Emma’s Interagation

[angiebelle]

I think Emma was just so relieved to be able to tell the others that Greg saw nothing, that she was quick to accept his lie. Her ability to tell when others are lying isn’t a *real* super power, and sometimes it fails her if she is emotionally involved. And yes- her lack of interrogation skills probably have to do with the fact the she is not a real, trained sheriff and wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it.

[schmacky]

It looks so obvious to me that she didn’t believe him. She just wanted to ease everyone else’s fears. But, take a look at that scene again where she tells everyone they’re in the clear and pay attention to her face right after David says “we can catch our breath.” It’s a very telling expression IMO.

[swanning-off]

I don’t think Emma’s lie detecting ability is actually a super power. I always thought that was just a joke to get Henry onside.

Given her past life, pre storybrooke, I think she would need to “read” people well. In certain lines of work, you get pretty good at reading people, picking up on non-verbal cues that give them away. In my job (criminal law), we call it our radar or antenna. I can’t tell if my client is lying to me, but I can get a reliable sense of when I need to ask more questions or something is off. I think that’s all Emma’s “superpower” is – not a magical ability to tell if someone is lying but just a skill from her past to read someone and tell when something is off.

And in that case…. Damn. She should have read through Greg. His non verbals were screaming “I saw magic but I’m not telling you in case you chuck me in the psych ward”

[Myril]

@Swanning-Off wrote:

I don’t think Emma’s lie detecting ability is actually a super power. I always thought that was just a joke to get Henry onside.

Emma used the term “superpower” when she talked to Henry and when she talked to Hansel and Gretel. It’s the kind of stuff you say to kids. And I imagine the writers had some big fun with people taking it as actual superpower of Emma. Well, I would, I do.

Given her past life, pre storybrooke, I think she would need to “read” people well. In certain lines of work, you get pretty good at reading people, picking up on non-verbal cues that give them away. In my job (criminal law), we call it our radar or antenna. I can’t tell if my client is lying to me, but I can get a reliable sense of when I need to ask more questions or something is off. I think that’s all Emma’s “superpower” is – not a magical ability to tell if someone is lying but just a skill from her past to read someone and tell when something is off.

Agreed!
Can sometimes go ballistic when reading just another crappy wannabe psychological article claiming that there is any reliable way to tell if someone is lying. Things like body language, facial expressions (like the famous microexpressions Paul Ekman done some research about, which inspired the show Lie To Me), voice modulation, rhythm, tone, speaking style, phrasing give clues, that something is off, but don’t tell why. Basically such clues can tell, that what the person is telling, what feelings the person wants to show and the feelings the person have are not the same – and there are a number of reasons why not, lying is just one possible reason why there is a difference. Or they tell you, that someone is in stress – but again, that doesn’t tell you why. One can be trained to be better in reading such clues, some learn it by mere experience.

And in that case…. *(please avoid obscenities)*. She should have read through Greg. His non verbals were screaming “I saw magic but I’m not telling you in case you chuck me in the psych ward”

She should have. On the other hand Emma probably had a lot on her mind, she looked rather stressed to me at the hospital. There was Hook to deal with, Rumple certainly ready to kill Hook, Cora somewhere in the town, Regina lost and then this stranger. Some things to think about. And I think the question, if the stranger had seen magic was not high on Emma’s priority list for the moment, so she was quick to let it go and more or less believed Greg.

Her interrogations techniques were poor. But Jane Espenson said something interesting about Emma’s lie detection skills in the interview on Let’s Talk TV (see Jane Espensen Blog Talk Radio Interview on OUAT ), nothing official, she was practically speculating as we do, but it made some sense: Facing real magic could shake one’s ability to know when someone is lying. I think that might be not only true for her lie-detection skills. Emma is rattled, she learned just a short time ago, that she is in fact the daughter of two famous fairy tale heroes, that fairy tale stories and other stories are real stories (although the versions we know not all true to the stories), she was chased by ogres and zombies, she learnt that magic exists and that she herself has magical powers. Not too long ago she was an outsider herself. So how do you pump someone for information trying to assess, if he saw something or not, if he suspects something, without betraying anything, when you yourself still are struggling to fully grasp it? Not an easy task.

