Line #173 Series/Alice2009


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
2
3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alice_091015-1255594707.jpg]]
4	[[caption-width-right:350:Curiouser and curiouser...]]
5
6	->''"Does this look like a kid's story to you?"''
7	-->-- '''Hatter'''
8
9	The team that brought you ''Series/TinMan'', a ''loose reimagining'' of ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', takes on ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', saturated with DarkerAndEdgier and RuleOfCool. When martial arts instructor Alice Hamilton (Creator/CaterinaScorsone) sees her boyfriend, Jack Chase, being taken away by some mysterious men in a white van, she chases one of them Literature/ThroughTheLookingGlass... and into a CrapsackWorld. Guided by Hatter ([[Series/{{Primeval}} Andrew-Lee Potts]]) and The White Knight ([[Series/MaxHeadroom Matt Frewer]]), Alice goes looking for Jack, but discovers that things aren't all that wonderful in Wonderland.
10
11	This series was a mini-series broadcast in December, 2009. It is not to be confused with the Creator/{{CBS}} WorkCom [[Series/{{Alice\|1976}} starring Linda Lavin.]]
12
13	The director has recently done ''Series/{{Neverland}}''.
14	----
15	!!This series contains examples of:
16	* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The Queen, more or less. When stripped of her Casino, no one displays any loyalty towards her.
17	* ActionGirl: Alice is a martial arts instructor and kicks a fair amount of ass on her own.
18	* ActorAllusion: When first introduced to the robotic Mad March, the King of Hearts asks, "Does he have a user manual? I ''hate'' user manuals." Which is only funny coming from [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Miles]] [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine O'Brien.]]
19	* AdaptationalAttractiveness:
20	** The Duchess in Carroll's novel was a veritable {{Gonk}} with grotesque features and an over-large head. Here, she's a blonde bombshell rocking {{Stripperiffic}} attire.
21	** Hatter is played by a conventionally attractive actor; the original had a bulbous head and caricatured features.
22	%%* AdaptationalBadass: Hatter, Dodo, the Knave of Hearts, the March Hare. Hell, even the gun-toting Duck and Owl are more badass than their literary counterparts.
23	* AdaptationDecay: Lampshaded and subverted, as it openly regards the original as history from which everything has descended to CrapsackWorld levels.
24	* AdaptationalVillainy: In the novel, the March Hare is the Hatter's friend and was never more hostile than telling Alice that there was no room at their table. Here, "Mad March" is a homicidal maniac serving the Queen.
25	* AerithAndBob: Wonderland, featuring names such as Winston, Jack, and Charles alongside [[KnownOnlyByTheirNickname Hatter]], [[YouAreNumberSix Ten of Clubs]], and [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Mad March]].
26	%%* AlmostKiss: [[spoiler: Alice and Hatter]] in the second act.
27	* AmbiguousGender: Dormie, who is played by a woman wearing a mustache. Normally, this wouldn't be ambiguous -- but as we're in ''Wonderland''...
28	%%* AppliedPhlebotinum: The Looking Glass, and later [[spoiler: the ring that Jack gives Alice.]]
29	* AxCrazy: Mad March, a formerly-dead PsychoForHire with a rabbit-shaped cookie jar for a head.
30	* BadassInANiceSuit: Mad March may have a rabbit cookie jar for a head, but he's always impeccably dressed in a pinstripe suit.
31	* BaitAndSwitchGunshot: [[spoiler: The Walrus is holding a gun on Alice. Shots ring out, Alice flinches...and the camera pans over to show Hatter shooting at the Walrus]].
32	* BaldOfEvil: Tweedle-Dum, Tweedle-Dee and the Walrus.
33	* BavarianFireDrill: Hatter uses this to get into the Casino to rescue Alice.
34	* BeautyIsNeverTarnished:
35	** During the course of the miniseries, Hatter is beaten, mussed, and generally looked like he went through a meat grinder. Alice... got wet a lot.
36	** Also, while most of the "oysters" got a marking on their faces, Alice got one on her arm.
37	** It also must be noted that Hatter's {{Guyliner}} ''never'' smudged, no matter what he was put through.
38	* BettyAndVeronica: Jack is the rich, smooth Veronica to Hatter's scruffier, warmer Betty; Alice is the Archie.
39	* BigDamnHeroes: Hatter and Charlie arriving just in the nick of time to save Alice from Doctors Dee and Dum.
