I don’t know about TLK, but I don’t see them falling in love this episode. For some reason though, my intuition keeps flagging episode 19 (A curious thing) as a possibility. It doesn’t necessarilly mean TLK, but my gut says there’s going to be something. I’ve nothing to back it up with and could be wrong, but….let’s just call it a feeling.
As for how Emma will fall in love with Hook: Emma is blinded right now. She’s blinded by her walls, which are comprised of two things: Fear, and caution which come from recent events, and her perception of normal as developed since childhood. She never had any stability. She always had to depend on herself. She’s never learned to completely trust anybody. Something will have to disrupt her foundation; her world view, and shake her perception of normality for these walls to come down. They might never come down, completely.
Remember: When people fall in love with someone, they don’t just give them their heart. They accept a vulnerability with an acceptance of that person being worth the risk that they might get hurt. Emma’s walls are why for now, for her to fall in love with Hook, she will need to make herself vulnerable. For her to do that, I think will take something shocking, or drastic; at least, at this point. People don’t just say okay, you win, let down their walls, kiss, and walk away holding hands while birds sing. No, her foundation needs to be shaken, and her world view disrupted.
Why do I know this? I am a foster parent. I have learned a lot, and having spoken to other parents about older children, have learned about attachment issues which develop after years of no stability. It’s not just a matter of not wanting to have relationships. Remember: Emma was a foster child her whole life. she probably never really learned how to develop or maintain long-term relationships. When she was ready to try that with Neal, she got her heart broken (and Walsh ended up being a flying monkey.
Remember how hesitant she was, when Walsh asked for her hand in marriage? She trusted Walsh to a point, but her hesitation, if it was in any part due to her superpower, was mostly due to what a “marriage” would represent to her, and the part of herself she’d have to give up; the walls she’d put up became an object of security for her, and that meant loosing some of that. Her wall was fortified even more, when she learned walsh was someone she couldn’t trust. That’s why she’s so cold toward Hook. She doesn’t dislike him, but she doesn’t trust him, either. She can’t. Not yet.
Emma is a very intelligent and beautiful lady with a lot of street smarts, but in many ways, is still a child herself. That’s why one of two things will need to happen for her to become receptive to a long-term relationship. It will need to be a slow-burn (which in a real-world setting can take years), or something drastic will need to happen, which would be traumatic enough to shake her perception of reality.
Sorry, long post, and I know a lot of it may seem redundant, but I hope my point comes across well.
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