I’m still trying to form sentences after all of the wonderful stuff tonight! I know some haven’t seen it yet so I don’t want to go too deep into an analysis even if I COULD function after that episode but here’s some early thoughts under a spoiler cut just in case:
- PARALLELS – Hook trying to win Snowing over while Charming tries to win over the dwarves? Yes please! Not to mention how supportive of one another the members of both Snowing & CaptainSwan are. Love it!
- Hook is ADORABLE when he’s got a crush! His feelings for Emma are definitely showing and he’s trying so hard but it’s cute!
- FLIRTING & SMILES. When was the last time we actually saw Emma really flirting? Her walls are definitely starting to come down. Her “wouldn’t you like to know?” was predictable but I don’t think she was anticipating him actually wanting to know and it forced her walls back up a bit. Before that though she was definitely smiling and acting all flirty! (Not to mention, literally sharing a drink with him, AFTER he had taken a sip – she didn’t accept before that. Not sure about you guys, but I wouldn’t be sharing a drink with someone I wasn’t interested in, and it’s not like drinking rum helps with their survival in Neverland as opposed to say, a person dying of thirst sharing some water. Just saying.)
- Did I mention the smiles?!? It’s like for just a moment, the real Emma was shining through and she had gotten a lot off her chest and was able to relax for a minute in the middle of all of this craziness. She knows they have a mission and it’s important, but she enjoyed the momentary questioning. She shuts down easily when most ask her questions (especially Snow) but had no problem explaining to Hook what activated the map.
- EASY WAY / Magic backfires. Um, do I really have to say more? Time and time again, we see people taking the easy way out & using magic and it backfires. Charming could have let Snow take the easy way and go off and they’d live with the dwarves but they did things the right way and Snow embraced who she was, even with Charming’s unorthodox methods of reminding her. Regina tries to take the easy way doing magic (once again) and puts them all at risk and gets Charming injured (eek!) and is still no closer to getting Henry back. Emma proved that sometimes you have to do things the right way and taking the easy way out? Not an option.
- Mom/Dad/Things said when dying – I think Emma made it very clear that some things are said in the heat of the moment when things look very dire, but it doesn’t mean that everything is forgiven and she still feels like the orphan girl she believed herself to be for 28 years. Do I think she’ll eventually find a way to forgive them and repair that relationship a bit? Of course. But it goes to prove that Emma doesn’t hold to what she says when she thinks someone is dying which negates the portal scene just a bit – I think he can repair the relationship as friends though, especially since we’ve already seen him move on once, and he had that line back in Tallahassee where he outright said “If I knew she was ok, I could move on.”
- TRUE LOVE – when Emma is trying to tell the map who she is, she mentions that she’s the daughter of Snow & Charming which apparently makes her the product of true love in which she side-eyes HOOK and the camera pans to him. Reminds me of Tallahassee where Hook said that what they need is right in front of them and then shows him walking, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER.
- This whole episode was one big Snowing/CaptainSwan parallel and even through in some RumBelle for good measure – highlighting the supportive nature and the BELIEF that each of these couples share in one another. Snowing’s love story has played out to the point where they are a solid couple, RumBelle is on the way there but Rumple still has some things to work through, and CaptainSwan is still in the flirty stages for sure, but once again they show that they, like the other two couples, understand each other and connect on a deeper level. After all, it was Hook back in Tallahassee that recognized the look in Emma’s eyes and called her an orphan. It is just now that Emma is embracing that side of her, the side that he knew all the way back then, before anyone else did, and long before she was willing to admit that to anyone, especially Snow. To see her coming around to that and owning it amazing in itself, but to see her bonding with the man who sees that deep, hidden part of her on his own without help is even better! Seeing these three couples highlighted like the camera shots at the end of the finale was amazing.
- Loved the shot of Snowing standing next to CaptainSwan with Regina as the odd person out. They were all willing to do things the way that both Emma and Hook wanted to with the map and it was Regina who took it upon herself to screw things up. Once she said something and walked off, the 4 of them were standing there and it just looked so right! I loved that they showed them standing side-by-side!
As I’ve said elsewhere, just because I have a preference, doesn’t mean I’m blind to why others hold out hope too. I just think it’s becoming more and more obvious that there’s something happening between these two and that it can’t just be ignored or considered delusional at this point. I hope beyond hope that we’re right and have seen it all along but I know why both sides have reason to hope and we just don’t know what will happen yet. Here’s hoping that this is the story they want to tell and the man they want Emma to choose, especially after an amazing episode that has tons of parallels between them and Snowing (as opposed to cursed Snowing which is entirely different).
So being cautiously optimistic while believing 100% that it is totally possible that they will go forward with CaptainSwan, I can’t wait to see where it goes from here cause this is only the beginning. I can feel it! (Or more accurately, the beginning of the outright flirting & starting something REAL and not just flirting to get what they want. The fact that they keep showing us how real it is for Hook is encouraging and seeing Emma being more and more open to him is amazing! The beginning beginning was what we saw back in The Doctor & Tallahassee and have held on to ever since as the FOUNDATION of what is a beautiful relationship.)
We’ve weathered the delusional storms and more are jumping on board after what we’ve been shown this season so there’s always hope. Regardless though, I don’t care how outnumbered I am or how horrible I’m made to feel for loving my ship. I just have to hope that’s the route they go down and that they’re making a point of showing us these things because they ARE important to the overall love story of one Emma Swan, and I believe they are.
I just don’t see the reason in building it up and how they could dismiss it at this point. You don’t set up a great option and walk away from it, and if they kill him off then it would be like Graham all over again but with way more buildup and then it WOULD feel like she was only involved in a relationship because the other guy that was an option is dead. I would much prefer for Emma to make a CHOICE since this show, along with hope, redemption, belief, etc, is about the choices that one makes.
I think this season we’re going to get down to just who EMMA is, not what everyone else WANTS HER TO BE and she’ll make the choice that’s right for her. *fingers crossed it’s Hook*
*passes out cookies*
Edited to add: lots of spoiler tags. Apparently top and bottom of a section of coding isn’t enough, it has to be each bullet point.
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.