In the Once Upon a Time season 7 premiere, “Hyperion Heights,” Henry leaves Storybrooke in search of his own tale, but is once again trapped in a curse.
Prepare for a brand new Once Upon a Time come season 7 — new story, new locations, new characters, new everything!
The season picks up immediately where season 6 left off, but there are big changes. “In a world where superheroes can reboot, we thought, ‘Why not fairy tales?’” says showrunner Edward Kitsis, who refers to season seven as a “requel” (a reboot and a sequel).
Besides the cast shake-up that went down, the new story will take place in present-day Hyperion Heights, with Enchanted Forest flashbacks, of course. (But wait! What happens to Storybrooke? Are we just never going to go back there again?)
Thanks to the new curse, Regina Mills (Lana Parrilla), Killian Jones (Colin O’Donoghue), and Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) have all been thrown into new identities (as are all the other characters, actually, because the show is shifting all that around, too). “It really is like we’re starting a new whole new show,” says O’Donoghue.
Killian has the identity of Officer Rogers. (By the way, I’m disgusted by Hook as a cop. Hook as a cop is an insult to the police uniform. Cue eyebrow wiggle and smirk.) Regina is now Roni, who owns a bar (and wears jeans instead of suits!). Finally, though, Rumplestiltskin could be anyone, which is par for the course for him.
However, the story is now focused on Henry, who has left the Author’s Pen behind for an Uber license (or whatever they call it). His love story with a new Cinderella (Dania Ramirez) couldn’t be further from that of his grandparents Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas), but that should only make their tale more gripping. They’ve probably got that “I will always find you” thing going, though.
And the new curse? Well, it could be more difficult to break than the previous curses. “Lady Tremaine wants to push everybody away, wants to gentrify the neighborhood, so that all these characters are separated forever,” says showrunner Adam Horowitz. But why seek revenge, Lady Tremaine? My money’s on her stepdaughter (Cinderella, duh) having something to do with it.
Oh, and fear not! Some familiar faces from the show’s original run will be returning, including Jared Gilmore, who will be appearing in the premiere! I can feel my tears forming already.
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Once Upon a Time returns Friday, Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.