While I agree that Emma allowed her attention to be diverted from saving Henry by kissing Hook, I think it was a one-time thing and spur-of-them moment. Emma even told Hook in 3×7 that it wasn’t the kiss that meant something to her, but rather, it was Hook telling them Neal is alive. *Ouch!* Think about what that means! Here Hook was trying to suss out the meaning of Emma kissing him and she tanks him for helping save Neal! The last thing a man who’s interested in a woman want to hear is that woman thanking him for saving a man he considers a contender for her heart. Emma cares more about saving Neal than she really cared about kissing Hook.
That’s how I read the scene as well. What mattered to Emma was that Hook helped get Neal back, when he could have let Neal rot in the Caves. And then the fact that Hook followed this up with, “I WILL win your heart” and his Jedi mind tricks and are supposed to be non tricks…yeah, Hook pretty killed all the progress he made with me at the start of this season.
Neal’s return signals a return of hope for Emma
All happy endings start with hope!