Just putting some notes here so I can find them later. Move along, move along. :-)
"Neal is supposedly in his twenties when he meets Emma. We know this 1) because it was in the casting call and 2) Because Neal, while being worried about being busted about the stolen car, isn't in any way concern/alarmed about getting a drink. So Neal is AT LEAST 21.
Emma has to be under 18 when she was arrested because she has a juvenile record and was sealed. She had Henry while in prison and was pregnant BEFORE entering jail. She received an 11 month sentence. She was still in jail when she gave Henry up and did not know when she was pregnant when she entered. So, realistically, she was somewhere between 0-3 months pregnant during the scene when she received her pregnancy test/the necklace/car keys in Tallahassee.
Now, back tracking - Presumably, it would have taken SOME time for Emma to work through the system. Let's say it was super fast and took a month. It appears as if Emma was released from jail around her 18th birthday-It would explain the juvenile record. Backtrack about 11 months-Emma is 17 years, 1 month. BUT-That's only from the time her sentence kicked in, assuming she served her full sentence. So, back up more time for her arrest, process, and hearing/trial-That gets you to 17, minimum. Which means Neal slept with a 16-year-old girl, while 21, AT BEST. (And that's assuming they slept together once and/or had a romance that lasted under a year.) It's conceivable that Neal, while in his twenties, slept with a fifteen-year-old. (The major gap is how long it took to process Emma through the system BEFORE sentencing.) Emma is a statutory rape victim, and Neal was her abuser.
ALSO - Henry is 10, give or take a few months, in the pilot on Emma's 28th birthday. So there's not a whole lot of wiggle room for when Emma was in jail - She had to be around 18, giving birth to Henry and experiencing most of her pregnancy/sentence while in prison. So there really isn't any wiggle room for the show on Emma's age BECAUSE OF HENRY.
AND - That doesn't include the fact that Neal manipulated Emma into getting a drink. He definitely served a minor WAY underage, which is a HUGE problem. And he uses sexist humor to demean her in front of the cop. And he IMMEDIATELY demeans her in front of Henry/undermines her authority/attempts to force himself into Henry and Emma's life with his "You don't get to make decisions like that on your own anymore"-Never mind that NEAL abandoned Emma and never looked for her OR that Neal's sudden involvement might not be the best thing for Henry or Emma.
AND Neal's attempt to paint their love as star-crossed/tragic feeds his toxic relationship with Emma/makes everybody see him as unjustifiably heroic/leads to baby Neal. Neal is an abusive staturory rapist who abandons this same woman in her hour of need and then forces himself back into his life when HE is ready - And he NEVER suffers the consequences for how he treated her. He gets labeled a hero instead.
A lot of the problem with Neal is because Jane Espenson CLEARLY wrote Neal as weak/rapey in Tallahassee-Neal is only important as a contrast to Hook, who was the intended love interest. But because Jennifer Morrison doesn't look 15-16, people MISSED how creepy the relationship was. And then Colin broke his leg, so character and relationship development lost traction in Season 2, leaving more time that Neal was used to fill. And unlike Jane Espenson, Adam and Eddy don't seem to pick up the creepiness in the relationship and wanted to make Neal good - But Neal isn't a good guy. He was a good kid as Baelfire, but he was a bad adult. And because the narrative REFUSED to make him a real character or truly acknowledge his bad acts, he couldn't grow or learn or encourage any goodness in the show."
Written by fabulous MK, who indulged me when I wanted age-calculation factoids that I couldn't remember. :-)
[If, by my bad luck, anyone does find this - I will delete all messages regarding it, period. I am posting this at 2 am so that I can have it on my blog and be spared any flame wars.]
