5 Reasons To Watch Once Upon a Time

Hello all - I really enjoyed writing my 5 Reasons to watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt post the other week, so I'm back with the next in that little series!

Anyone who watches my videos on YouTube, regularly reads my blog or follows me on Twitter, can tell you that I'm a huge Once Upon a Time fan. I fell in love with the show way back in 2011 when it first started, and my adoration for it has just grown and grown. For anyone who hasn't heard of the show, a simple summary would be that the show explores the lives of all your favourite fairytale characters, brought together in two worlds - the fairytale world which includes The Enchanted Forest, Neverland, Arendelle, etc, and non-magical world a.k.a our world. Via curses, portals and a whole lot of magic, the characters travel between the two, and each episode is told half in real time, half in flashbacks to events in the past (usually in the magical world).

So, if that isn't enough to pique your interest, here are 5 reasons to start watching Once Upon a Time!

The Fairytale Characters

I'm not exaggerating when I say all of your favourite fairy tale characters will make an appearance in this show at some point. To name a few, you'll meet Snow White, Prince Charming and the Evil Queen, Rumplestiltskin, Belle, Pinocchio and Gepetto, Captain Hook, Peter Pan, Mulan, Maleficent, Aurora and Phillip, Red Riding Hood, Ariel and Ursula, Cruella de Vil, Robin Hood, Tinkerbell, Elsa, Anna and Kristoff, the seven dwarves and the mad hatter. And that's just off the top of my head. That isn't even counting two of the main characters, Emma (played by the brilliant Jennifer Morrison) and her son Henry (played by Jared Gilmore). You never know who is going to turn up next!

The Plot Lines

Ever wondered how Maleficent is connected to Snow White? Or how Prince Charming met Anna from Frozen? What about the history between Rumplestiltskin and Peter Pan? Okay, so up till now you probably haven't, but what I love about this show is that it creates this amazing, rich backstory for characters we already know and love. Like why Ursula became evil, for one! In The Little Mermaid, she just goes about her villainous business, and we never find out what brought her to that point. Enter Once Upon a Time to fill in the blanks! Following on from this...

It's a perfect dose of Escapism

My favourite thing about OUAT is that it really is the perfect level of escapism. It's dramatic, and filled with intrigue, but in a light hearted way. This isn't a Breaking Bad style, heavy going show. It's emotional, but fun, and envelopes you in a magical world, where anything is possible, and nothing is black and white. It has a nice nostalgic quality to it too, because if (like me!) you were fairy tale mad as a child, it brings these tales back into your life in a new way, and gives new life to old stories!

The Writing -

The writers really do an amazing job with this show - hardly surprising, when their past work includes Lost! Whatever the storyline, they handle it beautifully, but I'm sure it won't come as a surprise that it's packed full of romance. It's fairytale land, how could it not be! The writers do the most brilliant job with their pairings - not only have they been really lucky to bring together a bunch of amazing actors, so many of who have incredible chemistry, but they just know exactly what to do to tug at your heart strings. And putting romantic relationships aside, they also do a great job with friendships/familial relationships in this show. People who have gone through a lot have a way of finding each other, which is always nice to see.

They have also written a ridiculous number AMAZING kick ass female characters over the past four seasons. Emma, Snow and Regina, three of the most prominent characters, are strong, feisty and independent, and while they are not immune to the considerable charms of some of the leading men, they are more than capable of taking care of themselves - there's none of the Disney-esque damsel in distress stuff here.

And finally, we have...

The Cast

If I could join a cast of a TV show, it would be Once Upon a Time. Not only are they all phenomenal on screen, but when we see blooper reels, or interviews with them, they seem to be having the best time. The show has done so well to bring together such a great group of actors. Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Lana Parilla, Robert Carlisle, Colin O'Donoughue and Emilie de Ravin are just a few of the brilliant cast members, and I now struggle to imagine anyone else playing some of these famous fairytale characters. Also, let's be honest - none of these people (in addition to the likes of Jamie Dornan) are particularly difficult to look at - always a bonus!

So there you have it - 5 reasons why you should put Once Upon a Time firmly on your "to watch" list!

One bonus reason - if you are a fan of Lost, this show is full of Lost references! From lots of the same cast members (Emilie de Ravin, Jorge Garcia, Lana Parilla and Elizabeth Mitchell are just a few who have appeared in both!) to constant references to the lost numbers (you know what I'm talking about!), and even the odd Apollo bar. That all makes me much happier than it probably should.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you've had a lovely Easter weekend!

