Category: ABC

REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 113

Once Upon A Time in Wonderland closes its season/series with episode 13 entitled “And They Lived…” and while our heroes prepare to fight their final battle, Jafar is more powerful than ever.

Right in the beginning of the episode we found out what Jafar actually wanted to achieve with this spell. Apparently his plan wasn’t just to force his father to love him, what Jafar actually wanted was to let his father know what was like to be murdered by someone you love. So, in what was a bit of a twist, Jafar killed his father in cold blood.

In an episode in which laws of magic didn’t apply, rules were broken several times, far from just the example I mentioned above. Because it couldn’t happen in any other way, both Cyrus and Anastasia were brought back to life, but the latest was resurrected by Jafar, and because he never does anything from the kindness in his heart (because he doesn’t have it), he decided to torment Will by making this Knave watch himself and the former Queen, “in love”. Jafar even promised Alice that he would change the past and make sure that she would never meet Cyrus, but Alice wasn’t very worried about this, because she knew something Jafar didn’t, which brings us to the next topic of conversation.

Like Snow and Charming from the original show usually say (or even sing sometimes), Love is the most powerful magic of all and love can break any curse, and in this episode that was a clear message. This is why Alice wasn’t worried about whatever Jafar might do to her, because she was sure that what he did would either not work, or be reversed eventually. But Alice and Cyrus’ love wasn’t the only one featured in this episode, and as hope speeches and virtues of blind faith come, I did love what Will said to a cursed Anastasia. I loved it so much that I am going to have to remind you guys of it: “[Love] is messy. It means arguing and making up and laughing and… and crying and struggling. And sometimes, it doesn’t seem worth it. But it is. And, at the end, when you’re in love, no matter what happens, you forgive each other. I forgive you, Ana, for what you did to me. Because I love”. And because true love’s kiss can break any curse, this speech was followed by one that woke Anastasia up from Jafar’s spell. Even though this episode had many sweet moments, this speech followed by the kiss was definitely my favorite one.

Even though villains on Once Upon A Time are usually very well developed, making the audience love them and feel sorry for them even when they plot to kill everyone, it is always nice to watch a villain being defeated and this time it was Jafar’s turn and the most satisfying part about it was that he was the one who caused it. When Cyrus was about to return the stolen water to the Well of Wonders, Jafar caught and destroyed it. When asked what she was going to do then, Alice replied with one of those badass answers; answers which, even though sometimes are a bit cliché, I always love: “I plan to do nothing”, she said, “Because you didn’t steal that water from me. You stole it from her”. It is really these kinds of lines that make me love these moments when villains are defeated. Plus, it is always very satisfying to watch because usually they deserve what they get. The Nyx appeared and Jafar was turned into a genie.

Another very satisfying thing after seeing a villain defeated is watching our heroes be happy, even if sometimes it is for just for a few moments. The Rabbit married Alice and Cyrus and everyone was there. Yes, even Edwin. Alice forgave him and we watched him walk his daughter down the aisle. Anastasia put her red dresses aside, and became the White Queen, making Will the White King.

Alice and Cyrus stayed in her world, while Will and Anastasia went back to Wonderland, but not before the two close friends that we got the chance to watch in these past 13 episodes shared a hug and said an “I’ll see you soon”. I feel like the friendship between Will and Alice was a bit underrated sometimes, but maybe that is still realistic because we don’t usually give much value to the things/people we see every day, only to those that we don’t. It is only when those people leave that we realize we will miss them a lot.

This season finale, as I said before, turned out to be a series finale, and even though it sucks that it got cancelled, I sometimes feel like it was for the best. This show was supposed to be an anthology of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland, which means, even though we would probably still see an Alice, and a Knave…, it wouldn’t be our Alice nor our Knave. Also, there would probably not be a Cyrus next time (since he isn’t part of the original story). And it would also make things confusing while we would try to realize which season would be considered canon to the main show. That is why I like to see Once Upon A Time in Wonderland as a miniseries, because that is really what it looks like.

This was definitely an incredible episode, the best of the show in my opinion, and so it is worthy of a 9.7/10.

