Once Upon A Fan

By Amy Degenstein-Hood

This week’s episode begins in the SB sheriff’s station. We see an empty cell, then a flash of MM running away through the woods. Henry is sitting in the station, reading his storybook, and has a confused look on his face. The book is open to the picture of a little girl looking at what appears to be a heart locket. Emma and Mr. Gold walk in and Henry congratulates Emma on her “plan” working. They discover that MM has escaped her cell, and Emma tells Henry it was not her plan at all. Henry leaves for home, while Emma prepares to search for MM. Mr. Gold tells her that she could be in a great deal of trouble if she is caught trying to help MM. Emma says she’d rather lose her job than her friend, then leaves to try and find and return MM before her arraignment. On the outskirts of SB, Emma drives through dense fog and almost runs over a well dressed gentleman in a long coat and scarf. When she jumps out to see if he’s ok, he introduces himself as Jefferson. Emma says she is out looking for a dog so that she can keep MM’s escape a secret. Emma sees that Jefferson is limping and offers to drive him home, which he indicates is just a mile ahead.

     In FTL, we meet Jefferson, running through the forest and looking behind him. He ducks behind a tree, and peers around to see if he’s been found. We hear a young voice a moment later, “I’ve found you Papa!” Jefferson’s daughter Grace, who is wearing a hood, has found him during a game of hide-n-seek, and we see them head back to their home. Grace is not the same girl in the storybook that Henry was looking at earlier. I think the girl in the storybook could be Alice, Snow, or even Regina as a young girl. I feel pretty confident that we will be seeing the locket and the girl from the picture again in the future. It is not discussed in this episode.

     As Jefferson and Grace approach their home, they see the Queen’s carriage outside. Grace asks her father if he knows the Queen, and he says that he does not. Jefferson then tells Grace to go hide in the woods while he sees what the Queen wants. When we enter the home, Regina greets Jefferson by name and they obviously know each other. She states that being indigent does not look well on him, which implies that he was wealthy when they knew each other before. Jefferson calls her Regina and not “Your Majesty”, he is also not afraid of her and does not appear care much for her. Regina asks Jefferson for his help retrieving something that was taken from her. Regina shows Jefferson a picture and he asks why she would possibly want to go “there”. She says she needs his “Particular set of skills” in order to retrieve what was stolen. Jefferson says he is not in that line of work anymore, and that whatever it was he had done in the past had cost him Grace’s mother. Regina says she can make sure Grace never has to go without anything if Jefferson helps her. There is banter between the two about the importance of family. These types of “family” comments happen a few times in this episode. I believe this may be hinting that somehow Regina and Jefferson are related. This interaction also confirms that Jefferson has the same name in both SB and FTL (as does Regina). He refuses to help Regina, and she leaves the house. There is a shelf in the home that Jefferson looks at when Regina leaves. It almost appears to be a shrine perhaps. There are dried flowers, a ceramic jug/pot, a lit candle and a pinkish box. 

  In SB as Emma and Jefferson approach his house, Emma is surprised by how enormous the home is. She mentions that he must have a huge family, but Jefferson says he lives there alone. He begins to try and limp up the stairs to his front door, and Emma helps him make it inside. Jefferson offers Emma some hot tea before she has to leave again to look for her “dog” spot. He brings out a map for her to look at, and she begins to feel dizzy. Jefferson helps her over to the couch where she begins to lie sideways on the verge of consciousness. He says he should get her some air and walks across the room. Emma notices that he is no longer limping at all, that he had faked it. “Oh that…. I guess you caught me.” is Jefferson’s reply. Emma has only enough strength to ask him who he is, then passes out completely, tea cup falling to the floor. In this scene there seems to be a lot of play on mirror and reflection. We see Emma’s reflection before she drinks the tea, as well as a few other images that mirror around the room. The black and white pillows on the couch as well as the large painting on the wall appear to have a maze or labyrinth pattern. Next to the fireplace is a poker that seems to have a rabbit metal work design, and there is a pedestal or shelf with a hand holding a circle with a tornado above it. 

     In FTL, we see Jefferson and Grace in town with Grace taking notice of a toy cart. She finds a stuffed white rabbit that she feels would be perfect for her tea parties. When Jefferson tries to buy it from the old woman, she will not take less that the cost. Grace says that it is ok, and that she doesn’t need it. Jefferson is clearly upset by not being able to afford the toy for his daughter. They walk away, and we see the old woman pass a mirror on her cart. The Mirror’s face appears saying that the old woman was harsh, and that she could have let the child have the toy. Her old, wrinkled face disappears momentarily to reveal that she is actually Regina, who says “Now where’s the fun in that?”  On the toy cart I noticed a yellow and red hot air balloon behind Jefferson’s head when he is attempting to barter with the old woman. There is also a marionette stage near the back. 

