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shakapuffin · 1 year

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Alert promo for 1x05 “Miguel”

cute pic via @dax.catre on insta!

Alert 1x04 “Andy” Review

Hey everyone!! Here’s my thoughts on this weeks episode 1x04 “Andy:”

- okay so i actually thought that this was a strong episode, dare i say the strongest we’ve seen yet? there wasn’t a ton of unbelievable nonsense (don’t get me wrong there was still some, just not as much as we’ve previously seen lol) and the case of the week kinda had an interesting twist. i read in a recent article (i forget which one) that this case is actually based on a true story…. that’s crazy!

- can i just say the little boy who played Andy was so freaking cute!! that being said, i feel like there was a lot of times when andy could’ve run away from his kidnappers (or real mother idk lol), like when his bio mother and the other guy was arguing he could’ve easily run away but like i guess it would’ve been risky, especially because the other kidnapper had a gun. but idk that’s probs just me being picky haha!

- i thought there was a healthy and more natural balance between the case and the characters personal issues/other storylines. finally! this is the first episode i can mostly confidently say that the balance actually worked!

- to go off of the case more, i have to really question nikki on this one. how the hell is she the leader of the missing persons unit if she writes the report with lies to protect the fake mother? like i get it, it’s better for the child but that woman still stole a child that wasn’t hers and nikki just basically let it happen! i want andy to stay with the fake mom too but that’s not lawfully right and if anyone every found out that nikki didn’t tell the truth in her report, she would definitely be fired! idk nikki was just off to me in this episode. i think she connected too personally with this case and it really showed that she couldn’t do her job with the correct morals of upholding the law.

- speaking of nikki, i thought dania ramirez was a bit bland this episode… it might’ve been just me but some of her dialogue seemed a bit flat. also i don’t know how much more i can take if she keeps calling everyone babies or her catchline of “saving our babies, that’s what we do.” like it was fine the first episode or two but it’s definitely not needed every episode.

- how the heck has jason not talked to june and apologized!! i’m sorry but if i was june i wouldn’t take him back! sorry jason! also, side note, when june said she was seeing someone else, i really thought she was admittedly cheating on jason. but ya if she wants a kid so bad, i don’t blame her for going and getting it done herself without jason’s help. i wonder if they’ll be back together… also does june know that keith is back? we never got that answered! lol

- i will say this again… what the hell is kemi doing? i’m probably ignorant and don’t know a lot about different spiritualities but i feel like it’s not needed in this show. the show is a procedural cop show, they solve the cases based on facts and clues, not so much in faith. it’s super interesting but it’s just not right for this show. now adding the new perspective of sidney and her “darkness” in her eyes, brings a new element for kemi because it relates to the keith mystery.

- i really liked how mike and jason teamed up for a lot of the episode… they obviously don’t see eye to eye on most things but it’s interesting to see them work together. i also like scott caan’s and ryan broussard’s dynamic and i would luv to see more of that in future episodes! also i do kinda luv jason’s recklessness, maybe it’s because scott caan’s danny from H5-0 was so reserved but it adds a bit more spark to the show, even if some of it is a bit unbelievable.

- the keith mystery once again deepens! we didn’t get too much farther this episode… i think we all kinda knew that the dna would match (keith had to of switched the baby hair to his). also i saw a theory that maybe jason wanted “keith” to be his son so bad that he didn’t show all of the dna paperwork to nikki. i’m not too sure about that one but it’s def something to consider as a possibility! now the new thing we found out is that keith supposedly drowned and sidney (and maybe her friend) was there to witness it. now we just have to find out who’s at the bottom of the lake.

