Happy Harpy

To be very honest, I watched the episode just to check, expecting to be disappointed -again. The scenes between Oliver, Diggle and Felicity (and the promo looking awesome in that respect) made sure that I'll watch the next. Exactly, she had good reasons not to be there so had she be, I would have found her presence forced. I had the feeling that Oliver was finally allowed to interact with the original members of his team again, whereas I thought they were unnaturally phased out in the last batch of episodes. For me, such a scene where Oliver hit rock bottom and decided to fight back had to be with Diggle and Felicity. I don't mind other people joining the team -except if it's Laurel- I think the show will need it as some point so it's better they're introduced early. I'll even like it as long as the "ones who matter" are still showed in what I think is their place, at the core of Team Arrow. I also loved that Oliver had at least a moment with each of them, separately. Imo, the show always managed a good balance so the trio was really one. I don't see romantic or sexual chemistry between them, and since of course it's only in the eye of the beholder, this point is the one that has been making me wonder why the writers even bothered go the couple route for them. Exes getting back together might even be a more tired TV cliché than will-they-won'they and with the bagage between Oliver and Sara, they had imo a golden opportunity to avoid it. From Sara's (almost) first words to Oliver, I expected their relationship to be rekindled and to fail on the island, so that both characters could move on from this remnant of their old selves (and bury what is the most unsavory plot of the show for me). I do think they work very well together as fighters and friends, indeed. Agbout "the Sara thing to do", I also felt that Sara was the person I met and took a liking to back this fall, and not that all-over-the-place character I didn't recognize much since her return.

For me, the fact that he didn't tell her he was a cop in forever could be an hint there are problems (he doesn't trust her, keeps her away -because she's not truly the one?). But it's no excuse for cheating -as if there was an excuse, so yeah, I'm torn, too.

Just a little shout out for Felicity in episode 18, because it made me happy. And she's baaack!

I think it was easily my favorite episode so far. I had the feelings that every character worked well in its place, and the whole flowed very well for me. Again, I like the CF/CPD constant small crossovers, it does truly create the feeling of a single universe. I suspected the lawyer almost immediately, but the case was interesting all the same. I also liked the resolution of the other, even though I still don't like Jay. I don't hate him, but meh. I've wondered why they added Sumner while I was just getting used to the many main characters, but finally I'm warming up to her. I wonder what's her game. If she's truly a mole, she plays the right notes and could be a great antagonist for Voight. I like Ruzek and Burgess, I think they work well together (since they go there, I wish he were single, though. Booh). And wow, Lindsay and Severide was hot. I think he has more chemistry with her than with any of his previous girlfriends on CF. If the writers try the new experiment of a pairing between main characters of two different shows, I'm definitely in.

I hope this episode means that Bobby Ewing stepped out of the shower and the show is back on what I think are its right tracks. I notice the "years", and I hope that later on, someone (Moira? Felicity? who know exactly when Oliver learned of it) can set Thea straight on what truly happened and it can be a start point for her to forgive Oliver. Who was wrong to lie to her about Malcolm. I agree with you on the reasons, I understand that she trusted him more and lashed out at him first. But I was still a tad surprised she didn't take Moira as a target at all.

Zalyn, I was never into that show either but I do sympathize (I still seethe because of Twin Peaks, and it's been 25 bloody years). I'm actually waiting to see if Felicity will play a significant role against the Aussie awesomeness, as she should, before tuning in again.