40	%% BigLippedAlligatorMoment was moved to the YMMV tab. please don't add it back here.
41	* BigNo: Hatter, after [[spoiler:Alice goes to the Casino on her own.]]
42	* BlackAndGreyMorality: The bad guys kidnap people from our world [[spoiler: including [[WouldHurtAChild children]]]] and drain them of their emotions, {{Mooks}} are sentenced to decapitation with frequency, and keep the populace in control with drugs. As for the good guys... see WellIntentionedExtremist, and the way Hatter the con man behaved, especially before becoming committed to the Resistance.
43	%%* {{Brainwashed}}: [[spoiler: Alice's father aka The Carpenter.]]
44	%%* BreakTheCutie: Alice goes through ''hell'' throughout the series.
45	* BulletproofVest: Hatter has body armor that serves this function.
46	%% ChaoticNeutral was moved to the YMMV tab, as it is part of the CharacterAlignment index. please don't add it back here.
47	* CameBackWrong: Mad March's new head is well...yeah. This was only because the Queen's impatience forced the Carpenter to take ''shortcuts''. Though it's only physical. Mentally the Mad March is just as he's always been.
48	%%* ChairReveal: How Hatter is introduced.
49	* CheshireCatGrin: In Alice's DreamSequence, her cat Dinah does this before teleporting away. Strangely enough, this is the only time in the series where the Cheshire Cat is alluded to.
50	* ChessMotifs: The architecture White Knight's kingdom resembles giant chess pieces.
51	* ChivalrousPervert: Hatter flirts like crazy and is obviously attracted to Alice. When it comes time for sleeping arrangements, Charlie gets a hammock, Alice gets the bed... and Hatter sleeps propped up against the wall.
52	%%* {{Cliffhanger}}: Part 1 has a nearly literal one.
53	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Charlie, the last of the White Knights, lives in a forest castle with giant chess pieces and the skeletons of his fallen comrades.
54	* CombatPragmatist: [[spoiler: Dodo]] just shoots [[spoiler:Hatter]]. Luckily, [[spoiler: Hatter]] has a BulletproofVest.
55	%%* ConMan: Hatter comes off as this.
56	* ConMenHateGuns: Averted. Hatter seems to be very familiar with them.
57	* CorrelationCausationGag: When Charlie fires his crossbow toward the end, and ''thinks'' he [[spoiler: blows up the Hearts Casino]] because the timing happens to be spot-on.
58	* CowardlyLion: The White Knight, Charlie. Though he spends most of it as a DirtyCoward.
59	* CrapsaccharineWorld: Wonderland goes back and forth between CrapsackWorld played straight, and the beautiful Happy Hearts Casino, where "Oysters", or people from our world, are [[spoiler:drugged and play in the casino so that they can be drained of their emotions, which are sold on the market as drugs.]]
60	%% crazy awesome was moved to the YMMV tab. Please don't add back here
61	* CreepyTwins: And how! Doctor Dee and Doctor Dum, an adult BaldOfEvil version.
62	%% The moments (SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, SugarWiki/FunnyMoments and SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments) were moved to the YMMV tab. please don't add them back here.
63	* CyberPunk: Mixed with BioPunk and maybe a little {{Magitek}}.
64	%%* DecadentCourt: The Happy Hearts Casino.
65	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Hatter ''punches [[EldritchAbomination the Jabberwock]] in the face'' helping Alice.
66	%%* DisappearedDad
67	%%* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: Charlie. He gets better.]]
68	%%* DistressedDude: Jack. Oh, ''Jack''.
69	* TheDogBitesBack: Eventually, ''everyone'' in Wonderland rebels against the Queen of Hearts, after years of being threatened with execution or torture at the drop of a hat. [[spoiler: Winston, the King of Hearts, doesn't do anything outright to her, but he does [[DrivenToSuicide defy her pleas for him to evacuate the palace]].]]
70	-->[[spoiler:'''Winston:''']] Have I ever said no to you? \
71	'''Queen of Hearts:''' Stop this. Come along now. \
72	[[spoiler:'''Winston:''']] No.
73	* DomesticAbuse: The Queen of Hearts to her King, of the emotional abuse flavor.
74	* DoubleAgent: Hatter:
75	--> I've lived my life playing both sides of the court. I'd make the Hearts think I was working for them, while I fed their enemies.
