Had to look up the actress’ picture to see what you were talking about – and yeah, probably not a teenage bride. But, then again, Jennifer Morrison and MRJ are going to be playing their characters as pretty much teenagers…and it seemed to work when Snow and Regina played younger versions – no, she’s probably a social worker – or maybe a waitress at a diner! Would kind of love that parallel, after the story she told Henry about his dad, if a diner is possibly the location of the crime, the place they were meant to meet up at after the con, or just somehow comes into play. (Even Emma doing a pregnancy test in a diner restroom while on the run would at least make some of the those details make sense. You can’t tell me that entire story came out of thin air) The name Loretta has me thinking of a waitress working in a diner out west, off the innerstate….
Part of me could see them having ‘Neal’ freak out and flee the scene and can possibly get the writers drawing a connection to Rumple’s cowardice – But that’s not Baelfire. I think, despite how BROKEN he may be as an adult, a big part of his character is still going to be rooted in being the opposite of his father, in being brave. Especially if he chose to take up the alias of a hyper-masculine thrill-seeker.
I guess it would be funny, towards the end of the episode, if we find out that his ‘real’…’realer’ alias for our world is JACK. Kerouac idealized – even hero worshipped Neal Cassady and the freedom Cassady lived life. I could see a troubled teenager desiring that – but also figuring out it’s not HIM. If that makes any sense.
I think I could get behind the idea of this being their last crime, they plan to meet up afterwards (Diner off the innerstate???) – and Bae….I mean ‘NEAL’ is a no show. There are two cops listed in the cast list – one specifically a traffic cop. Maybe one gets ‘Neal’ early on and the other catches up to a running Emma. But it does have elements of a bad made for television movie – two young adults in love – torn apart by fate!..unplanned pregnancy, never to see each other again until…!
Have also wondered if we might get a time lapse in the Emma/Neal story arch during the episode. If the crime and punishment portion happens and then we get a cut scene of Emma in Tallahassee setting up her bail bonds business or something when Neal finds her and tries to make everything right – ‘make an honest woman out of her’. Which I’m sure went over wonderfully since Emma is SO good with emotions and handling other people loving and needing her…
Pretty sure they would have written something more along the lines of, “…a person from her past tries to make an honest woman out of her” if there is going to be a time lapse but just something about the one glimpse of ‘Neal’ makes me think this guy has been abandoned, unlucky in every aspect of his life, and spurned by love.