Probably doubling with an unpopular opinion, but I loved them. I loved that Chris Carter and 1013 didn't insult me (I would have been) with some Mulder-lite and/or Scully-lite. No one could compare, not for me anyway. I wasn't too fond of Doggett when there was an attempt to create UST between Scully and him, making him a pale Mulder replacement in that area imo (plus, I was a finis shipper). But as soon as he became his own character, I came to love him. I loved Mulder to bits, but he needed someone to "friendly" antagonize him, and since neither Scully nor Skinner were playing that role anymore, Dogget was imo perfect in that respect. I loved Reyes for the levity she brought to the show after years of cancers and deaths in the family and plainly too much gloom for me. I loved her laid-back, matter-of-fact attitude. I loved her girl crush on Scully (hey, who couldn't relate?) and what a good, loyal friend she was to her, to Doggett and even to Mulder. I even liked her goofiness. And I love Mulder to bits so I liked that someone believed in what he said, just on an intellectual level, supporting him on a different level than the -essential- faith that Scully and even Skinner had in him. I loved the chemistry between Doggett and Reyes, and their relationship. I liked that it wasn't a copy/paste of Mulder and Scully, at least it wasn't in my eyes. I didn't feel that the writers tried to compete or recreate...because how can you replicate such a phenomenom, but tried to make something new. I love the episodes where the four of them investigate and interact, with all the shades of beliefs and scepticism and the snark, too. Season 8 and 9 are even my favorite after season 1 and 2. Audrey Pauley still counts as one of my favorite episode of the whole show. Looking back, and even though nothing has ever equalled my love for Mulder and Scully so far, and looking at what happens on other shows where cast members left, I am very satisfied with the second X-files team.

Carrie-Ann, more speculation I like it even better when they do so in a confrontational way...because I love Oliver but he still needs a good reality check here and there. And I hope you're right about Diggle and Felicity's importance.

I watch for a couple of actors/characters and Maisie Williams/Arya is one of them .And about tumblr, Arya Stark is kind of Chuck Norris in those memes I'm not certain. I don't think that Arya could take pleasure, as Joffrey does, in murdering innocent people or making weak people suffer just because she can/it's the only way she can get off (as it's implied for him). I can see -and actually, I look forward to- her exacting ruthless revenge, but against the people who wronged her and her loved ones. I think that sunday night on AMC, I saw a character go Arya Stark on a piece of scum, and I think that Arya might find herself more in this kind of conundrum. I can see her lose control upon her revenge, especially as the trailer shows her with the Hound, who isn't exactly into sparing people and worrying about collateral damages.

I'm looking forward it, too. I truly like the common universe between CF and CPD and how they exploit the spinoff without unnatural sweeps-only Big Episodes. Plus, Lindsay and Severide? I'm in!

Yes, I feel the same. Just like I felt that her evolution and place in the show evolved naturally -she was never forced into becoming the center, I feel that her recent outphasing has been most unnatural and part of a "political" decision that is at the root of my growing disinterest. I completely understand what you say about the trope of the "sweet/good woman", but that's precisely why I loved the relationship between Oliver and Felicity. She wasn't the motivation for his change, it wasn't for her that he tried to be a hero (the show tried to make me believe it was for she-who-shall-not-be-named before it went the better Tommy route -imo). Felicity understood him, and supported him because of the person she is and because she saw him for who he truly was, which made it way more interesting to me than some "for lurve". Moreover, in spite of the imho fanon image of Felicity being Oliver's sycophant, she wasn't sweet at all on him and was, I think, the one who argued with him the most (with Diggle). On the other hand, I liked that he seemed impressed by her skills, first and foremost, and not being a victim of the Dulcinea effect when it came to her. He seemed to believe in her and value her on his turn -and it seems she wasn't in her past, re: "[Walter] was nice to me"- and allowed her to be useful in a way she never imagined she could be. I agree that her POV on that is missing (but isn't her POV plainly missing everywhere lately?). I, like you, wish I could see more of it, and as far as I'm concerned, see more of what I think that Oliver brought to her in that sense. I don't need for their relationship to be romantic, because it goes imo far beyond what most TV writers narrow-mindedly define as so. They are partners, they are among the most important person in each other's lives; since Felicity is one of the "only two who matter", per Oliver to Roy. Because the Count and countless other moments. As long as this importance is kept, everything is good with me. But oops, it isn't. So, the problem for me doesn't reside in Oliver/Felicity and the possible, eventual romantic turn of their relationship. The problem, for me, is the writers making Oliver's "written" romantic relationships interfere with the organic order of the show, including the Oliver/Felicity bond -in the most neutral sense of the term. Either they try to make the latter a cliché will they/won't they (with Isabel as the roadbloack) denaturing it because imo it doesn't fit them at all. Either they try to deny the importance of Oliver/Felicity (and Oliver/Diggle, especially as partners on the field, for that matter) and make Oliver all douchy again in order to promote a purely romantic relationship "over" the one he has with Felicity. It's what's happening imo right now with Sara. I think that developping a relationship in parallel with (non-romantic) Oliver/Felicity, and not at the sake of it, would work way better for the love interest in question, especially on the long term...but it makes me wonder if the writers have any faith in any romantic relationship's ability to be more compelling than even a completely platonic Oliver/Felicity relationship; considering that they seem to tone the latter down and limit the interaction between the Arrow and his IT girl to an insignificant minimum. Well, anyway, I feel that Felicity is currently phased out and I don't like it. And considering that I saw somewhere, per Marc Guggenheim IIRC that many people "will be infuriated" with the season finale re:Felicity (and Oliver?)...I don't know what it means, since there was just that teasing and no spoiler, but I'm not optimistic.

