And they lived Happily Ever After...........So we are all led to believe. 

> Setting, The town of Storybrooke in contrast to the Enchanted forest. -> Flashbacks to the Enchanted Forest and the backstories of the fairytale counterparts of Storybrooke residents. ->Feminist twist on fairytales- fairytale roles are subverted as the female roles are just  as integral as the men's. The females are often depicted saving the guy's butt. For example Snow White saves Prince Charming just as much as he saves her which makes the adage they repeatedly declare "I will always find you" befitting.                                                                -> The Characterization and cleverly constructed relationships packed with emotional resonance.       ->Conflict- The internal and external struggle between opposing forces, ideas or interests that creates tension and suspense for the audience watching as well as the characters on screen.        -> Costuming- gorgeous gowns, suits and armor worthy of Disney's visual history contributes to us understanding the Fairytale alias backstory's. For example clothing indicates particular characteristics of a person such as social status, personal attributes etc. -> The sexy, emotional and witty heartthrobs with complicated backstory's and that know how to touch my soul e.g. Hook, Robin Hood and Baelfire/ Neal. I MIGHT BE BIAS BUT THIS IS MY FAVOURITE POINT!!!!!  In all honesty I love this show to bits. The story arcs constantly keep me engaged and the characterization is like a complex puzzle piece i'm constantly trying to figure out. However, i'm going to have to go negative for a second (which is usually really easy for me! right flower?) this show like everything in life is not without it's flaws. I failed to complete this puzzle because so many characters have come and gone and I'm at a loss to understand who was this character? what was there purpose? and why it feels as if they were thrown in and then taken away unnecessarily? Characters are constructed interestingly but not clarified for the audience, there was so much they could've done with so many characters, characterization and story arcs are used to show the possibilities offered by a narrative and i'm not sure the directors and producers used this to the best of there ability. This irritates me unbearably because it has so much more potential then is being used. This also occurs with the main characters, for example I never truly understood the purpose or Backstory of Charming/ David's character but he was hot so I never really minded and his emotional scenes always tore me to shreds even when he was the one at fault e.g. in season 1 he had an affair with Mary Margaret which ruined their relationship for a while, he was the asshole at fault yet I still cried for him. That's some serious emotional power. Also, amongst  minor and major characters the emotional delivery varies from either completely bland, melodramatic or burning passion and realism.

Now flower- why should you watch it? or continue to watch it? What makes this show so great that it outweighs all the bad crap I listed above. This paragraph could go on forever and knowing me i'd be happy to write that paragraph but I know you wouldn't be bothered reading it so i'm going to try my very best to summarise. The show has a great dark side to it and the story doesn't hit you over the head by explaining every detail, it makes you think and allows you to form your own theories about what's going to happen and how it is going to happen and when the truth is revealed TRUST ME it is absolutely mindblowing. Despite the fact there's no magic in this world we can still identify with many aspects of the show, as we understand getting our happy ending requires sacrifice as Rumpelstiltskin says "magic always comes with a price", magic in the real world being the power we obtain to make our dreams come true. Also the majority of the time Disney fairytales are black and white, whereas Once Upon A Time (OUAT) strives to bring to life the shades of grey. From watching OUAT we understand making our dreams come true is never easy and involves a lot of hard work, dedication and above all teamwork and alliances. Also we identify with the  show because we identify with the people and their emotions deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. Care to admit it or not we've all felt as cowardly as Rumpelstiltskin, we've all felt as betrayed as Baelfire/ Neal, as conflicted as Regina, as strong-willed and lost as Emma, as protective as Charming, as determined as snow and we have all felt Hook's anger and vengeance.