Emma Swan: 1000% done with your infuriating optimism

[KingOfHearts]

 

And the really frustrating thing is, once upon a time (heh), Snow did it, too, as Mary Margaret. Somewhere within her, she knows how to do it, so her seemingly giving up now is just like, wtf?

Replying in All Seasons.

[Emma]

I've been all over the place this hiatus so hopefully JMo/Emma back on my screen will right everything again.

[Leia1979]

Just an observation from "Unforgiven": Emma and Hook seem to have settled into a relationship, but I was surprised to see Emma still had Graham's shoelace around her wrist. I think she so often wears jackets that I don't even notice it most episodes, but it really stood out to me yesterday. I guess I thought she'd stop wearing it (whether that makes sense to anyone else or not).

[YaddaYadda]

I thought it was funny that Emma still wore the shoe lace during the missing year.  

 

She still wears it though she did not wear it during her date with Hook.  I'm guessing she'll stop the day she finally has closure which will never happen since they won't write that Regina killed him.

[Writing Wrongs]

I'm still wondering where Emma got the last name Swan and we never did hear any more about her tattoo like we were supposed to.

[Stuffy]

I'm still wondering where Emma got the last name Swan and we never did hear any more about her tattoo like we were supposed to.

"Swan" was the name of her first foster family that gave her up after three years.  I don't remember if it was said on the show or just Jennifer answering a question somewhere.   

[KingOfHearts]

 

"Swan" was the name of her first foster family that gave her up after three years.  I don't remember if it was said on the show or just Jennifer answering a question somewhere.

Source: https://twitter.com/jenmorrisonlive/status/402252622297432065

[Camera One]

Her first foster parents were probably swans turned into humans by Rumple to destroy Emma's feelings of belonging and security.

[KingOfHearts]

I wonder if Lily was the kid they adopted in place of Emma. I'm still waiting for Ryan in the Pilot to turn up somewhere.

Edited March 11, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

I vaguely remember Emma saying they had their own child, and took her back to the foster home.  Which was weird but whatever...

[KingOfHearts]

 

I vaguely remember Emma saying they had their own child, and took her back to the foster home.  Which was weird but whatever...

Oh yes, I remember now - it was biological. 

[Curio]

Okay, so I'm getting to the point where I'm genuinely concerned that the writers are going to destroy Emma's character like they already have with Snow. It started with small things that I could easily hand wave, starting in 4.01 where Emma felt guilty for saving an innocent life. At that point, I could see why she felt bad that she had an influence on Regina and Robin breaking up, but then it just started escalating from there. Emma's personality was stripped in 4.05 when she became a wet noodle and never defended herself against Regina's yelling and Emma called herself an idiot just to get Regina to think about being friends with her. And then we had Emma ignoring the numerous signs about Hook's odd behavior in 4A that she never acted upon. Again, I was able to hand wave it and blame the writers and the bloated Frozen plots. We ended 4A with never seeing Emma react to her boyfriend's almost-death and then the show decided to show Emma grabbing shots with Regina immediately afterward. Again, I blew this off and blamed the editing/writing and not Emma's character.

 

But now we're in 4B and her slight personality glitches are actually becoming a pattern. She showed more concern over Regina not checking in with the gang after one hour of under cover work than she has ever shown for her parents or her boyfriend. She then decides to allow Regina to take Pinocchio to the Queens of Darkness after being stripped of her basic bail bonds person skills all episode. Remember when Robin allowed his son to be bait in a convoluted plan that involved a dangerous force and we all shook our heads? Well, Emma is officially on that same playing field now and it upsets me seeing what the writers are doing to her. It's gotten to the point where there are too many canon visuals on screen for me to blame the writing and I might have to accept that this is just the new-and-unimproved Emma Swan. I really hope this last episode was just directing/acting fluke, because I don't want to dump Emma from my favorite character spot.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Curio

[YaddaYadda]

Emma is my favorite, though it's usually a balancing act between her and Hook, but I'm going to wait before I get worried about her character destruction.

 

Yes, she acted OOC yesterday with Regina.  But seriously, David and Mary Margaret lied to her right off the bat.  The moment she stepped into her parents home, they were lying to her about what Regina was doing and what brought it on.  I think a lot of her behavior from the episode really stems from this turmoil (?) she's feeling and how her senses are all going off and how no one seems to be listening to her.  Her instincts are telling her one thing and everyone else is behaving a certain way around her and everything is clashing.  And I think some of her worry also comes from seeing what Maleficent is capable of doing.  Emma fought her in her dragon form.  I think there's that element too.  She doesn't seem to be as worried about Ursula and Cruella as she is about Maleficent.  

 

I think she is mostly freaked out by everything right now which compounds the behavior we saw from her last night.  It was annoying as hell and Regina can take care of herself.

 

Maybe Snow shapeshifted into Emma and Emma and Hook were off somewhere together while the crazy was going down.

[KAOS Agent]

I'd say it was significant that Emma mentioned feeling like she was crazy for believing everyone was lying to her except that I think that was just so we'd get a shot of Regina looking guilty. At the same time, they specifically had Regina say that thing she regretted the most was gaslighting Henry and Snowing are now doing the same to Emma, so maybe this is supposed to lead somewhere. If Emma is feeling like her "superpower" is on the fritz, she'd be more prone to worry about everything since she wouldn't feel confident in trusting her gut instincts about anyone - especially Regina.

