#1.01 down the rabbit hole

[redknave]

ouatiw first scenes v. last scenes

anastasia & alice/cyrus

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: May 2023

If you notice I haven’t read as much this month, it’s because I got the new Zelda game. But between my vanquishing of evil I still managed to fit in some other media! Here’s how I spent the month of May.

……….FILM……….

BlackBerry (2023) Having grown up in Waterloo Region I didn’t have any interest in seeing a retelling of the story I mostly knew but this was really great! Surprisingly funny and frenetic and a truly unhinged (in the best way) performance from Glenn Howerton. Good stuff.

John Mulaney: Baby J (2023) I naively thought “I wonder how much this’ll touch on the drug stuff?”... turns out it’s all about the drug stuff. Cool that he was talking about it so openly, and made it so funny, but I wonder if there was more material that got cut? He briefly mentions a trip with his son and I would’ve loved to hear more about that. Anyway as a comedy special it’s really great.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) You know I haven’t been interested in the last few Marvel movies but this one felt like it was going to be different..and it was! So many moving parts but I never had trouble keeping track of character motivations or story beats and the whole thing was really beautiful. I mean even the really gross stuff was fun to watch. Keen to go back and watch this as a trilogy down the road.

The Suicide Squad (2021) I was excited to see Guardians of the Galaxy so at the start of the month I rewatched this. Still impressed at how this can be equal parts a gross out dick joke movie and also built on a foundation of community and family. Builds well, nothing feels repetitive, and the finale doesn’t overstay its welcome. Really great stuff.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Bear (Episode 1.01 to 1.03) Never have I felt so stressed watching television. Really captivating episodes and I’m very excited to watch more.

Ted Lasso (Episode 3.08 to 3.10) Maybe it’s the time away from season 1 and 2, or maybe something happened behind the scenes, but season 3 feels different. Some eps really hit, and even some moments within those other episodes, but it all feels rather unfocused. Maybe it’ll stick the landing but my confidence has been shaken.

The Most Hated Man on the Internet (Episode 1.01 to 1.03) Perfectly paced. Just enough detail to get invested but after 3 eps it felt like I experienced the full journey. Really interested to see the public’s perception of revenge porn shift over time and I can only assume this website (and its founder) played a part in that.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Down the Off-Grid Rabbit Hole... by Maggie Mae Fish Love simultaneously learning about a corner of the internet and also how it’s exploiting others. Just wild. VIDEO

Why so many people need glasses now by Vox Turns out kids need to spend more time outside for legit biological reasons? Who knew. VIDEO

How Nintendo Solved Zelda's Open World Problem by Game Maker’s Toolkit Hey maybe you’ve been playing the new Zelda and if you have, you’ll find this interesting. I sure did. VIDEO

……….READING……….

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt (Page 165 of 500) The first time I read this, it really helped me understand the perspective some folks take on divisive topics. There was a sort of comfort to finally seeing what they’re seeing. In rereading this, I find myself getting angered while reading. The book is over 10 years old and while still relevant, it often feels quaint when talking about the widening gap between political parties. Its neutrality feels almost naive to me? Maybe I’ve forgotten a key chapter that helps.

The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (It doesn’t have page numbers...maybe 1/3 of the way through) Murder in old hollywood is just so cool. I’m really digging this so far and the art, characters, and pacing feel thoroughly natural. Every reveal is just so casual cause to these characters, it’s just their lives, and I love that. Big fan so far.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 8 by by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, and more (Complete) I always liked the smaller stories in this volume that focused on Peter’s personal life...like break-ups and dating other superheroes and stuff. But for some reason the Jean DeWolff/Kingpin/Moon Knight stuff always just felt kinda rushed? I dunno maybe I like everything to be a little more fantastical or suuuuuuper mundane. None of this in-between shenanigans. Give me highschool or give me death.

……….GAMING……….

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo) So good. I walked past a house that was redoing their driveway and had a bunch of construction stuff covered in a tarp and I immediately thought “hmm I wonder what I could build” and that...is the sign that I’ve played this game too much. Big fan 10/10 change nothing.

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 Crew did some downtime planning ahead of a heist/attack combo that worked out pretty well! We played out events in weeks instead of in real time (for both the players and their enemies) and it worked pretty well!

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The group is still navigating a rival adventuring party on the island and seeing what happens now that they’ve let their star-collecting duties slip. Big trouble. You can read about it here.

