‘Once Upon a Time’ season 2 spoilers: Colin O’Donoghue talks Emma, Hook

When it comes to shipping Emma Swan from “Once Upon a Time,” there is one obvious choice here for a romantic partner: Neal Cassady, at least if he finds a way to get into Storybrooke soon. The character is, after all, the father of Henry, a man that Emma could love again once she realizes just why he “sold her out” to begin with prior to her arrest back in the episode “Tallahassee.”

However, another face following the death of Sheriff Graham last season has also entered the mix, though it is also safe to say at the moment that he is more than a little bit of a darkhorse candidate for the time being: Captain Hook. Colin O’Donoghue’s character is not even remotely the model of good behavior, and he is also far from a man that anyone in Emma’s life would want him to be with.

But after the shifty moves made between the two in the first half of the season, does these two characters really have much of a chance to be together at all? Speaking on this very subject in a new interview with TVLine, O’Donoghue had the following to say in what could very well be interpreted as a ray of hope to some out there:

“I don’t know if [the ship has] sailed. Hook and Emma, they have a kind of… a funny sort of relationship. I think they, in some kind of weird way, respect each other because they can see elements of themselves in the other person. You know what I mean? Like, Emma is no saint….”

Hook is going to be laying low after his arrival in Storybrooke on Sunday night, and rather than try to immerse himself in the town right away, he is instead going to try to hunt down the man in Rumpelstiltskin in which he still holds responsible following the killing of the woman he loved. (His plan may also involve Belle, who is of course the woman Rumple loves more than anything.)

Do you want to watch a preview for Sunday night’s “Once Upon a Time” episode? If so, all you have to do is visit the story over here.

Photo: ABC