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Pay off needs to be shown on screen, not implied or shown off scree
The writers do emotional payoff to other storylines all the time, be they big or small.
Her being separated from her true loves is not satisfying.
But she’s not. She knows exactly where he is, what he’s doing and why he’s doing it and like she said at the end of their wedding, she knows they’ll handle whatever is coming. And it’s Sept 2017, Henry is the same age in HH as he was in New!EF so she’s actually only apart from him for a few months, at most, when the curse finally breaks, likely in May. It’s not like Snowing being separated for 28 yrs, a story that absolutely needed emotional on screen resolution. And again, the emotional resolution S7 is concerned with is not CS; it’s Cinderella and Henry. The whole story is geared toward that story, not past couples. If JMo really is one and done and Clone!Hook is not true, then S7B (or even S7A depending on when the curse breaks) ends with Hook saying goodbye to Henry, proud of his role in breaking the curse, and going home to Emma and SB. You don’t need JMo for that and you don’t need a big CS reunion because their story isn’t the one this season cares about.
The point is RG it’s one a majority of the audience cares about and if your putting them through the ringer of angst then yes you do need a pay off for the 20 + episodes of angst on screen. Not having it is gonna feel like a massive rip off, because what was the point of all that angst. To not see Hook reunite with Emma and his child? It’d be disgusting.
It goes back to the whole why should I care about these new characters getting happy endings when the old characters I’ve invested 6+ years that I do know can have their happy endings be put in jeopardy. I choose the old characters over the new any day as would the majority of the audience. Hence why buzz for the newbies is completely dead. The only time this show really gets buzz now is when they announce an old cast member returning. Nothing about the new characters is getting clicks.
This is why Clone idea works.
You solve the issue of Emma only in one episode.
You show us that CS are living HEA.
You have CS still on the show through Rogers search for what he’s missing aka Emma and his child.
You have Rogers in the finale go back to the real Hook so he can continue to live his HEA w/ Emma and his child.
The only way the he is our Hook theory works and it ends in a satisfying way is if we see a post curse reunion in 7×02. We see Hook reunite w/ Emma and their baby at the end of the episode post curse so we know with confidence they live HEA. Then the rest of the season is about getting to that moment. Otherwise it’s gonna bomb and Colin has spoken adamantly all season that CS fans have nothing to worry about, that CS are together and they’re living their HEA. An off screen reunion is horrible and completely unappealing and not a worthy pay off whatsoever to the angst we’d go through in S7.