My 10 Favourite Plotlines on Once Upon a Time

Sunday 14th May saw the season 6 finale of Once Upon a Time, a TV show I’ve mentioned time and time again on the blog, for a long time it was my favourite TV show. It was exactly what I wanted, a show that made me believe fairy tales, something I love so much, were real. It was a show that preached hope and that good would always triumph over evil. It first aired when I was living the darkest time of my life. While I was locked in an abusive relationship with what felt like, at the time, a great evil. I needed hope. I needed to know that good would always triumph over evil. Once Upon a Time gave me that. As I cradled my new born I watched Snow White and Prince Charming give up theirs. Eventually Little Miss became my own saviour, like Emma became theirs.

Although the show has been renewed for a seventh season, taking with it only three of the series regulars, the story of Emma and Snow and Charming came to an end this weekend. Once Upon a Time from now on will be forever changed. It’s been a journey, not one I’ve enjoyed in it’s entirety, more so since season 3 but I’ve stuck with it.

In it’s honour today I’m sharing my 10 favourite plot lines of the past 6 seasons. Not the main through plot, but the small ones that are ultimately supposed to create a rich story. I only really enjoyed the main plot in seasons 1 & 2 if I’m honest, I stayed for the smaller ones, for the characters and to find out if in the end, good really can win, even in the final battle.

These are in no particular order, although anything with Neal Cassidy automatically wins out because he’s my favourite character.

1. Tallahassee to Manhattan
Technically the whole plotline of Neal Cassidy being Henry’s dad & Baelfire Rumplestiltskin’s son was my favourite. I loved Neal from the first moment he smiled. He was a good character. The best. I loved the flashback to when Emma met him. I loved when they come to his apartment in New York and not only does he see his father but Emma and then he realises that Henry is his son. I so badly wanted Emma and Neal to be together. Due to “shippers” poor Neal got an unfair lot and I’m still not over it.

2. August Helps Emma Believe
Another character I loved dearly, August Booth or Pinocchio. He came through the wardrobe with Emma and in a way watched over her through her childhood. In Season 1 Emma still isn’t believing Henry on the front that she’s the saviour and the fact she needs to break to break the spell so August helps her believe. They had a great relationship and I thought the character of August was so interesting.

3. Belle & Rumple’s Wedding
Whether you’re a lover or a hater of Rumbelle’s epic love story, that’s on you. Personally, I’m a lover and I’m glad they got their happily ever after. They both made some crappy decisions over the last 6 seasons but I’m glad they made it. For me, the height of their relationship was their beautiful quiet wedding. Their vows were so right and then their honeymoon when they danced. It couldn’t have been more perfect. I cried buckets.

4. “I will always find you.”
Speaking of epic love stories, Snow and Charming have to be up there and I’m not talking about Mary Margaret and David, I’m talking about how Snow and Charming met and fell in love in the Enchanted Forest. I love their back story, it’s so much more interesting than any other stories of Snow White. I always enjoyed whenever we got more of their story before the first curse from their first meeting, to their first curse, to the time Snow took a potion so she couldn’t remember Charming anymore, even up to their song in the musical episode. Snow and Charming’s love were the root of the show.

5. Jefferson the Mad Hatter
Don’t you just wish there was more of the Mad Hatter? Jefferson was played by Sebastian Stan and he only appeared in few episodes but he was great. I loved what he was like in both Storybook and in the Enchanted Forest. I think he took on the role of Mad Hatter very well and made it his own. One of the best lines in the whole series (and summed up the first season perfectly) was one of his; “You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants some magical solution for their problem and everyone refuses to believe in magic.” Iconic.

6. Cinderella
“Every story needs a memorable detail!” Some of my favourite lines come from the episode where Cinderella is introduced. Her storyline with Rumplestiltskin and taking her first born combines both her story and his. I also love the fact that it explains many plot holes (back when Once used to do that) like where Rumple got the fairy wand from. In season 6 we return to Cinderella again and more of her background is revealed. I love the twist on her step sister and the explanation on where her mother has been since we never see her in Storybrooke.

7. Tinkerbell Helps Regina Find her True Love
One of the few plotlines I’m featuring from later seasons (because to be honest, there are very few I really enjoyed) but I loved how Tinkerbell helped Regina find her true love, and that true love turned out to be Robin Hood. I think a lot of people felt like it was a slow episode but I really enjoyed it. Tink is one of the few forgotten characters that I get annoyed about. She was huge in the whole Neverland plot but after it was resolved she was still in Storybrooke but we never see her. This gave her some backstory and I enjoyed this link to Regina.

8. Snow White Kills Cora
I just watched The Millers Daughter episode and I’d forgotten how great it was. It was back when Once Upon a Time writers were really clever. The episode earlier and this episode really expanded the Snow/Regina family history, that even their mothers didn’t like each other. I thought the candle idea was really good, and the way Cora looked at Regina before she died gave her some humanity. It also gave Snow a more human character instead of her being completely good. Her heart remains dark right through the season which is great continuity.

9. The Twist on the Snow Queen
A lot of people disliked the Frozen arch, feeling that it was only put in due to the popularity and although I didn’t really like the Anna & Elsa aspect of it, I loved the Snow Queen and her back story even down to the shattered sight spell. Because if you know the original story you’ll know that some of the broken mirror end up in Kai’s eyes and heart which makes him cruel. I loved how it combined both the Disney version of Frozen with the original Hans Chrisian Anderson story to create something new and their own. Plus Elizabeth Mitchell was kick ass as Ingrid the Snow Queen.

10. Cruella de Vil
Not really a plot line, but Cruella was awesome. Possibly my favourite female character on the show ever. She was just how I imagined her, swimming in gin and fur coats. I like that she could control all animals and I enjoyed the back story they gave her. She also had some of the best lines in the show ever. I really wish she could have stuck around more, but ho hum, like all my favourite characters on the show she had an expire date.

There you have it, no Hook and Emma, no Black Fairy, or Gideon.. in fact very little from the later seasons because the show was never as good as it was in it’s first few season. The show went down hill as soon as Peter Pan was evil, tried to kill his own great grandson and was Rumple’s father. But still, it’s fairytales and I will watch season 7, I can’t be the only one who hopes the writers do something wonderful with it, right?