by Jan Nash
**SPOILERS!**
If you have not watched this episode, please do so before continuing!
Heady with the success of Will's back-story, the writer's delved deep into the past of their foremost villain.
AHEM! "Once Upon A Time, there was a little boy named Jafar who was forced to labor under a very cruel blacksmith who punished him severely for the least crime. One day a beautiful sorceress whom everyone feared came into town, and Jafar followed her back to her house. He demanded to learn magic of her, so that he, too, could be feared. Mostly, though, he wanted magic to get revenge on his father, the Sultan, who disowned him as an illegitimate child. The sorceress allowed him to come live with her, and thus Jafar became the misunderstood 'villain' we know him as today--all because his father wouldn't love him."
Yeah... hardly convincing. The whole episode tried desperately to prove a point and failed miserably at each turn:
-Jafar finally confronts the Red Queen about Will's continued existence and demands repeatedly that he be killed, even going so far as to require a public execution "to teach Alice a lesson"--but in reality, the motivation seems more like a power-play, to show Her Majesty who is really in control of the situation, and to exploit the revelation he just discovered of the connection between the two of them.
-Since Will burnt the Knot in the last episode instead of giving it to the Caterpillar, he is still a hunted man. He and Alice split up, but Will is caught by the Red Queen while Alice meets Liz and learns of his impending demise. Lucky for her, Liz is also interested in preserving Will's life, and she has the skills and knowledge of the palace grounds and ways to accomplish it!
-Can I just take a moment and gush about how awesome Liz is? She's funny, she's fast, she's smart--and she really cares for Will, not just the head-shrinking "true love" that turns many a character so evil when it is squelched. Liz cares. Not just for her and Will together, but actually for him individually. Unfortunately, our favorite Knave "Clearly doesn't go for nice, normal women." There's one waiting for you, Will. Don't ignore her!
-In their haste to build a case for "Why We Should Really Not Hate Jafar So Much Even Though He's Evil", the writers committed what I call the "Episode II" Blunder: Jafar had been portrayed by a young actor in the first flashback, but when we see them again, the adult actor has taken over--but the sorceress is still the same actress!
- What's more, he's fallen desperately in love with her--which immediately feels very creepy even if she has some special immortality, because the age difference established at the very start of the episode suddenly is far less apparent... but no less relevant. Eww. Bad move.
-It is at this point that the sorceress tells Jafar of the spell that requires two experienced sorcerers and three genies, which will enable him to change the laws of magic. The promise of so much power is of course irresistible to one so young and ambitious as Jafar. He agrees to help her find the three genies.
-The Red Queen/Anastasia pays a visit to Will, to try and convince him to escape so that she won't have to kill him. TEN POINTS FOR WILL SCARLET! This is an awesome scene that made the whole rest of the episode worth it.
-In the process of hunting down the genies, Jafar comes across a man who wishes that Jafar can do him no harm. Good news: he cannot be killed by Jafar. Bad news: that was his third wish, which means his genie is no longer his. Worse news: "There are fates worse than death." Jafar lets the sorceress in, and she turns the man to stone.
-Will's "last words": "Don't you ever clean these things?" (talking about the chopping block where he's going to lose his head)
-Surprise! Alice and Liz have disguised themselves as a guard and the executioner, and so they cut Will loose and make a daring escape over the heads of the people!
AHEM! "Once Upon A Time, there was a little boy named Jafar who was forced to labor under a very cruel blacksmith who punished him severely for the least crime. One day a beautiful sorceress whom everyone feared came into town, and Jafar followed her back to her house. He demanded to learn magic of her, so that he, too, could be feared. Mostly, though, he wanted magic to get revenge on his father, the Sultan, who disowned him as an illegitimate child. The sorceress allowed him to come live with her, and thus Jafar became the misunderstood 'villain' we know him as today--all because his father wouldn't love him."
Yeah... hardly convincing. The whole episode tried desperately to prove a point and failed miserably at each turn:
-Jafar finally confronts the Red Queen about Will's continued existence and demands repeatedly that he be killed, even going so far as to require a public execution "to teach Alice a lesson"--but in reality, the motivation seems more like a power-play, to show Her Majesty who is really in control of the situation, and to exploit the revelation he just discovered of the connection between the two of them.
-Since Will burnt the Knot in the last episode instead of giving it to the Caterpillar, he is still a hunted man. He and Alice split up, but Will is caught by the Red Queen while Alice meets Liz and learns of his impending demise. Lucky for her, Liz is also interested in preserving Will's life, and she has the skills and knowledge of the palace grounds and ways to accomplish it!-Can I just take a moment and gush about how awesome Liz is? She's funny, she's fast, she's smart--and she really cares for Will, not just the head-shrinking "true love" that turns many a character so evil when it is squelched. Liz cares. Not just for her and Will together, but actually for him individually. Unfortunately, our favorite Knave "Clearly doesn't go for nice, normal women." There's one waiting for you, Will. Don't ignore her!
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| Remember these guys? |
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| Same schtick, STILL CREEPY! |
-It is at this point that the sorceress tells Jafar of the spell that requires two experienced sorcerers and three genies, which will enable him to change the laws of magic. The promise of so much power is of course irresistible to one so young and ambitious as Jafar. He agrees to help her find the three genies.
-The Red Queen/Anastasia pays a visit to Will, to try and convince him to escape so that she won't have to kill him. TEN POINTS FOR WILL SCARLET! This is an awesome scene that made the whole rest of the episode worth it.
