When 'Once Upon a Time' first started it was highly addictive and made the most of a truly great and creative premise. Really loved the idea of turning familiar fairy tales on their heads and putting own interpretations on them and the show early on clearly had clearly had a ball. Watched it without fail every time it came on and it was often a highlight of the week. Which was why it was sad when it ran out of ideas and lost its magic in the later seasons.
The second half of Season 3 showed a lot of promise after "New York City Serenade", which did a great job following one from one of 'Once Upon a Time's' most special episodes "Going Home". This promise shows no signs of diminishing with "Witch Hunt", a fine episode and in the better half of Season 3, a season where for me the episodes ranged from pretty good to brilliant (leaning towards the positive opinion for the episodes that had a mixed reception).
It may lack slightly the shocking revelations and game changing seen in the previous two episodes. There is though in "Witch Hunt" a good deal of plot and character progression and the fresh twists and ideas introduced in "New York City Serenade" are thankfully not wasted and build on the big potential seen before.
Loved that there was a different side to the relationship between Emma and Regina and Robin Hood's role and his chemistry with the Evil Queen in the flashbacks (very engrossing and added a good deal to both characters) were delightful. It doesn't feel like we are going round in circles or ground to a halt.
Can't fault the acting from especially Lana Parrilla, Jennifer Morrison and Sean Maguire. Rebecca Mader continues to cast a spell in the most positive of ways.
Furthermore, "Witch Hunt" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme. Writing has the right balance of humour, pathos, mystery and intrigue.
In summary, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox