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Love the idea that she gets her wings back. Other characters have said they believe in her but she needs to believe in herself too and I think when Blue told her she didn’t believe in her anymore, Tink lost all belief in herself and bought into it. She’s slowly getting back to it and it would be great for her and fit in so well with this season about embracing who you are and overcoming things to stop letting the past control you and move forward!
CaptainFire working together and we actually get to see it? *faints* They’ve been a lot more easy-going than I thought they would be given their history (other than in stupid triangle moments but those have been few thank goodness) but it makes me so happy when they work together! It is curious as to why it’s such a small group and no Emma, Regina etc to be seen in the pics. Can’t wait for more context!
[adrotate group="5"]Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
Just had a very lovely chat followed by a debate. Apparently there are some massively negative opinions on the way that Hook “backing off” happened and the biggest thing that came out of it was how he was throwing Neal under the bus, giving him enough rope to hang himself knowing that Emma didn’t want to deal with that stuff right now (pretty sure that Hook said the fun would begin once they got Henry home safe and sound…) and that he was waiting for Neal to screw up.
Well, only one of those things is even remotely right and only in the very long term. Much like with the Snowing parallel, it could easily come across as letting him have a chance to mess things up. It’s really the only way that Hook thinks he’s going to get Emma by not fighting for her is if she gets CLOSURE with Neal at some point. Whether that means HIM screwing up, or EMMA not giving him another chance or WHATEVER it may be, he doesn’t want Emma to have any doubts or wonder about what might have been. He wants her to choose him because she wants just HIM.
He has NO control over Neal’s actions. He was watching Emma with her son and remembering how the last time he was involved with a woman who had a son, how that boy turned out. Bae HATED Hook because he “destroyed” his family by taking his mother away. Ideally for Bae, Milah would have never left. They would have been miserable though. So here’s another chance at that exact same scenario. Henry has a chance that his parents could get back together. Emma hasn’t come out and told the guys there is NO chance she’s getting back with Neal (she’s tried to give Neal that impression and so far he hasn’t really gone for it but technically he is still an option).
It was DESTROYING him but it was the right thing to do. To take a step back and let whatever happens happens. It was not some calculated scheme of “oh she’s super happy right now that her son is back, let me push Neal in her direction so that she will be so disgusted that he’s asking her right now even though I didn’t actually tell him to do that and watch him crash and burn.” It’s just so ridiculous that he might control it or plan it out that way. As far as he knows Emma IS happy. He’s been staying away and she’s got her son and herf family and she fits into this little world that he’s not really a part of. He’s ALONE in SB. He has NO ONE but Emma and he just did what he felt was best for Henry and stepped back. We don’t have any of our normal one-on-one moments with them tonight.
Neal cutely goes and tries to get a date. He gives her similar options to Manhattan and once again she chooses the option that does not put her with Neal even though she had a gazillion good reasons to show up. In fact it would have been a perfect chance to let SF parallel actual Snowing and they didn’t take it!
Hook does not CONTROL Neal’s actions. But you know what, even if he was HOPING that it would backfire? He would have just sat around waiting for it to happen. He would have watched from afar, longingly, hoping to step in at any time and be her choice. THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN.
You know what we did get? Him falling apart and becoming a complete wreck because by stepping back, he’s not being the man who fights for what he wants. By stepping back, he’s fixing history by not repeating it but it’s also DESTROYING him because he cares so much. So he does something stupid (his redemption was going just a little too well…)
He tries to move on from Emma for the time-being. It’s not a calculated scheme of “let me get drunk and hit on Tink, that’ll do the trick.” It was “my world is crashing down, I now have no one, I may lose the woman I love even though I am in this for good. Let me try to drown my sorrows and see comfort in any way that I can right now.”
He was EXTREMELY drunk when all of this was going down. You know who else has been like that in trying to move on from someone she deeply loved and was still alive in the world but she still couldn’t have at the time? EMMA. Her life before SB consisted of a lot of one-night stands. It didn’t work, it didn’t help her get closure, she’s moving toward that now and finally letting someone in. Friendly reminder that even though MM and David were so sure they were meant to be together and it was the ONE positive REAL Snowing element of their entire existence once David had his memories back? MM slept with Whale to try to move on and it did nothing for her, just as Hook’s little whatever with Tink was never going to mean anything and Tink called him out on it.
His “Who’s Emma” was about as obvious as his “Who’s Milah” when he was trying to protecting her from Rumple. It’s one of those “This is too painful to think about so let me deflect and hope it works” kind of moments. His Hook mask was FIRMLY in place and I’m 99.999999999% sure that Emma knows that. She recognizes walls when she sees them and she’ll want to know why he’s shutting down on her. She wanted to know why Neal was behaving strangely in NL, you can bet she’s gonna know why Hook is being weird all of a sudden when he’s been so good lately and his secret was genuine or the cave wouldn’t have worked. Until now, his words matched his actions and she’s relied on that.
Was it petty and stupid and was he drunk at the time? Yeah he was. I didn’t love it either. But it proved a point – that anything with anyone who wasn’t Emma wouldn’t actually MEAN something. The SECOND that he heard a woman scream he was out that door as though he was afraid it was Emma in trouble. When he got outside, she saw them come out the rear entrance of Granny’s (aka near the bed portion of the B&B), and stopped what she was doing in wanting to look for where the woman was screaming in order to ask if something was going on with them. It was a stupid move of Hook to pretend that there was, but it did make her jealous. It made her feel something and she’s going to have to confront her feelings on things with both men at some point. There was NO POINT in stopping to ask if there was something going on with them when other stuff was going on.
Hook had been acting strangely since they got back since he hadn’t been sticking close to her. I don’t think we saw a reaction to Neal asking Emma out (not that I can remember anyway) but he could easily have surmized by looking at them and he’s fairly perceptive. It looks like he drank all night and was very out of it but couldn’t help but be a little happy at the look of jealousy on her face because it means he’s not out of it yet.
It was absolutely stupid and I can’t wait for Emma to call him on it. Especially since her last look at them was like more like “hmph, I’ll deal with you later” and she’s always been highly suspicious of Tink when she interacts with Hook. It is perfectly fine for Emma to be a little jealous and if it makes her confront her feelings then so be it.
Some are saying that Hook did it on purpose and he wasn’t playing with no trickery or backing off. He tried to back off, he drank himself silly and tried to do something stupid and then SHE suggested that maybe something had happened so he took that moment in his drunken stupidity to see what kind of a reaction he would get. If she didn’t care about him at all? She wouldn’t have bothered to even ask. They could have left it with an ambiguous look of surprise and a raised eyebrow or something. But they basically slid his redemption back ever so slightly to set up a moment where Emma would see them coming out of Granny’s together and actually stop to ask them what’s going on. Nobody seemed to mind when Neal was smiling at the thought of Emma being jealous even though he was all about Tamara…. Just saying.
So yeah it frustrates me that he can do no right even when he tries to for some people. We love and appreciate him more than those who can’t stand him so I get that. I do. We see the mask and they see “flirting” and “lies” and “deception” and long cons. I see a broken man who thought he found the way back out of that deep dark hole only to have everyone keep trying to toss him in it and by doing the “right thing” he could cost himself everything. He’s allowed to feel that pain and try to convince himself he can move on even when it’s obvious he’s in love with Emma. It’s sad watching him fall back a bit but I fully expect her to address it the next time they’re alone. She’s probably gonna want to know why he was so standoffish lately and not following her around all the time, but she GETS walls and knows that he’s not acting like himself right now, it’s the Hook mask.
She could seriously not care less about who anybody’s with if she’s not interested in them. If you think that somebody you want to let down gently is into someone else? You’re probably gonna be happy about it and relieved. It’s one less person to hurt. She did not look happy at all. (I totally understand being upset on principle vs wanting someone back and I feel like that’s what she was with Neal/Tamara. JMO basically said as much about Neal in her interviews after Manhattan but here we are, ages later and no definitive answer on her love life). But I don’t see the point in wasting all that time to show that 1) Hook is having trouble with the idea of moving on and anybody else is a consolation prize that Tink basically calls him out on (friendly reminder: she’s big on TL and getting people together with who they’re supposed to be with. Also she wasn’t even around for the kiss or the caves and saw enough to know that Hook is in way over his head in love with Emma and that he’s just trying to get drunk and use Tink to get over her), and 2) We barely saw Blue at all in her DEATH EPISODE and the scene consisted more of Emma being jealous than it did of running after the screaming woman whose shadow was being ripped off!
So no, Hook may have hoped that Neal might screw it up again but if he REALLY THOUGHT that Neal would somehow screw it up IMMEDIATELY and that his shot was literally around the corner? There’s no way he would have done ANY of that. At all. He would have waited off to the side with longing looks and made sure to be supportive of her on friendly terms any chance he got. When you think you have it made? You don’t go get drunk for the first time since you quit drinking and try to hit on somebody you don’t care about.
So have faith! This is far from over. I realllly hope we find out something in 3×11. I need something to work with and that promo gave me a lot of feelings and I need context.
After I get some sleep I’m gonna work on my “Friendly Little Reminders” meta from this episode. I felt like they kept giving us a lot of little “You know this but let me remind you so I make you sure remember that you know this” moments and there were a LOT of them (and they were good for us too!) Meant to write it hours ago but got a bit side-tracked by chat. 🙂 Night/morning, whatever it is for you and *cookies for all*
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
This site had a lot of good stuff about the various Ozian witches. Not sure what stuff they’d want to use or how to pull it in from the books but for those who aren’t as familiar with them like me I wanted to share: http://oz.wikia.com/wiki/Good_and_Wicked_Witches
In the oz land, a witch is a creature that can control the magic and the other creatures magics or not. the good witches are protectors, and the wicked witches are controllers.
Good and Wicked Witches are witches associated with the four cardinal directions and the four separate countries of the Land of Oz who have chosen if they follow the path of good or wickedness.
the wicked witches are vulnerable to water, like was shown in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
In Baum
In his first Oz book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), L. Frank Baum famously created good witches in the north and south of Oz and evil witches in the east and west. The Wicked Witch of the East ruled the Munchkin Country, while the Wicked Witch of the West dominated the Winkie Country. Dorothy Gale met the Good Witch of the North, from the Gillikin Country, early in her first stay in Oz (Chapter 2). Glinda is identified as the good “Witch of the South” (Chapter 18), though in later books she is generally called a sorceress rather than a witch. She is consistently located in the Quadling Country.
Baum left his Good Witch of the North unnamed in his original book; but in his 1902 stage adaptation of the book he called her Locasta.
The author killed off both of his wicked witches in his first Oz book; when he came to write his second, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), he needed a new villain, and produced Mombi, the Wicked Witch of the North. For the first time, both a good and an evil witch were associated with one of the cardinal directions.
Baum added another level of complexity to his scheme in his fourth book, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908). At one point, Princess Ozma explains that there had previously been wicked witches in all four quadrants; in addition to the two destroyed by Dorothy, “a good witch had conquered Mombi in the North and Glinda the Good had conquered the evil Witch of the South” (Chapter 15).
Baum added others villains, witches (like Blinkie), Yookoohoos, and other magic workers in later books, but did not amend his large-scale yet still incomplete fourfold scheme, of four evil witches and two good ones.
In Thompson
Ruth Plumly Thompson, Baum’s successor as Royal Historian of Oz, made two significant additions to this scheme. Most significantly, she created Gloma, the witch-queen of the Black Forest, in The Wishing Horse of Oz (1935). Gloma, if not precisely the Good Witch of the West, is at least a good witch in the west.
Thompson also created Tattypoo, in The Giant Horse of Oz (1928), as her version of the Good Witch of the North.
Later authors
The remaining gaps in the larger fourfold plan tempted the talents of later Oz writers. Rachel Cosgrove Payes took up Baum’s hint and created Singra as the Wicked Witch of the South in her novel The Wicked Witch of Oz, a book written in 1952 but not published until 1993.
Eric Shanower draws his own, unnamed Wicked Witch of the South in his first Oz graphic novel, The Enchanted Apples of Oz (1986). In his fifth Oz graphic novel, The Blue Witch of Oz (1992), Shanower accepts Thompson’s Gloma as the Good Witch of the West, and then creates his own Good Witch of the East in the person of Abatha, the Blue Witch of the Munchkins.
In his 2000 novel The Unknown Witches of Oz, David Hardenbrook accepts Locasta as the Good Witch of the North, but adapts the character to his own purposes.
Love that it’s getting renewed interest in the source material as well as in various versions we know and love! Can’t wait to see how and what they tie together!
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
I loved all of them! How can I possibly choose?!? Ok, I’ll eliminate the fake Henry ones but other than that we had:
- Ariel/Eric (I agree it was rushed but their whole relationship has been. LOVED their kiss though so I’ll allow it. Gil was beyond adorable!)
- RUMBELLE! (Finally. I loved the little stop at the thing before going down the ramp and then I don’t think she left his side after that!)
- RumBelle + Neal (adorable! I was surprised because he only knew her as Lacey & I’m not sure why she wasn’t surprised to see that he was alive but it made me happy how welcoming she was and that gif is beyond adorable! Love it when MRJ gets a chance to smile and there were a lot of great ones early on!)
- Darlings! (How long have they been waiting at this point? Probably feels like forever, but loved it! They were in the press release still as glasses & keychain which makes no sense but I loved the adorableness of her hugging your younger but taller brothers with such enthusiasm!)
- DARLINGFIREFAMILY! (I’ve been waiting for this for ages. They didn’t recognize him of course but Wendy seemed so happy & proud to re-introduce them and that hug was just…all the feels! Wish we had gotten something about the fact that she’s wearing his old robe though. Missed moment for sure!)
- Dwarves & everyone (Love how much they cheered for Snow and then gave her/her family lots of hugs. I was kinda bummed they didn’t focus on the Emma/Grumpy hug because Grumpy is super close to Snow – they all are but especially Grumpy – and it was nice to see them together even if it was in the background)
- Snowing (We did technically get one, it was just in a flashback so while it’s not technically one, I’m gonna add it anyway because it was adorable. He had been stone for a very short time and we got a nod to Frederick as well as a reunion kiss before setting off to enjoy the rest of their honeymoon)
- Henry!Pan with everyone! (It was a Robbie Kay hug fest! LOVED every real Henry reunion, they were all adorable. Can we keep him? Can we find a way please? Don’t get me wrong I love Jared too but it was so nice seeing Robbie as one of the good guys and he was fantastic! It may be all we get but I really loved him getting to hug everyone and letting them know he was saved just…not quite back to being normal yet. His hugs looked a lot like Jared’s and I think Ginny commented on loving the hug but that Jared gives her daily hugs like that and it always helps her mood. I swear this cast think they really are their characters and they’re family. In what other cast do you have “big sister” and “Uncle Raph”?)
Not sure if I missed any but there were so many wonderful moments in this episode and it had a lot to deal with reunions. Those scenes at the beginning seemed to go by so fast but they were so emotionally moving! I love 99% of the characters on this show and I was having so many feelings everytime someone hugged (minus fake Henry – which is really sad cause his first hug was Granny and we don’t see them together all that much).
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
I really really like the idea of Rumple *almost* dying/his curse being undone/whatever it is and then Belle saving him with TLK. It’s one of the iconic B&tB moments that we haven’t had fully yet (almost with the initial kiss in Skin Deep but nothing that actually did the transformation fully yet).
Man I need context! So many people looking emotional but not all of them are clear as to why! Street scenes even with the BTS pics are just…what is going on? Also – Hook & Emma up close with emotion in their eyes, I just…they say so much without saying anything. Can’t wait to see what’s going on with that.
The dome – isn’t that what Belle did just recently and then it was broken by the ship coming home? Hopefully if Regina casts one it’s a bit stronger than that or is a specific to this kind of curse thing. Cora’s held so it would make sense for Regina to at least try! I really don’t want them to all forget again. 🙁 And this time, Emma’s not written into it which, on the bright side, she doesn’t HAVE to be the savior in this situation (though she likely will be), but on the bad side, how is it then broken? So I like the idea that maybe it doesn’t have to work but at the same time feel like that might be the direction they’re going.
