"Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" Debuts on ABC

     Thursday, October 10th, ABC premiered their new Once Upon a Time spinoff, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (#OUATWonderland or #OnceWonderland for short on Twitter). Alice has been a popular trend lately, so I wasn't a bit surprised to learn that ABC was cashing in on it. Not to mention, we've seen Wonderland before on the original OUAT, and it was pretty awesome. So I was super-excited a week or two ago when I realized how close the premiere was.

     Spoiler Alert! If you didn't catch the premiere, don't worry; you can go watch it on ABC's website before reading this. Or not. Your call.

Alice

      First off, there's Alice (of course). In the original novel by Lewis Carroll, Alice is a child, but in OUATIW, she's only a child for the first visit to Wonderland (presumably). The opening scene shows her climbing out of the rabbit hole and running to tell her father all about the magical realm she visited. But when we next see her, Alice is grown-up (well, a teenager anyway) and locked away in an asylum for continuing to believe in Wonderland. In flashbacks, we get the CliffNotes version of a romance between Alice and a genie named Cyrus, whom she met and traveled with in Wonderland. (The asylum doctor's statement that Alice claimed they had been "fighting pirates [and] swimming with mermaids" also hinted that she and Cyrus may have traveled to Neverland at some point.

     Played by Sophie Lowe, Alice herself is adorable but spunky, stubborn (but in a good way), with much more fire than the traditional Alice character. The show's creators have stated that they didn't want to do the "damsel in distress" thing with her, and they avoided it fairly well, although some fight scenes ended in one male character or another helping her out of a tight spot. But Alice does fend for herself fairly well, with some pretty sweet martial arts moves and swordplay. It just makes me wonder, where did she learn how to fight?

     I've been wondering other things about Alice too, such as: When was she first admitted to asylum? How did she get back to Wonderland when she decided to get proof? What's her history with the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat (since both "friendships" seem shaky at best)? I'm hoping these and more will be answered over the course of the series through backstory flashbacks.

Cyrus
 

     Cyrus is a genie - and given his connection to Jafar, I'd venture to guess he's The Genie. But - as with many characters in the OUAT universe, he's very different from his Disney-animation counterpart. Instead of blue and funny, he's handsome and charming (although he did seem to come on a little strong upon his first meeting with Alice).

     But more importantly (to me anyway) is the question of how a genie came to be in Wonderland to begin with. He and Jafar are both natives of the land of Agrabah (the same land where OUAT's previous genie/magic mirror, a.k.a. Sidney Glass, hailed from). And if they made it to Wonderland, where are Jasmine and Aladdin?

     Cyrus has the power to grant wishes, and he gives Alice three of them - in their physical form, looking like rubies (which I thought was actually a really neat touch). What other powers could he have? When he proposes to Alice, he says, "I think the people in your world do this on one knee." How does he know what the people in her world do? I doubt that topic just happened to come up in conversation with Alice, which leads me to believe that either he's traveled to other worlds or he has some magical knowledge of other worlds. That actually would be in keeping with the animated Disney Genie, since he was a bit of a "meta-gamer," so to speak.

Knave

     The Knave of Hearts is also handsome and charming, as well as clever and funny. You can bet there are going to be a lot of Knave/Alice (Knalice?) shippers, despite the billing of the show as an epic love story between Alice and Cyrus.

     The first scene shows the Knave in Storybrooke, before meeting up with the White Rabbit and traveling to Victorian England to break Alice out of the asylum. For me this brings up a lot of questions about his backstory, which I'm itching to see revealed. For example, if he's originally from Wonderland, how did he end up in Storybrooke? He would've had to be in the Enchanted Forest when the curse hit, wouldn't he? (Also, how do all these different worlds' timelines line up? 'Cause that's really been confusing me.) He also keeps going on about the new life he's been building in Storybrooke, so I'd like to find out what's in Storybrooke that he's so keen on.