-In the process of hunting down the genies, Jafar comes across a man who wishes that Jafar can do him no harm. Good news: he cannot be killed by Jafar. Bad news: that was his third wish, which means his genie is no longer his. Worse news: "There are fates worse than death." Jafar lets the sorceress in, and she turns the man to stone.
-Will's "last words": "Don't you ever clean these things?" (talking about the chopping block where he's going to lose his head)
-Surprise! Alice and Liz have disguised themselves as a guard and the executioner, and so they cut Will loose and make a daring escape over the heads of the people!
-But of course, an escape that smooth and clever surely cannot work. They are confronted by Jafar on his magic carpet in a field, and then the Red Queen comes in behind them when they try to run away.
-Jafar "Force-throws" Liz (very gently, I might add!) and starts "Force-choking" Will to get Alice to use a wish. Because apparently the Force is strong in Wonderland. (not to mention it's probably just the easiest to animate--why be creative when you can go for cheap-and-quick?)
-Alice makes her first wish: "If the Knave dies, I die!" So now Jafar can't kill the Knave, because he needs Alice alive to make all her wishes.... But will she wish to save her own life? He starts stretching her limbs, threatening to break them.
-TEN POINTS TO ALICE! She doesn't. So Jafar brings on the "Fate Worse Than Death": he turns Will to stone.
-Alice and the Red Queen now have a common cause and a common enemy, though it's not for herself that she would keep Will alive. They share an exchange that is rather dark (for Alice) and rather poignant (for the Queen). "You're not going to put me in prison, to rot until I do your bidding?" "You are in prison, my dear; what do you think Wonderland is?"
-Back in the flashback, the sorceress tells Jafar where to find the last genie, whereupon he immediately kills her with poisoned wine, steals her "magical essence" so that he can use it to complete the Spell of Ultimate Power, and turns her into the serpent staff that he always carries with him.
-But what about Cyrus? At the beginning of the episode, he acquires a wishbone, which he splits and then sharpens the larger half to piercing sharpness. Of course, he gets caught by the guard, who causes all Cyrus' hard work to fall into the abyss--but Cyrus still has the other half. He gives some fluffy story about how a wishbone, once separated, has the magical properties to want to be joined to the other half, so he can use the smaller half as a kind of a welding torch, guiding it along the grate at the bottom of his cage to cut a hole in it. Basically, his role in this episode in a nutshell.
FINAL SCORE: This is quite possibly the most lackluster episode yet. The villains were campier than ever (and not even Jafar's back-story with the ageless, nameless sorceress did anything for it...) and except for some shining moments for Alice and Will and the introduction of Liz, not even the heroes had much to recommend them. The gratuitous use of "the Force" made for some graphic scenes that were too "slow-and-careful rigging" to be believed at all, and the "conflict" didn't really drive the episode as much as finish it off, finally. I was very unhappy about the prospect of Will being a statue--namely because I saw that as a clever plot to exclude him from the show altogether, and I resolved that, should this happen, I would stop watching altogether! I give it a 7/10. Here's hoping the next one will be better!
-Jafar "Force-throws" Liz (very gently, I might add!) and starts "Force-choking" Will to get Alice to use a wish. Because apparently the Force is strong in Wonderland. (not to mention it's probably just the easiest to animate--why be creative when you can go for cheap-and-quick?)
-Alice makes her first wish: "If the Knave dies, I die!" So now Jafar can't kill the Knave, because he needs Alice alive to make all her wishes.... But will she wish to save her own life? He starts stretching her limbs, threatening to break them.
-TEN POINTS TO ALICE! She doesn't. So Jafar brings on the "Fate Worse Than Death": he turns Will to stone.
-Alice and the Red Queen now have a common cause and a common enemy, though it's not for herself that she would keep Will alive. They share an exchange that is rather dark (for Alice) and rather poignant (for the Queen). "You're not going to put me in prison, to rot until I do your bidding?" "You are in prison, my dear; what do you think Wonderland is?"
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| So that's where that came from... |
-Back in the flashback, the sorceress tells Jafar where to find the last genie, whereupon he immediately kills her with poisoned wine, steals her "magical essence" so that he can use it to complete the Spell of Ultimate Power, and turns her into the serpent staff that he always carries with him.
-But what about Cyrus? At the beginning of the episode, he acquires a wishbone, which he splits and then sharpens the larger half to piercing sharpness. Of course, he gets caught by the guard, who causes all Cyrus' hard work to fall into the abyss--but Cyrus still has the other half. He gives some fluffy story about how a wishbone, once separated, has the magical properties to want to be joined to the other half, so he can use the smaller half as a kind of a welding torch, guiding it along the grate at the bottom of his cage to cut a hole in it. Basically, his role in this episode in a nutshell.
FINAL SCORE: This is quite possibly the most lackluster episode yet. The villains were campier than ever (and not even Jafar's back-story with the ageless, nameless sorceress did anything for it...) and except for some shining moments for Alice and Will and the introduction of Liz, not even the heroes had much to recommend them. The gratuitous use of "the Force" made for some graphic scenes that were too "slow-and-careful rigging" to be believed at all, and the "conflict" didn't really drive the episode as much as finish it off, finally. I was very unhappy about the prospect of Will being a statue--namely because I saw that as a clever plot to exclude him from the show altogether, and I resolved that, should this happen, I would stop watching altogether! I give it a 7/10. Here's hoping the next one will be better!
Heroes: 4/5
Villains: 3/5
Banter: 4/5
Graphics/VFX: 3/5
Conflict/Resolution: 4/5
GRAND TOTAL: 7/10
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