76	%%** [[spoiler:Jack]] is also revealed to be this.
77	%%* DownTheRabbitHole: Duh.
78	%%* DrivenToSuicide: Poor [[spoiler:Winston, King of Hearts.]]
79	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Hatter effing earned that hug [[spoiler: and kiss]] he got in the last scene, with all that he went through for Alice. He even whispers: "Finally!" as it happens.
80	* EmotionEater: The Queen of Hearts keeps the residents of Wonderland happy [[spoiler:and controlled]] by harvesting positive emotions from captive humans and selling them to the populace as "teas" through "Tea Shops", like the one Hatter owns/operates.
81	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: The Queen of Hearts assumes that Jack chose Alice because she was useful to him, not because he fell in love with her.
82	* EvilMatriarch: The Queen of Hearts.
83	* ExpospeakGag: When [[BavarianFireDrill sneaking into the Casino]].
84	--> '''Hatter''': We're guardians to the mesmeric portals of the cosmos.\
85	'''Guard''': [[FlatWhat What.]]\
86	'''Hatter''': Stage hypnotists!
87	%%* FailureKnight: Charlie.
88	%% Fanon was moved to the YMMV tab. please don't add it back here.
89	* FantasticDrug: Emotions, which can, in fact, be overdosed upon, leading to one of the few instances ever on film of Fantastic Rehab.
90	%% We no longer collect examples of Fetish Fuel.
91	%% FridgeHorror was moved to the YMMV tab. please don't add it back here.
92	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Alice's mother Carol's face during [[spoiler:the final kiss between Alice and Hatter. Naturally, she has no idea why Alice is suddenly passionately kissing a construction worker that as far as Carol knows, she just met]].
93	* GovernmentDrugEnforcement: Not only is this how the Queen of Hearts stays in power, but a throwaway comment suggests that it's the root of the entire economy. Also Hatter's legal employer.
94	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:The Carpenter also, when he remembers that Alice is his daughter.]]
95	%%* HeyYouHaymaker: This is practically Hatter's calling card.
96	* HighHeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: The Duchess rescues Jack when she realizes she truly loves him. Also helped by the fact the Queen had deemed her expendable.]]
97	* HighlyConspicuousUniform: The Suits are named for theirs.
98	* HurricaneOfPuns: This is a Wonderland fandom. "she brought down the whole house of cards", "first we have to ditch that royal flush", "I'll shuffle your deck". I'm missing some, I just know it.
99	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Hatter does this ''multiple times'' because he knows Alice is in love with Jack and wants to go home.
100	* KnowledgeBroker: Hatter is called "The Man Who Knows" in some circles.
101	* KnowsAGuyWhoKnowsAGuy:
102	-->'''Hatter''': I know some people, who know some, well, other people.
103	** PlayedForLaughs in one of the deleted scenes.
104	-->'''Hatter''': I know a girl, Carlotta St. Delaware, who dates this guy who used to play cards with a rich kid, who once studied law with an electrician, who works part-time with one of the technical staff.
105	%%* LaResistance: Hatter's other employer.
106	%%* LargeHam:
107	%%** Creator/TimCurry and Kathy Bates.
108	%%** Matt Frewer and Colm Meaney.
109	* LastMinuteHookup: Torpedoed by an earlier MomentKiller [[spoiler: from the WrongGuyFirst, Alice and Hatter get together in the final thirty seconds of the second act.]]
110	* LittleNo: Alice gets one of these before she decides to [[spoiler: stay and fight to keep the Queen from continuing to steal people.]]
111	* LotusEaterMachine:
112	** The Casino makes sure its Oysters are happy and pleased as the Queen only wants happy emotions.[[spoiler: And it is a bad thing to mix Good and Bad emotions indiscriminately.]]
113	** Wonderland exists! And the people who live there [[spoiler: can make you forget your family and work for them, or simply drug you and drain you of your emotions to keep the local population under their control.]] [[SincerityMode Another reason why this isn't a kid's story.]]
114	* LoveMartyr: Winston, King of Hearts:
115	-->I would have conquered the world just for one smile.
116	%%* LoveTriangle: Alice is caught in two of them.
117	%%* MadScientist: The Carpenter and the Walrus.
118	%%* MalevolentArchitecture: The Truth Room.