On the plus side, maybe it won’t be AS bad as the first time? Meaning that they might not have their memories (or one set of memories, or something) but that their relationships might at least be in tact? I know it’s the Dark Curse and it freezes time and erases memories etc, but if it’s being written/used differently this time, it might not have that same Regina-fueled agenda of destroying everyone’s happiness and breaking people up. So perhaps even if they don’t remember each other, they’re instantly drawn to each other and we aren’t really doing a repeat of S1. (Nice callback in this episode though, showing us the first time the curse was threatened and then ending with it being threatened again – though a bit more privately so far).
SO MANY QUESTIONS! There’s no way they’re destroying RumBelle and his renewed relationship with his son and grandson by killing Rumple off though. I totally get the panic but I just don’t see it happening. Plus aren’t we supposed to be getting a lot of RumBelle in the 2nd half in some way? I guess it was a cryptic answer because they *might* be under the curse like everyone else but I think they’d still be drawn to each other and without the baggage of the memories, we might get to see them just fall for each other. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? 😉
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
As much as people are hating on so much of it I saw a TON of stuff that is good for us! Also need to rewatch that promo a few times! (Seriously why are they crying? SO MUCH EMOTION in the eyes and I just…they’re so close! More on that later but Emma was super emotional and Killian was showing through again and I just…I need context!
Agree with a lot of what was said but wanted to address a couple of quick points (glad I refreshed before posting – I miss preview!)
- Killian was drunk for the first time in ages (he hasn’t had a drink since right after the CS kiss – he’s been on his best behavior since he had that chat with Pan
- Tink called him out on it (more on that later) and I cringed on that too but to me there was NOTHING that happened with them in the past. Nothing. At least nothing romantic/physical. The way she was offended when even asked if there was anything going on with them was hilarious to me and his perhaps was, well, weak and childish & annoying (more on that soon!), but an excellent point was made in that context which was that TINK KNOWS he cares for Emma and that she would be nothing but a rebound/consolation prize. Tink knows TL. She’s BIG on TL. She knows Hook a little bit but I’m pretty sure nothing ever happened. He was bent on revenge after Milah’s death, he flirts to get what he wants which is a way to make *insert whatever here* happen but pretty sure he’s not actively looking for a companion of any kind. He was very very low and drunk and doing something stupid to try to feel something other than what he was feeling (reminds me of Graham going back to Regina’s bed after Emma dismissed him….) but she turned him down. Pretty sure CaptainFairy did not nor ever will happen and that we were meant to see the toll it was taking on Killian and turning him however briefly back into his Hook defense mechanism but did so with someone who would make it clear that for Hook, it’s Emma or no one. Way to go Tink!
THE FACT THAT THEY TOOK THE TIME TO SHOW EMMA BEING JEALOUS OF EVEN THE POSSIBILITY THAT HER CAPTAIN HAD A MOMENT WITH TINK WITH NO CONTEXT TO THINK THAT OTHER THAN THAT THEY RUSHED OUT OF THE DINER TOGETHER AND THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE RUSHING OFF TO FIND OUT WHO WAS SCREAMING AND IT HAPPENED TO BE WHEN THE BLUE FAIRY DIED.
I mean….come on! We barely even saw Blue in her farewell ep and we coulda blinked and missed her death scene almost, but it SET UP that moment for Emma to jump to conclusions just from seeing Hook rush out of the building with Tink close behind. Let’s think about this shall we? Hook has been devoted to Emma all season. His secret was real and worked in the cave. He’s made his feelings painfully obvious and told her he will win her heart someday because that’s what she’ll want. He’s been by her side practically the entire time UNTIL he backed off the night before. The town practically ignored him when they got back to SB. Literally the only person we saw him talk to was Charming to tell him that the water worked because Liam died instantly. That’s IT. So who are the only people Hook knows in town? The Charmings + Neal + Tink. Emma was with Charming. Snow and Neal were inside. Regina was at home with Henry. Hook has practically no one to talk to, so it MAKES SENSE that he might have been spending some time with Tink regardless of HOW they spent said time (and darn it I really wanted them to have a NICE heart-to-heart about his obvious feelings for Emma, grr, but at least she recognized it for what it was thankfully – and let’s not forget that Neal is hardly innocent in the “I love Emma but am gonna try and move on” category so please, stones & glass houses guys? You want us to forget about the woman Neal actually LOVED and was gonna spend his life with, let’s not begrudge a momentary lapse in judgment that was immediately corrected by someone who KNOWS TL when she sees it).
So the fact that Emma’s first thought, mind you this is after asking Charming if he was actually trying to KEEP HER AWAY FROM HOOK, is “OMG, Hook rushed out of Granny’s followed immediately *gulp* by the blonde fairy he knows from back before he met me…were they…no, they couldn’t have been but…” Like they take the time to actually have her ask and then look jealous instead of focusing on the fact that BLUE WAS DYING and they should be rushing off to save her. Hook did not HELP matters by pretending that someting might have gone on, but Emma has her things with lies (though didn’t have time to deal with any of this afterward because of the obvious Henry issue), but she made sure to look at both Hook and Tink so I’m pretty sure she knows it’s a lie but still looked jealous. I expect it to come back up next week though for sure.
They made a point of showing that moment to us which had no reason to have happened (the entire Hook/Tink thing didn’t really need to happen. They could have showed Hook off in the corner drinking his sorrows and looking longingly at her instead or something), but they took time out of a ton of stuff just to be able to show that while Emma isn’t rushing to get to her “date” with Neal (and by not showing up he is then supposed to STOP asking her), they DO show a moment where Emma should be focused on running off to save someone…someone who ACTUALLY DIES BUT IS SEEN VERY LITTLE OF AND WITH NO CONTEXT AS TO WHY HE WANTED HER DEAD to show that Emma is jealous of even the idea of Hook with someone else!
That was absolutely pointless otherwise. If they wanted to show her that he was some horrible person and she should run back to Neal they failed. I believe she’ll see right through it and tell him to cut the bs and level with her. She reads him well and won’t understand how, until now, his words have matched his actions and she’s probably gonna address it because it’s gonna bug her. More on this later but her convo with Charming was flashing neon lights for me. They didn’t have to show her being jealous of the idea of Hook & Tink (so glad Tink said NO disgustedly!) but they still took the time to show Emma’s face!
Also I totally missed the glance that Emma gave Hook but when do these two not have eyes on each other?? They’re almost always watching each other, even in a crowded room and sometimes even when they’re talking to someone else! (See Emma watching Hook walk away while trying to talk to Neal last week).
As for what has already been said about the Hook/Tink stuff. The poor guy went back into Hook defensive mode because he just can’t handle what he felt the need to give up. He was trying to not do the same to Henry that he once did to Bae and he wants to give Henry’s parents a shot even though he believes that Emma will choose him but I feel like he basically felt like he was going to have to put up with Emma being with Neal even if only temporarily and he panicked. He put those walls back up and tried flirting with Tink who KNEW what he was doing and that she could only ever be a distraction or a consolation prize. The look on Emma’s face though when he even suggested that something might have happened between them (and the fact that her mind IMMEDIATELY went there when they rushed out to see what was going on, I just…FEELS)
I hope they don’t go there again and I don’t think they will at all. Tink calling him out on falling into old habits to try and drown out the pain (that was the first time we’ve seen the flask in ages) was important and frankly sets up that for Hook, there really ISN’T anyone else because it wouldn’t have meant anything and Tink knows love when she sees it and knows that he loves Emma.
It HURT to see him like that. Not only was he down, but EMMA doesn’t know that he backed off to give her a shot with Neal so as not to destroy Henry’s life the way he feels guilty for destroying Bae’s even though it was completely Milah’s choice. EMMA doesn’t know that suddenly overnight he’s gone from “When I win your heart” and telling her that he didn’t think he could love again until he met her, to pretending something may have happened with Tink and acting like he did before with that Hook mask on. She hasn’t gotten to talk to him really AT ALL since they got home! She doesn’t KNOW what the deal with Hook is right now, because she was focused on something being wrong with Henry even though nobody wanted to agree with her.