- again i thought scott was great, i laughed out loud more this episode than in previous ones. i must admit, i thought it was a strong episode, some obvious blips but overall much better than the pilot! also maybe it was because “C” wasn’t there.. sorry i hate to be that person haha lol! i feel like it’s just a different dynamic when he’s there because he’s basically just filling up unneeded space.. the last two episode have been perfectly (dare i say more than) fine without him. he’s not needed, sorry y’all haha! i like the actor, nothing against him but his characters just isn’t it for me.

again, these are just my personal opinions. next weeks promo looks good! jason seems to be in a bit of trouble?!

what did everyone else think? is the show getting better? maybe? i’d luv to read and talk!💛

#Youtube #hawaii five 0 #scott caan #danny williams #alert #fox tv #alert on fox #dania ramirez #ryan broussard #review

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beautifulfaces-icons-and-gifs · 4 years

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Dania Ramirez on Tell me a Story Season 1

as Hannah Perez on Tell me a Story [S01 E01]

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#Dania Ramirez #icons: Dania Ramirez #Dania Ramirez icons #Dania Ramirez as hannah perez #Dania Ramirez on tell me a story #Dania Ramirez tell me a story #tell me a story #tell me a story season 1 #tell me a story season 1 episode 1 #tell me a story s1 e1 #icons

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kwebtv · 3 years

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Tell Me A Story - CBS All Access - October 21, 2018 - February 6, 2020

Thriller (20 episodes)

Running Time: 60 minutes

Stars: (Season One)

James Wolk as Jordan Evans

Billy Magnussen as Joshua "Nick" Sullivan

Dania Ramirez as Hannah Perez

Danielle Campbell as Kayla Powell

Dorian Crossmond Missick as Sam Reynolds

Sam Jaeger as Tim Powell

Davi Santos as Gabe Perez

Michael Raymond-James as Mitch Longo

Zabryna Guevara as Renee Garcia

Paul Wesley as Eddie Longo

Kim Cattrall as Colleen Powell

#Tell Me A Story #CBS All Access #TV #Thriller #2000's #James Wolk #Billy Magnussen #Dania Ramirez #Danielle Campbell #dorian Crosmond Missick #Sam Jaeger #Davi Santos #Michael Raymond-James #Zabryna Guevara #Paul Wesley #kim cattrall

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eg515 · 5 years

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Tell Me A Story Chapter 6: Guilt

#tell me a story #tmas rewatch #tmas 1x06 #gabe perez #hannah perez #davi santos #dania ramirez

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grande-caps · 5 years

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Sceencaps || Tell Me A Story - Season 1 + Opening Credits GALLERY LINK : [x] Quality : HD Screencaptures Amount : 10786 files Resolution : 1280x560px

-Please like/reblog if taking! -Please credit grande_caps/kissthemgoodbye!

#tell me a story #tmasedit #james wolk #billy magnussen #dania ramirez #danielle campbell #dorian crossmond missick #sam jaeger #davi santos #michael raymond james #paul wesley #kim cattrall #zabryna guevara #capped by randomkiwibirds

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uponaspoiler · 6 years

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'Tell Me a Story' Cast Explains Why It's Not the Next 'Once Upon a Time'

On October 23, the stars of CBS All Access’ upcoming series Tell Me a Story, including Paul Wesley, Kim Cattrall, Danielle Campbell, Billy Magnussen, and James Wolk, hit the red carpet at the Metrograph in New York City to celebrate the show’s forthcoming premiere this Halloween.

The series, which will take the world’s most beloved fairy tales and reimagine them in a new context, might have that in common with the ABC hit Once Upon a Time, but viewers will quickly find that Tell Me a Story is a brand new animal.

“[Tell Me a Story] is a lot heavier, a lot darker, and with a lot more adult themes — things like addiction, and greed and lust. A host of things that Once Upon a Time would not really [address],” said actor Michael Raymond-James, who plays Mitch in the new series and coincidentally also starred as Neal Cassidy in OUAT!

“A lot of [fairy tales] came from a different era — they’re hundreds of years old. So they came from a time when the world was a lot darker, and a lot more violent... They were tales told to children to keep them alive, essentially. Little Red Riding Hood [teaches you] ‘don’t stray from the path, because the consequences are pretty great.’ They tried to teach kids [these lessons] in a way they thought they could understand,” said Raymond-James.

“He’s not only an amazing creator, he’s got an incredible mind—he’s just a beautiful person. His vision is so authentic and specific, and there’s something really great about the show coming out on Halloween. In true Kevin Williamson form—that is his genre—suspense, thriller,” offered Dania Ramirez (Heroes, Entourage), who also starred on OUAT.

Read more/Source

#once upon a time #tell me a story #michael raymond-james #Dania Ramirez #mrj 2018 #dania interviews #dania 2018 #once in the news #MRJ Interviews #MRJ

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lazy-loris · 5 years

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#dania ramirez #tell me a story #need to watch

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coykouchou · 6 years

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Other TV Guide news for today:

Sons of Anarchy Is Leaving Netflix

Dania Ramirez Is No Fairy-Tale Princess in This Tell Me A Story Exclusive

Sarah Shahi's Reverie Canceled at NBC

Criminal Minds Sneak Peek: Alves Goes Full-On Tom Cruise to Catch the Bad Guy

Good Behavior Canceled by TNT After Two Seasons

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queenofglassbeliever · 2 years

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Points towards Ella and Tiana being paternal half-sisters.

Ella is played by Afro-Latina actress Dania Ramirez. The character has a visibly darker complexion than her mother Cecelia, played by Latina actress Cindy Luna.

Ella's darker skin tone could point to her having a black father.

Tiana's father is nameless as is Ella's. Despite Tiana's father having a name in the animated feature, it's never mentioned in OUAT. The name of Ella's biological father is also never mentioned. Either because she doesn't know it or doesn't remember. Ella states that her step-father was the only father she's ever known. Indicating that at some point he either left or died before Ella was old enough to remember him. Tiana's father died at some point. In the movie, she was a little girl when it happened. As for Once! Tiana it's unclear exactly when her father died. But it's easy to assume he died when she was young.

Tiana grew up hearing heroic stories about her father. Knowing this, it would be a good guess to assume he died when Tiana was a kid and these stories shaped how she saw him.

Tiana and Ella are close in age.

They were likely born within a couple of years of each other. Which leads me to the next point.

There are a few possible scenerios in which they could share the same father and Ella not know who he is. One being that Cecelia, Eudora and James (the father) were in a polyamorous relationship and Ella and Tiana were born close together. James died when the girls were little, Cecelia and Eudora decided to go their seprate ways and Cecelia didn't tell Ella about James. Another option is that James met Cecelia during the war he had enlisted in before he met Eudora. They had a brief relation ship that resulted in Cecelia's pregnancy and they parted ways before James knew. Maybe even before Cecelia found out she was pregrant. Later James married Queen Eudora and had Tiana, but never knew about Ella. (Personally, I like the poly option.)

It wouldn't change Ella's and Tiana's relationship at all. They're best friends and have a sisterly relationship. As evident by Ella's daughter Lucy calling Tiana "Aunt Tiana."

Whether or not the women found out that they're half-sisters, they still consider each other as sisters.

It doesn't take anything away from the story. Both women had a close relationship with the father that raised them. Ella loved her adoptive step-father very much. Marcus was the father who raised her and Ella learning (or wanting to learn) about her biological father doesn't charge that. Nor does it lessen the relationship between Ella and Marcus. To Tiana, her father was a hero. She carries on his legacy and a sister doesn't make that any less important.

It would be a very OUAT storyline. That show loved big family reveals. And it wasn't shy about repeating story lines and adding a twist. Long lost half-sisters reunited? Now where have I seen that before?

#ouat #ella mills #queen tiana #ella avellano #princess tiana #tiana d'orléans #once upon a time #ouat s7 #queen eudora #eudora d'orléans #cecelia tremaine #cecelia avellano #ouat gifs #my gifs

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onceland · 6 years

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Once Upon a Time stars Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas talk the end of an era

Josh Dallas stands in front of a massive war room table, his Prince Charming rallying the troops in a last-ditch effort to prevent a great evil from stealing their happy endings. A combination of old guard and new from Once Upon a Time’s seven-season run sits before him.

