One of the reasons I think I’m taking such a liking to Once Upon a Time‘s is because of Ginnifer Goodwin.
I’ve been a fan of Goodwin since she starred in HBO’s Big Love where she was the naive, polygamist third wife Margene who, over the years, grew in confidence and wisdom. In this new risk-taking drama, Goodwin’s getting the opportunity to rock two different kinds of characters: One who’s similar to Margene and one’s who’s tough and capable of taking care of herself.
And that’s brings me to the second big reason I’m becoming a fan of the show: Women are not dainty, helpless dames singing to the birds in the forest here. In this fairytale world, Snow White is an outlaw, on the run from the Evil Queen who wants to literally cut out her heart. Snow makes her way in the forest by donning a black hooded cloak and stealing from royal carriages, trying to amass enough riches to flee far away from the Queen who wants her dead. Snow’s a talented equestrian. She’s savvy. She’s not bad in a fight and has proven to possess the agility to evade the queen’s menacing goons.
In the latest episode, we got the chance to witness Snow’s meet-cute with Prince Charming, and learn that she’s the one who stuck him with that sardonic nickname. While the lore of the Snow White tale is that the Prince is the one who saved Snow by awakening her from her lethal sleep (induced by a bite of the poisoned apple), in this version, he saved her from the queen’s henchmen in the forest, however she later returned the favor by saving him from some angry trolls. I enjoyed seeing Snow White refusing to take any guff.
It’s quite the contrast to her modern day, Storybrooke, modestly attired school teacher Mary Margaret who is as demure as she is sweet. She wears delicate blouses and soft cardigan sweaters. She volunteers at a hospital where she lovingly attends to patients and brings them flowers. This is the type of person fairytale princesses usually are, submissive, quiet, pretty, easy marks.
Yet Once Upon a Time continues to turn the fairytale genre on its head by having Snow’s daughter, Emma, be the savior of the fairytale characters and be the one, prodded by her son Henry, to help awaken Storybrooke’s Mary Margaret (Snow in the alternate universe) from her hushed life and get her to find her inner bad ass. Emma is the reason why Mary Margaret wound up saving John Doe after he’d run off into the woods. Snow got to be his savior again.
Meanwhile, given that there are some Lost scribes working on this show, I’m crossing my fingers that they will also give the Evil Queen a cool backstory and create a character that’s not simply pure evil, but a nuanced kind of evil, with layers and complications so that we can at least understand her rage. I really don’t want it to turn out to be Rumpelstiltskin (Mr. Gold in Storybrooke) who’s calling the shots, telling Regina (Queenie in the fairytale world) what to do. I’m really taken with the women being the lead protagonists and antagonists.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Nov 07, 2011 @ 11:57 EST5EDT
Didn’t you watch the first episode? “Prince Charming” still saves Snow White from eternal slumber after eating the poisoned apple … but that happens later after he ditches his fiancé.
This was just their first meeting and probably the moment that connects them eternally.
BTW … you forgot to mention that in “our world” Mary Margaret is wearing the engagement ring that they fought the Trolls for in the past.
As for how they depict Snow White … I prefer their version to the lame-ass disneyfied version that most people think of when they think of farie tales
They have done a great job so far making Snow White and Mary Margaret appear to be complete polar opposites (character wise) … will be interesting to see Mary Margaret “wake up” as Henry puts it.
I wonder if Prince Charming’s fiancé (wife in our world?) is as big of a nag as she was depicted being in the Enchanted World … must be since “John Doe” left her.
Oh yea … I think they have already set the stage to show that the “Evil Queen” is a nuanced character … and not just flat evil.
We know that Snow White did something that “ruined the Queen’s life” … something that eventually made her kill her own father and banish everyone to our world.
Last note … in the into to this episode (where they explain the story) they mention that only one person (the Queen/Mayor) remembers who they all were before … which nixes people’s suggestions that Rumpelstiltskin / Mr Gold does too)
Seeing as how the opening voiceover recounts what we’ve already learned, it might not preclude there being another, secret person (Gold) who retained all or most of his memories. If that is revealed in the future, they’ll simply change the opening going forward.
I’m with Ryan … There’s no way that Gold doesn’t know what’s going on.
Gold might not be a “person”, per se.
Wasn’t Ginnifer Goodwin’s first regular role as a student on the lamented “Ed” – one of those wonderful shows lost in a limbo of music rights?