Best List
10) Red Handed. Considering this episode focuses on a side character this time round, I really liked it! I love the character Red, with Meghan Ory's performance as both her & Ruby with how contrasting their personalities are & I loved seeing how Red's friendship with Snow started. I loved the twist that Red was also the Bid Bad Wolf as I definitely didn't see it coming & was pretty smart thinking on the writers' behalf. I also liked that even if the episode focused on Ruby, the Storybrooke scenes still connected well to the main plot involving the investigation of Kathryn's murder & Ruby got to prove that she was more than just a flirty waitress wearing provocative outfits. If you love Red in Once Upon a Time, then this episode is definitely for you!
9) Hat Trick. I know you guys think this is too high up on the list, but trust me when I say that this was a very difficult list to do as I love season 1! I freaking loved Jefferson, rather it be Sebastian Stan's acting or how he's written along with his backstory of being a loving father, he easily became a memorable character for me along with the world of Wonderland itself. I loved watching his interaction with Emma, along with her slowly accepting the people of Storybrooke as like her family. I don't know what else to say, but just go & watch it & get sucked into a glimpse Once Upon a Time's version of Wonderland!
8) The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. As a midseason finale, this one is pretty good. Detailing the backstory of Graham & being revealed to be the Huntsman from the Snow White fairytale was very well done, being rather tragic as he was raised by wolves. Jamie Dornan's acting was excellent & I loved seeing more of the very hot Irish sherriff as he slowly got his memories back of the Enchanted Forest & falling in love with Emma as he realizes his affair with Regina is false & lacking emotion. I'm not gonna lie, this episode made me cry at the end as Graham died (still not over it) & I really didn't like how horribly Regina/Evil Queen treated him, ripping his heart out & making him her sex slave! As far as midseason finales go, I'd put this in the middle as I felt 3x11was much stronger, but the twists in this one were still pretty strong like Regina remembering everything & obviously, Graham dying!
7) Snow Falls. This episode detailing how Snow & Charming met is pretty solid. Ginnifer & Josh's chemistry was great & I enjoyed how they played off against each other with some witty dialogue & cool action scenes. I liked seeing Mary Margaret & Emma's friendship develop & to see David out of his coma as well as the curse showing how contrasting the Storybrooke counterparts of the characters are compared to who they were in the Enchanted Forest. Henry annoyed me but that's nitpicking & I enjoyed seeing him & Emma interact more! I loved badass Snow & is partly why I love the show as the women are much more independant & aren't reduced to be damsels in distress! With great writing & nice acting, it's no wonder why Snow & Charming are the power couple of the show (too bad they eventually got boring)!
6) The Return.What I love about this episode is oddly enough, the tragedy behind it as it shows how Baelfire & his father got separated due to a very bad mistake. I loved seeing more of Mr Gold as he begins to suspect August is his son, but ends up not to be true due to some pretty bad background research on August's part. I liked that twist personally as I didn't expect it when I first saw it & I loved seeing more of Gold's vulnerable side after being a cold hearted bastard for the whole season! The flashbacks were great as I could feel sympathy for both Rumplestiltskin & Baelfire, with both Robert Carlyle & Dylan Schmid's performances be very solid. I also loved seeing the Kathryn murder plot come to an end & the main focus then was the Emma/Regina/Henry conflict & who August really was. With amazing acting & writing, it's no surprise why this one's on the list!
5) Desperate Souls. Out of this & 1x19, I personally felt this one was a bit better. With a very sympathetic backstory for Rumplestiltskin, this episode finally shrouded some of the mystery surrounding his character, as well as showing a new & tragic side to him. Robert Carlyle manages to finally showcase his versatility in his acting after most of the episodes prior just making Mr Gold out to be a cold hearted & manipulative man. The Storybrooke scenes were also pretty well done following the aftermath of Graham's death & Emma attempting to run for sherriff & succeeding despite Regina trying to intefere by using Sidney as her scapegoat. With solid writing & very solid acting, it's no wonder Rumple's now my favourite character in the show!
4) A Land Without Magic. This finale is a pretty strong one to end the first season. It felt very nice to see all of the arcs come to an end, especially Emma's now that she believes in & broke the curse. The flashbacks were also pretty solid as we see how Charming managed to get to Snow White & break her sleeping curse, as well as seeing that his proposal didn't mean that their story would be coming to an end. The parallels were also very well done between the flashbacks & Storybrooke scenes, I personally enjoyed Lana, Jennifer, Sebastian & Robert's performances & I loved that they got some characters back like the Huntsman, Belle, & even Maleficent. Probably the part I loved most about the episode was the writing, including the ending, the scenes between Emma & Regina & even Charming & Rumple's funny interactions! With a season 1 finale like this, it's no wonder why I'm still watching this show!
3) The Stable Boy. What I love about this episode is that we get to see a whole new side of Regina & it proves that nobody is born evil. Her backstory is so tragic that you can't help but feel sorry for her despite all of her terrible actions. Lana Parrilla, Bailee Madison & Barbara Hershey's performances are all highlights, and they are partly why the relationships between them are very interesting to watch. Cora was also a great addition as a villain, being much more cold & abusive, easily being the worst parent in the show. I even liked seeing more of Emma & August interacting together & it was very nice to see the Kathryn murder subplot come to a close after so long in the Storybrooke scenes. With great acting (especially from Lana) & writing, it's no wonder why you'd wanna root for Regina after this episode!
