I think when Hook first started out, he had potential as a character. I disliked him because of his actions towards Rumple and his poor treatment of Belle, but overall he had potential. Tallahassee was a good episode for him.
However problems started to arise with his character when they tried to force him into a role that didn’t suit him. The CSF love triangle was the first terrible thing to befall Once, however love triangles are nothing new.
The thing is you get two different love triangles:
1. The good suitor and the bad suitor
2. Two good suitors and the loser is paired up with another character that turns out to be a better fit for them.
CSF couldn’t decide if it wanted to be 1 or 2 so the results were out of sync with expectations on what should’ve happened. In 1, Hook was obviously the bad suitor compared to Neal’s good suitor (I’ve not got time right now to go into depth on the breakdown of this but Neal was the good suitor). In 2, whoever didn’t end up with Emma should’ve been paired with someone else. However Once screwed up for both scenarios. In 1, Emma ended up with the bad suitor. In 2, Neal was killed off instead of being paired with someone else. It was a lose/lose situation.
Hook’s character is not designed to be a romantic lead. He’s not designed to be heroic. At best, he’s that shady character who gives his services to the highest bidder. Neither side can trust him, they just have to make sure they offer the highest price. The whole Milah situation could’ve given Hook some depth eg that he did love someone deeply once and got burned, however they screwed it up by, not only having Hook destroy a family to get what he wanted, but also then claiming that he would’ve happily have given Milah back as “soiled” if Rumple had fought. That right there completely annihilates the Hook/Milah romance.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of Felix