Once Upon a Time in Wonderland

Not only is this (admittedly) spin-off series cleverly written, plus a cast that doesn't look Hollywood mannequin-esque, but is wonderful to listen to and look at, and it manages, as few old-school networks do, to make more quality-driven T.V. as is now being delivered on cable channels! Thank goodness that a mainstream, non-cable network has the proverbial balls to air such an engaging new series!!!! The lead, Alice, is refreshingly cast and portrayed by a skilled actress who, physiologically, does NOT (thankfully) look like just another robotic or plastic model, This series has major promise in terms of quality, client writing and performance, which leads me to believe based on extensive experience with decades of mainline 3-network TV. that this series might not survive!

To begin I'd like to point out that the trailer is definitely more exciting than the series is. It's a nice idea, the crossover kind of works. But it also does not for several reasons. Some actors are either really bad, or their characters are unintentionally very annoying. Like Alice for example. Throughout the storyline she is just too perky, too determined and too optimistic. Her fighting skills also are not well staged. The red queen has too much botox and a whiny voice. But her character becomes more likable throughout the story line. The truth of the matter is that the flashbacks are more interesting than the actual story. The show becomes better when it progresses and has some surprisingly interesting ideas. The genie story seems to work out slightly better than the wonderland story. But in the genie story, the characters are unrealistic in the sense that mother and sons seem to have an age difference of less than 10 years and some of them look more European-Arabic, which slightly annoyed me. The show does have some very good scenes, some great actors and very nicely placed characters like the white rabbit and the jabberwocky. The actors have chemistry and the show flows nicely with some scenes better than the others. Which makes it worth watching.

I heard of this show after watching Once Upon A Time (as I assume most people have). There is no comparison - Once Upon A Time has a much more intricate and better-developed storyline, as well as generally much better actors. I have a great respect for actors, but at the same time I feel it is equally important to offer an audience critique, especially for more popular shows.

I watched 8 episodes (over quite a long period of time) because it was a genre I enjoy, even though the story and actors were fairly mediocre. The actor rating is an average - I think Emma Rigby is excellent as the Queen, and Sophie Lowe does wonderfully too. Peter Gadiot is attractive but not quite sincere as Cyrus. There is something missing in his delivery - it feels less like he is delivering his loving speeches towards Alice than an audience.

Surprisingly enough, and unfortunately for the show, Episode 9 is where things really pick up. They introduce a brilliant actress for the Jabberwocky - I'd never heard of her before but seeing her in action, this unique villain had me captivated. She introduces a much more unpredictable aspect to the storyline which improves the show greatly.

Then all of a sudden the story actually starts to tie in with the show Once Upon A Time. This should have happened MUCH earlier in this series for people to keep watching.

As I have expressed before, this show is nowhere near the quality of Once Upon A Time, but it is certainly improving as of the end of Season 1 - worth a look at the very least. With the introduction of an actual tie between the series in late season 1, it may have a future.

I can't help but feel slightly disappointed with Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. I have only seen the first two episodes, and maybe there will be hope for the rest of the season, but right now I'm not too pleased.

The thing about this show is that it's actually pretty good as far as the actors go, and visually it's nice. I like the fact that everything in Wonderland looks pretty unreal, as if you've jumped into a hallucination. Sophie Lowe as Alice was a perfect choice, and her genie is very attractive. The writing is interesting, and I think it's awesome that they were able to weave in the parent show as well.

So if everything else is fabulous, what could be wrong with the show?

Well, in my opinion, it makes too much sense.

I know, that sounds weird, but think about it...Lewis Carrol's Wonderland is supposed to be a world occupied by insane, head-strong, eccentric, and often obnoxious characters. There is no madness in this story, and the characters are all quite logical and perfectly sane. It's just NOT Wonderland.

I don't think that movies/shows inspired by or based on books have to be carbon copies of the source material. That just wouldn't be realistic, of course, and I have no problem with a sequel/spin-off, just like I had no problem with Tim Burton's film. In fact, I loved his adaptation, because he captured the real essence of Wonderland, not the squeaky- clean Disney cartoon of the 1950s. And all the characters were a bit mad and rude.

But this version of Wonderland isn't really Wonderland. Again, I'm no stickler, but is it too much to ask that Wonderland is a world of madness? That's the most basic element of book, and the fact that this ABC version hasn't showcased that at all is a bit annoying.

I actually didn't expect for this show to be this good and fun because I don't trust the spinoffs but this one is really really perfect from episode 1 till the last one , I love the characters it's full of adventures and the love stories are so beautiful and the red queen is super pretty I liked Alices character its strong and. Determined