In the Enchanted Forest, Red, whose real name is Liza (with a `Z) has a thing for Peter and I'm not being bawdy. It's just not clear if he's also a pumpkin eater, or possibly even a Pan. He's certainly, however, the Peter of Peter and the [SPOILER] Wolf, and before the end of the hour he's also [SPOILER] the answer to the musical question, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf," as well as the boy who must have [SPOILER] cried, "Wolf!"
Peter wants Red to come out and play, and jokes that he'll huff, puff, etc., but Granny runs a tight ship. It's wolfing time, and far too dangerous to be outside. Granny sings the same song when Red wants to join the villagers in their wolf hunt. She insists Red stay home, and orders her to keep her red cloak on, as it wards off wolves. No one else in the village seems to know that though. Granny doesn't bother wearing red (if memory serves) either. Instead, she arms herself with an impressive crossbow.
One morning, Red finds Snow White, who seems to be newly on the run from Queenie, hiding out in Granny and Red's chicken coop. Snow introduces herself as Frosty (heh), then as Margaret, before settling on Mary. Red takes Mary in. When the two girls go to the well to draw water they find it tainted with blood, and only steps away they discover the remains of the wolf's latest prey.
A skilled tracker, Red leads Mary through the woods in search of the wolf. The tracks morph into half wolf and half human. Eventually the tracks turn fully human and lead right back to Red's window at Granny's. Snow and Red wrongly surmise that Peter must be their "wolf-man."
Red finds Peter and tells him her suspicions. She suggests they tie him up for the night, to keep him from wreaking further havoc. She'll watch over him. Peter goes one better and suggests using chains, which he just happens to have handy. No, I don't get that either. Of course, since Red is the wolf, all she and Peter are doing are ensuring she will kill him, which she does.
Granny discovers Snow sleeping in Red's bed, under Red's red cloak. The older woman explains that Red is the wolf; the red cloak keeps her granddaughter from transforming. Earlier, in a town meeting, Granny told her neighbors that a wolf attacked her family when she was a girl. She was the only survivor, although she too bears a scar from the wolf.
Alone with Snow, Granny explains that the wolf was Red's grandfather. It seems strongly implied (to me, at least) that he raped Granny. At any rate, Granny became a werewolf, but now that she's old, she no longer transforms, although she does still have some lupine senses. Red's lycanthropy manifested itself when Ruby was 13. So yeah, thank you Show, for equating menstruating females with werewolves. Great work reinforcing the patriarchy, Jane Espenson -- and just 15 years and one day after Buffy the Vampire Slayer debuted. Buffy and I are not amused and are so telling Joss Whedon on you. Oh and nice job in keeping the truth from Red, Granny. Maybe she would have done a better job at wearing her cloak if she knew it would keep her from transforming into a bloodthirsty bitch (hey, I didn't go there -- Jane did).
I'll stop scolding real and fictional people, because I do like how dark this episode is.. Granny and Snow find the wolf chowing down on Peter's remains. Granny shoots it with a silver-tipped arrow and Snow throws the red cloak over the beast. Red is, once again herself, but she's disoriented and horrified. Snow sees her home.
Back in Storybrooke, Granny won't let Ruby flirt with August for 30 seconds, so the girl quits her job at the diner. When she tells Emma and Mary Margaret what happened, Mary takes her in, which is a lovely mirror image to their Enchanted Forest history. Henry, who is already wise to Ruby's Fairy Tale identity, helps her search the internet for new jobs. He's a literary and literal lad, so he keeps suggesting jobs that involve carrying items in baskets. Finally, Emma offers Ruby a job as her assistant.
Mary goes out to look for Kathryn, but instead, she finds David wandering the woods in a fog. She reports this to Emma, who takes Ruby with her. Ruby's lupine hearing helps her detect David's whereabouts. The women find him unconscious, at the foot of a tree. Later, in town, Dr. Whale suggests this episode may be related to David's coma.
Emma thinks that, since the last time she found David passed out, he was near the t(r)oll bridge, she and Ruby should search there for clues to Kathryn's disappearance. Ruby finds a jeweled box buried none too well. When she opens it, she screams. It contains a heart. Emma runs the prints found inside the box. They're not David's. They're Mary's!
So much more happens, and I'll be back with it all in the full recap. In the meantime, please grade the episode at the top of the page and then join us in the forum, where our crossbows are at the ready.