119	* MeaningfulName: Played with:
120	-->'''Hatter:''' Do you know why they call me Hatter?\
121	'''Alice:''' Because you wear a hat?\
122	'''Hatter:''' ({{Beat}}) No.
123	%% Memetic Outfit was moved to the YMMV tab. Please don't add back here.
124	* MegatonPunch: Hatter is capable of one. He misses punching Dodo once and it cracks a pillar.
125	* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Yeah. The dead [[spoiler: Winston King of Hearts, Carpenter/Robert Hamilton, Walrus, and potentially Agent White]] are all men.
126	** Admittedly, there were not a great many female roles at the forefront of the show aside from Alice and the Queen. [[spoiler: Duchess]] could have theoretically qualified for expendable because [[spoiler: RedemptionEqualsDeath]] but it was averted in her case. Probably just as well. [[spoiler: Somebody had to rescue [[DistressedDude Jack]].]]
127	%%* MindScrew: The Truth Room. Also the size-changing box that Alice gets trapped in near the beginning, when it is somehow over the ocean.
128	%%* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Doctors Dee and Dum.
129	%%* MrFanservice: Hatter.
130	%%* MsFanservice: The Duchess.
131	* MythologyGag: Where to start?
132	** When giving the password to the Great Library, Hatter says that he's returning a book by Edwin and Morcar. They are both historical figures mentioned by the Dodo in his lecture about William the Conqueror in the novel.
133	** When the Tweedles give Alice a desk to write on, it has a pair of white gloves and a fan on it. In the novel, Alice found these things on the White Rabbit's desk.
134	** Hatter introduces himself and Charlie as Robinson and Duckworth. Robinson Duckworth was part of the boating expedition where Carroll first told the tale.
135	** Possibly doubling as a VisualPun, the last shot of the series is Alice, Hatter, and Carol seen ''through a looking glass''.
136	%%* NarniaTime: Wonderland seems to run on this.
137	%% NightmareFuel was moved to the YMMV tab. please don't add it back here.
138	%%* ObfuscatingStupidity: Winston plays this to the ''hilt'' around his bride. Not sure if anyone else was fooled or meant to be.
139	* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler: The Queen of Hearts sentences her son Jack Heart to death after she discovers his ties to the Resistance.]]
140	* OffWithHisHead: The Queen's CatchPhrase, of course. Implicitly the fate of Agent White.
141	%%* OlderSidekick: Charlie.
142	%%* PermaStubble: Hatter.
143	* PowerOfLove:
144	** Winston's entire motivation; he claims he would have conquered the world so the queen would give him just one smile. And they never tell us how big Wonderland is, so maybe he ''did''.
145	** What leads the Hatter through the Looking Glass, and a number of smaller instances.
146	** And [[spoiler: The Carpenter's HeelFaceTurn]], but that was more [[spoiler:paternal]] love.
147	* PowerOfTrust: Hatter talks about trust so frequently one might be forgiven the misconception that he's a rogue Handler who wandered over from the Series/{{Dollhouse}}.
148	%%* PromotedToLoveInterest: Hatter.
149	* [[RebelliousPrincess Rebellious Prince]]: [[spoiler: Jack, quite literally, who also doubles as a RunawayFiance from an ArrangedMarriage.]] He fits better as a GenderFlip of RebelliousPrincess than as a RebelPrince.
150	%%* RedemptionEqualsDeath:
151	%%** [[spoiler: Alice's father, aka The Carpenter.]]
152	%%** Also, possibly [[spoiler: Winston, King of Hearts.]]
153	%%* {{Room 101}}: The Truth Room.
154	%%* RingOfPower: Here, a literal power source.
155	* RuleOfCool: Everything from the book is stylized and made to look extremely cool. Why does the aerial transport look like a blend of a Vespa and a flamingo? Rule of Cool. Why make your lackeys wear [[IconicOutfit black robes with clubs on their heads]]? Rule of Cool.
156	* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Mad March. From a throwaway line, apparently he can tell how close he is to his quarry by ''how warm their'' '''shadows''' ''are.''
157	* SealedWithAKiss: [[spoiler: Alice and Hatter end the series this way.]]
158	* ShoutOut:
159	** One of the last times we see the Duchess, she's wearing Creator/JaneFonda's outfit from ''Film/{{Barbarella}}''.
160	** Alice's [[MeaningfulName mother]] is named ''[[Creator/LewisCarroll Carol.]]'' Which could also be considered to fit doubly so - Alice Liddell, who inspired the book, named her youngest son "Caryl".
