Once Upon A Time -- How The Hatter Became Mad
I think this is the episode that got me to wondering how many people in Fairy Tale Land actually had happily ever after? Yes, Snow and Charming had one and Charming helped Abigail and Frederick have one, but aside from them, did anyone else have a happily ever after? Cinderella? No. Red Riding Hood? No. Belle? No. Hansel and Gretel? No. The Huntsman? No. Grumpy? No. The Mad Hatter? No.
Mary Margaret runs through the woods escaping as Emma and Gold are discovering that MM is missing. Emma goes on a search for her, and bumps into a man, Jefferson, with her car. When she sees he's limping, she offers him a ride home. He offers her a cup of tea before she heads back out to search. Unfortunately, he drugs the cup and when Emma wakes up she's tied up.
Smashing the tea cup, Emma uses a shard to untie herself. She notices his telescope is set-up to spy on her office. She also finds MM tied up in one of the rooms. However, before they can escape Jefferson catches them and makes Emma tie MM back up. Then he makes Emma make a hat for him.
Jefferson explains that for 28 years he's been trapped in his house. He knows about the curse and he disdains Emma for her continued refusal to believe the truth. Through his telescope he shows her his daughter Grace who is called Paige and living with different parents in Storybrooke. He believes Emma is magic, because since she came to Storybrooke things have started to change. He's hoping the hat Emma makes can allow him to get back to where Grace will know who he is.
Unfortunately, dear MM goes all Kung Fu on Jefferson and kicks him out a window. However, when they look out the window, the hat is on the ground, but Jefferson is nowhere in sight. MM agrees to go back to jail and when Regina comes expecting her to not be in the cell, she gets an unpleasant shock to see MM sitting there. Seems she made a deal with Gold and they were behind the key to the cell being left in MM's cell. Gold assures her that there's still the trial, and since MM is guilty of killing Kathryn, she'll surely go down for the crime.
In Fairy Tale Land Jefferson is out in the woods playing with his daughter, Grace, when they arrive home to find Regina waiting to see him. He sends Grace to the neighbors while he deals with her. Regina wants Jefferson to take her to Wonderland, but he refuses. The next day, Grace sees a white rabbit she wants, but the old woman selling it won't let him buy it for less the price. What Jefferson doesn't know is that the old woman is actually Regina in disguise.
When Jefferson gets home, he makes Grace a cheap version of the white rabbit, but feels bad he can't give her the things she wants, so he agrees to what Regina wants. He takes out a hat and the two of them are able to enter a different realm. A waiting room of source, as they both go through the Looking Glass into Wonderland. He warns Regina that the same amount of people that went through the Looking Glass must pass back through.
They find a vault of the Queen of Hearts that resembles the one Regina has in her own castle Regina finds the drawer containing her father's heart. She reanimates him. And that's when she reveals just how badly she's tricked Jefferson. She and her father, Henry, go back through the Looking Glass, leaving Jefferson trapped in Wonderland.
The Queen of Hearts knight catch Jefferson and bring him before the queen to be judge. Her face is concealed by a red veil and she has his head cut off from his body. To Jefferson's shock, he's still alive. When Jefferson reveals a hat he made got him to Wonderland, his punishment is to keep making hats until he can make another magic hat that he'll be able to use to get out of Wonderland.
His head is reattached to his body and he slowly goes mad making hat after hat after hat trying to make another magic hat.
Back in Storybrooke when Emma visits Henry at school she spots Grace and asks to see Henry's fairy tale book. She's shaken to her core when she sees the pictures of the Mad Hatter look exactly like Jefferson and the picture of the Hatter's daughter looks like Grace. The Hatter in the book even has the scar where his head was cut off and reattached that Jefferson had. Emma asks to keep the book. Is she finally going to start to believe in the book?
Since both Regina and the Queen of Hearts had the same type of vault of hearts and are able to rip someone's heart out and still have that person live, is it possible the Queen of Hearts could be Regina's mother?
And why in Fairy Tale Land where everyone is supposed to live happily ever after, does it seem only Snow White and Prince Charming have achieved it? Does it have something to do with the vial Rump has of Snow and Charming's hairs entwined?
And since Gold loathes Regina why did he make a deal with her? And what did Regina give him in return to help Regina get her revenge against MM?
