“All magic comes with a price!” – Rumplestiltskin
And the residents of Storybrooke will have a big price to pay when Once Upon a Time returns this Sunday at 8 pm on ABC. Check out a sneak peek below!
For a show with a lot of ups and downs in its writing, the fourth season is strong and shifts away from the slump of Season 3.
I hope that Season 4 continues as solidly as the first half when the show returns. (Seriously, I know we were all skeptical bringing Frozen in so suddenly but it really worked.)
The last we saw of our favorite characters: Robin and Marian left with their son across the town line; Hook nearly died; and in the best twist of events I’ve seen from this show since Season 1, Belle used the dagger to force Rumpelstiltskin across the town line after deciding she’s had enough of his lying.
But then, in a brief flash-forward, we saw Rumpelstiltskin approach Ursula in the real world and hint that they were going to find the other two Queens of Darkness.
Who are these Queens of Darkness, you ask? They might just be our next Big Bads. We saw them in the mid-season finale through flashbacks to Fairytale Land but now we’re going to get to know them a lot better.
Ursula from The Little Mermaid (Merrin Dungey), Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians (Victoria Smurfit), and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (being played by the same actress as in Season 1, Kristin Bauer van Straten) are about to make life a little harder for our heroes.
This is a great set-up for a dramatic and fun second half of the season, especially with a trio of awesome and powerful female characters leading the way.
The sneak peek gives us a good idea of what to expect – including that Cruella has some powers of her own in this adaptation! This second half of this season will be all about heroes and villains. This show hasn’t shied away from that theme before but we’ve never seen it like this.
The search for the mysterious “Author” should also add some weight and excitement to the season.
I’m very excited to see what creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis have in store for us this time.
Are you excited for Once Upon a Time to come back? What do you think of Ursula, Cruella, and Maleficent teaming up? Let us know in the comments!
