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I think sometimes though we give Adam and Eddy too much credit for sneakiness. It’s a tv show, not state secrets. I admit I’m in the camp that Neal is a gonner. I’ve accepted it. I still absolutely adore SF and am the biggest Neal fan out there. Lately, Neal is the only thing I reblog on tumblr because I feel he never got enough love. (And I’ve lost followers over it too, but so what). But all the leaks are adding up. Unless there really is some massive plot twist, which I don’t think is coming on this quarter, then I’m in the mind frame that they change their original vision for the show.
Adam’s idea of damage control makes everything even worse. 😛
Here, because we all need some Neal hugs.
[adrotate group="5"]Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Another tweet from Adam. Damage control? Sneaky sneakster? I vote sneaky sneakster. And even though it’s a TV show and not state espionage, no one is better at big plot twists and A&E.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
Macy and Slurpeez– unfortunately, I don’t feel confident that they’re playing that long of a con right now. It’s just the way they jumped from talking about how Hook’s not going anywhere, to talking about Neal and character regression. Maybe it was the way the writer edited the interview but there was that bit about things getting heated in the writers room. Maybe the reason we have so many differences of opinion as fans interpreting things is because the writers have different thoughts and put in bread crumbs that point different ways. If the writers want to shift things for CS, they can do the kinds of retcons they’ve done before that give you a new perspective on old scenes by taking Neal in the direction of the “guy with good initial intentions, who fails to deliver”. Pan had a bit of that as Malcolm, who dropped off Rumple with caring “spinsters” then went to drink at the pub instead of looking for work. There are things they can tear down in Neal’s character as he isn’t a perfect guy of course, and if they have him regress to lacking commitment, to taking the easy way out, to looking for shortcuts sort of August Booth part II? They can do the same thing to Neal they did to August basically, truncate whatever they had planned so they can just move on with a new story.
Maybe they’re being cagey, but I don’t even feel they are. I feel they’re just not interested in Neal as a character any more. They’ve cut their losses against the tide of the fandom on that, closed the chapter they were writing and started a new story with a new theme. A theme that ought to fit Neal and Emma to a “T”–but as people said in the non-ship threads, a theme that one could relate to many characters as well. If the Jolly Roger for example were used to build a cabinet for Hook to escape the 2nd curse, and he destroyed his home to help get Emma to hers? That’s a pretty powerful act of love I think, but it is hard for me to not be upset with how the writers poorly executed the S2 to S3 transition. I was all set to root for Hook to redeem and fall for Emma in S2, but they had him continuing to work for Cora for too long. Then to say he was a “friend” to Neal but knew of Tamara’s plans and didn’t do anything? To use that status to try to bond with Emma not even a day after Neal died, while her son was kidnapped and her mind really shouldn’t be on romance? Then the Tinkerbell flirting scene on top of all that, it just put me off so much, yet the writers perhaps think they’ve been building sympathy for Hook. For some fans they have. Some eat all this up. I just find myself cringing. It’s like the Graham and Regina thing. I didn’t find it fun and flirty given she set his memories and was complaining “no one has free will, it wasn’t real” more or less in one scene in the same episode. Do they even know what they’re writing sometimes? I’m ok with enjoying Regina and Graham in a creepy way, like Mirror/Regina is creepy but if I’m supposed to think it was romantic? Rather than manipulative and another facet of her dark nature? That is where I really don’t know what the writers are doing. It could just be that or its speed plotting with trying to get Hook into romantic lead and its failing because its going too fast with not enough time in the character’s lives to react to it. A year time jump is a very plot device seeming way to handle it–but it does address Gilmore aging and GG having a kid too. So it might not all be as bad as I think right now. I’m trying to look for good signs that they’re being tricky, as we know they’ve been. As I said with that Zen story “Maybe’–you never know how fortune will turn.
“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
I don’t think Neal will die, I think it will be Hook and here’s why:
1. In the most recent interview, A&E said the decision to kill off the main character was made between season 2 and 3. They had the perfect opportunity to kill off Neal when he was laying unconscious on the EF beach. They could’ve had MAP finding his dead body but they kept Neal alive. You had all the other characters thinking Neal was dead, including Emma and Rumple, so you had the emotional punches right there. If Neal was to be the one to die, why bring him back? To show how bad and evil the WW was? There are many ways to that, that don’t involve killing a main character.
2. I think the death is going to be in 318 especially with a title like “Bleeding through”. Also TV shows in general have a habit of having a character receive a serious wound in one episode then the next episode focusses on the race against time to save the character before they die or, if they do die, the emotional fallout and repercussions of their death. So far on Once, whenever they’ve killed a “big” character, such as Graham and Cora (Maleficent doesn’t count since she wasn’t really a “big” character on the show) it’s always happened after they’ve shown their backstories. It just seems to be too much of a coincidence that, if the death is indeed 318, then the preceding episode just so happens to be a Hook centric.
3. There is a marked difference between season 2 Hook and Season 3 Hook. Yes, it is “character growth” but it happened all too quickly. Regina didn’t redeem herself properly until the very end of 311, so how can Hook redeem himself properly in the span of about 5 days when it took both Rumple and Regina 2 and a half seasons to do it? He can’t, unless the writers are trying to set Hook up for a heroic death so they need him redeemed as fast as possible. Things are more condensed over an 11 episode arc than a 22 episode season. If 318 is really the death, then they would only have 7 episodes to sell to us that Hook has changed and redeemed himself fully. I felt they were really trying to push the “man of honour” aspect with Hook in Neverland, Hook only briefly mentioned having a code in the Crocodile for the entirety of season 2 and suddenly in Neverland, he seemed to be spouting being a “man of honour” every other episode. It would seem fitting that Hook’s death would have him dying as a true “man of honour” and would kind of be Hook’s happy ending to be reunited with Milah in death.
