Once Upon a Time - 3x17 "The Jolly Roger" Full Reaction

The Jolly Roger- Yahoo!!! I absolutely love, love, love this episode and I'm so happy to have watched your reaction for it!!!!! Thank you so very much, Shelley!!! Normally… I would agree with you in regards to the men I usually gravitate towards in TV shows and in movies being the more gentle, softer, and not so dark and dangerous kinds of guys. Especially when these characters fall into a relationship with another of the show's or movie's main characters. In any other show or movie... Neal would be a kind of character I fall for and prefer to see get together with the girl. Just like I feel about Sam over Dean in Supernatural. Dean is gorgeous and funny, but I love Sam more because he's so gentle and sweet, and just good. However, Hook for me is a rare exception. To me... Hook is a special character that I just love everything about, especially now that he's changing and trying so hard to be a hero. Not just for Emma, but for himself as well. And he is growing more and more into the gentle and kind man that I do typically fall for. There are really many sides to Hook, which is just one reason why I love him so much. And I have loved Hook ever since his introduction in season two's episode... The Crocodile, and have considered him my absolute favorite character right from the very beginning. So, I absolutely love the idea of Emma and Hook together, far over how I felt towards the idea of Emma being with Neal. Anyways... thank you so much for such a great and fun reaction from you for this episode that I have been so excited for! I really enjoyed watching The Jolly Roger over again with you. Like always, your reaction was so much fun, and I was especially excited for the big twist in the end, when Ariel in Storybrooke turns out to be Zelena all along. Hands down... this scene between Hook and Zelena is my favorite part of the episode, although I do love every bit of the episode too. And this is one of the biggest twists in this show we've had in a long time. It's brilliant! Now first, in regards to Hook not telling everyone of Zelena's threat towards Henry and Emma's parents... Should Hook have told them the truth? Yes, of course he should have. I agree with you. However, knowing Hook like I do and his mindset at this point within the show, I believe Hook is afraid to tell them, not because he's so much worried about Zelena's retaliation, which yes... she does of course plan to kill everyone at some point eventually anyways, but because he's afraid that were Zelena to kill Henry or Emma's parents because he went against Zelena's demands, etc... the their deaths would be his fault and Hook can no longer bare the guilt that would absolutely plague him should anyone die because of his wrongful actions during the missing year. He already feels guilty enough about his actions that nearly cost Prince Eric his life. And until this moment, Hook has been plagued by the guilt of Eric's death, having believed that Eric really had died because of his decision to save the Jolly Roger from Black Beard, over saving Eric from Black Beard. A part of Hook is selfish for keeping the secret, but I feel like he needs time to sort everything out in his mind before he decides what to do about his predicament. Although... after Zelena leaves him alone at the docks, Hook does go right to the Charmings' loft to speak with David and Mary Margaret upon believing they would have been back by the time he got there. So I suspect that he might have planned to tell them the truth, until he found Emma and Regina there instead. Plus... if he were to tell either of them that Henry is now in danger because of his mistakes he made during the past year... Emma might be able to understand and come to forgive him for everything. But right now, a part of Emma resents Hook for dragging her and Henry from their lives in New York and she wants nothing more than to return to New York with Henry, and return to her fake life. So she probably wouldn't take Hook's mistakes very well. And Regina certainly wouldn't either because her son is now in danger because of him as far as she would see it. So I really do understand why Hook doesn't tell anyone. And his guilt is certainly plaguing him. I hope all this makes sense. And that this explanation might help you to understand Hook's mindset. Yes... it's true that Hook has most definitely wronged Ariel within this episode, and he knew so as much from the moment he made the wrong choice by choosing his ship over helping Ariel, as he knows it in the present day. Sadly, Hook is plagued by guilt because of his decision to take back his ship from Black Beard in order to prove himself to be the most dastardly of pirates to sail the high seas. However, you have to understand... Hook is broken hearted because he is so deeply in love with Emma, and during the missing year, he never believed he would ever see Emma again because she no longer remembered him and she was lost to him. They were separated by the curse and realms. So... Hook only had his old life to return to, because it is the only life he's known for over two hundred years. Being a pirate and his reputation was all he had. And he needed to defend his reputation if he had any hope of surviving in their world anymore. That's why he chose his ship over saving Prince Eric. And doing so broke him even more than he already was upon losing Emma. Hook didn't think he could do anything to make up for what he had done, but he let Ariel go free since it was all he could do to even attempt to make amends. It's so sad. And you can absolutely see the pain and despair in his eyes when Ariel slaps him and reminds him of the monster he also believes himself to be in both the past and present. Now... I absolutely love, love, love the entire scene between Hook and Zelena in the end as