Once Upon a Time in Wonderland 1x09: Nothing To Fear
Well, hello. I knew OUAT was back, but it turns out I've missed the return of OUATiW last week. This episode was not bad, all things considered, though some story choices left me wondering.
Previously: 1x01, Pilot / 1x02, Trust Me / 1x03, Forget-Me-Not / 1x04, The Serpent / 1x05, Heart of Stone / 1x06, Who's Alice / 1x07, Bad Blood / 1x08, Home
1. Lizard. Going against the chronological order here, but this storyline was the most eyebrow-raising. This was her second episode on the show overall, and she spent all of it pining and then died. I get that they wanted to show the price of a thoughtless wish, but this is some SPN-level of character disposability. O_o
(c) whiteknightswan
On the one hand, yes, her death serves to show the dangerous, unpredictable character of magic in OUAT-verse. After all, "anything" could have been friendly affection (which he did feel for her), but no, they opted for grief. On the other hand, what was the point of this death? This death could win an award for the most pointless, stupid, upsetting death ever. Having barely even seen Lizard, the viewers couldn't really get attached to her; she spent the entire episode doing pretty much nothing, and the maudlin scene of her feelings' reveal (something that is obvious to a blind person!) was too tacky to even be comic relief. The poor girl was misused, underused and then killed off in a manner that is tragic only because it's stupid. As a side note, when did the Queen develop such affection for her that she was in tears when she found her body? O_o
R.I.P. poor Lizard.
2. Unsurprisingly, the Knave's first words in the episode were "Bloody hell!" I didn't count how many times he said that this time, but A LOT. Other than that, nothing much to say really. We now know what his perfect woman acts like - and what a coincidence, it's pretty much the description of Ana. That's in case we forgot what we were dealing with. True love and all. I wonder if the show even gives him time to deal with the fact that he pretty much killed Lizard. It wasn't his fault because once she'd made a wish he couldn't have stopped it, but grief isn't rational, so if he doesn't react at all, I'll be disappointed.
3. Anastasia continues climbing to the top of my favourite characters list. After all this time, Emma Rigby's acting still annoys me tremendously, though, manic faces notwithstanding, she was quite good in this episode. Her sass also made happy, especially when it was directed at the show's golden couple.
(c) queentremaine
Her getting captured was funny and sad at the same time, and I get that the authors were trying to give her some character development, but LOL: did she honestly realize that she was a bad queen and people hated her after some peasants tied her up and tried to kill her!? Come on, no one can be that stupid! Unless she still doesn't give a damn about the people and only wants to get back into Will's good graces, the line about her realizing she sucked as a ruler should rank in the top 5 of the most stupid character development attempts ever.
On the bright side, Ana being the owner of Will's bottle should provide some lulz.
4. Cyrus not as annoying as he usually is. While Alice was too busy fluctuating between the "I hate the Red Queen!" mode and the "Fuck everything, let's gtfo and be happy!" mode, he actually still had a head on his shoulders and used. Admittedly, not always successfully, but it was somewhat fun to watch.
(c) light-wayy
I liked it that Cyrus was arguably willing to give Ana a chance. I understand that from their POV she doesn't deserve any, but I can't stand character who go all morally righteous on everyone, while being hardly better in their own right. When Alice was looking for Cyrus, she barely cared at all whom it hurt. Alice is the last person on this show who can talk about abandoning friends; she wouldn't have even remembered Will was in trouble if Cyrus hadn't reminded her.
The new bit of character info - that the other two genies are Cyrus's brothers - irks me a bit. Is it a coincidence or has Jafar been specifically looking for connected genies? Mass production of genies, anyone? XD And how will the fact that Will has replaced Cyrus affect Jafar's scheme?
5. As for Jafar, his ever-changing hair looked nice. Jafar spent the whole episode doing the thing while everyone around him told him not to do the thing. Hubris will fuck you up, Jafar. Jafar's murderous Daddy made an appearance too. I should say I liked him much better when we didn't know who he was.
(c) fucking-oncer
Tbh I don't remember if they showed us what sort of a ruler the Sultan was, but considering how he treated his own son just because the boy was a peasant, I doubt he was very worthy. I really want some characters to meet the Sultan and realize why Jafar is that fucked-up.
6. The thing that Jafar was not supposed to do was disturb the Lady Gaga/Nicki Minaj hybrid kept under a heavy guard of one in a tower. Not sure how I feel about the idea of anthropomorphizing the Jabberwocky, but it was nice to see the creepy lady show the arrogant Jafar his place.
(c) abrahamsx2
All in all, this episode was moderately entertaining, but whereas the parent show returned with intriguing new mysteries and a potentially good new villain, OUATiW chose to continue being blunt and lacklustre. The chemistry between characters balances between poor and non-existent; logic is a foreign word in the authors' vocabulary; and Alice herself has reached a whole new level of unlikable. Pity. This show does have potential, but watching it feels more and more like a chore.