“A new generation has joined the fight,” Dallas says in his most Charming tenor, nodding in the direction of Alice (Rose Reynolds), Robin (Tiera Skovbye), Henry (Andrew J. West), and Ella (Dania Ramirez). “Enemies have become friends,” he continues, looking to Regina (Lana Parrilla) and Zelena (Rebecca Mader). Charming concludes by addressing the presence of Wish Realm Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) as a new friend who feels like an old one. Once Upon a Time is days away from completing production on the final episode of the series, but everyone has gathered for his and real-life wife Ginnifer Goodwin’s final day on set.

The moment is charged as Charming reveals they’ve uncovered final villain Wish Realm Rumplestiltskin’s (Robert Carlyle) ultimate plan. Goodwin’s Snow White signals the Black Knights to bring in a stack of personalized storybooks — but so does Charming. They’re both trying to have their characters take the lead. When Dallas also does the signal during their third take of the scene, Goodwin can’t help but break character, ribbing her husband: “You can’t not do that, can you?” Mader cuts in with a laugh: “That’s called marriage.”

While OUAT has depicted Snow and Charming’s epic love story since the show’s launch in 2011, fans also got to watch their portrayers fall in love. The duo, who began dating while filming the show, got married in April 2014. They welcomed their first child a month later and their second in June 2016. Though Goodwin and Dallas left the show at the end of season 6, the two will return for the upcoming series finale, which airs over two weeks starting this Friday and concluding May 18. EW hit the set on the couple’s final day of filming to talk about the show’s legacy. [Editor’s note: The interviews took place separately, but were stitched together.]

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: As you head into your final day of production, how are you feeling right now? GINNIFER GOODWIN: Oh my gosh, I’m a mess. Leaving a show was a really tough decision, but one that we spent years making. … It involved a lot of discussing child rearing with our showrunners, because we really wanted to be spending more time with the kids. We really needed to start Ollie in school — we had gotten him into a school in Los Angeles. But anyways, we had decided that that was what was best for our family. Though a difficult decision, it was one that we were very confident about. We left celebrating. I realized in coming back and having had the show decide to tell its final story in this final episode, that I had always counted on this show as being here — I always counted on my being able to return, sort of like when we all go off to college, we know that home is still home. Now knowing that home is being obliterated, as it were, that the sets will be torn down, I’ve been really overly emotional. I have been crying for the past 24 hours. It doesn’t help that the scenes, of which we are part, are classic Once Upon a Time scenes. They’re inspiring. The word “hope” is batted around an awful lot, so it is very nostalgic feeling. I’m definitely mourning the loss. I wish that it could just go on forever and that we always knew that it would be here when we’re homesick.

JOSH DALLAS: It feels surreal to be back, but also wonderful. I’m so grateful that I was part of the fabric of Once Upon a Time, a show that seemed to touch a chord in so many people and had a fan base that is so passionate, so smart, so vocal, and so willing to go along on the ride with us. It will always be a great thrill in my life that I was part of Once Upon a Time, and I got to play this character, and hopefully show a different side of this character to people, and show you things that you didn’t know about him. And hopefully, the show inspired. It’s a show about hope and it’s a show about how it’s your actions that define who you are. You’re not either all good or all bad. It’s about your choices that make your character. Saying goodbye to it is bittersweet, but I’m so grateful.

Ginnifer, what does it mean to you to have had a strong female character like Snow White brought into a new era? GOODWIN: It’s amazing that, honestly, these guys wrote a truly female-driven show. I mean, they began years before we joined the fray in 2011. It was instrumental then in my choosing to take part. I was coming off of a female-heavy show [Big Love]. I was coming off of a show that was written in which the roles for women were very strong, but to come on to a show that was female-driven, and by the way written by men, was important to me. The way that women were depicted in this show, it was brave of the men to write them so bravely. It’s wild to me, also in the current climate, in talking about television, that it hasn’t been highlighted that Once Upon A Time has always done this. [Showrunners Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis] both come from very strong relationships with very strong women. Those have been definitely celebrated on screen in their writing.

Can you talk about the oddity of playing Jennifer Morrison’s mother for years when you’re basically the same age? GOODWIN: Yeah, I know. There’s always sort of this safety net of, “We are fairy-tale characters, and therefore we are ageless.” Colin’s character, Hook, is supposed to be — I don’t remember how old — hundreds of years? Rumple is hundreds and hundreds of years. In that way, in justifying it in character, it’s always sort of made sense that we could be so similar in look and in spirit. As an actor, we’ve only really felt old in realizing that this next generation that we’re representing today really did graduate from college like a minute ago, like they really could be our children. That’s what’s made us feel old.

And Josh, what has it meant to you to play Prince Charming? DALLAS: It’s meant everything to me. It changed my life as well as other people’s lives, our fans’ lives. It’s meant everything to me. It did change my life and helped create my family, my own family at home. Like I said, I’m just forever grateful to be part of it.

What do you think it was about Once Upon a Time that made it last this long? GOODWIN: The show is so optimistic, while being really realistic. These characters were all extraordinary, but we can see ourselves in them. I think that the part of us that wants to escape, can. We can disappear into their stories. I feel like everyone can find not just one, but probably several characters that they relate to, and whom they would want to be. But at the same time, these characters are really flawed and messy. I think that their feelings are so universal. Yeah, it’s that relatability. I love extraordinary stories that are full of really relatable characters. Who knew that fairy-tale characters could be relatable in any way?

What do you think Once Upon a Time’s legacy will be? DALLAS: I think it will be a show that preached hope. I think that’s the legacy.

GOODWIN: Oh my gosh. Well, I like to think that it was the first of its kind. At the time that we made the pilot, no one was doing anything like this. And I feel like it even pre-empted the swashbuckling princesses on the big screen. It was so new. And I hope that it’s remembered as being groundbreaking. And I hope, as we’re discussing, that it’s remembered as being representative of the strongest kinds of complex and beautiful women. And I hope that there is enough love for the show that we do reunion specials along the way.

What was the most poignant fan interaction you’ve had because of this show? DALLAS: There really has been so many. I’ve been so humbled and grateful that there have been so many. Many people coming up saying how Once got them through a rough time or how it inspired them to love better, to hate better, to do everything better, and to know that they’re not alone. I’ve heard that from several different people. Those are always memorable.

GOODWIN: I feel like, more than it being about anything that’s been said, having fans not just come to Comic-Con, but show up in Vancouver on location dressed as our characters, has been truly amazing to me. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the fact that people relate to it to that extent I find to be powerful. The show’s been fun, and it has been meaningful to me because of what I’ve gotten from the scripts, and also because of the relationships that I have formed on set. The fact is that my entire real life has blossomed because of this show. Early on, to see that the show meant that much, that people went to that extent in representing the characters, made me really take what we’re doing here more seriously. And then, I could not respect more that the creators also took that seriously and really have listened to the fans over the years, and really have written the show for the fans. I don’t think I’ve ever been part of something where there was that kind of focus. I mean, there’s always been a need, obviously, to draw in viewers. And I don’t mean monetarily, I mean just in general what we do, we want people to need us. We need to be needed. But to have a show that’s written on or of the public, I find to be really special.

Do you have any regrets about leaving the show when you did? DALLAS: No. None at all, none at all. It’s always worked out. It’s worked out the way that I hoped it would. I’m forever grateful for our time on it, and when we left, it was time. It was time for us to go.

How would you describe the finale and how it compares to past OUAT season enders? DALLAS: The series finale compared to all the other finales is special because it is the last one, and it’s emotional like true Once Upon a Time style, but it’s also satisfying because it again comes full circle and ties everything together. I think it will leave our viewers and our fans so happy that they invested their time and their hearts into watching our show.

GOODWIN: I will say that, for the Evil Queen, there is a definitive change in this episode in what she really reveals she has learned, what she has taken to heart. I find it to be so powerful that I cried. That’s part of why I cried all through yesterday.

What brings Snow and Charming back into the fold? DALLAS: They get a message that Henry is in a tight situation and needs some help, so they do what any great grandparents would do that know how to use a sword and a bow and arrow, and they come to help out. They come to help out and rally the troops.

GOODWIN: I will say that I don’t really know what they’ve been up to. I mean, they’ve been in retirement. I think there have been a lot of lazy Sundays. What we do see is longer Snow hair. We don’t really know what has happened to them, but we know that they have gotten the message that they are needed, and they have answered the call.

