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Once Upon A Time Season 1 Episode 15 Red-Handed

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Heidi Elizabeth Marcum

Red Handed- Thank you so much for another fantastic reaction to Once Upon a Time, Jay! I really love this episode a lot! It's tragic, but it's beautiful too. I just absolutely love the big twist with Red Riding Hood turning out to be the wolf. Peter was the perfect red herring. I didn't expect it at all to be Red, even with the small hints thrown in here and there throughout the episode. And this twist was set up just really, really well. I love it! I love all of the foreshadowing, and I assure you, there are so many phenomenal twists, turns, and misdirects throughout this show to come! You're only going to continue to love Once Upon a Time!! :) Now... I was a little confused with the beginning of the episode within the flashback, where the hunters were all killed by the wolf by the well too. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and it's never explained later on why this is. Although, Granny later states that it is possible Red could have found another way out of their house without Granny knowing about it. I would think she would have heard Red becoming the wolf and breaking out, unless she somehow fell asleep. Plus... Red was supposedly wearing her red cloak to bed, unless of course Red took it off before she fell asleep, or simply refused to wear it like Granny later told to Snow that she rebelliously tends to do. But whatever the circumstances are for the strangeness about the whole scene with finding the hunters all dead, it's still pretty cool. Albeit very dark. With all this being said... I love the scene where Granny stands up to the hunters who were about to hunt down the wolf in the tavern, as she talks about how she knows so much about the wolf and its ferocity, and how she herself had become bitten by one yet left alive. And because Granny later reveals to Snow that Red's mother was a wolf too before she was killed by a huntsman and that the gene is passed down within their family, it alludes that the wolf spared Granny's life because it had been someone within her family who possibly spared her life after the wolf had accidentally bitten her arm while still frenzied after its kills, yet had the instincts to see through its frenzy enough to recognize his daughter before he could kill her, as Granny reveals it was her father... Red's grandfather who bit her. Also... I feel like Granny exaggerates just how ferocious this wolf is. Not to be so dramatic or because it's not necessarily true, but I think she does so solely to protect Red. In hope of scaring the hunters away from trying to hunt it down any longer, especially should they discover that Red is the wolf. I really do love Granny a lot. And while it was wrong for her to hide the truth about Red being the current wolf within the backstory, as the truth would have spared not only Peter's life, but also all of the hunters' lives as well, I still really like how protective of her granddaughter she is, and seeing just how tough she is. Red might not have rebelled so much had she known the truth, but I feel that Granny only wanted to protect Red at all costs. From the hunters and mostly from the pain of finding out she's killed before, which unfortunately and sadly, Red winds up learning the truth anyways in the worst and most painful of ways. Granny used to be a wolf just like Red, Red's mother, and Granny's grandfather too. However, over time, her wolf abilities slowly faded with age, until all that she now has left is her super sense of smell and hearing, just like some of the abilities that Red possesses too. Now... With all of the protections within their cottage, the bars on the windows, the metal grate over the fireplace, and with Granny sitting in front of the door at nights with her crossbow in hand, etc... I also don't believe it is just because she is trying to keep Red inside should she turn in spite of having the cloak in case she refused to wear it, or because she was prepared to fight against the wolf should it break in. But I feel that it's more so that she could protect Red from any hunters who might try to break in to kill Red.. again if they were to discover the truth for themselves about Red being the wolf. Granny clearly is ready to do whatever it takes to protect her granddaughter at all costs. I love how strong and brave she is. Next... This story also shows us how Red and Snow become friends, how Snow comes to help Red when no one else really did other than Granny like Snow had stated she had done for Red back in the episode... 715 AM, and I really love their friendship. Plus... This first scene between them reveals how Snow's cursed name is chosen for her, which I think is really great. As we know... The curse takes on details from each of the characters' past lives to forge their cursed personas, and from this scene in Red's backstory with Snow, Snow uses a pretend name to protect Red from the Evil Queen and her guards, as she first comes up with Margaret, but then quickly changes it to Mary instead. Because she goes by the fake name of Mary, the curse makes her fake name under the curse... Mary Margaret. Brilliant! I just really love learning how and why certain characters are given certain names and how certain details in their true lives are pulled into their cursed lives. As for Red and Peter... I think they made a good couple. They were cute together and it's clear they love each other. And it's just so sad that by Granny keeping the truth from Red, it leads to Red brutally killing Peter unwittingly upon transforming into the wolf under the full moon. But what a fantastic reveal, which we just don't see coming until seconds before when Granny stares at Snow with dread and fear in her eyes, then states, "...That poor boy." Brilliant!!! I just absolutely love the entire backstory despite the minor flaw with the dead hunters earlier on. Once Upon a Time really created a great backstory for Red, which is different from any other story of Red Riding Hood fairytale. And it's fantastic! Also... you are correct that Peter is Peter from the story of Peter and the Wolf. Onto my thoughts for the present day storylines in Storybrooke... I really love the major storyline that centers around Ruby and Granny, and the parallels to their story within the backstory. I also really love Emma seeing continuing to look for answers about Kathryn's disappearance. And I love the scenes between Red, Ruby, and Mary Margaret too. I like how Ruby is struggling at the diner because she feels useless and doesn't really know what she wants to do with her life, especially after August shares with her some of his adventures during his travels. It's hilarious when Granny calls Ruby a different name as she and Ruby get into a fight... when Granny calls her Liza, after Liza Minelli because of how Ruby dresses up like Liza in the movie, Cabaret and flirts with all the guys around, to which Ruby retorts back by saying Granny looks like Norman Bates when Norman