Once Upon a Time: Season 7 (Final)

 

Created by: Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz

Executive Producers: Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Steve Pearlman, David H. Goodman, Andrew Chambliss

Starring: Lana Parilla (Roni), Colin O'Donoghue (Rogers), Andrew J. West (Henry), Dania Ramirez (Jacinda), Gabrielle Anwar (Victoria Belfrey), Alison Fernandez (Lucy), Robert Carlyle (Weaver), Mekia Cox (Sabine), Adelaide Kane (Ivy), Rose Reynolds (Tilly)

While one could very logically and correctly argue that this seventh season was unnecessary, I thought it was still really well executed. 

I watched this several years after the season had already come out, so I knew the drama about the soft reboot and was prepared for all the changes going in. I remember seeing the news about the changes as they came out, especially about Jennifer Morrison not returning (in any major way) and just thinking to myself, "Well, they'll just have to be more creative about it, then." And guess what? They were. 

Some aspects of the season were a bit flimsy, but I think that will happen any time a series is renewed without a a solid, series-long plot. Sadly, I'm finding series-long plots to be less common; writers tend to write by the seat of their pants as their show is renewed, finding season-long plots that happen to be interesting enough to be worth exploring, but not things that would necessarily continue a very major plot from the first season. I suppose the trend is not necessarily new; many amazing old shows like Lost, Heroes, and Smallville seemed to only be written as they were renewed. But I think the shows that have been truly incredible have one primary, overarching plot/goal like Avatar: the Last Airbender, The Dragon Prince, and Battlestar Galactica, though I haven't seen all of the latter. Some of those flimsy things this season were the time-travel, the idea of a wish realm, and trying to explain why Emma Swan was absent. 

Older Henry and Jacinda (Cinderella). I thought they made a great couple! 

Older Henry next to his younger version (Jared S. Gilmore) from the earlier seasons because of a time subplot that I never fully understood and that felt awkward anyway

But I thought those were minor details and the main season's plot drew me in--as did, more importantly, the new characters. It was exciting meeting Jacinda, Victoria, Lucy, and the new Henry. Together they made a compelling foundation that continued to be interesting as it went on. It was a little bit of a rehash of season 1's Dark Curse, but the fact that the only one in on it was a new character--Lucy--made it a bit more interesting. I enjoyed seeing both Henry and Roni clueless and I also enjoyed the new roles for Rogers (Captain Hook) and Weaver (Mr. Gold). 

I thought Victoria Belfrey made a compelling villain over the first half of the season, with her cold air and manipulative ability 

I also enjoyed Lucy as a new character; I thought she was intelligent and resourceful and it was nice seeing someone other than Henry trying to push the adults around! 

As the season went on, it was fun to see a slow but steady drip of familiar characters. Emma Swan appeared briefly, Hansel and Gretel came back, Belle returned for an episode, and Zelena returned for a prominent role as well. For the series finale, every major character and many minor ones returned for the sendoff. But I think that was good. To be an effective season, it had to give the old ones more of a back seat in order to let the new ones shine. I think they did this well, keeping all the spirit of the prior six seasons in terms of fairy tales, often-flat villains (with major exceptions) who just want to destroy happiness, magic, love, and endless optimism. 

Regina's new main role as the bartender Roni

While I think it may have been better if season 6 gave us the bowtie ending with all of its fanfare and world-wrapping without necessitating the soft reboot of season 7, this finale season still did its job as well as it possibly could. The season/series finale also felt perfect. Bringing back all the major characters for its two-part finale was an excellent way to wrap things up. The final scenes of the series felt like a full return to normal; they could've fit just as well in season 6. There was an excellent "full circle" effect: the first moments of the series premiere took place in a palace ballroom with Snow White and Prince Charming getting married; the series finale took place in the same palace ballroom with Snow White and Prince Charming giving a speech. As a cherry on top, in the premiere, the Evil Queen burst into the ballroom to pronounce the curse; in the finale, Emma Swan burst in because she was late 😂 but the effect was still the same, and it fulfilled a certain expectation I had because that finale scene so closely emulated that premiere scene. 

The final moments gave me an immense feeling of closure and contentment. Not only was that "full circle" moment in the ballroom hugely satisfying and acknowledging of the whole, rounded experience, but they also gave every character a perfect ending that they had all worked hard for six seasons to achieve. When the ballroom scene ended, the camera panned over every major location from the series with the show's main theme playing. The evening lightning aesthetic gave a sense of ending and peace, with each location absent of any people; a way of saying 'goodbye' to all the places. The very final shot was a road sign that said "Leaving Storybrooke," and that just made my heart melt. It felt perfect.