Edited March 16, 2015 by KAOS Agent

[Dani-Ellie]

If Emma is feeling like her "superpower" is on the fritz, she'd be more prone to worry about everything since she wouldn't feel confident in trusting her gut instincts about anyone - especially Regina.

 

This.

 

I also never felt that Emma was worried about Regina's safety as much as she was worried that sending a newly reformed evil queen undercover with her old cohorts was tantamount to locking a recovering alcoholic in a brewery. Not to mention that the decision was made without consulting her at all. I get that they needed someone to infiltrate but at the same time, how many times has Regina backslid? Not worrying about it would be just as ludicrous.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Dani-Ellie

[FabulousTater]

And then we had Emma ignoring the numerous signs about Hook's odd behavior in 4A that she never acted upon. Again, I was able to hand wave it and blame the writers and the bloated Frozen plots. We ended 4A with never seeing Emma react to her boyfriend's almost-death and then the show decided to show Emma grabbing shots with Regina immediately afterward. Again, I blew this off and blamed the editing/writing and not Emma's character.

Because it was entirely due to the writing and editing. This isn't a character problem this is writing so bad that they aren't even writing the scenes for the character to have normal reactions. The writers never gave Emma a scene or line to react to re: what had happened to Hook. Emma was given absolutely zero time to unpack her own reality and deal with the fallout (and neither was Hook for that matter). At every turn their reactions were shortchanged because it was far more important to the writers that they chase the next plot bunny or watch Woegina sulk.

 

26 seconds, people. 26 freakin' seconds was how long Emma & Hook's scene together at the end of 4A was, and in all of that Emma was given a total 10 seconds of holding Hook's heart and trying to figure out the right way to put it back, and then the rest was them kissing. That's all the "reaction" time she was given. The problem is absolutely the writing. The character (and actress) can't deliver what's not given to them to perform. We also don't know why Emma and Hook weren't together afterwards. So again, it's the writing and editing that's short-changing the character entirely in favor of watching Woegina sulk and be miserable.

 

I can't blame the actual character anymore (even poor Snow and that walking nuisance Henry) and call it "pattern of character" for any of them because it's so clear that it's a problem with the writing. Period. They've shortchanged and eviscerated character after character in their permaboner pursuit of propping Regina and also moving the plot to exactly where they want it to go despite that it makes no sense -- no sense for the characters and no logical plot sense. It's all too clear that these character are just puppets that are having their strings pulled. The characters are so far out of character that I can't blame the puppets when their "behavior" is obviously the fault of the idiot writers pulling the strings. 

Edited March 16, 2015 by FabulousTater

[YaddaYadda]

I would normally pounce on this whole Regina thing and Regina propping, but I think this was the writers attempt at showing Emma trying to gain control over something.  Emma lost control since last week.  She is the bailsbond person who does these things normally and she has been kept completely out of the loop and lied to...again.  I really think those scenes had more to do with her feeling like she had control over absolutely nothing.  Everything in her is screaming that there's something wrong, that people are keeping stuff from her and I'm not even talking about the Hook stuff because as far as I'm concerned, she may not know what happened, but she knows about it and she knows he is going to tell her about Ursula sooner rather than later.

 

And all of this is being done on purpose.  She senses something is off, but she is pushing it away, she is told that she is wrong when she isn't.  It's always a collection of small things that push someone over the edge.

 

For all we know, this whole secret bullshit with her parents could have been resolved last week if they had come clean with her because then this whole thing with her would have stopped building, Regina would not have had to go under cover to find out what's up with the crazies and so on.

 

That's my take on the whole thing.  Emma isn't going to go from 0 to 100, from potential darkness to darkness.  

[FabulousTater]

I think this was the writers attempt at showing Emma trying to gain control over something.

[...]

Everything in her is screaming that there's something wrong, that people are keeping stuff from her and I'm not even talking about the Hook stuff because as far as I'm concerned, she may not know what happened, but she knows about it and she knows he is going to tell her about Ursula sooner rather than later.

[...]

And all of this is being done on purpose. She senses something is off, but she is pushing it away, she is told that she is wrong when she isn't. It's always a collection of small things that push someone over the edge.

[...]

That's my take on the whole thing. Emma isn't going to go from 0 to 100, from potential darkness to darkness.

 

And all that sounds fairly reasonable and I don't disagree. But, at this point with this whole show, the strings are showing so badly that I can't help but stare at them and the awful writers pulling them. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" isn't a line that's working on me anymore when it comes to this show. You know?

Edited March 16, 2015 by FabulousTater

[YaddaYadda]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" isn't a line that's working on me anymore when it comes to this show. You know?

 

Totally get where you're coming from.  The show is exasperating with their shenanigans and they don't take enough care with their characters.  The thing that left my perplexed more than anything yesterday was that Emma let Regina go off with Pinocchio.  No matter what he did as an adult, he is just a child now and I just don't know what kind of outcome she was expecting from that especially when Regina was so resistant to her and the assistance and again, I sort of get that, this is all to preserve that stupid sekrit.

 

I wasn't a huge fan of Regina taking a child with her to three women who are not just after their happy ending, but the destruction of everyone else's.  Was Emma going to follow and kick the door wide open with gun in hand?  Doesn't she think that Regina's test this time might have been to have her kill Emma?  

 

Anyway...with all of that I am still looking forward to next week because as I said before, I am a total sucker.

[Rumsy4]

Emma letting Regina kidnap Pinocchio bothered me more than all the Regina pandering. Particularly as this was done merely to keep Regina's cover. Emma had just witnessed Regina blow up on that kid for not remembering anything to do with the Storybook. What's to say Regina wouldn't have another relapse? Emma knows Regina had trapped Sidney inside the mirror as lately as 8 weeks ago. Why does Regina get 5 million chances to prove her redemption? This is like letting lose a recovering alcoholic in a bar.

There's giving people the benefit of the doubt. And then there's being trusting to the point of recklessness. Emma had no right to risk endangerment of a child, especially without the consent of the parent. At least Neal got Robin's permission to use Roland as Shadow-bait, even if he manipulated him into it. What are they doing to Emma??

[Camera One]

Was Emma going to follow and kick the door wide open with gun in hand?  

 

Unfortunately, the answer to that is totally yes.  Maybe with Snow and Charming on either side of her holding swords.

[KAOS Agent]

 

She is the bailsbond person who does these things normally and she has been kept completely out of the loop and lied to...again.  I really think those scenes had more to do with her feeling like she had control over absolutely nothing.  Everything in her is screaming that there's something wrong, that people are keeping stuff from her

 

This is it exactly. They did a terrible job of making that come across, but I'm pretty sure Emma's behavior was based on a loss of control. That first scene in the loft with her parents showed that she was really pissed about being kept out of the loop and with all of her instincts screaming that something's wrong and her parents are lying, she's desperately trying to prove that's not the case. She told Hook that she's going against her instincts to believe in people, so already she's fighting an inner struggle. The fact that she's right and these people who supposedly love her and that she's supposed to be able to trust are hitting on every single one of her hot button issues will send her right over the edge. 

[YaddaYadda]

You know when was the last time Emma behaved erratically (and I'm not talking about when she lost control over her powers), it was in 403.  403 was about her self-doubt, Regina had zinged her with her remark about the savior needing saving, Marian was a frozen popsicle on whom the TLK did not work, she sent Hook away to the station to guard Elsa because she wanted to keep him safe and away from the Snow Queen.  That day, she felt she did not have control, so she decided that she could maybe have control over keeping her boyfriend safe.  And when she saw him about to be killed by those icicles, she reacted on pure emotion to blast Ingrid back and then she saved both he and David's lives.

 

She built throughout the episode in terms of what her emotional state was, but she was erratic through the whole episode.

 

In 414, she had control over absolutely nothing.  I think it's hard for someone like Emma who is used to be in control.  This is the girl who ran from her foster homes and who ended up in jail.  I'm thinking that after she left jail, she decided that she would never lose control over things like that again.  

 

It's probably just going to deteriorate from here on out.  This is how she will hit rock bottom.

Edited March 17, 2015 by YaddaYadda

[Dani-Ellie]

In 414, she had control over absolutely nothing.  I think it's hard for someone like Emma who is used to be in control.  This is the girl who ran from her foster homes and who ended up in jail.  I'm thinking that after she left jail, she decided that she would never lose control over things like that again.

 

This.

 

Because look, Emma is the bail bondsperson. In her mind, this is her area. Undercover ops is how she made her damn living. This is what she knows, and this is what everyone knows she knows. So to find out that everyone had arranged this thing without her has to be at the very least disconcerting and hurtful for her. Because ... why? Why not include her? What's going on that they wouldn't ask her at least for freakin' advice?

 

And then when she finally forces the truth out of her parents, things are already not going according to plan. Regina was only an hour late but any number of things could happen in 60 minutes. Emma knows that any number of things could happen in 60 minutes because, again, this is how she made her living. Regina could be absolutely fine -- like she was -- but her cover could have been blown and the evil trio could have tossed her in a ditch. She could be hurt, she could be in over her head, she could have decided to screw the good guys and turn again, which meant the evil trio would have become an evil foursome and that would have been even more trouble for Storybrooke. They didn't know, and that was the issue.

 

I'm kinda getting tired of seeing the characters judged as if they had all the information we do. The characters don't know everything we do. We knew Regina was fine and still playing at being evil. Emma did not. Not to mention that she was jumping into a situation she had no hand in creating but she knows how quickly those situations can turn because that was her job. I'd be hella worried and feeling like everything was spiraling out of control, too.

[KingOfHearts]

To me, Emma's worry wasn't because she was afraid for Regina's safety or that she cared about her. It was more about knowing Regina wasn't a skilled covert spy. She's about as subtle as a foghorn. That's why she wanted to get involved and make sure everything was going to go according to plan. Because let's face it, like Dani-Elle said, that was her living. On the other end, Regina was disguised as a peasant and blew her cover almost immediately. Even when she was Mayor Mills she was horrible at covering her tracks. The only reason she consistently won was because the board was tilted in her favor.

