 min33 votes

Regina does everything in her power to force Emma out of Storybrooke and out of her and Henry's lives forever. Meanwhile, the chilling circumstances of how the Evil Queen released the curse upon the fairytale world is revealed.

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Episode 3

Snow Falls

7.6
Nov 6, 201144 min27 votes

At Henry's urging, Emma convinces Mary Margaret to pay a visit to a comatose John Doe in the hospital and to read to him from the storybook. But Mary Margaret is stunned at the outcome of her visit. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale world, Prince Charming meets Snow White for the first time in a most unexpected way.

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Episode 4

The Price of Gold

7.7
Nov 13, 201144 min29 votes

Emma tries to help a young pregnant woman escape from the clutches of Mr. Gold. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale world that was, Cinderella makes a regrettable deal with Rumplestiltskin.

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Episode 5

That Still Small Voice

7.7
Nov 27, 201144 min26 votes

As Sheriff Graham deputizes Emma, the ground shakes and a giant sinkhole mysteriously appears at the edge of town. But a curious Henry’s life is placed in danger when he decides to explore the innards of the sinkhole to see if its contents can link the inhabitants of Storybrooke to the fairytale world. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale world, Jiminy Cricket yearns to leave the family business and transform into the person he wants to be.

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Episode 6

The Shepherd

7.5
Dec 4, 201144 min26 votes

David - aka John Doe - must choose between staying with Kathryn or leaving her to be with Mary Margaret, with whom he's fallen deeply, and inexplicably, in love; and Emma catches Sheriff Graham in a lie. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale world that was, Prince Charming is about to encounter a life-changing event that will forever alter his destiny.

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Episode 7

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

8.0
Dec 11, 201144 min28 votes

One of the town's residents begins to remember their fairytale past, and Storybrooke mourns the loss of one of their own. Meanwhile, in the fairytale world that was, the Evil Queen attempts to find a heartless assassin to murder Snow White.

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Episode 8

Desperate Souls

8.2
Jan 8, 201245 min26 votes

Regina and Mr. Gold play dirty politics and take opposite sides when Emma runs for a coveted Storybrooke public office against Sidney. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale world that was, Rumplestiltskin tries to track down the ultimate power source in order to help his son avert the horrors of a meaningless war.

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Episode 9

True North

7.7
Jan 15, 201244 min23 votes

Feeling their pain from having lived through the same experience, Emma desperately tries to help two homeless children find their birth father before they’re separated and put into the foster care system. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale world that was, the Evil Queen coerces Hansel and Gretel into stealing an important artifact from a blind witch.

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Episode 10

7:15 A.M.

7.6
Jan 22, 201244 min27 votes

Mary Margaret and David continue to grapple with their unrequited love, and Emma and Regina grow suspicious over a mysterious new stranger in town. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Snow White yearns to ease her breaking heart as Prince Charming’s wedding to King Midas’s daughter approaches.

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Episode 11

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

7.5
Jan 29, 201244 min25 votes

A dejected Sidney enlists the aid of Emma to help uncover evidence that could expose Mayor Regina as the corrupt person she really is to the townspeople of Storybrooke. Mary Margaret and David continue their secret rendezvous while trying to figure out a way to unleash their forbidden love. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale land that was, King Leopold, who is the father of Snow White and married to the Evil Queen, stumbles upon a magic lamp and is granted three wishes by a Genie - who warns the king to be careful what he wishes for.

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Episode 12

Skin Deep

8.4
Feb 12, 201244 min32 votes

After Mr. Gold's house is robbed, Emma keeps a close eye on him when it looks like he wants to track down the criminal and dole out some vigilante justice as payback, and Valentine's Day finds Mary Margaret, Ruby and Ashley having a girls' night out. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Belle agrees to a fateful deal to give up her freedom in order to save her town from the horrors of the Ogre war.

