History YMMV / OnceUponATimeInWonderland

%%* EvilIsSexy: The Red Queen, Amara and [[spoiler: Jabberwocky]] in a creepy sort of way.

* StylisticSuck: One of the possible explanations for the poor CGI backgrounds for Wonderland, compared to the Enchanted Forest and the rather well done creatures, that it's to emphasize the magical and otherworldly nature of Wonderland.

** For that matter, the narrative spends a great deal of time showing Jafar's cruelty in how he imprisons and mistreats a certain old man in his dungeons, who is eventually revealed to be [[spoiler:his father the Sultan]]. However, just prior to this it is also revealed that [[spoiler:the Sultan rejected and abused his son for being a bastard, pit him against his other son, Prince Mirza, and allowed Mirza to physically strike him, and even tried to murder him in order to get rid of what was to him a politically embarrassing and [[ValuesDissonance morally repugnant]] mistake]], thus making the present scenes of Jafar's actions in the dungeon seem a lot more understandable, if not justified. It is implied that the old man has come to realize the error of his ways, and regret his past actions, thus swinging the sympathy back to him and making Jafar's actions wrong... until [[spoiler:he reveals his only regret is not having ''succeeded'' in killing Jafar and preventing his evil. [[CreateYourOwnVillain The very evil he actually created by his initial treatment of him]]]]. Eventually he claims he does regret what he did, yet he continues to act antagonistic toward Jafar [[spoiler:in a misguided attempt to change him by again offering his love on a condition, this time that he stops doing evil]]. By the end of the show, the viewer is still expected to feel sorry for the old man after [[spoiler:Jafar forces him to love him, then kills him]]; his fate is terrible, and it doesn't justify anything else Jafar did to get to that point, but it does make him something of an asshole who deserved what happened to him who BecameTheirOwnAntithesis, since he never seemed to fully learn his lesson.

** For that matter, the narrative spends a great deal of time showing Jafar's cruelty in how he imprisons and mistreats a certain old man in his dungeons, who is eventually revealed to be [[spoiler:his father the Sultan]]. However, just prior to this it is also revealed that [[spoiler:the Sultan rejected and abused his son for being a bastard, pit him against his other son, Prince Mirza, and allowed Mirza to physically strike him, and even tried to murder him in order to get rid of what was to him a politically embarrassing and [[ValuesDissonance morally repugnant]] mistake]], thus making the present scenes of Jafar's actions in the dungeon seem a lot more understandable, if not justified. It is implied that the old man has come to realize the error of his ways, and regret his past actions, thus swinging the sympathy back to him and making Jafar's actions wrong... until [[spoiler:he reveals his only regret is not having ''succeeded'' in killing Jafar and preventing his evil. [[CreateYourOwnVillain The very evil he actually created by his initial treatment of him]]]]. Eventually he claims he does regret what he did, yet he continues to act antagonistic toward Jafar [[spoiler:in a misguided attempt to change him by again offering his love on a condition, this time that he stops doing evil]]. By the end of the show, the viewer is still expected to feel sorry for the old man after [[spoiler:Jafar forces him to love him, then kills him]]; his fate is terrible, and it doesn't justify anything else Jafar did to get to that point, but it does make him something of an asshole who deserved what happened to him and creates some MoralDissonance, since he never seemed to fully learn his lesson.

** Many fans were hoping [[EnsembleDarkhorse Jefferson the Mad Hatter]] from the parent show would appear, especially since he is one of ''Alice in Wonderland'''s most popular characters, yet he doesn't appear in the series at all. Then again, this was mainly due to Creator/SebastianStan's scheduling conflicts.

* FoeYay:
** Alice and the Red Queen in "Heart of Stone", rather disturbingly. Not really on Alice's end, which is just a case of TeethClenchedTeamwork, but the Red Queen's demeanor and habit of calling everyone "darling" makes it hard not to see it on her end in this situation.
** Also, [[spoiler: while the "Foe" part doesn't last long,]] several fans sensed some chemistry between Cyrus and the Red Queen during their scenes together in "Who's Alice" and "Home".

* EvilIsSexy: The Red Queen, Amara and [[spoiler: Jabberwocky]] in a creepy sort of way.

* GrowingTheBeard: Many people point to episode 3, "Forget Me Not", as the turning point for the show.

* WhatAnIdiot: Some fans believe Alice's wish to save Will (if Will dies, she dies) was risky and poorly thought out when she could have wished herself, Will and Lizard to safety or wished Jafar and The Red Queen away from her. [[spoiler: It does bite her in the ass in "Home"]].
** Not that Alice is the only one to make poorly thought out wishes after [[spoiler: Lizard]] made the mistake of using the phrase "I wish" around a genie when the only way to grant said wish involved [[spoiler: killing her]].

* DieForOurShip: Some of the more passionate Knalice shippers have this attitude toward Cyrus and Anastasia. But others are beginning to take the more benign option of [[ShipMates shipping the two of them together instead.]]

* FanPreferredCouple: Even though Alice and the Knave are meant to be PlatonicLifePartners, there is still a sizable "Knalice" community nonetheless.

** Many fans were hoping [[EnsembleDarkhorse Jefferson the Mad Hatter]] from the parent show would appear, especially since he is one of ''Alice in Wonderland'''s most popular characters, yet he doesn't appear in the series at all. [[JustifiedTrope Then again]], this was mainly due to Creator/SebastianStan's scheduling conflicts.

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: Emma Rigby was considered by many to be the weak link amongst the cast but "The Serpent" and "Heart of Stone" which show [[spoiler: her conflicted feelings for Will]] have earned her praise and made many realize that the former stiff acting from her was ''deliberate'', as that's just what the character's demeanor is in-universe: a stiff act. And if there were any doubts, [[spoiler: "Home" obliterated them with a total {{Tearjerker}} of a performance when the stiff act crumbles and gives way to scared, sad, lovelorn Anastasia. And she just kept on knocking it out of the park from there]].

