[Slurpeez]

My two favorite couples. *sigh* Papa Rumple and Nealfire need their happy ever afters with their true loves.

I love this GIF set. Which tumblr page does it come from?

[Slurpeez]

Neal isn’t the only one who mistrusts Rumple. According to a sneak peek for 3×8, no one in Emma’s group trusts Rumple after Neal reveals the prophesy. Everyone, except Neal, is quick to point a weapon at Rumple. Just as Neal put his son first ahead of Rumple, Emma is the one who says Rumple will have to go through them all to get to Henry, because she’s just as protective of his son as Neal is. In the other sneak peek for 3×8, Wendy says, “why should I trust a man who abandoned his own son?” So, clearly, Rumple is the one who has to prove he’s trustworthy, because he is the one who broke his deal with his son and threatened the life of his own grandson. Rumple is going to somehow have to convince everyone that he is a man capable of change, that he can overcome his nasty habit of self-preservation, and that he can act sacrificially for the sake of saving Henry.

For all of the trust issues that Neal and Rumple had in “Nasty Habits” it seems like their relationship could take a positive turn in 3×8. According to a new interview with MRJ and Robert Carlyle, we’re going to see Neal and Rumple confront some of their issues head-on and even find some common ground.

Unlike Rumple’s relationship with Neal, which was tenuous because of Rumple’s quest for power, Malcolm really doesn’t want to have anything to do with his son. “The boy’s a kind of tagalong,” Carlyle explains. “You find him hanging outside the bar waiting for his father to come out.”

But there are still a lot of parallels between the two relationships since the young Bae always hoped to have a closer relationship with his own father, who, despite being preoccupied with dark magic, did love Bae with all his heart. “That’s a moment we can kind of bond over,” Raymond-James says. “‘See, you know what it’s like to have a sh—y father then, too! And it’s hard and maybe I’ve been harder on you than I needed to.’”

Something must happen such that Neal learns more about his dad’s relationship with his granddad Malcolm. Could it be Neal discovers from Rumple that PP is none other than his grandpa? I was so thrilled to read a new interview with Robert Carlyle and MRJ. Bless those two, they’re fantastic and really get inside of their characters’ headspace.

Even though Neal is still wary to about trusting that Rumple has Henry’s (Jared Gilmore) best interests at heart, the realization that Rumple went through a similar childhood may actually bring father and son closer. “Neal is somewhat of an internal optimist,” Raymond-James says. “He was willing to forgive his father before and the stakes have been raised now. Now he feels his son’s life is in danger as a direct result of his father and that’s hard to take. The audience realizes that Rumple’s intentions are pure, but Neal doesn’t. Neal is also somebody who’s looking for a second chance himself with Emma [Jennifer Morrison], the woman he loves, and he’s willing to give his father the 35th chance if conditions eventually work out.”

It’s so true that in order to move forward we must make peace with our pasts. Neal and Rumple learning to understand each other better, and working on their relationship, will bring so much personal growth for Neal. Neal so wants his father to be a good man again, and I think something major will happen in 3×8 to help start Neal and Rumple on the path to forgiveness. If Neal can learn to forgive his dad for what he did to him, then he’s probably dreaming of making it up to Henry for not being there the first 11 years of his son’s life (though he would’ve been had he known about Henry). Also, I love that MRJ brought up Neal’s love for Emma; Neal inwardly longs for Emma to be able to forgive him, just as Rumple longs for Neal to forgive him. Forgiveness of the father leads the hero on his journey to achieving his goals. If we see Neal start to believe in second chances with his dad, he may be all the more inspired to try for a second chance with Emma and Henry.

"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

[Slurpeez]

Yeah I don’t get this either because it did happen that way.

Even though Anna was the one to free Will from being stone, she didn’t stick around. Will became unfrozen only to then fall unconscious on the ground. So, someone else will have to come along and awaken him.

"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

[Slurpeez]

As much as I have the *grabby hands* for any scrap of a spoiler that will give away SF getting back together, part of me would actually have more hope if they kept that storyline seriously under wraps. The way the CS kiss was spoiled so completely, so far in advance, made it seem like just another plot point in the immediate story, not necessarily an advancement of a grand, over arching theme of the story that’s indicating endgame true love. So the less spoilers I hear about SF, the more hope I actually have. It’s totally backwards logic.