Anyway that’s it. See you in June!

[sheikah]

cesare + lucrezia 1 / ?

[wannabesewcrafty]

Nice video and text interview introducing Bryan and Finola and clips from the pilot.

[hesmuchmoreimportant]

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland | Down the Rabbit Hole 1.01

Wonderland has grown stranger. I'm stranger. You're stranger. Together we are... strangers.

[sundstroms]

this sent me down a rabbit hole. 😅

i love to theorize but i also wanted to get to the bottom of exactly who these people are so i spent a foolish amount of time hyperfixated and dicking around on imdb, casting websites, etc. trying to figure out/confirm as many characters as i possibly could, apart from the ones we already know.

spoilers under the cut (identifying characters, theorizing about unconfirmed roles, royal's backstory):

note: the credited episodes are not comprehensive — what i've listed below is all that's currently listed on imdb and is not likely to be 100% accurate, as i doubt the actors' reps have fully updated their credits ahead of the season's release.

1. shauna earp as alma abbott — credited for 2.01, 2.04. there are no casting announcements for her, but i found her acting resume, which lists her role on outer range as alma abbott. i agree that she's likely cecilia's mom!

2. unsure who this actress is, as i cannot find her listed anywhere on the show's imdb page or in any of the casting announcements. given her costuming — the style/era of the clothing, possibly also wardrobe department making a choice to use specific colours to link generations, family lines, timelines ??? (oh i fear this might be a separate rabbit hole the longer i look at the group screenshot) — i think she might be an ancestor of cecilia's.

3. also not sure who this little guy is, as he's not listed anywhere on the show's imdb, but i could absolutely see this being youngest royal, given his proximity to the other royals here and his costuming.

4. teaguen arbogast as young royal abbott — credited for 2.05. (previously appeared in season one, episodes 1.01, 1.05, 1.07, 1.08.)

5. i'm fairly sure the guy in the back is daniel abeles, whose role is unknown — credited for 2.01. his casting announcement is here, role undisclosed. daniel's agent is frustratingly smart and did not leave any identifying information on his resume. i think he might also be a part of the abbott lineage, but it's possible he could also be royal's father, taking over from bryan macrina in s1, considering the style of his costuming. who knows, maybe he's a tillerson!

edit: wholeheartedly agreeing with @delopsia's eagle-eyed catch with the costuming that he is royal's father, which would make this a recasting from bryan macrina in episode 1.07.

6. christian james as young royal — credited for 2.01, 2.04. casting announcement here. prime video confirmed casting.

7. lili taylor as cecilia abbott.

8. brandon stacy as role unknown — credited for 2.02, 2.03. also has a smart agent; no role-identifying info on his resume. (given how much he looks like tom/perry here, i think he could be "ben"... iykyk.)

9. megan west as young cecilia — credited for 2.01. casting announcement here. prime video confirmed casting.

10. olive abercrombie as amy abbott.

11. ashlynn hideman as sissy abbott — credited for 2.02, 2.06, 2.07. although no legitimate source confirms her role, her imdb bio states she "wrapped a pivotal role on amazon studios' massive hit series 'outer range'," and her acting resume reveals her role. i'm guessing cecilia's sister.

12. this young actress also does not appear on the cast list or in any casting announcements. based on costuming, i absolutely agree this is probably young amy!

13. lewis pullman as rhett abbott.

14. isabel arraiza as maria olivares.

15. anna nicole silverstone as izzie sumner — credited for 2.03, 2.07. as far as i can recall, we've never heard of a sumner family. we don't know royal's real surname (yet), so she and the following 1-2 character(s) could be his family/ancestor(s). i'm thinking this is likely royal's sister.

16. emily katherine ford as isabella sumner — credited for 2.01, 2.02, 2.07. appears to be the younger izzie sumner.

17. unsure who the older actress is that's holding isabella, as i cannot visually match her to any of the listed or announced actors. very likely another sumner. i think this may be royal's mother.

given the characters gathered — past, present, possibly future iterations — i'm very curious about the omission of autumn, perry and rebecca, and the inclusion of maria. this has to be a dream sequence or "dark mineral"-induced hallucination.

i also wondered why rhett was in his riding gear, but depending on how royal is seeing this group of people, it might be a subconscious projection of his aspirations for rhett to continue on with bull riding and settle down with maria, or because that is the future path ahead for rhett. or something else entirely, lmao.

almost ten months ago, isabel posted this photo of her and lew, and now we know it was taken during the filming of this scene. 🥹

I present a fun challenge for y'all to distract us from the month-long wait for Season 2.