     Bonus: Was that Emma's yellow Beetle that almost ran over him in the street? Making me wonder, was that scene supposed to have happened before Emma and the gang left for Neverland? 

     Given the name "Knave of Hearts," I can almost guarantee he has some connection to the Queen of Hearts - a.k.a. Cora from OUAT. But what connection? Alice tells him, "Once long ago I helped you get back your heart." That has Cora written all over it, what with her MO of ripping out people's hearts to control them, and I can't wait to hear that story.

     Oh, and the Knave may be charming and witty and all that, but he's also a little devious. In one scene, Alice carelessly leaves her shoes (with wishes hidden in the heel) with him while she climbs a tree to have a look aroud. The wishes prove too much temptation for him, and he attempts to steal them, casting doubt as to whether he will be a friend or foe to Alice in the future. "But can we focus on the part where I came back and saved your life?" Oh, okay, Knave... but only because you asked with that adorable accent.

White Rabbit

     The time has come for me to address the bad CGI on this show. Yes, it's bad. But personally I didn't think it was bad enough to be distracting, most of the time. Then again, I have a very low threshold for suspension of disbelief. And for me, the CGI faults in the White Rabbit were more than made up for by his voice - John Lithgow!

     But the really interesting part about the Rabbit is how he "digs a hole." Instead of an ordinary looking rabbit hole, the White Rabbit seems to have the ability to create a vortex that allows not only travel between worlds (like the magic beans of OUAT) but also time/space travel within a particular world. For example, he meets the Knave in present-day Storybrooke, Maine, and takes him to pick up Alice in Victorian England, and then together they travel to Wonderland.

     The White Rabbit also has a dark side: He's secretly working for the Red Queen, one of the villains. But he does seem legitimately concerned about Cyrus during his conversation with her. Where do his loyalties really lie? How is the Red Queen coercing him into betraying Alice and the Knave?

Red Queen

      Not to be confused with the Queen of Hearts. The Queen of Hearts is associated with playing cards, while the Red Queen is associated with chess. I loved the idea of her castle being shaped like chess pieces, as well as the chess analogy she uses with the White Rabbit: "I said we'd settle up when the game was complete; we are still setting up the board." She also has some really great outfits!

     However, she hasn't been well-developed as a character just yet. We don't know her background or motivation. We know she has magic, but we don't know how much. When/how did she come to power? What does she have against Alice? Why is she working with Jafar? So many questions that only have one solution: backstory!

Jafar

     Like I've mentioned already, it's a little odd to see the inhabitants of Agrabah in Wonderland. But Jafar is powerful enough to make himself right at home. We don't yet know just how powerful, but it's been made clear that he's more powerful than the Red Queen, considering how scared and helpless she seemed when he threatened her.

      Also, why does Jafar have the magic carpet? In the animated movie, the Carpet was sentient, and a friend of Aladdin's. Is this a different carpet, or the same one? Is it sentient? Am I weird for wondering about the personality of a (traditionally) inanimate object? XD

My Three Wishes

     Alice is wisely careful about using the wishes Cyrus granted her. I know from experience (well... D&D experience) that carelessly worded wishes can be turned against the wisher. However, since my wishes aren't being granted by a genie (or a vindictive DM), I think I can safely lay out my top three wishes for the future of this show:

1) I wish for lots and lots of character backstory! (As if anyone couldn't have guessed that'd be the first one!)
2) I wish for the Mad Hatter (played by the same actor, of course) to enter the story and become a regular character.
3) I wish for Jasmine and Aladdin to become part of the story somehow as well.

     How about you? If you could have three wishes about this show, what would they be?

"Once Upon a Time" Goes to Neverland!

     The season three premiere of Once Upon a Time aired last Sunday on ABC, and I can't say I was disappointed. We got to see a lot more of Neverland, some cool magic, and hints of foreshadowing for both future plotlines and backstories that may be explored this season. Wanna know what I thought of the premiere? Read on...

