Hat Trick

Hat Trick is the seventeenth episode of Once Upon a Time. This episode is the backstory to Alice in Wonderland, specifically the Mad Hatter. It introduces a new land, Wonderland.

Synopsis
While searching for a missing Mary Margaret, Emma Swan is kidnapped by a man whose affinity for hats has him teetering on the edge of madness. Meanwhile, viewers will be transported outside of the Fairytale Land for the first time when the Evil Queen persuades a skillful man of magic to come work for her one last time and travel to Wonderland in order to help steal something from the Queen of Hearts.

Recap
The episode begins in Storybrooke with Mary Margaret's empty cell and her running through the woods. Henry is in the Sheriff's station reading his book when Emma comes down with Mr. Gold. They discover that Mary Margaret has escaped. Mr. Gold says both their futures are in jeopardy if they are caught. While driving down the road, Emma swerves to avoid hitting a man. She claims she is looking for a lost dog, and he offers to help. He introduces himself as Jefferson, and she gives him a ride home. Emma and Jefferson arrive at his house, and he says he has no family. Emma goes in with him, and he gives her some tea. The tea is drugged, which causes her to pass out. Before she blacks out, she notices he is not limping anymore.

In the fairytale world, a man is in the woods playing hide and seek with his daughter Grace while collecting mushrooms, and they discover the Evil Queen's carriage at their house. Regina says that poverty doesn't suit him and address him as Jefferson. She asks for one last favor and promises to change his life. She wants his help getting something back, but he refuses her offer.

At the market, Grace runs up to a stall and picks up a plush white rabbit, stating it would be perfect for her tea parties. The old woman running the shop does not accept Jefferson's offer, and Grace assures him she does not need the rabbit. The Magic Mirror appears, and the women is revealed to be the Evil Queen. At home, Jefferson makes a white rabbit doll for his daughter. When he tells her that she will be staying with the neighbors, she knows it has to do with the Queen. She makes him promise to return. He sends her outside and retrieves a strangely shaped box out of a covered chest.

In Storybrooke, Emma wakes up bound and gagged but manages to cut herself free by breaking her teacup and using the shards. She finds no exit and realizes Jefferson has been watching her. She finds him in a room sharpening his scissors. She sneaks into a room where she is shocked to find Mary Margaret is also bound and gagged.

Mary Margaret explains why she is there and how she got out. Jefferson finds them and holds them at gunpoint. He makes Emma tie Mary Margaret back up and says that he needs her to do something. Jefferson brings Emma into a room and confronts her about the curse. He tells her that he knows she is special and that she has magic. He tells her she wants to get "it" to work, and she notices a hat placed on the table.

In the fairytale world, Jefferson goes to visit Regina, pulls a hat out of the box, and spins it on the ground. Inside the hat, they are able to see another land that they enter together. Jefferson and the Queen are in a room of doors. The enter through a mirror which brings them to a path, and they run into a giant blue caterpillar. Jefferson admits that he hates Wonderland as they proceed.

In Storybrooke, Jefferson wants Emma to make a hat since none of the ones he made have worked. Emma accuses him of being a Mad Hatter. He questions her belief on what is a real world, and he tells her that she and Mary Margaret are not leaving until she gets a hat to work.

In Wonderland, Jefferson and Regina stand before a maze that belongs to the Queen of Hearts. She threatens not to return with him since they both need to be together when they leave. The Queen burns a hole through the maze, and they enter a room filled with boxes. She grabs one, and they try to run out but are caught and chased by the guards; however, they manage to escape. She breaks off a piece of mushroom, previously occupied by the caterpillar, and places it in the box, where her father emerges. The Queen reveals that it was her plan all along to leave Jefferson in Wonderland. Jefferson is brought before the Queen of Hearts. After his beheading at her command, he is still alive.

