Ever since its release in 2011, the show “Once Upon a Time” has dazzled viewers and worked up an incredible fan-base. Because of its success, the show is now entering its sixth season, with no sign of slowing down. Now that it has run for half a decade, it is fitting to go back and take a look at each season and how much success it garnered. (For those who have not seen the show, don’t worry, no spoilers ahead.)

In the show we meet Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a 28-year-old woman, who has spent her life searching for answers as to why she was abandoned on the side of a road by her parents when she was just a baby. She eventually gives up, but everything changes when a young boy shows up at her apartment claiming to be her son (Jared S. Gilmore). He leads her to the town of Storybrooke, where she discovers a world of mysterious people who may carry the answers to her past. What further complicates things is that her son believes that this town is full of storybook characters who were trapped there by the evil queen (Lana Parilla), with no memories of who they are. The unique thing about this show is that it takes a lot of old fairy tales and twists them all into one very original storyline. Anyone who is a fan of Grimm fairy tales and the like would love this show.

The first season follows Emma’s adventures as she begins to discover the magical world that she has irreversibly been connected to since birth. This season was fantastic, the story was intriguing, and it hooks all the way to the finish. The creators of the show truly knew what they were doing with this debut.

But naturally they had some big shoes to fill if they were gonna make the second as great as the first, and honestly, the second season did not make the cut. With a story that seemed to be trying to keep the show running as long as possible, it was not the greatest. It felt like they were just inventing as they were going along,with no solid plan for where they would go with this, and that’s not great writing. However, the last few episodes saved it. With the introduction of a brand new story arc that was interesting , the show gained a few more stars.

This great arc carried through the first half of season three, which is arguably one of the best seasons, because of of the introduction of another famous fairytale that shall remain nameless. The second half of season three saw another drop in quality though. The new fairytale arc they added here was intriguing enough, they just did not handle it that well.

The same cannot be said for season three, which added a weird and unexpected tale that did not seem to fit with the others, but it ended up being an interesting season with some new character developments.

Season five, like season three, was kind of a hit and miss. The first half was dramatic and developed the plot really well, but the second half was pretty botched. Once again, the arc plot itself was interesting, but they just did not make it the best that they could have. An especially annoying thing is that while the acting in the show has always been somewhat cheesy, a certain character in this season was over the top, and should just not exist. 

While this show has had it’s ups and downs, it has had some truly spectacular moments, which is why it will be interesting to see what they do with the sixth season. Hopefully the creators will remember what made this show great.

The sixth season premiered  Sunday, Sept 25, on ABC. Catch up on this season on Hulu. The first five seasons can be found on Netflix.