I consider
this episode a major apology for the last one, and I appreciate it immensely.
We finally
are given the origin story of Killian/Hook, and how he was once a Lieutenant in
an unnamed kingdom’s royal army, serving under his captain and older brother,
Liam. Seeing him in this flashback was
really striking. That man certainly
pulled a 180- whoathunk there was a time when he openly rejected rum? Also, something interesting I noticed was
that in certain angles, you could see Killian already had his cheek scar. Even though I am aware that it’s a real
scar, the presence of the scar on this particular character always made sense,
considering what Killian/Hook ended up doing for a living- it is something of
an occupational hazard, after all. But
you can still see it in the flashbacks, before he turned pirate, which begs the
question how he got it in the show’s reality.
(Was it supposed to be visible during the flashbacks, or did the makeup
team just not put enough concealer on it?)
Watching the dynamic between Liam and Killian was extremely
enjoyable. I always love watching a
story when two brothers get along so well (it’s one of the many reasons why
Fullmetal Alchemist remains one of my all-time favorite Animes). In their case, I suppose it’s understandable,
seeing as their mother was dead (I think) and their father deserted them. Throughout this flashback story, we’re shown
how the two brothers were sent to Neverland to bring back a plant that they
were told had strong medicinal properties.
However, this plant turned out to be Dreamshade, and despite Pan’s warnings
and Killian’s resulting doubt, Liam refuses to doubt the word of their
king. As a result, Liam gets poisoned
and is at death’s door almost instantly.
Of course, Pan chooses this moment to pop up and taunt Killian, although
I’m not quite sure how Killian was supposed to have goaded Liam into poisoning
himself. All he really did was say he
didn’t think collecting the Dreamshade was a good idea. He was just saying ‘let’s take a step back and think about this for a minute.’ It’s not his fault Liam refused to listen to
his brother’s misgivings, particularly since he didn’t have to test it on
himself. We saw that there were pigs on the island
earlier in this episode. As much as I deplore
the notion of animal testing, it would have been a smart move in this
situation. Anyway, Pan shows Killian the
magical spring that can save Liam’s life, but cryptically tells him that they
still shouldn’t leave unless they’re willing to pay the price. To which I say, PAN YOU NASTY LITTLE
GUTTERSNIPE! You call that a
warning? How was ANYONE supposed to get
‘your brother will die for good if he
ever leaves Neverland’ from that? I
doubt even Adrian Monk could have figured that out. The loss of Liam, his only remaining family,
left Killian in a state of emotional turmoil, which led to him vowing to turn
against the king who sent them to find Dreamshade under false pretenses and
began his life as a pirate captain.
Watching how this story ended up really brought to my mind something Governor
Swann said in Pirates of the Caribbean:
The Curse of the Black Pearl: “Perhaps, on the rare occasion the right
course demands an act of piracy, piracy
itself can be the right course.” That was more or less Killian’s mindset at the
moment. Seriously, how old was he in
this flashback? 16? 17? He
didn’t choose to turn to piracy because he particularly wanted to. His actions were that of a man who had lost
everything and didn’t feel like he had any other choice.
Meanwhile,
in the present day. Emma stats fearing
that Henry might start losing hope that they’re coming to rescue him, and it’s
decided that they’ll attempt to send him a message. Snow plans to set a trap for a Lost Boy in
the hopes that they’d be able to convince him to let Henry know that they’re
coming for him. But when simple coaxing doesn’t
work, Emma and Regina decide to resort to extreme measures, which involves
Regina taking the Lost Boy’s heart and using the whole heart-control thing to
ensure their message gets delivered.
While I did sorta roll my eyes at Snow being all snippy with Emma for
the method she ended up going with, I did understand when Snow apologized after
the message was delivered. She was
simply worried for her daughter, and didn’t want her to lose herself in the
process of saving Henry. Even so, I
would have thought Snow of all people would be able to understand- a true
mother would go to any lengths necessary to save their child. Also had to give an internal cheer in this
episode- Emma referred to Henry as ‘our son.’