How do you feel about the ending for your characters and how it comes full circle to the beginning of the series? GOODWIN: The pitch for the whole show was, “What would a world look like in which the Evil Queen got her happy ending?” And we feel that we’ve finally figured out what that would look like. Josh and I talked in the few minutes we were still awake after yesterday, we talked and talked about what an honor it was to be part of her happy ending. It was beyond satisfying. It was emotional, it was thrilling. It was dreamy. It’s where we always hoped it would go, but it has taken the Evil Queen … like her journey has been so dramatic. That circle has been so dramatic and she’s gone so far, she’s grown so much, that to see the fruits of the writers’ labors was really satisfying. I can’t imagine the fans won’t gobble it up.

DALLAS: It was really emotional, actually. The story began with Snow and the Evil Queen and Charming. We’re ending it with Snow, the Evil Queen, and Charming. The idea that Regina gets her happy ending is really emotional, that it’s finally come full circle, [it shows that] you just gotta keep at it and you have to keep believing.

GOODWIN: I love that the ending is open-ended. I feel that even our coming back just exemplifies the fact that nothing is ever over. Despite my devastation that we are ending the show in general, I do feel like we’re leaving it in a way that we could do those specials we discussed, that we could come back in five years, in 10 years, and revisit this. I fantasize about a special miniseries we could do — streaming, I don’t know. I think the revisitation is appropriate. This is the epitome of a Once Upon a Time episode, this is an old-school, nostalgic Once Upon a Time episode.

Can you talk about the importance of sending a message that anyone can get a happy ending? DALLAS: I think it’s so important to send that message, particularly in this day and age when we have so much negative-seeming in the world, and to know that you do have a second chance, that you can have redemption, is super-powerful. I think if you go through life and you don’t believe you can do that, it’s pretty bleak. I feel like Once Upon a Time can shine a little bit of lightness in the dark.

GOODWIN: I just know it to be true. I am dead-certain that Snow White is right, that hope is the magical ingredient in the potion. That is, everyone can find love, everyone can find happiness. Dreams are achievable. And the hope speech in the pilot, Mary Margaret’s hope speech, was what sealed the deal for me in the first place.

What are you doing to take away from this experience? DALLAS: Total gratitude.

Do you have a different affinity for fairy-tale characters after your experiences on OUAT? GOODWIN: My fairy-tale affinity/Disneyphilia is probably a bit stronger. It was part of the appeal in the first place because I love that whole world, these whole worlds. But yeah, I would say that it definitely hasn’t burned me out, it’s definitely fed the addiction.

If you could open up a new chapter of Once Upon a Time 10 years later, what would you want it to be about? GOODWIN: Yes! Well, we’ve been joking about the line Charming has today about the new generation that’s joined the fray, and we do have an opportunity, because of our agelessness — though it has made us feel very old today, that line. I’d like to think that we would be able to because all of the realms represent generation after generation after generation of magically infused beings. Yeah, just keep introducing more. I mean, I would love to have Snow White come back and fight alongside her great-great-granddaughter.

DALLAS: I hope there’s more adventures. I hope there’s just more adventures and these characters still keep trying to figure life out. I think that never ends for anybody, not just these characters, just anybody. You’re always trying to figure it out. I hope they still are pushing forward and they’re still growing and they’re still going on adventures.

You both have pilots in contention for the fall — Josh on NBC’s Manifest and Ginnifer on ABC’s Steps. GOODWIN: Yes, I cannot leave the Disney company, obviously. I did a play after we wrapped last year, after Once Upon a Time wrapped. And then my husband and I both took the fall off, and the winter, and we both just shot pilots, and mine is again with ABC. This one shoots in Los Angeles, which was the vital thing for us as a family in terms of keeping our kids in school, and why we left the show last year in the first place. So yes, ABC found for me yet again a magical life on another ABC show.