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Episode 13

What Happened to Frederick

7.6
Feb 19, 201244 min25 votes

With their love for each other growing stronger, David finally agrees to tell Kathryn about his relationship with Mary Margaret and put an end to his loveless marriage. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, while runaway groom Prince Charming searches for Snow White, he agrees to aid Abigail on a dangerous mission to recover something precious that was lost to her.

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Episode 14

Dreamy

7.6
Mar 4, 201244 min25 votes

Unlikely allies Mary Margaret and Leroy team together for a good cause to help the Storybrooke nuns sell their candles during the town's Miner's Day festival. But Leroy makes a promise to a nun, Astrid, that he may not be able to keep; and Emma looks into the mysterious disappearance of David's wife, Kathryn. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Grumpy finds forbidden love with beautiful but clumsy fairy Nova.

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Episode 15

Red-Handed

7.8
Mar 11, 201244 min26 votes

After Ruby quits Granny's diner and with her self-esteem at an all-time low, Emma hires her as an assistant in order to help Ruby discover what it is in life that she's good at; and Emma continues questioning David about the disappearance - and possible murder - of Kathryn. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Red Riding Hood yearns to run away with her true love. But she, along with her fellow townspeople, are virtual prisoners when a bloodthirsty wolf continues on its relentless killing spree.

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Episode 16

Heart of Darkness

7.0
Mar 18, 201244 min23 votes

Mary Margaret hires Mr. Gold as her attorney when Emma is forced to arrest her for the suspected murder of David’s wife, Kathryn. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale land that was, Prince Charming sets out to stop a determined and unhinged Snow White, whose memory is still clouded by Rumplestiltskin’s potion, from assassinating the Evil Queen.

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Episode 17

Hat Trick

8.0
Mar 25, 201244 min23 votes

While searching for a missing Mary Margaret, Emma is kidnapped by a man whose affinity for hats has him teetering on the edge of madness. Meanwhile, viewers will be transported outside of the fairytale land that was for the first time when the Evil Queen persuades a skillful man of magic to come work for her one last time and travel to Wonderland in order to help steal something from the Queen of Hearts.

The Stable Boy still

Episode 18

The Stable Boy

7.7
Apr 1, 201244 min24 votes

Emma continues her exhaustive search for evidence that will prove Mary Margaret's innocence in the murder of David's wife, Kathryn. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was and before evil blackened her soul, Regina must choose between betraying her mother, Cora, and marrying for true love, or betrothing royalty and living a regal - but loveless - life; and the event that caused the Evil Queen to loathe Snow White is revealed.

The Return still

Episode 19

The Return

7.7
Apr 22, 201244 min22 votes

Mr. Gold attempts to uncover the true identity of August, Emma confronts Regina about her involvement in Kathryn's disappearance, and David tries to apologize and reconcile with Mary Margaret. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Rumplestiltskin agrees to comply and do whatever it takes if his son can find a way for him to safely give up his powers and turn back into the loving man he used to be.

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Episode 20

The Stranger

7.3
Apr 29, 201244 min23 votes

August tells Emma how to beat Regina and how she can get custody of Henry, while Regina hatches a plot to seduce David now that Mary Margaret is back at work. In the fairy-tale world, a plan to save Snow White and Prince Charming’s daughter unfolds and is agreed to by Geppetto, who has his own child’s safety in mind.

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Episode 21

An Apple Red as Blood

7.6
May 6, 201244 min21 votes

Henry pleads with Emma to stay in Storybrooke and continue her quest as the savior of the fairytale dwellers, and Regina concocts a plan that could rid her of Emma forever. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale land that was, Snow White enlists the aid of her fellow fairytale cohorts to attack the Evil Queen and save Prince Charming's life.

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Episode 22

A Land Without Magic

8.1
May 13, 201244 min23 votes

Emma and Regina team together in order to find a way to save Henry's life. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Prince Charming attempts to escape from the Evil Queen's clutches in order to reunite with Snow White who, unbeknownst to him, has already taken a bite of the Queen's poison apple.