ONCE UPON A TIME: “Ruby Slippers” Find Their Way Back to Oz

A Race to Ruby Slippers

Only on Once Upon A Time will you find a bandit fall in love with a shepherd, princess with a pirate, an evil queen with a lowly thief, the Lord of the Underworld with the Wicked Witch of the West, and now, Little Red Riding Hood with a country girl from Kansas.

Ruby and Mulan are looking for wolves in Oz when they meet Dorothy and Toto instead. The ladies team up when Zelena threatens to kill Toto after Dorothy refuses to give up the silver slippers. Then the sparks begin to fly between Ruby and Dorothy when they search for poppies together and bond over seeking acceptance and belonging with their families. Ruby is initially afraid to tell Dorothy how she feels, but after some encouragement from Mulan and later Snow, Ruby gives into love and awakes Dorothy from a sleeping curse with true love’s kiss, which confirms that “Kansas” feels the same about “Wolfie.” The two are now able to embark on a new journey with each other, diving into their love in Oz, living happily ever after and establishing the first canon gay couple in the fantasy series.

With great storytelling, it’s not necessarily what the content is about but how it’s about it. Development, conflict, compelling characters, and time that are big factors. In particular with stories of great romance, it is a process to get those big moments of love. Slow burns are painful but lead to great emotional payoff and a beautifully developed story. This can’t be said for this new couple. While there is now LGBT representation through this relationship, it’s hard to join to shipper bandwagon of true love when there is not enough story and development to back it up. True love is a marathon, not a sprint. Ruby and Dorothy met in the span of one day and had very little interaction to be brought to true love status. Attraction and infatuation, absolutely. Love, not quite. The true love couples on the show have those sparks but also paired with time spent bonding as well as various obstacles; the course of true love never runs smooth. The trust blossoms, the bond strengthens, the chemistry intensifies, and the love blooms into something beautiful. If the two had spent more time with each other or gone on other adventures, like Ruby had done with Mulan, then it would be easier to buy into their true love for one another.

While it’s a step in the right direction, the show may need to up its game if it wants to be taken seriously in matters of representation.

Worth Mentioning

• Zelena is still in the beginnings of redemption, but she made some strides in “Ruby Slippers” by handing over the silver slippers without a deal and showed genuine concern for Belle’s unborn child. Still not entirely sure if her meeting Hades at the end of the episode was on Belle’s behalf or personal choice to open herself up to love; perhaps it was a mix of both. Regardless, it is wonderful to see this softer side of Zelena.
• Belle has now officially joined the Sleeping Curse club. Not only did she put herself under the curse, but she also wants her father to break the curse, not Rumple. Let’s hope this works out in her favor; otherwise, she might be MIA for a while.
• Was anybody else weirded out that Hades decided to take a whiff of the Auntie Em water?
• When Cruella was dismantling the phone booth, she said that she was just performing her mayoral duties. Did Hades just pass the job to her after he turned Cora back into the miller’s daughter?
• For all the gloom and doom in the Underworld, I wonder if there has ever been a bake-off between Granny’s and Auntie Em’s?
• One of the highlights of the episode was a brief scene between Charming and Killian. Killian takes a moment to thank him for coming with Emma on this rescue mission for him, even though he did not want anyone, including Emma, to risk their lives for him. The prince admits that while he did come to support Emma, he has grown fond of the pirate. These two have come a long way from punching each other to this new level of respect and camaraderie. Perhaps there will be another talk like this in an upcoming episode… about permission for asking a certain princess’ hand in marriage.
• Though I want to believe the integrity of the writers, it is a bit convenient that the actresses who were pregnant at the time of filming are the ones that had drastic plot changes.