Once Upon a Time (TV Series) Dreamy (2012) User Reviews

Another good episode although not a perfect one

[gavin-thelordofthefu-48-460297 · 8/10 · 17 April 2016]

Dreamy is another good episode but it does have some flaws. The relationship between the fairy Nova and one of the Dwarfs named Dreamy is nice and it does a great job doing into full detail into how Dreamy later became Grumpy we know and love, but unfortunately, the romance for the two felt unneeded and some of the writing came across as a bit childish.

However, everything else turned out fine. The performances, especially Dreamy and Nova, were really good and I liked how they're connected to Storybrooke as well with Mary Margaret. The dialog is fine, the pacing's very brisk, the music score's still beautiful, and the directing is above average. Also, it does a nice job setting up the next episode in which Mary Margaret is sent to jail. I was like, "I gotta see what happens next." So, overall, another good, albeit not perfect, episode.

Not so dream-like

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 11 December 2017]

When 'Once Upon a Time' first started it was highly addictive and made the most of a truly great and creative premise. Really loved the idea of turning familiar fairy tales on their heads and putting own interpretations on them and the show early on clearly had clearly had a ball. Watched it without fail every time it came on and it was often a highlight of the week. Which was why it was sad when it ran out of ideas and lost its magic in the later seasons.

"Dreamy" is to me the weakest episode up to this point and one of Season 1's lesser episodes. Not a bad episode by all means, but there were some serious drawbacks that made the episode a mixed feelings not easy to rate one. It begins on a rather weird note with the viewer being given information that will make them go "what the heck did I just hear?" The unnecessary romance is further hurt by the childish way it's written and that the title character and particularly Nova as characters take bizarre to extreme levels. The missing person subplot was very intriguing and remarkably mature, at the same time it felt at odds with the rest of the episode with the more obvious and simpler tone.

However, visually "Dreamy" is a very handsomely mounted episode, settings and costumes that are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. The special effects, after being pretty bad in a couple of episodes like "True North", are superior here. It is photographed beautifully and there is some make-up that suited the characters perfectly. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme.

While the more fairy-tale oriented elements left me mixed, found the rest of the Dwarfs, Belle and particularly the Blue Fairy well realised, the emotional elements of the Storybrooke parallel and the missing person subplot were far more successful and very well done. Some of the dialogue is thought-provoking, humorous and poignant, if more in the Storybrooke scenes.

Again, the acting is strong in the Storybrooke scenes.

In conclusion, worth watching but not the dream-like episode it could have been. 6/10 Bethany Cox