This started off as being purely based on Fables but expanded into something much bigger. This is due to both
coming from attempts to adapt Fables which failed. I intentionally chose to keep the actors vague in some parts for various reasons. For example is Wolverine is retconned as Russell Crowe as he was the original choice, then Hugh Jackman will play Bigby Wolf.
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Once Upon a Time: Season One
Once Upon a Time began life as a Comic series in 2002 by Bill Willingham, with Mark Buckingham during the pencils all the way to issue 110. It was launched under DC's Vertigo imprint. The plot concerned the idea that Fairy Tale characters, known as "Fables" live in another universe and that an invasion by an Emperor known as the Adversary forced many Fables to flee to Earth, where they reside in two locations, the first is a block in New York known to the inhabitants as "Fabletown" and the other is an area known as "The Farm" where Fables that cannot pass as human live. The Series followed many characters but largely Snow White, and the sheriff of the town, a reformed Big Bad Wolf, now going by Bigby. The first few arcs involved a murder mystery that Bigby Wolf was attempting to solve that turned out to be a ploy by Snow White's Sister Rose Red and her boyfriend Jack Horner(an amalgamation of every Fairy Tale character named Jack).
Animal Farm involved the inhabitants of the Farm staging a rebellion.
Storybook Love involved the characters of Bluebeard and Goldilocks hatching a plan to kill Snow White and Bigby while Snow White's ex husband Prince Charming runs for Mayor.
March of the Wooden Soldiers has Fabletown finally face off against the forces of the Adversary, notably a group of Soldiers made of wood which Pinnochio realizes must have been created by his long missing father Geppetto against his will.
It was at around this point that Willingham was approached for the idea of a Television adaptation by NBC for the 2006 to 2007 season. Craig Silverstein wrote a script for it. A bidding war began between NBC and ABC for the idea of the show, which ABC won out, leading NBC to pul lthe plug on their plan for a similar series. With that settled,
Once Upon a Time began a long process in development hell, warping to become something completely different. NBC had wanted a police procedural with the Big Bad Wolf while ABC wanted a series about Fairy Tale characters in the real world with flashbacks in the style of
Lost.
The pilot premiered on October 25th, 2011. It was set in New York and began with a murder. Jack Horner ran into the office of Sheriff Bigby Wolf. He reports that his girlfriend Rose Red has been killed and shows an apartment room covered in blood with the phrase "No More Happily Ever After" written in blood on the wall. Bigby investigates the room and places Jack under arrest, obstensibly for resisting arrest, which Jack immediately tries to do only to be punched and subdued. The town's Mayorial assistant Snow White is contacted as Rose Red is her sister. The first episode covered Bigby Wolf's investigation of the apparent murder while he and Snow investigate possible suspects. The biggest suspect was Bluebeard, a serial killer back in "The Homelands" but was granted immunity along with other citizens. Bluebeard reveals he had plans to marry Rose Red and tries to kill Jack, which is prevented by Bigby transforming into a werewolf like form. A few scenes feature the pig Colin, who is staying with Bigby and brings up Bigby blowing down his house. Bigby insists he's changed and then offers Colin Bacon, leading the pig to give a raised eyebrow(Jim Henson's creature shop had a small presence in the first episode, though the third episode would feature them more prominently). Another subplot involves "Remembrance Day". A day in which the Fables recall the day when they had to flee the Homelands which includes a big feast(including cameos of french chefs implied to be the show's equivalents to the chefs from
The Little Mermaid and the cast of
Ratatouille, including a live action Linguine speaking to a blue mouse. There is also a scene of Colin being confused for a non sentient pig and nearly killed by
The Little Mermaid chef). Snow White's ex husband Prince Charming bets his old position as Prince, entering it in a raffle, where it is revealed to be won by Jack. The Mayor of Fabletown, Old King Cole, gives a speech illustrated beautifully in animation of how the people of the land of Everrealm lived in harmony. When the Adversary's army rose up they ignored it, even as the animation shows the fall of Oz and Narnia, including the killing of Aslan), it then talks about how they came to "this new world" and hope for the future. Bigby reveals the culprit to be...Rose Red. Jack and Rose faked her death, context clues being given throughout the episode and in view of the audience, pointing out how nothing was broken in a supposed forced entry. Jack is forced to sell his newly earned title to pay off debts Rose Red owed to Bluebeard. The Episode is largely self contained and stand alone, justified given that it serves as a pilot.
