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 4 had a lot to live up after Season 3 being as impressive as it was. At this early stage of the season, one can see a lot of promise, some may argue that it is capitalising on 'Frozen's' success but there is much more to the season than that. This promise was apparent from the get go, with a great season opener in "A Tale of Two Sisters". As far as the previous Season 4 episodes go, they were all decent to brilliant with the only small dip being "Family Business" and the best being the "Smash the Mirror" two parter.
"Enter the Dragon" for me is another great episode from Season 4 and of the show, if not quite one of the best. My only quibble with the episode is that for my tastes Maleficent's dragon form could have been more intimidating, there was a sense of being held back by budget.
Love though that 'Once Upon a Time' has returned to its roots, while showing how far it has come on since it began while showing too what the show is all about.
Credit is due for the character and plot progression as well as some shocking revelations that one doesn't expect at all. The absorbing writing for Regina and Maleficent, making them more than standard characters and ones with moral ambiguities, and the dynamite interaction between them carry "Enter the Dragon" brilliantly. Rumplestiltskin steals scenes.
All the acting is strong. Lana Parrilla and Robert Carlyle, particularly the former, are splendid and Jennifer Morrison has grown so much. Kristin Bauer van Straten is a chillingly imperious Maleficent.
Furthermore, "Enter the Dragon" 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.
Overall, another great episode. 9/10 Bethany Cox