One of my favorite moments of Murder Most Foul is Killian asking Charming for his blessing to ask Emma to marry him. Normally I am not a fan of this tradition due to the history behind it but this time it melted my heart. It melted so much that it is the focus of Nerd Moment 1 (that’s right, I’m writing 2 this week).
The tradition of ask permission to marry a daughter dates back the the beginning of time. We all have seen it in movies and even read about it in books, fiction and nonfiction. The tradition was not a tradition when it began but actually a contract. A contract between a man with a fortune, land and oh a daughter and a man who wanted to increase his fortune, land and oh have sons so there would be a family name to keep strong. For centuries marriage had nothing to do with love and all to do with increasing wealth and forming alliances. Of course over the centuries this “tradition” died out. Men no longer needed to create talk to a potential wife’s father about a contract for a marriage proposal to happen.
Let me correct myself actually. There was no need for a contract but the tradition of asking for permission or a blessing stood. It was and still is the very gentlemanly thing to do.
I know, I know. For some it is an antiquated idea. Women aren’t cattle or property. No one needs to sign off on women being allowed to be proposed to. You are right no woman does. Which is why when Charming tells Killian he didn’t know he was so old fashioned it showed us that even in Charming’s eyes, Prince of the Enchanted Forest, Killian DID NOT need his permission or blessing because he knows Emma is her own person for one and two this was a tradition that in Emma’s world had become outdated.
While Snow is unable to help her husband, Hook is on hand to keep David from going over the edge. ‘The one person that pulls him back from that is Hook,’ Dallas says. ‘Hook and David create a whole different part of their friendship, and their bromance, and there’s a newfound respect because — particularly during that period when he’s crazed with this madness of finding out who really killed his father — Hook is actually being the hero.’
The way Killian is talking to Charming in that even, soothing, voice that is like how he talks to Emma but also completely it’s own thing. It’s parental, it’s kind but authoritative, it’s supportive and placating, it’s a testament to the skill of Colin O’Donoghue.
I have rarely enjoyed one particular actor’s performance so much in a show like this. I don’t think I started paying attention to it until the Killian as Rumple as Killian diner scene and then I couldn’t stop noticing all these little nuances in his performance that (as much as I love them) you don’t always see in some of the the other actors.
He’s got this way of making you feel what Killian is feeling with the most understated of gestures. This is a perfect example, it would be so easy to overact this moment and what he manages to communicate through the screen with a tone of voice and a momentary close up of his eyes. It’s impressive.
And in honor of captain charming friday, I have to comment on how much I enjoy how effortlessly David and Killian (and yes implicitly Josh and Colin) balance each other out in these more emotional scenes. They almost seem to take turns freaking out and it’s not an OOC switch. It’s more: ‘he’s being the strong one right now, I can let myself break, just a little’ and neither has to be entirely grounded all the time.
“I can let myself break”.
Ugh! Yes! This is why their friendship is so important and works so well. Killian went centuries always having to project the image of a strong commanding Captain. Never being able to let himself be vulnerable. And Charming is obsessed with being the strong one for his family and taking care of them. For them to have the ability to let someone help carry the load is so important to me!
I have nothing else to add to this except YES!
Also this:
You know what, I do have something to add, even if it’s just saying exactly what you said less concisely… and with more inarticulate cries.
David at least has Snow to lean on, but he wants to protect her. Having someone who is not his true love (I mean… you know… technically) to turn to for support and advice, and to ground frazzled emotions is so important for him.
And Killian gah, Killian box-it-up-until-it-explodes Jones actually showing people his vulnerability without being afraid of it coming back to bite him in his leather-clad butt? AHHH. And perhaps even more importantly, showing his support and knowing that it actually meanssomething to the other! AAAHHHHHHH!
And both of them have built up this unshakable trust in the other now, because now they know with no uncertainty that there is nothing in this world the other cares about more than Emma Swan.
cshappybeginning 