Nice Jenna!
YES – there was so much in 2×06 that they referenced the other day in setting them up as kindred spirits etc. It was ALWAYS there and ALWAYS INTENDED to be there and it worked so they were able to continue on with their plan (thank goodness!)
Love love love how many things were set up in that episode that are now paying off more and more as well. She’s even got Henry apartment hunting for her and finding her a place near the water (does he know his mother or what?) I always loved that her first thought after randomly pointing at the map to find a place to live was “is it near water?” because Emma gravitates to water, she always has (makes sense, Snowing’s castle is surrounded by it) and so much of the imagery of S1 even has to do with ships and water. Emma always tries to live near the water (Tallahassee is NOT near the water. It’s like…2 hrs from the beach).
Matt and I were chatting about this the other day so full credit to him but it’s basically a fire vs water thing. Not trying to be harsh or anti-Neal or anything because he was an important part of the puzzle and helped make her who she is (and we were given a LOT of that in Tallahassee to explain why she can’t let herself trust Hook at the end if it), but throughout her life, even in her fake missing year life, fire has burned her and it’s always been water that has soothed her in some way. It’s what she gravitates back towards and that is what Killian represents for her. His great love of his life outside of people has been the sea. It’s part of him, but it’s part of her too.
That’s why I’ve never understood people say that she hates the water or wouldn’t want to be on the ship etc. etc. SHE LIKES WATER. She was born in a castle surrounded by it. It’s what comforts her which is why she wants to go places that have it. Clearly the one time she lived somewhere that didn’t things did not go well, but even before that happened her inclination was to go somewhere that had it. The people she trusted Henry with most in the missing year had boats. Henry knows to look for a place that overlooks the water to make her happy. She’s always surrounded by pictures of the sea, or ships, or ship helms. It adds up!
Love the details in 2×06 though. All the keychains were turned around except the one Neal picked up for her (the swan) and then right next to it is a little hart with a jolly roger on it. *CS feels*
Then we have the ever so subtle (not remotely subtle) “Everything we need is right in front of us” *Hook walks right in front of Emma* and of course, Emma grabbing him more in an embrace rather than just grabbing his jacket.
And we can’t forget the ever incredible hand wrap scene. SO ROMANTIC. He did not have to do that and definitely not that way but *swoon* – she was genuinely surprised but let him.
He read her on DAY 1 and she understood very quickly that they were kindred spirits, even if she was afraid to trust him (which she spelled out and, hello, with that flashback especially of course she wondered if he’d be like Neal was with what she knew at the time).
They set up so many things in that episode (and Jane & Christine both tweeted to the effect of people should be shipping them or they hoped people were shipping them or aren’t they great together), and we had Hook point out they make quite the team, and we saw just how alike they are at times. SO MANY THINGS.
So glad they’re finally paying that off and letting that fully be explored. We’ve seen a lot of him obviously having feelings for her and her being special and bringing out the best in him (I swear Milah just brought out the worst in both of her known suitors – poor Belle and Emma have to do damage control!), but we haven’t gotten to see as much of the blatant Emma is totally into this guy – at least not to the point that the other side can’t deny it exists and is a real thing.
Still on an emotional high from A&E both instantly saying “Always” when asked if they intended Hook to love Emma. This is what they wanted all along and what we’ve said the clues always led to and it was just so nice to see them actually confirm that (not that ANYBODY but CSers believe them – of course – whatever), but I love that they’re finally getting to talk about that. You could TELL at PaleyFest last year they were so excited about it but couldn’t say anything (though they were quick to jump on Ginny’s comment, that’s for sure!) and Jen has said she knew where the CSF situation was going from the time that MRJ & Colin were cast which explains the extreme lack of poker faces.
Pretty sure half of Colin’s script says something to the effect of *stare longingly at Emma* and so many of those types of things were there from the very beginning. They set her up perfectly to be someone who would genuinely IMPRESS HIM as well as be able to understand him and be a kindred spirit for sure. That awe and respect was there from the start. He even put his plan to the side when her plan sounded better and went along with it. Fearsome pirate captain in charge of everything who hates women – right, cause that happened. (Um, no – he was impressed and appreciative of her intelligence.)
Can’t wait for tomorrow night! I feel like the Killian side of me is just hoping he finally is shown that he’s loved too (I think deep down he knows it, it’s just so hard for him to keep being kicked around even though he totally understands she has walls and is protecting her heart and he gets that), and the Emma side of me is just really wanting her to finally let her walls down and accept that she is loved and let herself take that kind of risk again. It’ll tie in nicely to the leap of faith from 3×01 as well as allll the talk in 3×12 that shows she wants this in her life, but she keeps picking the wrong guys who break her heart in one way or another. Killian is there to show her she CAN have it all and that she IS loved and that there is someone out there who will fight for her like her parents fight for each other. That they can be “quite the team” and actually be a TEAM.
I think that’s why she was frustrated more than anything with him keeping secrets (and even pointed out it was EXACTLY like Charming not telling Snow about the poison). Like mother, like daughter. They don’t WANT someone making decisions for them and most of Emma’s life has been decided by other people. It needs to be her choice so of course she was upset. This is the one person who has always treated her like an equal and a partner and hasn’t been making decisions for her without her input, and then he went and did what the others did (in her eyes) and that’s not what she wants – she doesn’t want to fall back down that particular rabbit hole, so to speak.
But that anger drifted away when she gave up everything to save him and they’re back on good terms now even though she’s still planning on leaving which is painful to watch for his sake but I have every faith it will be alright by the end of the finale!
I’m sorry but you can’t tell me she doesn’t care about him. She was willing to let Neal die to get information from Rumple on how to defeat Zelena. She asked Rumple to figure out a way to save him but never tried a kiss, or her magic (which is STRONGLY tied in with her emotions) etc, she went along with the devastating loss because it was “for the greater good.” Fast forward to knowing how to defeat Zelena, and that it was her magic that was needed to do so (or so they thought at the time) AND KNOWING that any contact of her lips with Killian’s would result in the LOSS OF HER MAGIC, aka the thing that would defeat Zelena, aka basically the thing Neal died for, she still rescued Killian and risked EVERYTHING, including her own existence, so that Killian would exist. She couldn’t lose him and her actions speak louder than any words ever could (even though they also parallel S1 MM perfectly. “Come back to me” *major feels*)
This show has always been an ensemble. Everyone is an important piece to the puzzle, even if only for a fraction of the time. They play their parts and are exactly what the writers needed them to be. We don’t like it because they catered it to us, we like it because we saw something beautiful in it from the start and have followed the bread crumbs which led us to the right destination. Seriously, if Emma started dating Gepetto or something (for example – had to think of someone she isn’t usually shipped with!), then THAT would be out of thin air and I’d totally get crying foul but clearly a huge chunk of the fandom has been following the clues that got us here (including a TON of interviews, parallels, foreshadowy comments/camera angles etc; especially JMO’s Manhattan interviews and the Manhattan parallels in general, along with sooo manyyyy quotes).
Emma’s poster is the last one to complete and with the title of this episode etc, everything is coming together! Friendly reminder: Emma and Hook talked about HOME in Tallahassee as well. It is NOT nor has it EVER BEEN what only ONE characters wants/needs/deserves. They ALL do. Sorry it’s just a pet peeve. Nobody owns the word “home” and Emma’s definition of “home” has evolved in the last decade and has meant many things including her life with HENRY and she’s also discussed it with Hook in that VERY SAME EPISODE that everyone keeps quoting but forgetting she said it in present day WITH HOOK. *deep breath*
So glad it’s finally playing out like they always wanted it to. Some things are more set in stone and others evolve as the story goes on but they’ve been pretty upfront about things (they even said they almost killed off Charming in the pilot for crying out loud), but no hesitation that Hook was always meant for Emma. (Add that to allll the other quotes including very early on from JMO in a foreign magazine saying something about a love interest that started as a villain, and then Meghan saying right after 2×06 that more would be happening with Emma & Hook, and The Enemies – Colin’s band – telling the world that they were losing him to the Swan girl I mean really. Colin didn’t uproot his life and give up his band for nothing. He was brought in for a purpose and they said they always had a very specific one in mind for him and that that is playing out – and it is!)
They made him a regular before his episodes even aired because he was everything they wanted for the man they planned on for their main character. The initial SKETCHES of Emma had her wearing a long piratey jacket (see the first Once magazine) etc. etc. These two were always meant to be!
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.