Board Thread:Rant and Rave/@comment-24593235-20171007225142/@comment-25926288-20171009165814

GothicNarcissus wrote:

1. Conversely, after six seasons, we have that bigger picture and now they're basically painting over it. It's only natural we're less patient with that because there is a canon and we need to know if whatever they're doing now fits it or not.

2. Now what's with this new realm? I mean, having another Cinderella who's named the same, whose stepmother is also named the same, who goes through a generally similar chain of events as Ashley!Cinderella… well, that stretches the willing suspension of disbelief a bit too tin because it takes away the unicity of the characters we've known and loved for six years.

3. What irked me the most, though, was Alice. So she's been to Wonderland too. Is it the same Wonderland we've known for six years and a spinoff? Ain't it strange that two girls both called Alice came and messed around there? Or is it yet another Wonderland? Do realms multiply according to what the plot demands? Is there a parallel Victorian England too? A parallel Oz? What's even the point and distinction of all these new realms popping up right, left and center? Wouldn't it be much easier to just acknowledge the spin off, call Sophie Lowe back and, while we're at it, Emma Rigby as Anastasia to go for what they were probably planning before the spinoff tanked so badly? Numbered for simplicity.

1. That can only be learned as time goes on. So, that's not an issue of this episode. It a soft reboot. We have to wait to see as this episode was pretty much just a setup episode.

2. You sort of alluded to the characters that essentially are duplicates, so it's no real surprise. The writers are retty much saying that in Once's Universe that stories happen over and over with different variations. Now, I'd give you a point when mentioning the "on the nose" it was with Lady Tremaine being dressed just like Season 6's Lady Tremaine and the music being the exact same. (I think the budget must be cut, lol) The other versions of the characters are not harmed in any way. One could argue the meta-ness of the show has been increasing beyond suspension of disbelief but the characters are pretty stable.

3. We have to wait and see. As I respond to many things, getting upset at stuff we don't know doesn't make sense when it can be answered next week as far as we know. Rose's Alice is similar to Alice in themes (mushrooms, Drink me) but as she said "and from other places". So, according to what we know, she's just a girl named Alice that traveled many realms and is conflated with Sophie's Alice/ LWM's Disney Alice (and Lewis Carroll's Alice). Sophie's Alice is Disney Alice with a Once twist and is living happily ever after.

So, if we see a new Wonderland for certain, then we can say It's some uncanny parallel universe. But so far, we don't know. Plus Once has weird decision with names. Anastasia (Red Queen) has a social-climbing mother with a stepsister getting a prince, but she's not a Wicked Stepsister in any way. This is actually a cool aspect to show that it could be a societal thing.

We need backstory to determine more of the characters and the nature of this realm. I doubt the writers will do justice to that, but we have to see. For all we know, Henry wrote this into existence by writing "And Henry found himself in a magical forest filled with the fairytale characters we know and love" and caused this.

I think the best way is to see the season in a vacuum and connecting the dots as plot points are revealed.