"Once Upon a Time" is just weeks away from its Season 1 finale, and it appears as though Emma Swan (played by Jennifer Morrison) and her son Jared (played by Jared S. Gilmore) may be getting close to uncovering the secret of Storybrooke, Maine, and the fairytale characters trapped there. The series is an intricately woven tapestry of the current day sleepy town and the presumably fictitious world of Snow White and a Wicked Queen.
Writer and producer Jane Espenson has penned five of the season's 22 scripts including the episode which airs on Sunday, April 22. In a recent exclusive interview she talked about the upcoming plotline and why the fairytale world is so popular these days.
The Upcoming "Once Upon a Time" Features Rumpelstiltskin
According to Espenson, the episode airing this Sunday centers on Mr. Gold, who was Rumpelstiltskin in the fairytale world. Both characters, magnificently portrayed by Robert Carlyle, are not very good men, and he is the only one, besides the Evil Queen/mayor herself, who knows his true identity - a fact he holds over her to get what he wants. He also helps the mayor keep the town under her thumb and is suspicious when a stranger named August arrives.
Espenson revealed, "[Mr. Gold] is going to be trying to figure out who August is in Storybrooke, and he's going to be seen in the flashback. We're going to see Rumpelstiltskin dealing with the son, who is not happy about how his dad is changing." She continued, "You're going to see how both of those stories affect him at the same time, which is a wonderful thing we don't always get to do."
"Once Upon a Time" Is Full of Twists and Turns
"Once Upon a Time" was created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, perhaps best known for their writing on "Lost." And so they are no strangers to the twists and intricate turns of a plot like the one they have devised for the modern day fairytale.
Espenson said that the storylines were pre-determined from the start. "We know the answers to all our secrets. At this point the season finale has actually been shot and cut together. So we know where we're headed. There are definitely questions at the end of the season finale that are going to be left open, but even there we do pretty much know where we're headed. These guys are very smart. My bosses Eddie and Adam are very smart and driving us towards something."
"Once Upon a Time" Is One of Several Fairytale-Themed Shows and Movies
The writer was not certain why fairytales are such a popular genre at the moment, but she had good theory. "There's something about the childhood comfort of these stories that are just a good fit for our times. People like some delicious horror, but I don't know that people want acres of angst right now. People like to hear there's hope, and that's built into stories where the answer is true love."
Watch "Once Upon a Time" Sundays at 8pm EST/7pm CST on ABC.
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