I don’t think the character development is necessarily wiped out. It didn’t say exactly how close to the original curse this one is – it seemed from the press release they just don’t remember that year. So if they remember through 3×11, the development isn’t wiped out, it just picks up where it left off. I HOPE!
I’m guessing they know the curse is coming and collectively find a way to get at least one person out. Hook’s a good choice because he’s familiar with a number of realms and he’d be one of the most adept at finding Emma (yes, along with Neal and some others – as for why not Neal, I have yet to come up with a reason I’m happy with so I’ve given up speculating on that particular plot point!). I do not think he’s working for the WW or being duped – why on earth would he work for the WW? And no, I’m not buying “for Emma” because anyone with half a brain would know that’s NOT going to get you in Emma’s good graces. And it wipes out the above mentioned character development they had BETTER not just swept under that rug they like to hide dropped storylines!!
I’m guessing Emma’s TLK with Henry can’t break the curse – anyone doing their ‘research’ on the initial curse would certainly alter how it was originally broken.