GirlvsTV

I lost brain cells watching this, it was that dumb.

I did not enjoy this episode, probably because of all the Nate. I did, however, tear up at the end when Mick watched ghost Axl disappear for the last time.

Since the noob backlash caused by the last episode seems to be unintentional, how long will we have to wait until one of the EPs has to do an interview explaining how everyone is watching the show wrong and the noobs' position is actually justified and people should side with them?

I loved Shel Silverstein poems! I received Where the Sidewalk Ends as a Christmas gift when I was maybe 7 or 8 and it was my favorite book for years. I've never been much into poetry, especially as a child, but Silverstein's are perfectly aimed at kids and so fun to read and recite.

I'll join you. I didn't expect to be as bothered as I was by the Nazi stuff. I wasn't happy about the premise, but was willing to see where it went. However, that promo made me feel disgusted. It was the shot of prisoners in striped uniforms and the actual swatiska . . . I just feel Iike that is taking it too far.

I feel like they did a bad job when the first version of this storyline played out in s4 as well. Felicity clearly wanted to come back to the team, but they didn't do a good job establishing Oliver's motives for doing so - especially since he seemed pretty happy and settled in Ivy Town. I remember being kind of sad he put the hood back on because he seemed so happy without it. This ep was mostly boring, but not as awful as I thought it would be. My bar was basically subterranean though. I liked Diggle and Lyla's interactions and am glad the Diggle/drug thing is mostly resolved because, as many of you have pointed out, it was dumb and nonsensical. Good Lord, all the My Son-ing though! Do they think viewers can't remember the characters actual names? You know what might help with that? Calling the characters by their names instead of "My/Your/His Son."

I didn't dislike the episode, it was fine, but I am tired of the stand-alone filler eps. This is actually the only one I stuck with to the end, though as soon as he woke up in the hospital I guessed he was in Hell. I hope we get back to the 'Cinna-man' mystery soon.

I thought that was really bad. Felt like the acting was off for just about everyone, and lots of scenes where they all seemed like they were waiting for their turn to say a line - it didn't feel natural. The less said about the kid the better, but the idea of having a petulant tween sorting through his issues for 9 episodes is not at all appealing. Especially since he's such a terrible actor. I haven't watched regularly in a really long while and skipped nearly all of season 5. Thought I'd check back in to see if my Oliver dislike had dissipated at all and, no, it hasn't. So, I'm out again.

I keep hearing 'Cinna-man' and picturing a small gingerbread like man but made of cinnamon pastry. Tbh, it's kind of a problem because the character is supposed to be scary but literally every time they say his name I picture this:

That was the first episode I've enjoyed start to (almost) finish in a looooong time. It was nice to finally get Felicity's POV. And then they ruined it at the end. Ruined it.

Every single bit of this. While I can appreciate this episode was a huge improvement in writing, I can't help but feel both Oliver and Diggle had no ground whatsoever to stand on with Felicity and Lyla. I haven't rewatched it, but on my first viewing of the loft scene I thought it seemed like Oliver was taking a situation that was about Felicity and her choices and making it all about HIM. His actions led to Chase which led Felicity to the point she is at, so instead of further reflection/discussion on why Felicity was willing to go this far we had her give Oliver a speech about taking his 'burdens' because he was sadz. Lol, okay show. Also, I was genuinely unmoved by Felicity's speech to him in that scene. Hard to reconcile that version of Oliver with the guy we've recently seen kill an innocent person and experience no consequences from making such a terrible mistake. Not to mention he later had knowledge of people covering up his crime because he is mayor. Ugh. I have really enjoyed Helix and Alena, so I do hope the explosion was all Chase related and Felicity wasn't double crossed. And on a totally shallow note, is it just me or does Stephen's hair look weird? Is it too long?

Oliver straight up murdered people while Mayor and, in Billy's case, had knowledge of a cover-up of the murder due to his position. If he is outed and not immediately arrested . . . I think he needs to write his own name down in that old notebook. Sorry, I've just had enough of blatant political corruption in real life. Disappointed to see it play out this way on what was my fave show.

It also sounds like a total re-hash of s2's ending despite MG's attempts to differentiate between the two. The entire culmination of the Slade stuff was Oliver being strong enough to be a hero and NOT be a killer. And here we are in s5 and the end of Chase arc is for Oliver to resist being the killer Chase is trying to convince him he is . . . As much as MG may want to explore a more gray area with Oliver's choice to kill, I just don't think these writers have the skill to pull off writing that way. It requires a much more deft hand in characterization and plotting than this show's typical anvil falling, blunt force trauma style. This is why, as much as I think JS is doing a great job, the whole Prometheus thing just does not hang together for me. These writers just have Oliver either fully regressing or basically spinning his wheels. They don't seem to know how to let Oliver move forward and find new storylines to explore.

My spec about this season is that the writers are terrible. When viewers don't respond or react the way they anticipated, it's always the viewers' fault and not the writing. If the writers can't acknowledge their screw-ups and learn from them, the show is never going to get any better. I am intrigued with the possibility of the finale being set on Lian-Yu. I had kind of been hoping we'd get something like that at the end of last season.

I don't know if it would necessarily be because of the death threats, but I've definitely been wondering if she just negotiated to not have to do any press this year.

Where are they getting these spoilers? Via MG dms? If so, why would a showrunner be slipping info to fans like this? It's weird right?

Nah. I think you're giving it the right amount of credit : )

So, I decided to watch because it seemed like people were enjoying the ep, but I quit after Oliver trashed the bunker. This episode taught me I dislike 'Poor Me / Need Another Pep Talk' Oliver even more than 'Total Moron' Oliver. I just don't have the patience to sit through this again. I didn't really care that he was upset or that bad stuff was happening to him. It reminded me how angry I'd been on Oliver's behalf when Lance hit him in the police van in s3 and taunted him about the people he'd hurt - except when Chase was doing it in this ep I wasn't bothered, I was bored. I am void and apathy when it comes to Oliver at this point. Felicity's stuff is interesting, but there wasn't enough of it. I want Helix to be, like, a digital LOA and Felicity can be its Ras. I'd watch that show. JS was phenomenal as Eviiil Chase. Great performance, but at the end of the day his whole shtick is pretty much a retread of Slade with a pinch of Dark Archer and I've watched that already. Though, I will say, I'd have loved to see the more intelligent Oliver of earlier seasons up against this villain. As it is, the match-up feels really uneven as Chase has been cleverly manipulating everyone while Oliver's been off in the corner eating paste with Susan.

In case y'all need a laugh: More at Entertainment Weekly - > http://ew.com/tv/2017/03/15/arrow-stephen-amell-oliver-susan-williams/

They have to fix Oliver first. I'll take a Human Target / Earth 82 Fauxliver with a side of Real Oliver apologizing though. Really don't think that will happen, but I just want this whole season to have been Oliver's weird fever dream while he's been locked in that trunk . . . Pretty sure this dark arc for Felicity will end up with her 'understanding' Oliver better and they'll reconcile. People will get rightfully pissed it's written that way and the writers will tell us we're watching it wrong because all they understand is plot/plot/plot and nothing about their actual characters.

This. I mean, do they think at end of the season people are just going to retroactively enjoy all the previous episodes they disliked because the ending was okay?

Yeah, I don't think her hair looks blond at all in that insta. I noticed in the 5x14 stills that her hair seemed lighter at the ends, so maybe that and the lighting is making it seems like she is more blonde in that photo? It just looks like brown hair w/ highlights to me as well.

To be fair, given the insane writing of his character that basically erases the development of past seasons, it must be hard to figure HOW exactly to play Oliver at this point. He has to tone down relationships established over previous seasons while his character is going through some rather dark situations / storylines, but the writing seems to want him to react differently this time around to show character growth . . . Except reacting that way is making Oliver come off as either a robot or someone who seems like he doesn't care. Oliver can't be happy about any of this bad stuff, but being angry/vengeful/guilty seems to be off the table so what is he left with? Some sort of weird middle-ground "meh"-ness. Idk, I'm not a huge SA fan, but I don't think there are many actors that could make the mess this character has become work. I feel like the possibility of Oliver being depressed would require a level of subtlety these writers are not interested in. If he were depressed, the writers would have Oliver wearing black all the time, not showering, living in a messy place, walking around with a little rain cloud over his head while he reads a dog-eared copy of, "The Bell Jar," and every other cliche example of depression they could think of to include.

I think part of the issue with the show / Oliver is a discrepancy between to the tone they want to strike with his character vs. the plot points they are putting him through. It seems like they want him to revisit his darkness (i.e. killing people again), but want him to do it in a more emotionally balanced way to contrast with the flashbacks. The problem is there shouldn't really be an emotionally balanced way to react to some of the stuff that's happened, like being manipulated into killing an innocent person. Oliver SHOULD brood about that, he SHOULD blame himself, he should feel guilty and viewers should see him struggle with continuing to make choices to kill people afterwards. That scenario should have caused drama in his relationship with Felicity, but instead the writers have mostly skipped over the emotional fallout for him all together, which is resulting in more of this weird robot version of Oliver. Can you imagine the direction for something like that? "Okay, Steven. Your character has accidentally murdered an innocent man, who also happens to be the significant other of your ex-fiancée and you both have to keep working together. Now, whatever you do, don't get DRAMATIC about it. Everything's fine, nbd and . . . ACTION!" So, I think it's both the writing and SA. I agree that when SA isn't into a storyline he doesn't seem to try very hard, but being able the counteract the tonal whiplash for his character this season may just be beyond his abilities as an actor. I do think it's odd that for a network talking up the importance of social media engagement for its shows that basically all the show regulars, except SA, have stopped doing the small bit of show promo they've done in the past. You'd think the network would mandate some promo, or schedule some Q&A s on Facbook or something.

If they are trying to rehab the reporter it may be less about the character and more about the writers realizing how badly Oliver was coming off due to his relationship with the more shady version of her. If she turns out To be trustworthy or does the, 'right thing,' Oliver's choice to confide in her is validated. Although, as a journalist I'd think letting the people know their Mayor is murdering vigilante would actually be the right thing to do, but . . . this show. Well, they have a perfectly good reason for them to both be single and not together - ie., Felicity isn't interested in being with someone who keeps important life-changing information from their future spouse. Plus, regardless of them being with other people everyone is still asking when/if Oliver and Felicity will get back together so the whole thing has been a total fail.