That’s an interesting way to look at it. You could even be onto something. Last year, many of us dismissed the idea of a full-fledged CS ship getting out of port. At the time, it seemed like introducing Neal back into the mix and keeping Hook at bay would mean no CS.  Low and behold, a year on and there was a CS kiss. Now that CS has happened (though not full-blown yet), it’s like the media attention has switched completely to Hook, and ABC is heavily marketing him as a “hero” this season. CS fans like to say that SF couldn’t be endgame because that would be too “predictable”, but from the way things are currently being promoted, Hook seems like the more predictable option. Having the media attention of CS gives Adam and Eddy room to take the audience by surprise later when Emma lets it be known she could never love anyone else as she loves Neal. Then enters room for SF moments to build until it’s revealed as endgame.

I think JMo was basically responding to all the people who were all, “Saving Neal was stupid, she’s meant to be trying to save her son, and the side mission was just a distraction.” I remember seeing even an Emma RPer on tumblr got sent a comment about it, and she responded just like JMo did: we need him to get off the island. So I can just imagine what people said to JMo directly about it. Those types of viewers won’t give credit to an interview answer where JMo talks about Emma loving Neal, but an answer that addresses just the fact that they did need him to help the mission might actually get through to them and make them shut up about it.

That’s true. Clearly, all the blind Neal-hate that has been circulating on social media platforms has reached the ears of Jennifer Morrison, which is really quite sad. I think Phee is correct in saying that Jennifer Morrison was speaking purely from a narrative perspective, not a character perspective. Neal is absolutely instrumental in saving Henry, because not only is Neal Henry’s father, but Neal is also the only one who knows how to heck to get off the island. Even Neal-haters can’t deny that Neal was essential to the plot for that reason alone, even if they fail to acknowledge Neal’s significance to Emma.

Now, we SF/Neal fans know there is always something more when it comes to Emma’s motives about Neal, and just as Snow White said, Emma owed it to herself , not just Henry, to find out if Neal were alive since happy endings always start with hope. I think Snow is a character who reads people’s true motives really well, and in 3×4, Snow compared the way Emma feels about Neal to the way Snow herself feels about Prince Charming. I think Snow is acting as Adam and Eddy’s mouthpiece about where Emma’s heart truly is –with Neal. Snow sees that Emma uses walls to hide behind, and I bet dollars to doughnuts that Snow believes Emma sees Hook as an excuse to hide behind, because it’s a heck of a lot easier to hook up with an attractive pirate than it is to confront one’s own insecurities, misconceptions, and fears from a difficult and painful past with Neal and her own parents. So far, Emma’s response to both her parents and Neal, who all love her, has been to shut down her emotions, because of her own abandonment issues.

Up until 3×7, Emma was tolerating Hook’s advances to a certain degree, because she needs his help. But Hook pushed too hard in 3×7 when he continued to mount pressure on her to choose and she responded by choosing Henry, putting Hook back in his place. His response? To sulk. As I’ve said, this is a huge red flag if a grown man can’t respect a mother putting her child’s welfare first, especially when that child’s life is at risk. I really hope that Emma starts to view Hook’s more clearly since she said the only decision she has to make is how best to save Henry. A concerned mother can’t afford to let her attention be diverted as it was in 3×5 from kissing Hook; I think 3×7 showed Emma getting her act back together by saying that none of the romantic attention she’s getting is important since what matters is getting back Henry. I was really pleased that the writers chose to make Neal’s motivation be his son, and his agenda aligns exactly with Emma’s since they both have to parent Henry together. Hook continuing to act miffed, hurt, or even indignant is a total turn-off for me, and I’m actually pleased to see where the writers take Hook versus Neal. The contrast seems clear in my mind, and I’m hopeful it’s increasingly evident to Emma, too.

