Ok, first I just want to say as a CSer, THANK YOU for the last few posts — I know it’s gotten a little tense during the hiatus but this is what I really like about this forum – we can have conversations about characters even when were on our different ‘ships – which I think makes watching the show even better.
I think there’s a common misconception that if someone doesn’t ship CS, they think that Hook is a waste of space and isn’t worth having on the show. (Same could probably be said about Neal and people who don’t ship SF.) And while that may be true in some cases, it’s most definitely not true in all. Those of us who don’t ship Hook with Emma just have a different perspective on the character, and still have plenty of insightful thoughts about him. If there’s a ship discussion going on, I’m prone to end up neck deep in it, pointing out Hook’s flaws as I see them, but just because I see him as being more flawed than a CS shipper might in certain cases, and want to hold him accountable for his actions in a different way, that doesn’t mean that I’m automatically hating on the character or that I’ve written him off.
Do we have one of these for Nealfire? Cause I’d love more perspective on him.
It hasn’t been posted in for almost a year, but there’s a Baelfire thread. And there’s also a CaptainFire thread.
Anywho, @Phee – excellent points. The arc has been a little too neat, I will give you that. But I think it’s just the beginning.
I hope so, because like I said, there’s far more they could do with him. I know his tagline for this season was about believing that a pirate can be a hero, and I know that many people do now consider him a hero. I’m not one of those people, because as I said in my previous post, I think he’s still largely selfishly motivated, and a true hero doesn’t do something good in the hopes that it will get him a reward and/or into a woman’s good graces, he just does it because it’s the right thing to do. He certainly has hero potential, but I don’t think it’s been realised yet, but I wouldn’t expect it to be realised yet, because all characters need to be truly tested and have to work at it before they’re granted that big hero moment as the crescendo for their redemption arc, like we saw happen with Rumple and Regina in 311.
Technically, like stated, it’s been 5 days. I think once you make the decision to change, the first few days are the easiest – like New Years resolutions! Once that initial ‘high’ of making a change in yourself is over and reality sets in, that change becomes a lot more difficult and if they don’t show that with Hook it 1) won’t feel real and 2) will be boring as all get-out.
He’s obviously changed his focus, he’s obviously felt a change of heart, but I dunno that I can say I see him as having “changed” yet. His major “change” was going from Navy man to pirate, and he’ll never be that same Navy man again, just like Rumple will never be the poor, scared man again, and Regina will never be the innocent girl with pure and simple desires again, but he can still embrace part of the good man he used to be way back then as his redemption progresses.
One thing he’s always been, for better or worse, is dedicated to a singular cause. As a Navy man he was 100% straight laced, obeyed the rules, the man didn’t even drink. Then in the blink of an eye he went 100% rogue. Many people thought that change was TOO fast, and as such it wasn’t believable. But if you consider how, (for want of a better term) “one eyed” he can be, I don’t find it completely unbelievable that the loss of Liam caused him to flip the switch that quickly. Then came Milah’s death, and again, instant, one eyed goal to fixate on with the revenge. So I don’t consider it out of character that he flipped the switch again with the kiss and became all about Emma. It bugs me that it happened during a storyline when I think they could have had him doing more interesting stuff instead (like RG said, he’s Captain Hook in NL and we barely even saw him interact with Pan), but I don’t consider it out of character, nor do I consider it unbelievable that he still wants Emma just as much a year later.
Now, I’m not saying that when he flips those switches it’s a hollow thing (which is why I wanted a better term than “one eyed” because it sorta has that hollow connotation), because each time it’s happened, it’s been emotionally motivated. The loss of his brother, the loss of his love, and the realisation that he can move on and love again – all very emotionally loaded situations. I’m just saying, this thing where he suddenly gets himself fixated on a particular goal/ideal is how he deals with life. He’s gotta find a balance if he’s ever gonna be truly satisfied in life, but before he can find that balance, he has to find the courage to let go of his one eyed way of thinking and lessen his grip on having to be in control.
That was one of my biggest issues with 3A. So much of his story (including interactions with PETER PAN! I mean COME ON! This is Captain Hook in NL and he barely interacted with PAN at all!!!!!!!) was swept aside.
I am praying to every deity that there will be more flashbacks of Hook in NL in the not too distant future, because WORD. All we know is that he did some dirty work for Pan and there was some incident that resulted in the death of Rufio, and frankly, that’s just not a satisfying amount of storytelling when it comes to Captain fricking Hook’s history with Peter fricking Pan.
Now, I get that the Hook/Pan stuff got sidelined so they could focus on the Rumple/Pan stuff instead, and I loved the Rumple/Pan stuff and wouldn’t want to have seen that sidelined at all, but imagine if the triangle – actually, let’s make it a rhombus – had been Rumple/Pan/Hook/Neal. Rumple and Pan have their many issues. Hook has a centuries long vendetta that he pretty much had to give up on, but you can’t tell me that part of him wouldn’t have been tempted to keep at it and achieve his goal if there was an underhanded way to do it. So maybe Pan tries to get Hook to work with him again (and we could see how they’d worked together before) against Rumple, because they both hate Rumple’s guts. Then Neal shows up, and if Hook ever had genuine affection for him as a kid, that could affect his desire to keep trying to off Rumple, because at the end of the day, Hook doesn’t want to destroy Neal’s family all over again, especially now when Neal’s on the verge of finally being able to reconcile with his father. But Pan, having worked with Hook before, has a certain amount of control over him and poses a real threat to him, so what does Hook do? Does he give in and play along with Pan again, because OMG does he wanna kill Rumple and he’ll have wasted centuries if he doesn’t achieve his revenge. Or does he do some soul searching, and defy and double cross Pan, (Hook revels in playing both sides), possibly putting his life in danger in the process, and ultimately end up helping to save Rumple and restore Neal’s family? That would have given us Hook/Pan stuff, Hook/Neal stuff, Rumple/Neal stuff, Rumple/Pan stuff, and some juicy material for Colin to sink his teeth into which would have resulted in some gritty character exploration. Instead we just got him puffing out his chest to try and win the girl. Like I said though, hopefully that’s just one step in a longer journey they have planned for him.