Reply To: Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

[Slurpeez]

I’m going to reply to something RG wrote in another thread about Hook’s crime because I don’t want to stir up something outside of our safe space.

RumplesGirl wrote: To me this shows the writer’s worst instincts. I was prepared to let George be the killer because while it would have been predictable, the overall story of Robert’s journey to find his lost son and bring him home was charming (no pun) and heartwarming and matched nicely with the likes of Rumple/Neal and present day Charming and Emma. But no. The writers have to go and have a big tweetable twist like Hook killing Robert and then wanting to propose to Emma. It’s the worst inclination to not let sleeping dogs lie but constantly stir up more drama that ultimately leads nowhere.

This “twist” really is needless drama at this point and it stirs up pointless argumentation. Even though I kinda expected Hook would be the one to kill Charming’s dad, I actually liked Hook this episode in the present day, but the writers just had to go there and drudge up Hook’s dark past. I think he’s never really able to leave it behind completely, even if he claims to be a “good” pirate now. (Is that even a thing?) Yes, we already knew that Hook was a lying, thieving, murderous pirate in the past, but now it’s somehow more personal to the blessed family because it was Charming’s father and Emma’s grandfather whom Hook murdered? To me, it’s no different than when Hook killed his other victims. My issue with Hook proposing to Emma isn’t only Hook’s dark past since we already knew Hook murdered people in cold blood. Heck, we’ve seen it on screen when he killed his own dad, and Hook told Emma he collected his rings off of his dead victims. Emma knows she’s dating a serial killer. It’s her choice I guess. (Not that I endorse dating murderers).

Like RG wrote, this move shows the writers’ worst instincts. I just don’t think that it’s a good storytelling move, especially if the writers want the audience to sympathize with Hook as a “reformed” pirate who really has changed and is trying to better himself. Why though? It doesn’t make sense to remind the audience of the misdeeds of Hook if they want the audience to root for him as Emma’s intended future husband. If anything, I think it has the exact opposite effect on the general audience (not talking about Hook fans here). I don’t expect anything to come of this revelation either beyond a light slap on the wrist for Hook, but I don’t think it’ll win over anyone who may have been starting to see him in a new light, which isn’t good if the writers want people to root for Hook and Emma (unless the writers don’t want us to root for them, which I doubt at this stage).