Is Hook Going Dark Again? It Certainly Seems So

Now that there are only two days between us and the premiere of Once Upon A Time Season 5, it's time to get down to the nitty gritty. We all know the "Emma going Dark" storyline will dominate the first episode — it is called "The Dark Swan", after all — and we're also aware that the people who know and love the former Savior will do everything they can to save her. First they have to find her, of course, and it seems those closest to Emma have different ideas of how to go about that. In a new preview for the Once Upon A Time premiere, Hook is seen approaching Henry in Granny's to propose some rather underhanded methods of locating his girlfriend and Henry's mother. His approach is a bit creepy and not in the least surprising, but it does beg a bigger question: Will Hook go dark again in Season 5?

In the scene previewed, Hook proposes that Henry, as the new Author, should just write the evil out of Emma. Obviously that's not possible, because not only has Henry snapped the Author's pen in half, but because it's possibly the worst idea ever to try and re-write people's life stories in such an extreme way — something Hook obviously didn't learn from the last Author's folly (or just didn't care about). However, Hook's not out of ideas — he's got another one, but he knows Regina won't like it. Henry, of course, is more than happy to go along with it since he's "not a kid anymore" (something every kid that's definitely still a kid says), but I've got serious issues with Killian's methods here.

As I mentioned, it's not at all surprising that Hook's response to Emma's sacrifice is to vow to get Emma back by any means possible, no matter who else it screws over. I'd love to say I understand, given that she's his girlfriend and he's in love and all of that, but the fact that Hook still hasn't grown beyond his impulses to get what he wants above all else is a bit concerning, to say the least. There's also the fact that a grown man thinks it's appropriate to encourage a child to disobey his mother in order to aid Killian's own desires, but again, it won't come as a shock to anyone who's been paying attention. Everyone who loves Emma wants her back, but thankfully, they know better than to use shortcuts and underhanded methods to make it happen.

Admittedly, I'm not much of a Hook fan these days, but that wasn't always the case. When he was a villain, he was great fun to watch and was the guy you hated to love and loved to hate. He was sly, petulant, vengeful, and had the emotional range of a teaspoon — and wasn't it fantastic? Just because he set his sights on Emma and decided to pursue her until she gave in, we're now meant to believe that he's changed, that he's been transformed by the wonderful power of love. The problem is, he absolutely hasn't, and from the looks of things, his behavior in the Season 5 premiere will prove it.

So will Hook go back to his evil ways this fall? It's certainly a possibility. Given that Emma will struggle greatly with the temptation to give into her darkest desires, Killian could very well follow suit — he has no motivation not to, given that he was never truly redeemed, only temporarily distracted by his pursuit of the Savior. Without truly understanding the realities of his past behavior, he can't possibly understand it and grow from it, so it wouldn't take much more than a bit of suggestion to get him back on the path he traveled before he met Emma (and, as I'll remind you, that he remained on while traipsing around with Cora).

This is, perhaps, why Emma decides to entrust Regina with the dagger, and thereby her entire existence. While Regina too has experienced her share of darkness (understatement of the year?), she's actually earned her redemption the long and hard way, and continues to do so. She knows the pull of darkness and what it can do to you, the things it can destroy, and she's turned her back to it and moved towards the light. Now, having experienced both, she can understand Emma in a way no one else can, and the new hero may well save the Savior — and keep Captain Guyliner from doing anything too stupid in the meantime.

Images: Jack Rowand/ABC