There are spoilers below.
The seventh season of ABC’s Once Upon a Time picks up where season six ended- when a young girl, played by Alison Fernandez, reveals herself to be the daughter of Henry Mills, played by Andrew J. West. This is a parallel to the series’s pilot when Henry appeared at the apartment of Emma Swan, played by Jennifer Morrison.
However, this Henry Mills differs from the Henry portrayed in the previous six seasons. Instead of being the person with the “heart of the truest believer,” he is a driver for “Swyft,” which is similar to today’s Uber. He’s also a struggling author who wrote a book, which is about the events that occurred in the past six seasons, living in Seattle. Above all, Henry no longer believes in magic, similar to his mother in the beginning of the series.
It seems rather unrealistic that Henry would be able to lose his memories to the extent of those who were brought to Seattle through the Dark Curse. Since Henry was born in the United States, part of the Land Without Magic, the government would have records tying him to Emma Swan and/or Regina Mills, played by Lana Parrilla. Furthermore, since the Dark Curse is usually casted in the fairytale realm, it’s unlikely that whoever is responsible for the new curse manipulated federal documents
In this new curse, the citizens aren’t trapped inside Storybrooke. The new Storybrooke has moved to the west coast near Seattle in a place called Hyperion Heights. And in this neighborhood, the audience is shown a few familiar faces.
In Hyperion Heights, the first familiar face the audience sees is Regina. But this isn’t the pantsuit-wearing, straight-haired, trying to find happiness, Mayor of Storybrooke Regina. Instead, the new Regina goes by the name Roni – a jean jacket-wearing, curly-haired bartender of self-titled bar “Roni’s.”
Next, the audience sees Captain Killian Jones, or better known as Captain Hook, played by Colin O’Donoghue. It appears that the curse has switched out his hook, swashbuckling personality, sword and leather jackets for a badge and position as a Seattle police officer named Rogers. But his wife, Emma Swan, is nowhere to be seen in Hyperion Heights.
The audience also sees the infamous Rumpelstiltskin, also known as Mr. Gold, played by Robert Carlyle. Trading in his position as the owner of Mr. Gold Pawnbroker &
Antiquities Dealer to become a detective named Weaver. Whether Weaver is still the Dark One, it’s unknown, but it seems, not much has changed about him.
Meanwhile, the audience meets some new faces like Cinderella, better known as Jacinda in Hyperion Heights, played by Dania Ramirez. This Cinderella is not like the first Cinderella, or Ashley Boyd (Jessy Schram) introduced in the first season. This Cinderella wasn’t looking for a happily ever after with “Prince Charming”, but revenge. In Hyperion Heights, Jacinda plays a single mother trying her best to get by without her stepmother swooping in to take full custody of Lucy.
The new Lady Tremaine, who goes by the name of Victoria Belfrey in Seattle, is played by Gabrielle Anwar. Unlike her original character, played by Lisa Banes, this Lady Tremaine doesn’t escape to the Land of Untold Stories. While both crave status, the new version will get revenge on those who get in the way, even the prince. Meanwhile, in Seattle, Lady Tremaine is a powerful CEO of Belfrey Developments. Her high status in the town proves she’s the main villain of the seventh season.
Her daughter, Drizella, played by Adelaide Kane, works alongside her mother. In Hyperion Heights, she’s her mother’s assistant and goes by the name of Ivy.
The audience also meets Alice, or Tilly, played by Rose Reynolds. Alice is second iteration from the original character, played by Sophie Lowe and Millie Brown (Young Alice) on the series’ spin-off, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. This Alice is first introduced in the fairytale dimension when she poisons Henry at the ball, by orders from Gold, so Henry wouldn’t cause chaos to happen because he wasn’t in his story.
The audience is lastly introduced to Tiana, from Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, or Sabine, played by Mekia Cox. As far as the premiere goes, not much is known about her other than the audience first meets her at the ball when she refuses the frog legs, and she’s Jacinda’s roommate in Hyperion Heights.
Overall, the episode was very enticing. It was exciting to meet these characters under different circumstances from the first curse and with different stakes. It’ll be interesting to see how Lucy will find a way to get Henry to remember that she’s his daughter. It’ll also be interesting to see how Roni, Rogers, and Weaver are compared to their real selves.
As for the rest of the season, the audience can expect an appearance from Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), Zelena the Wicked Witch of the West (Rebecca Mader), Belle (Emilie de Ravin), and Gideon, Belle and Rumpelstiltskin’s son (Giles Matthey) in future episodes.
