When 'Once Upon a Time' first started it was highly addictive and made the most of a truly great and creative premise. Really loved the idea of turning familiar fairy tales on their heads and putting own interpretations on them and the show early on clearly had clearly had a ball. Watched it without fail every time it came on and it was often a highlight of the week. Which was why it was sad when it ran out of ideas and lost its magic in the later seasons.
The thirteenth episode of 'Once Upon a Time' "What Happened to Frederick" is a slight step down from the previous episode "Skin Deep", which to me was one of the season's better episodes. It has a lot of charm and heart, but just falls short of being as enchanting as it could have been.
Its weak point is some of the dialogue, which is sometimes soapy and melodramatic. The whole stuff with the siren in particular applies and seemed slightly complicated.
A great job however is done with David and Mary Margaret's relationship and his dilemma of leaving Kathryn. This aspect of the story is done with a lot of heart and does resonate emotionally. It was easy to be invested in both the past and present day stories, more the present day one than the past. The parallel between the fantasy and real worlds is very well handled, the Kathryn and Stranger subplot simmers and the interpretations on happy endings are different and intelligently done.
Visually, "What Happened to Frederick" is a very handsomely mounted episode, settings and costumes that are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. The special effects, after being pretty bad in a couple of episodes like "True North", are superior here. It is photographed beautifully and there were some make-up that suited the characters perfectly. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme.
Much of the writing is very humorous and touching, and full credit has to go to the full-blooded portrayals and chemistry of Josh Dallas, Ginnifer Goodwin and Anastasia Griffith.
All in all, very good and charming if not quite great. 8/10 Bethany Cox
0 out of 1 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