Sadly, I now conclude my reviews of this amazing show. I keep on saying that it was really great it finished well, with everyone happy, because pretty much every cancelled show doesn’t have that much luck. I am sure Alice and Cyrus started living their Happy Beginning, until some other villain decided to try to take away their happiness (but don’t worry, because I am sure he/she didn’t succeed).

Emma, Hook and Henry Reunite on Once Upon a Time‘s New Stills

As we know, Jennifer Morrison exited OUAT, but she did agree to return for one episode during season 7, and Entertainment Weekly has shared with the world some pictures and extra information we can hold on to.

Morrison will appear in episode two, called “A Pirate’s Life.” Details about the episode are a still a mystery, but Adam Horowitz did say, “We get to find out what has happened with Emma and Hook [Colin O’Donoghue] since our happy ending we showed last year.” He also said that Emma’s story will have what they consider a satisfying closure.

Edward Kitsis added they’re not doing flashbacks to the sixth season. “We’re moving forward past the end of season 6, seeing what happened with Emma and Hook, and how it relates to the events in Hyperion Heights,” said Kitsis, “it’s an emotional curtain call.”

Check out the stills:

Image: ABC/Jack Rowand.
Image: ABC/Jack Rowand.

REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 112

Once Upon A Time in Wonderland is closer and closer to the finish line and in the penultimate episode, entitled “To Catch a Thief”, Jafar finally gets what he wants when he forces some heroes to work beside him.

In flashbacks we find out how the beautiful and strong friendship between Alice and the Knave started, and even though Cora didn’t make an appearance this time, she was definitely the one pulling the strings. These flashback scenes weren’t actually very relevant to the story, since we already knew that Alice was the one who stole Will’s heart from Cora and that Will didn’t put it back in his chest, but it was still nice to see these two start bonding, and it was also quite funny in some scenes. But what I enjoyed most in these flashbacks was the very last scene of it. After Will helped Alice kidnap the Rabbit to show Edwin that Wonderland is real, these two mates go down separate paths and the last thing Will tells Alice is “A great girl like you won’t be alone for long. I have a feeling your happy ending is right around the corner”. And this was exactly what happened because Alice was then seconds away from meeting Cyrus and starting the greatest adventure of her life.

Back to the present now, Jafar is definitely the kind of guy who works alone, because for the past 11 episodes his partnerships never last long. In this episode another one of his companions leaves him. And the best thing about it is that when she does, he doesn’t even know it. Positively sure that Jafar won’t live up to his word, the Jabberwocky joins the heroes in an attempt to regain her freedom. In the scene they cross paths, we find out that a happy ending can also be provided to this villain. Once again, Evil isn’t born, it’s made, but so is good. The Jabberwocky thinks she might change once Jafar is gone for good, in a scene that made me feel bad for her. That is what Once Upon A Time does: it makes you love all characters, no matter in which side of the chess board they are on.

The serpent staff now being the last thing Jafar needs to complete the spell, this sorcerer enlists Will’s help to get it, giving him hope that perhaps he will bring Anastasia back to life. With no other option of getting his love back, Will goes to Alice and Cyrus to do just that. After another beautiful scene between Alice and Will, he realizes that there is always another way, and with the Jabberwocky’s help they come up with a plan to free Amara and stop Jafar. But plans never end up the way we want them to, and, though they were able to free Jafar’s father from prison and Amara from the staff, things take another very surprising turn when, like in the previous episode, another major character is killed by the ruthless Jafar, this time it was Cyrus. Proving that Cyrus and Alice share true love and are soulmates, Alice was able to feel Cyrus’ death, even though she wasn’t very near him nor wasn’t she seeing how things were unfolding.

 

Those last final minutes (expect Cyrus’ death) were very enjoyable to watch. With the season finishing it was to assume that Jafar was finally going down, but it turned out to be the other way around, because it seems he gets more and more powerful every episode, and especially now. I never get tired of seeing Alice kicking ass, and so I found it awesome watching her fight all those guards. Watching the magical battle between Amara and Jafar was also really great. I do love watching two sorcerers fight. Hearing Amara say that no matter who would win the fight, Jafar would lose anyway, made it seem even more like things were getting to a closing point, but as usual Jafar outsmarted everyone, doing with Amara the same thing he did with Will, doing something that is almost irreversible, unless you can break the laws of magic.