is dressed up like Norman Bates' mother... a reference to Alfred Hitchcock's, Psycho. So sad that their relationship is so strained at this point, but it's still very funny too. Ruby then quits out of anger and frustration, and goes to the station to talk with Emma, yet finds Henry instead, as he then helps her to find a job she can do instead of staying at the diner. It doesn't go very well because Ruby feels like she can't do anything, until Emma overhears her taking messages on the phone and offers her a job to help her out around the station. Later... Mary Margaret goes into the woods to look for Kathryn and runs into David who is out of his mind and in a trance like state. When he walks away from her, Mary Margaret then goes to Emma to tell her what's happened, and Emma then enlists Ruby to help her find David. Ruby reluctantly agrees to help Emma find him. Unfortunately for David, we learn that this isn't the first time this has happened to him either, as Dr. Whale later explains to him and Emma that his condition is much like he had been back when David first awoke from his coma, when he had wandered the woods until Mary Margaret, Emma, Henry, and Graham finally find him near death after nearly drowning. I suspect that somehow his mind and his true memories, are somehow trying to fight back against the cursed memories in his mind as he's desperately struggling to find answers as to what's happened to Kathryn, as well as to why he loves Mary Margaret so much when all he feels for Kathryn are the memories of feeling for her that were created by the curse. He has a lot on his mind, and I feel that the mixed memories are hurting him more so than they are for everyone else. That somehow David's instincts of him trying to be David and Prince Charming, become so garbled inside of his mind. I really how Whale explains to Emma that David's dissociative state is similar to when he had first awakened from the coma and had wandered around in the woods instinctively seeking out Snow/Mary Margaret too, then speculates that it's possible he might have been able to function well enough under this trance like state for him to have made the eight minute call to Kathryn the night before, and even for him to have kidnapped her, or worse... that he might have even killed her. Even though his weird blackouts aren't really explained too well, I love the idea of them and the allusion of something more sinister going on. Not that I believe David has anything to do with hurting Kathryn. We both know how sinister Regina is and that she hates both Snow White and Prince Charming, and that she will do whatever she can to keep them from being happy together. Now... As for Ruby finding David later unconscious, stating that she hears him when Emma can't... This is actually another clue that Ruby is the wolf within the backstory, since wolves are known to have keen senses, including hearing, sight, and smell. It's not said why Ruby is able to hear David and we can't hear him, but it's possible that Ruby is able to hear his heart beating, which could explain her saying the sounds she's hearing from David are like a hammer, or she might have heard him breathing, or simply smell him, along with her other senses that might have kicked in, even though she has no idea who or what she really is. Which is why Ruby is so terrified of her gift... Because she doesn't understand how she's so capable of what she's been able to accomplish not knowing she is part wolf too. And I really, really love this about Red's/Ruby's story. Emma then asks Ruby to go out to the toll bridge where David had gone to back when he first awoke from his coma to look for anything that is out of place, in hope that Ruby might be able to use her senses to find any clues that could lead them to Kathryn's whereabouts. And unfortunately... Ruby screams in horror when she finds something dreadful... a wooden box later revealed to be containing a human heart. Emma has tests run on the heart and while the results haven't yet come back to prove that the heart belongs to Kathryn, Emma states that Kathryn is the only missing person known. David is devastated and pleads with Emma to arrest him. He had been talking to Mary Margaret before Emma returned to the dog shelter with the news, as he is telling her that he can't trust himself anymore upon discovering that he's been having blackouts and that he fears he has killed Kathryn. So, he's immediately ready to be arrested and to take the punishment for his wife's death. However... There's one final twist in this episode, when Emma states that the fingerprints found on the box aren't actually David's, but Mary Margaret's. Yikes! So good. :) The acting between David and Mary Margaret and David in this scene is phenomenal like always during their emotional scenes together and I love this twist too. Of course, Regina is somehow behind all this so she can frame Mary Margaret. That's pretty obvious, given by just how desperate she's been to make Snow pay for what Regina claims she's done to her and how desperate she is to keep Mary Margaret and David apart. And lastly... I really love the final scene between Ruby and Granny back inside the diner, as Ruby apologizes to Granny for the way she acted earlier and why she's felt so lost, as well as that she thought she wanted more, until she had it and realizes she didn't want that kind of excitement after all. And I love how Granny finally admits how she feels for her granddaughter, as she tells Ruby she has been so tough on her and wanted her to learn everything about the diner, because she hopes to be able to leave the place they both love so much to Ruby when Granny eventually retires. This scene between them is sweet and makes me love them that much more. Overall... This is a fabulous episode, with so many great moments, including the best moment when it's revealed Red is actually the wolf, and that her cloak is actually meant to protect her from transforming into the wolf, rather than meant to repel the wolf like Granny stated the color red would earlier on. And I love how the cloak magically works to change Red back into her human form after Granny has to shoot her in her wolf form with a silver tipped arrow from her crossbow to momentarily stun her so she can help her. The emotion and pain shown in Red once she turns around to see she had killed Peter, as Snow leads her away from the hunters coming to kill the wolf... is devastatingly beautiful. I really love Meghan Ory's (Red) acting in this entire episode, as well as Beverley Elliot's (Granny). This is definitely one of my favorite episodes this season! Oh... And one more thing to point out... Granny states to Snow that she had paid a wizard for the cloak, which leads us to believe that she most likely got the cloak from Rumplestiltskin, who has his hands in pretty much every characters' lives in one way or another. So, I thought even that tiny detail is really cool as well. :) Thank you so much for another fantastic reaction, Jay!! I'm really happy that you enjoyed this episode so much. And I can't wait for more!! Sincerely, Heidi