Anything is possible...

     Once Upon a Time is at it again, this time with a very interesting spinoff focusing solely on the inhabitants of Wonderland.  I had my doubts about Once Upon a Time in Wonderland as Once Upon a Time had already visited wonderland, and introduced us to the Mad Hatter and Queen of Hearts.  Besides Alice what more did they have to offer? I can answer only with this, "Anything is possible in Wonderland."
     From the beginning, this show breaks some expectations by showing a calm environment when a giant crater explodes out from the ground, and out comes our favorite and familiar blue and white dress.  This is our rabbit hole, not a small hole next to a tree or behind a bush, but a crater formed in the ground spewing soil and grass everywhere.  From there a very young Alice goes home to tell her father, but then flash forward and he's tired of her "Wonderland" so off to the Asylum with her.  The first half of the pilot is heavy with flashbacks, all to set the narrative for Alice, and her Genie.  Any Once fan will go to town with that bit of information, as we already know in Once they are very skilled at combining our favorite Disney characters together, even in the most unexpected ways that we may not have thought of.  In a very unsurprising twist, they fall in love.  In a very surprising twist we see Alice in a very different light, similar to Snow White in Once, Alice is a bad ass.  I thoroughly enjoyed the two scenes where she defeats  red soldiers, and asylum doctors displaying that our little Alice has not only matured, but through her years in Wonderland learned to defend herself as Wonderland is not the safest of places, with the Red Queen and Jafar running around.  Are we connecting some dots now? Genie...Jafar, something tells me we are in for a treat here in Wonderland.
     The very interesting thing about this spinoff is that it takes place in Present day, at the same time as our main characters from Once upon a Time are in Neverland. (But that's a story for another day.)  This means that the Queen of Hearts, is dead, and the Mad Hatter, is no longer the Mad Hatter he used to be.  Interestingly we get a small glimpse of Storybrook here.  When our friendly Knave comes to town on a stormy night for a drink, and up comes a White Rabbit in the middle of the store, crater and all.  This brings the question in mind how were the occupants of Wonderland not transported to Storybrook? The Mad Hatter was, the Knave is here, but why not the Red Queen or Jafar?  Will we be seeing more of Storybrook? I think so.
     My expectations were more than shattered with this pilot, as I will easily tell you I did not anticipate this kind of storytelling here.  The atmosphere expands far beyond the Queen of Hearts garden, from Once Upon a Time, we now see a dark forest, boiling water with floating islands.  And who didn't enjoy the inside of the Asylum, it was the perfect place for our main character to be in at the moment.  It showed her broken, not just in the head, but in her heart.  This dark environment showed one with no hope, and this fit accurately with how our main character felt.  I was absolutely "seeing things" with Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, very good things, I only wish that it continues in this very interesting direction. Two left....