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I know how to recognize a Child of the Moon.

Quinn to Red Riding Hood

"Child of the Moon" is the seventh episode of Season Two of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Ian Goldberg & Andrew Chambliss and directed by Anthony Hemingway. It is the twenty-ninth episode of the series overall, and premiered on November 11, 2012.

Synopsis

Ruby's fear about turning into a wolf during the first curse-free Storybrooke full moon is confirmed when one of the town's residents is viciously murdered, and Ruby is the prime suspect; Decker [sic] - aka King George - threatens to expose David Nolan as a shepherd, not a prince, and not fit to run the town as sheriff; and Leroy stumbles upon some treasure in the Storybrooke mine that could help bring Mary Margaret and Emma back into our world. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Red Riding Hood finds a kindred spirit in Anita, a charismatic and mysterious leader of a pack of humans who, like Red, turn out to be wolves.[1]

Recap

This section is a detailed recap of this episode. There are major spoilers. Click to expand.

The counterparts of the Seven Dwarves are busy in the mines when suddenly Grumpy crashes through a wall and discovers the diamonds; the kind that can be refined into fairy dust. David Nolan is elated that they may finally have the magical power needed to get Jefferson’s portal hat working again and rescue Emma Swan and Mary Margaret Blanchard. But the celebration is disrupted when Albert Spencer appears. He's still holding a grudge against David, who was Prince Charming, for defying him in the Enchanted Forest, and he means to do something about it. He swears that soon the town will see David is not fit to lead anyone.

The town is celebrating at Granny's Diner. Billy approaches Ruby and reveals to her who he was in the Enchanted Forest. He tells her that he was a mouse named Gus who lived in Cinderella's pantry.Billy asks to spend time with her, but seeing that she doesn't want to, Belle comes and tells Billy that they already planned a girl's night out. When asked why Ruby would not want to go out with him that night, Ruby replies it is complicated. Meanwhile, Ruby and Granny are preparing for the first night of wolfstime since the curse was broken. Ruby's magical cloak is missing and it has been 28 years since she last shape shifted, and she is not sure that she can control her wolf form anymore. To be safe, they seal her up in the freezer at Granny's. But the next morning, she is gone. David and Granny find her asleep in the woods outside of town. When Ruby awakens, she has no memory of her night as the wolf. Worse, when the three of them search for a missing Billy, they find his abandoned tow truck, at the docks, and his mutilated body, torn apart in a dumpster. Ruby is sure that she, as the wolf, was the killer, but David refuses to doubt his friend the way he once doubted Mary Margaret. Ruby insists on being locked away at the Sheriff's Station, not as much for her safety as for everyone else's, but David says that he will find the real killer. Albert Spencer arrives and accuses David of protecting Ruby out of friendship, and says that he will use this to show the town that he is not fit to be sheriff.

In a flashback to the Enchanted Forest, Red Riding Hood and Snow White have struck off on their own, not long after Red discovered that Granny had been lying to her, and she was actually a werewolf, which resulted in Peter's death. They have been running away from the Evil Queen's men, one of whom ripped Red's hood. Snow White says that she trusts Red, but they agree to split up, because Red doesn't know if the torn hood will prevent her transformation. They agree to meet up again the next day. In the morning, Red wakes in the forest. The hood worked, but suddenly the hood is grabbed by a young man, who explains that he is a werewolf like her and can tell her how to control it. Red goes with him back to a secret lair hidden in the forest. There, he introduces himself as Quinn and a woman in the lair as Anita, her mother. Granny had told Red that her parents were dead, but Anita is very much alive and the pack leader for a whole gang of werewolves. She explains that Granny kidnapped Red, because she saw the wolf as a monster to be ashamed of. Anita teaches Red to accept the wolf and thus control it. The lessons take some time, but soon Red can remember everything from her time as the wolf and can control her actions.

Snow White tracks Red to the werewolf lair. Anita and Quinn are suspicious of her at first, but when Red explains that she's found a new home, Snow White understands and prepares to leave. Before she can, several of the Queen's soldiers burst in, hunting for Snow White. They manage to kill Quinn, before the werewolves and Snow White can stop them. Anita blames Quinn's death on Snow White and has her bound so that Red can kill her and the wolves can eat her that night. Red won't stand by and watch her friend be devoured, so mother and daughter fight as wolves. The battle ends with Anita accidentally being impaled and Snow White unties herself and quickly places the red cloak on Red changing her back into her human form. The other werewolves disperse as Red and Snow White bury Anita. The two women leave together, still friends.

In Storybrooke, Spencer incites a mob to storm the police station and seize Ruby. They burst into the Sheriff's Station, but Ruby is already gone. David and Granny have brought her to Belle, who has agreed to hide her in the library. Belle insists on staying and tries to put shackles on Ruby, but Ruby chains Belle up instead. Ruby says that the town is in danger, and, besides, she deserves to pay for her crimes. When the moon rises, the wolf takes over and the mob hunts her. Meanwhile, David and Granny track down a suspicious car and discover blood in the trunk along with a hatchet and Ruby's cloak. The car is Spencer's. This whole thing has been his revenge plot against David. David and Granny manage to reach the wolf, just before Spencer can shoot it. David goes in, braving the frightened wolf's wrath, and helps Ruby regain control of herself as the wolf. He then lays her cloak over her, changing her back to human form. When a scream goes up from the crowd, they find Spencer gone. David and Ruby track him to a nearby beach, where they find him standing beside a fire. He admits to killing Billy, who he says was only a mouse. Before David can stop him, Spencer throws the remains of Jefferson's hat into the flames, destroying his last chance to save his wife and daughter.

Later, Regina Mills, Mr. Gold and Henry Mills are in Mary Margaret's loft. Regina called Mr. Gold, because Henry woke up from one of his nightmares, trapped in a burning room, to find his hand burned. Mr. Gold gives Henry a magical necklace that will help him control his nightmares and explains that he is being transported to a dimension between worlds, a side effect left by the sleeping potion. Using this control, he calms the flames in his dream and sees Aurora.

In the present-day Enchanted Forest, Aurora awakens from a restless sleep to tell Emma and Mary Margaret that the boy in her dream is Henry, Emma's son.


Deleted Scenes

A scene was filmed where David is driving at speed down Main Street in the Sheriff's car. Mother Superior eventually gets in the car with him and they drive down Main Street together.[3]

Cast[1]

Starring

Guest Starring

Co-Starring

Uncredited

Trivia

Title

Production Notes

Event Chronology

Episode Connections

Disney

Fairytales and Folklore

Props Notes

Set Dressing

Costume Notes

  • BRAND INFO: Ruby is wearing[25] a Free People Peace Maker Print Dress[26] (no longer available).
  • HIDDEN DETAILS: Ruby is wearing a pair of arrowhead earrings,[27] a reference to Quinn, who was killed by an arrow.[5]
  • BRAND INFO: Belle's dress[28] a Stevie Silk Dress from Club Monaco[29] (no longer available). On the next day, she wears[30] a Vivienne Westwood Angloma Black Cosmopolita Skirt in Tartan[31] (also no longer available).
  • HIDDEN DETAILS: The pendant on Anita's necklace has a wolf motif on it.[32]

