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"&amp;#039;Child of the Moon&amp;#039; feels like a classic season one episode. While not much really happens in the overall arc, this instalment spends nearly all of its time exploring a character&amp;#039;s backstory and tying it to present day drama. This week, we get a huge wallop of Ruby. Her episode &amp;#039;Red-Handed&amp;#039; last season was a success, providing an intriguing alternate take on the well-known tale of Red Riding Hood, and it makes perfect sense to continue fleshing her character out. But while it was a worthwhile episode, I didn&amp;#039;t quite find it as engaging.   My biggest problem was Anita (Annabeth Gish), Red&amp;#039;s mother. For someone who should feel like a significant character, I was left unmoved by her untimely death. Granted, she only had one episode to make an impression, but she struggled to stand out as an individual. Anita had nothing to offer other than being the voice of the pack. I would have liked the flashbacks to explore Red&amp;#039;s emotions at finding her mother, who she long assumed to be dead. But as it stands, Anita was largely disappointing - she could have been replaced with a generic pack leader and it probably wouldn&amp;#039;t have made much difference to the complexity of these scenes. The pack, however, was far more interesting. Seeing Red come to terms with what it means to be a wolf was pretty fulfilling, especially since it synced nicely with the Storybrooke climax when she was confronted by Spencer&amp;#039;s mob. And one of the highlights was the tender moment where Red was thankful to have Snow as a friend, as Snow accepts both her human and wolf sides.   Similarly, it was great when David calmed Ruby at the end in Storybrooke. The situation escalated as a result of King George/Spencer wanting everyone to turn against David (killing Billy and framing Ruby), but if anything, he proved that David is a natural leader. He kept his faith in Ruby, got to the bottom of the case, talked the angry crowd down and resolved everything peacefully. David has definitely stepped up to the plate since Emma and Mary Margaret were transported to the Enchanted Forest (he even references the time he let Mary Margaret down when she was accused of murder last season), and I would say he&amp;#039;s the most improved character on the show this season. It&amp;#039;s weird, because although Ruby is meant to be the main focus, in the Storybrooke storyline it was David who stood out for me. That said, although Ruby had a couple of irksome moments - willing to get herself killed, although guilt-ridden and in some ways well-intentioned, was a little selfish - seeing her in full control of herself and not fearing the full moon anymore was a pleasing moment.   Lastly, despite the discovery of fairy dust, Spencer burned Jefferson&amp;#039;s hat, destroying David&amp;#039;s plan A to reach his wife and daughter. But maybe the key is in the nightmares Henry has been having. As one of the commenters pointed out in last week&amp;#039;s &amp;#039;Tallahassee&amp;#039; recap, Henry and Aurora weren&amp;#039;t just having the same nightmare. They were *in* the same nightmare. Henry, able to control the dream thanks to a necklace from Gold, communicates with Aurora, who reveals to a surprised Emma and Mary Margaret about the boy. Everything is finely poised for next week, but though &amp;#039;Child of the Moon&amp;#039; was more of a filler episode than we&amp;#039;ve had this season, it was fairly enjoyable and added to the character of Ruby, even if the potential with the reveal of her mother was squandered. As always, I&amp;#039;d love to get your thoughts. Did you appreciate the extra look into Red&amp;#039;s backstory, and did you like Anita more than I did? How do you think the Henry/Aurora dream will impact Emma and Mary Margaret&amp;#039;s goal to get back to Storybrooke?  What did you think of the episode? Leave your comments below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/once-upon-a-time/review/a437796/once-upon-a-time-child-of-the-moon-recap-im-not-a-killer/>