~ Review: Mad As A Hatter ~

Once upon a time…

Jefferson is playing hide and seek with his daughter, Grace. They head back to their cottage, when they noticed Regina’s carriage. Grace asks her father if he knows her, and Jefferson says no. He tells Grace to hide in the woods until he comes and finds her. Jefferson goes in and clearly he and Regina know each other. Regina needs his help, but Jefferson says he doesn’t do that kind of work anymore. Regina tries to get him to do it by promising him and his daughter a lifetime of luxury and comfort. But Jefferson still says no. Regina tells him she needs his special skills to get her somewhere, somewhere he has been before. She hands him a paper, and Jefferson asks what she possible could want from that certain place; something was taken from her and she wants it back. However Jefferson still says no and Regina understands. Yeah right. 

Mirror, Mirror How Do You Like My New Nose?

The next day, Jefferson and Grace are at the village market. Grace sees the toy cart and finds a rabbit. She asks her father if she could have it so he can join them for tea, and Jefferson couldn’t resist saying no. However he doesn’t have enough money to pay for it, and the old lady says she can’t sell the rabbit for any less. Grace says it’s OK, but Jefferson will not take no for an answer. Grace insists she doesn’t need it and they both leave. After they leave, the old lady goes to the back where a mirror is. The Magic Mirror appears and tells the old lady that Grace still should have had the toy, but the old lady replied that would have been no fun, and reveals herself to be Regina in disguise. That is cruel. I have to admit I’m a tiny bit disappointed that we saw the EQ in her infamous disguise already. I was hoping that could have been saved for when she tries to get Snow to eat the poison apple. It would have at least had that element of surprise. Oh well...

Back at their house, Jefferson makes a rabbit for Grace and apologizes for it not being the same one she wanted, but Grace loves it. Love the expression Jefferson had when Grace said that. They sit down to have their tea party. But Jefferson has decided to help Regina one more time and tells Grace she needs to go to their neighbor’s house for the rest of the day.  Grace wants to come, but Jefferson tells her he is not going to work in the woods. Grace then pleads her father not to do whatever is Regina wants him to do. But Jefferson tells her he wants to give her everything she wants, but Grace says all she wants is her father. However Jefferson’s mind is made up and Grace makes him promise that he returns in time for their tea party. Jefferson promises. Sweet, but sad scene. After Grace leaves, Jefferson opens up a trunk and takes out a hat shaped box.

~ Sneak Peek: Hat Trick ~

So we have 3 new sneak peeks of this week's episode. Interesting enough, none of them take place in fairy tale land. I guess they want to surprise us. Enjoy!

~ Sneak Peek: The Stable Boy ~

ABC Medianet has released a new synopsis for episode 18 The Stable Boy, which will air on April 1st. 

Emma continues her exhaustive search for evidence that will prove Mary Margaret’s innocence in the murder of David’s wife, Kathryn. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was and before evil blackened her soul, Regina must choose between betraying her mother, Cora (Barbara Hershey), and marrying for true love, or betrothing royalty and living a regal – but loveless – life; and the event that caused the Evil Queen to loathe Snow White is revealed

This episode is written by Adam and Edward, so no doubt its going to be good.

Also...Guess who King George is in Storybrooke?

Highlight your cursor to find out 

District Attorney Albert Spencer

What do you think?

~ Review: Granny, What Big Eyes I Have ~

Once upon a time…

Red Riding Hood is in love with Peter, who has come to visit Red by her bedroom window. They talk about running away together when Granny calls for her. Red asks Peter to let her go, but Peter insists on having a kiss for the price. Finally a nice, good deal. Simple and easy.  A group of villagers have come to Granny’s as they are on their way to kill a wolf that has been terrorizing their village. Red wants to go as well but Granny won’t let her. Granny tells the villagers to let the wolf be as there are only 2 more nights before he stops hunting. Red hopes that they will kill the wolf, but Granny knows it’s because Red wants to be with Peter. Red defends Peter, but Granny dismisses it and they begin to lock down their home. Then Granny sends Red off to bed while she guards the door with an arrow machine.  Haha! Nobody gets passed Granny!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