In Storybrooke, Emma says she cannot make Jefferson's hat. He tells her to look through a telescope, where she watches a girl named Paige eating dinner with another couple. He says that she is his daughter Grace, and he remembers their life together. Emma realizes that he just wants to take his daughter back home, and she sympathizes with him. She pretends to believe what Jefferson is saying and admits that he is right about her needing to believe more. Emma then grabs the telescope and hits Jefferson with it. She goes to free Mary Margaret, but Jefferson catches her. A struggle ensues, but Mary Margaret saves Emma by whacking Jefferson with a croquet mallet and kicks him out of a window.

Mary Margaret and Emma look for Jefferson but find nothing except his hat. Mary Margaret says she has no idea how she kicked him with such force. Emma confesses that Mary Margaret is the only one who has been there for her, and that is why she is so adamant to help her. The next morning, Regina arrives at the Sheriff's office and seems to be surprised that Mary Margaret is back in her cell. Regina and Mr. Gold discuss his part in setting up Mary Margaret, but he assures her that everything will still go according to plan. Emma visits Henry before school when Paige walks by. When she sees her and examines the story book Henry happily loans her, Emma discovers that Jefferson was telling the truth.

In Wonderland, Jefferson is seen making a hat and screaming insanely in a large room filled with even more hats and bolts of fabric.

Appearances

 * Paige / Grace
 * Jefferson / Mad Hatter
 * Emma Swan
 * Mr. Gold
 * Henry Mills
 * Regina Mills / Evil Queen
 * Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Caterpillar
 * Henry (father)
 * Magic Mirror
 * Queen of Hearts
 * Knave of Hearts

Quotes
Jefferson: Henry? You mean the Queen's father? Emma: Henry, the mayor's adopted kid. Jefferson: Oh, Henry. Your Henry. And his book of stories, the ones that you choose to ignore. Maybe if you knew what I know, you wouldn't. Emma: Yeah, of course. Jefferson: How? Did you read about it, perchance, in a book? How is that any less real than any other book? Emma: History books are based on history. Jefferson: And storybooks are based on what, imagination? Where's that come from? It has to come from somewhere. You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants a magical solution for their problem, and everyone refuses to believe in magic.
 * Emma: Have you been reading Henry's book?
 * Jefferson: I know what you refuse to acknowledge, Emma. You're special. You brought something precious to Storybrooke--magic.
 * Jefferson: Stories. Stories? What's a story? When you were in high school, did you learn about the Civil War?

Trivia

 * This episode is the backstory to the Mad Hatter the events in this episode are before he and Alice ever meet.
 * Behind the title, the Caterpillar's mushrooms can be seen.
 * A scene that featured August was cut, as he was in the promo pictures for the episode.
 * Despite his name being featured in the promos, Roger Daltrey gives an uncredited performance as The Caterpillar and has only three words of dialogue.
 * Grace picks up a plush white rabbit stating it would be a great addition to their tea parties. This is a reference to the White Rabbit and the tea party in Alice in Wonderland.
 * Grace has a doll she calls Mr. Tortoise. This references the character of the Mock Turtle.
 * While leaving Wonderland, The Queen picks a piece of mushroom and Jefferson states "Do you know what the food does here?" This makes reference to the cake that turned Alice large and the drink that shrunk her in size.
 * Jefferson calls the mirror they came through a "Looking Glass" a reference to the book Through the Looking Glass.
 * It's also a reference to "LOST"'s Looking Glass Station.
 * Jefferson's hat functions in very much the same way as the "rabbit hole" does in Alice in Wonderland, in that it acts as a portal by which the user can travel to Wonderland.
 * While fighting with Jefferson, Mary Margaret grabs a croquet mallet, a reference to the story when Alice plays croquet with the Queen of Hearts.
 * The Mad Hatter isn't actually seen wearing a hat, until after he has gone insane trying to "make it work."
 * Jefferson is also not seen wearing one until he tackles Emma. It is knocked off, but he puts it back on while pointing the gun just before Mary Margaret hits him with the croquet mallet, and kicks him out the window.
 * The door room contained a green door with two OZ symbols on it.

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