'Once Upon a Time': Not-so-little Red Riding Hood and taming a wolf

By Jevon Phillips

Nov. 12, 2012 12 AM PT

There seemed to be two huge developments in the “Child of the Moon” episode of “Once Upon a Time,” but neither of them had anything to do with the Ruby/Little Red Riding Hood main story line that dominated the show.

The first was at the beginning. The dwarfs, continuing to work in the mines as they try to find fairy dust, actually decide to knock off for a drink at Granny’s. Grumpy, never the social butterfly, wants to continue working -- and that persistence pays off as he discovers the crystals/diamonds that are used to make fairy dust. Yay! Drinks at Granny’s! Boooo. King George is there. The guy who tried to stop Prince Charming and Snow White from getting married is still out to hurt Charming in any way possible. Watch your back, Sheriff Charming. On a side note, Red gets hit on by Gus, the mouse who lived in Cinderella’s fireplace, who’s all grown up now. She can’t go on a date since it’s “wolf’s time.”

On to the main story line. Red is a little shook up because the first full-moon cycle since the curse was lifted is coming around. She’ll definitely wolf out, and possibly kill someone. Charming believes in her, but better safe than sorry. Granny locks her up where she keeps the (gasp!) frozen lasagna. As they prepare the room, we flash back to the enchanted forest. Snow White and Red on the run from soldiers ... back in the good old days. They separate since Red is about to change, and her cloak is ripped. Red meets Quinn, a fellow wolfen creature, who takes her back to a group, or pack, of werepeople. This pack includes their leader, Anita, whom Red discovers is her true mother.

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The beginning of the second huge development of this episode has to do with Henry’s continuing dream of being in the flaming room, and the lady he sees across the room. He’s awakened by Regina, who’s watching him while Charming is away. Regina sees that Henry has actually been burned from his dream! Time to call in Rumpelstiltskin, and the magical imp finally gives us an explanation of the red room. It’s a dimension where the souls of people go who have been under a sleep curse. That’s Henry, and Sleeping Beauty herself, Princess Aurora. Rumpel knows how to fight it, and gives Henry a pendant. For free, even.

Back to Red in the present day. She apparently escaped her captivity at Granny’s sometime in the night. Granny and Charming discover her in the woods, but they also discover dead bodies in a separate location. Gus is among them, and Red believes that it’s her doing. She tells Charming to lock her up in jail for everyone’s sake. While he does that, King George is riling up the townspeople to kill Red since she can’t seem to be able to control the wolf. Luckliy, before they get to her in the jail cell, she’s moved on to stronger chains in the library, helped by Belle.

In the Enchanted Forest, Red has been told that Granny has lied to her, and has been taught to embrace the wolf -- that being the only way to actually control it. Snow finds Red, but the werepeople don’t take kindly to a human trespassing, but Red vouches for her. Then soldiers come -- apparently having followed Snow. Quinn is killed, and after dispatching the soldiers, Anita threatens to kill Snow for bringing them there. She tries to make Red choose, and she says that she won’t kill her friend. Red has to stop her mom, but inadvertently kills her in the process.

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Present-day Red is also in wolf form, facing a mob led by King George, who plans to kill her. She locked up Belle to go out in wolf form because she almost welcomes death. Charming and Granny halt the mob, but Charming has to approach Red, gaining the trust of a werewolf, to put her magical cloak around her. Despite menacing growls, she lets him put the cloak on her. Awww ... but wait, where’s King George the instigator? Ruby and Charming give chase and find that this was all part of a master plan. Distract Charming while King George takes the Mad Hatter’s hat, the only way (for now) to travel between dimensions that’s in Storybrooke, and burn it. Just to see the look on Charming’s face when he’s told that he’ll never see his wife and daughter again. Wow. This dude’s just plain evil.

In the second big development, Henry goes to sleep and tests Rumpel’s locket. Once in the flaming room, he’s able to tame the flames, and even speaks to the other person in the cursed room. It’s Aurora! And back in the Enchanted Forest, Aurora wakes and tells Snow and Emma that she met a boy named Henry in the room that she’s been dreaming about. Gasp!

It may never be explored as to why Granny told Red her parents were dead (maybe the fact that mom was a blood-thirsty killer?). And shouldn’t Snow White also have dreamt about this flaming room? Who knows ... so on to the next one, in which (on the preview) Henry may have uttered one of my favorite lines this season: “I’m tired of reading about heroes. I wanna be one!” Next week awaits.

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