Okay, technically, this is a lie, I've cried before because of this show. But I cried again during this one, and you should all know why.
Gus the Mouse...is dead.
He was ambitious...
He was feisty...
But most of all, he was a friend to Cinderella when she needed him. Goodbye, "Gus-Gus."
You will not be forgotten.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go cry more.
...
Okay, now that I'm back, let's get to that review/recap thing I do, despite the emotional turmoil it causes within my soul.
What Happened:
Fairytale Land (the Past)
- Okay, remember that episode way back in Season 1 in which we learned Red Riding Hood is actually a werewolf and she totally ate her boyfriend and the town came after her? Well, now you know. This happens right after that.
- Snow and Red are on the run, totally being badass fugitives. After quickly disposing of Some Queen's Soldier-Dude Who Had the Nerve to Think He Could Beat Up Snow White, the two girls decide they should split up, for Snow's safety, since Red is gonna turn into a werewolf any second now. (It's worth remembering that Snow is totally against this idea and is being an amazing friend, while Red is insisting she has to go for Snow's safety. I already have so many friendship feels it's not even funny.)
- Red wakes up in the morning (insert "OMG I hope none of those pix wound up on Twitter"-joke here) and finds that this guy named Quinn has stolen her magic red coat that is supposed to prevent her from becoming a werewolf. Quinn tells Red that she's not the only werewolf out there- he's one, too, and he has a bunch of werewolf friends, and they should totally all go hang out sometime, like right now.
If you immediately thought of her...you're not the only one.
- Within the werewolves' crib is Red's mother. Turns out she has one. Weird.
- Mama Red (I think she has a name, but to make her sound cooler and equally B.A. as Red, we shall call her Crimson) teaches Red to control her wolf side. There's some bonding, everyone is reminded of Twilight, yaddah-yaddah-yaddah.
- Crimson and Red are suddenly confronted by Snow, who's still on the run and is totally forgiving of Red for ditching her, despite how I would've reacted.
"Gee, thanks for totally ditching me to go sit at the Cool Kids' Table, Red."
- Suddenly Regina's soldiers burst in and kill Quinn. Crimson is naturally mad, and wants to kill Snow. In an ensuing scuffle, Red protects her friend but accidentally kills Crimson. She's understandably saddened, but Snow is comforting. They bury Crimson and then we get an incredibly sweet and meaningful moment in which Red tells Snow that she's the first person who truly accepted her for who she is: Red's Granny wanted her to shun her wolf characteristics, while Crimson felt the same way about Red's human side. Snow is the first one to let her be both.
These are happy tears, guys. That's all.
Storybrooke
- The dwarves dig up some fairy dust and are quite happy, because it means they can make Jefferson's Hat work again, thus opening up a portal to Emma and Snow in the Fairytale Land. They go and celebrate at Granny's, and a good time is had by all.
I really wish all parties consisted solely of jumping on trampolines while attempting to eat cake.
- King George/Spencer suddenly crashes the party. They don't show it, but you just know everyone gave him a dirty look when he came in. I bet he asked Ruby for coffee with sugar and cream, and she only gave him coffee with sugar. I bet that made him feel bad.
"No creamer for you, King George! Take THAT!"
- Okay, so long story short, Spencer/KG tells David he's got a plan to get back at him. David's all,
- Ruby gets asked out by Gus/Billy, who was a mouse in the Fairytale World that helped out and was friends with Cinderella. He's a tow-truck driver here with a crush on Ruby, who rejects his offer because it's the full moon.
- As the party's dying down, David goes and sees Ruby prepping up for a night in a storage center to prevent herself from harming anyone in wolf form. She hasn't changed into a wolf since the curse began, and she doesn't know if she'll be able to control it. Plus, she totally lost the cloak that prevented her from changing into wolf form. (You had ONE job, Ruby. ONE job.)
- In the morning, Ruby gets found by David and Granny lying in the woods with no memory of what happened: she escaped the freezer. Go figure.
- Meanwhile, Henry awakes from a dream of the fiery Red Room from last week, with Regina there to comfort him. She finds that his hand has been burnt and takes him to Mr. Gold, who in turn explains that victims of Sleeping Curses like Henry gain access to a dream realm- the same dream realm where their souls went during their cursed times. He gives Henry a necklace that will allow him to "control his actions" in the dream realm.
- Ruby, David and Granny find Gus' dead body. Ruby lets David lock her in the jail, convinced that she killed poor Gus. Meanwhile, Spencer/KG riles up the townfolk against her, and they all get torches (seriously? Torches? They're SO 18th-century, people.)
- For her own safety, Ruby goes into Belle's library while Granny and David go off to solve the mystery, convinced Ruby didn't do it. Belle declares her friendship for Ruby and tells her that she believes Ruby is a good person, and it's all really sweet...
- ...until Ruby locks Belle in the library so she will be safe.
- David and Granny find Ruby's cloak in Spencer's car. They realize he killed Gus and framed Ruby. David goes and finds Wolf Ruby, whom he talks down and puts the cloak on to save her.
"We did it!!!!!! Hooraaaaaay!!!!"
- Unfortunately, Spencer used this as an opportunity to destroy Jefferson's tophat.
The Audience:
"You did not just."
(Yes, I'm well aware I've used this gif before. But it is perfection incarnate, and fit the situation.)
The Fairytale Land (Now)
- Aurora has a dream of the Red Room in which she meets Henry, who explains who he is after putting out the fires. Aurora relays this information to an ecstatic Snow and Emma.
What I Thought:
Well, they did it again. Another awesome episode has been delivered to us, so be grateful, my children. This episode addressed a much-needed plot point (how does Red's werewolf status work in our world?) while giving us some really interesting metaphors and sweet life moments.
Friendship was a big theme in this episode. I cannot say how much I loved seeing David's devotion to helping Ruby (and Snow's, as well, but we're discussing his actions first.) For a show that has "True Love" as one of its main themes, we've certainly gotten to see a lot of truly touching friendships (the first season featured a lot of Mary Margaret and Emma being friends, but whereas David seems to be embracing both of his identities, for whatever reason Snow seems to have cast off her Storybrooke persona and wrapped herself in her motherly love for Emma.) Friend relationships are very similar to romantic relationships in some ways; they involve two people who deeply care for one another, and will help each other at a cost to themselves simply because of that platonic affection.
We got to see that with David and Ruby this week. He knew, he must've known, that helping Ruby could put his leadership position on shaky ground. Ruby, by her very biology, is not going to be a very popular person in Storybrooke now that the curse is broken. People know who she is, what she can do, and what she has done (eating her boyfriend, Peter). They are afraid of her, and they're not necessarily wrong. But that doesn't matter to David. He cares about his friend, a companion he had back in the Fairytale Land. He was willing to go out on a limb and protect her, despite everything, and that's beautiful. That is so very, very beautiful to me: one person risking how they're viewed, how they are treated by society, for a friend.
Snow White also showed a beautiful hand of friendship to Red in their past, accepting her despite the physical danger to herself. Red's speech about Snow accepting both sides of her nearly made me cry, because that's beautiful, too. Friends should accept friends for who they are. Red didn't quite know who she was- somewhere between she-wolf and woman, but not exactly what that meant. Snow basically told her that she would be there to help her figure it all out.
Who hasn't had a friend in a dark place, or a friend who didn't know who they are? Who hasn't experienced either of those situations themselves at one point or another? This episode spoke to everyone who has ever been in such a place, and everyone who's ever helped someone there. It reminded me a lot of teenagers, to be honest: many call it the most turbulent period of a person's life, when they're trying to figure out exactly who they are. Like Red, we all hope that somebody will be there for us; like Snow and David, we should all let anyone we know in this position that we're there for them. This episode was for anyone who's ever cried all night, and the friend who's stayed up texting them. It's for anyone who's stuck up for a friend being bullied or picked on or going through a rough patch. "Child of the Moon" was, plain and simple, for friends and friendship.
My Score:
10/10
A beautiful message and answers to some larger questions in the overall narrative made for a fantastic episode. I loved it.
My Questions:
- Okay, so Henry and Aurora can communicate in the Red Room...but Aurora definitely said, "There was a little boy there this time." Does that mean that the "he" Aurora mentioned is a different person, and if so, who could he be?
- Is Peter in Storybrooke? I don't know if he's still alive or not, I remember Regina implied that she only brought two dead people with her...
- Did you cry about Gus? Because I did. Significantly.
Next Week:
Cora beats Dr. Whale at his own game. Can you say "Zombies?"
(As always, I used a lot of gifs, pictures, and cultural references. Most of the gifs and pictures are from Tumblr, and if not that then other websites. I don't own any of them, nor any of the other shows, movies, etc. that I make reference to. This blog is purely for entertainment purposes. I own nothing. If you own/know who owns one of the gifs/pictures I put up, and would like me to remove it, just let me know in the comments and I will do so.)
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