Thursday, March 29, 2012

Once Upon A Time: The Mad Hatter Went Mad



I wanted to do another blog on my new favorite show Once Upon A Time. It seems like it’s still just getting started and we’re already going on episode 18! But each week a new character or more of the story is revealed is introduced and the story gets better and better.

The last show focused on an intriguing character The Mad Hatter and his story. the writers of the show ask how he became the Mad Hatter, in this episode. Does it involve the evil queen?  You bet!
Why was the Mad Hatter called the Mad Hatter, one asks?  I love this show because the writers have attempted to answer all the questions that are just assumed in the stories we know and love. Why exactly did the evil queen hate Snow White so much?  We have yet to learn that answer, but as the story unfolds, we are learning more and more about the main characters’ background. Who is the man in the magic mirror? Each week a new question is asked and answered, but leaving new questions to be answered.
Why are fairy tales so intriguing?  They can be rewritten in a whole new way, changed around and new plots added, deeper levels added.   I know I’ve said this before but I just love the concept, as a writer and a reader to take a old piece and make it fresh! Though, sometimes this can be overdone, if it’s done correctly they can draw in a whole new audience. Recently there have been two rewrites of the original Beauty and the Beast in Beastly, both novel and now a film as well.  Also Red Riding Hood both novel and film (both films came out on DVD this summer!  I will give both A- in my book.) Yes, they are a little cheesy but I thought they were good adaptations of the original.


Two weeks ago viewers learned more about Red Riding Hood and why she had to wear her hood.* Spoiler Alert* .  The hood had magic in it!  What was she being protected from or was it she was being prevented from doing something?  I liked how they used elements from both the original and the rewrites.  I won’t tell who the big bad wolf is…
 Check out that episode here

Last week the episode focused on Snow White's obsession with killing the queen. She drank a potion that Rumplestilskin gave her to forget her love. But without that love, she is a whole different person.

Check out this page, it's a really good recap of the episode!

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You'll have to watch the episode to find out why they cut off his head (and yes he is still alive)!

Back to the Mad Hatter:  So here’s a little about the latest episode Mad Hatter’s name is Jefferson.  He has a daughter named Grace who is quite mature for a little girl. The Evil Queen offers Jefferson a job that requires “his special skills.”  You see he has a hat that has magic, and that magic hat is the key to Wonderland. And Mister Jefferson hates Wonderland. (clip from the episode!) Well, Evil Queen Regina and Jefferson get to Wonderland and the rules are If Two go through the looking glass, Only Two can go back through, no more, no less.  Well, we then learn that Regina’s father has been kidnapped by the Queen of Hearts. Evil Queen Regina has been racking up the enemies in Fairytale Land! She takes a piece of the mushroom and he grows back to size, just as Alice did. But now there are three and only two can go through. So they left Mad Hatter in Wonderland after he promised his daughter he would return. Here comes The Queen of Hearts’ guards? What happened to him? You’ll just have to watch it and see! I was surprised they didn’t actually show Queen of Hearts’ face, she was wearing a veil. I was wondering why the director or writers choose to do that and I haven’t come up with an answer. 

Check out the full episode here



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Many of the main characters!

Looks like we don’t know these stories as well as we thought we did. All of them seem to have unanswered questions and we don’t even stop to think about them! We asked all those questions as children, but when it came to stories like Snow White, we accepted them the way they were and didn’t ask who, what, where, why. I think part of that may be due to the tradition of fairy tales. Like I’ve said in another post, fairy tales weren’t originally so happy dory, many started very dark and the point was to teach children a lesson or to warn them about different things, such as not going into the woods alone at night or not talking to strangers.  Long ago, people truly believed the tales we now know as fairy tales, which have been modified to be more appropriate for children of today and not as dark.

Regina is devastated when Emma cuts down her apple tree! 


The one thing that they spent more time on the show and less time on the commercials, but then it’s like that with any show we get into right? They just seem like they could be longer and are purposely cut short sometimes. But the writers still did a good job from my perspective.

Here’s a look at what’s in store for this week.  I can’t wait and I’ll actually be off work in time to get home and watch it on TV and not on my computer!  Yipee! This is my one hour of TV a week, so don’t judge me.

The reason the Evil Queen hates Snow White supposed to be revealed in this episode!!! 

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