What I’m Watching: Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time: Season 1, Episode 17 “Hat Trick” (C)

This episode took a very different trajectory than those before it, namely in that it launched right into events in the real world, providing an unexpected and very overt connection to more than one other universe. Having both Emma and Mary Margaret get kidnapped by Jefferson made Storybrooke feel much less peaceful than usual, and, though Emma managed to escape her bonds remarkably quickly, it was peculiar that no one seemed to worry about them being missing for a while. The story of the Mad Hatter was, as always, incorporated into this show’s grander plotline, with Regina leaving Jefferson to have his head cut off (with poor special effects) so that she could smuggle her father out of Wonderland and back to the fairy tale world. He was probably the most dangerous villain we’ve seen in Storybrooke thus far, and his purpose seems to have been to get Emma thinking about the fact that maybe he’s not so crazy after all, which seemed to please Henry more than anything. An unfortunate revelation, though it shouldn’t be too surprising, is that Mr. Gold and Regina are in collusion, rather than the dirty moneyman representing Mary Margaret as a way of getting back at Regina for treating him so poorly. With Jefferson’s random abduction of Mary Margaret, it seems almost inconsequential that she’s about to be on trial for murder. Where are all these good people in Storybrooke when they’re most needed? If things do progress to a trial, one would hope that they would start coming out of the woodwork to show their support for the nicest woman in town.