Once Upon a Time
ABC | Release Date: October 23, 2011
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
11
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Washington PostHank StueverSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Once Upon a Time is a smartly-crafted reward for fans of light fantasy, with the right mix of cleverness, action and romance. Read full review
83
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Once Upon a Time gets off to a bewitching start. Read full review
83
NewsdayVerne GayOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: What's best about Time is its ambition; it glows with a near-theatrical shine, challenging viewers to think about TV drama as something other than boilerplate. Read full review
83
Uncle BarkyEd BarkOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: Fans of the fantastical can do far worse than Once Upon A Time, which manages to both stir the pulse and please the senses with its beautifully imagined medieval times. Read full review
80
We Got This CoveredMitchel BroussardSep 28, 2015
Season 5 Review: With a smart decision to focus on the lead characters and not the overall "gimmick" plot of the season, Once Upon A Time feels renewed with a dark energy in its shockingly sprightly fifth year. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: There's gorgeous fun to be had here. Read full review
75
People WeeklyPatrick GomezSep 29, 2014
Season 4 Review: The highlight of the show remains newlywed actress Lana Parrilla, who continues to pepper her Evil Queen with just the right amount of realism to make her deliciously wicked deeds seem justified, but Frozen is just the thing that has gotten Once really moving. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Once Upon a Time is both family-friendly and smart enough to win viewers of any age and level of sophistication. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowrySep 26, 2014
Season 4 Review: The “Frozen” crossover is indeed a bit of a blast, and the visual effects are especially good. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushSep 28, 2012
Season 2 Review: This season, with flatly played new characters introduced in the world of fantasy, I found myself itching to get back to Storybrooke, although the way the lands eventually intersect makes for a nifty cliffhanger. Read full review
70
PopMattersLynnette PorterOct 24, 2011
Season 1 Review: In its premiere episode, Once Upon a Time offers a mix of hope and cynicism, coupled with familiar television and film allusions (not unlike the Shreks). Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Once the action leaves the overly Maxfield Parrish-ized world of magic trees and drooping pregnant princesses, things pick up considerably. Read full review
70
TimeJames PoniewozikOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: For now, it's an enticing cupcake, but I want to see if it's more than frosting all the way down. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowryOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: The pilot certainly looks great, and it's hard to imagine better choices for the leads than Goodwin and Parrilla. Read full review
63
RedEyeCurt WagnerOct 24, 2011
Season 1 Review: Horowitz and Kitsis are clever and playful in how they insert the fairytale characters into the present day, which kept my interest even when, as I said earlier, I was chuckling. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineMike LechevallierOct 24, 2011
Season 1 Review: The series isn't very original (at one point, it even steals Lost's now-iconic eye-opening shot), but that doesn't stop it from being relatively satisfying on its own terms. Read full review
63
New York PostLinda StasiOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Somebody should kiss a frog or something to break the evil spell and let this show be as much fun as it should be. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: I don't see this fairy-tale fantasy having broad enough appeal to conjure up the kind of viewer numbers it will need to stick around. Read full review
63
People WeeklyTom GliattoOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: The cast would do well to have more fun, but the layered storytelling has it charms. [31 Oct 2011, p.35]
63
USA TodayRobert BiancoOct 20, 2011
Season 1 Review: Give ABC credit for trying something different. But next time, try harder. And better. And maybe shorter. Read full review
60
Zap2it (Inside the Box)Rick PorterOct 24, 2011
Season 1 Review: No other new show this fall is attempting to tell a bigger story, and we're hoping the rough patches smooth out and it fulfills the potential that's there in its very strong cast and premise. Read full review
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenOct 24, 2011
Season 1 Review: In its pilot, Once Upon a Time succeeds on charm but comes up short on logic. Read full review
60
The New York TimesMike HaleOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Watching the pilot again, though, it became harder to ignore the soap opera underpinnings and the twee sentimentality. Read full review
60
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: There are times when the enterprise lacks a certain heft and when the fantasy realm seems a little generic. Also, some characters, especially Lana Parrilla's Evil Queen (who is also the mayor of Storybrooke), are one-dimensional in kind of maddening ways, though Robert Carlyle makes up for that with his charismatic turn as both Rumplestiltskin and a Storybrooke resident named Mr. Gold. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: Unfolding simultaneously in two distinct worlds, the series has an enchanting premise, even if it plods at times when it should sparkle and soar. Read full review
58
HitfixAlan SepinwallOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: The larger problem, though, is that unless you're deeply invested in the fairy tale characters and seeing the variations on their familiar backstories--seeing, for instance, that Snow and Charming had a very different first meeting than the one we know about--then most of the story and character work is flat, despite a cast of likable, game actors. Read full review
58
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: The ambition is impressive...But Morrison is a wooden lead, and the back stories--a random collection of fairy tales--don't promise to surprise. Read full review
50
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardOct 6, 2017
Season 7 Review: One problem with the new season is we have too few favorites left and not nearly enough time with them. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanOct 24, 2011
Season 1 Review: The show is a bold idea, and there's hope for the modern-world portions, but it doesn't quite know what it is (or maybe it does, but the audience won't). Read full review
40
SlateTroy PattersonOct 28, 2011
Season 1 Review: The series, fueling itself with folklore, proceeds as if no characterization is required. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyOct 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: To draw out the story by looping it through subplots and minidramas runs the risk of turning it into a fairy-tale soap opera--when what we really want to know is whether the tragic Snow White or the lonely Emma can in the end live happily ever after. Read full review
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