There used to be a time on Once Upon a Time when Snow and Charming were the “It couple.” This may seem obvious since it is a fairy tale show and many consider Snow White and her Prince to be the archetypal fairy tale love story but it was nevertheless true. Once Upon a Time was, and continues to be, all about the Charming Family and that starts with Snow and David. Snow and David were the best and most true example of true love. Sadly that is all in the past on Once Upon a Time and now almost no one is shipping Snow and Charming — or at the very least they shouldn’t.
1. There Is No Conflict
Snow and Charming are perfect together and that’s a problem. They are too perfect. Good TV and good drama comes from conflict and there is nothing conflicting about Snow and Charming. In the early offing of Once Upon a Time, especially when Snow and Charming’s love story was being told in flashback, there was tons of great conflict between them. Snow was a former princess and accomplished warrior. David was trying to be a dignified prince and failing miserably. Once they finally got together all semblance of interest and conflict disappeared almost immediately.
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In the case of all the other major Once Upon a Time couples they challenge each other. Emma made Hook into a better man. Robin inspires Regina to keep being a hero and vice versa. Belle sees the goodness in Rumple when no one else will. Snow and Charming don’t challenge each other, they just exist in perfect idyllic harmony. It is nauseating to watch and incredibly tedious.
2. They’re No Longer Partners
It’s true that Snow and Charming are still partnered up a great deal and have their own adventures. In Once Upon a Time history, Snow and Charming completed one another. He was the charming (pun intended) and charismatic leader and she was the muscle. They were two halves of the same whole. Now they just kind of putter along.
Now David is the Deputy Sheriff or Sheriff (depending on how busy Emma is in a given storyline) and Snow is a mother, mayor or something. David has more or less completely eclipsed Snow in function. Some of this is down to behind the scenes drama. Ginnifer Goodwin keeps getting pregnant from Josh Dallas in real life so Once Upon a Time is restricted in how action-ready they can make Snow. It doesn’t change the fact that Storybrooke’s most dynamic duo as become its most drab.
3. They are Horrible Parents
No one can really blame Snow and Charming for sending Emma to grow up with a home or a set of solid parents. There was a curse, they needed to save their daughter’s life and they were looking out for all of the Enchanted Forest. There’s no getting around how downright neglectful they have been to their second-born child, poor baby Neal. There’s a favorite child in the Charming family and isn’t Neal.
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Desperate to keep up a relationship with their daughter, who is only a few years younger than them, Snow and Charming follow Emma everywhere. Sometimes Neal is brought along like a real high maintenance doll but often times he is nowhere in sight. I get that Once Upon a Time doesn’t want to go through the trouble of having a baby on set and accounting for Neal’s presence at all moments. At this rate though Neal is going to grow up thinking Granny and Grumpy are his real parents. It’s not going to be the beautiful strangers who whisk him up for a few weeks at a time when there isn’t some kind of curse going on.
4. They’re Useless
Snow and Charming used to be heroes. Now in Once Upon a Time they are about as perfunctory characters as you can get with the exception of the former dwarfs who will always be ridiculous. The last time Snow and Charming did something actually useful was probably in season 2 and it was probably in a flashback. they are the epitome of unnecessary tag-a-longs on their adventures with Emma. They don’t give great advice to their daughter, mostly because she doesn’t listen. David has never won a single fight he has participated in and Snow has apparently forgotten she is an excellent marksman.
Snow and Charming used to be the ideal but now they have been replaced by superior versions. Hook and Emma have their undying passion. It is Hook and Emma who travel worlds now to find and protect one another. Regina and Robin have their teamwork and even some of their skill sets. Regina is a capable leader and Robin, though he rarely uses his bow, is an excellent archer. It’s sad to say but it is true. The most famous fairy tale couple ever is pretty much obsolete on Once Upon a Time.
But do you think? Are Snow and Charming an awful couple? Which OUAT couple do you ship?
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Once Upon a Time season 5 airs Sundays at 8pm on ABC.
(Images courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
