Exactly. Tallahassee was the first backstory for Emma. It was all about her. About how she loved and trusted someone else, and basically what happened when that trust was broken.
And we weren’t meant to empathise with Neal in Manhattan either, with regards to the whole jail/abandonment thing. It was again, about Emma’s pain.
When it came to Neal and Rumple however, we were supposed to empathise with both of them. And I did.
In 2×21 when Neal apologised to Emma, I empathised with both of them. However, it was not in the sense of romance or anything. They were both in pain in that scene.
This is why I honestly don’t get how SF shippers can defend what Neal did, with regards to the jail OR the abandonment.
Because Neal apologised, and when you apologise for something, it means you feel guilty. It means you know you did something wrong.
End of story.
Keeper of Captain Swan's first kiss