Reply To: Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

[Slurpeez]

My initial impression of 3×12 is actually really good! I loved seeing Emma in her element in NYC. She said it was like a really good dream. I LOVE that Emma, even when cursed, ended up in Neal’s home city because of a fire…BaelFIRE. I adored every moment of seeing her and Henry interact and have a wonderful family. It’s understandable that Henry and Emma thought Neal had abandoned them, because they had no real memory of the past several years or the reasons why Neal did those things. I think though now that Emma remembers those things she’s going to understand and even sympathize again with Neal. She even nearly had a fake fiancé named Walsh, who turned out to be evil. She said she loved Walsh. I’m thinking that is going to help Emma understand how Neal could have loved Tamra, his evil fiancee. Lots of parallels.

I thought it was amazing, actually! I even enjoyed the scenes between Hook and Emma more than I’d expected. I think there are a lot of gaps to be filled in of course. It seems like Hook was never part of the second curse, since David said they were trapped and Hook didn’t know what effects the curse had on the people of SB. Somehow Hook escaped the curse. Hook took off from the rest of the group early on in order to look for his ship and only learned about the curse and SB being recreated via a message. It’s interesting that Hook flat out said the Enchanted Forest was not his home but that the Jolly Roger is. He said the hero thing didn’t work for him and said he’d always been a pirate. Yep, good luck getting Killian into a pair of blue jeans and a flannel shirt anytime soon. The sea in in his blood. He has no desire to change out of his pirate getup. It’s also interesting that Emma called Hook a “ghost” and said flat out that he is not an ex, because they were never an actual item.

Also, I really liked the scenes between Neal, Snow, and Charming. Neal was not about to let go of Emma and Henry the way Emma’s parents were. I LOVED the scenes between Neal and Belle. They’re both on the same page of finding Rumple. And Belle reassured Neal that he would see Emma and Neal again. I may have squealed with *delight* when she said that, because it’s further confirmation of what Neal told Emma and Henry in 3×11! I love that Belle sees the good in people and knows what a good and genuine heart Neal has. It sounds like she’s going to help him in his quest. Even though Neal said he hoped he wouldn’t have to cast another curse to get back to his son and Emma, suggesting he might’ve been the one to assist, I think that is a misdirection. I don’t think Neal will give into darkness like his father did, especially not with Belle around to be his moral guide and companion. I think he’s instead going to find Glinda the Good Witch who will help him return to A Land Without Magic, perhaps by a similar method that Dorothy did using the silver slippers.