Once Upon a Time in Wonderland

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 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

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland is the story of Alice, but later on in her life. This is nothing like the Tim Burton interpretation. This is the spirited, little girl that we loved as Alice in books but all grown up. She's now a clever, young woman with determination.

Wonderland takes on a life of it's own, incorporating parts of the original story like the mock turtle and chess game, but serving them up in a whole new way.

There are references to Once Upon a Time, there's no need to watch this before Wonderland. Wonderland stands on its own as an interesting tale.

It's VERY creative and the story begins quickly. I suggest watching through to at least the 3rd episode then deciding if you want to stick with it. The 3rd, 4th and 5th episode are all great character studies, while the 1st and 2nd set the stage.

Strong female AND male characters lead characters are a nice touch. It's very balanced.

The story isn't spoon-fed to the watcher either which adds to the unpredictability. Anything that seems out of place (like the phony Queen and the presence of Jafer) are there for a reason is all I have to say.

It's great to see an extremely creative, fantasy show on TV. Being a fan of shows like Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, White Dwarf (I wish that made it past the pilot), and others, I really hope this show's given a chance.

A lot of sci-fi or vampire shows seem to make into several seasons, but fantasy seems to have more of a challenge.

This is definitely one of the better ones, but I fear it may suffer a similar fate to Stargate Universe (which starred Robert Carlyle AKA Rumplestilskin), where viewers expect it to be like the previous incarnation.

It's wonderful to see Michael Socha (The Knave of Hearts) play the underdog who struggles to do the right thing. (He was also in the ill- fated fantasy/horror "Being Human" UK version which ended too soon).

Wonderland is focused on just a couple stories, instead of several like Once Upon a Time. It's more of a quest and journey focusing mainly on Alice, but with VERY interesting characters surrounding her.

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!

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.