Season 3 of Once Upon A Time is available in the Blu-ray and DVD formats today (August 19), and if you’re curious about whether or not it’s worth it, here is our review of the five-disc, 22-episode set.
The Episodes: First off, I should point out that although this is “Season 3,” you really get two seasons’ worth of story here. The first arc, comprising of the first 11 episodes, focuses on Neverland; the second episode involves the coming of Regina’s wicked witch of a sibling. This split is ostensibly to keep from having “filler episodes,” although honestly, each arc could have easily been shorter. Some episodes are much better than others, and some episodes are quite good. In addition to the regular arcs, one of the highights of the season is meeting Ariel, the Little Mermaid, as played by JoAnna Garcia. Robbie Kay’s Peter Pan was also a highlight earlier in the season. Conversely, even though I like Rebecca Mader, I did not care much for the Zelena character or her arc; but, to each their own.
Still, an advantage of having everything on DVD is that, conceivably, each arc could even be watched in a day or a weekend. That might make for a very fun adventure.
The Extras: ABC Studios and Walt Disney Home Entertainment never seem to skimp when it comes to Once Upon A Time. This Blu-ray is FULL of extras. There are multiple commentaries — I’d love to tell you what they are, but they’re not listed on the package as to what is on what disc – I can tell you, though, that I’ve watched the finale “There’s No Place Like Home” complete with commentary from show creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, and they never fail to give good insights.
As for the other extras: Well, I may have seen too many blooper reels for shows, and I’m glad when they’re shared, but after the 90th time I don’t really find “Actors making faces as they prepare for the shot” to be all that funny. Also not incredibly funny, though worthy of a chuckle at least, was an “Inside The Writers’ Room” extra that is exclusive to the Blu-ray set. My favorite extra, by far, is “The Tale of Ariel” which talks about bringing the legendary character to the show; there is also a “Wicked Villains” feature about the bad folks of Storybrooke. I’m actually surprised that there was no featurette about Peter Pan, but I am assuming it is because these extras were put together well after the Neverland story had wrapped. Deleted scenes are also on the menu on this set.
Graphics & Sound: It looks great, and it sounds great. I love that the menus use Mark Isham’s score, which I’ve pointed out in reviews for previous seasons.
The Packaging: I get that they’re going for continuity from season to season with these DVD covers, but … meh. I’m not even sure if the lenticular shots of the cast on the cover are from Season 3, but more than that, it doesn’t really say or show what Season 3 is about. No Peter Pan? No Zelena? I’m not feeling it. And while I do like that the inside of the package says what episodes would be on which disc, it would be nice to see listings of where you can find individual extras.
All in all, if you’re a Once Upon A Time fan, you’ll like this set. Now, ABC/Disney – can we get Once Upon A Time In Wonderland on DVD too? Even if the special effects look worse in hi-def? Thanks. It’d be nice to have the whole Once canon on Blu-ray.
You can order Once Upon A Time Season 3 from Amazon.com at a discounted price and support KSiteTV! Season 3 Blu-ray – Season 3 DVD