¯\_(?????? ?)_/¯

[Nobody]

I think that Emma saw through his lie. I think she was lying to everyone else to calm them down. They had already discussed his possible murder by not saving his life and letting him succumb to his injuries. I think Emma wants to find out who he is, what he knows, and formulate a plan. I also wouldn’t be surprised if she bugged his phone or something before she gave it back. We know they have that technology…I think the writers are setting Emma up to look foolish now and we will see her brilliance revealed later. At least, I am hoping…. 🙂

[Phee]

@Swanning-Off wrote:

I don’t think Emma’s lie detecting ability is actually a super power. I always thought that was just a joke to get Henry onside.

Given her past life, pre storybrooke, I think she would need to “read” people well. In certain lines of work, you get pretty good at reading people, picking up on non-verbal cues that give them away. In my job (criminal law), we call it our radar or antenna. I can’t tell if my client is lying to me, but I can get a reliable sense of when I need to ask more questions or something is off. I think that’s all Emma’s “superpower” is – not a magical ability to tell if someone is lying but just a skill from her past to read someone and tell when something is off.

Yeah, I’ve never thought it was a legit “super power” either, she’s just good at reading people. As you say, she had to be good at it in her former line of work.

One thing I’m not so sure she was good at in her former line of work though was subtlety and not being in control. We’ve only seen her working one job, at the very start of the show, but she didn’t keep her cool for very long before she laid the smackdown on that guy, and the whole time she was playing it cool, she knew she had the upper hand. Totally different situation to what she found herself in with Greg. She was flying blind and couldn’t get aggressive, which I think accounts somewhat for her awkwardness and terrible interrogation technique.

@Kellyn1604 wrote:

I also wouldn’t be surprised if she bugged his phone or something before she gave it back. We know they have that technology…I think the writers are setting Emma up to look foolish now and we will see her brilliance revealed later. At least, I am hoping…. 🙂

That’s a great idea about her bugging his phone! I share your hope that she’ll outwit Greg in the end.

[mich7]

@Kellyn1604 wrote:

I think that Emma saw through his lie. I think she was lying to everyone else to calm them down. They had already discussed his possible murder by not saving his life and letting him succumb to his injuries. I think Emma wants to find out who he is, what he knows, and formulate a plan. I also wouldn’t be surprised if she bugged his phone or something before she gave it back. We know they have that technology…I think the writers are setting Emma up to look foolish now and we will see her brilliance revealed later. At least, I am hoping…. 🙂

I hope that you’re right…after the Archie murder investigation she hasn’t looked very successful as sheriff at least in my own opinion. They were at least using technology and Emma’s familiarity with it to break into Greg’s phone in the first place. Being a former thief I think it would have been easy for her to use slight of hand to plant the bug. I kind of like the idea of her using her former skill sets (both as thief and bail bondperson) to deal with the situations that crop up…to get the upperhand for once…but with her going out of town is this going to make a difference. With her gone it will be up to Charming to keep his eye on Greg and his turn at Sheriff wasn’t any more successful…Spencer/King George is still free to roam the streets of Storybrook.

[Nobody]

True, I didn’t think about her leaving town….hopefully, she will confide in someone that doesn’t think murder is okay…Her dad was acting sheriff and wasn’t blood thirsty, right? I still have hopes that she will get the upper hand. Even if she doesn’t confide in anyone, I believe Dr. Whale said Greg would have a few weeks of recovery (?). So that gives Emma plenty of time to go to New York, get back, and review everything. Leaving us with glimpses of what Greg knows and is “getting away with” in the mean time…oh, the drama! 🙂

[mich7]

@Kellyn1604 wrote:

True, I didn’t think about her leaving town….hopefully, she will confide in someone that doesn’t think murder is okay…Her dad was acting sheriff and wasn’t blood thirsty, right?

lol guess not blood thirsty even though he might make an exception with Regina since he wanted to let the wraith kill her and also wanted to execute her but I think that he would leave Greg alone if nothing more than to please Emma and Snow.

If I remember right they’ve already shown some pics of Ethan as Greg walking around town…so evidently he’s staying a while so my thinking is that Belle may spill something about Rumple…in her state there is just no telling what she might say. She’s scared of what she saw and if she sees that this Greg guy is a little frightened by what he thinks he saw as well she might see him as someone she can confide in.

[Nobody]

It’s going to be a really good second half of the season! I am so looking forward to seeing Gold’s trip, Greg’s interactions in town, and hopefully, Belle, getting her memory back….if I have to wait until next season for Rumple and Belle to get back together I might get a little blood thirsty myself…

[Author]

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