Who do you think these people are?

Here are my educated guesses:

I hope you can read my handwriting 😭

[pynkhues]

I love the scene of Beth dancing in her house. I feel like it’s one of the only times we really see her without a mask. I also love that Rio witnessed the whole thing. How do you feel about her celebrating rios hit tho?

Y’know what, anon? It’s a controversial opinion, but I love it too. 

It’s a flawed scene in a lot of ways (I do think it misses certain emotional beats, and that we hadn’t had enough framework built around it for the scene to entirely land), but I think it captured the entire cathartic release in Beth in a way we haven’t actually seen properly since she paid Amber off and drove through the cardboard cut-out of Dean in 1.01. 

So much of the narrative tension of this show relies on the girls all being on the backfoot in pretty much every facet of their lives, but while Ruby and Annie both get emotional respite and calm through Stan and Ben respectively, Beth doesn’t actually get that at all. She’s never really had anywhere to land and regroup on this show (except perhaps with Ruby and Annie, but I’d argue that doesn’t really happen anymore given the crime-side of things). 

As a result, when Ruby and Annie go home to get their peace, Beth spins out. She makes destructive, broken choices that give her these glimmers of emotional respite and feed this hungry, hopeless thing inside her – like seducing Rio, or baking up a storm only to destroy it all, or seeking out Rhea. These are all acts that are escalated by the fact that Beth has been under a completely insane amount of pressure since the show started. 

Across season 3 in particular, Beth went from grieving to trying to claw a business together, to panic, to losing everything, to Rio’s increasingly punishing behaviour. She was chafing in so many ways, and had nothing left of her own – god, Rio had even taken all of her belongings. Her children’s belongings! So she didn’t even have the comfort of a home – and I think she couldn’t see past him. 

Rio casts a long shadow at the best of times, but s3 demonstrated that at his worst he can block out the light entirely. 

And look, I didn’t think that the hitman plot was particularly well handled unfortunately, but I did appreciate the intent of it (particularly as a rebalancing of Beth and Rio’s power dynamic, which I actually think was as necessary as Ruby and Stan’s moral realignment [which I think was extremely necessary, just to clarify, haha]), and I think in the context of it, I look at that dancing scene in the same way that I look at not only that scene in 1.01, but as the smaller moments too like Beth drinking at the gas station or destroying the baking or seducing Rio in the first place. 

Like all of those scenes, it was a physical response to a monumental (and simultaneously momental) pressure and an unhealthy, but cathartic release, and like you said – a slip of the mask. 

She was relieved. 

And yeah, I think she was triumphant too at having finally bested him. 

Does that mean she would’ve felt like celebrating in a week’s time? 

No, I don’t think so. I think what we’ve seen from all of Beth’s other moments is that these scenes of emotional release are just that - a release - and that she too quickly tumbles back down rabbit holes of guilt and the status quo and the fixation on barrelling forwards to try and build something that gives her a sense of purpose. I think any triumph Beth feels has always been short lived and quickly plagued by, y’know, everything else.

I don’t think this time would’ve been any different if Rio had been killed. I think Beth probably would’ve tried to anonymously sidle back into Rhea’s life again with her guilt offerings, and probably started a college fund for Marcus or something. Again, none of it’s healthy and it’s all self-destructive, but man, if I don’t love her, haha.

[walkonwalkonwithhopeinyourheart]

Jurgen Klopp has the highest win percentage of all managers in the club's history (and some other stats) via /r/LiverpoolFC

Jurgen Klopp has the highest win percentage of all managers in the club's history (and some other stats)

162 wins from 265 matches or 61.13%.

​

(all the stats exclude Ronnie Moran who was caretaker manager for 10 games and Roy Evans' 18 game spell when Houllier had a heart surgery)

​

Kenny's first stint is second with 60.91% (becomes 58.5% with the banter era stint, so overall he'd be 3rd), Barclay and McKenna 3rd with 60.63% (1892-1896 for what it's worth, and they were both managers), Paisley is fourth with 57.57%, Rafa fifth with 55.43% and Shankly is surprisingly 8th with only 51.98%, just below Houllier. The lowest percentages belong to Don Welsh at 34.91%, George Patterson at 37.43% and George Kay at 39.78%. Roy's at 41.94% coming in 5th place.