 

There's also the fact her loved ones have been shady around her. She knows there's more to the story, and I'm sure she doesn't appreciate them sending Henry's other parent on a dangerous mission without explanation. She didn't know what was going on or how big of a threat the Queens really were. As said above, she's big on control and this was a situation totally out of her grasp. Following Regina in the truck was very in-character.

 

All that being said, I think the acting choices were geared toward Emma being more worried about Regina than what should have been running in Emma's head. With this whole Swan Queen debacle going on in the background, it's easy to mistake her intentions for something less logical.

Edited March 17, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[FabulousTater]

The thing that left my perplexed more than anything yesterday was that Emma let Regina go off with Pinocchio

[...]

I wasn't a huge fan of Regina taking a child with her to three women who are not just after their happy ending, but the destruction of everyone else's.  Was Emma going to follow and kick the door wide open with gun in hand?

Strangely, for me it was Emma's initial panic about the undercover operation that took me out of the scenes. But if I take your rationale and follow it along -- that it was Emma's sense of loss of control concerning the situation and the constant feeling that people around her were withholding information/lying to her, that she was feeling "off" -- then I can see why she acquiesced to Regina taking Pinocchio.

 

When Regina told Emma about taking Pinocchio, Emma totally objected. She told Regina that it was a horrible idea because they were talking about taking a child and Emma's reply was that they both take Pinocchio out of there immediately and to safety, effectively ending the undercover op. Emma was adamantly against Regina's plan. But, Regina refused to comply and basically called Emma a quitter, despite Emma's continued objections. Then when Emma tells Regina that she feels like her superpower is off-kilter and she feels that something is off about everything going on, Regina then tells Emma that she's wrong and that she should trust her (Regina) to take care of Pinocchio. Basically, Regina pushes the same button that David used on Emma to get her to believe his and Snow's lie in the last episode ("Unforgiven") -- that Emma is just looking at the negative side of things and her feeling that everything is off is just evidence that she's wrong about it -- Regina tells her (Emma) that her senses are wrong and that Regina knows what's going on better than she does. So Emma, not trusting her own instincts and better judgement -- not in small part due to the fact that she's already knocked off-balance by her parents lie that she's being forced to believe is the truth -- grudgingly acquiesces to Regina, but with the catch that she's going to be right on Regina's tail and that if Emma sees anything she doesn't like she'll "come in blazing". Giving Regina notice that she was gonna be on her tail and put a stop to the whole thing if she didn't like the look of absolutely anything was Emma's way of trying to assert some final bit of control over a situation that she can't get a good read on (because everyone is lying to her) and that she doesn't like and can't control.

 

So, I can see what led Emma to acquiesce to Regina. Looking at it that way, I think y'alls logic (about Emma feeling out of control hence acting panicky) is sound and informs Emma's actions throughout the episode. But if I'm totally honest, I still think it's mostly due to plot shenanigans and the writers just wanting XYZ to happen no matter what or which character they turn inside out to get there. Hence my continued displeasure with the writers.

Edited March 17, 2015 by FabulousTater

[RadioGirl27]

Yeah, there are reasons for Emma to be worried: she doesn't have control of the situation, Henry would be devastated if something happens to Regina, Regina is a recovering addict that can relapse; but her concern was way over-the-top. Maybe it was just a bad acting choice, but it was painful to watch. Emma has never showed that level of concern for anybody, not even Henry. The scene with Hook in front of Granny's was particularily excessive.

[Dani-Ellie]

I don't really think it was. She was trying to catch up, she had no idea what was going on, and she was operating on pretty much zero information. I think it also matters here that Emma as of right now is a much more open Emma than we're used to seeing. Emma from before would bury her concern and not allow it to show but that didn't mean she wasn't concerned.

 

When Henry ate the poisoned turnover, she attacked Regina, dragged her into a supply cabinet, and threw her against shelving and lockers. When Henry was lost in Neverland, she allowed Regina to take a Lost Boy's heart. When Hook was drowning in the trough thing, she gave up her magic to save him. When Hook and David were going to become skewered by Ingrid's icicles, she flung them out of the way with her magic. These are frantic gestures from Emma and I don't buy that just because she was verbally freaking out over this as opposed to physically freaking out like we've seen before that it was in any way out of character for her.

[YaddaYadda]

These are frantic gestures from Emma and I don't buy that just because she was verbally freaking out over this as opposed to physically freaking out like we've seen before that it was in any way out of character for her.

 

We can also talk about what she did in the Dark Hollow, lighting the candle when Pan's shadow was ripping out Hook and Neal's shadows.  Emma is an action person and I get why most people are not too thrilled with those scenes, because they seem to be Regina related, but they're really not.  I could give a crap about SwanQueen to be honest.  They want a friendship and they will force it down our throats.  Okay, fine!  I'm not the one writing the show.  But I think we have to look at this objectively and try and see beyond the writers' clumsy attempts at showing how uncomfortable Emma is.

 

The two people freaking out were Snow and Emma.  Snow because she put Regina up to this and Emma because she had been kept out of the loop.  David, not much of a reaction, he was a tad worried, but he doesn't care about Regina either way and Hook was like they got drunk, they broke things, it was just another day at the tavern for him.  And he doesn't care about Regina.  He calls her the Evil Queen to her face and Regina behind her back which is sort of hilarious when we think about it.