Hook runs after the woman he believes to be Ariel in order to beg her forgiveness and to apologize to her for failing to help her. I so did not see this twist coming and it was brilliant! Poor Hook. Zelena is so deliciously wicked. And she's scary. I love how she uses Hook swearing on his love for Emma so she could curse his lips. And I love that Hook reveals that she doesn't have the power to kill Emma without her powers being removed upon realizing that Zelena hasn't hurt Emma because she can't, which is why she has cursed Hook's lips now, in order to force him to kiss Emma and remove her powers for her. What a brilliant plan! Of course Hook refuses to agree to do so and states he would tell Emma. Sadly, Zelena has now threatened Emma's family though. Which definitely puts Hook in a tight spot. And it's clear his guilt is killing him even more inside. We see this both inside Emma's apartment in the end, as well as outside of Granny's Diner while Hook watches Emma from afar, longing to be with her and yet knowing he can't be. Next... I love the overall backstory with Hook and the real Ariel, Smee, and then Black Beard too. It begins with Hook, Smee, and a few of Hook's crew robbing soldiers of their treasure with a brilliant trick. And we see that Hook is missing Emma, when Smee and his crew buy a bar wench for Hook for the night, yet he gives her more money to walk away and to lie to his crew about having slept with him so that they'll think he went through with it. To help keep his reputation intact, even though sleeping with wenches is no longer the kind of man he is. Then, Ariel appears behind him and knocks Hook to the ground before she places a knife to his throat, believing that it was Hook who kidnapped Prince Eric aboard the Jolly Roger. However, Hook recognizes the initials carved into the hilt of the blade and discovers that Black Beard somehow got hold of his ship, so Hook vows to get the Jolly Roger back. The duel between Hook and Black Beard is amazing! I always have so much fun watching it, and of course Hook proves himself to be the better swordsman and to know his ship better than Black Beard. Sadly, Black Beard knows exactly how to goad Hook to fall into his own trap, as he forces Hook to choose between helping Ariel to save Prince Eric by giving up the Jolly Roger, or to prove himself to still be the ruthless pirate he used to be, yet isn't any longer by his refusal. Ariel is definitely right that Hook is a good man, like she told him as they were trekking through the woods and again aboard the Jolly Roger. Unfortunately, Hook doesn't really believe so about himself and believes he has nothing without being the ruthless pirate he used to be. So he chooses the Jolly Roger over saving Eric, and throws Black Beard overboard upon making him walk the plank. And Ariel slaps him for it, then tells him he has no heart, which in spite of his decision, it's clear such isn't true either. We see in Hook's face how much Ariel's words hurt him and how much his guilt has already begun to plague him. Next... I also love the scene between Hook and Emma in the beginning when Emma comes to him to ask him to look after Henry. He's so kind to Emma and happily agrees to look after her son for her while Emma goes with Regina to be trained in her magic. Hook has definitely grown fond of Henry too, and their relationship is so sweet. And then, Emma drops the news that she plans to leave Storybrooke with Henry to return to New York once they defeat Zelena, which Hook immediately protests to. He begs her to see sense and then tells her that as much as she might want to return to her old life, he's proof that she won't be able to, as Hook himself tried to go back to being a pirate again, yet couldn't no matter how much he tried to. And what's interesting... is that we now know Hook found the Jolly Roger and got it back during the missing year, yet it's once again missing, as Smee reveals it's nowhere in Storybrooke. So what's happened to the Jolly Roger? :) Next... I love that Emma asks Regina to train her in her magic, and the scene between them doing so was great too. I love how Regina breaks the bridge in order to force Emma to find the magic within her. And she did! Instead of retying the ropes like Regina expected her to, Emma raises the broken planks and floats back up to Regina on them. Marvelous! Emma is absolutely powerful and she's only just begun to develop her magic. Absolutely brilliant! I also love when Regina teases Emma about her and Hook yearning for one another, as she states she's seen Hook's yearning looks and doey eyes for her, and suspects that Emma has begun to feel the same for him, which Emma quickly denies. But I do think there's definitely something there that she's denying too. :) Oh... and I think it's funny how Hook teaches Henry how to cheat at dice with loaded dice in the beginning too, just before David and Mary Margaret come to him for help for Ariel. And lastly... I really enjoy the scenes with David, Mary Margaret, and Henry, after they take over looking after him for Hook. It's funny that David tries to be more fun for Henry than Hook by letting Henry drive. And it's funny how David tells Regina in the end that she needs to throw out some money for the mailboxes and street that they wrecked while doing so. I like how shocked Regina is that David had let Henry drive and let her anger towards David burst out, until she quickly hides why she is frustrated with David upon seeing Henry's confusion. Overall... fabulous! I absolutely love this episode so much because it's so centered around Hook. And Colin O'Donoghue as Hook is phenomenal in it. :) Thank you again, so much!! I can't wait for your next reaction!!! Next episode is just okay for me, but then the rest of the season is amazing!!!

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum