ONCE UPON A TIME There Were People With Control Issues
Episode 2.07 “Child of the Moon”
“Control. Control. You must learn control!” ~ Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back)
[photos: Jack Rowland/ABC]
This week is all about control. Getting some. Losing some. Fighting to keep what you have. Fighting to wrest it away from someone who has it… and that can only mean one thing:
THERE ARE SPOILERS!
The main story thread this week: Ruby and her restored Wolf persona, which has been a subject for fan speculation since the curse was lifted. What did it mean for Ruby? Well, we found out. And make a note: restaurant walk-in freezers aren’t strong enough to keep a werewolf locked up.
During the course of the episode, we get Ruby’s back story. Seems there are plenty of these wolf-persons running around, including a man named Quinn who brings Ruby into the den to meet everyone. And lo and behold! Ruby’s mother is there!
At least, she says she’s Ruby’s mother, and that Granny lied to keep Ruby from knowing the truth about her heritage. Now, to me, it seems awfully convenient that Ruby’s “mother” is the one in charge of the pack. And Ruby — who normally has a pretty put-together demeanor — just falls right in line and accepts that this is her mother pretty quickly. Too quickly, for me. As a writer, I’m always looking sideways at things that happen just because they have to happen in order to advance the plot. I would expect Ruby to be more suspicious of these people, especially the woman who claims to be her mother. But, OK, let’s go with it.
Mom and the pack teach Ruby how to accept and control her power, which is the main reason Ruby’s always been afraid of it. She’s never been able to control this before, and now she has the ability. Which comes into play when the pack thinks Snow White led the humans to the den. Face-off between RubyWolf and MomWolf. MomWolf loses.
So, control issue #1 — Ruby’s Wolf.
Control issue#2 — King George trying to wrest control of the town from Charming. Now, let’s forget that we’ve never seen Charming actually get asked to be sheriff. But George doesn’t like that things seem to be working out for the prince. So the DA hatches a plot involving a hatchet and the death of Billy the Tow Truck Driver — who turns out to be Gus the Mouse!
Ruby’s fear of losing control in Storybrooke is compounded by the fact that she can’t find her red cloak, so when Billy turns up dead, the natural assumption is that Ruby did it. And George uses everyone’s fear to build up a mob mentality to go after “the monster” and try to take the town from Charming. Why he’s doing this? Because Charming is responsible for George losing everything he had. So… George takes the town from the prince? Wah-huh?
George’s revenge is a little more personal, though, as he somehow manages to get Jefferson’s hat and toss it in the fire before Charming can stop him. Leaving the good prince now thinking he may never see his family again.
But wait! There’s another control issue that is sure to factor into this. Henry’s nightmares. So, my initial speculation that the nightmares were introducing a new villain were off. They’re a way for people having those nightmares to communicate with each other. Rumplestiltskin gives Henry a talisman to help him gain control over his dreams, the idea being that once you control something, you have no reason to fear it (and that the lesson of the episode, folks).
This talisman gives Henry the ability to calm himself when he’s in the nightmare room, and he manages to connect with Aurora while she’s in the same nightmare room.
And when Aurora wakes up, she tells the gang that the boy said his name was Henry. So, there’s at least going to be a way for the two sides to communicate, even if it doesn’t give the girls a way back home.
Poor Gus.
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