Why is there a spinoff when the original show can’t consistently get it right? Once Upon a Time in Wonderland’s first half is dreadful. Think about the worst parts of its predecessor, Once Upon a Time (OUAT), combined with the dated graphics of The 10th Kingdom. The line between blue screen and reality is fairly obvious and painful. The accents were really aggressively stereotypical British, but when it was revealed to be a plot point, it helped, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Also I don’t think that I’m a fan of the concept of Alice in Wonderland. She seems to be a colonialist fantasy figure: able to enter a foreign land, decides to impose her values and bosses people around. This iteration of Alice was the least offensive-as the show unfolds, she takes pride in taking part in the land’s customs instead of imposing hers on them, but the very end makes me think, why? I didn’t believe the central love story between Alice and Cyrus. Despite having a heroine, you would be hard pressed to find any healthy female camaraderie unlike its predecessor. If you’re familiar with OUAT, then it won’t be a surprise that as the story delves into the fantasy characters’ history, villains and heroes become more sympathetic and human. I’m not sure when I began to enjoy the show–maybe when the show acknowledged that certain accents were ridiculous or maybe when Sayid, I mean Jafar, stopped just being evil and started showing inflections of nuance such as pain or doubt. The best actors appeared as supporting characters. Zuleikha Robinson needs more work albeit it is absurd that a 36 year old woman plays the mother of a 24 year old, 29 year old and a 39 year old. I am not familiar with Leah Gibson, but she knocks it out of the park as Samara from The Ring with a promotion. Peta Sergeant won my heart as the Jabberwocky: think Maggie Q, but more frightening and captivating and think Lucy Lawless when she aims for pain, absolute madness and joy at inflicting similar emotions. Her animalistic physicality and complete immersion in the character made her simultaneously terrifying and sympathetic without fully knowing her backstory or having any CGI graphics. (See Episode 9 of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, start at 38:00, you’re welcome!) Give that woman a starring role yesterday. In the end, I enjoyed Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, but it wasn’t quite mature enough for adults and was definitely too dark for children.