Just saw this Neal/Charming parallel on tumblr for Tallahassee- we’ve pretty much done the CS/Snowing parallels to death so I wont re-post those 😉 This parallel adds to CS, so those still unsure don’t panic 😉
celticmoonbeams: The flashbacks w/Neal clearly are for contrast w/Killian & showing why Emma does what she does in the end. Showing the emotional damage inflicted on her & establishing what she really needs. But, there’s also something else. Neal is Emma’s Abigail/Kathryn. Emma met Neal at a point in her life where she was just trying to survive like Charming was when Rumple came to his farm & got him to take the place of his dead twin brother. While Emma developed feelings for Neal, it was born out of necessity. Neal saving both of them from the cop, the Bonnie & Clyde act for survival, the wanting to settle down for a home in Tallahassee. All are parallels to the deal that Charming got into. To save the farm & kingdom (his home aka the settling down in Tallahassee & establishing a home), the gold promised for slaying the dragon (for the survival of the people of the kingdom & the farm aka the thieving for survival), the hand of Abigail thrown into the mix (a marriage/relationship that’s forged for said survival aka how Emma & Neal even met), the dream of Charming’s to marry for love & love alone (aka the dream of Emma’s for a home & the dreamcatcher). As it had been for cursed Charming where his relationship to Kathryn was based on duty, that’s the parallel to Neal. It’s based on the duty to Henry as Neal’s his father.
I hadn’t really thought about the flashbacks in this context, very interesting take on them 🙂
full post here – http://celticmoonbeams.tumblr.com/post/40355734674/tallahasse-episode-analysis-a-giant-cs-snowing-parallel