‘Once Upon a Time’ recap: Dorothy Gale, meet Little Red Riding Hood

There’s always a great mix of fairy tale characters in “Once Upon a Time,” but this “Ruby Slippers” episode felt like there were even more stories represented than usual. When you throw in Dorothy Gale of Kansas, maybe it blows things a bit out of whack.

Picking right up from last episode, the heroes — Emma Swan, Regina, Snow White, Prince Charming, Henry and Captain Hook — are trying to figure out how Little Red Riding Hood (aka the werewolf/Ruby) got down to the Underworld. They’re hoping for the best. When Ruby wakes — Emma and Regina blasted her when she was in wolf form — she tells them she was following a locator spell in a search of her friend Dorothy, whom she met in Oz.

In the past, in Oz, we see that fateful meeting as Dorothy stumbles upon Ruby and Mulan, who have traveled to Oz as Ruby continues to look for her wolf pack. Luckily, Ruby knew a bit about Oz since she’d seen the movie. Upon seeing Toto, she seemed to know exactly who he was, but Dorothy’s a bit on edge, with a crossbow and all. It ends up being Toto, of course, who brings them together.

In present day Underworld, Hades tells Zelena that Ruby is there, and something, whatever Zelena’s done to Ruby or Dorothy, makes the Wicked Witch think the heroes are coming after her. But Hades tells her he’s going to take care of Ruby.

Belle is reading up on how she can get out of the contract that Rumple signed to give up his second child, their baby. Rumple wants to help, to scheme and come up with a plan to defeat Hades, but Belle wants to do it without him. Though she got rid of Gaston last episode, she doesn’t want Rumple’s dark ways “darkening” her soul more than she’s already done.

Cruella, as acting mayor, is having the special phone, the only way that the Underworld denizens can speak with those still alive, ripped out of its quaint booth. Charming was going to call baby Neal. Now he and Snow can’t talk to their son — all thanks to an order from Hades.

Ruby tells the assembled heroes that she was also after the Wicked Witch. Back to when they met up in Oz: Zelena, banished back to Oz by Regina, snatches up the wandering Toto. She will hold him ransom for Dorothy’s silver slippers, giving Dorothy, Mulan and Ruby 24 hours to decide, or the little dog gets it.

Back in the present, as Ruby and the other heroes question her, Zelena says she put Dorothy in a sleeping curse. Dorothy meant to put it on Zelena. She mentions that she took the idea from Regina, that the curse can only be lifted by true love’s kiss. Dorothy, though, was all alone in Oz, and may not have a true love. Regina later appeals to Zelena’s sense of right, what little there is, to let them have the slippers she took from Dorothy. She reluctantly agrees, to everyone’s surprise. Now they have the means to travel, but who goes?

Back in past Oz, Dorothy and Ruby have to get Oz poppies to make a sleeping potion that they’ll give to Zelena. As they travel, they swap stories, with Ruby gaining insight into how important Toto is to Dorothy. Family and friends in Kansas tried to have Dorothy committed when she went back home and told tales of the yellow brick road. Only her Auntie Em believed her, and she kept Dorothy out of mental facilities. She also gave Toto to Dorothy before she died. Ruby was run out of town with torches and pitchforks when the towspeople, and she, found out that Ruby was a werewolf. They bond, and is it a little more?

Present. The Charmings need to get back to Storybrooke. Snow freaks out about not being able to talk to baby Neal. With Ruby and the slippers, they can maybe go to Oz then to Storybrooke, except that Hades put Snow’s name on a tombstone. She has to stay, but David/Charming can go.

Belle is desperate enough to go to Zelena for help with the baby problem. She pleads for Zelena to talk to Hades since he loves her and ask him to rip up the contract giving him Rumple’s baby. Zelena isn’t sure there’s any way to help Belle. But something stirs an idea in her brain.

Past Oz. Ruby and Dorothy continue to bond as Wolfy and Kansas, the nicknames they give each other. Then come the flying monkeys. It’s always fun until the flying monkeys come around. They outrun the monkeys, but Ruby has to go full wolf to get the speed they need. It freaks out Dorothy a bit.

Back in Storybrooke, Regina, Emma, Ruby and Snow find Auntie Em, who they believe will be able to blow a kiss to Dorothy to wake her up from the sleeping curse. Hades, though, basically liquefies Auntie Em. In doing so, he also publicly makes sure that no one else will seek or take help from the heroes, or else they can end up as cloudy liquid in a mason jar, too.

Past Oz: Mulan and Ruby have a heart to heart about Ruby telling Dorothy that she cares for her. Mulan says Ruby needs to let Dorothy know about her love right away. As Ruby’s about to tell her, Dorothy disappears. Not literally, she just runs away from Ruby and Mulan in Oz. We find later that she went to the Wicked Witch’s chambers to administer the sleeping curse, but Zelena was waiting for her. She pricks Dorothy’s finger, putting her in a sleeping coma.

Underworld: Ruby admits this love for Dorothy to Snow, who sensed it on her own because of how much she saw that Ruby wanted to help save Dorothy — and the lengths that she went through already. Snow convinces Ruby to tell Dorothy when they return to Oz.

And it will be Snow who goes back to Oz with Ruby. Hook is able to scratch Snow’s name off the tombstone, and he writes in David’s. A soul for a soul is how it has to be ... for now. Back when Hook was a prisoner of Hades’, the Lord of the Underworld gave Hook the power to say who would be staying in the Underworld. Great switcheroo.

Little people standing around a woman who’s under a sleeping curse. Seems familiar. Ruby and Snow teleport in using Dorothy’s slippers and find Mulan watching over Dorothy beside the munchkins. Here goes nothing: Ruby wakes Dorothy with a kiss! Dorothy is a little confused, but ultimately gets it, and they ultimately have a much longer kiss. This is probably TV’s first fairy tale character same-sex kiss. Historical, indeed.

Speaking of love, two acts of desperation ended the show. First, it seems that Zelena may turn the other cheek with Hades. She goes to him, and forges a bit of an alliance. She says that she wants to give their love a chance. What?!?! Is the Wicked Witch plotting again?

And Belle, seemingly at her wit’s end about what to do to save her baby, goes to Rumple. She has a sleeping curse herself, and wanting to freeze herself in her pregnant state until Rumple can figure out a way for her to keep their baby, pricks herself on the finger and falls under the curse! Oh, Belle.

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In a twist, we add insight to the recap by publishing occasional questions, concerns and comments submitted by Layla Andre, 8, a fervent “Once Upon a Time” fan and the daughter of a Los Angeles Times staff member. They come about while Layla watches the latest episode, and they’re probably some of the same that many viewers have.

— What is Hades going to do with Ruby? Is he going to kill her?

— Will Ruby give Dorothy true love’s kiss??? (Yup!)

— David and Snow’s baby does need them more than Emma. They have been in the Underworld a long time.... I wonder if they’re going to pay the fairy taking care of baby Neal.

— The Flying Monkeys look so cool. Almost like the ones in the real “Wizard of Oz.”

— I feel so bad for Auntie Em. She didn’t do anything. And I also feel bad for Dorothy.

— I wonder what would happen if someone drank the water that Auntie Em became.... Would they become a Lost Soul?

— At least Ruby gets to bring her best friend, Snow White, to Oz.

— The heroes spend a lot of time in the cemetery in the Underworld...

— Hades and Zelena have no idea about Ruby and what she’s going to do...

— Hey, where’s Robin Hood? He wasn’t in this episode or last week’s.

— I thought this episode was a bit weird but also a bit sweet.

Follow me on Twitter: @Storiz