Once Upon A Time in Wonderland is really getting better and better and things are really getting to a looming point. I am giving this episode a 9.4/10.

With only the season/series finale remaining, and with Jafar finally getting what he wanted from the beginning, things promise to get really intense, so don’t miss my next review of “And They Lived…”.

Major Medusa Spoiler Revealed in Inhumans Promo

Marvel’s Inhumans apparently found the best way to save money… by shaving off Medusa’s hair.

That’s right, in the latest promo for the upcoming ABC series, Serida Swan rocks a shaved look as she beats the crap out of Auran.

The promo also features little clips of new footage and information about the plot.

Marvel’s Inhumans is set to hit IMAX theatres September 1 and later premiere on ABC September 29.

Marvel’s Inhumans Adorable Lockjaw Poster + New Promo

Marvel’s Inhumans hits IMAX theatres very soon, and just a couple of days before the premiere, they’ve finally given us the poster we’ve been waiting for.

That’s right, our favorite teleporting pup got his very own poster.

Lockjaw is basically a giant bulldog who can teleport and has super strength in his jaw. He serves as protector for the Inhumans’ Royal Family.

Check it out:

A new Brazilian promo was also released, featuring some unseen footage:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imaUT4wW2es[/embedyt]

Episode Title 7.06 of Once Upon a Time Revealed

Adam Horowitz has taken to Twitter once again to announce an episode title for the upcoming season of Once Upon a Time.

The sixth episode of season 7 will be called “Wake Up Call.”

It’s been previously revealed that this episode will focus on Roni/Regina, and fans are already speculating she’ll recover her memory during this episode.

REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 111

With the season closer and closer to the end, in Once Upon A Time in Wonderland’s episode 11, “Heart of Matter”, there were a few connections with the original show.

In flashbacks we got to revisit Cora, aka the Queen of Hearts, and realized that she is actually the reason why Will and Anastasia are still separated. Cora actually mentioned her daughter many times, and even said that, if she would have been able to pick, she would rather Anastasia to be her daughter. Of course that by then Cora probably didn’t know what her actual daughter was up to, because if that was so, she wouldn’t be much of a disappointment anymore. But for someone like Ana, hearing this must have felt better than good, because it seems like she never really got much love from her mother. Since Cora never had the chance to make her daughter a Queen and help her adjust to the Queen’s life, Cora desperately wanted to do that with Anastasia. So desperately that she even made sure that her and Will wouldn’t end up together ever again. Cora ultimately convinced Anastasia of her mantra, “Love is Weakness”, and she was even the one who taught the new Queen, magic.

But to pull the strings on Ana, Cora first had to pull them on Will. Cora lied saying Anastasia wasn’t planning on coming, and that is what made Will ask the Queen of Hearts to do what she often does and rip out his. Will preferred to feel nothing rather than have a heart that got broken, saying that he couldn’t live like that anymore.

Cora was also, in a way, the reason why Jafar couldn’t begin the spell. Last episode he thought he had everything he needed, but he didn’t know that all genies needed to have their hearts for the spell to work.

Alice and Cyrus begin the episode searching for the Lost and Found, so that they can continue what they started the previous episode and find Amara. That scene in the Underland was really enjoyable to watch: seeing Cyrus and Alice outsmart the Caterpillar and stealing from it literally right under its nose. But the mission to find Amara soon had to be sidelined because this couple found out that Jafar was going to go after Will’s heart. If he laid his hands on it, he would have everything for the spell. So, for the second time in this show, we travel to the awesome town of Storybrooke. Storybrooke is said to be a place that is lost in time, and a lot of us already noticed in Once Upon A Time that the technology they use is far from being up to date, but for Alice and Cyrus it was so futuristic already that they thought that it was all magic, but the Rabbit simply called it electricity. I guess it is all about points of you.

After they found the heart and got back to Wonderland, Alice and Cyrus were intersected by Jafar who managed to steal Will’s heart. At this point, Jafar doesn’t need pretty much anyone but himself alive and so, when he prepared to kill Cyrus and Alice, his staff fought back and Jafar was forced to retreat without it. Thanks to the Lost and Found, Cyrus and Alice found out that Jafar’s staff is actually Amara, and so they will now try to put her back in human form.

