Reply To: Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

As far as CS, I think there’s a big difference between allowing actions as a fan and writing those actions. A&E may write “whatever they want” and know that the Hook fans will whitewash it, but when they sit down to write an episode, it’s a blank slate. When they sat down to write 317 and Hook’s backstory of the lost year, they COULD have written him as having changed due to his time spent with Emma. They didn’t go, “Oh, Hook murdered, how do we justify that,” as the fans did, they said, “What did Hook do during the lost year? Oh, he killed a guy.” The things we see onscreen are the things they intentionally choose to show us about a character, and the things they are choosing to reveal about Hook’s character are consistently the opposite of what Emma would want if she was privy to them.

I agree insofar as the writers aren’t the ones trying to justify murder. That’s called fan rationalization. However, I do think the writers are wrong to pretend Hook is a romantic hero type when his actions obviously suggest otherwise. I think A&E just say crap like that to appease the CS fans to keep them watching. However, I believe A&E are totally aware that Hook’s actions firmly suggest otherwise, as the not-cursed-hand incident was meant to expose Hook as being at fault for beating a man, and not some curse.

Another difference I realized is that from what little screen time Rubmelle has had recently, the writers don’t try to sell Rumple lying to Belle as romantic. Fans of Rumbelle may rationalize Rumple lying to Belle (though to be fair, I haven’t witnessed such rationalization). From what I can tell, fans of Rumbelle seem to fully acknowledge that right now, the things going on in Rumple’s marriage are problematic, unlike CS fans who think all of CS’s problems right now are external, rather than internal. A lot of CS fans are putting the blame for Hook’s bad behavior onto Rumple, even though Hook is the one who was stupid enough to blackmail the dark one and then threaten his wife.

Hook has sooooooo many secrets from her – Milah, Bae/Pan, Blackbeard, teaching Henry to cheat, the cursed hand, Will, etc – and I continue to maintain they have built the story that way for a reason. In all honesty, my default is the assumption that they’re going CS because that’s what logic says (despite my gut disagreeing,) but time and time and time again since 316 I’ve been surprised and what they’ve *not* done to build them as a duo and what they *have* done to undermine them. If they are writing them as an endgame, TL ship, why would you undermine them so? I look at it in more of a writing pattern/trope fashion and I just keep going back to, this is not how you write a Ross and Rachel, this is not how you write a Meredith and Derek, this is not how you write a Cory and Topenga. They all had issues and they all screwed up but none of them went behind the other one’s back and just undermined the core trust of the relationship – repeatedly and consistently. Screwing up ONE time and then building a story around hiding that error and the lie piling on is far different than a clear and consistent pattern of making choices that are not only/just poor but really contrary to the core of the other one’s character.

The repetitiveness of Hook’s continued selfish and dark behavior is what has me wondering if he’ll ever have a “true conversion” moment. Is he finally getting a wake up call now? Was his not-cursed-hand meant to show self-awareness of his inner darkness? Will he turn a corner and come clean to Emma before she discovers the truth for herself? I want to see a sense of real moral reckoning in Hook before I ever learn to accept CS. If I could see signs of real inward change in Hook, then I might even be inclined to like him. *Shock!* But the writers have continued not to give this to us. I’m not overly picky! I can like the reformed bad boy, but in order for that to happen, he actually has to reform. They have to show a real redemption arc. And no, trading his ship for Emma doesn’t count, because Hook killed Blackbeard to get said ship. *Not buying the ‘change’*

Maybe I’ve spent too much time shipping in my life, I dunno, but I just don’t see them writing this ship in the way you do to build permanancy. Rather, I see it written like you write a Rachel and Joey – it is to serve a purpose, for a time, and then it is done.

I don’t think Hook is ever going to be as lovable as Joey was (even though the guy had his flaws). But I totally see your point that Hook is to Emma as Joey was to Rachel insofar as they were never meant to end up together. I think Joey and Phoebe should’ve ended up together instead, but never mind, since that’s neither her nor there.