2) Pilot. This episode got me hooked from the moment I saw the titlecard at the start. The way this episode establishes both the structure of the show & the premise with twisted versions of fairytales and the curse in Storybrooke. I loved how the show managed to be creative with the Storybrooke characters compared to their counterparts & I also enjoyed seeing the badass twist on Snow White. The visuals are just gorgeous & even the special effects are pretty good (compared to other episodes where the quality noticeably goes down) I have no gripes personally (other than Henry anyway), but there is one reason why this isn't my number one season 1 episode! This Pilot really is something special & I highly recommend it for newcomers who want to understand the show a bit more.
1) Skin Deep! Hold it! Let me explain to you why this one is my favourite! It's not the best acted episode, it's not the best paced episode. It's not even the best written episode in some parts (David & Mary Margaret's boring subplot). But this episode was the defining moment that made me fall in love with the show. The Rumbelle love story is just so beautifully told & instantly got me hooked thanks to the wonderful chemistry from Emilie de Ravin & Robert Carlyle, which is also why I was very happy they didn't make Belle a one-off character like she was originally supposed to be. This is an example of why Once Upon a Time is so great with & I commend Jane Espenson for her writing. I'm sorry for rambling on, but all I can say now is just go & read my review to see more of why I love it so much! Adam & Eddy managing to twist this tale as old as time & suceeding was a big for me as Beauty & the Beast is my favourite fairy tale ever!Before we look at the worst list, let's take a look at my honourable mention!
Honourable Mention: The Price of Gold. With this episode centring on Cinderella, it has it's good & bad points! I loved the twist with Rumplestiltskin being Cinderella's fairy godmother & I liked how it had connections to the Rumplestiltskin fairy tale along with the relationship between Cinderella & Thomas being rather sweet. I also liked the Storybrooke scenes as we got to know Mr Gold more & Emma inspiring Ashley to prove to others that she can be a mother despite her age & it was nice for it to end good for her & Sean. My main issue however, is Cinderella herself. I think it may be that she was a bit stupid wanting the cheap way out of her life without thinking of the consequences. And again, Henry really annoyed me! Despite that, I like this episode, but it wasn't good enough to be on the best list. If it were a top 11 list, I'd have put this at 11!Worst List
5) That Still Small Voice. This is an example of an episode where a flashback focusing on a side character can fall flat. Although Jiminy's plot is symapthetic to some degree, I didn't particularly like the tone they were going for, being a bit too cutesey & sweet. It didn't really help that we don't get to see the relationship between Jiminy & Gepetto develop afterwards after what happened to his parents & Martin & Myrna really really annoyed me! Henry really got on my nerves as he caused an unecessary conflict by thinking he doesn't have to be told what to do & trying to convince Emma that the curse is real. I will say that Raphael Sbarge's acting was good along with Archie's small arc of standing up to Regina, and I liked seeing Emma & Regina put their differences aside to try & save Henry from the collapsing mine. Honestly, this one isn't that bad, but it's more on the weaker side compared to other season one episodes.
3) What Happened to Frederick. What bothers me about this episode is that nothing connects together with the flashbacks & present scenes. The whole affair plot being revealed & the aftermath of it was just poorly done as Mary Margaret gets all the crap for it while David isn't treated any worse despite the fact he was married! The pacing of the flashbacks was rather tedious & boring as it did nothing to progress the plot other than an escape clause of the arranged marriage between Abigail & Charming. Well, at least Abigail was likeable &. However, another issue I had was David being a huge prick lying to Kathryn about the affair & honestly, I was rooting for her when she slapped Mary Margaret! I hated Regina for intefering with their marriage & I really didn't like how immature she was with all of it! Anyway, what I'm trying to say is by being pointless, poorly paced & plagued with unlikeable characters, this leads to a pretty unpleasant episode! 
2) True North. What causes this episode to be such a pain to watch is the lazy writing. Not only are Hansel & Gretel/Ava & Nicolas annoying & poorly written as kid characters (heck, they're probably worse than Henry), but we never get to see them after this episode or their father. Also, the Blind Witch is just a terrible villain & could've been used so much better if it weren't for the horrible acting or the fact she sounded like she was having an orgasm 95% of the time! The portrayal of the foster system is pretty bad, the CGI is horrible on the gingerbread house & overall, it just feels like filler besides the end with August's introduction. This one is definitely a skip it episode for me!
1) Dreamy. I'm going to avoid going on another rant after my review as I don't have any more reasons as to why I absoultely hate this episode! The story is disgustingly sweet (it reminded me of A Troll in Central Park with the nonsensical & cuteness level being so high), Nova is just intolerable with her 'clumsiness, the love story is abysmal & underdeveloped, the mythology of dwarves is vacuous & worst of all, the Storybrooke scenes which actually matter are insultingly sidelined! This is not only my personal worst season 1 episode, but also my worst episode in the history of the show! Period! Honestly, it's gonna be hard topping this & I hope season 4 won't have any episodes with juvenile & stupid writing with annoying & intolerable characters which does nothing to progress the plot!
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