The next morning, Red goes into the barn to check on the chickens, when she notices someone hiding in the corner. Snow quickly comes out and tries to apologies for hiding out in the barn and stealing the eggs. Snow sounds so sweet and really innocent here. Red says its fine and introduces herself. Snow is about to say her name, but instead says Frosty. Haha! Red doesn’t believe her, but understands Snow can’t tell her name until she can trust her. Snow then says, Margaret Mary. How ironic. Snow and Red head off to the well to get some water. Snow inquires about the howling she heard last night, and Red tells her that it’s a wolf (“it’s big as a pony”) hunting for cattle. As they pull up some water Red notices it being blood red, and when she calls for Snow, she notices that Snow is looking at something else: four dead bodies, killed by the big bad wolf. I couldn’t resist. And those dead bodies freaked me out. 

Later that morning, Granny, Red, and Snow (in disguise) go to a village meeting, where the leader of last night’s hunting party vows to kill the wolf. However Granny warns them not to as she had first-hand experience with the wolf. When Granny was little, a different wolf killed her 6 older brothers and father, while she watched from her rooftop. She suddenly fell right in front of the wolf, but instead of killing her, it gave her scratched marks. She tells everyone the best thing to do is to hide and wait.

Back at Red’s cottage, Red tells Snow how she feels like she’s trapped, and Snow asks if it has something to do with someone. Red talks about her love for Peter, and Snow comments how nice the feeling must be. Just like two teenage girls having a sleepover and talking about boys. Red asks Snow if she has someone, but Snow replies no and doesn’t think that’s in her future. You never know what the future holds Snow. Red wants to run away with Peter, but Granny doesn’t let her go out alone on the count of the wolf. Snow thinks what Granny is doing is right, but not when it comes to love. Red then states that they should kill the wolf now during the daytime so they can have the advantage, but Snow doesn’t think that is a good idea. Clearly Snow hasn’t received her courage diploma yet. However Red is willingly to go with or without her and states that her grandmother can’t keep her locked up forever.

~ Emma's Future In Storybrooke ~

The Huffington Post did an interview with Jennifer Morrison about what is to come for Emma Swan in Storybrooke.

1) Emma's "super power" and Sidney Glass

I feel like she's always been a little bit skeptical of Sidney only because he did come from being so deep in Regina's pocket that it's hard for Emma to believe that someone could really make that much of a turnaround... It’s like she knows that there may be something to be skeptical about with Sidney, and yet, he seems like the best possible option at this point...But yes, at some point, she will definitely have a rude awakening in terms of how deeply he's not supporting her.

2) Emma arresting Mary Margaret

Emma's sort of left with no option because if she doesn’t go where the evidence leads and actually make the arrest, then she looks like she's offering some sort of favoritism to Mary Margaret, which then makes Emma look like she's not doing her job properly, which then gives Regina a reason to fire Emma...In Emma's mind, even though it's a horrible thing to have to arrest this person who she truly does consider a friend and truly does believe in, she feels like she can protect her better by doing this than she can if she doesn't do it...

3)  Emma on Mr. Gold as Mary Margaret's attorney

I think initially she's very opposed to [Mary hiring him] because obviously she doesn't trust him, for good reason...She suspects that he has ulterior motives that are serving him, but those ulterior motives that are serving him are also serving Emma sometimes. So she, once again, has to sort of choose the lesser of two evils and decide if she's going to go along with what he's doing in order to get the results that she needs in order to protect the people that she wants to protect...

4) Emma being kidnapped by the Mad Hatter

It does start to plant some interesting seeds in Emma, because it's another person saying to her some of the things that Henry has been saying...But it is really the first time that there are little chips in Emma's armor in terms of her thinking; not necessarily that there really is a curse and that everybody really is a fairytale, but I think it’s really that turning point for her to realize that there is something very dark and possibly dangerous going on that she needs to try to figure out.

5) Emma and The Stranger

...I think the next several episodes you sort of start to see her test whether or not she can trust him. She allows him in, in little bits, and then pushes him away in other ways and sort of starts to kind of test the waters to see how trustworthy he is, where he really stands on things, and if he is safe or not for her or for Henry or for anyone...

