Once upon a Time Rewatch 1.15, "Red-Handed"

With apologies for the delay...
Read the previous entry in the series here.
Read the next entry in the series here.

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1.15, "Red-Handed"

Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by Ron Underwood

Synopsis

It's never a good sign...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Following a restatement of the series's premise and the title card, the episode begins with Emma questioning David regarding his possible involvement in Kathryn's disappearance. She sends him home to get some sleep--with a recommendation to retain a lawyer.

Formidable.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

At Granny's, August flirts with Ruby while Granny looks on in some annoyance. He boasts of his travels to her, and the scene pivots to the Enchanted Forest, where Ruby's counterpart, Red, entertains a gentleman caller, Peter, despite her grandmother's intent. The two attest their mutual affection and intent for one another before Red is called away to join her grandmother. The latter dismissed a hunting party and confronts Red about Peter; Red speaks in his defense, and the two secure their home for the evening.

Granny confronts Ruby about her conduct; an argument follows, with heated words exchanged. And in the Enchanted Forest, Red and her grandmother begin the next day, Red tending to the chickens. There, she finds Snow White hiding and purloining eggs; Snow White gives an assumed name and is taken in. Red reports on the ravening wolf as Snow assists her with further chores; they find the slaughtered remains of the previous night's hunting party.

In Storybrooke, Mary Margaret asks Emma about David and Kathryn. They walk together, conferring, and Emma notes the opprobrium facing her. They encounter Ruby and Dr. Whale, the latter soon absenting himself. Ruby notes her desire to leave town in reaction to the fight with Granny and quitting her job. Emma cautions her about the need to have a destination, and Mary Margaret invites her to their shared home.

Hell of a love-nip.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the Enchanted Forest, rabble-rousing regarding the ravenous wolf ensues. Granny and Red arrive at the tavern where another hunting party is being planned, and she rebukes those gathered for their thoughts that they might prevail against the wolf. She notes her own history with such creatures, having watched the beast slaughter her family. Snow White and Red confer about the situation afterward and Red's infatuation with Peter. Red arrives at the idea of killing the wolf; Snow demurs, but Red persuades her to assist.

Administrative work can be rewarding, yes.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In Storybrooke, Mary Margaret drives up to the town line, meeting clandestinely with David. They confer about their shared situation, though David seems addled and wanders off. And in the Enchanted Forest, Snow White and Red track the wolf, finding signs of its passing and of its immense size. Meanwhile, Henry helps Ruby find new work; she begins answering phones in the sheriff's office, and Emma takes her on as an assistant. Mary Margaret reports her encounter with David to Emma with some shame.

Red and Snow come across strange tracks as they continue searching for the wolf. They realize they are remarkably close to Red's home; the tracks lead there, and Red arrives at the notion that her beloved Peter is the wolf. They work out a plan to save Peter and the rest of them.

Ruby returns to Granny's--as a customer, rather than an employee. Granny greets her bluntly, conversation between them tense and terse.

Why am I hearing four strings and three horns?
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Red confronts Peter about the possibility that he is the wolf. He expresses initial confusion but agrees to be restrained for the safety of all involved, and she declares her intent to remain with him.

Henry reports to Emma that Ruby is, in fact, Red Riding Hood and remarkably capable. As he leaves, Ruby arrives with lunch; Emma takes her on patrol, finding her strangely capable as she hunts for David. Ruby soon finds David, unconscious in the woods and injured. Emma rouses him, and he evidences a gap in his memories. Dr. Whale diagnoses it as a similar event to his early emergence from his coma, and David worries that he did something wrong while unaware of it. Regina arrives to disrupt matters, and Emma dispatches Ruby to follow up on a sudden idea she has. Ruby searches, soon finding recently disturbed earth and, beneath it, a box, the contents of which startle her.

In the Enchanted Forest, Snow White impersonates Red--poorly--and Granny reveals that Red is, in fact the wolf, realizing that Peter is in grave peril. And he learns as much when, chained, he comes under attack from the wolf.

The box Ruby finds contains a human heart, and Emma commends her efforts. Snow White and Red's grandmother charge out into the woods, the latter relating Red's background and history along the way. She notes that she, too, is a werewolf, and she makes ready to kill Red while she feasts upon her erstwhile lover's body. The shot fails to kill Red, but it does incapacitate her long enough for magic to effect her transformation back into a human; they make to flee the coming hunting party as the revelation of her status breaks upon Red.

Ruby returns to Granny's, asking for her job back. Another awkward conversation ensues, offering something like apologies and reconciling the two. Mary Margaret tries to comfort David, and he begins to believe he has done something wrong. Emma arrives where they are, noting findings--including that Mary Margaret's fingerprints were inside the box with the heart.

Discussion

I've written about werewolves before, here, and while it is the case that a lot of work subverts the expectations of audiences, it is also the case that as much or more maintains those expectations; they have to come from somewhere, after all. And despite the protestations of many that Disney and its subsidiaries are "too woke," the media institution that it is is fundamentally conservative in scope; Disney has worked over decades to make itself one of the standard reference points for United States popular culture and common understanding, an unofficial canon that carries more weight than most anything else taught as "authentically American." It's not a surprise, then, that the present episode returns to those understandings in its presentation of lycanthropy--or that it links it to misogyny, as well, because there's no shortage of that in "real America." While not perhaps very neo/medieval/ist, it is unfortunately prominent and common; here, as elsewhere, I am disappointed but not surprised not to have seen better.