It was PAINFUL because had she gone to him like she usually did with anything in NL, when they got home and she had so many people who SHOULD have realized something was wrong with Henry, she went to them and it took forever for them to come around. I really expected Hook to be there and be the only one who was willing to help, similar to Charming putting up with Show’s honeymoon escapades going after Medusa. But when push came to shove, Hook still ran outside and followed them and did his part to help (though why Tink went along too I have no idea – Neal asked for Hook – not that it mattered, we didn’t see ANYTHING with the three of them which was a bummer. My guess? Tink was worried about the triangle / seeing Hook slipping into despair so wanted to make sure they played nice which honestly, I think they did).
The one thing that bugs me about all of it though is that to us (and I’m pretty sure it will be to Emma soon as well) it was obvious that Hook was at his low point because he stepped back. He didn’t give up. He’s in it for the long haul. He’s doing what he thinks is the right thing to do for Henry, even though every ounce of him has always believed in fighting for what you want. He’s going to win over Emma the right way and that means letting SF play out if it must, but he pointed out to Neal that Emma may not even give Neal another chance. Just that he’s gonna be around in the longrun and is putting her and Henry first.
So what royally ticks me off is people blasting him for trying to drown his sorrow in some way. Did I love seeing him like that? Of course not. I’d rather watch him with the longing looks in the background but HE has to realize that the longer he stays in the picture right in the middle of things looking like a wounded puppy, that’s not really backing off. It’s also going to make him MISERABLE and he was trying to drown his sorrows in something, anything. I think a part of him knew Tink would call him out on it and stop him too. (More on this with promo talk about what I think will happen soon *fingers crossed!*)
With Milah, Hook was focused on revenge. Nothing else mattered. He finally learned to care again, and because he wants to put her and her son first this time, he’s forcing himself to take a step back to let everyone he cares about have a shot at their dreams and is suffering for it. He isn’t trying to do something with Tink because he’s in love with her (and I’m pretty sure this kills CaptainFairy cause she made it plain and obvious that Hook is in love with Emma and doing anything with her – or anybody really – is a distraction from his pain), he’s trying to drown his feelings. That’s it.
He’s not in love with Tink. He’s not trying to actually legitimately WOO Tink. He hasn’t asked her to marry him. This is not even CLOSE to how Neal MOVED ON from Emma, yet all I’m seeing is people judging him and saying he must NOT love Emma if he’s acting this way with Tink. Um, hello, hypocritical much? Neal genuinely LOVED Tamara, was planning to spend the rest of his life with her even if that meant RIGHT IN FRONT OF A VERY MUCH HURTING EMMA, and begged her to come back to bed the morning that she tried to kill him. That is nothing LIKE the distraught Hook we saw tonight who was falling apart. Was it childish to imply that something was going on between him and Tink? Yes, absolutely. I hated it. But it made Emma realize something, I’m almost sure of it.
Let’s recap Emma’s story in this episode (outside of the Henry situation). Getting back to SB and celebrating – what was supposed to happen once they were all safe and sound and at home? Oh right, the fun was supposed to begin. Hook didn’t go anywhere near her. He gave her space, he watched her with her son lovingly, and took a step back that SHE DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT. Insert Henry odd behavior here. So then Neal comes up, the guy that she said she doesn’t really want to start anything with again, and asks her basically on a date which she’s not comfortable with. Then SNOWING push that on her, saying she owes it to herself if not him to go on a date with him. They continue this behavior to the point that Snow actually stalks their date the next day to “see if Emma listened to us” – seriously Snow?
Now, to be totally fair, Charming even said that he doesn’t know if going on a date with Neal is the “right thing” to do. Snow technically told Emma it was a good idea for her to do it and I’m hoping she meant it more in a “figure it out way” rather than a “you two should be together” way, and Emma does need to actually talk with Neal at some point and figure things out. She does.
So a confused Emma who has no idea why her son is being so weird, is now asked on a date by the guy she said she didn’t want anything with. (I liked him a lot more this episode, I think we’ll get lots of wonderful Neal family stuff with Rumple/Belle – adorable, and with Henry eventually and lots of CaptainFire friendship cause they’re getting along etc etc. Great!) But Hook is being weird now too and her parents are pushing her in one direction or so it seems.
Neal asked her out on a date in the same way that David once asked MM. It was an “I’ll be here at this time, and if you show up…I’ll have my answer” type of moment (though David at least showed up to turn MM down when the time came). Now, even if she HAD showed up, regardless of what the outcome of that was? It would still be very much a Neal/Emma moment paralleling with a CURSED!Snowing moment. And we know how well that turned out. (Cliff notes – when David would have been jailed, MM was willing to help & do whatever & believe that their love would survive and they’d be together but when she was in the cell, he stopped believing in her and left her there alone. Eventually she left him when she got out. Whose situation does that remind you of? Just saying…)
Now, Emma was given the CHOICE to show up for lunch (which she was perfectly capable of doing, there was NOTHING wrong with her), or he would leave her alone after that. What does that remind you of? MANHATTAN. He gave her the option of lying to Rumple and never having to see him again. Now we have her with a choice to go meet him for lunch or he’d stop bugging her about a date. You know what’s interesting about that theme repeating itself? SHE CHOSE NOT TO BE WITH HIM BOTH TIMES.
Snow wants Emma to go talk to Neal and see if there’s anything there saying she owes it to herself. Charming doesn’t know if it’s the right thing but thinks it might be a good idea to figure it out. (It seemed a little odd since he’s close to Hook but he still is WAY more protective of Emma around Hook than he is around Neal – more on that later). I’m still not sure what Snowing know regarding Emma’s past with Neal, Snow should know the most though, but they still are “seemingly” pushing her in that direction. I’m really hoping they just want her to get actual closure and they’ll be satisfied with that if she does because it’s getting ridiculous.
Charming. Oh Charming. How sweet you are when you have no idea how to have a conversation about love with your daughter (yet you give advice to your bromance-partners all the time!) Seriously, he never actually said that he WAS trying to keep Emma away from Hook…but he was deflecting it by making a joke and pretending that she thought HE was interested in Hook instead! Ha! And this was after saying he wasn’t sure if having lunch with Neal was the right thing to do and followed it by asking if Neal chews with his mouth open. Oh Charming…
Technically Charming was going to drop Emma off at the diner. We don’t know if she definitely would have gone in, and something of course happened in that moment, but Emma COULD have decided after all the pushing to go at least talk to him and try to get some closure. I really want that to happen at some point and it needs to happen to prove she has closure before Hook walks back into the picture more than likely in any official capacity. Especially since he said that he was backing off and giving them a clear shot first.
That said….it’s HIGHLY interesting that Emma’s reaction to all of the Neal prodding going on from Snowing…basically boils me down to “Are you sure you’re not trying to keep me from Hook?” NEON FLASHING SIGNS PEOPLE. This is what she was thinking about with Charming’s “pushing” with regards to Neal. That he just doesn’t want her near Hook. Why? Why would that be her instinct if there was NO CHANCE that something might happen with Hook? If the kiss was just a kiss? She would have eased Charming’s fears in a convincing way. She wouldn’t have said he just doesn’t want her near Hook. Also saying he doesn’t want her near Hook? The way she worded it speaks volumes. Like he was having to actually work to keep her away from Hook because she actually wanted to be there. She knows she’s giving people that impression – she kissed him, Regina already called him her boyfriend, almost all of them know about Hook’s secret reveal etc.
So why word it that way? Why would she even bother to ask if the only reason Charming was trying to push her toward Neal was to keep her away from Hook? It sounded a LOT like “he’s in protective!daddy mode and just doesn’t want me interested in the guy I’m interested in.” Funny how even the NEAL conversations that she has with her folks almost always boils down to something to do with Hook. It’s where HER mind goes, when theirs jumps to her being in a relationship (conveniently forgetting or not knowing all the pain he caused her).