Spoiler Alert! Read no further unless you're fully caught up on OUAT up to Season 3 Episode 1. Or if, y'know, you happen to like spoilers.

     First off... Has anyone else noticed how much darker this series has gotten? It may have been gradual, but now that the characters are in Neverland, everything seems to be darker, more grave, and more serious. In fact, Neverland itself seems to be a somewhat evil place in general, rather than the happy place it was in the animated Disney film of Peter Pan (and most other modern versions of his story). We haven't yet met any inhabitants of Neverland that aren't portrayed as evil villains.

Emma and Her Adventuring Party

     It's not just the natives of Neverland that make the show seem dark. The team of six that went to Neverland to save Henry was split down the middle - three "villains" (Rumpelstiltskin, Regina, and Hook) and three "heroes" (Emma, Snow, and David). It's a strange team-up, made stranger by the increasingly blurry lines between good and evil on this show. Take Snow White, for example. First season, she was portrayed as the ultimate good, pure-hearted, innocent heroine. By this point in the series, she has been involved in a number of questionable activities, culminating in her (indirectly) killing Cora. I feel like this is sort of a commentary on the real world - showing that moral decisions aren't always as black-and-white here as are in the fairy tales.

     I also want to comment on the dichotomy of worldviews between Snow White and her daughter Emma. Having grown up in the Enchanted Forest, Snow clings to her belief that "good always wins." Sometimes I think if she stopped believing that, she'd just fall apart. Emma, on the other hand, seems to feel like it's all up to her - that if she wants things to turn out right, she has to take an active role and make sure it happens the way she wants. And for her, that's the only thing that keeps her going sometimes. Even when she feels like she can't win, it seems to only make her more determined to do everything she can. Their views conflict, but both Snow and Emma need to cling to their own views instead of each others', in order to stay strong and save Henry. (Some may feel that Snow needs to let go of her idealistic worldview, but I feel like if that's what keeps her going, it's not necessarily a bad thing.)

     One thing about this group's journey which I thought could have been done better was the arguing scenes. I like the idea of a storm fueled by a group's conflict (and what better group to use it on?), but I felt like too much screen time was spent showing us basically the same argument. This group has plenty to fight about - why spend the majority of the time showing us the argument about the mermaid when there are much juicier subjects available? I totally buy that they would spend that much time arguing about what to do with the mermaid, but did we really have to spend that much time watching them?

     Speaking of mermaids... I want to see Ariel! We've known for a while that she's going to show up this season. In fact, we even know which episode... since it is named after her. But I'm impatient! Seeing the mermaids of Neverland in this episode just made me more eager to see one of my favorite Disney princesses from my childhood. :)

     One more (kinda random) thought about this group: When Emma was giving her pep talk about everyone being who they are and using their strengths, the group soooo reminded me of a D&D adventuring party. It made me happy. ^_^

Greg and Tamara

     I wasn't a bit surprised that the "home office" turned out to be Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, but I was a little surprised at how quickly they killed off Greg and Tamara. Though there is some room for speculation about whether Greg could still come back; after all, Pan is still living and breathing even with a detached shadow. But to be honest, I found his character a little boring and off-putting. Tamara was actually a lot more interesting to me, although I can't say I was too horribly upset when Rumpelstiltskin finished her off. She was horribly evil, after all. (Although I wouldn't have minded them exploring her motivation for that a little more thoroughly...)

     While I'm on the subject of Tamara, has anyone else noticed how few non-white characters there are on this show, and how most of them have been either minor characters or evil villains? I can only think of three major characters so far who aren't white: Mulan, Tamara, and Sidney Glass (the Genie/Magic Mirror), and now two of them have turned out evil and then died. Does this bother anyone else? I mean, being white myself, I guess I usually don't notice stuff like that (maybe not as often as I should), but now that I've noticed it, it does kinda bother me. I would like to see more diverse portrayals of people of color on this show. I know Disney has come under fire for this in their princess movies already, which they attempted to remedy with The Princess and the Frog. But I don't see Tiana showing up in OUAT, since the era her movie was set in doesn't really fit with anything we've seen on the show so far. But really, they could just change the race of a previously white character from the fairy tales. I mean, so far they've made Rumpelstiltskin play the part of the Crocodile and the Beast, changed Jack's gender, and made Peter Pan evil. How hard would it be to come up with one fairy tale hero or heroine who could be black instead of white?

