Courtesy of ABC
THR examines the repercussions of Emma’s dark decision on the ABC drama.
It’s double, double, toil and trouble on Once Upon a Time with two Dark Ones in Storybrooke. In Sunday's episode, Emma’s (Jennifer Morrison) full evil plan was revealed — but not on her own terms — when Zelena (Rebecca Mader) gave Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) a dreamcatcher of memories that showed he was killed and resurrected by Emma as a Dark One back in Camelot.
Even though Emma only did it to save her boyfriend’s life, they don’t exactly see eye-to-eye on the situation. Her grand romantic gesture of using Excalibur to rid the realm of all evil has one big catch: Zelena has to die. In spite of Hook’s darkness, he’d rather team up with the Wicked Witch to fight Emma, and in season five’s final two episodes before the midseason hiatus, Storybrooke will see a battle for the record books in the fight of good vs. evil. Or in some cases, evil vs. evil.
Below, The Hollywood Reporter examines all of Hook’s changing relationships and how his newfound (yet reluctant) darkness will affect everyone.
Emma
Hook and Emma’s relationship has officially entered "it’s complicated" territory, and it will take a lot to earn back his trust. After this massive betrayal, Hook is hell-bent on fighting against his (now-ex?) girlfriend, and co-creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis questioned to THR if "true love will conquer all." This could go one of two ways: Hook and Zelena quash Emma’s plan and both Hook and Emma remain Dark Ones, or he decides that his girlfriend was right and they both go against the Wicked Witch. Either way, things will be strained for the couple in the coming weeks leading up to his ultimate decision.
Zelena
Zelena is not to be trusted, yet when Hook put his fate in her hands, she came through and found out the truth behind Emma’s dark plan. The odds are in her favor right now, and she’ll do anything to save her own life — including manipulating Hook to the max. Even though there have been no romantic vibes between them, Hook’s darkness could be attracted to Zelena’s evil side, making for a love triangle that will surely end in bloodshed.
Regina and Robin
Regina (Lana Parrilla) is in a tough spot in the Zelena-Hook-Emma situation because as much as she would love Zelena gone forever, she did just give birth to Robin’s (Sean Maguire) child. She also promised Emma that she would help her control her darkness, which again would put her on Team Kill Zelena. Hook could also use his friendship with Robin to convince everyone to band together against Emma.
Mr. Gold and Belle
Oh, Crocodile. No matter how heroic Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) is now, he’ll always be evil Rumpelstiltskin to Hook. Hook in Dark One mode could have him easily seeking revenge against Gold — and in turn, threatening or hurting Belle (Emilie de Ravin) — as a side project to fighting against Emma’s plan. Since Gold is more of a lover than a fighter these days, he may not be up for a battle, resulting in a potential death after he was just saved by Emma.
Mary Margaret and David
Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) and David (Josh Dallas) will do anything to protect their daughter, and watching her murder Zelena probably isn’t an ideal situation. Given everything that Zelena has done to their family, they may try to side with Emma, causing Hook to have to fight them. In fact, he could even threaten or kidnap them to get Emma’s attention, since it won’t be easy to keep his darkness in check like Emma has (for the most part) this season.
Henry
The ultimate bait for Emma to surrender would be her son. Henry (Jared Gilmore) trusts Hook, and if Emma doesn’t warn him, he could be caught in the crossfire. But would Hook really put Henry’s life in danger? It depends just how much of the darkness he lets control him — including Zelena’s very bad influence.
Once Upon a Time returns Sunday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. on ABC.
Once Upon a Time
