To preview the “Once Upon a Time” finale, The Huffington Post spoke to O’Donoghue about exploring a “deeper layer” of Hook, his dynamic with Bae and whether he thinks the pirate can ever move past his hatred of Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) and call a truce.
Co-creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis promised that the finale would be very Hook-centric in terms of the flashbacks, so what can you reveal about “And Straight On ‘Til Morning”?
At the end of last week’s episode, you saw Hook pull Bae out of the sea and bring him aboard the Jolly Roger. Obviously, Hook doesn’t know who this boy is at the time. So you get to see Hook and Bae’s interaction and how they knew each other from Neverland. It’s a very interesting relationship that they have.
We saw a fairly ominous version of Peter Pan’s shadow in last week’s episode. Does that signal that we might see a more villainous Pan and a more heroic Hook than what the original story suggests?
What Eddy and Adam have done so well on the show is take a story that we all know — whether it be, in this case Neverland, or the Enchanted Forest or Wonderland — and they put a spin on it, so it’s quite different from the place that we read about or grew up knowing about. It’s not the Neverland that you will have known before. There’s always a slight twist. The way that they have made Hook, he’s not a completely outwardly evil character. He’s motivated by revenge, because Milah [Rachel Shelley] was killed and his heart was broken. So you see a slightly different side to Neverland.
We know that time works differently in Neverland. Can you say what length of time the flashbacks encompass, whether the story takes place over a matter of days or months or longer?
I hadn’t really thought about that. I guess it’s over days, if you can class them as days in Neverland. As you say, time works in a different way. What you do see is Hook and Bae and their relationship — that’s what’s really intriguing. It’s more about how they know each other and what went on there … Hook pulled Baelfire onto his boat and you get to see how Neal learned [certain things]. It’s a really interesting dynamic because obviously, Hook was in love with Baelfire’s mother and hates his father.
In the extended preview for the season finale, we see Tamara and Greg ask Hook if he’s willing to die for his cause. Although Hook says yes, does he really mean it, or is he starting to reevaluate his partnership with these people?
Hook is interesting. He’ll use people to get what he wants. As long as Greg and Tamara in some way can help him, then he’ll stick with them. But if he feels the relationship should be over then he’s happy to end it and try a different route.
A couple of episodes ago, Hook shared a great scene with Regina [Lana Parrilla] where he pointed out that a quest for revenge just leaves you empty and alone once it’s completed. Is he coming towards a place where he realizes that he should focus on something other than killing Rumplestiltskin?
I think it would be interesting to see where Hook could go as a character if he’s not totally motivated by wanting revenge. I’d be quite interested to see how that would work out. I think he’s a complex enough character, because he does have the capability to love, as we saw with Milah, and to be compassionate and friendly, as well as being nasty, cruel and self-serving. So he’s a little bit more complicated. It’ll be interesting to see where he would go as a character if he wasn’t totally motivated by the want of revenge.
Do you think there’s any way Hook and Rumplestiltskin could call a truce after everything that’s happened between them and all the damage they’ve done to each other?
It would be interesting to see. Who knows if that’s possible? It could be. As with everything on this show, what you see sometimes, there’s a little bit more behind it. There could be more behind it. Even if they did [call a truce], who knows where that would go in the future?
What do you think will surprise fans most about the finale?
I think people can expect a really fantastic finale with quite a few twists and turns. Definitely fans won’t be disappointed. You get to see a sort of deeper layer to Hook. I think some people will be surprised by what they see. You get to see Hook’s interaction in the town with people a little bit more. You get to see Neverland. You get to see some of Hook in Neverland and the Jolly Roger. It’s a really big, epic episode.
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