Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26159109-20160201202653/@comment-25926288-20160207212401

ItachiIshtar wrote: Shadows Vale wrote: Farerb wrote: This is another thing that interest in here. I see a lot of people who didn't like Neal so much, but would have rather have him instead of Hook as Emma's love interest, so my question is do you think it would have been the opposite if Neal stayed? That people would have  rathered have Hook instead? i would say no. The big reason Neal is missed as much as he is, is because of his history and connection to the core characters (Rumple's son, Henry's father)......Hook didn't have that. He was just a side character who wouldn't have been missed. You have a point about Neal's connection to the core characters, but to outright say that Hook wouldn't have been missed? Whether you love him or hate him, you can't deny how large of a fanbase the character has. Yes he certainly has a lot of haters, but he has just as many who are fans, if not more. That's something that can't be ignored. Story-wise, fans liking and disliking doesn't matter. Marketing-wise, it does.

Story-wise, Hook was simply in Rumple and Emma's story. Neal was in Rumple's, Emma's and Henry's story. Neal was among the premise of the show, those being Snow vs EQ, Rumple finding his son, and Emma's destiny as the Savior.