The Dark Avalon Scrolls

Warning :: These notes are not in any kind of coherent order. Don't like it? Tough shit. This is how I roll.

I came into this episode not expecting very much. To be quite honest, I expected to hate it. I've been hating this concept from the first I'd heard about it, if only because I think it's too soon to be splitting up their concentration when they've only just begun S3 of Once. Then they kept teasing the use of Lana Parrilla, Robert Carlyle, and even BHersh herself, which made me vaguely curious. The inclusion of John Lithgow and Keith David compelled me to watch. Not gonna lie. The replacement of Roger Daltrey with Iggy Pop pisses me off more than words can say.

As for the cast we saw... I actually find Alice a bit compelling. Her chemistry with Will/The Knave was nice. Lithgow's VO work was better than the animation, though I was more impressed with Cheshire Cat's animation. Jafar was a little flat, but far more compelling than that talentless bimbo they got for the Red Queen. And as for Jafar being flat, I honestly remember the difference in how things were acted between the pilot and second eps of Once, so I'm hoping for similar out of him. I remember some markedly major shifts in depth and acting styles between the pilot and second eps of Once as well, so we'll see... But the curls? I'm not so sure about those...

Okay, I'm gonna say this right now re: Emma Rigby. "Who did you have to FUCK to get this job?" [1]

In fact, shatterpath and I were joking tonight about this woman's lips, what possible use they could have, and Espenson's the creators' possible taste in women. Then we starting singing, "These lips were made for motorboating, and that's just what they'll do. One of these days the boss is gonna cum all over you!"

Seriously? Rigby's absolutely horrid. No relatively unknown [admittedly to US audiences] actress should begin their job with THAT much work done. Those duck lips look horrid, her face looks squashed and square... Need I go on? Someone over on my Twitter RP account's TL compared the Red Queen to Charlotte "Lottie" LeBoeuf from The Princess and the Frog, and posted the following picture as proof.



I really can't find anything to refute that other than to say that Lottie had more depth, and that's saying A LOT.

I like that Cheshire Cat's clearly insane. And that purr of his got me all squidgy. Not gonna lie. I don't care that it was some sort of sound effect. It was panty-moistening. IJS... Then again, I love Keith David, though it was odd hearing him use a baritone range rather than his usual bass. But I could listen to him read the phone book in any vocal range he chose, and I'd be happy.

Overall, I was far less disappointed than I'd expected to be, but I am SO glad that I had friends who spoiled me so I knew to lower my standards even more than they already were [and that was pretty damned low]. But I'll give this show a "wait and see" attitude. I'm not 100% sold yet, but I'm primarily watching for when BHersh comes to teach Rigby how to fucking act connections to Once.



[1] Many thanks to Colin Cunningham for the story he told at Gatecons past, the punchline of which was this question. I <3 him greatly, not just for the longstanding running joke of this story.


This was written for onceuponaland's Round 6 challenge, "Down the Rabbit Hole"