Aside from the fact that they’re both based on favorite childhood fairy tales and they both premiered on the same week, NBC’s Grimm and ABC’s Once Upon a Time could not be more different. Once premiered on Sunday night with an impressive 12.8 million viewers, while Grimm started off its series with 6.5 million viewers Friday night.
Once Upon A Time starts off its pilot in the typical land far, far away, with Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) riding through the forest to Snow White’s (Ginnifer Goodwin) rescue. Of course, he saves her from her slumber with true love’s kiss, and it appears they’re going to live happily ever after. It becomes clear that this isn’t going to be the case, however, when the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) dooms the whole kingdom to be banished to a land without happily ever afters, our own universe. Their only hope of escaping this land–Storybrooke, Maine, to be exact– is Snow White and Prince Charming’s daughter, who was saved from the curse and is destined to return to save her people on her twenty-eighth birthday.
The first episode bounces back and force between this fairy tale land and present time, where Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) is celebrating her twenty-eight birthday by herself in her Boston apartment. That is, until a boy claiming to be Swan’s son shows up at her door. Ten year old Henry mills (Jared Gilmore) convinces Swan to return to his hometown with him. Here, we begin to recognize the characters from the alternate, fairy tale universe popping up around town.
Once had a successful premiere, ranking thirteenth in this week’s ratings, but we’ll see if viewers return this Sunday night. The show has a great deal of promise with a strong ensemble cast of fresh characters. Its story line was interesting, but not overly confusing or hard to follow, as is the case with many of the other dramas starting up recently. There were some fun plot twists and questions brought up along the way that should bring a large amount of viewers back again. The writing, however, could use some work. The story may begin in a fairytale kingdom, but the characters have now entered the real world with no memory of their past lives. It’s time to lose the cheesy dialogue and update the writing to match the 21stcentury.
Grimm tells the story of Nick Burckhardt (David Giuntoli), a detective in Portland, Oregon who finds out from his dying Aunt that he is a descendent of a group of hunters known as “Grimms.” This inheritance gives him the power to spot seemingly ordinary people who take the form of the monsters popular from childhood fairytales: hags, trolls, werewolves. The pilot follows Burckhardt in his search for a girl, clad in a red hoodie, who disappeared on her way to her grandfather’s house. As we soon find out, the child’s abductor is one of the monsters that Burckhardt is now seeking out.
The show delivered an entertaining pilot with a significant twist ending that gives viewers a reason to come back next week. Its plot is refreshingly original, unlike the typical Law and Order/CSI type shows that seem to pop up by the dozens every fall. However, it was clear that the show was playing it safe for its first episode. The fact that this isn’t a typical crime-solving drama gives it a lot of potential to be a standout show; however, it didn’t take that opportunity in its opener. For a show about monsters, it was severely lacking in the fear department. Instead, it sprinkled in a few forced jokes and light comedy in an attempt to brighten the mood of the not-so-dark show. My hope for future episodes? Lose the corny jokes and go for the fear. This is a show about the very beasts kids have grown up fearing. It needs to take advantage of that.
Both shows started off their seasons with high ratings and a great deal of promise. They both offer a refreshing change from the typical Lost-esque and vampire themed shows that having been scattering premiere season for the past couple years. Because the two are so different, competition between them doesn’t seem to be an issue. With a few tweaks, both shows can prove to be successful.
Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8/7c. For more information visit http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/once-upon-a-time
Grimm airs Fridays at 9/8c. For more information visit http://www.nbc.com/grimm/