I really did like Neal a lot more in this episode and when he’s being sweet and trying I totally get why it could affect her for a little bit…but she’s already shown how she feels, she keeps CHOOSING THE OPTION that means NOT being with him, and even places where Hook’s name shouldn’t come up or have any bearing on anything, that’s where she goes with it, either asking him something she should ask someone else, or bringing him up when the conversation isn’t about him. Charming could have asked if the reason she didn’t want to have lunch with Neal was because of Hook, but he didn’t. It was EMMA that brought him up, and then Charming deflected that with a joke.
Emma is such a great combo of her parents and I love that Charming outright asked “Who does that remind you of?” when he saw a moment of her being just like Snow. Now to him, he may have thought (and I’m sure many SF fans will think) that it was the keeping her away from Neal thing, but it was more her behavior in general in my opinion. Always thinking she has the weight of the world on her shoulders and expecting the worst to happen and not having time to focus on the good moments without just dreading the bad. Also those “fun” moments were supposed to be with Hook and he’s been ignoring her since they got back to that point, but here’s Neal, still asking for a chance at something.
Emma had all night to think about Henry’s reaction to the book, and choosing to go to Regina’s, and trying to figure out what was wrong. She could have gone to see someone about it. She could have done a lot of things, all before lunch. She could have even SHOWED UP TO LUNCH to drill him and try to convince him to BELIEVE in her this time and figure out what’s wrong with THEIR son and not made it a date even. SHE was the one that called it a date even though they DO need to talk about things and they were in fact talking RIGHT THEN. She got this look on her face like “You’re gonna make more out of it if I agree to a talk aren’t you?” and wasn’t overly pleased because she has already tried to make it clear that nothing would happen. (And again, 2nd time we’ve seen her with a CHOICE from Neal that would give her the option of NOT being with him and she chose that option, again).
The fact that she didn’t go to the diner and talk to them or drag anybody could get in there to listen to her about Henry speaks volumes to me. She feels like nobody is believing her and she doesn’t have reason to EXPECT them to. She tried to before and was dismissed as just thinking the worst about everything. Neal has already proven before that he doesn’t always believe her and he the night before said that Henry was back and safe, they all were so time to ask for a date, while Emma is saying um, Henry is being weird guys… So it makes perfect sense that she went somewhere to think and was focused on Henry. She even told Charming that it wasn’t even about Neal, her focus is HENRY like always.
Hook’s decision to back off a bit and let Neal have a clearer shot at something he may not have a shot with at all was ALL ABOUT HENRY. Henry is EMMA’S focus so he put him first too and that meant taking a step back. He fell apart AFTER that because it hurt him SO MUCH but he was still putting Emma and Henry first.
There were a lot of parallel themes that were brought back for me in this episode. The biggest thing that Snow learned is letting the enemy defeat themselves. That’s what Hook’s entire thing at the diner was about. He was saying “I don’t think you’ve got much of a chance if any, but I’m gonna let you try and fail so it has nothing to do with me. You’ll destroy yourself and it’s only a matter of time” but in a “we’re friends and I care about all of you” way and not in a typical enemy way, which was the point of the whole episode.
Hook could easily have screwed things up for himself in that kind of way this episode, but I don’t think so. (More on that later with spoilers), as well as the fact that Emma will SEE RIGHT THROUGH HIM. She saw through Henry pretty fast and she has a good read on most but especially Hook. She sees through the Hook facade better than anybody and he was being VERY weird with the whole Tink thing. He was falling apart and I expect Emma to question everything the next time they actually get a chance to take a minute alone (which they likely will…I mean it’s Emma & Hook, we’re coming up on the mid-season finale, they’ve been hyped for forever, and they almost always get their alone time to the point that other characters conveniently walk out to leave them alone for a moment!)
Another parallel in this episode? The fact that Charming knows Snow with just a look. She was dismissive of him and their honeymoon and clearly up to something that most may not have noticed. For a moment I was afraid that we’d see more of a DoormatDavid side for a bit but Charming was way ahead of her and I loved it! He just KNEW she was up to something and it reminded me of how Hook & Emma read each other so well. (I seriously can’t wait for Emma to ask Hook what the heck he was doing trying to make her think that he was into Tink after everything they’ve been through. I’d be perfectly happy if they got into an argument about it because arguments are passionate and can lead to kisses! Especially after emotional breakdowns where you explain why you were being sooo stupid because you love someone sooo much!)
(The only draw back of that would be that people would throw fits if he said he was backing off and then didn’t, but if EMMA pursues it and demands answers and then he says everything and she gets mad at him for backing off then it could happen. After all, nothing offends Emma – or people like me – more than saying one thing and doing another. She’s been through that before…with Neal. Hook is NOT Neal and it’s what she appreciates about him the most! But that would be a workaround to his ridiculousness this week. It would also parallel with David trying to stay away from MM but not being able to. That was the ONE thing about CURSED!Snowing that actually was RIGHT because it was the part of the real Snowing inside them finally showing through. Emma’s going to be ticked that he’s being an idiot, especially because of her reaction to Charming pushing her toward Neal. The look on her face when she saw Hook and Tink being weird she just…ack, the feels. Can she and Tink please have a heart-to-heart about Hook? Cause that would be wonderful.)
Emma will recognize that it’s his pain and his facade and want to know what happened. Now just wasn’t the time and then Hook got asked to go with Neal to go do other things. I could see something big happening in the mid-season finale though with everything else going on. There’s no way we don’t get anything because they’ve been hyping it so much! Besides, honestly, if anything does happen after she DID NOT SHOW UP to go to lunch with Neal, she kinda DID already fulfill Neal’s original request which was if you don’t show up, I’ll stop. He knew that she was nearby when they heard the screams, and she was getting out of Charming’s truck so clearly it was AWHILE after he was stood up, and Emma seemed PERFECTLY FINE so it’s not like she was off injured somewhere. Also uh…Charming had to go get her to go there in the first place so Neal knows he’s been stood up. He has to realize that and remembers what he’s said.
Here’s the angst. We knew it was coming. Emma DOES need to talk to Neal and they’ll likely at least have to talk about the fact that she stood him up and what that means (and I swear if she keeps deflecting and giving the poor guy hope that it was only her being worried about Henry because people are just going to hate her and CS more if she hurts Neal who is sweet at times and I want him to be happy too!) Then we have the Hook situation. He was SO CLOSE with her NOT going on the date with Neal and not excited about the idea in the first place, and the fact that when she & Neal talk, it may come down to it being over….but now…
Now we have Hook did something stupid. Emma’s gonna question that and want to get to the bottom of it and why he acted like that when she knows the real him. WE KNOW his feelings for Emma are LEGIT because his secret WORKED yet people are discounting that. *screams* Emma knows how he feels and he’s clearly acting out but was trying to stay away from her and his pain made him the more sarcastic Hook facade but I trust that Emma will see it. I don’t think she’s likely to go back and give Neal a chance because of it though. I don’t think she really thinks that something happened and you know what? Even if she DOES, then it just shows that she only did so because she thought she was in another “words don’t match actions” relationship and decided to go back to the guy that was a safe and easy option.
Remember how everyone said that the only reason she would pick Hook was because Neal was “dead” – turns out that wasn’t true. BUT if they’re BOTH ACTING JEALOUS and she goes back to Neal out of spite because of the Tink stuff…that kinda answers that doesn’t it? (Both were so jealous this ep even for a moment here or there. They kept those moments for us!)
Another argument that is hopefully over after this episode? Hook’s innuendos etc. I mean, we spent the whole episode with Charming trying to get to the “fun” part of his honeymoon! To the point where when they talked about that, Snow even said “Good thing I have this then” and handed him his SWORD. Hmm, what does that remind one of? It may not have been quite as crude as Hook’s former innuendo-loving pirate persona, but it was the same idea. Only it was SO ROMANTIC for Snowing, and for Charming to be talking of getting to the fun and clearly wanting to sleep with her, but Hook isn’t allowed to be interested in that kind of thing at all. I mean…we even got a like mother, like daughter comment from Charming with the “Who does she remind me of?”