"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

[Slurpeez]

I thought of J.Mo’s interview as a question of editing.  For example, if J.MO were to say Hook is surprising Emma and impressing her, that is true but really the crux of it is that Emma has such low expectations for him in particular, but also in general due to her very hard life with so few people who have come through for her.  Of all the people on her rescue mission, he has the least personal stake in saving Henry for Henry’s sake, so of course it does say something to her that he’s actively trying to help, as opposed to just looking out for himself.  He doesn’t need to do it.  In Emma’s experience, the “old Hook” wouldn’t have done it, except the “old Hook” was motivated by revenge. The new one is motivated by “his happy ending” that he’s defined as being with her.  

I get that Jennifer Morrison can only respond to questions in a way that lines up with what we viewers have seen so far. And so far, all Emma has seen is Hook trying to help her save her kid. Yet, if she thinks he’s doing it out of any sense of nobility, she’s got another thing coming. Hook isn’t doing it for Henry’s sake, he’s doing it for Emma’s sake. While that might not such a bad thing in and of itself, it does show he’s thinking of his own interests because he thinks it’ll win him Emma’s heart. Right now, as of 3×7, Jennifer Morrison said Emma sees a new side to Hook, the one who said he isn’t using any trickery. Yet, Emma is in the dark about Hook’s conversations with her dad about his true motives or Hook’s complicated relationship with Neal. I think a lot is about to come out in 3×8 when Rumple reenters the group dynamic. There are promo pics of Rumple, Hook, and Emma, with Neal in the background, and I think Rumple is revealing the truth about how Hook seduced his wife and ran off with Neal’s mother. The expression on Emma’s face is one of contemplation and then surprise.Also, in the promo for 3×8, Rumple can be seen taking Hook’s sword from its sheath…presumably to threaten Hook. I really want DaddyRumple to warn Hook to keep his hands hook off of Emma, since Rumple so strongly favors Emma and Neal together. Rumple needs to stick up for his son, too, to show his paternal concern and love, because he doesn’t want Neal to suffer the same degradation of seeing Hook make a move on the mother of his child as Rumple did. There is so much potential for delicious drama, and I can’t wait to see how Emma would handle such a major revelation.

"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

[Slurpeez]

I agree that Anna likely killed her own husband (a la Regina) and took power for herself. Because she had blood on her hands, she adopted the title The Red Queen.

"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

[Slurpeez]

This is totally random, but I love this GIF of Lana Parrilla as Regina in Disney’s Magic Kingdom. She walks by Gaston flexing his biceps and tells him “Save it.” Makes me think of Regina saying that to Hook. LOL!

"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

[Slurpeez]

Do we know for sure that Rumbelle are in NYC too? I know there was talk about 4 actors shooting inside that building the other day, but there wasn’t confirmation on who the 4 people were, right?

It’s not for certain, but Emilie de Ravin was reportedly filming a lot lately on a set that wasn’t Steveston, BC….and Belle being with Emma and Hook almost certainly means Rumple is with them too….unless the fourth person is Neal.

"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

[Slurpeez]

There were cops in those pics with Hook and Emma. I hadn’t looked too closely at the patch you can see on one of them, but just googled and it’s definitely an NYPD patch. So I guess they were the ones shooting on the steps of the police station too, though the pics we’ve seen of them are in a park, (which I’m now guessing is probably meant to be Central Park).

The cops being there is curious. Emma’s bails bondsperson skills could be coming into the foreground which is why I wonder what exactly she and Hook are doing there. I think she’s tracking someone, trying to find someone or something in relation to Neal. That is the only reason I could see for Emma, Hook, Rumple and Belle to be in NYC and the only person who ties all those other people together is Neal.

"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

[Slurpeez]

What if who we know as Pan is really the essence of the darkest evil that was originally trapped within Pandora’s box and it in turn possessed Malcolm and took on the form of a boy? Malcolm’s body is merely a vessel, and Pan has retained all of Malcolm’s memories. I do think the name “Pan” being a part of “Pandora’s Box” is no coincidence. Perhaps Hooks comment “He may look like a boy, but he’s a bloody demon” is not far off from the truth. This would really explain why Pan is as powerful as he is.

Clever theory! I think this could be the case.

"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

[Author]

Posts