Once Upon a Time’s series finale will air over two weeks, kicking off this Friday at 8 p.m. ET and concluding Friday, May 18, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

#ouat #ouat spoilers #7x22 spoilers #ginnifer goodwin #josh dallas #s7 spoilers

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efnewsservice · 6 years

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May 4, 2018

“Oh, man, I’m fired. Guys, I think this might be my last day!” Once Upon a Time is in its final days of production, and Ginnifer Goodwin is feeling particularly punchy after flubbing a line during a pivotal scene. Her Snow White stands before our beloved heroes at a massive war-room table, giving a rousing speech about hope as it seems all but lost. A great evil threatens to steal their happy endings once and for all — if it sounds like a moment from the pilot, there’s a reason for that. As actress Jennifer Morrison puts it, “The heartbeat of the show has always been hope.”

Despite being the brainchild of Lost writers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, Once’s premise — Snow White and Prince Charming’s (Josh Dallas) daughter Emma Swan (Morrison) returns after 28 years to rescue a variety of legendary literary characters, like Jiminy Cricket (Raphael Sbarge) and Little Red Riding Hood (Meghan Ory), from the Evil Queen’s (Lana Parrilla) dark curse — seemed a lot to swallow when the series launched in 2011, and many critics expected the fairy-tale mash-up to fail.

Instead, OUAT went on to become one of ABC’s top performers, bewitching audiences with emotionally grounded and relatable stories that resonated with adults and children alike for seven seasons. “Even though it’s about fairy-tale characters, the writers have written [the show] in such a way that really goes to the heart of everybody,” says Colin O’Donoghue, who joined the show in season 2 as Captain Hook. “That’s hopefully where it will endure.”

Part of the show’s initial appeal was the OUAT bosses immediately bucking age-old expectations, setting a game-changing tone of female empowerment with a very simple, if not monumental moment in the pilot: sticking a sword in the hand of Disney princess Snow White. “When we wrote it, we didn’t realize,” Kitsis says. “We wanted her to pull a sword and not be a damsel in distress, and that is what people respect about Snow White — she’s a fearless warrior for good.”

“At the time that we made the pilot, no one was doing anything like this,” says Goodwin. “Honestly, these guys wrote a truly female-driven show. It was instrumental then in my choosing to take the part.” Goodwin notes OUAT’s female-forward approach was also used behind the scenes — she was No. 1 on the call sheet for years until Parrilla took the top spot in season 7. “I hope that Once is remembered as being groundbreaking, that it’s remembered as being representative of the strongest kinds of complex and beautiful women.”

That was never more apparent than with the character of Regina Mills. She started out as the show’s ultimate villain, unleashing a curse that trapped everyone in a land without magic, where Regina could live out her own personal happy ending. But it was one that turned out to be anything but happy, evolving into a Groundhog Day-like prison of her own making until she adopted Henry (Jared Gilrmore), eventually leading to the arrival of Emma Swan, who went on to wake the cursed characters.

Slowly, but surely, Regina conquered her own demons, becoming not just an ally to the Charmings, but family. “Regina is a very hopeful character because she’s so flawed and complex,” says Parrilla. “Following Regina’s journey over the years, we’ve seen that she’s made some mistakes, but she picks herself back up. I think she’s an inspiration to many, including myself; I’ve learned so much from her.”

Aside from its compelling leads, the show’s fortitude also stemmed from its ability to reinvent itself from season to season, sometimes multiple times within. The Once universe expanded into a playground sandbox where characters like Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz) and Belle (Emilie de Ravin) could cross paths with Tinker Bell (Rose McIver), the Wicked Witch (Rebecca Mader) or Dr. Frankenstein (David Anders). The show even birthed a short-lived Wonderland-set spin-off.

The biggest reboot came last year when — after the exits of six major cast members — Parilla, O’Donoghue, and Robert Carlyle (as Rumplestiltskin) were left to take center stage alongside Andrew J. West as an older version of Henry (Jared Gilmore), Dania Ramirez as a new iteration of Cinderella, and Rose Reynolds as Wish Realm Hook’s daughter Alice. But audiences waned without the original cast, seemingly losing hope at the worst possible time. “It makes me sad that something so positive on television is being taken off the air when we need it most,” says Parrilla. “It breaks my heart.”