I've Been Watching #10

Hey everyone!

While I've been uploading lots of film and tv related videos over on my channel, it's been a while since my last I've Been Watching post! So thought I would update you on what films and TV shows I've been glued to lately!

TV

Pretty Little Liars

For years now, I've been saying that I need to get into Pretty Little Liars. As a life-long teen TV drama addict, I needed something to replace the giant Gossip Girl/Veronica Mars shaped hole in my life. I still have The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, but PLL had been on my "to watch" list since it hit the screens way back in 2010. Finally Netflix added it to their ever expanding catalogue in January, and it's safe to say I'm addicted.

I cannot stop watching this show. It gets to crazy o'clock in the morning and while my head says "go to sleep", Netflix says "continue watching" and somehow my hand manages to click yes. I spend the majority of my time going "RIGHT, go to the police", but somehow that just makes it even better. This might be a teen television show, but honestly, it is much creepier than I had been expecting! I'm currently devouring season 3 (soon to be season 4), and there have been so many unexpected twists and turns along the way so far. If you can avoid reading spoilers, avoid like the plague - it makes it so much better when you have no idea what's coming!!

An added bonus is that I actually love all four of the main characters. If you have no idea what the show is about, season one kicks off a year after sixteen year old Alison DiLaurentis goes missing from her home in Rosewood, Pennsylvania. Twelve months on, her four best friends Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily, start receiving threatening texts and notes from the mysterious A, who knows far too many of their secrets, and is prepared to use them against them. Whether they're at home, at school, or even out of town, A knows exactly where they are, what they're doing, and what to do to hurt them the most. Cue constant fear, torment, and double crossing, with an excellent wardrobe, brilliant soundtrack, and, as always, a very attractive cast. What more could you ask for?!

P.S. I have so much love for Spencer Hastings - she's my kind of character. And, at this point (who knows how I'll feel an episode from now, never mind a season from now), I would quite like to marry Wren. It should be illegal to be that attractive.

Once Upon a Time - Season 4

My beloved OUAT is back!! Season 4b kicked off on Sunday night and I got cosy with a giant cup of tea and a donut to enjoy the new episode on Monday. It did not disappoint. I won't say too much to avoid spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but I'm loving the Queens of Darkness - particularly Cruella at this point. I'm intrigued to see where they're going with this, and I have a feeling (having seen some promo photos for upcoming episodes) it's going to complicate things for Emma, but we'll see. Still loving the Emma/Killian scenes, very nicely done in this episode, and Robert Carlyle will never cease to amaze me. He is just brilliant.

Films

The Theory of Everything

After all this time, I finally went to see The Theory of Everything at the weekend. Roisin and I accepted that this would be a situation where you leave the cinema having had a good cry, and while I think our makeup actually faired pretty well, it really was an emotional couple of hours.

Eddie Redmayne's performance was absolutely incredible - he thoroughly deserved that Oscar, and all the other recognition he has had for playing Steven Hawking. Felicity Jones was excellent too, and while the film obviously deals closely with what Steven is facing, a huge part of the story is what Jane, his wife, went through, and she handled it beautifully. If you haven't seen it yet, I would definitely recommend seeing it at some point if you have the chance - it's an amazing film, about an amazing couple, and it has made me even more determined than ever to get around to reading A Brief History of Time!

Tiny Furniture

And last for today, we have Tiny Furniture, a Lena Dunham film I found on Netflix a few weeks ago. For any recent graduates, this is a must see. It's a quiet film, and nothing too dramatic happens along the way, but it really does reflect what life can be like when you leave the cosy bubble of the university or college environment and have to try to figure out what to do next. Dunham's character Aura moves back in with her mum and her sister, and struggles with career decisions, friendships, relationships, and mostly just wants to hide under her duvet, which is somewhere I think we've all been (unless you're one of the rare few who managed to get a job straight out of uni!). As I said, this isn't an intense or life changing film, but it is certainly a comforting one if you have found yourself in Aura's shoes. It's one of the things I love most about Film and TV (and books) - you can always find someone to relate to, whatever your situation is, and that in itself can make things just a little bit easier.


That's it for today - I hope you enjoyed this and I would definitely recommend checking out all of the above! Next on my must see list are the live action Cinderella, which comes out at the end of the month, continuing on with my PLL binge, and getting properly started on Parks and Recreation - all the love for Amy Poehler.

What have you been watching recently?

Thanks for reading! :)