The Second Episode adapts the storyline " A Two-Part Caper" in which a reporter discovers the existence of the Fables but believes them to be vampires, threatening to expose them. Bigby wolf laughs this off but then becomes worried that if the news is published the neighborhood would be surrounded by Vampire Wannabees and Goths and so they come up with a plan to frame the reporter and blackmail him into leaving them alone. While this is successful, Bluebeard, believing his way is always the best, murders the reporter.
The third episode introduced original characters to the show Emma Swan and her son Henry son. Swan is a police officer investigating the death of the report Tommy Sharp from the previous episode and brings her son with her to New York. While there are normally spells that prevent the detection of the Fairy Tale beings, Emma sees Snow White leaving with Rose Red, who as punishment for her role in the first episode's murder mystery is on probation working on the farm. The Pig Colin is loaded on the back of a truck and Emma sees it talk, thus choosing to follow. She therefore inadvertently discovers the Farm(AKA the part of the show that fed the Creature Shop for an entire year, as many different creatures from fairy tales are scene including Puss in Boots(looking a lot like his Shrek version), Chicken Little(based on a cancelled film design), The Cow that jumped over the moon(painted with stars on its body), the casts of Winnie the Pooh(stuffed animals), and the Jungle Book. They are led by another of the three little pigs, who complains the animals feel trapped because they are not allowed to leave. Snow White and Rose Red go to sleep at an apartment. Colin speaks to the other pigs. They ask him if he gained any information on the New York Fabletown and their defenses, along with any Fables that could be sympathetic to their cause. Colin reports that Bigby caught him almost immediately and he couldn't do anything. The next day Snow White and Rose Red find Colin's head on a pike.
Snow and Rose Red quickly discover that a coup is underway and are separated from each other. This also allows Emma and Henry to explore the Farm without being mindwiped and team up with Snow White, who recognizes her while Emma does not recognize her. Reynard the Fox finds and leads Snow White to safety as an animal resistance group exists, while being chased by Shere Khan, Reynard Fox reveals a weapon specialized for animal use, a turret meant to be placed on the back of a Tortoise shell with a hair controlling the machine gun. As Snow White and Reynard are forced to flee Shere Khan, who is seen arguing with Bagheera and being rude to him. Shere Khan had an intense scene chasing after Snow White, before she is barely able to grab the turret and fire at Khan as he lunges at her, shooting the Tiger point blank in the face, and causing him to fall to his death. An assortment of Jungle Book characters look on in shock and then begin cheering.
Reynard takes Snow White to Weyland Smith, a blacksmith and the one tasked with managing the farm, but he was captured and forced to build weapons for them. Rose Red is also revealed to have switched sides in favor of the rebellion. Snow White is imprisoned with Weyland until the arrival of Emma Swan. Weyland is revealed to have constructed a weapon that doubles as a key to both their locks and Snow and Weyland are freed. After sending out a signal, a small resceu party consisting of Little Boy Blue, the Flying Monkey Buffkin, Bluebeard and Prince Charming set out. The group comments on being the worse rescue mission ever, even stopping at a Drive Thru on the way and bickering with each other. Snow White reveals a race of giants forced to sleep nearby and awakens them, allowing them to takeover the town again along with the Animal resistance just as the Calvary arrives. Everything is fine.
And then Snow White gets shot in the head.
Don't worry she's not dead. She awakens in a hospital and it is revealed that the more popular a "Fable" is, the harder they are to kill. Unfortunately this is not without consequences as Snow White now has lost most of her centuries old memories, remembering only her original fairy tale. As a result, she does not know Emma Swan is now despite recognizing her earlier. However, sincd Snow White recognized her, the Fables are hesitant to just wipe away her memories and be done with it until they solve the mystery. The Two remaining little pigs are executed for their hand in the rebellion. It's pointed out that since the three little pigs is a pretty famous story, the three might end up being resurrected somehow. To stop this, the Fables have a Witch, Frau Totenkinder(your classic Green Witch who here was the same Witch in Hansel and Gretel and other stories). Totenkinder casts a spell to turn the giants into pigs, allowing them to live in the farm, which they are more than happy to. One of the Giants is played by Jorge Garcia, an actor from Lost. Emma is sen talking to Weyland and suggesting he keep making weapons like he was because its most likely they actually will have to fight the Adversary one day.
Oh and who shot Snow White?...Goldilocks.
Yeah Goldilocks is a hitman..err hitwoman that was helping the revolution and is in a relationship with little bear of the three bears(which is made even weirder when you consider these could be the same characters from Disney's Goldie & Bear, where the two became childhood friends after the fairy tale). Goldilocks is revealed to be working with Bluebeard. And that ends Episode 3.