​

He's also joint 5th most successful manager along with Rafa (4) after Paisley (20), Shankly (11), Kenny (9), and Houllier (6).

​

He is 6th in terms of games per trophy won with 66.25 games between trophies, preceeded by Barclay and McKenna at 63.5, Houllier at 51.16, Fagan at 43.66, King Kenny at 34.11, and Paisley at 26.75 which is just fucking absurd.

​

His teams average 2.06 goals per game, the third best after Barclay and McKenna's and King Kenny's sides at 2.65 and 2.38 respectively. To absolutely no one's surprise, the dinosaur-owl hybrid's got the worst scoring record at a pathetic 1.32 goals per game. A nice little tidbit is that Brendan Rodgers' sides managed 293 goals in 166 games (1.76) with over a third of them coming in less than a quarter of games played (101 in 38 in that season, 2.65 goals per game), meaning he only averaged exactly 1.5 goals per game before that season and after.

​

Lastly, Klopp's got the 7th best goals per game conceded ratio at 1.01 gpg. Joe Fagan's first at 0.74, Paisley second at 0.76, and Rafa is third at 0.86. Most conceded are Patterson at 1.98, Welsh at 1.82, Watson and Kay both at 1.42 goals per game. Basically, from 1928 to 1956 we were absolute shite.

​

I don't make posts like this so sorry for the shit formatting, but I fell down a Wikipedia rabbit hole and though I'd share. Here's the page which is accurate as of our last game played.

Submitted August 02, 2020 at 07:43PM by TheHadMatter15 via reddit https://ift.tt/3go62Gy

[dcherois]

Batwoman

Season 1

1.01 Pilot

1.02 The Rabbit Hole

1.03 Down Down Down

1.04  Who Are You?

1.05  Mine Is A Long And Sad Tale

1.06  I’ll Be Judge, I’ll Be Jury

1.07 Tell Me The Truth

1.08  A Mad Tea Party

1.10  How Queer Everything Is Today!

1.11  An Un-Birthday Present

1.12 Take Your Choice

1.13 Drink Me

1.14 Grinning From Ear To Ear

1.15 Off With Her Head

1.16 Through The Looking Glass 

.

[redknave]

ouatiw first scenes v. last scenes

jafar & alice/cyrus

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: June 2018

Oh what a month! The sun is shining, the bees are buzzing, and I’m inside watching Netflix like a chump.

……….FILM……….

Mothra (1961)

I want to check out more of the classic Kaiju movies and felt like as good a place as any to begin. Some stuff hasn’t aged super well but the miniatures are fun and the humans that anchor the movie really succeeded at being the heart of the movie.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Bachelorette (Episode 14.01 to 14.04)

You know I’m pleasantly surprised by Becca as the lead. She has a lot of personality and charm and isn’t overly polished/reserved in front of the camera. The fact that we didn’t see any of this last season shows just how bland Arie was. Also I’m hoping she ends up with Blake.

The Toys the Made Us (Episode 2.01 to 2.04)

Great second season. I appreciate that these episodes explore more international influences on the North American toy industry (LEGO, Hello Kitty, etc.) It’s a subtle look at how different cultures approach business, play, and how children factor into it all.

Black Mirror (Episode 3.05 to 3.06)

It really took a while for us to come back to the series (I think consuming bleak television is harder when the world around you is all too similar) but I’ll say that the last episode in this season was fantastic. I really appreciate the exploration of an existing genre like a police procedural with the addition of speculative fiction. I really hope season 4 pushes further into other worlds.

Ultraman (Episode 1.01 to 1.03)

Trying to get a little more Kaiju goodness into the month so I figured I’d try the show out. It’s aged surprisingly well for a monster series with a 1960s tv budget. Though I may just be partial to miniatures. 

Nailed It! (Episode 1.01 to 1.05)

Solid family viewing and I admit I didn’t like it the first time I watched it. After watching two episodes alone, I couldn’t get into seeing 3 poor people try to do in an hour what a professional likely completed in three. But in a rewatch with family, I realized it was more about the journey and everyone embracing how crazy it is to try to replicate these super intricate desserts.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Episode 5.19 to 5.22)

We couldn’t bear to finish the season until we knew it was getting picked up again and THANK GOODNESS! That finale was great but it would’ve been way too sad if that was it. This show is too good to not exist and I’m glad NBC could see what a treasure it is.

