“Once Upon a Time” ended its first season this week with arguably the best episode of its short but prolific history. Although it has one of the cheesiest premises in television, it has grown into one of the most original and inventive shows on the air. The writing is exceptionally bland and the acting is nothing special, but the story and the interweaving of the characters has kept viewers coming back week after week, desperate to find out more about the fairy tale characters they thought they knew. There was a lot of potential for this final episode to be a disappointing conclusion full of sappy reunions and more questions than answers, but this episode exceeded all my expectations (spoilers ahead!). The finale started off with a huge bang (the bang we have all been waiting for) with Emma finally believing in the curse. For those just tuning in, there was a curse put on all the fairy tale characters, trapping them in a small town in Maine called Storybrooke where time stands still and the inhabitants don’t remember who they are or where they came from. Emma, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, who was evacuated from fantasy land before the curse, is the only one who can break the spell because she is the product of true love. In the penultimate episode, Henry, Emma’s son, was incapacitated by Regina’s (The Evil Queen’s) evil apple tart and sunk into a slumber. Emma cannot think of any explanation for this and finally begins to believe in the fantasy, sending a wave of memories about her true origins. She confronts Regina, who confirms her suspicions, and the two of them agree to team up to find a cure for Henry’s slumber. They go to Mr. Gold (Rumpelstiltskin) who says only True Love can solve Henry’s predicament. They can’t use magic in Storybrooke, but we find out in fantasy land, Rumpelstiltskin had bottled True Love knowing it would one day come in handy. Of course, the bottle is not in any place you would expect. In a flashback, we discover Rumpelstiltskin made Prince Charming put the bottle in the belly of Maleficent, the dragon beast, and in exchange, Rumple gave Charming a way to find Snow White and save her from eternal slumber. So, back in Storybrooke, Mr. Gold gives Emma her father’s sword and tells her to go slay the beast. In an epic underground battle, Emma defeats the dragon and gets the vial of True Love. However, Gold tricks them and takes the bottle for himself, just as Henry dies in the hospital. The show’s biggest weakness has been the dull nature of Storybrooke in comparison to its fairy tale counterpart. The two main characters, Emma and Henry, who we are supposed to care deeply about, aren’t that interesting and often really frustrating. The rest of the Storybrooke population is about as fascinating as a slice of apple pie. However, the finale solved this problem in the best way possible. It ended with True Love’s Kiss (Emma kissing Henry) breaking the curse and Mr. Gold bringing magic back to Storybrooke. Not only does this solve the “boring” problem Storybrooke always had, but irrevocably turns the tables. Although Emma and her team may have won this battle, they clearly have not won the war now that Regina has magic back on her side. Now everyone in Storybrooke knows who they really are and understands the implications of being trapped in the real world. This opens up so much potential for the next season to explore what magic will do to Storybrooke and how the characters will struggle to get back to their fantasy land. It’s very rare that a finale answers all of your questions, and instead of posing more frustrating questions, simply opens up the floodgates of possibility. Despite the fact that 50 percent of this show takes place in CGI land and the plot is centered on fairy tale characters, this show has proven to be one of the most dark, twisted and original shows of the year. –Mackenzie Bronk