I had my apprehensions about “Once Upon a Time” when first watching the show last October. Its complicated plot and even more complex fantasy world confused me. But as the season finale approaches, I could not be more confident in my decision to continue to follow the show.

It was definitely difficult to keep up with all of the different characters and their roles in the show for the first two or three episodes. I even had to watch the pilot twice. But if you abandoned this show halfway through the season, I recommend you go back. It’s a lot of information to process and quite a few characters to keep up with, but it’s worth it.

The first episode switched between two different time periods: the past in fairytale land, and the present in the real world. While I thought that was a recipe for disaster, ABC somehow managed to make it work.  We start in fairytale land, where Snow White and Prince Charming are getting married, but just as they are about to kiss, the evil ex-queen shows up to rain on their parade by bestowing a curse and ruin their happiness.

So many unanswered questions filled my mind after that first episode, and I had no idea how they were going to fill in so many blanks in one season, but they managed to cover a lot. We find out why Regina/Evil Queen is so pissed at Snow White, we meet new characters like Grumpy, Pinocchio, Belle, we get some insight as to why Rumpelstiltskin is so messed up, and Prince Charming’s secret identity.

While I love all of these characters revealing their stories and how they connect to one another, the biggest question still remains: is the battle between Emma and Regina going to occur soon? This battle seems like it is the ultimate climax for the series and would make sense for a finale, but part of me can’t help but wonder what would be the main plot of the next season. If there is no more Evil Queen, who will be the new enemy? If the curse is broken, does everyone go back to fairytale land including Emma? Where does Henry belong in all of this?

I honestly don’t know which way the writers are going to go since they’ve set up a perfect confrontation but have planted a seed of doubt in Emma’s mind of the existence of the fairytale world, leaving it up in the air. I am pleased that they’ve made Emma the reluctant heroine, much like Harry Potter or Katniss Everdeen who were forced into heroism.  Rather than some fake, confident woman ready to go into battle, Emma is humanized when she refuses to admit to believing she is some kind of savior because according to her, if everyone is relying on her to save them, Storybrook is screwed.

If you haven’t seen earlier episodes, I don’t recommend jumping in right now.  ABC has the episodes posted online and it is worth the trouble from starting at the beginning. The season finale is at 8 p.m. on ABC on May 13. Me? I wouldn’t care about the Evil Queen so much in the finale if “Once Upon a Time” would just bring Graham back from the dead and let his sweet accent find its way to my ears once again. Just saying.