Previously: 1x01, Pilot / 1x02, Trust Me / 1x03, Forget-Me-Not / 1x04, The Serpent / 1x05, Heart of Stone / 1x06, Who's Alice / 1x07, Bad Blood / 1x08, Home
1. Lizard. Going against the chronological order here, but this storyline was the most eyebrow-raising. This was her second episode on the show overall, and she spent all of it pining and then died. I get that they wanted to show the price of a thoughtless wish, but this is some SPN-level of character disposability. O_o
(c) whiteknightswan
On the one hand, yes, her death serves to show the dangerous, unpredictable character of magic in OUAT-verse. After all, "anything" could have been friendly affection (which he did feel for her), but no, they opted for grief. On the other hand, what was the point of this death? This death could win an award for the most pointless, stupid, upsetting death ever. Having barely even seen Lizard, the viewers couldn't really get attached to her; she spent the entire episode doing pretty much nothing, and the maudlin scene of her feelings' reveal (something that is obvious to a blind person!) was too tacky to even be comic relief. The poor girl was misused, underused and then killed off in a manner that is tragic only because it's stupid. As a side note, when did the Queen develop such affection for her that she was in tears when she found her body? O_o
R.I.P. poor Lizard.
2. Unsurprisingly, the Knave's first words in the episode were "Bloody hell!" I didn't count how many times he said that this time, but A LOT. Other than that, nothing much to say really. We now know what his perfect woman acts like - and what a coincidence, it's pretty much the description of Ana. That's in case we forgot what we were dealing with. True love and all. I wonder if the show even gives him time to deal with the fact that he pretty much killed Lizard. It wasn't his fault because once she'd made a wish he couldn't have stopped it, but grief isn't rational, so if he doesn't react at all, I'll be disappointed.
3. Anastasia continues climbing to the top of my favourite characters list. After all this time, Emma Rigby's acting still annoys me tremendously, though, manic faces notwithstanding, she was quite good in this episode. Her sass also made happy, especially when it was directed at the show's golden couple.
(c) queentremaine
Her getting captured was funny and sad at the same time, and I get that the authors were trying to give her some character development, but LOL: did she honestly realize that she was a bad queen and people hated her after some peasants tied her up and tried to kill her!? Come on, no one can be that stupid! Unless she still doesn't give a damn about the people and only wants to get back into Will's good graces, the line about her realizing she sucked as a ruler should rank in the top 5 of the most stupid character development attempts ever.
On the bright side, Ana being the owner of Will's bottle should provide some lulz.
4. Cyrus not as annoying as he usually is. While Alice was too busy fluctuating between the "I hate the Red Queen!" mode and the "Fuck everything, let's gtfo and be happy!" mode, he actually still had a head on his shoulders and used. Admittedly, not always successfully, but it was somewhat fun to watch.
(c) light-wayy
I liked it that Cyrus was arguably willing to give Ana a chance. I understand that from their POV she doesn't deserve any, but I can't stand character who go all morally righteous on everyone, while being hardly better in their own right. When Alice was looking for Cyrus, she barely cared at all whom it hurt. Alice is the last person on this show who can talk about abandoning friends; she wouldn't have even remembered Will was in trouble if Cyrus hadn't reminded her.
The new bit of character info - that the other two genies are Cyrus's brothers - irks me a bit. Is it a coincidence or has Jafar been specifically looking for connected genies? Mass production of genies, anyone? XD And how will the fact that Will has replaced Cyrus affect Jafar's scheme?
5. As for Jafar, his ever-changing hair looked nice. Jafar spent the whole episode doing the thing while everyone around him told him not to do the thing. Hubris will fuck you up, Jafar. Jafar's murderous Daddy made an appearance too. I should say I liked him much better when we didn't know who he was.
(c) fucking-oncer
Tbh I don't remember if they showed us what sort of a ruler the Sultan was, but considering how he treated his own son just because the boy was a peasant, I doubt he was very worthy. I really want some characters to meet the Sultan and realize why Jafar is that fucked-up.
6. The thing that Jafar was not supposed to do was disturb the Lady Gaga/Nicki Minaj hybrid kept under a heavy guard of one in a tower. Not sure how I feel about the idea of anthropomorphizing the Jabberwocky, but it was nice to see the creepy lady show the arrogant Jafar his place.
(c) abrahamsx2
All in all, this episode was moderately entertaining, but whereas the parent show returned with intriguing new mysteries and a potentially good new villain, OUATiW chose to continue being blunt and lacklustre. The chemistry between characters balances between poor and non-existent; logic is a foreign word in the authors' vocabulary; and Alice herself has reached a whole new level of unlikable. Pity. This show does have potential, but watching it feels more and more like a chore.