     Back in SB, Emma wakes up to find herself bound with duct tape and gagged. She is able to smash the tea cup she had dropped and use the broken shards to free herself. None of the windows will open, but she does notice a telescope which she is shocked to discover is looking directly into her office back in town. Emma looks through a cracked door and sees Jefferson in a room across the hall, sharpening scissors. 

     We see Jefferson finishing a white rabbit stuffed toy that he has made for Grace back in FTL now. They sit down together for a play tea party. He tells her that he knows it’s not exactly like the toy she had wanted, but she says she loves it. Jefferson tells Grace that he wants her to go to the neighbors for the rest of the day while he does some work. She asks to go with him, but he will not let her. Grace asks if this has to do with the Queen’s visit, and begs him not to do whatever she has asked him. He tells her he must, but he promises that he will come back in time for their tea party. He puts Grace’s cloak on her and as she starts out the door he reaches forward and pulls her hood up. I noticed that we never see Grace outside without the hood up on her head. Also, during their game of hide and seek, Jefferson makes a comment about her bloodhound nose, and clearly she must have been running fast for a child in order to keep up with a full grown man who was sprinting. I’m curious to see if all of our Oncers think there is anything to this. Maybe Grace is also a wolf? As she leaves we see Jefferson pull out a hatbox from a chest, then the scene flashes back to SB where Jefferson continues to sharpen scissors. 

     Emma tries to quietly sneak down the hall to get away. When the floor creaks she ducks into a room to hide. As she turns around, she is shocked to see Mary Margret bound and gagged in a chair. Like most of the buildings and homes we have seen in SB, the room MM is in has trees on the walls. The lamp in the corner is a tea pot, and there is a croquet set against the wall, giving a nod to a few iconic Wonderland images. Emma frees her and finds out that MM was kidnapped by Jefferson while she was trying to run away from the SB jail. MM tells Emma about the key she had found in her cell. The two quietly leave the room and start down the hall, only to bump into Jefferson who now has a gun. He makes Emma tie MM back up. She tells Jefferson that she knows he’s been watching her, and he tells her that he needs her to do something.

     In FTL, Jefferson has gone to Regina’s castle with his hatbox. He asks Regina for her guarantee that if he helps her, his daughter will want for nothing and she gives her word. Jefferson takes the top hat out and tells Regina to stand back. He spins the hat on the floor, and it creates a tornado-like effect. Regina and Jefferson jump together into the hat.

     Jefferson has taken Emma into a room of the mansion full of hats. She tells him that if he hurts MM he will regret it. He tells her since no one can leave because of the curse that he was saving her life. Emma asks if he’s been reading Henry’s book, and he replies “Henry? You mean the Queen’s father?” I think this lends to the theory that he and Regina knew each other very well at one point in FTL. He then begins to tell Emma that the curse her son believes in is real and that she has seen proof but she refuses to see.  He tries to convince her, but Emma still does not believe. Jefferson tells her she is special, and he needs her to “get it to work.”  He sits her down in front of a partially done hat.

     In FTL we see one of the most exciting glimpses I think we’ve seen yet. Inside the hat, there are a myriad of doors. Each looks very different from each other. I believe one of the doors is clearly the door to OZ, as it appears to have the O with a Z inside which is used in the original books. The door that Jefferson and Regina use is actually a mirror. Before they slip through the looking glass, Jefferson tells Regina that they must stay together. That the rule of the hat is that the same number of travelers who go in must come out. They step through into a world of vibrant colors. There are giant blades of grass and mushrooms. Just ahead, the Caterpillar, voiced by The Who lead singer Roger Daultrey, says a line that is both from Alice in Wonderland as well as the chorus of his most popular song…. “Who Are You? Who? Who?” I would have loved to see Daultrey/Caterpillar used more in this episode. I do hope that his very short appearance was only due to time constraints, and that we will see him again in the future. The Caterpillar wore circle shaped pink glasses that have been seen on many pictures of Daultry from his days with The Who.  Jefferson leers ahead and says “I hate Wonderland”. 

     In SB, Emma notices the hats, tea and insanity and asks if Jefferson thinks he is the Mad Hatter. They argue back and forth about what is real and what is not. Jefferson tells Emma she has magic, and he needs her to make a hat that will work. Jefferson tells Emma it is arrogant to think that this world is the only real world, and tells her there are infinite worlds all next to each other. Some lands with magic, some without. Emma asks what will happen when she makes this hat, and Jefferson says he will finally go home. 