4. Going with the reuniting with Milah in death thing, Hook basically said himself that he only realised he could move on from Milah after the CaptainSwan kiss. Yet the CaptainSwan kiss was in 305 which is practically halfway through the Neverland arc, which means Hook was still holding on to Milah through out episodes 301-304, he only realised he could let go after the kiss. Since the first 11 episodes of season 3 only cover a week timelinewise, is it really realistic that Hook has been holding on to Milah for over 100 years at least (I don’t think Rumple is over 200 at most and I have the potential maths to back it up) and in a couple of days he’s completely over her and has moved on? I don’t think so. Hook dying would be a happy ending for him as it would mean he is reuniting with Milah, the woman he has loved for over a century.
5. The theme of 3B is supposedly “Home”, which has been a major recurring theme of SwanFire, more so than any other character. There is the saying “Home is where the heart is” and whilst that is true for characters like Snowing and RumBelle, who would live anywhere to be with the person they love (including Neverland, dodging “poison arrows and Lost boys” as Snow put it) SwanFire are the only ship that has bashed us over the head with that theme. So why would they kill off Neal now when it is a theme that is suited to him in every way besides SwanFire?
6. They’ve not shown us a Neal flashback yet. We’ve seen Bae but not Neal. Part of the reason why I think Neal is not necessarily as popular amongst fans as other characters such as Snowing and RumBelle is because we don’t really know him. (Screwball Ninja should be releasing one of her excellent essays on Neal later this week) Neal is almost the Blue Fairy of the regular characters. I doubt they would kill off Neal without showing us his flashback first.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixI hereby declare that I am marrying PoM’s awesome post and thank you for writing that all out. I agree wholeheartedly with you. I also refuse to feel hopeless and depressed about S3B before the episodes even start airing again. We really don’t know anything yet so it’s pointless to allow all this pre-season stuff make us crazy. Hang in there everyone. *HUGS* 🙂
And now I’m off to go watch more women’s biathlon from Sochi and hope they actually show more of the figure skating at some point this afternoon. 😉 *Olympics geek alert* 😉
#MoreBOOMLessGloomFrom Adam:
@_applebombz that’s right. What’s in the interview is a misquote. Not Diane’s fault. Phone calls can get garbled.
@_applebombz that's right. What's in the interview is a misquote. Not Diane's fault. Phone calls can get garbled.
— Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) February 9, 2014
<Nothing against the lady, but I unfollowed her some time last year because she had said something in some interview that was very questionable to me, and, her tweets didn’t sit well with me. I really can’t remember what they were about at this point, that’s how long ago it was. Really, nothing against her, but when I found out she was doing the interview, I knew to take it with a grain of salt. What Adam and Eddy say is what they say; obviously she didn’t go into her own interpretation when you have quotes here, but like Adam said, things happen. Things get misquoted. If he says he got misquoted, I believe him. It’s not unlikely for that to happen quite a few times in phone interviews like these.
Keeper Nealfire's/Bae's scarf, Henry and Neal's bribery ice cream sundae, Baelfire's sword, the coconut map, and more.
more from Adam:
“I was misquoted. I never said that. Eddy said something like that. But it was about character growth not time on show.”
“well please let them know that the answer would have probably been similar for Neal. What was printed wasn’t entirely accurate”
“what we meant was he’s staying for the purpose of character growth. Just like all the characters. Growth is impt 4all”
“… But on phone interviews things get missed all the time. Happens on most interviews we do…”
“misquote. I didn’t. Eddy was talking about character growth and hook. Something might’ve gotten lost on phone. It happens”
“believe ME. It was honest mistake. It was a phone interview and I’m sure Diane transcribed what she heard…”
@_applebombz well please let them know that the answer would have probably been similar for Neal. What was printed wasn't entirely accurate
— Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) February 9, 2014
@_theanny @_applebombz believe ME. It was honest mistake. It was a phone interview and I'm sure Diane transcribed what she heard…
— Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) February 9, 2014
@_applebombz I was misquoted. I never said that. Eddy said something like that. But it was about character growth not time on show
— Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) February 9, 2014
@_theanny @_applebombz … But on phone interviews things get missed all the time. Happens on most interviews we do…
— Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) February 9, 2014
[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]Keeper Nealfire's/Bae's scarf, Henry and Neal's bribery ice cream sundae, Baelfire's sword, the coconut map, and more.
I am very very very torn.
on the one hand, Slurpeez is right. They are clever writers. On the other hand, those tweets do seem like damage control. They say they haven’t hinted at anything but for all that they are clever they aren’t writing as deep a story anymore as they once did. And there have been things they’ve said in interviews that do seem to indicate that some characters are safe–like Belle and how they want to tell her pre-Rumple story in S4. They aren’t thinking some of what they say through, as if they don’t care about #nospoilers anymore. I am going to keep hope. But I am also going to start preparing for loosing Neal.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"If Adam says he was misquoted, or it was taken out of context, then I believe him. It may be “damage control” but then again it seems like the person who conducted the interview is a huge fan of Hook. I’m not saying that is a bad thing, but always question the source and bias. Adam said that it was about character growth, not time on the show, and so for now, all we can do is take him at his word or not. Only time will tell what is the truth of the matter.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
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