RG, yesterday I had a thought that the “gap” between 315 & 322 – the waiting game, to see how the season ends up – has become less a question of “will Neal return” and more a, “Will RG find hope again?” I cheer every time I see you find a spark of hope, so I hope to see it again soon. I definitely understand it’s easier NOT to hope right now though!! TRUST me I do, kind of wish I could feel the same and move on. But, like it or not, the trolls have me until 322. After that, we will see. My love of the show predates this as a ship, and I go back and forth between, “I love the show most of all,” and, “The show I loved most of all died when it killed one of its most central characters and irrevocably altered its message.”
Anyways. I worked an event yesterday, in a rural parking lot where we had absolutely no traffic, and so I spent several hours essentially staring at a billboard for a company called “Ariel.” Needless to say, thoughts wandered, and I started pondering that episode, and the triangle. I have had some thoughts, and they are probably crack-y, but I did have a thought with regards to how one might see a death/resurrection of Neal as necessary to resolve the triangle (and theoretically the shipping wars.) Someone, some many pages back, illustrated the resolution of the triangle as being Emma standing in front of the two guys, pointing at one of them, and exclaiming, “YOU!” It made me giggle. Certainly, that would be the simple resolution, but since we’re not watching The Bachelor, it is not likely as cut-and-dried. But, still, whichever guy she chooses, there is the possibility of ambiguity – she chooses Guy A, but she doesn’t NOT choose Guy B. It leaves the wiggle room in fans’ minds that if it were not for Guy A, perhaps Guy B would have a chance.
If – and it’s a huge if, I accept – what they have done is temporarily remove Neal from the canvas; there is no triangle any more. As it stands at this moment, she cannot NOT choose Hook because she is choosing Neal, because Neal is not there. So if at this point she shoots Hook down (and in my TV viewing experience, I think there is a significant chance that because tonight’s previews went so far towards implying one thing, the episode may well deliver the exact opposite,) it is because she is NOT choosing Hook – not merely because she is choosing someone else. I can see where the writers MIGHT have felt the need to have her clearly not choose him, ever, under any circumstances – for her to effectively say, “I know I can’t choose Neal, but I am STILL not choosing you, not because I hate you (or whatever,) but because you are not right for me.” This is not an either/or situation, it’s a Guy B is not right, regardless of whether Guy A was right or not.
To me, it goes back to how I viewed her conversation in Dark Hollow, where, “This is not a contest,” read to me as – there *isn’t* a competition. From Emma’s POV, that was not a Hook vs. Neal situation, because the two were not on equal footing – TO EMMA, there was no contest. It wasn’t, “Should I pick Neal or Hook,” but rather, “How do I deal with my feelings for Neal?” and then also, there is this pirate trying to confess his undying love. She just kind of… doesn’t deal with it, sidesteps him, over and over. I was astonished to find in my rewatch that MOST often, Emma’s reaction to Hook is one of… annoyance. I just don’t feel like we’re going CS, no matter how much the previews may imply that’s where we’re headed. I have my fingers and toes crossed Emma puts an end to this foolishness, for once and for all. (I don’t really hold out hope that it will actually happen, but I am crossing my digits that it does.)
I am wandering, but point being, I can see justification from the direction of the writers to feel the need to end the triangle with each duo on its own merits. I can see where they MIGHT feel it is a good idea to completely remove one side of the triangle, then resolve the other side, no interference. Then when they reinstate the initial side, the only issues that need to be dealt with are the ones in that relationship, without interlopers. I can see where they might get the (IMO, misguided, unfortunately) idea that if they deal with each relationship as not Emma choosing one guy or the other, but rather, assessing each guy individually – no, this doesn’t work; yes, this does work – it might forestall the fanbase wars. After all, how can one fanbase blame the other guy for their ship not sailing… if the other guy is dead? Granted we all know fanbases don’t work that way, but I can see TPTB thinking it is a grand idea.
Anyways. As someone who is now watching the show week-to-week, trying to decide if the show has a) completely changed course or b) is being written as ‘the end justifies the means,’ and the means is junky but the end will be awesome, I am just pondering these things. I expect tonight to be a really key episode in the direction of not just the shipping wars but the show for me. Are they going to go ahead and retcon Emma, make her take up with a pirate for whom she has shown few affections a mere two days after her TL died? Or are they going to write her in character, and finally give her the gumption to say, “Knock it off dude, I’m just not that into you?” I think the former is more likely – and it will likely be the final nail in the coffin for me, NOT because I am all, “I’m not gonna watch if there is CS!” but because it reinforces the hard left the show has been taking since 314. (I actually don’t mind CS, or I should say, I didn’t mind it until I rewatched and realized that if CS were an actual relationship, it would be an abusive one. And it terrifies me that they are going to portray that as okay. If a guy says he loves you, you should ignore the part where he throws you into the wall, because he’s hot and he’s a good kisser ‘n’ stuff. *rollingeyes* But I digress.)
Stupid hope.
Cause this story needs some mending & a better happy ending...