Entertainment Weekly - May 11, 2018

MAY 11, 2018 EW.COM 43

season, the biggest reboot coming last year

when—after the exits of six major cast

members—Parrilla, O’Donoghue, and Rob-

ert Carlyle (as Rumplestiltskin) were left

to take center stage alongside Andrew J.

West as an older version of Henry (Jared

Gilmore), Dania Ramirez as a new iteration

of Cinderella, and Rose Reynolds as Wish

Realm Hook’s daughter Alice. But audi-

ences waned without the original cast,

seemingly losing hope at the worst possible

time. “It makes me sad that something so

positive on television is being taken off the

air when we need it most,” says Parrilla. “It

breaks my heart.”

And even the characters ofOnce may

come to lose hope as the series hits its final

episodes. Despite developments in Hype-

rion Heights that could signal a brighter

tomorrow, an unleashed villain aims to

enact a dangerous plan, its painful effects to

be felt by our cherished characters for eter-

nity. “The last episode is epic,” teases

O’Donoghue. “It’s like taking the best of all

seasons and jamming it into one—literally.”

Though theOnce bosses depicted their

originally planned ending in the season 6

finale, they have cooked up a particularly

magical final chapter that brings the show

back to the beginning in a number of

ways—keep your eyes peeled, as there are

Easter eggs galore. “The pitch for the whole

show was ‘What would a world look like in

which the Evil Queen got her happy end-

ing?’ I feel that we’ve finally figured out

what that would look like,” says Goodwin,

just one of the season 6 departures who

returns for the finale. “We saved Regina’s

happy ending for the end,” says Kitsis. “Her

journey has really been watching somebody

confront the demons within and emerge on

the other side a better person.” Parrilla

remains coy about Regina’s happily ever

after, only teasing that it takes place “in the

same location” as the opening of the pilot,

while O’Donoghue offers that Hook’s fate is

intrinsically tied to Rumple’s.

In that way, the ending speaks to the

show’s central message that no matter who

you are as a person, good or evil, everyone

deserves a happy ending. “It’s so important

to send that message,” says Dallas, “partic-

ularly in this day and age, when we have so

much negative in the world—to know that

you do have a second chance, that you can

have redemption, is super powerful.”

But the question remains whetherOnce

will get a second chance in the future,

someday joining the pantheon of shows

getting the reboot or revival treatment.

“Look, you never say never, but for now

this isour ending and the end of this show

for us,” says Horowitz. “But if in the future

something else happens with the show,

we’ll be excited to see what that is.”

( Clockwise from above )Parrilla; West and

Gilmore; Goodwin and Dallas; theOnce cast

LOGLINES Happy Beginnings Actor Adam Pally will reunite with

Happy Endings creator David Caspe for an upcoming

YouTube Red comedy about a rapper and his crew.

In theGamePeter Dinklage does audio commentary

on theRick and Morty season 3 Blu-ray (May 15).

Gotham(May 17, Fox) The Simpsons(May 20, Fox) American Idol(May 21, ABC) Dancing With the Stars: Athletes(May 21, ABC) 

MAGUIRE, O’DONOGHUE, MORISSON, DE RAVIN: JACK ROWAND/ABC/GETTYIMAGES (4); GOODWIN & DALLAS, REYNOLDS & SKOVBYE, PARRILLA; GILMORE &

WEST: JACK ROWAND/ABC (4); CARLYLE: JEFF WEDDELL/ABC/GETTY IMAGES