Once Upon a Time REACTION - S01E15 - Red-Handed

Thank you so much! I really love this episode a lot. And I consider it to be among one of my favorite episodes from season one. I just absolutely love the big twist with Red turning out to be the wolf. I didn't expect it, even with the small hints thrown in here and there throughout the episode, and this twist was set up just really well. I love this twist! :) First... I feel there is possible plot hole, or mistake made in the beginning of the episode within the flashback, where the hunters were all killed by the wolf by the well. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, though it is possible Red could have gotten out her window that didn't have any bars over it. But not only would this be odd because it would mean Red in her wolf form would have had to remove the post barricading the window, but it would also mean that Granny somehow missed her granddaughter sneaking out. I think she would have heard Red becoming the wolf and breaking out the window unless she did somehow fall asleep, which would have made Granny not appear to be as tough and skilled as she really is. Plus... Red was supposedly wearing her red cloak, unless of course Red took it off before she fell asleep, or simply refused to wear it like Granny later claimed she rebelliously tended to do. But whatever the circumstances were for the strangeness about the whole scene with finding the hunters all dead, it was still pretty cool and added to the terror of the wolf. Next... 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 to the possibility that the wolf spared Granny's life because it might have been Granny's father, or someone within her family who possibly spared her life after the wolf had accidentally bitten her arm while still frenzied after its kills. In fact... I think Granny does state it was her own father who bit her. Red's grandfather. I really do love Granny and while it was a mistake 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 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, even from the pain of finding out she's killed before, which unfortunately and sadly, Red wound up learning the truth anyways in the worst and most painful way. And yes... all of the protections within their cottage and Granny sitting in front of the door at nights with her crossbow in hand, is because she was prepared to fight any hunters who might try to break in to kill Red should they ever have discovered the truth for themselves. Granny clearly is ready to do whatever it takes to protect her granddaughter at all costs. Now... this story also shows us how Red and Snow become friends and I really like their friendship. Plus... this first scene between them reveals how Snow's cursed name was chosen for her, which I think was 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 made her fake name under the curse... Mary Margaret. I 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 make a good couple. They're cute together and it's clear they love each other. And it's just so sad that Granny keeping the truth from Red 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 flaw with the dead hunters earlier on. Once Upon a Time created a great backstory for Red, which is different from any other story of Red Riding Hood fairytale. It's fantastic! Onto my thoughts for the present day storylines in Storybrooke... I really the major storyline that centers around Ruby and Granny, and Emma continuing to look for answers about Kathryn's disappearance. 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. As for Granny calling Ruby a different name as she and Ruby get into a fight... 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. What a funny moment between them. Ruby then quits out of anger 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. Now... as for how Ruby finds him 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 was able to hear him breathing, 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 it. And I love this possibility. 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 was telling her that he can't trust himself anymore upon discovering that he's been having blackouts and that he fears he did kill 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 episodes, when Emma states that the finger prints 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 felt so lost, as well as that she thought she wanted more, until she had it and realized 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 hoped that she could leave the place they both loved so much to Ruby when Granny eventually retires. This scene between them is sweet and makes me love them that much more. Overall... 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 it did earlier on. And I love how it 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. And 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. Thank you so much for another fantastic reaction, and I can't wait for more!!

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum