From what I have read and heard, a lot found last weeks episode of Once Upon a Time was a little disappointing. Last week we focused on Grumpy, where his background came from and why he is in fact, so grumpy all the time. It didn’t focus on the main story, giving us a bit of a break from Regina and Emma’s fighting, but we did get to see a bit of healing from the town towards Mary Margaret.

This week we focus on Ruby, also known as Red Riding Hood. I have high hopes for this episode, as I have thought she is an underused character. What can I say, sassy ladies are more appealing than ones that fight all the time!

Story Time

A young man approaches a cabin in the woods, knocking on the shutters. Jokingly, Red says from the house she is an old lady and scared to open the windows. She finally opens the shutters, aware of Granny in the other room, who is not a fan of the man. They talk about running away together, the man promising that “I’d do anything for you.” Red kisses him and sends him away, because Granny is calling in the background. There is a group of men on the front porch, asking if they would be interested in wolf hunting. Granny tells them no, turning them away. Red protests, saying she wants to help, but Granny turns her down, and has her help barricade the home from the wolf outside. Granny reminds Red to wear her hood, which repels the wolf.

That morning, Red goes to hen house to collect the eggs. She stumbles across Snow, who was hiding from the wolf from the night before. Snow doesn’t give her real name, although Red knows she is lying. She first then says her name is Margaret, the changes it to Mary. Red brings Snow with her to fetch water from the well, but when she pulls up the bucket it is filled with blood. Behind them lies the bodies of the hunting party.

There is a town meeting called to talk about the slain villagers. Granny tells them that they need to stop hunting the wolf, and shares her story as to how she knows about it. She reveals that she was marked by the wolf, after her six brothers and father were murdered by it. “You don’t kill it. You just have to hide.” That night, in the privacy of her room, Red reveals to Snow that she feels trapped living with Granny. Explains that she wants to live her life with Peter. Snow thinks that Granny is using the excuse of the Wolf to keep her trapped. Red then decides she will hunt and kill the wolf, only she’ll do it during the day where she has the advantage of sight. Reluctantly, Snow agrees to go.

While tracking the wolf, they realize that the wolfs tracks turn human. The tracks lead to the cottage that Red and Granny live in. More specifically, they lead to Red’s window, causing them to believe that Peter, the only person Red opens her window for, is the wolf. Snow tells Red to tell him what is going on, that he might not know that he is the wolf, that it may cause amnesia. Red decides this is the best plan, and they quickly hatch a scheme so that Granny does not find out. That night, Red tells Peter what is happening. She binds him in chains to keep him from harming her. Snow lays in Red’s bed with Red’s hood on. Granny turns her over, shocked that Snow is there.

Granny explains to Snow that Red is the wolf. It is genetic, her mother was a wolf, and it was her grandfather that marked Granny. Granny also used to be a wolf, but it had faded over time. The red hood is what keeps Red tame, it was enchanted by a wizard. Snow tells Granny that Red has Peter bound by chains, and they rush to save him but it is too late. Snow covers the wolf in the cloak, revealing Red underneath. Angry shouts are heard, and Granny tells them to run. Red is weak, sobbing at what she had done to Peter, but Snow gets her away before anymore damage can be done.

Real Time

Emma hands David a drink after a long night in the sheriffs office. The phone call is still unexplained though. Emma believes that David didn’t do anything, telling him to go home. As he leaves, she does tell him she thinks it would be a good idea to get a lawyer.

In Granny’s, Ruby flirts with August, or the Stranger as he is more commonly known, as he tells her about her travels, his favorite being Nepal. Granny yells for Ruby across the diner, embarrassing her. Granny tells Ruby that she wants her to work Saturday nights, to also learn the bookkeeping and records as well. Angrily, Ruby quits the diner, stomping away. Later on, Mary catches up with Emma, talking with her about David as they come across Ruby, who is being hit on by Doctor Whale. He quickly walks away, as Ruby explains to them that she decided to leave town. She quickly realizes her mistake in not having a destination, which Mary invites her back to stay with them until she can figure things out.

Mary goes to where Katheryn disappeared, running into David. He tells her that he is looking. She talks to him and tells him that she believes that Katheryn will turn up somewhere. David repeats to her “I’m looking”, seemingly in a trance, walking away from a clearly confused Mary. Back in the sheriffs office, Henry and Ruby job hunt. Ruby answers the phone, taking messages for Emma who comes in behind her. Emma applauds her for her help, and offers her a job. Ruby goes to pick up lunch for everyone, while Mary walks in, telling Emma everything that happened with David. At the diner, Granny chides Ruby for basically doing the same thing for Emma that she was doing at the diner. Clearly aggravated, Ruby returns to the sheriffs office. Emma notices this and takes Ruby with her to search for David. They follow the tracks in the woods, when Ruby hears something. They track down David, who is clearly unconscious. Ruby doesn’t know how she found him. David reveals he doesn’t remember anything since he was in the sheriffs office the night before.

In the hospital, Doctor Whale tells David and Emma there is a good chance he was asleep during the whole ordeal. Everything that happened is almost the same thing as when he came out of his coma. Regina then barges in, being David’s emergency contact. In almost no time at all, she tells Emma to leave. In the hall, Emma calls Ruby, telling her to go to the Toll Bridge and see if she finds anything. There, Ruby uses her unknown sense and instincts to find a box buried under a washed up piece of wood. As she opens the box, she screams.

Back in the office, Emma opens the box, telling Ruby she did a good job. Ruby goes to the diner where she talks to Granny. Granny reveals that her markings from Story Time are here in Storybrooke, that her arm bothers her once a month. Granny tells Ruby she had asked her to learn these things so that when she can retire she can leave the diner to her. It’s something that she loves, and she wants to leave it to someone who loves it as well. Hugging, Ruby gets her job back there, leaving Emma behind.

At David’s place of work, he paces in the lobby with Mary talking to him. She tells him it will be okay, that there has to be some sort of explanation. Emma comes in to tell them about the box. The box contained a human heart, and there were fingerprints inside. David reacts right away, telling Emma to put him in handcuffs. Emma stops him though, revealing that it was Mary Margaret’s fingerprints inside.

While I didn’t feel this episode is one that I’ll remember, I felt that it was considerably better than last weeks. Last week just felt like a filler episode, where this had more progression in the main story. Also, I was glad to see Ruby in more than just skimpy clothing. It was interesting to watch her transformation, although I think that her and Emma would have made quite a detective team!

I’m looking forward to next weeks seemingly darker episode revolving around Snow and Mary. Hopefully more Mr. Gold and Rumplestiltskin as well!

What did you think of this weeks? What do you think of Ruby? Do you think she should have stayed with Emma?

Did you miss last week’s episode? Check out the recap of ‘Dreamy’.