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.
Season 5 had a lot to live up to after Season 4 being as impressive as it was. As far as Season 4's episodes go, they were all decent to brilliant with the only small dip being "Family Business" (though "Heart of Gold" was uneven) and the best being the "Smash the Mirror" two parter, "Best Laid Plans", "Mother" and the first part of "Operation Mongoose". So was expecting a good deal from Season 5 and "The Dark Swan" didn't disappoint at all. "The Price" was very nearly as great.
"Siege Perilous" is good still but a bit of a let down after the previous two episodes. There are a lot of great things but there were a few things that could have been significantly better. It is not as focused, consistently compelling or emotional as the previous two episodes, there are signs of all a good deal of the time but not consistently, and occasionally meanders.
Conflict and the chemistry between Arthur and David should have had much more tension, instead it was pretty flat and bland, David has been much more interesting before. Was also disappointed that after being developed and progressed so well over-time (a character that has been improved upon immensely), Emma was too much of a passive robot and has very little of the emotion, intensity and compelling development that was seen in "The Dark Swan". The chemistry between her and Hook doesn't sizzle and lacks the wit compared to before, this was something that usually was handled well.
The Camelot arc however is already attention grabbing and shows potential and the characters introduced at the start of the season are already intriguing, particularly Arthur. The old existing characters have not lost what made them so great and interesting, and are generally true to character. The most striking assets are the interesting spin on Arthur himself, showing an arrogance and villainy that is a far cry from the nobility that the character is usually portrayed as, his villainy and Gold's return and how well they're put into place, one cannot wait to see how they advance and prays they aren't missed opportunities.
Lots of evidence of forward momentum and character development advancing. Camelot is wonderfully presented yet again, both grand and mysterious and the past and present stories are as compelling as each other, relate beautifully with each other and balanced with assurance and coherence on the whole.
All the acting is strong, especially from Liam Garrigan bringing a dark charisma, authority and arrogance.
Furthermore, "Siege Perilous" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable theme tune.
Writing has the right balance of humour, pathos, mystery and intrigue, or corn or cheesiness here. This aspect has come on such a long way since when 'Once Upon a Time' first started, much more complexity and nuance.
In conclusion, good but not great. 7/10 Bethany Cox