I thought so, and I re-checked on Wikipedia -although it isn't always 100% accurate. I, too, love his relationship with Lindsay. They have natural chemistry imo, and I like how they trust each other and rely on each other. I have to confess I see "inappropriate chemisty" between them (I hoped she wasn't a minor when they met, but it seems she was so I'm trying to forget about it. Maybe if she gets with Kelly from CF...).

OK, so, in a nutshell, Monica died and Chandler reunited with his first love Janice at the urging of the twins, while Ross and Rachel divorced less than fifteen minutes into the series finale after the whole year was about their wedding day? I'm so glad that I'm part of the Friends generation. I'll take "lukewarm" yet feel good over "burning down the house" and "this is my middle finger, thanks for the 9 years-long high ratings and support" any day. I was a tad envious of the HIMYM fans for getting such a satisfying payback with the mother -but happy for them- now I feel sorry for the kick in the teeth/shin many of them seem to have felt (except the Ted/Robin shippers first who got what they wanted! Edit: mostly, it seems, not only!). I was never invested in HIMYM, but I watched casually this year since I was positively amazed, after a pure curiosity check, that the Mother lived up to 8, eight, ocho, hachi, huit, years of hype. I was bored -as I always was, sorry- by everything but the way she fit and her scenes. I don't know if anything like his ever happened in TV shows history: How many "ghost" characters, talked about for so long, happened to be utterly likeable, have such chemistry with the core characters, and fit like a glove? I can't think of one. So I think I was witness to a WTF of epic proportions with that series finale. I can't believe, I just can't believe that those showrunners struck gold like three of four generations of TV shows wished their main couple had from the start, before there even was any pressure from hype, and threw it all away in something like twenty minutes. And I just can't believe they did it, the way they did it, while they have a spinoff to sell. I, for one, won't watch a show if I can't trust the showrunners to respect an implicit moral contract. What I consider fair game on Game of Thrones or Six Feet Under or the Walking Dead isn't on a network comedy -or dramedy, schlomedy, whatever. Recalling a show with fondness, not bitterness, is imo important for its legacy; and I wonder if HIMYM will benefit from the fondness after such a finale?

(First topic virgin here, sorry for the corny title...). Voight is definitely the most interesting character on the show for me. I like how the writers play with the "dirty or not" thing, and yet I'm usually not into anti-villains. And Jason Beghe plays it perfectly. I came to like many of the actors on that show, and like how the ensemble slowly comes up together -imo- but I still watch mainly for Voight/Beghe. With all the CF crossovers, I'd really love to see a real one with some Boden/Voight significant "chief" interaction, because I think it would be an interesting play of mirrors.

And yet another Twopper who joined here. Nice to see the "usual suspects" and looking forward to snarking/overanalyzing with everyone!

Although Oliver is for me the center of Arrow...or because Oliver is the center of Arrow, and I don't feel watching when he's douchy or in a toxic environment, I hope that Felicity (and Diggle) who make him better and more compelling to watch imo, will soon recover her (their) central place in the whole thing and make me enjoy the show again. And I completely agree about EBR. Imo, "Arrow" struck gold three times with the "unexpected" and her, David Ramsey andd Bex Taylor-Klaus (Sin has imo the same uncanny power as Felicity to make anyone she interacts with better).