Once Upon a Time in Wonderland 1x03: Forget-Me-Not [a.k.a. I Learned Something Today]
Well, then. It's been a while since I could so accurately predict something. Either I'm getting super-insightful, or this show is super-predictable. I suppose it's the latter.
Previously: 1x01, Pilot / 1x02, Trust Me
1. Let's start with the kicker, shall we? This is the part where I do regret they didn't mean the book. But Anastasia is none other than the Red Queen, and that really shouldn't come as a surprise. The Knave did say it was a tale of heartbreak. The hearts of those of us who don't like her are definitely cracked a bit.
(c) uprysing
There is a bucketload of reasons why I have a problem with that. It's not even that I don't like the actress. It's that it's the most predictable twist they could have come up with, and there's nothing worse than a "plot twist" than you can see coming from miles away. That said, I am slightly intrigued and curious to know how she went from wearing that fugly pink dress to becoming the Queen of Wonderland and hanging out with Jafar.
2. Robin Hood has been rising to prominence in OUAT proper and now he's made an appearance here. Is this one of the promised crossovers with the main show?
(c) uprysing
I'm not sure how I feel about the Knave being Will Scarlet. There are plenty of versions of who Will Scarlet actually was: from just some kid to Robin Hood's brother; it all depends on which adaptation of the legend you prefer. But I'm pretty sure he wasn't some random guy who joined the merry men in order to nick an enchanted mirror from the castle of the Sleeping Beauty's evil witch. Of course when you put it like that, the whole of OUAT sounds like the fantasy of someone who's read all those fairy tales in succession and forgot what happened where. It's not what Will does that irks me, it's how he does it. Robin Hood lists a number of reasons for his behaviour, and of course it has to be a woman. I don't know if I should be flattered or annoyed on behalf of my sex: you'd think the planet revolves around us. You know, with all these talks about true love, it's surprisingly one-sided. They made an attempt to imply that they actually acknowledge other types of sexuality with Mulan and Aurora, but hey, that didbn't end very well. Basically: I am annoyed that everyone is fixated on true love and it's strictly a boy/girl thing. It's not even about equality anymore; it's about diversity. Because if you have too much of something that is the same, it's bound to grow stale. For heaven's sake, even this week's monster dude turned out to be pining for his lost wife! I am seriously scared for Jafar now: I bet he's also in love with someone. Otherwise, what reason does he have to be so evil?
3. The Knave continues being adorable (when he's not snogging the Red Queen) and his lines remain the best. He's funny:
(c) losinghimwasblue
And he's smart: "The only thing better than defeating a monster is never having to fight one in the first place."
Too bad that this episode made him sound like Kyle from South Park. There really shouldn't be a lesson in everything but that's how OUAT operates: they repeat something until you know it by heart and then some character suddenly learns from it as if inventing a bicycle. In this case, Will claims he is a thief but at the end he suddenly decides he doesn't want to be one. A few episodes later, I'm sure, he'll start doing charity, saving kittens stuck in the trees and helping old ladies cross the road.
(c) allybrookess
I'm not saying that good people are boring. What's boring is someone who's not technically a bad person angsting profoundly over it and coming to some deep realizations all of a sudden. It's a pure technicality who Will steals the rope for. But of course he has to make a big deal out of it because it suddenly carries so much weight in relation to the way he perceives himself (or the way Alice does). Honestly, these two have good chemistry. I do like them as friends, but considering the alternatives (Cardboard Cyrus and Queen Duckface, that is), I'm more than willing to see them have a torrid love affair.
As a shallow side note:
Knave: That is a handsome chap.
Alice: That is a wanted chap.
Alice: *takes poster and reads aloud* For theft, fraud, posturing, imposturing, gambling, disturbing of the peace, and...public nudity?
Knave: In my defence I was tied to a tree and stripped of my clothes, so that one wasn't really my fault.
I vote for the flashback that has this "public nudity" scene. ;))
4. Iggy Pop-voiced Caterpillar. 'Nuff said. XD
(c) allybrookess
His drug cartel/BDSM dungeon with severed heads for decoration is pretty cool. It echoes the Syfy mini-series a bit.
5. Apart from the irksome revelation (did I mention I kinda hate the name Anastasia in general?) the Queen had one moment that I liked. It was this:
The Red Queen: Oh, I am so much than I appear.
Jafar: That much is becoming apparent. Beneath the surface - and it is quite a surface to behold - there is something else.
The Red Queen: There's a Queen. That's all you need to know.
I really am enjoying the way she shoots him down. Because, excuse you, dude, first you Force-choke her multiple times and basically tell her she's worthless and expendable, now you try to flirt but end up pretty much stating that you thought she was nothing but a dumb doll and what a surprise it is that she's not. Jafar, your flirting skills are non-existent. It's nice to see she's not taking his BS.