Meaning she’s now acknowledging Regina as Henry’s mother, too. (Oh, please tell me this marks the end of
that ‘he’s my son, not yours’ crap. I’m 1004%
done with that.)
While Snow,
Regina and Emma are occupied with their plan, Hook/Killian leads Charming on an
expedition to locate a sextant that was lost on the island when he’d traveled
to Neverland with Liam centuries ago, stating that the sextant could help them
decipher Neal’s ‘star map.’ However, Charming,
after overhearing Pan trying to talk Hook into betraying everyone in exchange
for passage off Neverland, allows his mistrust of Hook’s intentions get the
better of him, particularly after Hook/Killian reveals that there never was a
lost sextant. But in the end,
Hook/Killian reveals that Charming’s doubts were unfounded, as the whole point
of the expedition was to bring Charming to the magical spring that could cure
Dreamshade poisoning. Finally swallowing
a bit of his pride, Charming accepts the cure, as well as the warning that
doing so will result in his death if he ever tries to leave Neverland.
Ugh,
Charming. I used to really like you, but
in this episode? You REALLY got on my
second nerve. What is your major
malfunction? Is increased levels of open
hostility a side effect of Dreamshade poisoning ? WHY are you so downright nasty to Hook in
this episode? ‘You're nothing but a pirate.’
Yeah, Charming. And you’re just a
shepherd boy turned fake prince! Not
one to talk! You’re supposed to
be the hero, man! Stop being a judgmental, holier-than-thou
jerk, all right? While I can totally
appreciate the instinct to be an overprotective dad, particularly after Emma’s
meltdown in the last episode, this was taking it to the extreme levels. Yes, Hook might have helped Tamara and Greg
get Regina’s self-destruct gem, which ultimately led them to getting the
opportunity to kidnap Henry, but you never would have made it to Neverland to
get Henry back without Hook’s help. And
you certainly wouldn’t have been able to save Emma from drowning if he hadn’t
assisted you. As for your statement that
he’s only here for Emma? Um, isn’t that
a good thing? I’d have thought any
decent father would want to see their
daughter with someone who’d willingly risk his life for her. Is he just thinking he’s only after Emma for
her ‘assets?’ Let’s not forget that Emma
is the mother of Gold/Rumpelstiltskin’s grandson. If Hook was only interested in a simple
tryst, I seriously doubt he’d set his sights on a woman who has a connection to
his bitterest enemy. The fact that he’s
still interested in Emma even after finding out about that connection seems a
pretty clear indicator he wants more than just a roll in the hay when it comes
to her. So is Charming trying to insinuate
that Hook is automatically the scum of the Earth simply because he lists ‘pirate’ as a profession? Dude, your wife, Snow, used to be a bandit,
and your daughter was once involved in petty theft! Just saying!
At least Charming sorta got his act together at the end, but even that
was a bit off. ‘I thought he deserved a little credit.’ PFFFFT.
A little?! Still, I suppose
allowing some baby-steps isn’t that unreasonable. At least we had Emma to make up for her
father’s stinginess in the gratitude department.
Yep, it’s
time I talked about this moment. Unless
I haven’t been clear before this point, allow me to spell it out for you: I have been a proud supporter of Captain Swan
from the moment they climbed the beanstalk together. So you can imagine I thoroughly enjoyed seeing their
kiss in this episode. With any show, the
first kiss between two people is always going to be a big deal- the show
writers and film crew have only one chance to do it right, and here, they did
not disappoint. It starts with
Hook/Killian being all flirty with Emma, like he’s been a number of times
before. He might not even expect Emma to
actually kiss him, and that she’d just roll her eyes and walk away, just like
she’s done all the other times he’s flirted/tossed out innuendos. But when she doesn’t, the flirting shifts to
a clear two-sided challenge, one neither intends to back down from. There is a brief moment of silence when they’re
both sizing each other up, almost daring the other to back down. And then, it happens. Up until now, the kissing scenes in the show
have ranged from sweet to romantic. But
this one? This is unbridled passion and
a release of pent-up sexual tension. If
this show aired on a more adult-themed channel instead of the family-friendly
ABC, I wouldn’t have been surprised if this kiss escalated into an actual sex
scene. I cannot think of words that
would do this kiss justice. But what’s
even better is the aftermath of the kiss.
