In regard to the ‘Hook hasn’t changed’ argument…I think that’s his entire arc this first half of the season…
And that’s all well and good if it’s what they have planned, problem is it’s the perception of MANY that he’s already redeemed. The moment his season 3 promo came out branding him a hero, MANY people glommed onto the idea before we’d even seen S3, during which in the opinion of MANY he did nothing to earn the hero label. So we ended up with the people who had their minds made up that he’s some sorta heroic Prince Charming type vs the people who sit and wonder what show that other group of people are even watching. The characters (and therefore the writers) seemed to have forgotten that he was gonna leave the whole town to die, but no biggie, it’s in the long distant past of S2, so the rest of the characters can just accept him as one of the good guys now because his promo poster said “HERO”.
And I know you don’t like comparing characters, but when you look at how much someone like Regina had to struggle to even begin to be accepted, that illustrates how little effort they put into attempting to integrate Hook with the good guys in a believable way IMO, considering he’s been no angel either. The writers go hard on Regina, but gave Hook a free pass, (none of the characters even seem curious about his past and who he really is and things he’s done), the writing isn’t consistent. That makes him feel shoehorned in just because they want him there ASAP and all the time, doesn’t matter if they haven’t taken the time to build up to him being properly redeemed and then properly known by and accepted by everyone. When you start looking at a character’s presence like that, resentment grows.