Great episode — and wow! What a twist! I did not see that coming!
A vicious wolf terrorizes Fairy Tale Land. Red and Snow discover it’s a werewolf — and (Shocker #1) its human footsteps in the snow lead up to Red’s window, where Peter, the man she loves, had walked the night before.
Red offers to tie Peter up and loyally stay with him through the night. But (much bigger Shocker #2) it’s really Red who is the wolf, as was her mother before her — and as was sweet old Granny. Red kills the man she loves, who is helpless, unable to flee the wolf who is Red because he is tied up in his chains. Tragic.
In Storybrooke, Mary Margaret finds David wandering through the woods, in a kind of a trance. She says he looked right through her, as if “he were a different person.” For a moment, I was worried that he might be a werewolf too.
Ruby, yearning for adventure, gets more than she bargained for when she becomes Emma’s assistant and finds a human heart in a buried box.
The fingerprints in the box are Mary Margaret’s.
Funniest lines
Granny, to Ruby: You dress like a drag queen during Fleet Week.
Ruby, to Granny: And you dress like Norman Bates when he dresses like Norman Bates’ mother.
What we didn’t see this time
No Mr. Gold and no Rumpelstiltskin. I hope he’s just resting up for a powerhouse performance that will come soon.
Credits
Red Handed was written by Jane Espenson, who has written several of the best episodes of the show. The director is Ron Underwood, in his OUAT debut. Jesse Hutch played Peter. Hutch is in three episodes of True Justice, a 13-episode TV show about undercover cops, created by and starring action hero Steven Seagal — and also starring Meghan Ory, who plays Ruby/Red! True Justice first aired in Spain last year, and will be in the U.S. on the Reelz channel starting March 30, 2012.
Editing
I liked the jump from SB to FTL where people were knocking (Granny on the table, Peter on the window) on both sides of the cut.
Leakage between the worlds?
When Red tells Snow to give her a name she can use, Snow says “Margaret” and then “Mary.” Is it possible that Snow has some subconscious knowledge of her future Storybrooke self? In a similar vein, last week Dreamy dreamt about meeting Astrid, in a scene from his future.
We know, of course, that the SB characters sometimes have memories of parts of their FTL lives. Is it at all possible that it is also working the other way?
The curse and memory
In Ruby’s case, it seems like the Storybrooke curse is not a curse at all, but a blessing if it keeps her from remembering who she used to be and stops her from having to return to the tragic life she lived in FTL.
Overall
I got goosebumps at the moment I realized Red was the wolf — when Snow told Granny the wolf was also human, but not to worry because Red had him tied up, and Granny said to Snow, “Oh, that poor boy.” Excellent episode, much better than last week’s. Outstanding performances by Meghan Ory (Ruby/ Red), Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow / Margaret) and Beverley Elliott (Granny).
Questions
Whose heart was in the box? We are meant to think it is Katherine’s, but I think it could be someone else’s heart from Regina’s huge heart collection
Have you changed your mind, after this episode, about what happened to Katherine?
Why were Mary Margaret’s fingerprints on the box?
What happened to David? Why was he wandering around the woods like he was somebody else?
How did Red get out of the cottage on the nights she was going on killing sprees as the wolf?
Do you agree with me that Ruby is better off “cursed” in Storybrooke than she had been living in Fairy Tale Land? If so, what does that say about the curse?
As Ruby is the wolf, does she retain the ability to change into a wolf/werewolf in Storybrooke?
So that rules out Dr. Whale as the wolf.
Maybe he’s really Monstro the whale after all
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Monstro
……in Fairy Tale Land, a man who transformed into a whale, just as Jiminy was a man who transformed into a cricket (by the Blue Fairy).
I don’t think Ruby turns into a wolf in SB. Wouldn’t we have heard of monthly massacres if she did? She did retain her ability to track, though, as we saw when she found David in the woods.
P.S. I haven’t seen Disney’s Pinocchio, but it makes sense that a character named “Whale” might actually have been a whale in FTL. I can’t think of too much else that “Whale” might refer to.
This episode was excellent. I was completely shocked that Red was the wolf. Someone said that this story also could have made reference to “Peter and the wolf.” I still don’t know what happened to Katherine… I think the fingerprints could be Mary’s from when she was in FTL. It could be Snow White’s own heart, Prince Charming or even the Queen.
really great episode! Best one since “Skin Deep” (but not as good, hate to say it, but it’s true). It had a really creepy side, which is always something OUAT promises to people who don’t watch regularly, if you know what I mean.
I couldn’t begin to come up with a theory as to why Mary M’s fingerprints are on that box, but I really don’t think the heart is Katherine’s. It could be anyone’s, if Regina took their heart. That’s kind of her thing.
It is indeed her thing. LOL. Some people collect stamps, and some people collect comic books … and the Evil Queen collects human hearts.
i honestly think that its the heard of the pig or boar whatever the huntsmen killed to save snow white.
Ruby doesnt turn into a wolf in SB because she is constantly wearing red (e.g., hair streaks, hat, shirt).
I think the heart is the Evil Queens father’s.
Oh, I like that! That’s extremely creepy. But did she throw her father’s heart into the bonfire when summoning the curse? I think so, but I can’t remember for sure.
I thought about it being her father’s heart, but she did burn it for a spell. What I don’t understand is how Emma is constantly saying that she can tell when people are lying/telling the truth, but she doesn’t believe Henry.
That’s a great point! I hadn’t thought of that, and, of course, you’re right — if Emma was as good as she says she is at telling b.s. from truth, she would know that Henry is telling the truth. I think there are a lot of inconsistencies in Emma’s ability to tap into her “superpower,” and I’ve been taking her supposed power with a big grain of salt — and some willful suspension of disbelief.
Emma says ,I believe in the pilot episode, that she can tell when someone is telling the truth or lying. Henry asks her to use her power on him so she can see he is telling the truth, and when she does use it, she can tell he isn’t lying, but she says ,”just because you believe something doesn’t make it true”. So I figure she must still not believe him completely. She just thinks that he believes that the curse is real.
Dylan, that makes a lot of sense. Emma knows that Henry believes he is telling the truth , so there would be nothing that would ping her liar radar — but she’s dismissing what he says as the fantasy of a child — sincere, but not real.
i think that she does believe it. she doesnt want to make a big deal of it. if she does the EQ would know and do something about it.
I dont know what to believe anymore, lol. I’m so confused now.
Here’s something I saw on Facebook. It’s from George Takei (Mr. Sulu!) Very funny — and for adults only. P.S. Takei must be kind of psychic. He originally posted the picture on January 12, but it seems tailor-made for this week’s episode: Sneaking Beauty
Lol…
Is their any significance to August lying about lemurs in Nepal? Lemurs only exist in Madagascar.
Great question! Thanks — I never would have thought of that. Maybe our mysterious stranger is not so honest after all …