 

So, Emma's magic is connected to her emotions.  

 

She lit the candle in Neverland because she was scared of what was going on with the shadow business (I'd like to say it had a lot more to do with Hook's life being in danger because her first instinct was to scream his name, but that's a whole another thing).

She saved Henry from Zelena.

She re-opened the time portal because of some of realizations about home 

She blasted Ingrid back because Hook, then saved both him and David from either being seriously injured or dying.  That scene was highly emotional for her.

 

What happens when her emotions are all over the place like they are right now?  This show is like drawing by numbers.  I get it because I'm good at drawing by numbers, but I suck at anything that is artistic, much like our beloved show.

 

Strangely, for me it was Emma's initial panic about the undercover operation that took me out of the scenes. But if I take your rationale and follow it along -- that it was Emma's sense of loss of control concerning the situation and the constant feeling that people around her were withholding information/lying to her, that she was feeling "off" -- then I can see why she acquiesced to Regina taking Pinocchio.

That's a really good point.  For me, that was my WTF.  But using this rationale, I actually get it.

 

Aww, I like when we handhold each other through this drivel to make sense of it.

[FabulousTater]

Emma has never showed that level of concern for anybody, not even Henry. The scene with Hook in front of Granny's was particularily excessive.

I disagree. I think that’s simply not true. Emma has shown as much concern for others, past and present, as Dani-Ellie already pointed out. I’d also include to Danie-Ellie's list (and YaddaYadda's list), that Emma was pretty much freaking when Mary Margaret was being framed for murder by Regina and also went on a tear when Archie was missing (and later presumed dead). So IMO it’s patently false to say that Emma has never shown as much concern for anyone else as she is showing for Regina. Now, does it annoy the crap out of me that Emma shows concern at all for Regina (Regina, the woman who in actuality ruined Emma's life and has never apologized for it!)? Totally. No doubt. I hate that anyone shows Regina any concern. I don’t care how “redeemed” the writers pretend she is. But that doesn’t mean Emma has never shown as much concern for anyone else.

Something that had not occurred to me previously that Dani-Ellie just pointed out up-thread (and I say this as someone who was initially put off by Emma’s panic mode in the last episode, as you may have noted from my prior posts), is that this is a far more open Emma. In the past, if Emma had misgivings about something or she didn't like how something was going, she would internalize it and just go off on her own to take care of it. Now that Emma has decided to emotionally open herself up to these people in her life, it doesn’t just mean she only shares that affectionate side. It’s not just about kissing Hook. It also means she’s gonna show a lot more of that inner turmoil that she in the past would keep to herself, and that means she’s more likely to voice her fear and misgivings about things.

 

That's a really good point.  For me, that was my WTF.  But using this rationale, I actually get it.

Aww, I like when we handhold each other through this drivel to make sense of it.

Hehe! It's kinda nice, isn't it. The board community coming together to make sense of the crazy. I feel like we should get merit badges for this. ;-)

Edited March 17, 2015 by FabulousTater

[Rumsy4]

Emma freaking out over increasingly losing control over the situation makes sense. I still cringe at her letting Regina kidnap Pinocchio, but I blame that on the plot requirement. 

 

 

Aww, I like when we handhold each other through this drivel to make sense of it.

 

God, yes! Fanfic and fan headcanons are what get me through the plot vs characterization mess.

[Shanna Marie]

Aww, I like when we handhold each other through this drivel to make sense of it.

Just imagine how the actors feel when they get a script. They've done all this work to develop and create a character from the inside out, and then they get handed a script that calls on their character to do something the character they've created wouldn't do or to act in a way their character shouldn't act, so they then have to do all kinds of mental gymnastics in order to do these things while still being this character they've created.

[RadioGirl27]

I'm not saying Emma has never been concerned before, but the way Jennifer Morrison and/or the director/writers of the episode decided to show that concern was so over the top that it took me out of the story and made me cringe. That's why I said that maybe it was an acting/directing choice. Those other moments where Emma has shown concern have been more subtle, more organic.

[Curio]

I'm not saying Emma has never been concerned before, but the way Jennifer Morrison and/or the director/writers of the episode decided to show that concern was so over the top that it took me out of the story and made me cringe. That's why I said that maybe it was an acting/directing choice. Those other moments where Emma has shown concern have been more subtle, more organic.

This is kind of where I'm at, too. I would agree that Emma has shown the same level of concern for others throughout the series, but it's never been telegraphed on screen for an entire episode and at the extreme level Jennifer chose to portray it in Enter the Dragon. In the examples listed above, Emma usually shows great concern for a short burst and physically lashes out when there's a threat immediately presented to her: Henry dying in front of her and her reaction to attack Regina, Hook's shadow being torn out in front of her and her immediate reaction to light the candle, Hook drowning in front of her and her immediate reaction to give up her magic to save him, etc. Whereas in this episode, it didn't seem organic that Emma would freak out at such a high level over something that didn't seem like that big of a deal. Just a few episodes ago, Emma willingly let Ursula and Cruella cross the town line because they supposedly "turned over new leaves." Now, just because Maleficent is resurrected, her reaction is completely opposite. So does that mean Emma thinks her decision to let them cross over was a terrible idea?

 

There's also a feeling of whiplash if you watch Unforgiven right before Enter the Dragon. We end that episode with a rather calm Emma telling Hook she'll see the best in him despite the fact that he's keeping a secret and he did something terrible to Ursula, and even her reaction to finding out Maleficent was alive wasn't too over the top. So when you watch that scene and jump immediately to Emma freaking out because her parents didn't tell her about the under cover plan, it seems a bit off. I could buy Emma gradually getting more and more frustrated throughout the episode because her super power is going crazy, starting at "Freak-Out-Level-4" when she first learns about the plan and gradually rising to "Freak-Out-Level-10" by the time she's dealing with Pinocchio and Regina. But it was like Emma was already at "Freak-Out-Level-11" when she hauled ass to Granny's just to find Hook casually saying they had some drinks last night.

 

Maybe it just comes down to personal interpretation, but for me, this was the first time that Jennifer's acting actually took me out of some scenes. Usually, I can get really invested in the characters on screen and forget about the actors doing their jobs, but I couldn't help but think about why Jennifer was portraying this particular freak out so dramatically instead of wondering why Emma was freaking out, if that makes any sense.

[Dani-Ellie]

I'm still seeing Emma's verbal freak out as a product of character development. No, I could not imagine the Emma Swan who drove into Storybrooke with Henry in the pilot ever freaking out like this but after three and a half seasons, she shouldn't be the same person. She should have grown. The fact that she feels comfortable enough with Hook to be that vulnerable and freaked out around him said more to me about her development as a character than anything having to do with Regina.

[Curio]

I'm still seeing Emma's verbal freak out as a product of character development. No, I could not imagine the Emma Swan who drove into Storybrooke with Henry in the pilot ever freaking out like this but after three and a half seasons, she shouldn't be the same person. She should have grown. The fact that she feels comfortable enough with Hook to be that vulnerable and freaked out around him said more to me about her development as a character than anything having to do with Regina.

 

I definitely agree that Emma's verbal freak out is good character development and a direct result of her letting down her walls this season. But on a personal preference level, I would have rather seen her panic level gradually rise throughout the episode instead of being on full throttle starting at her first scene. But that's just me being a nit-picky backseat director.

[FabulousTater]

Whereas in this episode, it didn't seem organic that Emma would freak out at such a high level over something that didn't seem like that big of a deal. Just a few episodes ago, Emma willingly let Ursula and Cruella cross the town line because they supposedly "turned over new leaves." Now, just because Maleficent is resurrected, her reaction is completely opposite. So does that mean Emma thinks her decision to let them cross over was a terrible idea?

If it helps, this is how I came around to seeing it as not so OOC for Emma and just clumsy story execution (I mean, could the writers have built up to Emma's panic more smoothly by giving Emma a scene where she builds to that point of panic? For sure. But these writers have never been known for subtly and never will be. Moving the plot along like a bulldozer always trumps character, and most especially characters that aren't Regina. As YaddaYadda said, these writers are paint by numbers. They'll skip things that would otherwise smoothly transition moments and go straight to the next point):

Emma was initially was going along with letting in the QoD in the premiere because "redemption", second chances, and blah, blah, blah. But you’ve got to remember what happened directly afterwards in “Unforgiven”. Snow and Charming started poo-poo-ing all over the Queen’s of Darkness “redemption” and “second chances” and them being in town to the point that they roped Emma into tailing them and looking for evidence.

So Emma goes along with it, and naturally, she does find evidence (the video of them stealing something from Gold’s) that Ursula and Cruella aren’t on the up and up and she says to Snowing “Hey, you guys were right. We need to look into this.” But it’s at that very moment that Snowing do a 180 on their stance about QoD (because they're now just actively lying to Emma) and they tell Emma, “Nah, we’re good. You’re just being a negative nancy, Emma!” See, Emma still knows somethings not quite right. Her instincts are telling her that something is wrong, and they are also telling her "Parents are lying!" But Because of David's manipulations, Emma convinces herself that it must just be something wrong with her. So on the one hand Emma’s instincts and the evidence say “Warning: Danger, Emma Swan! Danger!”, but everyone around her is telling her "Dont' be silly, Emma. It’s all good!"

 

So then we come to this episode ("Enter The Dragon") where yet again, Emma's thrown for another loop when Snowing tells Emma out of nowhere, that Regina and they have decided to run an undercover op (actually, they blame it all on Regina, when in truth Snow roped Regina into it, but that’s just part of the continued journey into suckitude that Snowing is being sent on). Snowing leave Emma out of the whole "operation" (because Snowing is trying to cover their ass) even though this is totally in Emma's wheelhouse in terms of work. But when they finally do tell Emma about it’s basically because it has apparently already gone pear shaped. Emma’s instinct and judgement are at complete conflict with what everyone is telling her. That’s why she’s just freaking from the start.