There are always some characters in a show that the viewers believe will never die, but sometimes they do and it usually is as much surprising as it is painful. Accepting his lost for now, Jafar went back to the dungeon and put Will’s heart back. Will and Ana shared their first kiss in a long time, but quickly got stopped by Jafar, who, in a very big twist no one saw coming, killed Anastasia right in front of her lover, putting an end to the episode.

This episode was really great. Once Upon A Time sometimes comes out with some really amazing and shocking twists, and Anastasia’s death was most certainty one of them. I am giving it a 9.2/10.

With only 2 more episodes before the end, everything is going to start happening at the same time, so brace yourselves for my next review of episode 12, “To Catch a Thief”.

Check Out These New Character Posters for Marvel’s Inhumans

We only have one week left before the first two episodes of Marvel’s Inhumans hit IMAX theatres.

Now, Marvel and ABC have released 7 posters of our royal family as well as the rest of our main cast.

The posters feature a snazzy look at Black Bolt, Maximus, Medusa, Crystal, Triton, Gorgon and Karnak, with an additional peek at their power-set.

Marvel’s Inhumans is set to show its first two episodes on IMAX theatres starting September 1, and later premiere on ABC September 29.

REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 110

Once Upon A Time in Wonderland returns with episode 10, “Dirty Little Secrets”, and our favorite team of heroes and villains decides to split up in order to cover more ground.

If we can always count on something when it comes to Once Upon A Time is that pretty much everyone is related to each other, and characters that pop up out of nowhere and with no ties to anyone don’t exist. In this episode the family tree grew a little bit more: we met Cyrus’ two brothers (which wasn’t much of a surprise since he had mentioned them last episode) and also their mother, Amara, who was spotted on episode 4 as Jafar’s partner and in every other episode of the show as Jafar’s serpent staff.

Fate is a very tricky business. It may not always be fair, we may not always agree with it, but in this show’s universe, fate usually prevails. This episode wasn’t one of those cases, though. The water from the Well of Wonders can only save people whose fate wasn’t yet written, but Amara’s fate was apparently to die on that day. Her sons didn’t agree and went to save her anyway, making a choice that changed the entire history of multiple worlds. When we think about it, if she had died, then there would be no Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, because Jafar wouldn’t be a threat that wanted to change the laws of magic, hurting everyone that stood in his way.

Meanwhile, in present day, two plans come up, and so the team goes down separate paths. Cyrus and Alice go to the Well of Wonders to beg the Nyx, the Guardian of the Well, to break the genie’s curse (which was a bit of a foolish idea), while Anastasia and Will go try to raise an army to break into the palace and steal the genies Jafar already has.

It doesn’t take long for the Jabberwocky to find the genie and the genie’s new master. Anastasia tries to fight her, but without luck, and so they are both kidnaped and taken to the palace, where we see the scene which, in my opinion, is the best of the episode: the Jabberwocky breaking Anastasia and forcing her to make the three wishes, while Will can do nothing but watch. This scene was really intense and full of amazing acting, dialogue, direction… It was also great to see that the Jabberwocky was smart enough to force Ana to wish for small things (crown, joules), making sure that no one (especially she and Jafar) don’t pay the price for these wishes. With Will back in his bottle, Jafar has now everything he needs to complete the spell (or almost everything).

At the same time, Alice and Cyrus find their way to the Well of Wonders. While they walk, Alice makes a lot of questions about Cyrus and his past, and he manages to dodge them all. Cyrus doesn’t want to tell Alice the truth because he feels like that whole thing is his fault, and maybe that Alice will think so too, if she was to find out the truth. Sure he could have acted better, he could have not cheated in the poker game, but even he if hadn’t cheated and had won anyway, those men would probably still think that he cheated somehow, and nothing would have changed. But it is safe to say that Cyrus didn’t really know the strength of their love, because if he had he would have known that Alice doesn’t care about a mistake he made a century ago.

