If ‘Heart of Darkness’ drew the battle lines, then ‘Hat Trick’ erased them and then drew them again, except bigger, and broader than they ever were before. An already fascinating world, still rife with unexplored territory, was expanded and characters and their places in the series were called into question.
The story of the Mad Hatter is revealed in ‘Hat Trick’. Emma runs into Jefferson while searching for an escaped Mary Margaret, and has to find a way to escape his clutches in time to return for Mary Margaret’s arraignment.
All of the forward momentum that last week conjured up was kept pumping here, as the series begins its final hurdle. I don’t want to sound like a hypocrite or whatever, since I know I belittled ‘Red-Handed’ for the strange discord between its Storybrooke and flashback plots, but this episode was a far superior example of taking two opposing stories, and creating an hour-long escapade into a breezy, and exciting foray into the world of fairy tales.
Emma is a strange entity sometimes. I don’t think I’ve ever had such conflicting emotions about a single character in forty minutes. At first I was enraged at how easy Jefferson took her down, then I was cheering her on as she shrewdly escaped his clutches, then angry again at her narrow mindedness, then back on her team within the final 30 seconds. Regardless of my fleeting emotions, I’m glad that this episode managed to invest me equally in both ongoing stories this week; I hope this throttling pace can be maintained until the season concludes.
Jefferson is the first instance of a character being fully knowledgeable of all things “curse”. His story is also one of the few non-regular character ones that is begging for further exploration. He’s clearly a man who’s lost a lot, but he’s also someone determined to make things right for his family. His trip to wonderland, which was chock-a-block full of the cheesiest special effects so far, boasted a number of fascinating characters tells and not just in his case, Regina’s reach clearly extends beyond her own world. It’s pivotal for a series that is expecting its narrative to last beyond a meagre couple of years to keep its story as dense as possible.
Parental bonds seem to be an important dynamic where Once Upon a Time is concerned, and no more so than in Hat Trick when the power of not just Jefferson and Grace’s connection was explored, but Emma’s strengthening love for her son (notice that she’s been referring to him as MY KID) and Regina’s now defunct love for her father were given a spin as well. Not to mention the fact that the two female leads are the personal embodiment of this all-important theme, something that’s almost being forgotten as the series progresses forward. It seems as Emma opens up to her true role in Henry’s life, she’s also bringing those torn apart by the curse back together again.
For the first half of this season, I was always one of those mad Regina supporters, constantly defending her in the face of her “one-note” haters. The Kathryn arc hasn’t been one that’s allowed her the chance to show many dimensions, but this week was the first instance seen Graham’s death when we finally saw a glimmer of a multi-layered woman. Obviously, a lot happens between this episode’s flashback, and her sacrifice in ‘The Thing You Love Most’, but her character augmentation needed to be rectified again, even if it happened in as small a dose as this one.
Emma finally suspecting the role of magic in this town’s history makes me feel that much stronger about Once Upon a Time’s long term stability, and Hat Trick seemed like the perfect direction for the series to take after last week’s turning point. I have a lot of faith in this show now; hopefully the next few weeks can live up to those high expectations.
8.5/10
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