Every Season Of Once Upon A Time Ranked Worst To Best

"Once upon a time ... There was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know. Or think we know. One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen. Our World. This is how it happened... " These words on a plain black screen open the beginning of the very first episode of "Once Upon a Time," the primetime fairytale drama that aired for seven seasons on ABC from 2011 through 2018.

Over the course of the series, audiences discover new personalities and surprise identities of classic characters, some based on their centuries-old origins in fairytales penned by the Brothers Grimm with others more closely resembling their counterparts from animated Disney movies. The series contains an abundance of characters and plentiful narrative twists. "Once" was created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, former writers on "Lost" who imbued the canvas of "Once Upon a Time" with the brisk pacing and surprise plot points associated with their previous show.

"Once" covers a lot of ground in its seven seasons. More often than not it dazzles with cleverness and an epic scale, thanks in large part to its ability to expertly leverage the vast collection of intellectual property owned by ABC's parent company, Disney. On that note, let's take a drive in Emma Swan's Volkswagen Beetle and head to Storybrooke to rediscover some favorite moments and occasional pitfalls that made "Once Upon a Time" a cornerstone of 2010s fantasy TV. Here are all seven seasons ranked.

The show's penultimate season struggles to find an identity among overused fantasy tropes and an ensemble that feels mostly ready to move on from the series. The lore of the show and the rules of its story are continually abridged and rewritten in Season 6, which introduces what's now commonly recognized as a multiverse riddled with storytelling nuances.

The "Once" multiverse sets the groundwork for one of the season's central and most thrilling moves — the return of the Evil Queen. With Regina having undergone a redemptive arc in earlier seasons, it would be regressive for her character to revert back to her nefarious ways. But the newfound benevolent disposition of Lana Parrilla's character wastes the actor's fantastic ability to play a villain. The show resolves this conundrum by splitting Regina into two characters — one good, the other evil — both played by Parrilla. Another Season 6 highlight is the long-awaited introduction of Aladdin and Jasmine to the series, both of whom have recurring roles and face off against Jafar.

Rumpelstiltskin's mother serves as primary villain for most of the season's second half. She continually teases the "final battle" with which the season culminates. Much of the principal cast would depart the series after Season 6, but nevertheless, the logic of a "final battle" doesn't really hold up, given that there are many more battles ahead. Season 6 also brings us the love-it-or-hate-it musical episode.

The show's fifth season includes some magical storytelling, with its first half centered in Camelot and its back half focused on Hades from "Hercules." The plot points in this season sometimes feel outlandish, with its most over-the-top aspects including Emma Swan becoming the "Dark One" and the significant time the season spends in literal hell. Still, the season's focus on the Underworld — a place where those with "unfinished business" are sent when they die — allows for multiple callbacks to characters from former seasons, which can be fun for longtime fans.

Notably, Season 5 is also the first time the series includes a relationship representing the LGBTQ+ community, with Red Riding Hood and Dorothy Gale getting together. Season 3 reveals that Mulan was in love with Aurora, but the characters never pursue a relationship.

Characters introduced in Season 5 include King Arthur, Hercules, Megara, and the only Pixar character to appear on the show, Merida from "Brave." But for the most part, whereas Season 4 leans all the way into its Disney heritage, Season 5 swings the pendulum in the opposite direction. The Camelot arc is just as influenced by Arthurian legends and literature as it is Disney's animated King Arthur movie, 1963's "The Sword in the Stone," and the Underworld episodes are more of a tribute to the history of "Once" itself rather than any other specific franchise.

The season that started it all and put a spell on its viewers — the first 22 episodes of "Once Upon a Time" weave a narrative of Snow White's Evil Queen, Regina, cursing every fairytale character to a town in Maine where she can finally get her happy ending and everyone else won't remember their past or fairytale identities. The season leads to a cliffhanger finale in which Emma Swan, Snow White's daughter, breaks the curse and restores the townspeople's memories.

The overarching story of Season 1 is the primary conceit of "Once" itself: What if fairytale characters were trapped in the modern world and didn't know who they really were? The intrigue in discovering which characters in Storybrooke align with famous fairytale personas is thrilling, as is the collection of flashbacks that remain the narrative structure for the rest of the series. This first season of "Once" achieves the promise of its inventive premise.

Season 1 also includes performances by relatively unknown actors who have gone on to great success. Jamie Dornan, who plays Snow White's huntsman, later stars in the "50 Shades of Grey" films and the Oscar-winning "Belfast." Meanwhile, Sebastian Stan plays the Mad Hatter. At the time, Stan had just made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Bucky Barnes, aka the eventual Winter Soldier, in 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger," a role he has continued to play for a decade.