The trip to the Well of Wonders was more profitable than I thought it would be. I, of course, never expected the Nyx to lift the spell out of the kindness in her heart, but at least she told Cyrus a way to do so: return the water. The Nyx also even told them that Amara is alive, and so a search party will have to be organized.

This was a great and intense episode. That scene I mentioned totally made it much better and so I am giving it an 8.4/10.

With only 3 more episodes to go, things in Wonderland promise to get even more intense, but next episode, “Heart of Matter” promises a visit from an old acquaintance and a trip to the best town in the whole state of Maine (not to say in the entire world).

REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 109

With the arrival of the ninth episode of Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, “Nothing to Fear”, the race is on, and this time the goal is to find the newest genie in Wonderland, Will Scarlet.

There were no flashbacks in this episode, and that was great. Of course that, as I said before, knowing the character’s history is always important, but sometimes it is also important to take a break from what already happened and focus only on what is happening right now. Plus, I am not sure if there was anything they could have added to the episode to make it more understandable (which is what flashbacks usually do). Maybe they could have shown one of Will and Lizard’s adventures, but that wouldn’t contribute much to the major storyline, and would only allow us to see that they were in fact good friends, but we will take their word for it.

It was also nice to see that Will’s first master wasn’t just some random man or woman, but someone that we had met before: Elizabeth, also known as Lizard. Not that we know her very well, but at least we got to see a familiar face. This episode really seemed to focus on the fact that wishes come with a price. The first two wishes were harmless ones (Will wished for beers for everyone, and Lizard made a wish that gave her a new dress and some fireworks). The last wish however, came with the ultimate price: Will knew Lizard was in love with someone, but apparently he wasn’t smart enough to realize he was that someone. During a conversation, Lizard accidently wished that Will would feel something for her, and the wish totally made that happen, but in the most devastating way: Lizard died while Will could do nothing but watch. Even though Will wasn’t in love with her, the two of them were “good mates”, and it can’t be easy seeing a friend die in front of you.

Knowing that Alice already made the third wish, Jafar wants desperately to find the bottle so that he can complete what he wants. He is willing to go to distance to get it, including going after the one creature everyone seems to be afraid of, the Jabberwocky. This creature is originally from “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There”, the sequel to “Alice’s adventures in Wonderland”. In this show this creature is more humanized and possibly more powerful. It is said that it took Wonderland’s most powerful magic and the strength of 500 men to imprison it. In this show the Jabberwocky is really a fascinating creature. She can read everyone’s fears and get inside their heads, no matter how powerful that person is. Everyone is afraid of something, and, as a reward of setting her free, the Jabberwocky made Jafar relive the worst day of his life: the day he was almost killed by his own father.

Cyrus and Alice were reunited at last on last episode and so now there is no way they will voluntary part ways again. In this episode, this couple really reminded me of Snow and Charming, from the original series. Alice never gave up hope that they would find each other, but now that they did, she is afraid that the battles will never end, that they will have to always be fighting an enemy, and so she is afraid they will never get a Happy Ending, just like Snow used to think. Cyrus in the other hand, is sure that that is not true, and they will eventually stop fighting and start living, just like Charming used to say. But the highlight of this couple in this episode was without a doubt the scene in which Cyrus proposed (again). Even though it wasn’t that much of a surprise seeing Cyrus go down on his knee, it was a very sweet scene that was full of hope and romance, one that will definitely stand aside in Once Upon A Time’s sweetest moments ever.

Also just like Snow and Charming, Cyrus and Alice have a Queen to babysit, and it is not easy to do so, especially after she got kidnapped by angry peasants who wanted to see her dead. Fortunately, they escaped (in a bit of a stupid way, since peasants would how to tie knots that would prevent people from untying them), and later found Will, who met his second master: Anastasia. It was certainly very interesting to make her Will’s new master, adding a new twist to the show. But Cyrus found out that the genies Jafar has in his possessions are his brothers, so no one will be leaving Wonderland just yet.

This was definitely a very enjoyable episode, with a fast pace and also a few twists. I am going to give it an 8.2/10.

In episode 10, “Dirty Little Secrets” we will find out who Cyrus’ brothers are, and how they were all turned into genies, so don’t forget to check my review.