The next episode is a self contained story starring Jack Horner during the American Civil War. Horner ends up meeting a devil as he is disguised as a man and beats him at a game or cards, winning a magic bag. He then meets a sick woman and offers to capture death for her using his magic bag. He succeeds but when the world becomes miserably because no one is dying, including a nearby Civil War battle where undying soldiers from both sides descend on Jack to punish him. Jack releases Death(Death here is played by Christopher Lee in reference to him playing the character in all his appearances in Terry Pratchett's Discowlrd adaptations. As such it is implied that the Death here is the same as in that series). Death is actually happy to have had sometime off and so happily says goodbye to Jack and leaves. The narration mentions that Jack eventually lost the magic bag.
The next episode is another seld contained. The episode tells us of the Lilliputtians, who learned of the adversary and set out to fight him with an army, only to realize they were actually much smaller than anything else in the world and so could do nothing. The army of men then ended up in the mundane world where there were no women with them until the arrival of Thumbelina. Thumbelina was uncomfortable being romantically pursued by all the men, until she brought up how she was born from magical barleycorn. A group of Lilliputtian men(joined by Thumbellina and Tom Thumb) then go on an adventure to obtain Barleycorn. After a long jounrey they succeed and bring the Barleycorn back, where women begin to emerge and greet the Lilliputtians. The story is revealed to be told by Bigby to the janitor Flycatcher, as Lilliputtian teenagers will occasionally try to repeat the original group's feet by stealing Barleycorn kep in the Mayor's office to "grow themselves a girlfriend".
The next Episode kicks off a two parter. A subplot involves Prince Charming deciding to run for Mayor of Fabletown against King Cole.A Set up is given where Prince Charming and Bluebeard will practice fencing with Bluebeard always winning. The next supblot has Bluebeard and Goldilocks attempt to kill Snow White and Bigby Wolf. Bluebeard places a spell on the two of them to have them both announce that they have fallen and love and are going on vacation and drive off into the woods, where Godilocks attempts to assassinate them. A Lilliputtian soldier riding an intelligent rat eavedrop on the two speaking and Goldilocks kills the rat with a thrown knife while the soldier escapes, but spends the rest of the time going through the inside of the building and fighting off the unintelligent rats. He is able to reach Prince Charming and reveal Bluebeard's plan. Because of having to wait 3 days to get a gun and Goldilocks not realizing this, the spell wears off, allowing Snow and Bigby to fight for their lives. Charming confronts Bluebeard with the two engaging in what turns into a sword fight. While bluebeard boasts that he's won everytime, Charming points out that now he has something to lose. After a close match, Charming kills Bluebeard, stabbing him in the chest. As Bluebeard dies he tells Charming he is too late. Goldilocks nearly kills Bigby with silver bullets before Snow White lodges an axe into her back before kicked her off a cliff. Due to her popularity, they cannot be sure she is dead. The final scene of the episode reveals that Prince Charming has been elected Mayor.
Episode 8 is a flashback. Emma Swan speaks with Boy Blue about the Fables retreat from their homeland. Boy Blue was there when the Adversary's forces overwhelmed. The episode becomes a flashback to "The Castle at the End of the World" where a group of refugees are being led through a portal while warriors including Robin Hood help to fend off the invasing army. Boy Blue is serving as the Bugle boy when he meets and falls in love with one of the refugees who arrived, Little Red Riding Hood. The two fall in love. This results in Boy Blue being commanded to grab the enchanted Witching cloak and oversee the fight until the end so he could tell their story. Boy Blue watches as all the fighters are killed. He then uses the Witching Cloak to teleport onto the boat, hoping to meet with Red Riding Hood, only to discover to his horror that Red Riding Hood left the safety of the boat to go and fight with him and he hadn't seen her, realizing she died in the battle after he left.
Due to wanting to save March of the Wooden Soldiers and the Battle of Fabletown for the season finale, An original two part episode plot was made to bridge the gap. The episodes are used to introduce changes implemented by Prince Charming, who discovers he can't actually keep any of the promises he made, not having checking before hand. For example he asked for spells to turn the animals into humans if they wished, but didn't bother to check if that was possible as the Witches don't have enough material for that as the magics works per individual. Neither Snow White or Bigby Wolf want to work with Charming and so Belle(Emma Watson) and Beast(Dan Stevens) take their jobs. However, shortly after Belle is abducted, forcing Emma Swan and the Beast to work together to try and find her. Bigby is not allowed on the farm due to the animals their not forgiving him for his attacks on them and so the group is also paired up with the Huntsman, played by Christian Hemsworth, the Huntsman was the previous Sheriff of Fabletown before stepping down and letting the Bigby take his place. The duo learn that the person who abducted Belle is Grimhilde AKA the Evil Queen of Snow White fame(played by Lana Parrilla). Grimhilde is revealed to be responsible for both hiring Goldilocks and Belle's abduction(accidentally as she actually intended to abduct Snow White, not knowing Belle had taken her role and simply broke into her office and abducted to due to being in a rush). They rescue Belle but Grimhilde escapes.
