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The way I think of Tallahassee then and now, is still the same. The purpose of the flashback was not show us, Neal as a potential love interest for Emma in the present but to show us what went wrong in that past relationship, how the fault affects her in the present and why a future with Neal now if they were reunited (which they were later) probably was not in the cards. But also to show us the contrast of these two different men.
There’s Hook, who’s loyal, honest (mostly) and in most respects, quite the opposite of Neal. Basically, Hook was introduced to show us the type of man Emma needs now; someone who loves her unconditionally, puts her first above everything else, values her strengths and her person (there’s another word I was trying to think of here). Hook does all these things and more for Emma, whereas Neal for the most part of season two, behaved the opposite with Emma.
We’ve heard and seen that true loves can’t move on from each other.
Emma closed herself off to love, clinging to that past she had with Neal and meanwhile, he met someone new and moved on with his life; when the implication was when he asked for the postcard from August was that he would drop whatever he’s doing and go after Emma with the intention of reuniting with her. Except that’s not what happened. And that was something Emma was aware of after reuniting with Neal in Manhattan, that Neal knew about the curse and didn’t come back for her. How do you think that made Emma feel that the one person she loved didn’t come back for her when it mattered? It hurt. It’s like JMo said, it made her question his feelings for her.
And however you look at the Echo Caves scene, the way we see it generally is that Emma wanted to move on from Neal. How else are you supposed to interpret Emma wishing that Neal was dead?
I don’t think Emma’s ever questioned Hook’s feelings for her because he’s always been upfront about his feeling about her. He’s not afraid to show her how he feels and flirted with her every chance he got in 3B. And that’s what Emma needs, constant reassurance that Hook’s feelings are never going to change and hopefully, with time, she’ll realize that she is safe with emotionally and doesn’t have to afraid to hide herself from him. I think this is something that Emma is still learning.
Her sharing the box with him in last week’s episode, all of those items represented a part of her childhood, some good and some bad. She could have refused to show him but she chose to let him see that part of her that likely very few have seen. It’s a small scene but it has huge implications about Emma growing as a person and learning to trust him with parts of her that she still hides.
Totally agree with ALL of this.