Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: A New Hit

          In 2011, ABC launched a show called OnceUpon a Time that took fairy tale characters this generation was raised on from their world into our own when the Evil Queen from Snow White casts a spell on the Enchanted Forest. It brought many characters such as Snow White, Pinocchio, and Rumplestiltskin to the small town of Storybrooke, Maine. I adore this show’s magic and creativity, so when a spin-off called OnceUpon a Time in Wonderland was created this year, I was excited to see it. Although the show has a few issues, it has the potential to be a very good, complex show -- something I expect coming from these producers and writers who are also known for the hit show Lost. Wonderland was enjoyable to watch. Although it is similar to Once Upon a Time with its informative yet sometimes confusing flashbacks, it still seems to differ from the parent show in the overall mood. It seems shaky and foreseeable with plot at the beginning, but is gradually strengthening.

            In the first episode of Wonderland, young Alice (played by Millie Brown) returns to her home in Victorian England from Wonderland to a distraught father. After the title credits roll, we are moved forward in time to the story’s present day and we are shown Alice (played by Sophie Lowe) in an asylum talking with a psychiatrist. This episode is full of flashbacks telling about how Alice went back to Wonderland as a young adult in an attempt to find proof that Wonderland exists. In these flashbacks, she meets Cyrus, a young and very attractive genie (played by Peter Gadiot), and they fall madly in love. Cyrus proposes and Alice accepts. Enter the Red Queen (played by Emma Rigby), who ruins this happy occasion and has Cyrus thrown off the side of a cliff to his death. Broken hearted, Alice returns to Victorian England and goes into a sort of trance where she is just going through the motions of living. The White Rabbit (voiced by John Lithgow) then through a magical portal travels to find the Knave of Hearts (played by Michael Socha) and tells the Knave he needs to help bring Alice back to Wonderland because the rabbit thinks Cyrus is alive. There is a rescue mission right before Alice is supposed to undergo a lobotomy to “forget the pain of the past” and she returns to Wonderland. The section about the lobotomy is confusing and I do not understand its purpose. This was all told through separate flashbacks.

            It was quite a shock to watch Wonderland in comparison to the parent show of Once Upon a Time. Overall, Once Upon a Time was a light show, with characters you root for and complex, even relatable antagonists. Wonderland makes it clear that the Red Queen is the antagonist and is not relatable. Wonderland is drastically darker, both in theme and with actual lighting. It has a tighter plot focus: Alice is looking for her love the genie, Cyrus. The tone in Wonderland is dramatically more moody than Once Upon a Time.  Of course, this being Wonderland rather than Maine, there is much more freedom for the writers to be creative and imaginative, not only with plot but with scenery. In Once Upon a Time, the landscape is all realistic, but Wonderland seems more like drawings in a children’s book, especially when Alice and the Knave are traveling and they show obviously fake landscapes in the background. Wonderland does well to differentiate itself from the hundreds of Alice in Wonderland incarnations out there. It pulls the same “maybe Alice is crazy and Wonderland is a figment of her imagination” aspect. What it does do is clear Alice of the “being insane” issue quickly by pulling her out of the asylum and never mentioning her occupation of one again in the episode after she is in Wonderland. It is a unique take on this classic fairy tale with the addition of a love interest and bringing in characters from the story of Aladdin -- the gene and Jafar. It shows that there is a larger context to create more fanciful story arcs.

                The main downside to the show, so far, is it has a stereotypical plot line with the “surprises
 being guessable. For example, when Jafar rescues Cyrus on the magic carpet, it is not the “gasp!” moment the music and presentation try to play it up as. If Cyrus were dead then the show would not be able to move forward. There is, doubtless, an abundance of back-story to explore, but as of yet it feels like more of the same revenge stories that are strong throughout the parent show, like when the Evil Queen wants revenge on Snow White for “killing” her true love or Captain Hook wants revenge on Rumplestiltskin for killing his girlfriend.

                Despite the current plot issue of predictability, I am excited to see what twists and changes they bring to the normal old fairy tale. Even if it keeps being very similar to its parent show, I will continue to watch it.