The last episode before the two part finale reveals Cinderella to be a secret agent. The episode plays out much like a spy thriller, ending with the reveal that the former Mayor of Fabletown, Ichabod Crane, helped Grimhilde sneak into the Mundane World with an army of the Adversary's soldiers, thus setting up the finale.
The next episode is entirely devoted to set up for the final battle of the season. Red Riding Hood is seen appearing through the portal and running to a security checkpoint which is then attacked by the Adversary forces as she flees. She is able to reached Fabletown and reunites with Boy Blue, though Red is angry at Blue, she eventually starts to forgive him and the two start to makeup. The Adversary forces are revealed to be wooden soldiers disguised as humans. They murder a gunstore owner when he points out that they cannot simply take or buy the guns and need a permit. Jack Horner sees this and tries to warn everyone but since he is a pathological liar no one believes him.
Snow White: Jack. Have you ever heard of the Boy who cried wolf?
Jack: Well, sure I have Snow. He lives on the 5th floor.
Red is revealed to be Grimhilde in disguise(in the comics, this role was taken by the Russian Folklore Witch Baba Yaga, but here they decided to make the Witch Grimhilde instead, not only because of Parrilla's audition, but also because the makers wanted to cast an actual senior Russian actress in the role, as well as needing less work from the Creature shop, and the fact that Baba Yaga is interchangeably a villain or an ally depending on if you cross her). The main focus is on three wooden soldiers named Hugh, Drew and Lou(a clear nod to the Huey, Dewey and Louie present in the original comic which the makers were more than happy to use). the three literally assemble the army as the parts arrive in boxes. Boy Blue is badly beaten and nearly killed but sent back as a warning by the soldiers. The soldiers also reveal that they consider Pinnochio one of their own and offer the chance to join them and live. Commenting that he is their brother in a way due to their creator Geppetto. Pinnochio realizes that his father Geppetto is alive and a prisoner of the Adversary. Fabletown is given a day to prepare and to surrender Pinnochio if they so choose. The next episode is the actual battle.
The season finale "The Battle of Fabletown" is exactly that. Every character returns, including Rose Red to aid in the final battle. All the Fables and characters are forced to set up a barricade as the massive army approaches. Magic users are put on trying to conceal the battle from the Mundane world. The battle plays out much like a Lord of the Rings style castle siege but in New York, with fire, oil and bombs dropped from the top of buildings and houses. As this is going on, Emma Swan and the Huntsman confront Grimhilde along with Frau Totenkinder, who is the one who ultimately defeats her. The Wooden soldiers are downed by barrages of guns and weapons. Weyland, running out of ammo, runs into the fraay with two axes and seemingly cuts them all down. He shouts "Is that's all you've got!" before being gunned down in a hail of bullets, revealing the wooden soldiers can still fight. The enemy bullets also kill Boo Bear. Snow White's final plan sets the entire wooden army on fire. However, the wooden soldier refuse to give up and instead begin to Kamikaze themselves. Pinnochio tries to run out and stop them only to be decapitated by the enraged leader of the group. Just as everyone appears to be about to die, the Big Bad Wolf summons his breath and decimates the entire army, putting out the fire, and leaving a massive pile of broken wooden figures.
And with that the battle is over. Fabletown mourns the dead. Mama Bear reveals that she is pregnant again as due to the popularity of her story, the must always be a boo bear. Grimhilde is revealed to be a prisoner, and the rest of Fabletown, having now one a major victory, celebrates while also preparing for the inevitable war to reclaim the Homeland. Boy Blue interrogates Grimhilde as to Red Riding Hood's location but she reveals nothing and Boy Blue leaves through a portal on his own with the Witching Cloak to try to find and rescue her. He also brings Pinnochio's wooden form with him in the hopes of finding a way to revive him. Several scenes set up for the next season, including a news reporter describing the battle was a "Block party that turned into a riot." Police detective Nick Barkhardt evidently saw the battle for what it actually was but his boss refuses to believe him. Barkhardt then leaves with his partner Hank and vows to find proof, starting with the missing reporter who previously investigated the area.