To read the entire interview, click here.

~ Sneak Peeks: Red-Handed & Hat Trick ~

1) ABC Medianet released a synopsis for episode 17 "Hat Trick:"

While searching for a missing Mary Margaret, Emma 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 that was 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.

2)  A couple of sneak peeks for this week's episode "Red-Handed." And there really good.

~ Sneak Peaks: Dreamy & Mad Hatter ~

Update:  I just found 2 new behind the scenes photos of Sebastian Stan as the Mad Hatter. What do you think? Pictures are from the Examiner

And now sneak peaks from this week's episode. Also, the first video is an extended promo of Dreamy with new scenes. Enjoy!

~ Friday News With More Spoilers ~

We have some more, a lot more I should say,  information spoilers on what's coming up for the remainder of the season from Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.

From E's Watch with Kristin 

1) So by now we know that Sebastian Stan, from Gossip Girl, will be playing the Mad Hatter in the 17th episode. This episode will be set in Wonderland and we get to find out why he is called the Mad Hatter. 

~ Edward ~ "The first [difference] you'll notice is in who the Mad Hatter was and his backstory. Then what Wonderland is and [its] changes is something we hope to explore also." "We're hoping this tells you the story of the Mad Hatter, but will also leave you questions about Wonderland."

2) Dr. Whale will return, but we won't find out who his fairy tale character is this season.

3) We will see Belle for a little bit in episode 14, as noted before. However, she will be much more prominent towards the end of the season.

4) As mentioned before, Barbara Hershey will play Regina's mother in an upcoming episode.

~ Edward ~ "Evil is not born, it's made. Her mother has a specific viewpoint about the world."  ~ Adam ~ "Hopefully you'll get a great insight into Regina and why she is the way she is."

5) The mystery of Kathryn's disappearance will go on for the next 4 or 5 episodes before it gets resolved.

~ What's Coming Up ~

The pages are now updated with last week's episode, and here is what's coming up on Once Upon a Time:

1) Meghan Ory, who plays Ruby/Red Riding Hood posted on Twitter that the 15th episode will be about Red's background story. The episode, called "Red Handed" will air on March 11 and ABC medianet released a synopsis about the episode:

After quitting Granny’s diner with her self-esteem at an all-time low, Emma hires Ruby to be her assistant in order to help her discover what it is in life that she’s good at…..Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Red Riding Hood yearns to run away with her true love. But she, along with her fellow townspeople, are virtual prisoners when a bloodthirsty wolf continues on its relentless killing spree. 

2)  E!'s Spoiler Chat released  Spoilers! Spoilers! new information about about Kathryn's disappearance.

Mary Margaret is going to be arrested and guess who is her representative in court......
(highlight your cursor to find out)

Rumpelstiltskin 

True's Love Kiss
Courtesy of ABC's Official Website

What do you think?

3) There will be no new episode this Sunday due to the Oscars. I'm actually OK with it, since I like watching the Oscars. 

~ Review: Fighting For True Love ~

Once upon a time…

It’s the day of the wedding. For James and Abigail that is. Abigail arrives and is greeted by King George. Abigail notices something is wrong, but the king tells her not to worry. He then goes and tells one of his guards to find James. James is shown trying to escape from the king’s knights and just when he thinks he’s safe, he turns around and is caught.

Three hooded knights surround James and he tells them to kill him already. Instead one of them unties him and Abigail appears. Abigail has eyes and ears at her father’s court and wants to talk to James before King George kills him. She knows that he loves Snow and James tells her he can’t marry someone he doesn’t love, and would rather die instead. Abigail calls his action “charming” and understands as she also doesn’t want to marry James. You’re so nice Abigail! Yayy!!!

James and Abigail are riding through King Midas’s kingdom. James angrily wants to know what is going on and why Abigail is showing him such kindness. Abigail tells him that her heart belongs to another, someone who she was supposed to marry, name Frederick. James asks what happened to him, to which Abigail replies, “we all have our tragedies. Lost love being the worst,” and she had hope that reuniting James with his love would be a consolation to her. James tells her that his love doesn’t love him back, so that is his tragedy. But Abigail says to him that is no tragedy and tells him to follow her.

