‘Once Upon a Time’ season 5, episode 4 preview: Emma acknowledges the devil

For Emma Swan on “Once Upon a Time,” the story of season 5 has been for the most part all about the internal struggle. She’s in the process in Camelot of battling her inner demons … or in this case, the inner Dark One. The creature has manifested itself in the form of Rumpelstiltskin, who is tormenting her upon every move.

The sneak peek below perfectly represents him as the metaphorical devil over her shoulder, as he does what he can to convince her to break the curse on the dagger, secure it for herself, and then have the ability to wield most of the power and keep someone else from holding something over her. This preview shows further the messed-up mental state that the Dark One has Emma, given that it one point, she almost blasts someone she loves in Captain Hook away.

Eventually, Hook starts to calm her down, and we like to think of this sneak peek as the first real opportunity we’ve had to see Emma admitting to some of her personal demons to another person. She laments that the Dark One never leaves her, and our beloved pirate seems to sympathize.

Of course, this scene is made around a million times more heartbreaking when you remember that nothing that Hook does for her is ultimately successful, and eventually the gang returns to Storybrooke with Emma fully in Dark Swan mode and seemingly beyond redemption.

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