@KFChimera wrote:
I definitely agree that characters start off as flawed so they can have room to grow. Yet those flaws, and the writers choice to have Emma believe Neal is dead (rather than having the hope he is still alive and refusing to believe it), also opens a door for the audience to root for Emma to fall for someone else, like Hook, who has just grown a little (I”m suddenly thinking of the grinch…his heart grew two sizes!).
Yup, as as much as I love SwanFire I suspect this is is exactly how it’s going to play out. The writers have given reign to Captain Swan speculations long enough for it not to happen at all, but Emma wouldn’t even consider another man so long as she could still hold a candle for her Tallahasse dream with Neal. It’s only natural for them to take this Neal-less time in her life to build up the alternative.
@KFChimera wrote:
I’m still leaning to thinking Neal will eventually grow and overcome his damaged past, and be given the chance to prove his worth so to speak. I could also see the writers ending things with a happy ending for Neal that focuses more on his filial love for Henry than romantic love for Emma. I just don’t think the portal scene, as touching as it was, had enough build up for the kind of “ok, these two are meant to be” conclusion that some draw, and I think that was on purpose. There are lots of things the writers could have done to provide more development and they chose not to do it. They’re probably well aware of those tropes, as this isn’t their first rodeo, and some of them have written quite epic love triangles before. I’d prefer they continue to subvert the trope stuff, like they did with Tamara (hah, talk about a romantic false lead!) and use it in a way that leads a romantic viewer down a garden path only to pull the rug out from under us (oh, he loves her, he’s doing it to help her….oh wait….he’s Bluebeard.). Not that I want Neal to be revealed to be a big bad, because I’m sappy. I just think in terms of storytelling over all, that these writers love to have twists. I’m waiting for what the twist is here, but I am hoping for a happy sappy ending too.
They’re very obviously avoiding a situation that’d make undoubtly clear to the audience who’s Emma’s meant to be with, that’s for sure; I for certain don’t expect a TLK between either Neal/Emma or Hook/Emma anytime soon. That said, what Neal and Emma had definitely doesn’t seem like your run-of-the-mill love story, seeing how they never really could let go of each other despite all the pain to the point of each of them keeping an object that was significant to the relationship they once had – a trait that known true love couples like Snowing and Rumbelle share with Ruth’s Ring and the Chipped Cup. And while there’s always the chance they’ll take their separate ways and just be two good friends who co-parent, I’m confident that a show that’s about hope and has Henry as its main MacGuffin would naturally gravitate towards an ending that better reflects what’d a happy ending for Henry be the most, and The Evil Queen episode clearly shows that involves Neal and Emma being together again.
I’ve always been enamored with the idea that Bae was Henry’s father, but before Tallahasse I’ve always thought that’d come from nothing more than fling between them, especially with the theories that existed back then that he was a married guy. In this context, Emma’s endgame would still be a big blank slate since her relationship with Henry’s father wasn’t that significant. That’s not how it happened, though; in fact, it was quite the opposite. Their love story feels so much like it was an intense one for them to not really letting of each other despite all the years apart that I can’t see Neal not having an unfair advantage over Hook in Emma’s heart. That the majoriy of the main cast would naturally gravitate towards Neal than Hook in the battle for Emma’s heart doesn’t help things either.
Given the way they handled Neal and Emma, I feel like they should’ve instead chosen Regina for a triangle. Despite all her psychological problems, her true love is known to be dead, ensuring her in a most definite way to be a blank slate for a real, “there are no contextual clues that point towards who she’ll end up with” triangle.