*** On the flip side, if this was meant to be seen as the old man's FatalFlaw, he could come off a bit UnintentionallySympathetic in that [[spoiler:he likely knew that if he acknowledged Jafar as his son and said to him the words he'd wanted to hear from him, Jafar would then kill him anyway since Jafar did tell him [[ExactWords "Say the words, and you will be spared unending pain."]], but staunchly refusing to validate his bastard son doesn't do anything to make Jafar wise up and get any less evil in his endeavors to break the laws of magic so that he can force his father to love him and call him his son, so the Sultan is left helpless in a MortonsFork situation where all he can do is wait for his eventual KarmicDeath at his son's hands.]]

** For that matter, the narrative spends a great deal of time showing Jafar's cruelty in how he imprisons and mistreats a certain old man in his dungeons, who is eventually revealed to be [[spoiler:his father the Sultan]]. However, just prior to this it is also revealed that [[spoiler:the Sultan rejected and abused his son for being a bastard, and even tried to murder him in order to get rid of what was to him a politically embarrassing and [[ValuesDissonance morally repugnant]] mistake]], thus making the present scenes of Jafar's actions in the dungeon seem a lot more understandable, if not justified. It is implied that the old man has come to realize the error of his ways, and regret his past actions, thus swinging the sympathy back to him and making Jafar's actions wrong... until [[spoiler:he reveals his only regret is not having ''succeeded'' in killing Jafar and preventing his evil. [[CreateYourOwnVillain The very evil he actually created by his initial treatment of him]]]]. Eventually he claims he does regret what he did, yet he continues to act antagonistic toward Jafar [[spoiler:in a misguided attempt to change him by again offering his love on a condition, this time that he stops doing evil]]. By the end of the show, the viewer is still expected to feel sorry for the old man after [[spoiler:Jafar forces him to love him, then kills him]]; his fate is terrible, and it doesn't justify anything else Jafar did to get to that point, but it does make him something of an asshole who deserved what happened to him and creates some MoralDissonance, since he never seemed to fully learn his lesson.

*** Doesn't quite extend to cover Peter Gadiot as Cyrus. That's FakeNationality.

* TooGoodToLast: The show was always designed to feature a one-season story, and would pick up additional seasons with new stories if it was a success. Sadly however, due to a bad time slot, the ratings were dismal, meaning no new episodes are to be ordered.

** Oddly, the Cheshire Cat, one of the most iconic character of "Alice In Wonderland", only appears in [[OneSceneWonder one scene in the pilot]].

* CounterpartComparison:
** Of course, comparisons between the Red Queen and [[Series/OnceUponATime Regina]] are inevitable...
** Jafar's getting it too, regarding his similarity to Rumple.
** Ironically, [[spoiler: this is switched around in terms of motivation. The Red Queen made a mistake and chose power over someone she loved and now does bad things while seeking a way to make up for it... just like Rumple (she also has a similar verbal tic, "darling" instead of "dearie"). Jafar has an abusive parent whose love he desires and who he grew up to be just like in spite of himself, doing maliciously heinous things at least once per episode... just like Regina. Unlike Regina, however, Jafar's problems aren't rooted in his parent lacking a heart; just plain stubbornness on the part of said parent]].
** A lot of people have been comparing the Alice/Cyrus relationship to Snow White/Prince Charming's.
** And now we have Jabberwocky who seems set to be this series' Cora as an extremely powerful female with a knack for getting into people's heads.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Despite all the bad CGI for the backgrounds in Wonderland, the CGI creatures are actually genuinely impressive. The White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat stand out especially.

* [[HeReallyCanAct She Really Can Act]]: Emma Rigby was considered by many to be the weak link amongst the cast but "The Serpent" and "Heart of Stone" which show [[spoiler: her conflicted feelings for Will]] have earned her praise and made many realize that the former stiff acting from her was ''deliberate'', as that's just what the character's demeanor is in-universe: a stiff act. And if there were any doubts, [[spoiler: "Home" obliterated them with a total {{Tearjerker}} of a performance when the stiff act crumbles and gives way to scared, sad, lovelorn Anastasia. And she just kept on knocking it out of the park from there]].

* CompleteMonster: [[UsefulNotes/GrandVizierJafar Jafar]], the BigBad of this SpinOff (who later appears in [[Series/OnceUponATime the main series]]), is a true BastardBastard and EvilSorcerer extraordinaire whose plan is to enslave three genies and use their combined magical powers to wish for the rules of magic to be changed so that he may become the all-powerful ruler of Wonderland. Cruel, utterly ruthless, devoid of empathy, and detached from humanity, not an episode goes by in which he does not threaten, manipulate, torture, murder, or all at once in order to get what he wants. Jafar's most noteworthy atrocities were [[UngratefulBastard changing the woman]] who loved him and [[EvilMentor taught him sorcery]] into [[AndIMustScream his serpent staff]]; threatening to murder Alice's father in order to make her surrender her two remaining magic wishes; and not only murdering a young woman in cold blood just to get a reaction out of her lover, but later reviving her and [[KickTheDog making her fall in love with him right in front of said lover]], who is powerless to stop it. Worst of all is that we're led to believe that he ultimately [[IJustWantToBeLoved just wants love]] from his [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] and wishes to change the rules of magic in order to force him to give him affection, but it's revealed that he really wanted to make his father love him so that the peace of mind and vengeance he'd get out of murdering him afterwards would be sweeter. In the end, all Jafar truly wanted was power [[AGodAmI to do whatever he pleased with]].