Riverdale (Episode 2.21 to 2.22)

And so another season concludes! The finale wasn’t quite as dramatic but hot damn was I stoked to discover who the Black Hood really was. Great twist and just as silly as I’d hoped. Oh but even sillier was the board meeting of super-villains that happened at the very end. Ugh this show is too good.

One-Punch Man (Episode 1.01 to 1.04)

This is as far as I’ve read in the manga and it’s been a faithful adaptation so far. The show does a great job of capturing the ennui of the comic and adds another layer of humour through sound/voice acting/animation-based gags.

……….READING……….

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

(Complete)

I have a newfound love of short, concise fantasy! The book is just over 200 pages and covers so much! With that said, this didn’t really connect. The lead character is unlikeable in the first half and then dull in the second. It’s well-written and a super interesting world but it’s just a little too serious for me.

Beauty by Kerascoet & Hubert

(Page 33 of 144)

Just getting started in this reread and hot dang do I love this comic. The artwork is deceptively simple but this is 100% a mature-readers book. A peasant getting the “gift” of the greatest beauty leads to a lot of social commentary on the toxic nature of objectifying and idolizing physical appearance. So good.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 2 by Ryōko Kui

(Complete)

This continues to be one of my all time favourite comics. This second volume gets even more creative with each chapter’s “recipe” and its use of monsters and lore are very cool. The character development is strong and there’s a logic to the progress and I really can’t say enough good things about the series.

……….AUDIO……….

Remain In Light by Talking Heads (1980)

I was listening to an ep of The Ongoing History of New Music and that lead me down a real rabbit hole. So good! I mean I don’t think I really appreciated how Talking Heads approached their sound or how evergreen it really is.

Shawn Mendes by Shawn Mendes (2018)

What a good good Canadian pop boy.

……….GAMING……….

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Inti Creates)

This game is better than it ought to be. It was only $10, it was a stretch goal from a Kickstarter project, and it’s clearly a Castlevania knock-off...and it’s a lot of fun! It’s short but offers a lot of replay and the mechanics are simple enough to get the hang of. The boss designs are a little jarring against the gothic setting, but it’s a lot of fun to play.

Fortnite Battle Royale (Epic Games)

I really wanted to like this game but in playing by myself, I would rank better (2nd or 3rd) by hiding than by trying to actually do anything (like engage the other players, try to find weapons, etc.) If that’s what the game’s format rewards then it’s not a game for me.

Dungeons & Dragons Hexcrawl Campaign (Wizards of the Coast)

The party knows they’re about to confront a dragon; they’ve taken a sacred artifact from the temple of dragons AND they’ve been warned. So clearly this leads to an entire session doing everything possible to avoid leaving the dungeon and confronting said dragon. Lesson learned: make the enemy more proactive.

And that’s it! As always, send me any good suggestions you might have for things to read/watch/hear/and play.

Happy Saturday!

[lumadreamland]

ouatiw rewatch 1.01 down the rabbit hole 

[bbjobo]

Hey what’s up I’m here to talk about when the FUCK s1 starts because I went down a gigantic rabbit hole.

The opening scene with the security guard watching a UT football game, so we know it’s fall. The commentator says something like it’s the field goal kicker’s last chance to “save the season.” We’re going to assume that means that UT still needs a win to become bowl eligible, which puts them at having 5 wins and 4 to 6 losses (NCAA football plays 12 games per season. 4 losses would put them having two more highly ranked opponents in the weeks after, 6 would mean this is the last game of the regular season). He also says the kicker’s record is 17 for 25 on the season, which again points to it being late in the season for him to have attempted that many field goals. Early November at the latest, but also a strong argument for (oh no get ready to be sad) the week of Thanksgiving when the explosion happens.

But then. OH BUT THEN. We transition to NYC and get our lovely Six Months Later chyron. This…this simply can’t be right. It just can’t. There’s no way. Six months from the end of November puts us into May, and fun fact, there are later contradictory dates given. This should probably have said three months later, MAYBE four. You could even make an argument that it should have been six WEEKS later. Six months is too much. There’s just no fucking way.