Also interesting to note from this episode? Charming REMINDING US how he & Snow met and fell in love. It wasn’t love at first sight, everything was perfect, we’re so meant to be together! It was her stealing from him and him tying her up and her hitting over the head with a rock. That entire adventure of theirs paralleled Emma and Hook’s on the beanstalk. It was a reminder not only of how similar Emma and Snow are at times, but also of how each pair fell in love, even though they didn’t admit it until much later. It was ALSO used to show that Charming was in it for the long haul and knew what he was getting himself into from day one. He knew who she was. Hmm, who does that remind me of? HOOK AND EMMA. He KNOWS who she is and has from day one, including things about her that she kept from EVERYONE. They GET one another. They understand one another. All of this was a beautiful callback and friendly reminder.
Did they do it in a way that gives hope to the other side? Sure. We’re not getting an actual answer until we get an answer. It’s not going to be like Robin & Regina where we know weeks in advance FOR SURE, even though we’ve been watching Emma and Killian follow each other with their eyes from the beginning, and acting jealous, and have plenty of reasons to think they’re endgame. So they showed it all within the context of a date that SNOWING wanted her to go on (to the point that Charming, not out of fear that something horrible must have happened to her for not showing up) went and sought her out to TAKE HIM THERE HIMSELF. But what about EMMA’s choice? She chose not to show up to a date that came with the conditions of “If you’re not there, that’s it” and she didn’t go. Even CURSED!Snowing both showed up. That’s a clear statement from Emma saying that just because it’s what everybody else wants, doesn’t mean she’s ready to deal with all that or want it.
The problem is, ANY talk that has to do with Neal means a long big emotional thing for her. She hasn’t had the TIME to go talk to him properly and she even said they were talking RIGHT THEN so it sounded like a date to her and when it BECAME a date, she didn’t show up. She keeps saying she doesn’t know if she can, and that she’s not ready to think that way. She then had a breakdown over being the Savior and not getting a day off and being able to get close to people because something always happens (which is like Snow was in this episode in the flashback).
Something always came up with Snowing but they were always TOGETHER. They leaned on each other or were absolutely miserable without each other. Neal has shown he can be happy when moving on. He gets that he doesn’t deserve it. We then watched how Hook handled it and while it wasn’t great, there was clearly no LOVE involved and he was ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE. Seriously, if there was a memory wipe potion in front of him and he thought he’d never get her back I’m pretty sure he would have taken it. The man was FALLING APART.
But even with Emma worried about Henry, Henry wasn’t there right then. Not that night, not all the next morning, and she had a clear path to spending some time with Neal. It would have MADE SENSE for her to show up and then make it clear that it’s about bigger more important things like their son and then have him trying to make it a date AND making sure their son was fine. You know what that would have paralleled perfectly in this episode? Charming wanting his honeymoon AND to put Snow’s mind at ease at the same time. Funny how that OBVIOUS PARALLEL didn’t end up happening. Amazing really, given how much Charming pointed that Emma is like Snow.
I’m sure there’s about a gazillion things I haven’t dissected yet and I’ll add them in later. I loved so many moments in this episode that don’t even have anything to do with CS so didn’t bother mentioning here. (Though I did love that we got 3 TL reunions + kisses – RumBelle & Ariel/Eric in present day, then kisses + reunion/kisses, + kisses present day for Snowing. With everyone home and safe and happy even if Henry was a little off, there could have been a SF reunion with Hook saying he was backing off and Emma had a clear path to Neal multiple times when they could have been celebrating together rather than watching Emma not really want to set up a time to talk to him much less date him….just saying).
PROMO TIME! I am SO NOT READY for the hiatus. Just…noooooo. Also with everything going on right now I just….I need time to make sense of it all! Once I’ve calmed down and have some time to rewatch the promo a few times I’ll have much more coherent thoughts than :LSkdfjklas but since Pan!Henry seems to want to set off the Dark Curse (again) and that they’ll all forget and go back where they came from? WHAT?!? I don’t know what’s going on but [spoiler]it looks like at some point, Hook and Emma are standing extremely close and the way they’re looking at each other I just….major feels attack. I will stare at that moment for forever! The emotion in her eyes…the way he’s there for her and looking so loving and longing…I really really hope that they’ve addressed the ridiculousness that was tonight and she’ll at least show in someway that she cares about him, even if she’s not prepared to make the choice.
With regards to spoilers in general, mostly from the second half, We know that Hook is in the bug with Henry and Emma at some point. We have the stuff in NY with Emma/Hook, and then we have a lot of Hook being in FTL with everyone else but no Emma or Henry in sight and that’s all just extremely confusing. I have no idea what’s going on with that. But if the curse messes with people in a similar way to the first one, will any of them remember? Will we see a moment of Emma being upset at the thought of losing him (again) and then the curse happens or something? I really think we’ll see them standing together whenever it happens, even if almost everyone around them is whisked away right after or something, because Snowing were next to one another both when the curse hit and when it was broken. Would be nice to see the same for Emma & Killian!
[spoilers]THE EYES. Seriously everything about Hook and Emma is said through their eyes. They follow each other, they long for each other, they genuinely care about each other and they rarely say anything and they don’t have to! It’s there! It’s there so much that others see it too! The way they’re looking at each other in that promo though….the emotion in their eyes I just…what are they saying in that moment?!? What’s going on in that moment?!? I need to know people! I have a feeling that it’ll be like…right around the curse happening and there’ll be so much they want to say and then they’ll leave us without it or something (I hope I’m wrong). I’m still trying to factor in the bug stuff – why Hook is there with them and whether anybody remembers this time or not other than Pan. Like, when does everything happen?[/spoiler]
And then of course we have the major timeline issues of switching the boys back, daggering Pan who turns into Malcolm who may still die probably? And the curse being enacted at some point in all of that but not affecting them maybe before they finally down Pan? But it’s too late to undo it or something? I’m ….so confused!!!!
So where does that emotional moment happen? After tonight’s episode one might think that Hook shot himself in the foot and messed up everything but I think it’s going to force Emma to confront him about stuff because she cares about his feelings and will want to know what the heck he’s doing trying to make her jealous and acting like he used to for no reason. Plus something MAJOR needs to happen to get them to where he’s the one hugging and comforting her in NY right? Whatever happens, even with the confusion of tonight (and all she really saw was him pretending something happened with Tink which Tink will likely talk to her about to make it clear as well as Hook continuing to be standoffish which for him = Hook persona which = Emma reading him like an open book and reading him the riot act, probably in some random moment when most should be concerned about basically anything else), we’re still going to get them being super close so hold onto that! Hugs are even MORE intimate – as hot and passionate as that kiss was! – because they allow one to be vulnerable. And on top of that, we see that Hook will be arrested and then possibly surprised that she was waiting outside and then soon after we get the hug! She’s starting to be a bit more of a hugger, she’s getting better about it at least
Also to note – when everything is on the line and you’re about to potentially lose someone with getting to say something…well, we know how Emma gets. I don’t expect her choice to be completely made and revealed unless they really wanted to one-up us cause they made it sound like that wouldn’t happen she’s not ready for that yet, but it would be verrry interesting at least if Emma reacts to the idea that they’re all gonna be cursed and forget again, by going anywhere near Hook.
She could even start to say something and then we get an eye of understanding look or an “I know” which would be a Han/Leia thing. She’ll likely be close to Henry and her family but I hope that Hook is there as well. Emma is big on the things not said until you think someone is gone to you forever and while they don’t always mean exactly that eventually, they do mean SOMETHING. Emma said ILY to Neal which she does and probably always will but doesn’t necessarily want to go back to. With her family, it’s understood. Hook? Hook would be completely unnecessary and it would be her in a moment of wanting to make sure that he feels loved, which is what he did for her. She DIDN’T do that in the shadow scene when both guys were there (though it was pretty obvious that Neal was screaming for Emma while Emma was screaming for Hook!) but she also had that moment of ok, almost lost him, don’t have time to compute that anymore than his secret reveal or the kiss, but all of those things have been building on her. In fact I’d be interesting to see further down when she finally gets around to explaining things even more fully, if some of the stuff she was thinking about when Charming spoke of good moments in between the bad, weren’t more thoughts of Hook. Snowing may think going to Neal is a good thing, but it is for closure for her. Every time her thoughts should have been of Neal (to them), they were of Hook and I expect that to continue).
