There was definitely more trust going on! They were so supportive of each other and their judgement, just like Snowing. It was beautiful to see all the parallels (most especially Hook trying to bond with Charming like Charming once had to with Grumpy!)
I know some have been reading the “Wouldn’t you like to know?” and walking off as not interested but Emma’s main focus right now is finding Henry. She genuinely smiled (a couple of times in this ep!) in moments she shared alone with Hook and in that particular moment, she actually got really flirty! It was a CHALLENGE. She was testing him and expecting him to flirt back a little and then he got all serious and blatantly obvious that he really meant what he said before (which she KNOWS cause she can tell when people are lying) and it FREAKED HER OUT. Her walls INSTANTLY went back up because she IS focused on Henry and she doesn’t have time to sort out her feelings with all this stuff right now.
JMO said in one of her interviews that Hook is basically exceeding Emma’s expectations right now! (Which I totally believe that he is). Emma knew he’d been there before and knows the way around and all that, but he’s really stepping up and SHOWING that he can be trusted and being supportive of her and trying to win over her family and help her save her son and it’s all adding up to something wonderful!
Seriously, if she was “shutting him down” it wasn’t because she’s not interested or she wouldn’t have been so flirty with him to begin with, ESPECIALLY under these circumstances! I can’t imagine she would have willingly shared a drink STRAIGHT FROM THE BOTTLE if she wasn’t remotely interested in the idea because again, she doesn’t need rum to survive and she took a sip AFTER him which most wouldn’t do. She even licked her lips afterwards and looked all flirty and batting her eyelashes a bit until he took it the serious route and said “Perhaps I would [like to get to know you]” – OF COURSE she panicked! Now is not the time, just like stopping mid-speech to chat with him about what he said before was not the time.
It doesn’t mean she’s not into it at all, it means that she has her priorities straight. Hook isn’t pushing. He’s making sure she SEES and HEARS and KNOWS that HE IS THERE FOR HER. He takes CARE of her. She even pointed that out by commenting on the rum cause every single time he brings out the rum it is to take care of her. He cleaned her wound, he helped her mourn and toast to their (supposedly fallen but not really) friend, and now he’s celebrating with her that she unlocked the map JUST LIKE HE KNEW SHE WOULD. He didn’t doubt her, JUST LIKE CHARMING KNEW SNOW had it in her to go against Regina. Neither of them took the easy way out and they both supported the women in these situations and it was beautiful to watch.
I especially love that Hook is SO complimentary and appreciative of what Emma is capable of. Even when she steamrolls HIS plans, he’s on board 100% and goes with it and cheers her on. We saw a lot of Snowing being supportive of Emma but she brushed that off a lot too, leading up to that highly emotional moment with Snow, but right after that, when she came to grips with who she has felt like her whole life (aka: the orphan which Hook totally CALLED on the beanstalk because he SAW it in her eyes), she was able to unlock the map and went to celebrate and FLIRT with Hook. She genuinely smiles in his company and it’s been a LONG time since we’ve seen her smile. She shut down afterwards ONLY because it made her panic and put her walls back in place.
Flirting is one thing, having a laugh over drinks sure, but something real? Emma doesn’t do “real” – real is what burns her. The last time she enjoyed herself around Hook, she was too afraid to trust him and now she’s having to put her trust in him because of where they are but it’s also getting to her. She WANTS to trust him and he is doing everything in his power to SHOW her that her first instincts were right but also that there IS something real between them and that he WASN’T lying (which, she should already realize). Actions > words and he is SHOWING her time and time again (along with a few well-placed compliments which are nice reinforcement but for women like Snow & Emma, they need to be SHOWN as well and they’ve proved that time and time again).
Emma is now seeing that Hook is sincere and he is CLEARLY behaving differently. He’s more serious with his pursuit even though he’s just flirting and being supportive & complimentary. I imagine for awhile, every chance he gets to bond with her he’ll take but when it turns remotely serious in nature like it did with him flat out saying he wanted to get to know the real her, she’ll probably keep shutting down for a bit but she won’t forget about it. It won’t be easy but he’ll win them ALL over eventually. They understand each other, he knows why she’s being that way and it’s not phasing him. She didn’t respond to what he said last time and he spent the first part of their hike through Neverland asking if she thought he was handsome (cute puppy dog face).