Help Me Prince Charming...You're My Only Hope

They arrive at a memorial where Fredrick sacrificed his life. James is intrigued by how the statue looks so real, but Abigail tells him that is Fredrick. He accidentally turned into gold after saving King Midas during an ambush. I think this is a nod to the fable story when King Midas accidentally turned his daughter into gold after she touched him.  James tells her that all curses can be broken by true love’s kiss; Abigail says she tried but it did not work. She tells James there is a legend of a lake called Lake Nostos and its water has the ability to bring something back that was once lost to someone.  Abigail says she tried to get it, but it’s guarded by a creature (aka the Siren) that lures victims to their deaths. No one has succeeded. However James is confident (more like a bit overconfident, if I may say so) that he will defeat the Siren and return with water to bring back Frederick. Abigail tries to talk him out of it, but James insists that one of them should be happy.  And should he fail, then at least his misery will end.

~ What Is A Fairy Tale? ~

Laurel Brown from BuddyTV recently did an article about what counts as a fairy tale. It was announced that an upcoming episode would feature characters from Alice in Wonderland, however Brown states that Alice’s story isn’t a fairy tale. Being that this blog is about the fairy tales from Once Upon A Time, I thought it was something to think about.

So, what counts as a fairy tale?

Logic then implies that somehow the Walt Disney company -- and only the Walt Disney company -- has the inside line on the fairy-tale word.

From Alicia Blogs 

Brown does bring up a good point here. And I’ll be honest. For a long time I thought the stories of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and others were created by Disney. Disney was a big part of my childhood. But of course some of the stories have been around longer than The Walt Disney Company itself. All Disney did was made the stories simpler and marketed it towards children. I actually prefer the Disney versions rather than the original stories. I think that for the most part we are use to the Disney versions because they are more familiar to us and easy to identify in popular culture.

According to Wikipedia, fairy tales are stories that feature fantasy characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, dwarves, mermaids, and magic. And I agree.

What do you think?   

~ Sneak Peaks: What Happened to Frederick? ~

First, I have updated all the tabs from this past episode and made a few edits as well. The only part I am confused of is Regina's timeline. Its not clear if  Rumpel and Belle's story takes place before Snow's father dies or after. I have a feeling its after, but if you know please comment and let me know.

Secondly, we have 5 new sneak peaks from this week's episode. This week, as James is searching for Snow, Abigail asks James to retrieve something precious that she lost. In Storybrooke, David finally tells Kathryn about his relationship with Mary Margaret. 

And, we finally find out The Stranger's name.  

Enjoy!

~ Friday News Roundup ~

I have now updated the Full Story, Snow's story, and the EQ's.

Some big announcements, in case you missed it:

1) Barbara Hershey (Beaches) has been cast to play the EQ's mother in an upcoming, unknown episode.

2) A DVD of the first 5 episodes will be released only at Target on Feb. 14

2) E! News' Spoiler Chat gave fans two big scoops:

• An upcoming episode will focus on 12-year-old Snow White. 
• In the next episode, we will some more of the relationship between Sidney Glass/Magic Mirror & the EQ

3) And speaking of the next episode, the next one will air next Sunday (Feb 12) due to the Super Bowl this weekend. But I can't wait for this episode! It's the Beauty and the Beast episode. I loved the Disney film.

Also Spoilers! Spoilers! 

~ Review: Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, How Did You Come To Us After All? ~

By being a genie first!

This week’s episode focuses on Sidney Glass and his fairytale character two fairytale characters: the genie and the mirror.

 Once upon a time:

A good king finds a magic lamp; he rubes it and out comes a genie from Agrabah. The genie give him, in a bored manner, some rules of what he can and can’t do. However the king states he has everything he already wants and instead wishes the genie free and gives him his final wish (the 2^nd wish was for the genie to have his 3^rd wish). The genie is touched by this kindness, but states he will not use it (as from his experiences, it can be quite dangerous) and wants to use his freedom looking for love. The king invites him to his palace and introduces him to Snow and the Evil Queen, Regina.