And last but not least from 1.01: this is probably my shakiest data point because it can be interpreted in different ways, but during Marian’s interview, she says she really only came so she could check out SXSW. SXSW is always mid-March. I’ve always interpreted this line to be that SXSW is taking place during her interview, but it’s vague enough that it could be that she’s just entertaining the idea of taking the job in Austin because she wants to go to SXSW sometime. (Also lol SXSW 2020 was March 13-22, so that shit clearly got cancelled).

I’ve got more dates and timelines from s1 saved in a note on my phone and I can ALMOST make it work, but it really and truly all depends on 1) ignoring real-world COVID timing and 2) ignoring that damn Six Months Later

Okay, can we talk about Gwen (Gwyn?) + Owen + Enzo + Jonah and the timing of how that possibly works? (and don’t get me wrong, I love Jonah and big brother TK)

So we know that TK was shot some time shortly before the pandemic and Gwen was in China at the time. So let’s say he’s shot in mid-February. Gwen gets held up with quarantine getting out of China and then again when she gets to the US, which explains why she’s not around at the end of Season 1 when TK is recovering. By the time she is back and through quarantine it’s mid-March and things are bad in New York so she stays in Austin.

Season 2 starts four months after that - so mid-June. Somewhere in there she starts sleeping with Owen. And, at the same time she either travels back to New York and has one last night with Enzo, or Enzo flies to Austin. In the early months of the pandemic when we all basically never left our houses and washed our groceries? And then she goes back to the house with her immuno-compromised ex-husband and son who was still recovering from a gunshot wound? But, sure, okay. Owen was apparently working during Covid while on chemo, so handwave at logic.

Some indeterminate amount of time later she’s 16 weeks pregnant- but there’s been a fair amount of Season 2 plot at that point, so maybe August? Which means she gets pregnant in April? Assuming Jonah is full term, or mostly full term, he can’t possibly be born before late December or early January.

But in TK’s dream sequence she says Jonah’s eating pears? But at most he’s maybe 2 months old (because real life Texas ice storms were February’21)?

In conclusion the timeline of this show makes no sense, and in my next rant I will talk about construction timelines, permitting, and materials leadtimes and why the timeline of Season 1 gives my a headache (no, I won’t, I promise).

[efnewsservice]

Cyrus and Alice Wonderland 1.01 Down the Rabbit Hole (x)

[phiralovesloki]

Phira watches OUATIW: 1.01

Episode 1.01: Down the Rabbit Hole

So, I've seen this episode before, or at least most of it. Last month, I was suffering from pretty bad OUAT withdrawal and decided to give this show a go. Hulu was on the fritz that day, so watching it became difficult (had to refresh every few minutes), and I just didn't like it as much as I liked OUAT.

I gave up after that, but I did read all the episode descriptions, so I know some of the big spoilers.

Now, we're done with OUAT until next month, and we have nothing to alternate with LOST, so OUATIW it is!

I know it's the pilot, but I'm not the biggest fan of either Sophie Lowe or Emma Rigby at this point. It's hard to tell if it's the writing or the acting, or if I'm just really distracted by Alice's costume design or Rigby's lips. Who knows?

I feel like including Agrabah and Jafar is a little disappointing, since it implies that we're not going to see very much of Aladdin in Storybrooke in the future. Naveen Andrews plays a convincing Jafar, though, so I'm happy with that.

What on earth is John Lithgow doing in this show?

I like Michael Socha so far, and I'm excited that he's coming to OUAT. Based on what I've seen of the fan reaction to him, I think he'll make this show work for me.

There are two issues I'm having with the pilot. The first is that Alice isn't new to Wonderland, and neither is the Knave. So when it comes to introducing the audience to Wonderland, it feels like characters are explaining things they already know, either out loud to no one, or to characters who already know (or should know). For example, Alice and the Knave land in a marsh made of marshmallow--Alice recognizes it for what it is and the Knave doesn't. Why doesn't he? But then Alice doesn't know that they're going to sink into it, which makes no sense.

The second issue is that the story feels disorganized at this point. We've got three things going on: 1) the story of Alice meeting Cyrus and having adventures with him, until his apparent death, 2) the story of Alice dealing with being in England, before and during her imprisonment, and 3) the story of Alice and the Knave going to Wonderland to look for Cyrus. Story 1 is told throughout the beginning of the episode, concurrently with story 2, and then story 3 takes place during the second half. I'd like to see more of a structural committal to the LOST and OUAT formula, and I do expect that in future episodes.