They always say things like that. It’s annoying cause it feels like they’re placating people who are going to hate it but technically “right now” and “might change soon” still come into play so I think it will pay off and soon. It’s just another way of emphasizing that she’s kinda preoccupied with learning her magic and defeating Zelena.
Jane is MUCH more open with how things should be interpreted and always has been (and her tweets lately have been very good for us for sure).
I agree though – it’s rather annoying when it’s been made somewhat obvious as well as the writer of the episode who knows what they’re supposed to be working with is telling us that she’s “open and playful” but perhaps that isn’t 100% fully want to kiss “right now” but it’s still an important evolution because she’s the one cheering him up and focusing on his feelings for once instead of just the other way around – we need them to meet halfway.
We saw this a TON in Season 1 where she was finally opening up to and obviously caring about Henry without fully realizing/accepting what that actually meant for her until she was under duress with him being under the sleeping curse. I’m basically expecting something major to finally get her to crack – it’s just who she is and she doesn’t tell people how she feels until it’s close to too late because those are the moments that really show you what matters – when you’re about to lose something.
I had to laugh earlier, I was seeing a ton of stuff about how it doesn’t count if bigger forces make you realize how you feel. Ok then so….Emma doesn’t love Henry? Doesn’t call Snow & Charming “Mom and Dad” only when they think they’re all about to die? The big “romantic” goodbye before Neal’s “death” (which was drastically different the second time around) etc etc. It just baffles me, given that that’s Emma’s M.O. basically. She suppresses everything, focuses on the bigger picture, lets people in slowly but surely, and doesn’t realize just how much she cares until it’s almost too late even though we see bits and pieces of that along the way.
Same with TLK – it doesn’t matter WHAT the circumstances are because if it’s TLK – by definition it’s TL. We’ve seen LOTS of TL couples kiss with nothing happening. But when it needs to break something? How is that a bad TLK? That’s…kinda the point of it? Even being orchestrated by Zelena (who is looking more and more like Kathy Bates in Misery), that’s how TLK works! It’s there to break a curse. Is it ideal? Of course not. It’s annoying and she’s evil. Is it plot-devicey? Depends on who you ask. I’d love for Emma to just be open to Killian and go kiss him without being prodded in that direction by yet another villain (they seriously have it out for CS and they all try to keep them apart!), but would that be a proven TLK if they did? Not so much – it would be a kiss and, like the last time, we’d never hear the end of how it doesn’t matter etc etc. But a TLK? It doesn’t matter the circumstances because if it works? It works. It’s TL. (For goodness sakes, Snowing’s first kiss ever as far as we can tell from the timeline was a failed TLK attempt followed by a real kiss and then much later proven as TL.)
So if the kiss is because of Zelena threatening everyone, especially Henry (looking more and more likely) will it be frustrating? Absolutely. We’re hoping that a TLK breaks the kissing curse but since we have no idea how a TLK affects a curse that is in itself a kiss? We have nothing to go on like we did with the memory curses. We have no way of knowing if it can break that kind of curse until we see what happens. I know what we’re hoping for, but we just don’t know until we get there. I hope it does break it and surprise Zelena just because it would be even more heartbreaking for Hook to think once again that it failed, and for Emma to lose her magic would be dreadful, but we just don’t know. Have to wait and see.
Given earlier guesses in the season, especially based on S1, I would have much preferred to see Emma have a wake-up call like she did with Henry, and I’m still somewhat wondering if we’ll get that in some way. This is one of those cases where we love one idea and get attached but we have to wait and see. I don’t like Zelena at all and I’m furious with her stupid attempt to keep them apart (the villains have done more than their fair share already, grr), and I could see her finding out and just doing it to save Henry etc and that’s definitely not how I want another kiss to go, but we’ll have to see how it plays out if that’s what happens.
Only a handful of episodes left this season but I feel optimistic about where we’ll end up. Now it’s just about finding out the little stops along the way. They’ve built up way too much for it to crash and burn now, especially over Zelena. In a way it’s forcing Hook to take a step back and for Emma to be the one who’s trying to get to the bottom of things and figure out why he’s upset and trying to cheer him up. I love that she tried to send him the drink since that’s kind of their thing (he always shares or tries to share his rum with her, and cocoa with cinnamon is her family’s drink). It shows that she cares too which is nice since some people still see to think she hates him or something.
Evil evil sneak! Stop tying him up and torturing him! Reminds me of the “fun way” he was supposed to be brought back into the story in S2 – A&E have a different version of “fun” than we do apparently. And I’m STILL waiting on “the fun to begin” but I imagine that will likely be more S4 once other big events have happened. After all Emma is a tough nut to crack and they’ve said repeatedly she needs someone to persistently show her that they’re not going anywhere and is different from what she’s dealt with in the past and he’s doing that. From someone who has trust issues, that’s what it takes, especially when you expect them to just leave or betray you no matter how much you want to believe they won’t. It HAS been a slow burn and we probably have a bit more to go, even if a TLK were to work sometime soon. I don’t see Emma just accepting that 100% and turning all lovey-dovey. She needs time to process everything as usual and bigger things are happening. It should make for some cute moments though once her TL is proven regardless and it’s nice to see Emma smile and be playful that’s for sure! Now if we could just get Zelena to stop threatening Henry! GRR!
Quite often, especially in fairy tale stories like the ones we’ve seen, couples are bonded over their adventures / common enemies etc. We’ve seen CaptainSwan make “quite the team” repeatedly and each villain they overtake only brings them closer together. The stakes are higher and definitely inconvenient, especially when you’re always focusing on the mission, but knowing that the person you’re with has your back every time no matter what and under HORRIBLE circumstances, especially when villains are offering them the easy way out (like Pan did with Hook) and they’re not taking it? THAT BUILDS TRUST. And trust is a big part of CaptainSwan, and has been building exponentially this season – something she’s never quite managed to have in the past due to circumstances outside her control (the greater good, the Walsh guard monkey etc) but she’s relying on Killian and her actions show that. Now it’s just a matter of getting her to realize what exactly that means, just like with Henry in S1.
Edited for weird coding issues. Anybody else have that problem? I don’t even know what some of it stands for and certainly didn’t try to code any of it outside of mild spoilery stuff!
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.