During the king’s birthday celebration, the king talks about the love he had for his first wife and who, like Snow, is “the fairest in all the land.” So that's how the phrase started. All the while Regina is looking sad and lonely. At least now we know why she is obsessed with being beautiful. She goes outside to her apple tree and the genie follows her. Regina is hurt by the fact that the king will never love her like his first wife. So why did he get married after all? To help make her feel better, the genie presents the queen with a mirror so she can see herself the way he sees her, “as the fairest in all the land.” So that’s how that phrase started. The genie and Regina look at each other with love and longing.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall: Who is the fairest of them all?

The king finds out that his queen is in love with another man by reading her journal (of course), and asks the genie to find the man who gave her the glass mirror. In the meantime the king locks Regina in her room and her father, Henry, asks the genie to deliver a box to her, which will send her free. When the genie delivers the box to Regina, he finds a pair of poisonous snakes of which Regina tends use to kill herself so she can be free from this prison. But the genie wouldn’t allow her and suggests they use the snakes to kill the king. Regina asks if he would do that for her and the genie replied he would do anything for her.

~ Their Story : Take Two ~

True Love's First Kiss
 Courtesy of ABC's Official Website

OK, So I made quite a few big changes in my blog. I will post a comment about each episode on Mondays, and then throughout the week I will add any news, fun things, or information about the show, spoilers and all (I can’t help it). I will also let you know when I have updated each of the 4 main character’s stories as well as the full story.

Please feel free to email me with questions, suggestions, or anything else.   

~ Tara ~

The Story So Far: Part 3A ~ Snow White & Prince Charming ~

As Prince James’s carriage is moving through the woods, his wife-to-be, Abigail, is complaining about the road and the view. All of the sudden, the carriage stops and the knights inform James that a tree has fallen and blocked the road. As they prepare to move the tree, James notices the markings on it as being cut.  Quickly as possible, Snow comes out of the tree, grabs the bag of jewels inside the carriage, steals one the horses, and rides off in the opposite direction. James quickly gets on a horse himself and runs after Snow. Soon the two riders were neck and neck and James jumps on Snow, making them both fall off their horses. The prince grabs Snow and realizes that the thief is a girl. Snow uses this opportunity to grab a rock near her and smacks James on the head, before taking off on the horse again. As she rides on, the prince yells to her, “Wherever you are, I will find you.”

When They First Met

Sometime later Snow is gathering some things from her hut, and as she is walking away, she gets trapped in a net. James comes out of his hiding place, laughing. “I told you I find you. No matter what you do, I will always find you.” James tells Snow to give back his jewels, but Snow states that she sold them. James is very upset as the bag contains his mother’s ring. He threatens Snow, telling her that if she doesn’t get his jewels back he will hand her over to the EQ, who has now placed a wanted poster of Snow. Having no choice, Snow agrees and James cuts her down.

As they are walking through the forest, James notices Snow playing with a little trinket around her neck and grabs it from her. She informs him that its fairy dust which came from a bad fairy and it’s meant to be used as a weapon. When asked why she didn’t use it on him, Snow replied, “Because you are not worth it.”  The prince smiles and places the trinket inside his pocket. As they walk on, Snow mentions that she is saving it for the EQ. She goes on saying that things on the poster are lies and when the EQ tried to have her killed, the huntsman spared her. And since then she has been living in the woods. She hopes to run away to another kingdom where she will never be hurt. When James asked what she did to make the EQ hate her so much, Snow replied that she ruined her life.

~Their Story~

I love this show, especially the back-stories of the fairy tale characters. Like many fans, I am curious about the timeline of events before the Evil Queen sent them all to our world. So each week, I will cover the fairy-tale stories of each character and then before the following episode airs, I will post an updated version of the entire timeline. i hope that makes sense, if not just read my postings and then hopefully it will!

The first few posts will be more of an overview of the first 10 episodes so far.

True Love's First Kiss
 Courtesy of ABC's Official Website

I will also be posting some polls, behind the scenes photos, interviews, previews, and anything else I find interesting.

Let's have some fun!