Once Upon a Time REACTION - S03E07 - Dark Hollow

My gosh... I am such a fan of Emma and Hook!!! That scene between them as Hook proclaims to Emma he will win her heart... absolutely beautiful. :) And by far it was my favorite moment in this episode. I just love them so much. Killian tells Emma that he believes he will win her heart without use of trickery, and he tells her he has absolute confidence that she will save Henry, then that's when the fun will begin. I love it!!! So perfect. Just as I loved Emma's responses to him too. She was strong and said she was only focusing on saving Henry, but it's clear she was pretty surprised by Hook telling her the truth about Neal with him being a pirate and especially because he was hoping their kiss meant more to her than she realizes it did right now. And she was grateful for Hook's confidence in her. His words clearly meant a lot to her too, even though she can't admit it. :) As for Hook talking to Neal about his shared kiss with Emma... it wasn't out of spite or to rub Neal's nose in it. Some fans of this show, especially those who prefer to ship Emma with Neal over Hook, feel that Hook was saying this to be mean towards Neal. But I don't believe that's true. Hook was honestly apologizing and hoping there would be no more problems between them because of it, like Hook had with Baelfire all those years ago about their fight in regards to Milah, Neal's mom. Hook honestly believed that Neal had heard his confession about kissing Emma in Echo Cave and wanted to help him to understand. However, this conversation causes the friction between Hook and Neal, which I do understand, but I hated the whole childish argument between them inside Dark Hollow as they fight over the lighter, which is really because they're fighting over Emma as Hook later tells her. I hate any petty and childish arguments, even from characters that I love. And yet, I love the moment when Pan's shadow appears along with the others which swiftly pick up Hook and Neal as they begin to rip out their shadows to kill them as well. Thankfully, Emma saves them upon finding the strength within herself to light the candle, which then pulls Pan's shadow into the coconut and saves Hook and Neal. Did you notice how Emma screamed out Hook's name in fear when he suddenly was taken by the Shadow, and yet she didn't cry out Neal's name? I'm sure this didn't mean anything and that Emma didn't really not cry out Neal's name like she did Hook's because she didn't care about Neal as much anymore. It was most likely an oversight on Jennifer Morrison's part, when she most likely adlibbed screaming Hook's name. However, I like to believe she cried out his name because she too has begun to care more for him in return than she's able to admit at this point. :) Next... I also really like David's and Mary Margaret's scene together when they're off finding Tinker Bell again, when Mary Margaret tells David she would happily choose to stay in Neverland with him if she must. This was also quite beautiful too. I have loved Snow and Charming since the beginning and they are definitely one of the main reasons why I love Once Upon a Time so much. As for the Storybrooke storyline... just like you said, I too absolutely love seeing the old characters we've grown to love since season one. I absolutely missed those like Archie, Grumpy, Granny, Ruby, and the rest of the dwarfs, etc... And it's definitely nice to leave Neverland for a time, bringing back the characters and feelings we've loved since the beginning of season one. :) I really enjoy Belle and Ariel working together. Their scenes together were perfect and so much fun, and I love when Belle uses the sand dollar to find Pandora's box hidden beneath the floor in Gold's shop with Belle's chipped cup and Gold's magic. Ariel is adorable and Belle's love for Gold, as well as his belief in her love for him was very sweet too. And it's cool that Ariel has brought Gold and Regina Pandora's Box to hopefully defeat Pan. We'll see how that goes for them. As for Henry's storyline with Pan and Wendy... I didn't really care for it too much, but I do understand it. I do like the reveal that Wendy was the one trapped inside the other cage and that the boys were her brothers, John and Michael. However, I felt that their characters were kind of weak overall. But as you said... they are better characters than Greg and Tamara. Pan is once again very tricky and cruel to Wendy by convincing her to trick Henry. And it was interesting to meet John and Michael in Storybrooke. They weren't complete patsies like Greg and Tamara were, but still foolish enough to believe Pan would free Wendy if they succeeded in stopping Belle and Ariel. Overall... I really enjoy this episode a lot despite the few flaws in my opinion, that I didn't really care for in it. However, the scenes that I love, especially that moment between Hook and Emma... make this show that much more loved. So, thank you again for another great reaction! Until next time...

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum