In Which I Review Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (1x13)

And they lived happily ever after. 

How else do fairy tales end? All in all, while this was by no means the strongest episode of the series, it was exactly what I thought it would be. Evil is defeated, wrongs are righted, forgiveness is granted, and everyone gets their happily ever after. There was nothing overly shocking in this episode, though there is one incident that does anger me in light of last weeks Once Upon a Time. This week's Once Wonderland, "And They Lived..." put everything in a box, wrapped it with a bow and then placed it on a shelf as a complete story. 

 The final episode picks up mere moments after the previous; Jafar and Amara are finishing the spell to break the laws of magic, making them the two most powerful sorceress in all the lands, capable of doing anything they desire. I have to admire the lightening storm here, it was well done, and Mark Isham's background music for this scene was deeply eery and foreboding. Jafar is in perfect horrible villain form, uttering "it is done" in wonderment as the spell finishes. Meanwhile, Alice is trying to tell Cyrus to hold on, who apparently didn't die but was only wounded. Keep that in mind, it'll be important later. Jafar is now set on getting everything he wanted: his father's love (or so I was lead to believe for 12 episodes).

With a simple flick of his wrist, Jafar has the love of his father, who goes from sadistic to gushing his undying love to his son in a matter of seconds. Now, when we saw "Bad Blood," where we learned the history between Jafar and the Sultan, I had a ton of sympathy for Jafar. It was something ONCE does well; they give sympathetic backstories to their bad guys, trying to live up to the idea that evil isn't born, but made. Jafar's quest to earn the love of his parent was--misguided to be sure--but somewhat heartwarming. My sympathy for Jafar began to wain when he kept doing acts that I simple could not condone. But now that Jafar has magicked his father into loving him, Jafar's true intentions are laid bare: he never wanted his father's love in the first place. He wanted his father to die at the hands of someone he loved, just like Jafar had. The Sultan tried to drown Jafar, so Jafar magically drowns the Sultan, watching his father fight for air, just like he did as a ten year old boy. It was a violent, messy end, and if there was one genuine surprise, it was this one. I really did think Jafar wanted his father's love.

While Jafar is busy committing patricide, Alice, Amara and Cyrus manage to escape (because Jafar don't need no guards!) and fly (via carpet) to the White Rabbit's house to try and heal Cyrus before he does actually die. Hi Bunny!! Hi Mrs Bunny!! I really love Bunny with his hat and his lady bun with her head wrap. Amara heals Cyrus using her new powers and then takes the time to get to know Alice a little bit, after all--they are soon to be family. It's time to take down Jafar, once and for all. They must end it at the place where it really all began, the Well of Wonders. If Amara surrenders herself to Nyx, returns the waters, the curse is broken on her sons and Will, and without the genies, the spell cast by Jafar and Amara is undone, and balance is restored. The plan is two fold: Alice and the Bunny will gather soldiers to attack Jafar's palace at dawn, while Cyrus and Amara take the magical red door to the Well of Wonders in Wonderland and return what was taken. Raise your hand if you think this will all go according to plan!

Meanwhile, Jafar is having a bit too much fun with his new found powers. He wants to break all the laws, one at a time. I suppose he's trying to sample the buffet before deciding what his main course should be. He forced his father to love him so how about some resurrection? In a special torture to Will, whom Jafar makes watch, Jafar brings back Ana and then, because he is truly sadistic, forces Ana to love him. Part of me wonders if Jafar fancied Ana all along or if he is really a sociopath. What does Jafar want right now?--to kill Amara. Once Amara is dead, he'll be the only person with power, which I suspect is what Jafar wanted from the start. It's not a noble ambition, but I still think it's understandable, though his actions are reprehensiable. As a young boy, Jafar was robbed of his own power, specifically the power of his own life. He was kicked around, abused, unloved, and eventually killed but his anger saved him in that case. He quite literally lives off that anger. His whole life hasn't been about seeking love, but rather seeking the power that he thought was taken from him. He's an abuse victim trying to find a measure of control. Am I sympathetic enough to wash away his sins? No of course not. He messed with fate and magic; that comes with a price. But I cannot fault his anger; I think I'd be angry too if my father tried to drown me.

 Since Amara, Cyrus and Alice are on the run, Jafar decides to resurrect dead soldiers (inset rolling of eyes) and tells them to bring Wonderland to its knees!! Alice and her friends have to split up--Cyrus and Amara go to the Well, while Alice and Bunny go to Jafar's with a ragtag group of soldiers. This part dragged a bit as it was fairly obvious what was going to happen. Alice, after giving a rousing speech to her troops, is captured (irony) by the undead zombies. When cornered, Amara uses magic to make the zombies re-kill themselves--which was rather disturbing to see. This is still an 8pm show run by Mickey Mouse, right? Cyrus realizes they only have a small amount of time now, with Alice captured, and momma and son make extra haste to the Well.

There is still one more law of magic that Jafar hasn't had a chance to sample--changing the past. Jafar's demands are simply, tell me where Amara is. If you don't, I'll change your past. But what part of Alice's past? Easy. The one that would cause the most pain. Jafar will make it so that Alice never came to Wonderland in the first place, never met Cyrus, never fell in love with a genie. Instead her life will be one of isolation and neglect, back in not-so-jolly England. Will, watching this whole exchange, tells Alice to do it: don't give up your memories of what makes you who you are to save Amara and Wonderland. But Alice, who has always been bold and daring and a true believer in love, tells Jafar to do his worse. She has no doubt that Jafar can change her past but she knows something he does not: true love cannot be destroyed. Take her memories if you must, but love is more powerful than any magic, and in the end, it will win the day. The memory taking is delayed as Jafar finds out (from convenient undead guards) that Amara and Cyrus are at the Well of Wonders and he decides to delay Alice's pain in order to take care of this business.

 My bunny is a hero. I want that noted for the record. My bunny is an absolute hero. With no armor, tiny as he is, he breaks into Jafar's palace in order to free his friends to save Wonderland. Ana catches him and tries to prevent the escape but Will pleads with her and gives maybe my favorite speech of the episode. Ana thinks herself in love with Jafar, but Will must convince her it's only an illusion. "Love isn’t simple. It’s messy. It’s arguing and making up. It’s laughing and crying and struggling and sometimes, it doesn’t seem worth it. But it is. Because when you’re in love, in the end, you forgive each other.” Will and Ana have been through hell and back; betrayal, heartbreak, loss and reconciliation. Will forgives Ana for what she did to him and now all that's left is to break her curse. Ah, true love's kiss. Rainbow lights and epic music. Ana's curse is broken by true love's kiss--though if I can be nitpicky, is this really a curse? It's an illusion to be sure, but not a curse. It's an illusion Jafar placed in her head with magic. I'm willing to overlook the small detail because it was a great scene but it does seem like the writers are playing fast and loose with the rules--but what else is new.

Everything converges at the Well of Wonders. Amara is trying to give up her life in order to fix the balance in the universe but Jafar kills her first. But this is where it took me watching the episode twice to really get what happened:
When Amara collapses, she reaches out her hand and touches the well, thus surrendering herself to Nyx. This is why she “dissolves” into a puddle. Therefore she has done what she said she would do–she returned the water. The debt is repaid.
Cyrus and Alice fool Jafar by making him think that the water must still be returned. Hence Cyrus picking up that little handful and then dashing to the well. Jafar grabs a small bit of that water (that has already been returned) and takes it for himself. He has now stolen water from Nyx and is in debt. Do you see where is this going?

 I think I always knew how this would end--the writers wouldn't betray the Disney version of Aladdin with Jafar. In that animated classic, Jafar is tricked into becoming a genie and it's no different here. I wanted a quirky line about itty bitty living space, but alas, that was not meant to be. With Amara's waters returned, the curse on Cyrus's brothers is lifted, meaning no more genies, meaning Jafar is no longer the most powerful sorcerer in the lands. He is trapped in his bottle and POOFed somewhere *cough* Storybrooke *cough* All the spells Jafar did as the all powerful sorcerer are now undone, meaning that Ana is once again.

I am going to try very hard not to turn this into a rant. I don't want it to come off as wishing Ana stayed dead--I really like Ana at the end of it all. But what the actual heck? "Dead is dead" is officially the biggest joke in the entire Onceiverse. Every time someone dies, there is some idiotic magical handwaving to bring them back: Henry (TLK from Emma); Blue Fairy (throw a coconut into a fire); Rumple (dark magic at the vault of eternal goo); Ana, the first time (break the laws of magic); Ana, the second time (freely given water from the Well of Wonders as thanks for returning Amara's waters and because it wasn't Ana's time to go). Maybe I'm super sensitive right now because I'm still really angry that ONCE proper killed off Neal with no hope of ever coming back, but this constant breaking of their cardinal rule has got to stop. It's becoming a joke. So EVERYONE gets to come back from death with the aid of a magical device *except* Neal. Okay then. So yeah, Ana comes back because Nyx let Cyrus and Alice have some of her waters. Let's move on before I get really upset.

We flashforward to some indeterminate future where Alice and Cyrus are preparing to get married. If I had to bet, I'd say that this wedding will somehow align with the end of season 3 of ONCE so that if they want to do a cross over now, they can without fear of timeline contamination. The wedding is lovely and sentimental and I loved the Rabbit's little speech about, "At this point, I’m supposed to say something about for better or worse, richer or poorer. But I don’t have to. You’ve already had all that. Not even death could keep you apart.” It's exactly how we thought it would wrap up--Will and Ana are together (and apparently the White Queen and King?) and Alice and Cyrus have their lovely little life together. Happily ever after, indeed.

Miscellaneous Notes on And They Lived...

--Love the Rabbit complaining about the blood stains.

--I need to erase Jafar and Ana kissing from my brain.

--So is the Jabberwocky pinned to the jail wall for the rest of time? Did Alice free her? After all, Jabber was somewhat helpful.

--Overall rating of series: B
The second half was miles ahead of the first but some episodes from the first half of the season are lackluster to the point where I don't really want to rewatch them ever. The CGI did get better toward the end, and I enjoyed that it was one complete story. Random note, but I want Alice's entire wardrobe. If you missed this show while it was airing, wait for it to be on Netflix, then marathon it. I think, overall, it was worth it and I'm glad I watched it from start to finish. Overall episode ranking:
Dirty Little Secrets
Bad Blood
Heart of the Matter
The Serpent
To Catch a Thief
Home
And they Lived
Nothing to Fear
Who’s Alice?
Down The Rabbit Hole
Forget Me Knot
Trust Me
Heart of Stone

In Which I Review Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (1x12)

And then there was one. 

Penultimate episodes of series set up the final conflict of the season (or in our case, series) and thankfully Wonderland did it well. This week's episode "To Catch a Thief" pulled all the strings together, gave us one final peek into the past for the story we knew we were missing and set up what has to be some sort of epic battle next week. After this episode, I am even more disappointed that we aren't getting a second season. If this is the kind of storytelling of which the writers are capable, then I want more. I want another 13 episodes to explore more of Alice's past, more of the Knave's adventures, more of Cyrus's life as a genie and more Jafar (love to hate him). But, at the same time, I worry that the writers couldn't recreate the magic that has happened these last few episodes. For all I know, some terrible love triangle would overtake the show and it would descend into madness. So maybe this is for the best. But as of right now, I have no doubt that the finale of Wonderland is going to go out with a major bang. 

Band Of Thieves    

It's very appropriate that this is our final (probably) flashback for Wonderland. While the show was touted as an epic love story for Cyrus and Alice, the real drive for the first half was the friendship between Alice and Will. For almost 8 full episodes, we watched them race against time, fight monsters, snark at each other, and be generally awesome together. While the two love stories being told side by side are wonderful, the best friendship between Will and Alice is almost more endearing because it is somehow fresher. Love stories are everywhere, but how often do you see best friends working together like this, their respective love interests nowhere to be found. Thus, I am thrilled that our last flashback takes us back to where we began. We knew that Alice and Will had rescued Will's heart from the clutches of Cora (who was sadly absent for this episode) but this story was the missing piece and the fact that it brought us full circle made it even more important.

Alice is on the run. Like in the classic book, Alice has angered the Queen of Hearts and is now trying to escape her wrath. Let's take a second to remember why Alice is in Wonderland in the first place--to prove to her father that she is not insane. As a little girl, when Alice returned from Wonderland for the very first time, her father was convinced his daughter had lost her marbles. Forever seeking proof for a disappointed and neglectful father, Alice set back out to Wonderland to gather proof (hence the bunny in the bag), but before she could get back to Fictional London, she met Cyrus and they spent a lovely time together before she lost him. This flashback takes place before she met Cyrus, though, as I said above, we come full circle this episode.  After Will gave up his heart to Cora, she in turn "enlisted" him into her service as her Knave and now has ordered him to bring Alice to her. There were so many hilarious one liners and quick witted responses. You can tell that Sophie and Michael love playing off each other. They spark in that unique best friend way that is hard to find in this world, unless you are very lucky.

Will is not so much determined to kill Alice as he has no choice. Once someone has your heart they can do whatever they choose. Even after Alice tries to warn him off, Will follows her anyway...and ends up in a net. What I loved most about this flashback was how light it was. Some flashbacks are tortured and angst ridden, and often they should be. Those types of flashbacks help us understand the character and create sympathy. But by this point in the show, we already love Alice and Will, so instead of this flashback being gut wrenching, we got to have some fun. Will in a net trying to cut Alice with a tiny dagger while she stood there looking unamused was fantastic. The word play and the snark made it enjoyable but then we get to the theme of the night: the best thieves never work alone. Once Alice learns that Will is heartless (literally) she offers to strike up a bargain: I'll steal back your heart and you stop trying to kill me.

Ah, Cora's heart vault. This thing has intrigued ONCERs since we first saw it in season of ONCE. I like that Alice doesn't use brute strength to get into the vault but rather her brains. By careful planning and precision timing, she manages to sneak into the vault where she finds way too many boxes of hearts. Seriously, Cora. You have problems, you insane woman. Alice is a smart cookie and figures out which box belongs to Will (the JH--jack of hearts) and sneaks back to Will where she promptly decides that she wants a Will puppet for herself. I don't begrudge Alice this, and I don't think Will does either. Given the choice, I think Will would have followed her and helped her anyway. Alice's price for getting Will his heart back: help me find proof for my father that I'm not insane.

Alice and Will stop for a pint and we learn a bit more about Will. I must admit this part felt a little off. I don't like learning about random family members in the last possible second. Will has a sister, now? One who died? Why does this feel like information they stuck in only to elicit sympathy from Alice to motivate her to give back Will's heart? I'm glad she gives Will back his heart before their deal is over and done with, but I'm not sure a random heretofore unmentioned sibling was the best way to bring that about. It felt forced but I'm willing to overlook it in light of how well Alice and Will get along. Alice, feeling guilty, gives Will back his heart and instead of taking it and running, he still helps Alice. They capture the bunny and Alice sticks him in her bag and Will tells her to go live her life. I'm glad Alice was worried about Will and didn't want to leave him, but Will assures her that she won't be along for long. And she won't. We've come full circle--Alice, having said goodbye to Will, run away from the guards where she will shrink herself, stumble, and fall right in the path of Cyrus's bottle, which was zapped from Agrabah a short time before.

Fate. Destiny. Whatever you want to call it, these lives are inter-meshed and interwoven.  And I kind of love it. If Cyrus had listened to the Nyx, the guardian of the well of waters, he'd have never been turned into a genie but then he'd never have met Alice. And if Alice's father had just believed her, she'd never have needed proof and never met Will or Cyrus. Perhaps Nyx got it wrong--maybe fate wasn't subverted that fateful day in Agrabah when Cyrus chose his mother over prophecy. And perhaps Nyx knew more than she let on and all of this was a design of fate and destiny anyway. Whatever happened, happened. And that's what Jafar cannot stomach--surely there must be a way to make it un-happen. He is the real antagonist of fate, not Cyrus. Oh, speaking of Jafar and Cyrus....

I Did Not See This Coming 

Jafar is keeping Ana in a glass coffin in front of Will's cell. Well, that's a whole new level of creepy and deranged. Jafar, get thee to Storybrooke and seek out a man turned cricket named Archie. He'll help you out, you poor sod.  Jafar knows all about desperate souls and he knows how to pray on Will; "there is a way to bring her back." If Jafar can break the laws of magic, then he can bring back Ana for Will. To what lengths wouldn't you go to bring back the one person you loved more than anything? For Will, that means seeking out his friends and asking for their help. If Alice and Cyrus hand over the serpent staff, Jafar can break the laws of magic and make what happened, un-happen. "We have to let Jafar win." But as sorry as Cyrus and Alice are that Ana is dead, they can't stomach the idea of Jafar winning. They are thinking of the greater good, after all. They want to take Amara to the well of wonders and return the waters so that Cyrus's brothers might be freed from their genie-hood. But fools in love....

This episode was billed as a betrayal from Will to Alice, but of course it wouldn't last. Will and Alice love each other too much to ever betray each other that way. So even after Will stole the AmaraStick and tried to escape, he would never let Alice die or be harmed. "I don't know how to loose you, Alice." (my heart just shattered, by the way). Alice again assures Will that he is not alone, but Will has some harsher words for Alice, "you think your love story is the only one worth fighting for." It's true. Alice is a bit myopic sometimes. It has always been about saving Cyrus, being reunited with Cyrus, her happy ending with Cyrus. To Alice, Ana is the Red Queen and old habits die hard; it has been hard to trust her and she frankly doesn't like the idea of Will and Ana together, her Will deserves better. But that's not up to Alice, is it? This is Will and Ana's story as much as Alice and Cyrus's, and if Will wants to fight for it, then she needs to help him, not detract him.

However, there is still the small problem of Ana being dead. Enter the unlikely foe turned friend--or at least turned into a helpmate, cause I'm pretty sure I don't consider Jabberwocky a friend. Jabber is no longer happy with her arrangement with Jafar--she wants freedom, not to be his little pet, kept on a leash known as the Vorpal blade. I am now incredibly intrigued by the Jabberwocky and her past. WHAT is she? And if she wasn't born a monster, then how did she become like this. I suspect we'll never know but her speech that monsters are made in a cruel world by cruel people has piqued my interest. There are quite a few similarities between her and the Dark One's curse that infects Rumple on ONCE and now I'm seeing theories that the two blades are connected and that Jabber was cursed. Could we please have her over on ONCE proper? Jabberwocky vs Regina and Rumple. Just picture that for a few moments.

The quartet, that now becomes a quintet, strikes up a plan to break into the palace and free Cyrus's brothers and save the Red Queen. It all revolves around freeing Amara from that staff. And this is where I do have a major complaint. How the blazes did she get free???? One second she's a stick and the next she saunters in, in a killer red dress and serpent necklace without even a bit of warning. How was this achieved? She says that she didn't teach Jafar everything she knows but I am seriously confused. If she could free herself this whole time through her own magic, was she just waiting for the right moment to strike? Until Jafar had all her sons gathered in one place? The fact there is no explanation is a little disconcerting, but what follows Amara's appearance is SO EPIC that I'm not going to dwell too much. So the plan? In several parts, the first of which was to get Cyrus into Jafar's chamber where is brothers are and wait. Will creates a distraction until Jafar summons him back to his bottle; Alice frees the Sultan who agrees to stop Jafar before he can hurt anyone else. Like Alice's plan to break into Cora's heart vault so long ago, this one is built on precise timing. Yay for Alice being an epic strategist (and freakishly good at counting...)

So now things converge. Cyrus and his brothers are in the same room; Will is in his bottle, Amara is free from her former status as a stick and Alice is racing, and kicking ass, to get to the room to take down Jafar once and for all. I have been waiting for an epic magic battle on ONCE for a very long time. Any kind of magic battle!! We seem to always bypass them--Cora died before there could be any sort of battle; Pan was killed with a knife to the heart; Regina and Rumple have settled their differences. On a show built around magic, the fact that there is a dearth of magic battles just makes me sad. So finally I got my wish. Snakes! Poofs of smoke!! Broken mirrors!! Taunting!! Sorceress being sorceress!! It was wonderful. Jafar and Amara are really matched against each other, each one managing to counter the others spells. But as Jafar says, "it always comes back to one thing when it comes to us sorceress. Family."

WHAT THE HELL. STOP HURTING PEOPLE I LIKE!!

I did not see this coming. I figured Ana would bite it because of the name thing, but it never occurred to me that Cyrus might die as well. It just seemed so...out of the realm of possibility. But of course, Jafar is right: it all comes back to family. Killing Ana was the perfect motivation for Will; but what about Amara? What do you do to ensure that she helps you with your "break the laws of magic spell?" Kill one of her sons, of course. And now that Cyrus is no longer a genie, Jafar can hurt him all he wants with no fear of what it means for his magic spell. One tiny flick of his finger, and a shard of glass lodges in Cyrus's heart; a pain that even Alice can feel. Their hearts are entwined, forever linked in love. And Alice can't get there fast enough.

Jafar has gotten everything he wants. And now the final battle begins.

Miscellaneous Notes On To Catch A Thief

--Jafar becomes a genie. That's my series end prediction. Genie and trapped in a bottle.

--Will Jafar go back on his word to bring back Ana and Cyrus?

--Will Alice fight against Jafar even if it means loosing Cyrus?

--"I won't sacrifice a life with you."

--Really wish I knew more about the Jabberwocky now. She's so fascinating.

--Cyrus carried the Snake on his back almost the whole episode. Given Momma a piggy back ride!

In Which I Review Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (1x11)

"I’m the ‘Queen’ of Hearts. Do you really think I’d be so careless, as to keep my heart where everyone else does?"--Cora, Queen of Hearts (Once Upon a Time, 2x09)

Ah, Cora. You can't really have a story about Alice in Wonderland without having the Queen of Hearts, she of the "off with her head!" mentality. I'm rather surprised at how happy I was to see Cora as I basically loathe her character (Barbara Hershey, on the other hand, is superb). Cora is cold, manipulative, callus, and power hungry. She mentally and emotionally and physically abused Regina; she broke Rumple's heart, and then tried to kill him to take his power. She is all kinds of bad ass, and all kinds of villain. And so when she appeared on this weeks, "The Heart of the Matter," I began to suspect that sweet but selfish Ana would slowly morph into a mini Cora. If last weeks episode built the mysteries and myth of the show, this episode was the emotional gut punch we needed after so many answers. The theme of the week is forgiveness but it's also prisons, the sort we build for ourselves be they ones of iron and bolts or ones that are dressed in pretty jewels and power. Maybe not as good as last week, this episode was still stellar, with quite the shocking ending! 

Is Your Momma A Stick?

I want to start with the B plot of the episode as the A plot (both in past and present) is very heavy and involved. Having learned that his mother is alive, Cyrus sets out to find the Caterpillar and retrieve the compass that Cyrus traded him long ago (I honestly forgot that Cyrus had traded the compass to the Caterpillar because it was back when the show was really struggling to hold my attention). The Caterpillar is willing to give Cyrus his compass back, but only if Cyrus hands over Alice and the Knave for not returning the Forget Me Knot. Side note, but I like how the smaller stories aren't being forgotten by the writers. They could have easily brushed the deal Alice and Will made the with Caterpillar back in 103 under the rug, but they didn't. Alice, shrunken down in size, is attempting to steal the compass from the Caterpillar while Cyrus distracts everyone. And in case you aren't culturally aware, there were a ton of Star Wars nods in this episode. The creators are nerds and the love Star Wars but, the Caterpillar has always been a stand in for Jabba Hut and now bar fights, calling in debts, and Cyrus got to be a bit of a Han Solo-type.

The search for Amara is abruptly cut short when Alice and Will learn (thanks to the Tweedle) that Jafar now has all three genies and Ana is locked up. But thankfully there are SECRET TUNNELS under the castle. Forgive me while I laugh myself silly. Really? More super convenient secret tunnels? Does every palace in every realm come equipped with them? Is there some sort of building company that crosses realms and installs them? Anyway, secret tunnels aside, Alice and Cyrus break into the dungeon to find Ana and figure out how to save Will. It was really heartbreaking to see Ana thank Alice for returning even though she knows Alice didn't do it for her. They are rudely interrupted by Jafar and Jabber coming to question Ana and manage to make a quick escape but not before learning one vital piece of information--because Will does not have his heart, he is not "a proper genie" and therefore Jafar's spell will not work. In order to save Will, they must first get his heart back. Enter the Bunny!!! Hi Bunny!!! I'm not sure when Will told Alice where his heart was, but all Alice needs is a portal to take her to--wait for it--Storybrooke!! We're going home.

Don't even bother asking me when this takes place in ONCE proper. I've been trying to connect some dots about the timeline of this episode and so far have nothing. Mr. Gold's car is at the Rabbit Hole (the bar) which he only frequented once in the episode Lacey which was toward the end of Season 2. The reason I'm harping on this? Because if Jafar does succeed in breaking the laws of magic, then doesn't it have repercussions for all worlds? How does it affect the parent show? Is that how Zelena managed to bring back Rumple? Timeline issues aside, I loved this portion. Finally we get some genuine fish-out-of-water moments on any ONCE show. This is what it should have been like for Hook and Belle; they've tried with Hook in 312 to do some of these moments but they were few and far between. Alice and Cyrus are genuinely surprised at everything in our world--cars, electricity, music, ice. It made for a some comic relief in the midst of a emotionally heavy episode.

I was actually rather surprised that the heart was in Storybrooke; I had predicted that it would be back in the Enchanted Forest, inside Ana and Will's old house. But instead it's in Will's house, which was rather spartan in nature. Will, during the Curse, was just living to get by. Boxes of unpacked items show that he never settled into his life. Like Ana stated last week, "I can never be comfortable. Not without you in my life." And what does Will have on his wall? A drawing of the Red Queen in all her royal glory. A picture that is littered with holes from throwing darts at it. Ouch. Alice, knowing the Knave better than anyone apart from Ana, deduces that the heart must be behind the picture of Ana. This is both sweet and sad. Will literally boxes up his heart and puts Ana's picture over it. A constant reminder that she broke him and what it cost him.

With the heart-in-a-box safely collected, Alice and Cyrus head back to Wonderland, only to meet Jafar who was on his way to Storybrooke--my kingdom for one conversation between Jafar and Rumple! There is a bit of a magic stand off battle here in which objects are exchanged. Remember how Amara is not only a snake staff but also Cyrus's mother? Well, when Jafar goes to try and use his trusty snake against Cyrus, Amara is having none of it. She rebels against Jafar and there is a lot of bright light and magic and confusion. Jafar has never experienced this before. His...pet...has always obeyed him. Cyrus ends up grabbing AmaraStick and she fights all of Jafar's powers, but sadly Jafar is able to grab the box with Will's heart. So at the end of the battle, Cyrus has his MommaStick and Jafar has Will's heart. Jafar needs both, remember--only two powerful wizards can perform the spell to break the laws of magic and Will needs his heart in order to be a proper genie. Cyrus and Alice figure out, with the help of the special compass, that the Snake Staff is Amara. But how do you break a spell that has your momma trapped as an inanimate object. Quick! Kiss the snake!

But I Think It's About Forgiveness

Normally, I split the past from the present but in this case, I think the two are better talked about together. In the past, it's the night before Ana's wedding to the Red (since when?? He was dressed in all White last time) King and you can tell that she's almost content. Ana has also made a new friend--Cora, the Queen of Hearts. Cora is an intimidating figure but instantly sees a bit of herself in Ana. Side note, but there is more than a bit here. There is a whole whopping parallel, and it was deliberate. Cora takes ones look at Ana, knows her story and sees not only herself but also the daughter she should have had. Regina was a disappointment because she didn't understand how power can shape you as a person. Regina only ever wanted love, but like Cora, Ana chose power instead. This intrigues Cora and in Ana she found someone she could mold when Regina refused. And Cora plays on one of things Ana always wanted to hear--motherly love. Oh Cora, you twisted soul. Rumple taught you well. Cora offers to teach Ana magic, insisting that Queens must use everything at their disposal to rule. Ana thinks it's a bad idea but you can tell that Cora isn't finished.

I said Ana was rather content in her new life and I think that's true. There is a lot of staring into mirrors, touching her jewels, admiring herself. It's only when a surprise visitor comes along does she start to rethink her plan. Poor Will (how many times do I say that?) but he deserves an explanation from her. He wants to know why Ana would do this--how could you break my heart in such a cold manner? Now, Ana claims she was doing what was best for both of them, but that's rather hard to see. With Ana there was a bit too much "oh shiny!" in her hasty engagement to the King. And I fail to see how it benefited Will unless she thought he'd be better off without her. Will breaks into the palace and asks Ana to come away with him tomorrow morning--meet him at the wagon and leave all this behind. Will is so broken here it's hard to watch. There are some really sad lines, Will mentions naming the stars at night to fall asleep and he named them all Anastasia because it's the most beautiful name he knows. Will has the heart and soul of a poet, which is why it makes it hard during this moment to feel any sympathy for Ana who so rudely ditched him. Will tells Ana one last time to meet him at the wagon at dawn and vanishes. Oh. One more thing: guess who was listening?

Cora, you really are an evil witch, aren't you? Cora overhears the conversation between Ana and Will and probably has very intense flashbacks to Regina and Daniel. Here is a girl who Cora can mold and shape and what is she going to do--run away with a commoner? Choose love over power and magic? Not on Cora's watch! Before dawn, Cora slips out of the palace and goes to see Will. Cora claims to be there on behalf of Ana and that Ana has made her decision--she will marry the King. Will is just a distraction now, and one Ana could do without. "Is that what love is to you? A distraction" asks Will and then Cora gives probably her most famous line in the Onceiverse and a theme that Adam and Eddy have been playing with for almost three full years now, "Love is weakness." I may or may not have cheered when hearing this line--horrible as it is. I knew it was coming. It had to! The speech from Will that follows is even more heartbreaking than his moment with Ana in the palace the night before. Will is so broken on the inside, dreaming that Ana will come home today and then he goes to bed when she doesn't and wakes up the next morning hoping again that Ana will return. You can't live on hope, sometimes you need reality. He can't go on; he doesn't want to live this way. But luckily, he knows Cora's reputation. Cora, the Queen of Hearts, with a vault full to bursting of human hearts that she removes herself. Until this episode I had been predicting that Ana took Will's heart in an effort to appease Cora. I never dreamed that Will would ask for Cora to take his own heart. I was genuinely shocked at the request. Feeling nothing is better than feeling what he did feel. So Cora reaches in and takes Will's heart, boxes it up, and Will--altered now to feel nothing--packs up his stuff and leaves the wagon, not caring that Ana didn't show up.

Ready for the twist? Ana was on her way to the wagon. She chose Will, until Cora (ARG!) interfered. Catching Ana in the act of packing and fleeing, Cora shows Ana via magic mirror that Will Scarlett isn't waiting for her at the wagon. He lied, he has left her (like she left him) and now it's time for Ana to get on with her life. Cora sees so much potential in Ana and if Ana really wants to be a good queen, she will need Cora's help. And more importantly, Cora's magic. Does Cora really see potential or is she playing on Ana's insecurities and vanity? My guess is the latter. Ana's isn't a deft hand at magic but she is emotionally scarred from her mother's cold treatment towards her. Ana doesn't take to magic the way Regina did (who broke her mother's magic binds without even one magic lesson under her dress). Ana is a bit slower; her lingering feelings for Will are holding her back. Cora also takes the time to explain the rules and laws of magic to Ana. Ana's main interest is in knowing if she can break them. This displeases Cora. Greatly. Cora is pretty intelligent and if Ana wants to break the laws it's only to get Will back. Cora gives a very rousing speech (I love Barbara Hershey) about letting go of whatever is holding Ana back and believing in herself and in the magic and the power, because with it, she can have anything she wants. And just like that, Ana's magic comes into being. And even if Ana's new husband doesn't approve, it doesn't much matter--chances are Ana and Cora are about to kill him.

Alright, present day. While Jafar is off searching for a way to Storybrooke to get Will's heart, he leaves Will and Ana in adjoining cells which provide the two the chance to talk. Or rather, Ana does a lot of talking and Will responds the way a man without a heart would. You know, it's interesting. Despite not having his heart, Will clearly still feels something for Ana. He stopped Jafar from killing Ana by telling him where his heart was and when Ana notes that Will will never love her again, there is a flash of agony. Ana didn't know Will gave up his heart for her and she is clearly disturbed and bothered. She knows how much pain she caused and now that pain is sitting in the cell next to her. Ana asks if Will can ever forgive her and Will says that nothing is impossible in Wonderland. Time for the storylines to converge. Jafar has Will's heart and wants to test it.

Jafar forcibly puts Will's heart back inside his chest and in an instant, Will feels again. And the first word out of his mouth? Ana. And no hesitation, no thinking, he reaches for her and they share THE TRUE LOVE KISS OF EPICNESS. Now, I've seen some true love kisses on ONCE before but this one had the swelling orchestra and the overly cheesy camera spins and happy lights. And it was gorgeous. That's how true loves kiss should work. The title for this episode is "The Heart of the Matter" and it comes from a song which states, "I’ve been tryin’ to get down/ To the heart of the matter/ But my will gets weak/ And my thoughts seem to scatter/ But I think it’s about…forgiveness." I think Will forgives her instantly. Forgiveness isn't forgetting but he loves her. He always had and he always will. But what's a heart for if not to be broken?
As Jafar says, "must make sure that your heart still works" and out comes the dagger. As Will is forced to watch from his prision, Jafar stabs Ana in the back and we watch as she falls to the ground, clearly dead. There was an interesting line in this episode that I think works thematically here as well, "we create our own prisons." Ana's prison was her selfish act that had repercussions down the road for everyone; Will's prison was his decision not to feel anything and lock away his heart behind a literal wall (he and Emma Swan should go out for a drink sometime--they can discus literal and metaphorical walls.) Jafar's prison is his obsessive need for his father's love, even if it's fake and false and probably won't be what he thought it would be. Ana's laments before her death that she wishes she and Will had never left Sherwood; coming to Wonderland was the start of it all because "Anastasia and Will, we already had all the magic we needed." And now she's lost for good and Jafar is closer than ever to his dreams.

Miscellaneous Notes on The Heart of the Matter

--Is Ana dead for good? Hard to say. Her name does mean "resurrection" so it's possible that she might come back if Jafar succeeds in breaking the laws of magic.

--How do you revive Amara? I don't know if they'd be as cliche as true love's kiss from her son, but neither Cyrus nor Alice have that sort of magic to break her curse.

--Really loved seeing Cora, even if she is an evil soul. But the question still remains, how did Will and Alice get his heart back from Cora?

--Only two episodes to go! Now I wish it had a second season. Wonderland has now surpassed my expectations. Sorry to see it go.

In Which I Review Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (1x10)

Got a secret; can you keep it? Swear this one you'll save. Better lock it your pocket, taking this one to the grave. 

Everyone has secrets. Sometimes the secrets are mythic and world changing, and sometimes the secrets we keep are the tiny lies we tell ourselves about who we truly are. Tucked away in the recesses of our mind, we keep bits of information that if found out, could damn us. In this week's episode of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, "Dirty Little Secrets," secrets are revealed, answers are given, and the battle for Wonderland takes a turn for the worse. I must say, before the review, this was the best episode of the season so far. It's a shame that Once Wonderland wasn't give more of a chance with the audience. Each episode lately is better than the last and I find that watching Wonderland is more relaxing and fun than watching ONCE proper. 

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished  

It's about time we got Cyrus's backstory. For the first half of the show, Cyrus felt really under developed. He sat in his cage, made speeches about love and finding Alice and made what were often viewed as half-hearted escape attempts but had no real depth. All of those criticisms are now washed (pun!) away with this episode. Part of me wondered how they would handle Cyrus in the past. Would he be as noble and heroic as he is in the present? Turns out no! Which I suppose shouldn't surprise me; this is Once Upon a Time after all. Cyrus was a bit of scroundal, though I suppose a loveable one. He cheated at cards, drank, got into fights. He was a typical young adult male, in other words. But underneath that, he had a good heart--one that loves his brothers and his mother. And, as we can see in this episode, a heart that can become consumed by guilt.

After a card game, in which Cyrus's is accused of cheating, angry ruffians set Cyrus's house ablaze--with his mother trapped inside. Pretty harsh, if you ask me. The brothers are able to put out the flames, but not before their mother is badly burned in the process, now very near death. Thankfully magic might save the day (as it does so often). There is a legend of a special place called the Well of Wonders. The waters inside the Well are so powerful they can make a scared man brave and heal the injured and dying. If Cyrus and his brothers can get some of those waters and give them to their mother, then her burns can be healed and she could live. Cyrus's brothers, especially the eldest, seem worried that messing with deep magics might have unforeseen consequences (theme!) but Cyrus, wracked with guilt, persuades them to go along with him to the Well.

The Well of Wonders is guarded by Nyx. Oh hello, Greek mythology. Who is Nyx? Nyx in Greek means night and in myth she is the embodiment of night and darkness. She is one of the first goddesses "born" in Hesiod'd Theogony and she is normally associated with her two daughter, Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death). She has a few other daughters, one of whom I'm going to mention in a bit because I think I have a pretty solid theory. Until then, Nyx is the Guardian of the Well and she is not thrilled with the idea of Cyrus and his brothers taking her waters. Nyx tells Cyrus that the waters can only be taken for those who's destines are not yet written, but his mother's fate is sealed. If Cyrus does not return the water then he will pay the price. It's the only warning she gives before vanishing back into the depths. Nyx is rather terrifying. Put her with Jabberwocky and they could totally take over the world. Cyrus does not want to heed the warnings of Nyx; his guilt has consumed him and he is determined to right his wrong. His brothers question if he wants to save their mother or if he wants to alleviate his conscience. I suspect it is more the latter than the former, but that's what makes Cyrus a more complex character than he used to be. Cyrus only became noble in the aftermath of spending centuries in the bottle. Speaking of which...how did he end up in the bottle? Because all magic comes with a price.

I love when I'm right. As I predicted last week, Cyrus's mother is Amara, the lady who would later seduce Jafar into helping her find the bottles and tell him about the spell to break the laws of magic. Amara is rather young to have three grown boys, isn't she? That would be clue number one that something is amiss here. Once she is healed, the boys reveal how they came to heal her. At the mention of the the Well of Wonders and its Guardian, Amara seems to freak out a bit. She is distraught that her sons would go to the Well; in fact she begins to gather their belongings and shove them out the door! This is clue number two that something isn't right with Amara. Her concern is that somehow the Guardian will come for her sons and they must flee before she finds them.

Too late. A careless mistake in which some water from the Well spills on to the floor, making a portal for Nyx, leads the Guardian straight to Amara and her sons. And Nyx is not a happy lady! Amara begs Nyx not to hurt her children but Nyx pays no heed to Amara. Instead she tells Cyrus that because he tried to circumvent the fates, he and his brothers will pay a price. And his punishment? To become a genie trapped in a bottle, "you let your desire override fate. Now it will be your fate to serve the desires of others." Cyrus and his two brothers are poofed into the nearest bottle/urn/vase and zapped out of Agrabah to the far corners of the realms to await their new masters. So, what am I getting at with Amara? In mythology, Nyx has quite the large family, but one daughter in the "Theogoy" in highlighted along side Night: Day. And what's the Greek word for "day?" Hemera. Hemera  = Amara. I think Amara is the daughter of Nyx and she somehow left the Well of Wonders to live amongst the mortals but never aging. In the "Theogony" Day leaves the house just as night is coming in, they switch places. Well, I think one of the ultimate end games is for Amara to return to the house of her mother. Why? For that we need to move into present day Cyrus's story and what Nyx demands of him.

I'll Take What is Behind Door Number Two

In the present day, Cyrus, Alice, Ana, and Will are finally altogether and planning what to do next. Ana insists that they are no match for Jafar and his magics. They need an army but Ana knows she will have trouble convincing the people of Wonderland to follow her into battle because she was a wretched Queen. The two couples have different ideas about how to solve their problems. Cyrus points out that if they can release the genies from their prisons, then Jafar can't perform the spell to break the laws of magic but in order to do that he must go to the place where the Curse on his brothers began--the Well of Wonders. Ana provides a map to a shortcut to get to where Nyx resides in Wonderland and Cyrus and Alice set off.

