The Mad Hatter/Jefferson Character Analysis

[Midnight Dreary]

For general discussion on the character of Mad Hatter/Jefferson.

[mickey]

What I'm wondering about Jefferson is how did he know that Emma is special and has magic. Who told him about it? How did he know so much about what was going on in SB? What do you guys think?

[hjbau]

I think he decided that because when Emma came into town and the clocked ticked and things started changing that she has magic. That she can change things.

[EnchantedOne]

There is so much I want to know about Jefferson. But I think if a guy is stuck in a house with nothing but telescopes to watch the comings and goings then he is pretty familiar wh=ith everyone and there routines. He had to notice when the very first stranger entered the town, and when the clock started ticking. He had plenty of time to watch and see that things started changing when Emma showed up. Clearly he has knowledge of magic and knows when it is changed it is because of some other type of power or magic. Questions I would like answered are:

What is his relationship to the queen?
How did he get that hat and all that knowledge about it...maybe him and the Queen went to hogwarts together...
Also why did he make a map of the area in and around Storeybrooke? Was he looking for a way out maybe? He said all of the worlds pressed up against eachother, maybe he was looking for another way to get home other than the hat.

[cruel_fortuna]

I'm most curious about the line of work he was in that caused him to lose his wife.
Part of me thinks that before he came to Wonderland & became the Mad Hatter, he fist procured the hat (which someone, I believe not Jefferson imbued with magic ) & met Grace's mother.
I'd be really interested in knowing his back-story in regards to his wife & I'd like to know if Regina ever met her.

[sjm]

So I'm thinking last night after listening to the podcast about the summary given for this episode:

“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,

Two things stand out in this episode summary -- Jefferson is called a skillful man of magic and the Queen persuades him to work for her one last time.

The working for her one last time lends credence to her having know him previously, and him having worked for her other times. I think she says to him when confronting him at his home "this one last thing" when she hands him the paper to read.

She also comments on his position in life now, asking how he can live there, making me think he once had a lot more and had been used to a much richer kind of life, if you will.

The summary also states he is a skillful man of magic, not that he is a man with a magic hat.So I am wondering if there is more to Jefferson than we know?

What I thought of last night was who would have magic and be in a position of wealth? Perhaps a court magician. Which then made me think of Merlin, which then made me think of Wart, who was the magicians apprentice in Sword in the Stone, which then made me think of Mickey Mouse as the magician's apprentice in Fantasia. So then I thought, what if Jefferson was a magician's apprentice with great promise, who worked for Regina at one time, but who had something go terribly wrong and "lost" his wife, and so he gave up magic?

That's where my train of thought took me, so wanted to get it down before I forget. Choo! Choo!

[slurpeez108]

Jefferson is a powerful man of magic, and Regina said she was impressed when he transported them via the magic hat. I'm wondering if Jefferson was the wizard who enchanted Red's cloak to prevent her from shifting into her wolf form.

[Sam993]

Sebastian Stan did an amazing job embodying the Mad Hatter. Jennifer Morrison did a great job too. They both have amazing chemistry.

You kinda can see with Jefferson's body language, touch, and movement towards Emma, how insane he really is. In his eyes, Emma is his new hope. His new little hat that fits him perfectly. I love how close they get when it's obvious that he just loves her for her magic. Maybe he also thinks she's quite pretty and everything, but that I'm not sure. Emma is perhaps the only one that can actually understand him and he likes and relies on it.

Won't lie. thought the Mad Hatter will be a redundant character because I thought Rumpelstilskin is quite mad himself and shows it too with his body language and crazy movement, and voice, but Sebastian Stan actually shows what being Mad really is. It's not just the obviously characteristics (crazy mumbling, crazy voice, and crazy looks ), but it's about devoting yourself to one idea, to one way, ignoring the rules that the world sets upon us, rejecting the feeling of isolation, and not being able to control your own self (case in point, the tempting movements towards Emma, the abundance of useless hats).

Oh, gosh, I hope he's gonna be a regular.

[hjbau]

I think Jefferson can come back from the madness. If he is able to work with Emma to try and end the curse. Though Emma would have to get past the fact that he was waving a gun in Mary and her's faces and the whole kidnapping thing. Though if she believes they may be able to become more normal allies in the future. If he survives the end of the season. A lot is dependent on who survives the end of the season.

[Dorothy]

I love how close they get when it's obvious that he just loves her for her magic.

I love how when Emma called Jefferson crazy for talking about his belief in magic, and he just stared at her for awhile just blinking in shock. You can see in face that his brain is just setting off sparks, "Y U NO BELIEVE IN MAGIC EMMA?!"

As unstable as that poor guy is, I hope he'll become one of Emma's allies. We all know she could use some right now.