Even when they come up for air, they don’t step away from each other,
still breathing one another in as they try to catch their breath, with Emma
still clinging to his coat collar. It’s
glaringly obvious NEITHER of them could handle it. For the second time since we met him last
season (remember how nervous and shy he seemed when he tried to comfort Emma
back in Neal’s cave at the start of this episode?), Hook/Killian is at a loss
for words. ‘That was, um...’ He’s so
taken aback from what just happened, he cannot come up with a word to describe
it. It’s probably been over 300 years since
he was kissed quite like that, if he ever had been before. And then he instinctively starts to turn his
head slightly, completely ready and willing for a second round. But then, Emma’s walls come rearing up again
and she pulls away, declaring the kiss ‘a
onetime thing’ (from the makers of ‘I’ll
only eat one potato chip.’) as she, quite possibly, forces herself to turn
and walk away. Because this is what she
does when things get a bit too real for her.
Much like how she abandoned Hook atop the beanstalk because she was
scared of how easily she was starting to trust him, here she’s trying to act
like the kiss didn’t affect her at all (even though it clearly did) by
pretending like everything’s completely normal.
At the same time, she knows if she doesn’t remove herself from the
situation right now, she probably wouldn’t be able to keep herself from doing something
else she won’t completely regret. To
further protect herself, she instructs Hook/Killian to not follow her and gives
him a menial chore to make sure he keeps his distance for a bit. To which he responds ‘as you wish.’ There is no
way anyone could hear that line
without being at least somewhat familiar with the phrase’s alternate
meaning. That line, and the movie it’s
associated with, is so iconic, the only people who wouldn’t pick up on it are
the ones who have either been living in a sack or are simply too young to be
really interested in the show to begin with.
So don’t even try and tell me the people who wrote the script didn’t
know what they were doing. Because they
clearly knew. And then they sat around
giggling to themselves for hours. Even
Emma herself picked up on the reference and gave a tiny smile, even though she
knew Hook/Killian couldn’t possibly have known about that movie at this
point. And of course, after Emma walks
off, we’re treated to that brief image of Hook/Killian touching his lips as he
continues to process what just happened.
No matter which way you slice it, this kiss was a game changer for both
of them, and they both know it. Of
course, because Pan’s a miserable devil child, he can’t allow anyone to enjoy
one moment of peaceful happiness, as he approaches Hook/Killian to inform him
that Nealfirebagelperson is alive, leaving him with a choice- tell Emma that
Henry’s baby daddy is alive and risk his chance at being with her or keep the
information to himself so he can be free to build a relationship with Emma without Nealfire in the way.
More moments of Henry sliding down the slippery slope. Joy
bunnies. Seriously kid. That Lost Boy saying ‘how are you gonna handle what Pan has in store for you?’ WHY did that not raise any alarm bells for
you? No, really, I’m asking. Why is it so darn easy for Pan to manipulate
you like this? Regina may have had her
issues, but I’m sure you were raised to be sharper than this. Is this just the show writers saying it’s all
too easy to lead little boys astray?
Then again, we never saw any girls on Pleasure Island in the original
story of Pinocchio. And I’m certainly
not seeing any girls among Pan’s army of delinquents. Maybe there’s a reason for that? I don’t know, and I’m going to stop talking
about it before I risk angering the male demographic. Hopefully, now that he has the confirmation
he needs that his family is here to save him, we won’t be getting more of this.
No comments:
Post a Comment