Today’s TV Addict Top 5: Questions with ONCE UPON A TIME Showrunners Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis Who Promise a “Deeply Satisfying and Surprising Ending”

As we prepare to turn the page on ONCE UPON A TIME’s fairytale first season, your very own TV Addict recently had the pleasure of posing a few pressing questions to co-authors Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. And while the talented twosome were not surprisingly tight-lipped surrounding what exactly will go down during tonight’s Maleficent magnificent season finale, they did drop a few cryptic hints in terms of what fans can expect.

Having spent the previous six seasons writing on LOST, you guys know a thing or two about crazy cliffhangers. WIth that in mind, where would you say ONCE UPON A TIME’s first season finale lies on the spectrum of LOST’s first season that saw Jack gazing down the hatch to the show’s mind-blowing third season ender that revealed Jack to have actually gotten off the island!
Adam Horowitz (AH): You know we’re really hesitant to compare this finale to another show, particularly LOST. But what we can say is what we hope to get out of the finale is that it is a deeply satisfying and deeply surprising ending in that it does change the show in a way that while it hopefully still feel likes the same show it will take us to a new and exciting place for us as writers and for the audience as well.

In biting his “Mother’s” poison apple turnover, Henry went to great lengths to make Emma believe. Is his potentially death-defying dessert going to be worth the price?
Edward Kitsis (EK): It’s hard to answer that without people seeing the finale but I can say that Emma, like any person, is evolving. When we met her in the pilot she was very guarded, jaded, cynical and she refused to kind of let people into her life. And I think what’s interesting is that whether she believes or not, by the end of the season this is a character who has been searching for a home and without even realizing it may have found one.

At the start of the season, the two of you made a point to say that you were really focusing on those first 13 episodes. Is it safe to say that with the success of the series, you started to plant the seeds of the second season throughout the latter half of ONCE UPON A TIME’s first?
AH: Once we got a very early vote of confidence from the Network in that they picked us up for a full season after our second episode, we reached a point where we kind of started to take all the ideas we had for the show and look at them in a broader sense so that if we were lucky enough to continue we could try to seed things for much later.
EK: I think if people re-watch the season they’ll see how we’ve set things up even within this season.
AH: There are things in the finale that pay off stuff from those first couple of episodes that we’re really excited for people to see.

Sunday’s season finale sees the return of some fantastic guest stars. In choosing these actors, how do you balance your desire for big names audiences may be familiar with versus your ability as writers to keep them coming back when you need them?
EK: That is always always the nightmare. Kristen Bauer (Maleficent) was on TRUE BLOOD, Jamie Dorman (The Huntsman) was shooting something for the BBC, and Sebastian Stan (Jefferson) is always busy. So the key is knowing far enough in advance when you want them so you can start working out the scheduling. Because as you’ll see in the finale, it couldn’t have been done without these guest stars. They were very important to us and it really comes down to scheduling.

And finally, speaking of scheduling, a lot of fans would like to know if you two might be able to schedule in a love interest for perennial down on her luck Emma next season?
Adam: Emma’s love life is going to be very important in a lot of ways because Emma is a character who spent much of her life alone and looking for home. And while it’s not the only component, it’s one of the most important components and something she will continue to wrestle with.

ONCE UPON A TIME airs Sundays at 8PM on ABC (7PM on CTV in Canada) Catch up on past episodes you may have missed for free online at clicktowatch.tv