TV Recap: Once Upon a Time in Wonderland 1-10 - Dirty Little Secrets

Well, that went about as well as expected.  Seriously, never break up.  Have these people never watched a horror movie?  Plus we’re back to fighting against overwhelming almost invincible odds.  How are they going to resolve everything in just 3 episodes?

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s look at what happened before we worry about the future.

We did have a flashback last night, so let’s start there.  It’s set 100 years in the past and shows us just how Cyrus and his brothers became genies.

It seems that the pre-genie Cyrus wasn’t that nice a guy.  When we meet him, he’s cheating at cards.  The guy he beats isn’t too happy about it, and when Cyrus and his brothers return home, they learn he’s just set it on fire with their mother trapped inside.

Mom survives, but is badly burned and near death.  The only thing that might cure her is water from the Well of Wonders, so the three brothers set off.  When they arrive and start to take the water, the guardian of the water shows up.  She tells them not to mess with the fates, and it is fated that their mother will die.  Cyrus doesn’t think it is right for his mother to die for something he did, so he takes the water anyway and convinces his brothers to do the same.

The water saves their mother, but via some spilled water, the guardian finds them and curses them – turning the three brothers into three genies.  They are then scattered around for others to find and use them, teaching them about how selfish and greedy people can truly be.

Funny how this bit of backstory comes into play in modern day Wonderland, isn’t it?  (Okay, not really.  It’s what they do so well with the franchise.)

We start with our four heroes at Alice and Cyrus’ hideout debating what to do next in their quest to free his brothers.  Eventually, it’s decided that they will split up.  Alice and Cyrus will go to find the well and beg for a lifting of the curse while Red Queen and Knave will try to rally the residence of Wonderland to fight Jafar.  And yes, I was hesitant last week, but I do think that Queen has truly changed.

Cyrus is surprised to learn that there is a Well of Wonders in Wonderland.  In fact, there is one in every world.  Is that the well outside of Storybrooke?

Alice and Cyrus make it to where the well should be only to find two doors.  They must choose one to enter through.  The guard between them says that one leads to the well and one leads to destruction.  Alice is finally able to figure out the guard will answer yes or no questions.  She also figures out that he always lies.  Once she figures that out, she is able to work out the correct door to enter, but Cyrus insists he go on alone.  Alice sneaks in, however, and hears the exchange.

Cyrus confronts the keeper of the water, explaining that he has learned his lesson and begging her to lift the curse on his brothers.  But she explains that to lift the curse, all the water taken must be restored.  Cyrus is surprised that this is even possible since his mother drank it.  But his mother lives, even 100 years after Cyrus and his brothers were cursed.

At this point, Alice reveals herself.  Cyrus is upset that Alice heard, hoping to keep this part of his past a secret.  But Alice tells her own secret – she was going to try to forget him and all their time together before Rabbit and Knave showed up to rescue her.  She also says they can’t look forward to a future together until they move on from the past.  And so the two of them decide they need to head to Agrabah to find Cyrus’s mother.

Meanwhile, Queen and Knave set out for Rabbit’s house to get his help.  They are going to try to raise an army to fight against Jafar and want him to spread the word.  However, Rabbit tells them the bad news – Jafar has freed the Jabberwocky.

And thanks to the Jabberwocky, Jafar has learned that Queen has the bottle.  (Really, did we need to see so many shots of those eyes?  Gross!)  While Queen and Knave are trying to find Alice and Cyrus to warn them when they are captured by Jabberwocky.  While Queen holds out for a while, the Jabberwocky is able to prey on her fears and weaken her to the point where she wastes her three wishes.

As the episode ends, the loyal Tweedle comes and finds Queen in a cell.  He offers to free her, but she refuses, instead sending him off to warn the residence and try to form a resistance.

Meanwhile, Jafar has his three genies finally.  He’s just ready to start combining their power as the episode ends.

As I said, three episodes left?  This was kind of how I imagined they’d end the next to last episode.  And this show has definitely proved it is darker than the original.  Not only the villains but some of the imagery.  Yikes, I could have done without those eyeballs.

The Red Queen really does seem to have changed sides.  Not that she is doing anyone any good right now in that cell.  Hopefully, she can figure out a way to help in the end.

From the previews, it looks like Alice and Cyrus will be heading to Storybrooke next week.  I can’t wait to find out why and who they might run into while there.  Meanwhile, I have a feeling that things are going to get much darker before they get better.  Plus next week we'll get Cora, I'm assuming in a flashback.  Can't wait to see that.

What did you think?  Any thoughts on how this final battle will take another three episodes?