I mean…the guy is not gonna stop flirting and trying to bond but he knows when to be serious as well and frankly – Emma needs that balance. Otherwise she’s gonna explode with everything she’s dealing with right now and the pressure she’s under. Hook knows when to flirt and if he tries that and realizes she needs something different from him, he immediately shifts into supportive/comforting/serious mode and helps her through whatever. After all, they MAKE QUITE A TEAM and they’re showing that again and again. I LOVE the fact that now they’re a team SIDE BY SIDE with Snowing cause these two couples have a lot more in common than Charming would like to admit right now but I have high hopes for that changing this season!
One last thing from twitter last night: Emma wears a shoelace from Graham’s boot around her wrist near that tattoo we still haven’t had explained. So she’s kept something from every meaningful relationship that she’s had in her life (Miss “I’m not sentimental” – HA!). (She gave Neal’s keychain/necklace back, but she still wears Graham’s shoelace, has Hook’s scarf – which is soaked in blood and rum I might add – locked in her desk at the Sheriff’s office, and she’s always taken her baby blanket from Granny/Snowing from home to home).
It’s just so refreshing and I do feel a little vindicated that all the stuff we called back from Tallahassee about how there was SO much more to Hook and that they really do understand each other and that something beautiful could exist between the two is finally being acknowledged, even by those who once either ignored the possibility or called us delusional for seeing it. We’ve been through this for about a year now and it’s about time they started showing more and more of that side of Hook because Killian Jones is amazing and finally coming to the forefront. As much as Emma needs to embrace her inner orphan and Hook will help her do so, Emma brings out the best in KILLIAN too and I expect them to do that this season.
Hopefully anybody who was saying before that Hook would just be a fling has gotten the memo this season. The man is not interested in a fling. He wants to get to KNOW her, the real her. He FANCIES her. He has no reason to be there when everyone betrayed him but he is still there FOR HER. If we’re supposed to believe that Neal has just completely wiped out all the pain and hurt from Tamara in 2.5 seconds and is focused on Emma, then it’s only fair to point out that Hook has been focused on Emma for awhile now and while he comes with his own set of baggage (as does she), he is in this for something REAL. This is a man who has cared DEEPLY for ONE WOMAN for centuries trying to avenge her death. He is a pirate and may or may not have been putting on a show for Rumple on the ship when coward Rumple confronted him about Milah but we know he loved Milah deeply and everything for hundreds of years was ABOUT HER and he GAVE THAT UP and gave up everything, including his HOME, to help Emma. That is HUGE and you do NOT do something like that FOR A FLING.
Emma has always said she’s a 1 night stand kind of girl and after the Neal fiasco and how it looked to her at the time, I can’t say it surprises me. So why then would she NOT just have a fling with Hook for the heck of it and make him go away if that’s all he supposedly wants? Um, I don’t know…because IT MIGHT BE REAL FOR HER TOO?? She can tell when he’s lying to her. She sees he’s being sincere and it is freaking her out because it’s REAL and because she’s drawn to him too and she can’t afford to let herself be right now because she has to save Henry and she’s afraid of getting hurt again so she doesn’t let ANYONE in. The last time she even tried, the guy was killed for choosing her. These are not exactly setups for her letting herself feel again but slowly and surely, Hook is knocking down those walls and proving to her and to those that love her, that he’s in this for something real. He’s NOT going to be happy with a fling and he will fight to keep her. NOTHING we have been shown about him would suggest otherwise, especially since he’s making such a big deal about saying things IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. Sooner or later somebody is going to pick up on it and call her out on it too (hopefully Snow) but in the meantime, he can but keep trying while AT THE SAME TIME being extremely supportive and comforting to her on a level that does not include any typical fling material.
This is really happening and Season 3 feels like a dream come true so far! Can’t wait to see more interaction between them cause a) it’s about time! and b) it’s beautiful and just gives me more and more hope that they really do share this connection and that deep down, Emma has known it from the beanstalk on (it freaked her out then just as much as it is now for the same reasons – she just needs to let the past go which I think she’ll have to this season). Emma is tired of being manipulated and having others tell her who she is and making decisions for her. This is HER life and I can’t wait to watch her make her choose cause, at least to some of us, it’s been obvious from the start that her real chance for happiness is with Killian and I can’t wait to watch it unfold more and more each week!
/end rambles (I know I’m preaching to the choir but this episode made me so happy!)
*passes out cookies*
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.