So the idea of ANY kind of recognition of their closeness in the mid-season finale is big and will carry on into the 2nd half. They’ve hyped CS (which is what you DO when you WANT the audience to like something and it’s just a bad idea to hype something you’re going to take away from them), and we haven’t gotten as much lately but they really speak for themselves 99% of the time. The looks, the camera shots, the pain on Emma’s face when people keep pushing her in the other direction, the longing, the absolutely miserable Hook tonight etc.
They have set it up and continued to set it up that they are jealous over one another. Even though Emma was jealous ON PRINCIPLE of Tamara and it reminded her of being the 17 year old girl who was ALSO promised a life by the same man, who was now actually planning to go through with it with someone else right in front of her, is now jealous over ONE guy and it’s NOT NEAL. Hook has impressed her and has been winning her over all season. Even when there haven’t been huge flashing CS moments, when they are around each other or the other is mentioned, the way they are shown to react is key.
We saw that a lot tonight with Hook’s pitiful attempt to pretend he didn’t even know who Emma was (when frankly he knows her better than anyone else). I’m sorry, but I can’t stand the hate I’m seeing even from Hook fans about – I love Hook and it was heartbreaking to see him that miserable and yes, he tried to do something stupid because then he could at least blame himself like Neal has been doing. So far, especially this season, he has done everything RIGHT and could still lose the girl or at least have to watch her potentially get back together with the guy who did everything WRONG and it is HURTING HIM. Trust that CS is beautiful and that Emma will see right through it and give him grief about even implying anything happened. Tink called him out on it and he knows she’s right. He does. Anybody who is NOT EMMA is a consolation prize. A source of physical meaningless comfort to try and get over her and it won’t work, not with Tink not with anyone. They had him try to hit on somebody who, like Emma, isn’t going to put up with any of the Hook-persona nonsense. Tink KNOWS TL when she sees it and she knows that Hook is NOT gonna love her so she’s not gonna let him pretend that he can get over Emma when he can’t. *High fives Tink*
SO HAVE FAITH. There is SO MUCH stuff they have given us all season and not every episode is going to make it obvious to people inclined to think otherwise. In fact all I’ve heard this season is “another pointless Snowing flashback? What does this have to do with anything when we already know it happened?” You know what the answer to that is? Parallels. PARALLELS. And tonight we got a lot of those with how well Charming knows Snow and supports her and talks of how they fell in love which started off ROCKY (just like CaptainSwan!) and how much Emma and Snow are ALIKE and how much Charming and Hook are ALIKE and even had Emma asking if Charming was purposely trying to keep her away from Hook (as if he actually needed to try in order for that to happen).
Was I disappointed that Hook backed off and then fell into bad habits to try and ease his miserable? Yes. But at least he will remember that pain. He’ll embrace it. Snow had to use a memory wipe potion because she couldn’t get over loving Charming. Hook is in this for the LONG HAUL. You don’t make him give multiple speeches this season about how much he is in this, and then watch him fall apart by hitting on the one person who is gonna call him out for what he’s trying to do because of how much in love he is with someone else, and have him SAY THINGS like “I’m in this for the long haul and you’ve already walked out on her once” or whatever he said (I need to rewatch), but he definitely said LONG HAUL and then proceeded to REMIND THE AUDIENCE that Neal has walked out on her before and she may not give him a second chance but that he cares about them and is putting HENRY first (the one he knows the least even though he loves Emma and Neal and knows how screwed up Neal’s life was because of the choice he made to allow Milah to run away with him) and he is learning from his biggest mistakes/regrets and fixing them.
Was is annoying that he hit on Tink after all his bravado that he WILL win Emma’s heart in the end? YES. Because he hadn’t actually seen if she would go back to Neal. We didn’t see a reaction shot from him (that I can recall at least) from when Neal asked her on a date, but he had to realize that RIGHT after he told Neal what he did, Neal hopped up and went to go see Emma. Hook doesn’t know the details of Emma/Neal after that, just like Emma doesn’t know the details of Hook/Tink. It allows there to be ANGST. JEALOUSY. It shows INTEREST from both sides. Did they handle it well, not really, but I hope that will be fixed and soon.
Given the closeness and the looks and the emotion in the eyes and the curse and the bug and hug and the goodness knows what’s going on in the near future, I have no idea what to expect. But I do know that EMMA AND HOOK ARE VERY CLOSE AND EMOTIONAL in the promo – the way they’re looking at each other I just….can it be Sunday yet again please? Ahh!) So without any context to anything, I’m just full of HOPE right now. And that’s what CS is: magical and perfect. Perfection doesn’t mean without flaws. It means loving one another in spite of them, and appreciating every part of the other person. It’s something that Snowing and RumBelle and all the others have, and most definitely something CaptainSwan has as well. Hook loves every part of her, and she’s seeing more and more in him than she thought possible.
I really really need to know what happens if/when the curse does get enacted. Is she anywhere near him? What do they say? Who is sent where? Who remembers what? So nervous about that cause like Rumple said, Snowing’s TL isn’t written into the curse this time so even Emma isn’t the Savior anymore. How odd that we just had a whole episode about her having a breakdown about having to be the Savior and how much it means that she loses out on. She’s been so focused on helping everybody and saving everybody that she hasn’t been able to sort out her feelings regarding things FOR HER. She doesn’t even think that as the Savior she gets to HAVE a personal life because bad things keep happening.
That’s been her ENTIRE LIFE. Every time she thinks something wonderful is happening, it gets ripped away again. Foster family. Neal. Goodness knows what in the in-between moments. Henry. Her family. Over and over and over, SOMETHING happens, SOMETHING gets in the way. The last time she took a moment and did something FOR HER because she was “feeling good” was when? Oh right, when she KISSED HOOK. And then she went straight back into SOMETHING HAPPENS AND GETS IN THE WAY mode, because instead of being able to just talk to Snow about what happened and sort through her feelings like she would have with MM while trying to rescue Henry, it was no longer JUST the rescue Henry mission (which was thought-consuming enough). Throughout that mission she had time to have these little moments with Hook along the way. No, it was a “Neal is alive” moment. Another CaptainSwan OBSTACLE. And now we potentially have the curse, coming on the heels of her family already pushing her toward Neal which doesn’t seem to be where she wants to be but again, she feels like she can’t focus on any of that because of being the Savior.
So it’s very very interesting to think that very soon…she may not have to be anymore. If Pan enacts the curse which it looks like he manages to at some point more than likely she would no longer be in charge of making everyone else find their happy ending. That weight will eventually be off her shoulders. Now the question of course becomes who DOES have the power to break the curse and last time, Henry figured out what was going on and thus get Emma to fix everything, but this time who would know something was wrong? Would people just feel like they’re supposed to be somewhere or that something is missing and then put things together? What would break the curse?
When Emma broke the curse the first time, it was a TL kiss with Henry. She was written into the curse as a backdoor so that it would get broken because Rumple put a drop onto the parchment. But he said that that’s not in play this time, that Emma isn’t in the same position as before, yet Regina still kept the stupid thing (why would you do that?!?) and now Pan wants to set it off again. So who or what could break it?
With S3, they wanted 2 mini-seasons so I feel like this is something that we will drag out to the end of S3. You know what else will likely drag out at least til then (and please be over because I can not handle THIS MANY hiatuses before the answer)? Emma’s love life. I will be very very curious to see who remembers and who ends up breaking the curse. (I’m also going to be extremely focused on where Emma is with regards to everyone else. From spoiler pics so far we’ve seen what I call Team Parents (Emma, Regina, and Neal) working together and I have no problem with that, it’s great, they SHOULD work together and Neal SHOULD be there for stuff. So if it’s all of them and Henry, it doesn’t scream endgame one way or the other. If Emma gets moments specifically with one of the guys or attempts to say how she feels or something, even if she doesn’t get it out, that carries a lot more weight. What are the odds we get an almost something with an “I know” from Hook to give Han another nod? And how awesome would that be? Plus it would fit in with the him knowing her and them saying so much without having to say anything which, for people like them, is absolutely perfect!