161	** [[Literature/AliceInWonderland The White Knight]] is often considered to be [[Creator/LewisCarroll Charles Dodgeson's]] AuthorAvatar.
162	%%* TheSilentBob: Walrus.
163	* SlaveBrand: People from Earth who arrive in Wonderland are marked with a special tattoo to identify them as "Oysters".
164	* SlobsVersusSnobs: A scaled down version in the LoveTriangle between Jack (snob - cultured, stylish), and Hatter (slob - chaotic, scruffy), with Alice in the middle.
165	* SoftWater: Once when Alice breaks out of Scarab and falls a truly frightening distance, and once when the [[RuleOfCool flying flamingo rocket scooters]] crash into the lake.
166	%%* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Series/TinMan''
167	* StealthPun:
168	** Winston, the King of Hearts [[spoiler: is DrivenToSuicide. The nickname of the card 'the king of hearts' is 'the suicide king'.]]
169	** The Oysters are barefoot and that is what connects them to the LotusEaterMachine. Said Machine drains their souls through their soles.
170	* SuddenlySpeaking: [[spoiler: The Walrus is so when he reveals he was the Carpenter's warden and tells him not to try leaving when the Carpenter remembers he's Alice's father.]]
171	* SuperStrength: Though not stated outright, Hatter can punch hard enough to leave a small crater in a wall.
172	** It may not be strength; there was an early throwaway line mentioning "that sledgehammer you call a hand".
173	*** To which Hatter replies "It's just flesh and blood." Not that we're sure he's telling the truth at that point...
174	** During his fight with [[WellIntentionedExtremist The Dodo]], Hatter misses punching Dodo in the face and punches a marble pillar. Given how easy it is to break small bones in one's hand punching a ''person'', it's fairly impressive that Hatter punched the pillar and the ''pillar'' broke.
175	* SurvivalMantra: Hatter recites Creator/LewisCarroll poetry to help him resist Mad March's torture.
176	* TallDarkAndHandsome: The 10 of Clubs. Just...ignore the hat.
177	%% TearJerker was moved to the YMMV tab. please don't add it back here.
178	* TortureAlwaysWorks: Subverted. Both Alice and Hatter are tortured during the course of the mini. Alice feeds them false information. Hatter screamed a lot. Interestingly, the Ten of Clubs reflexively calls Alice's false lead her 'confession', which might indicate that the Truth Room is not primarily used for getting factual information.
179	* TortureTechnician: Doctor Dee and Doctor Dum, who do a merry little dance while poking their victim with cattle prods.
180	* TrailersAlwaysLie: The advertising made it seem like Tim Curry's character would be be a major character, when in reality he's only in it for less than five minutes.
181	* VisualPun: The Suits who shoot down the heroes in the flamingo dogfight? They're Aces.
182	%%* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[Creator/TimCurry The Dodo]].
183	* WeirdCurrency: Residents of Wonderland used "tea" made from distilled human emotions as currency. Alice quickly learns that her money holds no value to them.
184	* WeirdWorldWeirdFood: Barbecued borogrove is delicious, apparently.
185	* WingsDoNothing: The Jabberwock has a set of purely-decorative reptilian wings.
186	%%* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: [[spoiler:Dodo]] actually ''does'', but [[spoiler:Hatter]] is prepared.
187	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Alice is severely afraid of heights. Most of Wonderland is several stories above ground without any form of barrier.
188	* WritersCannotDoMath: Alice was ten when her father left, and it has been ten years since; naturally, this makes her twenty-three.
189	* WrongGuyFirst: Jack, though his and Alice's relationship was stated to be fairly new at the start of the show and [[spoiler: by the end, staying with him would mean [[YourUniverseOrMine staying in Wonderland to be his queen]], which Alice doesn't want]].
190	* YouAreNumberSix: The Queen of Hearts's Suits are all referred to by their numbers.
191	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Dodo, about Hatter, after he shoots him.]] Thankfully, it doesn't take.
192	* YouMustBeCold: Early on, Hatter gives a soaked Alice one of his coats to ward off the chill. It also covers up her magical tattoo that marks her as an Oyster.
193	* YourUniverseOrMine: [[spoiler:Alice's - Hatter leaves Wonderland to be with her.]]

Context Series / Alice2009