Rumpelstiltskin

     Without Belle at his side, Rumpelstiltskin is back to killing mercilessly again. It’s enough to make me wonder whether he’s truly changed at all… and what he’s really planning to do when he finds Henry. Despite possibly feeling he owes it to Bae to save his son, despite everything he said to Emma and the others, he still could be planning to try and prevent the prophecy, “the boy will be your downfall.” Although if he does, I expect a self-fulfilling prophecy – for example, Rumple tries to kill Henry, fails, is found out by the others and they decide he is a true villain after all and not worthy of another chance. That’s just one way it could play out.

     I’m also dying to know (as I’m sure everyone else is) – What’s with the doll?! Anything that can instantly make Rumpelstiltskin break down and cry right in front of an enemy… well, that’s got to be some good backstory. And speaking of backstory, I also can’t wait to find out when and how Rumple and Pan have crossed paths in the past. They’re setting it up for some potentially fantastic flashback scenes. And I love a good backstory, which is one of the many reasons I love this show.

Peter Pan

     On the subject of Pan… I still can’t believe they made him evil! Well, according to what I’ve been reading lately on Tumblr, he was fairly evil in the original story, before the animation made him all kid-friendly. But still. Anyway, I was fairly surprised when the Lost Boy who helped Henry turned out to be Pan, although looking back it should’ve been obvious. What does he need “the heart of the truest believer” for? And is he planning on ripping it out, a la Rumpelstiltskin? Maybe using it to control Henry? (Because we all know the show’s writers wouldn’t kill Henry.) Or is there some other way he can use it?

Baelfire, Mulan, & Co.

     While all this was going on in Neverland, Baelfire/Neal was in the Enchanted Forest, teaming up with Mulan, Aurora, and Phillip. But what actually happened with their group in this episode wasn't as interesting to me as the missing pieces. For example, the last we heard, the Wraith had sucked out Phillip's soul, and Aurora and Mulan were looking for a way to restore him. Now he's suddenly with them again. What did we miss? How did they do it?

     I also feel the intense need for some Mulan backstory. We know how she got teamed up with Phillip, through the whole Yaoguai incident, but it seems like she might have stronger feelings for him than she wants anyone to know. What's that all about? And are we ever going to see Li Shang, her love interest from the animated movie? (BTW... "What's a movie?" Hilarious!) In this episode, when Baelfire was telling her about Emma, Mulan said "Your belief in love wasn't strong enough to overcome your fear of rejection." She seemed like she was speaking from experience, so I'm hoping that's foreshadowing some flashbacks that will fill in the blanks of Mulan's past.

Once Upon a Time... in Wonderland?!

     One last interesting tidbit to add… Once Upon a Time in Wonderland's premiere episode is coming out this Thursday! I was thinking it was a far-off-in-the-future sort of thing, or I would’ve written about it in my previous post. And according to this video, the Wonderland story starts out in Storybrooke! Check it out for that and more info, plus an awesome preview:

 Let me know what you thought of the first episode of season three, and the Wonderland preview, as well as any guesses about what's up next for either series. Thanks for reading! Okay, I’ve gotta go… The second episode already aired, and I promised myself I wouldn’t watch it until I finished this post! Off to ABC.com!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Explosive" First Episode

     The premiere episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. aired last Tuesday night on ABC, and I think it's safe to say it was "the bomb." Twitter, Facebook, and other social media was "blowing up" with conversations about the show. (Okay, I think I'm done with the bomb puns now. XD)

     Seriously, though, before the episode ended, #AgentsofSHIELD and #Coulson were both trending worldwide on Twitter. I myself was live-tweeting as I watched the show, and checking out the tweets coming from several cast members as well as thousands of fans. I also engaged several friends in a dialogue about the premiere on Facebook. And there was no shortage of things to talk about...

     Set shortly after The Avengers, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series takes place in a world beginning to be aware of superheroes. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s role in this, according to one of their agents, is: "We protect people from news they aren't ready to hear. And when we can't do that, we keep 'em safe." The pilot episode had the big job of showing us that role while simultaneously introducing us to several key characters, as well as some opposing organizations.

SPOILER ALERT!
     If you didn't happen to catch the premiere on ABC, I highly recommend you go watch it on their website here before reading any further.

Characters

Agent Phil Coulson
     We all know him from The Avengers, plus appearances on the other Marvel movies leading up to it. In those, though, he seemed kind of a middle-management type guy, not necessarily a high-ranking agent. The only time I remember him being outstandingly awesome in the movies was when he tried to take on Loki, and that still seemed like a heroically brave but ultimately doomed and desperate attempt. However, in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., he comes across as pretty hardcore, and fairly high up in the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D., with Level 7 clearance and seeming to be in charge of a lot of people on that level.

     Remember how he died in The Avengers? Apparently he didn't... or did he? He's seemingly alive and well in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but there's something fishy going on. He claims he's been in Tahiti, recovering, but this story doesn't sound quite right. There's clearly a secret he doesn't know (which Agent Maria Hill says "he can never know"). And he seems, like I said, a little more hardcore than before... For example, in one scene, he does a Matrix-style dodge to avoid a van door flying towards him. Could an ordinary human being do that? Could Coulson do that before The Avengers?

     Theories about Coulson's secret abound, but the most popular seems to be that the Coulson who died in The Avengers was an LMD, or Life Model Decoy - a kind of android invented by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the comics. Another guess is that Coulson was injected with some of the super-soldier serum at some point, giving him powers that could be similar to Captain America's. It would be great to see something straight from the comic books, as a type of homage, but at the same time, I sort of hope the show surprises everybody with something completely different. Given who's writing it, I find that quite likely. (More on that later.)

Agent Melinda May
     This femme fatale is one character who actually seems like a bit of a stereotype so far. "The beautiful Asian chick who knows martial arts." Not that that doesn't make for an awesome and fun-to-watch character, but I am hoping they'll add more depth to Agent May soon. I'd love to hear more about her backstory. For example, she's working a desk job when Coulson calls on her for this episode's mission, but when Agent Ward meets her, he's obviously impressed and a little intimidated by her presence. I'd love to find out what she did in her past career at S.H.I.E.L.D. that was so impressive, and what changed and led to her ending up filing papers. She and Coulson also seem to be fairly close friends, so I'm curious if there's more to that story as well. 

Agent Grant Ward
     Another seeming stereotype, Agent Ward is the good-looking, arrogant, slick super-spy. When we first see him, he's riding a motorcycle, using cool spy gadgets, and slugging it out with bad guys. But that just makes it a little ironic when he ends up as basically the "rookie" of Coulson's team. Initially Ward doesn't want to work with a team, and it may take a while for them to crack his tough exterior and get close to him, but Skye seems to have a head start on that, considering the chemistry already brewing between the pair.
 
Skye
     Initially a member of the organization called "The Rising Tide," this blogger/hacker can hold her own in conversations and meetings with the Level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. By the end of the episode this earns her an invitation to join S.H.I.E.L.D. herself, which she will certainly accept. This character too could have an interesting past, considering her statement that she has experience erasing someone's identity, presumably her own. And could she be secretly still working for The Rising Tide?

Fitz-Simmons
     Two characters, one description. Seems fitting, considering the way they're introduced with a hyphenated name and appear to be practically joined at the hip. Leo Fitz specializes in technology, while he describes his partner, Jemma Simmons, as "biochem" with a tone of disgust that makes it sound like a disease. Between the constant togetherness, the private conversations ignoring everyone else in the room, and the quick shoulder-squeeze Simmons gives Fitz in one scene, you might wonder if there's romance brewing between these two. However, I got more of a brother/sister vibe off the pair. I'll be interested to see how their relationship plays out throughout the series.

Mike Peterson
     Though he seems to be a one-shot character, I wouldn't be surprised (or disappointed, for that matter) to see the "Hooded Hero" return later in the series. Gifted with super-strength by his use of a product called Centipede, Mike's struggle to become a true hero and his perspective on the issues faced by the less privileged quickly brought depth to this episode. I've heard some theorize that he might take on a new identity as Luke Cage (a Marvel comics character with superstrength), and I honestly hope this is the case, because I would definitely like to see more of this character.

The Baddies

     Though Peterson is set up as a sort of episodic villain, his desire to be a hero allowed the S.H.I.E.L.D. team to prevent him hurting anyone, without hurting him. He was "defeated," if you can call it that, but it seems that the true villains remain: the other organizations.

The Rising Tide
     We know very little about this organization that Skye so quickly turned her back on. My husband Billy likened them to Anonymous - a nameless, faceless group of hackers, but a formidable force not to be trifled with. Their goals seem to be in diametrical opposition to those of S.H.I.E.L.D.; they claim they want people to know the truth about superheroes. I'm not sure this is entirely a bad idea, but the Rising Tide does seem to have been set up as a villain, a force opposing S.H.I.E.L.D. So maybe their actions and motives will grow more sinister as we learn more about them. For now, I'm just wondering what they will do when they find out Skye has joined their enemies. It seemed to me that she was a low-ranking member, a newbie (if a promising one), but she surely has still drawn their ire for her betrayal.

Project Centipede
     A group of scientists working in a secret lab created the Centipede device that gave Mike Peterson his powers - and almost caused him to explode like a bomb. We've met one member of the team, a female doctor whose name was never given, and seen her send henchmen to kill Peterson before S.H.I.E.L.D. could get ahold of him. The group seems to have no remorse for what happens to their test subjects when the experiment goes wrong. What are their motives? And how far will they go to get S.H.I.E.L.D. out of their way?

The Creators/Writers
     Last but certainly not least, let's talk for a moment about the team that created Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Joss Whedon
     If you've considered yourself a geek for long, you've no doubt heard of Joss Whedon, and I would venture so far as to say you're probably already a fan. Joss's rise to geek-cult popularity began with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel, deepened through the prematurely cancelled Firefly series and its accompanying movie Serenity, endured the writers' strike of 2008 with the webseries Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and persisted through the cancellation of another genius TV series, Dollhouse. His most recent work, as you probably know, is The Avengers. After having such negative experiences with his shows being cancelled, though, he surprised many by agreeing to work in television again to create and write Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

     Joss has a very distinctive style, known and loved by his fans (Whedonites). Many of his trademarks are already showing up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. For example Joss himself said in a recent interview that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is "basically a TV series of “The Zeppo” [an episode of Buffy]," which is an example of Whedon's tendency to focus on minor, seemingly unimportant characters. And he's stuck to his habit of recasting actors he worked with in previous projects, with J. August Richards (a.k.a. Charles Gunn, Angel) playing Mike Peterson, and a cameo from Ron Glass (Shepherd Derrial Book, Firefly/Serenity) as a S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor.

Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen
     Jed and his wife Maurissa have helped Joss (Jed's brother) on projects like Dr. Horrible and Dollhouse in the past. Beyond that, I don't really know much about them. But I'm looking forward to finding out with this new series. I think I'm going to like them.

What Do You Think?

     Did you watch the first episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? What did you think? Whether you agree with my opinions on the show or disagree, drop me a line in the comments box below and let me know!

     And make sure to catch the next new episode Tuesday night at 8/7 Central!