Reply To: Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

[kfchimera]

While it is not much, the little things add up.  Emma was afraid that being the savior meant no day off.  She just had a year off!  Neal knew that they would see each other again.  He had hope, which Emma needed.  She did not want to leave and I agree she was already teary-eyed and upset before Hook approached her, so a lot of emotion carried over.  She still had not rejected him at this point so what else could she say?  Emma never had time to sort through what she feels.

The writers wanted to take the break and set up that Happy Endings are not always what we think.  At no point have Neal and Emma claimed each other as that, but the fairytale characters all kept thinking of a narrow goal as “their happy ending”.  Regina had be with son Henry, Rumple had being good father to son, and Hook revenge, then swapped to obtaining  new love.

If the story for Hook was “his happy ending is Emma” this season as someone said on the CSF thread, that the writers were telling us that is how Hook thought, then perhaps they are saying his is not as he thought either, a life with Emma.   Perhaps we can ship spin  “foreshadowing” that Hook’s good looks do fail him, that it is “ironic” foreshadowing that he is not actually in it for the long haul as he thought, and that it is simply a statement reflecting the truth that Emma does not feel for him as he does for her–and that eventually he will want his happy  ending with someone who appreciates it.

Emma has grown up differently, and she has Henry.  She is never going to match the reckless, give-it-all-you-have gusto that Hook has because she is cautious and she also does have very real commitments to other people in her life.  She cannot put Hook’s happiness anywhere near  the top of her priority list, and Hook’s chasing after her, because he thinks she is the key to his happiness, and thinks he’s in love with her.  Yet he doesn’t really know her all that well, so I still feel he is in love with the idea of her more than who she truly is.

I think Neal really does understand these parts of her, and her hesitation and need for assurance.   Hook’s parting words were about how he would think about her every day, echoing how Neal thought of her with regret when separated, but this time Neal is not regretful but hopeful.  He knew he would see Emma and Henry again.  Emma needed to hear that.

The time jump makes sense as Henry’s actor aged, so we all knew something like that had to happen, but it also means that the writers are going to have time to build up some distance in Emma’s emotions towards Hook.   The whole raw emotion of gratitude for his help in NL fades a bit, and even though she’ll likely feel thankful again for his help with restoring her memories, at the same time, it is also likely to be a bittersweet moment for her.  She will have ALL that pain and emotion rush back, conflicting realities in her head and it is hard to say if the writers are just going to ignore the opportunity for her to truly address the fact that Neal only left her because of what he felt was his duty, just as she only left everyone pre-2nd-curse as her duty, because Henry would be left alone if she didn’t.  She would choose Henry, absolutely every time, but it is not that she wanted to make that choice anymore than Neal or anyone else wanted to leave her.

When magic comes in, these painful things are going to happen, and Neal crossed worlds to be with Emma.  I have no idea why he is not the one to go find her in NY but the writers better have a GOOD explanation why.  He jumped on a shadow, at the slight risk to a small child (and I feel any danger from Shadow-gate is now sort of too remote since the shadow is dead).  He was DESPERATE to see them, and I cannot imagine, even with the sadness that maybe Emma does not want him as a romantic partner that he would not still feel intensely motivated to see his son. That makes zero sense for his character.

If the writers want to develop CS, if they want me to like it, then they cannot go ruining other characters to make it happen.  I won’t enjoy the story and conversely, I cannot imagine anyone who loves Hook enjoying seeing Hook’s character growth upended either.  As long as Hook wants Emma, and sees her as his only reason for redemption, they are going to root for that.  So it has to make sense in the story so we will see more things play out.