It’s back. Silliness, magic, genies and well placed quotes from Michael Socha - the adventures in Wonderland continue…
But first a brief recap. Alice and Cyrus are reunited once more, him having been trapped in a bottle/in a prison/on the run for most of his life. The Red Queen, aka Anastasia, has broken ties with Jafar, in the hope of repairing her life with Will. Unfortunately for her, he is now a genie due to the ‘magic comes with a price’ clause, sub-section 6c in the Once Upon a Time rulebook.
Jafar is just Jafar…
“Bollocks – I’m pretty sure I’m a genie, Lizard!”
There are a range of very important rules for being a genie, but Will struggles to remember in order to advise Lizard on her first wish… can’t make people fall in love. Disney’s Aladdin, for your reference, includes the restrictions of not bringing people back from the dead and killing anybody. So as a safe starting point, with no repercussions, they wish for beers for everyone in the run-down village they have ended up in. Her second wish is to become the Knave’s ideal woman, subtly put, and is transformed from her travelling gear into a beautiful gown, with fireworks lighting up the sky behind. The knave is a bit slow on the uptake and doesn’t realise it was all aimed at him. But since Anastasia’s betrayal he can’t feel anymore.
And there lies the dilemma leading to the third wish – she wishes that he would feel something about her. The only way for that to happen, given his heartbroken state, is for her to die because of him: guilt and loss, deep emotions from Wonderland, and forced to watch behind the prison of his bottle.
Revelations when the group are reunited include the emergence of Jafar’s ownership of the two other genie bottles, and the fact that they house Cyrus’ two brothers. What a coincidence! The new plan is to save them, and in the meantime Anastasia is going to fight for her kingdom and make up for lost time with the Wonderland folk – she has a lot of catching up to do…
Jafar (Naveen Andrews) wants the third genie bottle to complete his set and gain the ultimate power. But thanks to Alice and his clashes with the Queen, the bottle has been much harder to obtain than he initially anticipated. The caterpillar (Iggy Pop), and the head of one of the Tweedles (Ben Cotton), both mentioned the ancient and powerful Jabberwocky; with it by his side Alice and company will not just be up against him, but also the creature and the people of Wonderland living in fear and driven to give them away.
Jabber…
Jabber…
The tower floor is covered with dead bodies, remaining from the original imprisonment. The Jabberwocky (Peta Sergeant) is inside Jafar’s head, dragging out memories of his father’s attempt to drown him, the burning betrayal and the burning of not taking a breath. The encounter leaves Jafar shaking – he will live to regret unleashing the monster… And that will be a fantastic come-uppance!