In the seventh and final season, the "real-world" portion of the story takes place in Seattle, Washington, in the fictitious neighborhood of "Hyperion Heights", with a new main narrative led by adult Henry (Andrew J.

The town's only hope lies with a bail bond agent named Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), who is the daughter of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas).

She is aided by her ten-year-old son, Henry Mills (Jared S. Gilmore), with whom she was recently reunited after giving him up for adoption upon his birth, and his Once Upon a Time book of fairy tales that holds the key to breaking the curse.

On her 28th birthday, Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, is brought to Storybrooke by her biological son Henry Mills in the hopes of breaking the curse cast by his adoptive mother, Regina Mills–the Evil Queen.

In the third season, the main characters travel to Neverland to rescue Henry, who has been kidnapped by Peter Pan (Robbie Kay) as part of a plan to obtain the "Heart of the Truest Believer" from him.

The characters are then mysteriously brought back to a recreated Storybrooke with their memories of the previous year removed, and the envious Zelena / Wicked Witch of the West (Rebecca Mader) from Oz appears with a plan to change the past, prompting Emma and Henry to return.

In the fourth season, Emma and Hook's time travel adventures lead to the accidental arrival of Elsa (Georgina Haig) from the Enchanted Forest of the past to present-day Storybrooke.

Later on, a banished Rumplestiltskin returns with the help of Cruella de Vil (Victoria Smurfit), Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten), and Ursula (Merrin Dungey), carrying out his own plans to rewrite the rules governing the fates of all heroes and villains.

In the fifth season, the characters embark on a quest to Camelot to find the Sorcerer Merlin (Elliot Knight) in order to free Emma from the powers of an ancient darkness.

A tragic loss forces Emma to lead a rescue party to the Underworld, where the gang encounters souls of those with unfinished business and must face the conniving Hades (Greg Germann).

The characters' dangerous manipulations of magic lead to the separation of Regina and her Evil Queen persona, as well as the arrival of Dr. Jekyll (Hank Harris) and Mr. Hyde (Sam Witwer).

In the sixth season, the residents of Storybrooke set out to protect the town from the combined threat of Mr. Hyde and an unleashed Evil Queen, as well as dealing with new arrivals from the Land of Untold Stories.

Henry, along with characters from the New Enchanted Forest, have been brought to the neighborhood under a new curse and are caught in a rising conflict involving Cinderella (Dania Ramirez) and Lady Tremaine (Gabrielle Anwar), whose dangerous history with Mother Gothel (Emma Booth) is revealed, as well as the agendas of Dr. Facilier (Daniel Francis).

As they succeed in breaking the curse, the arrival of Wish Realm Rumplestiltskin with a plot to condemn every hero into eternal unhappiness leads to an ultimate sacrifice to save their happily ever after.

Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis conceived Once Upon a Time in 2004 before joining the writing staff of Lost but wanted to wait until that series was over to focus on this project.

Eight years before the pilot began development (the two had just completed their work on Felicity, in 2002), Kitsis and Horowitz became inspired to write fairy tales out of a love of "mystery and excitement of exploring lots of different worlds.

They explained, As people, you've got to see what the void in their heart or in their lives is to care about them ... For us, this was as much about the character journeys and seeing what was ripped from them in coming to Storybrooke – going at it that way as opposed to making it the 'break-the-curse show.

The show also has a similar premise to Bill Willingham's ten-year-old comic series Fables, to which ABC bought the rights in 2008 but never made it past planning stages.

After Fables fans raised controversy over possible appropriation, the show writers initially denied a link, but later said they may have "read a couple issues" of the comic book and while the two concepts are "in the same playground", they are "telling a different story.

"[25] Bill Willingham responded to the controversy in an interview, where he stated he did not feel the show was plagiarism and said: "Maybe they did remember reading Fables back then, but didn't want to mention it because we've become a very litigious people.

[32] The actress explained her character as someone who "help[s] her son Henry whom she abandoned when he was a baby and who seems like he's a little bit emotionally dysfunctional", but noted that Emma does not start out believing in the fairytale universe.

[35] For the second season, Meghan Ory and Emilie de Ravin were promoted to series regulars as Red Riding Hood / Ruby[39] and Belle / Lacey[40] respectively, while Bailey made guest appearances in two episodes[41][42] and Sbarge joined the recurring cast.

[52] For the fifth season, Rebecca Mader and Sean Maguire were promoted to series regular status as Zelena / Wicked Witch of the West and Robin Hood respectively,[53] while Socha exited the main cast.

[25] For example, many items found in Lost, such as Apollo candy bars, Oceanic Airlines, Ajira Airways, the TV series Exposé, and the MacCutcheon whiskey, can be seen in Once Upon a Time.

[102] Common Sense Media rated the show 4 out of 5 stars, stating, "Parents need to know that although Once Upon a Time is inspired by classic fairy tales such as Snow White, Pinocchio, and revivals of popular stories such as Mulan, Brave, and Frozen, it's not always age-appropriate for younger kids.

There's some implied sexual content (including shirtless men, women buttoning up their blouses, and lovers escaping out of windows), some innuendo, and some iffy language ("hell", "ass", "suck").

"[105]In a review from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, TV critic Gail Pennington hailed it as one of the "Most Promising Shows of The Fall" and, unlike Gilbert, had high marks for Morrison.

She also gave excellent reviews for Morrison's character: "Her Emma is predictably cynical and prickly – fairy-tale princess, my Aunt Fanny – but she's sharp and lively enough to keep audiences begging for 'just a few more pages' before they go to bed.

Wilson went on to state of the lead: "Her pursuit of a 'happy ending' is not about finding a man or going to a ball all gussied up, but about detective work, about building a relationship with her son Henry, and about seeking the 'truth' as to why time stands still in the corrupt Storybrooke world.

[156] On April 14, 2014, a sequel to the first comic book called Once Upon a Time: Out of the Past was released, which details previously unseen flashback stories of Captain Hook, the Evil Queen, Rumplestiltskin, Belle and the Mad Hatter from before the original curse.