Some have guessed that Dr. Whale is the Big Bad Wolf but I’m guessing that he’s actually Pinocchio. Yes, Whale leered a bit at Ruby aka Little Red Riding Hood but so far it seems that most of the characters’ names hint at their real identities: Blanchard=White, Gold=Rumpelstiltskin, Hopper=Cricket, Ruby=Red . . . if we stretch, Nolan could indicate No Land which hints at Charming’s farm troubles.
Pinocchio lied; Dr. Whale lied to Mary Margaret. The Nolan’s house has some artwork which seemed Pinocchio-esque to me and Dr. Whale’s collaboration with the Mayor is one reason David is currently with Kathryn instead of Mary Margaret. Finally, Pinocchio became a real boy after an encounter with a whale.
What do you think?
image courtesy of wikipedia
Sami H said,
December 28, 2011 @ 3:56 am
I think he is somebody wealthy, dr=$ whale=$(at the casinos anyway)
Melissa said,
December 29, 2011 @ 9:48 pm
I thought Hopper’s best friend (drawing a blank) was Pinocchio. He was in the episode where Dr. Hopper was revealed as Jiminy Cricket. I’m still debating Dr. Whale, but I love that actor. I’ll have to think on it further, but I believe he is diabolical since that actor always plays diabolical characters.
lightheartedlibrarian said,
December 30, 2011 @ 2:24 pm
I thought Gepetto was Hopper’s best friend? His StoryBrooke name is Marco, I think? If that episode is still on my tv, we’ll have to watch it again.
anneris31 said,
December 30, 2011 @ 2:58 pm
Interesting theory. I never made the connection about the look he gave Ruby.
Personally, I think he might be King Triton for no reason other than the fact that his name is sea-related.
lightheartedlibrarian said,
December 30, 2011 @ 6:24 pm
Hmmm … I hadn’t thought of Triton. I also hadn’t considered that the Queen might be upset about someone other than a lover—that’s definitely something to think about.
Hiatuses totally suck! The only good thing about them is that I tend to rewatch the earlier episodes and spot things I’d missed before.
wendy said,
January 2, 2012 @ 3:38 am
He could be pinocchio because of the whale ordeal or because pinocchio tells a “whale of a story” and his nose grows…dont know of any other whale stories so its gotta b him and hes the evil queens “puppet” for reasons unknown, dr. “whale” is too weird a name for it not to mean something….LUV THE SHOW, ESP. RUMPLE!!
lightheartedlibrarian said,
January 3, 2012 @ 4:24 pm
I’m still inclined to think he’s Pinocchio but having rewatched several episodes this weekend, I’m doubting myself a bit. Pinocchio was still a boy when the Queen’s curse hit everyone—is it possible that the curse altered his age? It did revert Jiminy Cricket to his human form.
LOVE this show. Robert Carlyle is amazing as Rumpelstiltskin!!!
Once Upon A Time: What About the Children? « Lighthearted Librarian’s Weblog said,
January 3, 2012 @ 8:29 pm
[...] of the television with my hot chocolate sprinkled with cinnamon, I found myself questioning my earlier theory about Dr. Whale: I still think he fits the character of Pinocchio well; however, the Marathon Weekend reminded me [...]
The Background Story said,
January 9, 2012 @ 2:56 am
I’m leaning towards Pinocchio, too. Dr. Whale, to me, seems to be a big boy and not a grown-up man (in terms of relationships with women), and that reminds me of Pinocchio’s desire to be a real boy.
Well, Dr. Whale’s playboy persona makes him a possible candidate for Peter Pan, too, but I’m going with Pinocchio because we already have Geppetto and Jiminy Cricket.
Also, Pinocchio in the story was swallowed by a whale. And also a liar.
anneelliot said,
February 1, 2012 @ 7:34 am
I’m still leaning toward Big Bad Wolf, personally. While the leer at Red could be coincidental, until recently I wasn’t sure of the spelling of his name. I thought it could be ‘Wail’ = ‘Howl’ = ‘Wolf’. I don’t think it’s beyond the writers to conveniently spell it Whale to make you think of Monstro and throw the viewers off the scent. Lord knows they’ve really pulled some serious twists the last two weeks with double- and even triple-casting characters, such as Glass and Gold. (Don’t want to spoil anyone by being more clear about that.) Without more time around Dr. Whale, we can’t be sure, but I lean heavily toward wolf. He’s got ‘bad’ and ‘wolfish’ down big time.
lightheartedlibrarian said,
February 1, 2012 @ 8:29 pm
Interesting!