Emma Swan hasn’t been the real Emma Swan for a long time. She’s largely become a virginized object through which a man’s redemption is focused. Couple this with her disregard for any kind of justice (be it with Hook’s victims, Regina’s or Rumple’s) which is antithetical to her Savior trope she’s not the same character as back in S1. Sure, regression of a character is totally a narrative device in TV writing (Walter White) but you have to regress into another type of person; Emma isn’t really a person anymore, IMO. She’s a set of ideas; ideas that are largely antiquated and misogynistic.
I will absolutely criticize her as much as Hook in this situation. However, while I do understand the internal workings of Hook in this situation he still made the same choice–a bad one. Is it sympathetic? Sure. Is it largely to provide shippers with a bigger more romantic proposal to get the Twitter birds a’tweeting? Sure. Is it still a wrong choice? YES.
And it does say something about their relationship when one half has to literally yell, “we have to stop lying at each other!” Meaning: we have fallen into an unhealthy cycle of lies, regret, action, forgiveness. Lather, rinse, repeat. There is something just wrong with a relationship–and the writers who write it– where this is what’s happening every single season/arc/important moment (and that goes for all the ships on this show! Still looking at you Rumbelle)