It's not an easy journey for the two. Cyrus seems to be keeping a lot from Alice and it turns out he never told her how he ended up in the bottle. It's not something he likes to dwell on because he knows it was his fault. As the two walk along, they come to a point in the woods where two red doors and a Knight reside. The Knight gives them a riddle--one door will lead you to the Well, the other door will drown you. You must make a choice (if you were watching closely, though, the Knight kept indicating with his eyes which door was which). This bit went on a tad longer than it needed to and while Cyrus snapping at Alice was understandable and made them feel more real, but it was still hard to watch. Alice (being ever so clever) figures out that the Knight speaks only in lies when asked a direct question. So when Alice asks if Door A will take them to the Well and the Knight says yes, she knows to go through Door B. Nice job, Alice. It's also a nice callback to the actual book by Carrol where Alice did have to solve riddles while in Wonderland and in the Mirror Universe. Cyrus doesn't want Alice to come with him because it is something he must do on his own.

Cyrus summons the Guardian and begs Nyx for mercy. After centuries of serving others desires, he now knows that you can't cheat the fates. Sometimes, you have to play the hand you are dealt. Nyx, on the other hand, isn't having it. Oh sure, she'll release his brothers from their binds, but only if Cyrus returns the waters to the Well. Cyrus tells Nyx this is impossible because his mother is long dead. NOPE, says Nyx. Your mother lives and if you want your brothers freed, then return the waters. So going along with my theory above that Amara is the daughter of Nyx, I think the mother will sacrifice herself for her sons. For centuries she has been searching for them, in order to break their binds. If all she has to do is return to the Well, then I think she will. So the big question I have right now is: is there an actual spell to break the laws of magic? Or was it all a clever ruse to get Jafar to help Amara? Amara recognized in Jafar a little boy who would go to the ends of the earth and back to get the Sultan's love. I think Amara made a plan in her head the second she brought Jafar into the household to teach him magic, but held off on the big stuff; then once he was hungry enough for knowledge, she placed a feast in front of him: breaking the laws of magic by collecting three genie bottles. I don't think there is a spell to break the laws of magic; I believe Amara wanted Jafar to help her collect the bottles and then planned on double crossing him once her sons were free. So when Jafar goes to try the spell, nothing is going to happen.

Of course, Alice doesn't listen to Cyrus and follows him to the Well (good girl) where she over hears everything Cyrus has to say to Nyx. Cyrus is scared that his secrets--that he is responsible for all this--will drive Alice away. If Cyrus had listened in the first place and not stolen the waters, then he and his three brothers would not be cursed and Jafar would not be looking for three genies to break the laws of magic. Alice would not have gone through all the pain she went through if not for Cyrus and his arrogance. Alice is very understanding though and tells Cyrus that we cannot live in the past and that she has made mistakes too. This was a really tenderly beautiful moment between the two. Alice confesses that she gave up on Cyrus and their love and was ready to undergo the procedure to erase Wonderland and Cyrus from her memory. Cyrus is also worried that the bottle made him a better man and now that he's lost it, he'll revert and Alice gives one of my favorite lines from the show, "I'll be your bottle." Such a cute scene!

The Creepy Hour 

While Alice and Cyrus are off finding the Well of Wonders, Ana and Will go in search of help to take down Jafar when the time comes. Their first stop is the White Rabbit's (hi Bunny!!) Poor Bunny. He is so scared when Ana shows up at his door, as he should be. She did capture his wife and children after all. But Ana wants forgiveness--she seems really sorry for what she did. I must admit, Ana is growing on me with each passing episode. Ana wants the Rabbit to portal to each corner of the realm and convince the people to come to her aid--Wonderland is their home, they can't let Jafar over take it! But the Rabbit delivers some startling news: Jafar has released the (super creepy) Jabberwocky. Ana does not take this news well.

I'm not sure what Ana's history is with the Jabberwocky, but she seems incredibly horrified at the idea that the Jabberwocky might be coming for her. According to Ana, the Jabberwocky can smell your fear; she feeds on it. When it becomes apparent that the Jabberwocky is following the duo, Ana orders Will back into his bottle and then prepares to face the Jabberwocky. It's quite a creepy (creepy is the word of the day when it comes to Jabberwocky) battle, with the Jabberwocky appearing at random and taunting Ana. The Jabberwocky can taste Ana's fear and dread and she only adds to Ana's fear. At one point Ana tries to impale the Jabberwocky with a sword, but there is only one blade that can kill the Jabber: the Vorpal blade (and it was super...creepy...to watch the Jabberwocky pull herself off the sword. This actress is phenomenal. More of her, please). In the end, the Jabber gets the upper hand, knocks out Ana and takes the bottle.

What is with Jafar and cages? He has like a fetish for them or something. Will and Ana are placed inside a cage and left to the Jabber's devices. Jafar has a problem, you see. Ana is the master of the bottle so Jafar can't kill her or he'll never be in possession of Will. He can't kill Will because he's a genie and thus has no leverage over Ana. But Jafar always gets what he wants. The Jabberwocky uses a very interesting (horrifying) form of torture--mind torture. She can get inside your mind and pick out your secrets, reveal who you really are to those you love. I was very impressed with Ana, holding on as long as possible. It was only when Jafar started hurting Will that she broke and gave into the Jabber's demands, spending her three wishes in a matter of seconds. The Jabberwocky, at her cruelest, makes Ana wish for her crown, her jewels, and for the Jabber to stop the torture. And POOF! Will is back in his bottle and now Jafar is the master of all three genies. But will the spell work? That remains to be seen.

Miscellaneous Notes on Dirty Little Secrets

--Fantastic episode all around. I was impressed with the acting, the writing, and even the CGI which is often very wonky.

--"Jabber jabber jabber. All you people do is jabber." The Jabberwocky is just so terrifying. And when she cut out Liz's eyes, my stomach turned. That was really unexpected.

--What happens to Ana now? Will Jafar kill her or will Cyrus and Alice rescue her? I have a feeling she might die, but her name does mean Resurrection, so it's possible she won't stay dead for long.

--I won't spoil anything, but next week someone from the ONCEiverse is making an appearance. Someone we've wanted to see for a long time. I am really excited.

--Only three episodes left. Wonderland is getting better each episode. And while I'm sorry that Adam and Eddy aren't getting their second show renewed, the concise and intricate and *tight* storytelling of Wonderland is really refreshing.