Premieres & finales often mirror each other. With 2 mini-seasons in play, I’m really really curious what we’ll get. We started the season off with our heroes all fighting each other and I expect a much more united front than we saw in 3×01. I’m very interested to see if we get anything about Hook’s big (and pointless in that moment otherwise) shippy moment where he told Emma he quite fancies her when she’s not yelling at him (*glares…you know you love her when she’s yelling too*) which, and I totally just realized this, would kinda be awesome if they DO get into a little spat then because it would show he does care even when she’s yelling at him! (Plus as I said earlier, if they have a little fight because of him hiding behind his Hook mask or something then it could escalate to very real revelations and secrets being announced. I’ve always loved that kind of story actually, ESPECIALLY in romantic ones! His behavior tonight has to be for something cause it was really random that now of all times he tries desperately to stop caring even though he just said he was in the long haul and we know he loves Emma. It’s gonna take something BIG to get Emma to address emotions for anything and it’s much easier for people like her (which I totally understand!) to get angry and reveal things than to let yourself just be emotional and reveal it for no apparent reason. So I’m curious how 3×11 will relate to 3×01 for sure!
3×11 should also give us a much better idea of where the 2nd half of the season is headed and what that involves. With 2×22 we were left on a moment of hope, especially for CS, so I hope we get the same even if Pan sets off this curse and causes chaos for a bit. It takes BIG THINGS to make people realize how they feel sometimes and you fight for it the hardest when you think you’ve lost it. Emma has lost Neal twice before, and she’s still staying away, whereas people like Snowing cling to each other tighter than ever BECAUSE of how many times they’ve nearly lost each other. That’s a big sticking point for me. So to move forward with CS who are still in the early phases, we’ve had a kiss, we’re getting a hug in 3×12, etc etc. So how do we get from 3×10 to 3×12? BIG THINGS.
I’m STILL massively confused about the curse though, because we see Hook get into Emma’s bug with her and Henry either in 3×11 or 3×12 – some swear it’s 3×11, others say they were told they were mostly filming 3×11 but that that scene was for 3×12 etc etc), we see Hook in NY with Emma, we see something about potions all over the place but including with Hook and Emma in NY followed by a hug, and then 3×13 we’re seeing a lot of people who shouldn’t be in the same area as they would be in flashbacks all together (plus Neal is not a kid). I’m so lost! Hopefully we have a better idea after next week & promos along the way! *Fingers crossed for spoilers to last us while they’re filming too!*
If you actually managed to read all of this I am floored and love you! Sometimes I don’t come here straight away and then I get chased down elsewhere to write one of my metas so…I guess some like it *faints* Seriously though, thanks for even skimming. I know I’m long-winded but there were a lot of feelings with this episode!
*Cookies for everyone* Keep the faith guys! We have a beautiful ship and we’re still sailing and flying and goodness knows what else! (They basically nixed CaptainFairy tonight and showed that for Hook, Emma is IT – trust in that! He’s a favorite of theirs, he’s been working on redemption like the other so-called villains and they wouldn’t take that away from just him!)
PS: Hook is always in the background of Emma scenes. When she was at the booth with Pan!Henry and the book, Hook was still in frame off to the right for a lot of stuff when she got up and walked Henry to Regina etc. Also did anybody else catch that Hook stopped Sneezy from sneezing by putting his hook under his nose? I laughed so much at that! (Love that Neal was telling Hook there was no rum and talking about why he was there, just to tip one back with the dwarves or something, and then actually seeing him spending time with the dwarves! He needs to win them over at some point, though preferably when he’s not in the depths of despair like he was later that night!)
PPS: Grumpy/Emma hug! Loved it even if it was in the background. Now to see Hook interact more with the dwarves, especially Grumpy! Also – so so glad that we didn’t have any actual Hook/PanHenry interaction. I mean, it makes sense, Pan doesn’t want Hook to pick up on it and he knows Emma’s skeptical anyway so he plays on Regina because he needs to and because it would be easy. As HEARTBREAKING as the Regina/Pan!Henry scenes were (they were ALL heartbreaking, anyone who thought he was Henry when he wasn’t), at least she does have legit moments with the real one, and then we got an awesome moment with Henry!Pan later on too. Hook hasn’t interacted with Henry except on the ship before he became Pan. I really think they’re keeping that for when he’s attempting to win over the REAL Henry. The others already have Henry’s love. They’re good.
PPPS: How awesome was Robbie Kay tonight? I love the real Henry don’t get me wrong, but I really had a soft spot for Henry!Pan tonight! SO GOOD! It LOOKS like they’re killing Pan next episode and as a character I’m not traumatized but I’ll miss Robbie Kay for sure! I’m hoping we eventually get some more backstory on Neal, Tink, and/or Hook so we can see him again but I really really liked him tonight! Made me wish he was playing one of the nice characters so he would stick around longer!
Sorry this was so long! CaptainSwan is just so amazing even when the characters do something stupid but that sets up OBSTACLES and ANGST and like Hook we are IN THIS for the LONG HAUL! I love my ship!
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
Lots of wonderful theories going around! I agree RG – I’d like him to have one nice parent too but it *could* work if they wanted to go that route because it would parallel him nicely: big heart, loves deeply, and turns evil for a bit. (Mostly I’m just curious about his mom right now – did she abandon him? Did she die? He was alone with Malcolm and then sent off to the Spinsters. I’m curious!)
I do however really really like the headcanon you laid out RG and I’m loving all the speculation!
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
That does sound interesting! Seriously can’t wait to see how they incorporate her into the story and that sounds like a wonderful idea!
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
In glancing around Tumblr I’ve seen some interesting (and t-word headache inducing) theories that perhaps the WWW is also Rumple’s mom making Malcolm/Peter Pan the wizard (con man) that broke her heart turning her green. We don’t know who Rumple’s mom is but she was gone for some reason and perhaps she too had an affinity for staying young like the man who destroyed her, Malcolm.
It’s an interesting thought at least! The season has focused rather heavily on the Stiltskins this year with Rumple backstory and Rumple/Neal working on repairing their relationship. I’m torn because I thought we were going to split it kinda between the sides of the family tree for Henry, but it’s an intriguing idea nonetheless. Perhaps we’ll focus on the past for the Rumple side and on the future for Snowing if they have a baby.
It would connect the new villain to Henry (likely), explain more of why the family is the way it is, give opportunities to address the “mother” situations that seem to pile up for the Stiltskins, and perhaps a young (and nice originally surely) WWW is where Rumple got his good side from only to watch it be torn apart. Goodness knows Malcolm wasn’t helping anything but Rumple still grew up to be a good man until the Dark One stuff. I could see his mom being someone who loved deeply and was devastated and then lashed out because of it. It would be similar to Cora in a way where she took her own heart because she couldn’t take the pain. Only in this case, it would turn her green and give her control issues.
Not sure if it could possibly make any sense whatsoever but the speculation is fun until we know for sure! Just thought I’d leave this here in case people hadn’t been seeing recent speculation from tumblr on the issue. Headcanons and fanfics are fun too even if they’re wrong about stuff on the show when it airs!
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
Love it! I wish I had the patience/time to work more on graphics but things never turn out as wonderfully as they look in my head. When are they going to invent a way to create something just by imagining it without having to describe or draw the pesky details?? *taps foot impatiently*
I did manage to make a picture have rain once but that was a long time ago and I haven’t done one since. The snow looks beautiful though! (I love snow and miss it, we’re lucky to get any that sticks now). On a fun note, Adam did say it would be “Snowing” this weekend 😉 And you know what that means!
CaptainSwan parallels within the same episode as Snowing as well as at least two other true love couples that I know of right now: RumBelle and Ariel/Eric, I hope!Plus that gets us to possibly a promo that will give some clues about the bug situation for Hook, Emma, and Henry and what is going on with the 2nd half while promoting the chaos that is sure to ensue in the mid-season finale. *gulp* We’re already that far?? I can’t handle another hiatus *sobs*Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