     In Wonderland, we see Regina and Jefferson approaching a massive labyrinth with a rose of hearts above the entrance. Jefferson asks Regina if she knows what the Queen of Hearts does to people who cross her, and she says “Better than most”. There is definitely a back history between Regina and the Queen of Hearts. Jefferson tells Regina to stay away from the walls of the maze, and shows her that they grow vines that will grab and pull them in. Regina says the walls should stay away from her and she blasts a fireball that clears a path straight through to a vault belonging to the Queen of Hearts. They head to the vault and it appears very similar to Regina’s own heart vault that we saw in a past episode. Regina selects a single box. Guards appear and give chase, but Regina and Jefferson are able to get away from them and get back to the mirror. Regina stops and pulls a piece of mushroom off and places it in the box against the warnings of Jefferson. Smoke rises from the box, and her father appears. He was the thing the Queen of Hearts took that she needed to retrieve. Jefferson realizes that Regina knew all along he would not be able to leave Wonderland, since only 2 can leave if 2 entered. She tells Jefferson that if he really cared for his daughter he would not have left her in the first place, and that he has now broken his promise to be back in time for tea. Regina almost looks sad for a minute as she’s saying this to him. I also noticed that both Jefferson and Regina’s father both wear the same style of long coat. Regina seals his feet to the ground as she and her father step through the looking glass. The Queen of Heart’s guards catch Jefferson and bring him before her. 

     The QoH is shrouded by a red veil and we never see her face or hear her voice. She speaks to someone through a long vocal tube, and he speaks for her. Even though this role has been cast for this episode, I can’t help but believe she will end up being a character we have already met. I really want to see what all of my fellow Oncers think about this. I have a few ideas of who I think she is, but I feel like I can make a better case for it after next week’s episode…stay tuned 

     Jefferson asks the QoH if he will let him return to his daughter if he tells her how he got to Wonderland. Instead of agreeing, she orders “Off With His Head” and the executioner takes one swing. Jefferson’s head is cut from his body, but he survives. He is told that he can have his body back only if he makes another magic hat. He replies that he can’t make another. He is told that he has his task, he must make a hat that will work, then he is taken away. 

     In SB, Jefferson shows Emma a family through the telescope. The little girl is his daughter Grace from FTL. He explains that here her name is Paige, and that he can’t be with her again unless Emma can make the hat work and they can go home. Emma begins to tell Jefferson that maybe she should believe. She says she knows what it’s like to be separated from your child, and that if the curse is true, MM is her mother. She appears teary eyed so Jefferson believes her, but when he turns around she knocks him over the head with the telescope and runs out. Emma finds MM again and starts to untie her, but Jefferson comes in behind her wearing the hat she had been working on. They struggle and Emma sees the scar going around his neck where his head was removed in FTL. Jefferson says “Off with his head”, and puts the hat back on while pointing the gun at Emma. MM has freed herself and she grabs a croquet mallet and hits Jefferson in the back, then kicks him. He falls out of the window. Emma and MM look outside and there is nothing on the ground except for some broken glass, and the hat. It appears that Emma really was able to make the hat work simply by working on it, and Jefferson has fallen through it. MM and Emma believe he has run away. 

     Outside, Emma gives her keys to MM and tells her she doesn’t want her to run, but says the choice is hers. She asks MM to please trust her and believe in her because she is her “family”. Emma corrects herself and says “friends” after, but MM decides to trust her and they head back to the SB jail. We see Regina arrive at the sheriff’s office and Emma’s car is not there. She seems happy until she walks into the jail area and sees MM in her jail cell reading a newspaper. Mr. Gold is there and tells Regina that his client is not seeing visitors and offers to see her out. In the hall, Regina asks Mr. Gold what MM is doing there and says that he assured her that MM would run. He explains that she came back and that Emma must be more persuasive than they thought. Regina says she only made a “deal” with Gold because she expected results and that she had better get what she asked for. He assures her she will get results. I’m quite sure Gold has his own agenda.  

     We see Henry talking to Emma outside his school. Paige walks by and says hello to Henry. Emma recognizes her as the girl Jefferson said was his daughter. Emma asks to see Henry’s book, and seems surprised to see the pictures and story of the Hatter. The last picture we see of the Hatter cuts to the last scene in FTL. We see Jefferson/ The Hatter, quite mad, making hat after hat, saying “Get it to work” over and over again. The camera pans back to show an enormous room, and what appears to be thousands of hats that he has made……

     Emma asks Henry if she can keep the book for a while. Hopefully she will begin to delve deeper and maybe begin to believe……….