Once Upon a Time: Season 3 [Blu-ray]

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

I only give this season four stars because of the truly great first half. Season two was transitioning to the two-fold story-structure that this and all of the seasons to come will follow. Well, with this first execution of the binary structure, we are given a very endearing first act. It’s kind of hard not to give spoilers away at this point, so I’ll just say that this review probably has a number of SPOILERS if you haven’t watched the first two seasons and may allude to future seasons (but I’ll try to restrain myself on revealing things that happen in seasons 4 and 5 that might damage your viewing).

So, as hinted strongly at the end of the previous season, Emma, Captain Hook, Rumplestiltskin, The Evil Queen, Snow White, and Prince Charming have gone to Neverland to save Henry from Peter Pan. Yes, I know that sentence sounds funny, doubly so if you consider the interpersonal dynamics among these character over the past two seasons. But Henry is a figure who unifies them all, as revealed to some degree in the last season, and will be revealed as you press on. Neverland is the first act, and it’s one of the most concise and carefully constructed story-lines you’ll get with this show. While there have been subversion of commonly known heroes into villains before, Peter Pan is the shows most effective application of this tactic. He actually carries a lot of the implied omnipotence that J. M Barrie alluded to but didn’t really explore too deeply in the original stories. Though, I think this was more of a happy coincidence of the writers wanting to make the character as evil as possible rather than actually researching and exploring many of the implications surrounding the original character. Before I get to Pan himself, I’ll deliver some good news.

I don’t think this is really a spoiler since it happens in the first episode of season three, but I’ll just give the warning anyone. Remember the Greg and Tamara subplot that, while being the necessary transition to season three, was a trainwreck (especially with Tamara’s road to the void beyond nowhere’s backstory)? That plot is killed, mercifully for we the viewers, very quickly and in a satisfying way by Rumple. There is a sub-plot about the Darling children (Wendy, John, and Michael) that seems almost as bad as Greg and Tamara’s, but at least it ties up some loose ends concerning another major character, and becomes a minor sin if you consider the season as a whole.

Back to Pan, he’s so wonderfully hate-able. He’s probably the closest thing you’ll get to OUAT’s version of Joffrey from Game of Thrones (the comparison was begging to be made). But, like Joffrey (and even like Umbridge from Harry Potter), Pan’s hate-ability is essential to the character. He’s reaches Cora level, but Cora has certain qualities that make her somewhat likable (mostly because it’s Barbara Hershey). This is not to say that because Cora is more likable that she is a better character than Pan or that because Pan is more hate-able he is a better character than Cora: both are two of the show’s top tier villains who play to different evil archetypes. While there was some uncertainty as to whether Cora could best Rumple, who is always the most powerful and cunning of all the characters, that uncertainty is taken from us this season: Pan is just as, if not more, powerful than Rumple and can actually intimidate The Dark One–and it’s actually believable. This has everything to do with Carlyle’s amazing ability to create chemistry with anyone he’s acting with and Robbie Kay’s relentlessly strong performance as Pan (Kay’s acting is possibly the strongest in the whole season). While he’s always Peter Pan, he is a great manipulator and, for the most part, doesn’t have to use his Rumplestiltskin-level magic to damage his opponents. He’s a great puppet master of emotions

This is the season where Hook really shines for me. His connection to Henry is a little convoluted, though given his sense of honor understandable and logical. What makes him a more intriguing character is that he is very aware of how dangerous Neverland really is but is still willing to act as the group’s jungle guide. He also serves as a more human augmentation of Pan’s menace. Rumple is wary of Pan on a number of levels, but the Dark One’s fears are formed from a sense of magical knowledge and esoteric knowledge known only to Pan and hilmsef. Hook is scared of Pan because the Captain knows himself to be very mortal (with a lack of magic and a huge number of relatable human weaknesses) realizes that the boy who never grew up is a pure evil with lethal power who has total control over a deadly living island The grouping of Emma, Snow, David, Regina, Hook, and Rumple will become the basic core protagonist group from here on out, but there are plenty of tensions, old hatreds, and a slew of recurring bad personal habits to make the dynamics and drama of the group a constant. Regina’s a good guy this round, but she’s really not happy about it at the beginning of the save Henry quest–which makes her both amusingly terse but also a very important practical voice that the group desperately needed.

The character gratuity slows down a bit since the major players spend half of the season on an island. The appearance of Tinkerbell isn’t without purpose, but she is mostly there to set up a larger plot-line. The only additional Disney princess addition–so glad they pumped the breaks on bringing in every princess ever out of the woodwork–is the appearance of Ariel. Now the linking of the Neverland mermaids to Ariel’s plot is actually a smart choice, even if her character is mostly there to jump through some pesky plot hurdles that the writers appear to have been too lazy to work around. The mermaid princess is given her own episode, and it’s actually one of the best of the entire season (and a welcome moment of levity and revisiting of a tried and true plot).

– EllisScottPollard

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Lana Parrilla, Josh Dallas, Jared Gilmore
Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English (DTS-HD High Res Audio)
Subtitles: French, Spanish, English
Region: Region A/1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 5
Rated: Unrated – Not Rated
Studio: ABC Studios
DVD Release Date: August 19, 2014
Run Time: 946 minutes
ASIN: B00KS9V6LA