@darkonedearie, As RG stated a general rule of television is “show, don’t tell”. Hook started as a villain so he did bad things, that’s all fine and dandy because, as a villain, Hook’s not meant to be likeable. His actions in season 2 support this such as his treatment of Belle.
However, villains can sometimes be charismatic to the point that sometimes you can’t help but like them because they are so enjoyable to watch whether it be through a wicked sense of humour or such a nuanced performance. With every villain character there is a “moral event horizon”. Basically it’s how far can a villain go before they become too unlikeable. If you want to redeem your villain, you absolutely have to make sure they don’t pass the moral event horizon, and if they do and you still want to redeem them then you have to work really hard to SHOW the redemption in order to make the audience believe that it is genuine. Even then, the audience may not forgive the character for their past actions.
IMO Once has failed completely in that regard with Hook. They’ve had him cross that moral event horizon but rather than showing us him trying to redeem himself, rather than making us believe he genuinely wants to atone for his past mistakes, they’re just telling us he’s redeemed and expecting us to accept it. They seem to think and hope that if they don’t mention Hook’s past misdeeds then the audience will forget about them. The thing is though they keep showing Hook doing bad things.
I have tried to like Hook since his introduction and every season when I reach the point of thinking maybe he’s not so bad, he then goes and completely screws it up.
The only episode I genuinely did like Hook was Tallahassee when he and Emma climbed the beanstalk.
He screwed up season 2 by his actions towards Belle.
He screwed up 3A by treating Emma as a prize to be won, even declaring that he “will win it”
He screwed up 3B by basically using Henry to get in with Emma then making the decision to get Henry out of town without telling Emma anything about it.
He screwed up 4A by trying to blackmail Rumple for his own gain then crying foul when it backfired on him.
He did something in 4B that I didn’t like but I can’t remember what it was. It’s probably written in one of the favourite/least favourite moments threads for season 4.
He screwed up 5A by going for personal attacks on Emma and calling Milah “soiled”.
The more the writers try and just whitewash Hook’s misdeeds, the more unlikeable he becomes.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of Felix