Board Thread:Rant and Rave/@comment-28162607-20180220221000/@comment-24593235-20180220225637

People really make Emma and Neal into a much bigger deal than it is.

If Emma's mentally capable enough at 17 years old to be off on her own, all alone, fending for herself, then she's capable enough to pick a guy she wants to be with. She and Neal had a really good thing going; they were truly happy together. And, like it's been pointed out on this thread and others, statutory laws range from 16-18 in the United States. Emma has traveled all over the country and has notably been from places where the age is 16; that's the age she most likely knows.

As for Baelfire mentally aging, I don't think the writing of the show really reflects these claims. Take Hook - he's not really any different when he got his hand cut off than he is when joining forces with Cora. The show has never made it a point to acknowledge how Neverland psychology works. The reason I use Hook as an example is because we never saw Bae after he left Neverland before his transformation into Neal, but in Hook's case it seems you stay pretty much the same.