 

Also, I think part of the reason Emma's reaction was supposed to come off as kinda intense was because the writers wanted to leverage her anxiety and infuse the scenes with a tension that would culminate with Pinnochio's kidnapping. Could it have been executed better with a transition scene to get Emma there more organically? Sure. But TW;TS

Edited March 17, 2015 by FabulousTater

[Dani-Ellie]

Emma’s instinct and judgement are at complete conflict with what everyone is telling her. That’s why she’s just freaking from the start.

 

She even says as much to Regina, that ever since the evil trio came to town, her superpower's been going haywire. She knows something's wrong but no one will admit it to her. I just did a rewatch for my reaction post and I paid specific attention to what was going on with Emma because of this discussion and the other negative discussion I'd seen elsewhere, just to make sure I wasn't arguing headcanon with no evidence to support it. There's so much more to Emma's turmoil here than just "omg Regina's in danger!!!!oneone!" and the show is in fact trying to tell us this. It's a clumsy attempt that maybe came too little too late, granted, but it's not like they just left it completely up in the air. They are trying to explain why Emma's so worked up over this by having Emma herself admit that what she's feeling and what she's being told are completely at odds with one another.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Dani-Ellie

[Camera One]

I felt what Curio did.  I guess we shouldn't be surprised that they went from 0 to 60, but I don't remember seeing Emma so flustered and panicked before.  To me, her face did show intense concern.  I think if you asked A&E, they would say that was their intention and Jennifer Morrison played it exactly as they wanted it.  She was just doing her job, and to me, the bottom line is that the writing sucks, as we all know.

[KAOS Agent]

Watch Emma's reaction when Regina tells her the only people lying are the bad guys. She clearly knows she's being lied to. It's got to suck trying to cling so desperately to the idea that the people she's put her trust in aren't lying to her when everything in her is telling her they are.

They are making her feel crazy and they suck. Even worse, they are watching it happen and just keep digging in deeper. I find it really annoying too that Maleficent threatened Snowing with terrible pain and the way she did that in the past was to strike at her enemies' children, but no one has given Emma a heads up that she's got a giant target on her back. Emma is being screwed every which way here and maybe her reaction does seem over the top, but I think there's plenty to show that Emma is reacting to her personal turmoil over massive concern for Regina.

[YaddaYadda]

I find it really annoying too that Maleficent threatened Snowing with terrible pain and the way she did that in the past was to strike at her enemies' children, but no one has given Emma a heads up that she's got a giant target on her back.

 

who cares about Emma as long as they get to protect Do Over.  Snow's nightmare was Maleficent picking up Do Over, then she threatened the family.  When Maleficent was resurrected, Snow stepped in front of David and told Mal to not hurt him but hurt her instead.  Emma?  Emma who?  Well she can't find out our secret that we didn't trust in her, believe in her.

 

Ingrid told Emma at the station that her parents can't love something they don't understand.

 

Well it's about to come back and bite them in the ass in a big way.  I hope Emma moves out after this.

[Curio]

She even says as much to Regina, that ever since the evil trio came to town, her superpower's been going haywire. She knows something's wrong but no one will admit it to her.

Watch Emma's reaction when Regina tells her the only people lying are the bad guys. She clearly knows she's being lied to.

 

I think we're starting to argue two different points here, because I concur with what everyone is saying in regards to Emma's characterization and the reasons behind why she was freaking out. Yes, she noticed something was off with her super power and it was freaking her out from the beginning. Yes, she has every right to panic about the people closest to her purposely keeping her out of the loop and it's driving her nuts. But what I take most issue with is with the way the director made Jennifer portray that freak out at such a high level so early on in the episode instead of organically having her build to a big emotional panic when the scene actually called for it (aka Pinocchio's kidnapping).

 

To me, it seemed like a cheap emotional ploy by the director to have Emma's character be so dramatic to make it appear like Regina was in more trouble than she actually was and to make the overall episode more intense. Because if we look at what Regina was actually doing, she was just taking shots, drinking in her vault, playing chicken, and burning cars. That doesn't sound very dangerous. So I think the director took one look at that script and was like, "Crap, how do I raise the stakes and make it appear like Regina is actually in danger? I know, I can make Emma's reaction to this even more intense." If everyone was reacting to this situation like Charming and Hook, the audience wouldn't give two flips about the under cover plot, so they made one of the characters over react to make the audience believe this was a more dangerous situation than it actually was. The episode was already rather boring even with Emma's extreme panicking, so I can't imagine how boring it would have been if she reacted more organically. And now this is veering more into a discussion about directing, so I may take this over to the production thread instead.

[FabulousTater]

You know, I really hope all this lying and manipulating that Snowing is doing to Emma just blows up in their face. Not because I'm being petty (not completely ;-) ), but because they're knowingly using Emma's own insecurities against her and they are doing it for the sole reason of covering their own butts. They're lying to themselves if they think they are doing it to protect Emma.

 

Snowing is lying and scheming and manipulating Emma to the point that she feels like she's going a little bit crazy just to protect themselves, and if it keeps up it's gonna start getting to the point that they're gonna be doing her more harm than good (though I guess, that's already started with this current episode).  *SMH*...and it's all because Snowing doesn't want to expose their past screw-ups. Ugh.  Come now, Snowing! Get it together!

 

Really, what it is is that the writers need to stop perverting the good guys to make the villains look like innocent puppies!

