'Once Upon A Time' balances crazy plot twists with fantastical charm

“Once Upon a Time” (2011 - present) returned for its midseason premiere on March 1, beginning the second half of its fourth season. For such a conceptually nontraditional show, it seems to be taking some risks with its newest plotline: a villainous alliance between Maleficent (Kristin Bauer Van Straten), Ursula (Merrin Dungey) and Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit).  Despite its apparent absurdity, this is a relatively tame plot by the standards of “Once Upon a Time."

The show is fundamentally built upon whimsy and suspension of disbelief, a sort of nighttime soap mixed with a storybook. In the series, famous fairy tale characters are transported to a small town in Maine, where they are entwined in a family tree that is convoluted enough to be worthy of “Game of Thrones” (2011-Present). The main child character, Henry (Jared Gilmore), is the grandson of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin), Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) and Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle), and the adopted child of the Evil Queen (Lana Parilla). These characters have fought a host of villains, including Peter Pan (Robbie Kay), the Wicked Witch of the West (Rebecca Mader) and a variety of CGI monsters.

There are also excessive amounts of cleavage in the female characters’ fairy tale costumes, and terms like “savior” and “happy ending” are bandied about left and right. It’s definitely a campy show, but its previous three and a half seasons have nonetheless been entertaining. The creative concept is certainly an important aspect of the series, but not the only element keeping it afloat. “Once Upon a Time,” created by former “Lost”(2004-2010) writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, succeeds most when focusing on the characters' interpersonal relationships, particularly familial and romantic ones. A main character, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), began the show as a seemingly orphaned drifter without a home. Emma has since accepted her identity as the child of Snow White and Prince Charming, and settled down with them and her son Henry in the cozy, fairy-tale-character-inhabited town of Storybrooke. She even has a boyfriend now – the witty, eyeliner-wearing Killian Jones (Colin O’Donoghue), who is the show’s significantly more attractive version of Captain Hook.

When the series spends time exploring Emma’s relationship with Killian, or with her parents -- who, for complex reasons, are the same age as she is -- it manages to rise above its occasionally convoluted plot lines and present a genuinely moving story. At other times, however, “Once Upon a Time” can get a little bit messy. The constant introduction of new characters and new worlds complicates a story that benefits from simplicity, and almost every episode features flashbacks which further muddy the already intricate character backstories.

Occasionally these narrative choices succeed; surprisingly, the show’s usage of characters from the movie “Frozen” (2013) in the first half of the fourth season was refreshing and contributed greatly to the story as a whole. Other times, they most certainly do not, such as in the overwrought journey to Neverland in the third season. It remains to be seen if the trifecta of Cruella De Vil, Ursula and Maleficent will be one of the show’s better or worse plotlines.

“Once Upon a Time” certainly has its flaws. The dialogue can be immensely cheesy and there are an awful lot of bad wigs in the fairy tale settings. But when there is an emotional scene between characters, or when an uplifting moment occurs, the audience is reminded of why this show is worth watching. Relationships are what make “Once Upon a Time" strong and, when executed properly, these fairy tale characters become as relatable as those of any reality-based drama.