In case of Neal the writers are walking on eggshells, and it’s really easy to come across the wrong way. They should be aware that the death of Neal, and how he died, is an issue in the fandom, for some fans more than for others, but overall an issue. Not that they have to care, but for marketing and PR it could be advisable to be aware of it. They are in the bad situation, that whatever they do could be taken the wrong way. No to mention would be as wrong as too much fanservice, bringing in the name, pictures, memory without doing anything for the plot and characters. Think they are walking a very, very fine line here at the moment. Now the pic in the recent episode of Emma and Neal, found in her box with memories – that was ambiguous. While remembering Neal was somewhat connected with the Emma flashback, another friend she made over stealing something, it still felt somewhat out of place, because this episode was about trust in friendship not so much romance. Did it do anything for the plot? Nope. Anything for the character (Emma)? Maybe. Was it any important in this moment? Don’t think so.
Mmmhm. Ambiguous is a good way to put it. Speaking on behalf of the SFers and the Neal fans of this board, since I’m obviously a big of that group, we’re all really…torn,…over it. It was a glorious moment for us and many of us were really emotionally moved. But then it was just straight up confusion because it didn’t feel like it came from a natural storytelling place. And then when we started looking at the episode as a whole–Neal and SF (specifically Tallahassee) were all over the place and that confused us ever more. Emma in plaid, Lily in a jacket and hoodie, stealing food, Lily being Emma’s “alabi” to an authority figure (both security oriented authority figures), talking about making a life together by the water (“is it by the beach?” It’s Florida. Everything is by a beach), breaking into a home to rest and eat and sleep, and ending with lies and betrayal. Then in the present day you had Emma’s Tallahassee (and 322 flashback) glasses, the photo, and the music. And we–the fans of that paring and of Neal–simply don’t know what to make of it. Because this might have been my favorite episode of the season and in large part because of this SF moment, but I just have no idea what to do with it now.