Goofs

International Titles


Videos

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 LISTINGS: ONCE UPON A TIME. The Futon Critic. “Air Date: Sunday, November 11, 2012. Time Slot: 8:00 PM-9:00 PM EST on ABC. Episode Title: (#207) "Child of the Moon"”
  2. Sunday Final Ratings: 'Revenge', 'The Mentalist' & 'The Amazing Race' Adjusted Up; '666 Park Avenue' & '60 Minutes' Adjusted Down. TV by the Numbers (November 13, 2012). “Once Upon A Time (...) 8.75”
  3. Once Upon a Time return to Steveston. Vancity Filming (September 26, 2012). Archived from the original on April 30, 2013. (David's outfit matches the one he wears in this episode. Note that some of the other actors are wearing the same outfits they wore in "Broken", indicating that they were doing pick-up shots for the Season Two premiere.)
  4. File:207Title.png
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Dove, Steve (November 13, 2012). Storybrooke Secrets: Child of the Moon. ABC. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. “First off, music fans may recognize the title of this episode, "Child of the Moon." It's named after a Rolling Stones song that was the B-side on the Jumpin' Jack Flash single in 1968. Next up, keen-eyed fans might notice a very specific blue star shape on the side of Billy's truck when they find his body. The blue star is a reference to The Blue Fairy and how she appears in the Disney version of Pinocchio. Finally, throughout the episode, Ruby is wearing a pair of arrowhead earrings. These are a subtle reference to Quinn, the handsome, young werewolf who found her in Fairy Tale Land and was later killed with an arrow by one of The Evil Queen's soldiers.”
  6. 6.0 6.1 Neumyer, Scott (September 27, 2013). Q&A: 'Once Upon a Time' Creators on Having a Role for Kelly Clarkson. Rolling Stone. “Are there any in particular that you've dropped that you don't think someone has picked up on yet? Something that has made you say, "I can't believe they missed that!" Kitsis: We'll do random ones like when we called our werewolves episode "Child of the Moon," which was after the Rolling Stones song. We called the original Dark One "Zoso" after Led Zeppelin, and those don't get picked up as easily as when the clock said 8:15 [which is a reference to Lost]. That could be an issue of the age of your show's audience as well. Kitsis: That could be. They're not as big Rolling Stones fans as us. [Laughs]”
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Official ABC Once Upon a Time Podcast: "Child of the Moon". ABC (2012). (At 04:13 and 08:47)
  8. Norman, Philip (November 20, 2011). Gimme shelter: Rolling into Marrakech, the city that completely enchanted the Stones. Daily Mail. “It was in Marrakech that The Stones tried in vain to seek refuge during the worst crisis of their career. In February 1967, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had been arrested for drug possession by police in Britain and were awaiting a trial that would become the most notorious of the decade, and end with both men being jailed. The trip to Morocco was meant to be a respite before the screaming headlines of the approaching (and, for them, misnamed) 'summer of love'.”
  9. File:104SmilingRubyOriginalVersion.png
  10. File:104SmilingRubyAlternateVersion.png
  11. File:208LyingOnTheFloor.png
    File:208YoullGetBack.png
  12. File:303Best.png
    File:407IcePowersYouSay.png
  13. File:220WhyDidnt.png
    File:220DidntSayIdAnswer.png
  14. File:322EmmaOpensPortal.png
    File:322Portal.png
  15. File:522Grandpa.png
    File:522JustDont.png
  16. File:207Credits.png
  17. Werewolf. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on November 23, 2021. “werewolf, in European folklore, a man who turns into a wolf at night and devours animals, people, or corpses but returns to human form by day.”
  18. File:207Congratulations.png
  19. Dimple Stein Mug 19.25 oz.. Libbey Glass. Retrieved on August 24, 2018.
  20. File:207DeadBody.png
  21. File:207Spencer.png
  22. File:119WithDavid.png
  23. File:102TerriblyAwkward.png
  24. File:118WhenIGotThere.png
  25. File:207WhatWhere.png
  26. 'Peace Maker' Print Dress. Nordstrom. Retrieved on August 24, 2018.
  27. File:207FromMe.png
  28. File:207WeHavePlans.png
  29. Club Monaco 'Stevie' Silk Shirt Dress Size 6 OUAT. Poshmark. Retrieved on June 4, 2021.
  30. File:207WolfHearing.png
  31. Vivienne Westwood Angloma Black Cosmopolita Skirt in Tartan. Coolspotters. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved on August 24, 2018.
  32. File:207AnitaIsPleased.png
  33. Giant Chunky Biker Pendant Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Cloud Fenrir Wolf Necklace. Amazon. Retrieved on February 14, 2021.
  34. File:207FindAWayBack.png
  35. File:207LoseMyFamily.png
  36. File:207WellDoneQuinn.png

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