Since
the new season of Once Upon a Time
starts this weekend, I thought I’d spend the next few posts on a few of my
favorite characters from the show. I get
that the show isn’t perfect, a fact often made stunningly clear by improbable
twists, fumbled redemption arcs for the baddies, and a preference for Big! Shocking!
Moments! over thoughtful storytelling.
Still, I appreciate its creative ambition, and when it’s on, it’s really
on. The series is home to some
wonderfully interesting characters who keep me coming back when the writing is
questionable.
Although
today’s character is technically from the Enchanted Forest, she’s not a beloved
fairytale figure with built-in story beats.
Rather, she’s our rather splendid, cynical eyes into the show’s world of
stories and magic. Utterly badass bail
bondsperson Emma Swan has spent 28 years relying only on herself, jumping
between group homes before going off the grid, getting in trouble, and then
pulling herself up. She comes honestly
by her job, finding people, because she’s been searching for her parents since
she was young. Unfortunately, when your
parents are Snow White and Prince Charming, and they sent you to this world as
a baby through a magic wardrobe (to protect you from an evil curse, duh,) there’s
not so much of a paper trail.
So
there’s Emma when we meet her. Awesome,
hardened, clever, BAMF, lonely and pretending not to be, and then, all of the
sudden, she’s accosted by an adorable moppet from a magically-guarded small
town, claiming she’s the only one who can save these trapped fairytale
characters from the curse her loving parents helped her escape. She doesn’t believe him; how could she? But she’s softer-hearted than she lets on, and
she can’t really let a kid ride the bus from Boston to Maine by himself, so she
drives him back to his impossible village of Storybrooke. And once she has her foot in the door, her
spidey senses tingle enough to make her stick around.
I know
I’ve only been talking about the pilot so far, but it really gives you ample
reason to love Emma. From her savvy,
cool-as-a-cucumber collection of a bail jumper to the compassion and concern
for young Henry that keeps her in Storybrooke, she’s every inch the amazing but
flawed hero. She’s tough and gutsy, she’s
perceptive, and almost immediately, in her own guarded way, she starts to care
deeply about Henry and his welfare.
Plus, she’s stubborn, jaded, and sometimes foolhardy in her boldness,
and she has trouble believing that anyone would believe in her. Her emotional damage resonates from her
childhood to her present, and it’s both stymied her and made her stronger. Is it any wonder I was a goner?
Because
I can’t write up a TV protagonist based entirely on one episode and should
touch on the rest of the series, the show benefits greatly from having her as a
viewpoint character. The tug and pull of
her “real world” pragmatism against her fantastical destiny makes for great
drama (and boy, does Jennifer Morrison bring it – I’ve always been lukewarm on
her, but she’s nothing but stellar here,) and you can always count on her for
incredulous commentary to let the air of the tires when the fairytale stuff
gets too sparkly for its own good. As
the show goes on, I love watching her find her footing in this incredible new
world, bring her practical skills and insights to magical crises, and slowly begin
to let her walls down with the family she’s never had. Apart from just being fantastic, I think Emma
is instrumental to grounding the show and keeping it from being mere fairytale
fanfic. Despite all the swords and dragons
and poisoned apples, it’s really her
story. And it’s a fine one.
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