All in all, that's about all I can say about this episode. It was what you might expect from this show, just like the two episodes before it. Moving on.
Previously: 1x01, Pilot / 1x02, Trust Me
1. Let's start with the kicker, shall we? This is the part where I do regret they didn't mean the book. But Anastasia is none other than the Red Queen, and that really shouldn't come as a surprise. The Knave did say it was a tale of heartbreak. The hearts of those of us who don't like her are definitely cracked a bit.
(c) uprysing
There is a bucketload of reasons why I have a problem with that. It's not even that I don't like the actress. It's that it's the most predictable twist they could have come up with, and there's nothing worse than a "plot twist" than you can see coming from miles away. That said, I am slightly intrigued and curious to know how she went from wearing that fugly pink dress to becoming the Queen of Wonderland and hanging out with Jafar.
2. Robin Hood has been rising to prominence in OUAT proper and now he's made an appearance here. Is this one of the promised crossovers with the main show?
(c) uprysing
I'm not sure how I feel about the Knave being Will Scarlet. There are plenty of versions of who Will Scarlet actually was: from just some kid to Robin Hood's brother; it all depends on which adaptation of the legend you prefer. But I'm pretty sure he wasn't some random guy who joined the merry men in order to nick an enchanted mirror from the castle of the Sleeping Beauty's evil witch. Of course when you put it like that, the whole of OUAT sounds like the fantasy of someone who's read all those fairy tales in succession and forgot what happened where. It's not what Will does that irks me, it's how he does it. Robin Hood lists a number of reasons for his behaviour, and of course it has to be a woman. I don't know if I should be flattered or annoyed on behalf of my sex: you'd think the planet revolves around us. You know, with all these talks about true love, it's surprisingly one-sided. They made an attempt to imply that they actually acknowledge other types of sexuality with Mulan and Aurora, but hey, that didbn't end very well. Basically: I am annoyed that everyone is fixated on true love and it's strictly a boy/girl thing. It's not even about equality anymore; it's about diversity. Because if you have too much of something that is the same, it's bound to grow stale. For heaven's sake, even this week's monster dude turned out to be pining for his lost wife! I am seriously scared for Jafar now: I bet he's also in love with someone. Otherwise, what reason does he have to be so evil?
3. The Knave continues being adorable (when he's not snogging the Red Queen) and his lines remain the best. He's funny:
(c) losinghimwasblue
And he's smart: "The only thing better than defeating a monster is never having to fight one in the first place."
Too bad that this episode made him sound like Kyle from South Park. There really shouldn't be a lesson in everything but that's how OUAT operates: they repeat something until you know it by heart and then some character suddenly learns from it as if inventing a bicycle. In this case, Will claims he is a thief but at the end he suddenly decides he doesn't want to be one. A few episodes later, I'm sure, he'll start doing charity, saving kittens stuck in the trees and helping old ladies cross the road.
(c) allybrookess
I'm not saying that good people are boring. What's boring is someone who's not technically a bad person angsting profoundly over it and coming to some deep realizations all of a sudden. It's a pure technicality who Will steals the rope for. But of course he has to make a big deal out of it because it suddenly carries so much weight in relation to the way he perceives himself (or the way Alice does). Honestly, these two have good chemistry. I do like them as friends, but considering the alternatives (Cardboard Cyrus and Queen Duckface, that is), I'm more than willing to see them have a torrid love affair.
As a shallow side note:
Knave: That is a handsome chap.
Alice: That is a wanted chap.
Alice: *takes poster and reads aloud* For theft, fraud, posturing, imposturing, gambling, disturbing of the peace, and...public nudity?
Knave: In my defence I was tied to a tree and stripped of my clothes, so that one wasn't really my fault.
I vote for the flashback that has this "public nudity" scene. ;))
4. Iggy Pop-voiced Caterpillar. 'Nuff said. XD
(c) allybrookess
His drug cartel/BDSM dungeon with severed heads for decoration is pretty cool. It echoes the Syfy mini-series a bit.
5. Apart from the irksome revelation (did I mention I kinda hate the name Anastasia in general?) the Queen had one moment that I liked. It was this:
The Red Queen: Oh, I am so much than I appear.
Jafar: That much is becoming apparent. Beneath the surface - and it is quite a surface to behold - there is something else.
The Red Queen: There's a Queen. That's all you need to know.
I really am enjoying the way she shoots him down. Because, excuse you, dude, first you Force-choke her multiple times and basically tell her she's worthless and expendable, now you try to flirt but end up pretty much stating that you thought she was nothing but a dumb doll and what a surprise it is that she's not. Jafar, your flirting skills are non-existent. It's nice to see she's not taking his BS.
All in all, that's about all I can say about this episode. It was what you might expect from this show, just like the two episodes before it. Moving on.