Even the characters of Once may come to lose hope as the series heads into its final episodes. Despite developments in Hyperion Heights that could signal a brighter tomorrow, an unleashed villain intends to follow through with a dangerous plan, the painful effects of which would be felt by our cherished characters for eternity. “I would definitely say the last episode is as epic as probably any episode that Once Upon a Time has ever done,” O’Donoghue teases. “It’s like taking the best of all seasons and jamming it into one — literally.” West concurs: “The finale is maybe the single most massive episode that the show has ever done. And I mean that in all sincerity.”

Though their future may look bleak, Snow White would (and does) tell our heroes to keep hope alive, a notion Morrison attributes to why the show “had such a strong connection with the audience.” It didn’t hurt that the show launched in a time when social media allowed fans to share in the characters’ experience, cheer their triumphs, and criticize their missteps in real time, creating a community of fans who have cemented a strong bond over the years. “It’s brought a lot of people together that maybe never felt seen,” says Mader, who joined the show’s ranks in season 3. “These people will now be friends forever, because of a TV show that we made — that’s really special.”

For some, it’s much more than that; the mark that OUAT has left is indelible. “There’s been a couple of times where people have said that they were so desperately alone that they’ve considered taking their own lives,” O’Donoghue says. “Through the show, they’ve met other people who felt the same way and realized they’re not alone. That blows me away.”

Sometimes, even the OUAT actors can forget how much the show has affected fans, something season 7 addition Reynolds learned while filming the final episodes. “It didn’t really hit me, the impact of this show, until I went to Steveston,” says Reynolds of the real-life Storybrooke set that the show will return to before series end. “We had people coming out to see it, and even just being on the street I saw in the pilot, that is when it really hit home for me that this is a big deal and this show is epic. Working with [returning stars] Ginny and Josh as well has hammered that home even more.”

Though the Once bosses depicted their originally planned ending in the season 6 finale, they have cooked up a particularly magical final chapter that brings the show back to the beginning in a number of ways — keep your eyes peeled, as there are Easter eggs galore. “The pitch for the whole show was ‘What would a world look like in which the Evil Queen got her happy ending?’ I feel that we’ve finally figured out what that would look like,” says Goodwin, just one of the season 6 departures who returns for the finale. (Read who else is returning here.) “We saved Regina’s happy ending for the end,” says Kitsis. “Her journey has really been watching somebody confront the demons within and emerge on the other side a better person.”

“I know everyone’s been waiting for Regina’s happy ending and no one really could define what that is, and no one really knew what it was going to look like, and nor did I,” Parrilla says. “Once Robin died, it was really hard to foresee another love in her life. But I’m happy with where her happy ending is at.” Parrilla remains coy about the specifics of Regina’s happily-ever-after, only teasing that it takes place “in the same location” as the opening of the pilot.

O’Donoghue, meanwhile, offers that Hook’s fate is intrinsically tied to Rumple’s. “I remember thinking [the ending] was just such an amazing way for this relationship that Bobby and I have invested in over six seasons,” O’Donoghue says. “It’s been so integral to both of our characters, so I thought it was a really beautiful moment and very, very important to me for that to be the happy ending for Hook.”

The notion of happy endings has been vital to the success of the show, particularly Once’s central message that no matter who you are as a person, good or evil, everyone deserves a happy ending — all three of this year’s legacy characters initially entered the show as villains. “It’s so important to send that message,” says Dallas, “particularly in this day and age, when we have so much negative in the world, and to know that you do have a second chance, that you can have redemption, is super-powerful.”

But the question remains whether Once will get a second chance in the future, someday joining the pantheon of shows getting the reboot or revival treatment. “Look, you never say never, but for now this is our ending and the end of this show for us,” says Horowitz. “But if in the future something else happens with the show, we’ll be excited to see what that is.”

#ouat spoilers #7.22 leaving storybrooke #Cast Interviews #colin o'donoghue #Lana Parrilla #Ginnifer Goodwin #lana parrilla interview #colin o'donoghue interview #ginnifer goodwin interview

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