Since ABC announced it was taking us to Wonderland in a Once Upon a Time spinoff, fans of the hit fairytale show were in for a roller coaster ride of emotions. We were pumped up when the premiere aired only to be scratching our heads halfway through the season. What is going on with this show? Why isn’t it as good as its predecessor? The network wasn’t sure either, but ratings don’t lie!
Then at the 11th hour, the show came back with a promising mid-season premiere. Now, in the thick of the story line, ABC confirms that the season finale is now the series finale with a promo.
It will join the ranks of other cancelled shows like Mind Games (which is being axed after five episodes according to Deadline). ABC will air repeats of Resurrection for a couple of weeks before airing the season 3 premiere of Celebrity Wife Swap in its place. As a consistently low rated series, the cancellation of Mind Games isn’t a shock.
Mind Games Review: A Jedi Mind Trick Can’t Save This Show>>>
However, as someone who watched Once Upon a Time in Wonderland from the beginning, I can say the show was just starting to find itself, so there are mixed feelings about the whole thing.
Why the Show Doesn’t Need to End
In “Heart of the Matter” and “To Catch a Thief” we were finally getting the action and emotional connection we were craving for all season. Anastasia was not the spoiled, wannabe rich girl we thought her to be. A knave/genie with a heart made for a much more compelling love story than Alice and Cyrus. Learning about three other genies, the real reason why Amara was looking for them, and the introduction of the Jabberwocky gave us the plot twists we love in the Once Upon a Time universe. Even the Sultan was finally free (even though he was wrong, I felt sorry for the guy!)
But now with one episode left, there are a lot of loose ends that need to be taken care of. In 60 minutes, the show has to deal with the ‘death’ of Anastasia, a bleeding Cyrus, two powerful sorcerers, a possible change in the rules of magic, and some type of happy ending. If the show does manage to clean everything up it would look way too convenient. If they don’t, fans will be severely disappointed.
Why the Show Needs to End
TV at the end of the day is a numbers game and if the numbers aren’t looking right, a network isn’t going to waste its time. OUATIW couldn’t even touch the ratings ABC was getting with Once Upon a Time. With each episode the show was losing more and more viewers, and with good reason. The characters were hard to connect with in the beginning and didn’t fulfill the viewers’ expectations (except for Jafar! He was awesome.) Add in the amateur-like special effects and the lackluster reunion of Alice and her Genie, the show was suffering from a severe case of cheesiness. While the episodes I mentioned before finally got the show off in the right direction, it would take more than that to make up for its other shortcomings.
The series finale of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland airs Thursday at 8pm on ABC.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