...I also want a pony, the next multi-million dollar winning lottery ticket, and Chris Evans to appear at my doorstep.

[YaddaYadda]

I also want the next multi-million dollar winning lottery ticket, and Chris Evans to appear at my doorstep.

 

Get in line!  I also want world peace and the end of hunger.

 

They're lying to themselves if they think they are doing it to protect Emma.

Of course they are.  And that's what bothers me is that they've never really have done anything to protect Emma.  At least there is nothing that stands out other than the trip Emma and MM took to the EF by accident.

 

It's sort of always been up to Emma to protect them instead, which really shouldn't be her job.  They trust more in her ability to save them than anything else.  

 

They suck as parents.  Snow even more so than David, but they both collectively suck because even when Snow is fucking wrong, Prince Push-over indulges her.  

[Emma]

You know, I really hope all this lying and manipulating that Snowing is doing to Emma just blows up in their face.

Word to your entire post but especially this. I don't care if it makes me petty.

I want Emma to unleash her anger but instead we'll just get a hug and how happy she is to be home.

[Mari]

Hehe! It's kinda nice, isn't it. The board community coming together to make sense of the crazy. I feel like we should get merit badges for this. ;-)

I posted in the spoiler thread that this board is 1/3 of the reason I still watch this show.  I think the percentage is creeping up.  Possibly from the 33.33333% to around 42%  (Yay for online friendships, boo for the percentage being taken from "enjoyability"  instead of "anger-watch")

 

I'm still seeing Emma's verbal freak out as a product of character development. No, I could not imagine the Emma Swan who drove into Storybrooke with Henry in the pilot ever freaking out like this but after three and a half seasons, she shouldn't be the same person. She should have grown. The fact that she feels comfortable enough with Hook to be that vulnerable and freaked out around him said more to me about her development as a character than anything having to do with Regina.

Okay, I had a lot of trouble seeing Emma's behavior this last episode as in-character.  This helps.  This helps a lot, and makes it much more understandable.

 

I want Emma to unleash her anger but instead we'll just get a hug and how happy she is to be home.

Yes.  Much.

 

But, if it were to happen, how would it be framed?  Because so far, it doesn't seem like it would be framed as righteous anger.  I think if they were to frame it as "Horrible, unreasonable Emma," I would consider smashing things. 

 

Possibly those glasses I don't like any more, anyway, but still . . . destruction just for the sake of it is not a trait I want to cultivate.

[KAOS Agent]

 

I want Emma to unleash her anger but instead we'll just get a hug and how happy she is to be home.

 

No. I really don't think so. Not this time. That's probably how it will ultimately be resolved because this show doesn't actually work to solve the deeper emotional issues of the heroes (they much prefer the light switch method), but Emma will come unglued for at least a little while. I'd really love it if in her tirade about how little they understand her, she goes after them for naming her brother after the guy who emotionally destroyed her teenage self. Won't happen, but I can dream.

 

The show drew a very clear parallel between Snowing and Hook keeping secrets and showed that Emma doesn't care about the secret, she cares about the lie. In this case, the secret also affects Emma because it seems like they did something to "make" her good or whatever nonsense this show is trying to pull, but I think they could spin that as they were trying to protect her (even though they completely suck for blaming a zygote for their lack of heroism). However, at this point, Snowing have now done exactly what Regina was doing to Henry in Season 1. They are making her feel crazy, causing her to doubt herself and flat out destroying any chance they have of maintaining her trust once this gets out just so that they cover their own asses. It's wrong and it will be shown as wrong when Emma finds out. All I've got to say is that it better be a long scene where Emma just rips into them because this has been a long time coming and if I get screwed out of it, I doubt I will be back for the next episode.

[YaddaYadda]

I think if they were to frame it as "Horrible, unreasonable Emma," I would consider smashing things.

 

I doubt it will be framed that way at all.  I think it will be Emma being really hurt because they kept whatever from her and didn't trust that she could handle whatever it was they did.  I think she will be hurt and everything that Ingrid told her at the station will come into play.

 

They stuffed you in a magical wardrobe, Emma.

They had a new baby, Emma.

They care about you more because you're the savior, Emma.

You can't lost someone you don't understand, Emma.

 

All of this self-doubt she is having right now is going to get worst.  I don't think she'll be portrayed as horrible and unreasonable especially since Snowing keep lying to her and making her doubt herself and pretty much gaslighting her.

[Camera One]

I agree that Emma will be hurt and it will be framed in a way where we would be sympathetic.  So far, from the way the story is told, it's clear to the viewer that Snowing is in the wrong, and they have contrasted it with scenes of Emma having such trust and now feeling off-balanced because of the lie.  The whole point is to show that the so-called heroic Snow and Charming are anything but.  They've been very successful on this front after chipping away at them for several half-seasons and now with the blatant lies.

 

The main worry is that it might be a catalyst for Emma doing something that she too will regret, though, to show that she too is no better than the Queens of Darkness.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Camera One

[scarynikki12]

As long as Emma never says something like "now I understand why Regina hated you all those years" I can handle it.  I'm still annoyed that Snow defended Regina casting the curse because Granny and Grumpy were irritating her.