Once...in Wonderland 1.02: Trust Me

If there’s one thing that Wonderland has going for it over Once Upon a Time, it’s humour. Once is already so ridiculous that a show that stretches that boundary is going to need some serious grounding, and the script this week felt a lot less scattered and more focused on the main themes of the show so far.

The Knave is still the greatest thing about Wonderland, and he’s still the one character bringing out the show’s humour not just through his own dialogue, but with the amazing banter he has with other characters, none more so than Alice. I’m not one to encourage a love triangle, but I hope he starts to develop something more with Alice because I really like the idea of the two of them together.

I’m glad we saw more of his softer side this week, too. Naturally he’s not going to be all quips and sarcasm, so learning about a past heartbreak (I’m guessing, anyway) gives him even more of a reason to stay around, just so we can learn more about him.

I don’t know if Cyrus has the same appeal. Obviously he can’t do much trapped in Jafar’s dungeon, but the flashbacks don’t paint him as anything more than a standard love interest, and with the Knave spouting charisma all over the place we need to see him do more than pining over Alice and trading Edward Cullen-esque stares with her in flashbacks.

Jafar and the Red Queen are still not doing it for me, but the shift of power between both of them was interesting and made me more excited to see how they play off each other while trying to stop Alice. The White Rabbit is fun, but there needs to be more of a reason to justify using John Lithgow to voice such a background character. Thankfully, Alice is a much stronger protagonist than I was worried she’d be, and her plan to learn who was playing her made me like her even more.

Obviously things aren’t perfect yet, but there’s still heaps of potential. The show’s future looks questionable at best, but for the rest of its likely to be limited run, I think the chances of things getting even better are looking up.

7/10

Plus

I wonder what the Red Queen is holding over the White Rabbit’s head.

I also wonder what business the Knave and the Caterpillar have with each other.

He Said, She Said

Cyrus: “I’ve lived countless lifetimes and no one has ever not made their wishes.”
Alice: “Why would I wish for anything, I have everything I could possible wish for.”

Alos posted at Doux Reviews.