ONCE026: “Hat Trick” full discussion

play audio ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Emma and Mary Margaret looking into a hole s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

We don’t think this is all we’ll see of “Alice in Wonderland,” especially since “Hat Trick” felt like a foundational episode.

Fairytale Land/Wonderland

What a Wonder(land)ful episode! We all enjoyed “Hat Trick.” It was different, but most likely important for the overall story later on.

We didn’t see Alice in this first visit to Wonderland. Will we ever see her? Could Emma fill the role of Alice as Rumpelstiltskin did the role of Beast? “Hat Trick” seemed like a bit of a backstory to Alice’s story.

Clearly, “of course not” means “yes, I know the queen.” Where else has Jefferson taken Evil Queen Regina? Has she been to Wonderland before? Other worlds? Both? Has Jefferson always used the hat, or other means of transportation?

Where did the other doors in the hat lead?

Doors in Jeffersons hat panorama s01e17 600x364 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Doors in Jeffersons hat 2 s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

We see Evil Queen disguised as an old woman, or as Jenny put it, a “hag with a bad attitude.”

Ugly old woman at toy booth s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Even before it is revealed that the hag is EQ, she’s surrounded by crows.

EQ can transform her appearance at will; no potion required. But in Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the evil queen used a potion. the case in the Disney version.

If your child says “all I need is you, Papa,” you should listen.

Graces tea party s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussionJeff and Colleen Roney from the Once Upon a Time Fan Podcast shared some background to several pop colture references in “Hat Trick.” Jefferson Starship had a lead singer named Grace.

Jefferson’s one condition for working for EQ was that his daughter would want for nothing. Perhaps EQ kept her word when, finally, Grace wants for nothing in Storybrooke.

How did EQ and Henry Sr. get back out of the hat after leaving Wonderland?

The caterpillar says “Who are you?” as he does in the story, but it’s also an Easter egg as the voice of the caterpillar is Roger Daltry, lead singer of English rock band The Who.

Wonderland catapiller s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Evil Queen says that she knows what the Queen of Hearts does to those who cross her “better than most.” What is their relation? Some theorize that the Queen of Hearts is Regina’s mother.

Queen of Hearts s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Who is the girl pictured in Henry’s book? What is the significance of the locket in the girl’s hand?

Alice in Wonderland in book s01e17 600x335 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Is this girl Alice? Jenny doesn’t want Alice to have a hair color other than blonde. Is this Dorothy? A young Snow White?

Will Grace’s mother turn out to be Alice? Most likely not due to the fact that Jefferson didn’t become the Mad Hatter until long after Grace was born, but these stories aren’t always the most traditional.

The Queen of Hearts has a wall of vaults very much like Regina’s heart boxes. Do they all contain hearts, or also other things? The vault was surrounded by what looks like the “impossible stairs.”

Queen of Hearts vault outside s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

How did the Queen of Hearts get Henry Sr.? Were they married?

Is the label on one of the boxes glowing, or is it the sun’s reflection? We think the latter is true.

Queen of Hearts vault drawers s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

The boxes are numbered with roman numerals.

XC

F-IV

XC

F-V

XC

F-VI

XC

G-IV

XC

G-V

XC

G-VI

Maisie sent us an email mentioning that in the pilot everything on Granny’s desk was dull and dusty with the exception of a card with a heart on it. Was this intentional?

Items and heart card on Grannys desk 600x287 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Maisie also suggested that Granny may have been in the Queen of Hearts’ court with her face covered. Looking at the screen shot, we don’t think so, but it’s possible!

Maybe Granny at Queen of Hearts s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Dan suggests that Jefferson thinks his wife is dead because she was beheaded, not knowing that those beheaded by the Queen of Hearts remain alive and can have their bodies back.

We think that Henry Sr. was shrunken and actually in the box that Regina store, rather than that his heart alone was in the box.

Regina with mini Henrys box s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Henry Sr. was leverage for the Queen of Hearts against Regina. What is the nature of their conflict? Jeremy’s theory is that the Queen of Hearts is Regina’s mother, and that Regina trapped her mother in Wonderland by taking the man she loved out instead and leaving the Queen of Hearts there.

Storybrooke

Was Henry confused at his storybook, or just trying to figure out the characters?

Henry wrinkling nose at book s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Mr. Gold pushed Emma to go find Mary Margaret.

After Emma “runs into” Jefferson, he’s limping. Did you notice that his limp went away as he got into the car?

Jefferson’s house number is 316, a number significant in Lost.

Jeffersons estate at 316 s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

How has Jefferson made a hobby of being a cartographer if he was stuck in his house for 28 years? Through the use of his telescopes?

Daniel has made Jefferson’s map from the show a bit more readable.

Jefferson and Emma with Storybrooke map s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Jeffersons Storybrooke map s01e17 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Jefferson was stuck in his house for 28 years until the night that Emma arrived in Storybrooke.

According to Jefferson, Emma brought magic to Storybrooke.

Despite being somewhat crazy, Jefferson is also completely right. Emma is seeing the truth and refusing to believe.

Most things in Jefferson’s house were white, black, or red. The colors may be inspired by Wonderland and the playing-card theme. These colors were also a theme in part of Lost.

Jeffersons hat workshop s01e17 600x337 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

Jefferson gives us a couple of thoughts:

  • History books are based on history. What are story books based on?
  • Everyone wants a magical solution to their problems, but no one wants to believe in magic.

Jefferson explains to Emma that there are many different, parallel real worlds. We assume that the doors in the hat lead to some of these worlds. What other worlds might we see? Oz? Neverland? This lays the foundation to explore stories that wouldn’t mesh well with the stories that have been combined in Fairytale Land.

Jefferson’s says that his curse is that he, like everyone else, has had the one he loves ripped from him.

It appears that the neighbors Paige/Grace lives with in Storybrooke are the same people that she went to in FTL.

Jeffersons neighbors in Fairytale Land and Storybrooke s01e17 600x257 ONCE026: Hat Trick full discussion

How much truth was there in Emma’s con of Jefferson?

Does Emma *have* magic? Jefferson believed she had to make the hat in order for it to work; she seems to have done the (hat) trick.

We listen to the should heard after Mary Margaret kicked Jefferson through the window; it definitely sounds like the hat sucking him in.

Once again Emma’s “super power” seems iffy: why didn’t she know that Jefferson was lying when he was limping and drugging her?

We think Mr. Gold wanted Emma to find MM, despite having made a deal with Regina. Does he know the future, or is he just good at getting people to do what he wants? Is this one of those “methods” that Emma may not like, but which may produce results that she does? Whom is Mr. Gold double-crossing: Regina or Emma?

Mr. Gold only tells Regina things that are true, rather than making promises to her. What, exactly, is are the full terms of their latest deal? Has he been as crafty in this deal as all of his others?

Filomena poses the question as to whether Paige is now aging. We think the answer is “yes.” This makes the stakes higher than ever for Jefferson; now, instead of simply being separated from his daughter, she has begun growing up without him.

How many worlds were affected by the curse? Was Jefferson in Wonderland or Fairytale Land when the curse was enacted? It can’t have affected all worlds, as ours is one of them.

Having seen Jefferson’s scar, Emma seems to be thinking differently, asking Henry for the book.

We received a voicemail from listener “Belle” with several great thoughts and theories, which we discuss.

Jeremy points out that Jefferson is the first to actually leave Storybrooke.

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  • Derrick Palmer

    Watch this interview with Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz from Wonder Con and they explain the Emma ‘Super Power’ along with other items.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=c1OXRubP8Ro

  • http://twitter.com/soulsurf7 Kimberly Berg

    I want to point out in the original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland the little girl who inspired the story had dark hair :) So I don’t think hair color makes a difference!

  • Jeff C.

    Possibilities for August?

