I thought it was smart of the writers to set the action ahead one year. They needed to have some way to account for Gennifer’s pregnancy and Jared’s growth spurt.
I wonder how important the “missing year” will be, though, in subsequent episodes, whether they will be doing a lot of flashbacks to fill in what happened or if they will just go full steam ahead. I suspect that once they establish how and why the Wicked Witch gained control of Fairytale Land, whatever else happened the rest of that year may not be that important. (Though I would like to know how Emma got her zillion-dollar Manhattan apartment on a bailbondswoman’s salary. Just kidding. It’s the usual movie and TV fantasy apartment.)