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On her 28th birthday, bail bondswoman Emma Swan is found by Henry, the son she gave up for adoption, who drags her to Storybrooke, Maine. He insists the townspeople are fairy-tale characters trapped there by the Evil Queen's curse, with no memory of who they are, and that Emma is the one destined to break it.
Checked 25 Oct 2026. Services change their catalogues often; the service’s own page has the final word.
On her 28th birthday, bail bondswoman Emma Swan is found by Henry, the son she gave up for adoption, who drags her to Storybrooke, Maine. He insists the townspeople are fairy-tale characters trapped there by the Evil Queen's curse, with no memory of who they are, and that Emma is the one destined to break it.
Why watch It takes the familiar fairy-tale canon and recasts the villains as people with history, which is why Lana Parrilla's Regina and Robert Carlyle's Rumplestiltskin became the show's centre of gravity. The flashback structure, borrowed from its creators' time on Lost, keeps the mythology rolling. Best for viewers who enjoy long-form romance and mythology, and for families with older children.
Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, writers on Lost, created Once Upon a Time for ABC. It premiered in October 2011 and ran for seven seasons to May 2018. Episodes typically cut between Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest, with Disney characters and properties folded in as the series went on. Much of it was shot in British Columbia, with the fishing village of Steveston standing in for Storybrooke.
A short-lived spin-off, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, aired in 2013 and 2014. The seventh season reworked the show around a grown-up Henry in a new setting, with much of the original cast gone.
Start at the pilot: the first season is the most self-contained, building toward the curse’s end in its finale. The early second season shifts the premise substantially, so treat the first season as a complete story and continue if the characters have hooked you.
Jennifer Morrison
Emma Swan
Lana Parrilla
Evil Queen / Regina / Roni
Jared S. Gilmore
Henry Mills
Robert Carlyle
Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold / Weaver
Ginnifer Goodwin
Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard
Josh Dallas
Prince Charming / David Nolan
Colin O'Donoghue
Killian Jones / Hook
Emilie de Ravin
Belle
Rebecca Mader
Zelena / Wicked Witch / Kelly
Sean Maguire
Robin Hood
Meghan Ory
Red Riding Hood / Ruby
Raphael Sbarge
Jiminy Cricket / Dr. Archie Hopper
Film · Canada
IMAX theatres · Global · From 25 Nov; Netflix · Global · 23 Dec
David Fincher's Cliff Booth film gets two weeks in IMAX from 25 Nov, then streams on Netflix on 23 Dec. Here is how that works for Canadians.
Jeff Cameron · 3 min read
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