    The Grimms were not the first to publish collections of folktales; a German collection by Johann Karl August Musäus had been published between 1782 and 1787

    Wilhelm collected a number of tales after forming a friendship with August von Haxthausen.

    • http://About.me/DanielJLewis Daniel J. Lewis

      That’s a good thought, but I really don’t want August to be a story collector like that or the Grimm brothers.

  • http://www.facebook.com/djfirewolf Cole Ruffalo

    Did anyone else notice the reference made during Grace’s imaginary tea party. Jefferson made her a rabbit doll to go with her tortoise. “The Tortoise and the Hare”

    -DJ Firewolf

    • http://About.me/DanielJLewis Daniel J. Lewis

      Oh! Good catch. I didn’t think of that connection.

      • NIxie

        Cute!  There is also a tortoise (plus the White Rabbit, of course) in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  I love how they tie several stories into one reference.

  • RumplesGirl

    Interesting thought: On the first screen shot of the doors in the world-between-worlds: there is one that is brown and has a sort of easter feel to it. It even looks like the outline of the Taj Mahal a bit. Possible location of Agrabah? 

    -RumplesGirl

    • http://twitter.com/icecream4younme Ice Cream

       ooh maybe Aladdin? I was thinking the one to the left of Oz in the second shot looks very Chinese with the red door and bolts- maybe Mulan? Although in the first shot it looks like bricks. Also the one to the right of the Wonderland looks like a water vessel and then water- maybe Ariel? Are these doors the same doors in both shots or are they the other doors on the other side? Why do they change in appearance since the OZ one is definitely the same right?

  • StarryDreamer

    Regarding the location of Jefferson’s house– I’ve seen that house before.  I’m almost certain its been used in Smallville or Supernatural or Life Unexpected (or all three!) before, and both were/are also filmed in the Vancouver region. Unfortunately I can’t figure out which episode I saw it in, so I’m no help there.  But I’ve definitely seen that driveway before. It is likely that Jefferson’s house is probably a hunting lodge or a chalet of sorts.  Knowing the Vancouver area, its more likely that its removed and in a completely different forested location from that forest area that they regularly use. 

  • http://twitter.com/icecream4younme Ice Cream

    Two things:

    1. The numbers on the vault boxes could be: F4, F5, F6. G4,G5,G6 are chess squares and the vault rows are set up like the rows of a chess board. In Alice- Through the Looking Glass- Lewis Carroll wrote the book as Alice is a pawn going through a chess game. Evil Queen Regina said the Queen of Hearts got some leverage on her and captured Henry Sr. If I remember correctly, the pieces are actually people in the story too so that’s why people are shrunken and kept in her vaults? Also the figures on Granny’s desk look like the chess pieces.

    2. If you enlarge the text on the left page of Henry’s book- this is what I can read:

    “… dragged into the water. The girls came just in
    …held him fast and tried to free his beard from
    …all in vain, beard and ? were entangled
    …there was nothing to do but to bring out
    … the beard, whereby a small part of it
    … dwarf now that he screamed out: ‘in
    …. to disfigure a man’s face? Was
    …the end of my beard? Now you
    … of it. I cannot let myself be
    … had been made to ?
    ..took over a sack of pearls
    … another word he
    … ???.
    … another  went t
    ..and thread, and
    .. a ? open
    ..There they
    … ?
    …?
    ….? ”

    You mentioned this is the story of Snow White and Rose Red. What if the dwarf is actually Regina’s dad, Henry? Doesn’t he have a beard? Maybe Rose Red is Regina? The picture of the girl with the locket is also holding something else up; a beard maybe? Maybe the locket was part of the treasure she got from the dwarf/bear in the story?

    Thanks for your podcasts! I love that you guys do the initial and the full discussion :)

  • Ashleah Younker

    I’m pretty sure that the magic Emma brings into Storybrooke is actually her DNA. Rumpelstiltskin bottled love (the only magic he said he couldn’t bottle) by putting Snow White and Prince Charming’s hairs together. Their DNA mixed in a bottle would be Emma’s DNA.