Carrie Ann

For whatever reason, I feel like the thing hanging over the season, making things feel tense even when they're happy, is more likely to be DD controlling someone the way MM controlled Thea or a shape-shifting/glamour thing than a flash-forward. But I seem to be in the minority on that, because Tumblr is full-steam ahead, treating the flash-forward like it's a given. As for the promo...so precious. SOUFFLES??? Just go on without me. I hope the tone is actually closer to the way the season feels--unlike last year where we got fun for 1/2 of the first episode and then it was almost all doom and gloom.

First pic: GOOD. Second pic: WHY. I just...do not believe John Diggle would put that thing on his head. I feel like he would look at it, give the person who handed it to him a blank stare of doom, and then walk away.

I just don't think I like the current costume designer's instincts or taste. I haven't liked any new looks, other than Oliver's 308 update. Laurel's BC costume, the new Green Arrow, the ATOM suit, now this... And it's a bummer because Dig's not a high-enough-priority character to get continual adjustments, like GA or BC, so...we're probably just stuck with this dumb thing forever.

Ooh, that looks like Quentin's apartment, maybe?

My best friend is a lawyer and she actually hates the legal procedurals the most, because it's still all convenient-for-TV Law and because they structure their plots around inaccurate laws/procedures, it bugs her way more than in shows like Arrow, where she can just wave off all the bad TV policing/lawyering that goes on. But personally, I don't really mind the silly, unrealistic legal or business stuff except when something really hinges on it or it's left unexplained. The Queens losing their money was really stupid, just because there were other ways to accomplish the same ends that would have made it less confusing and...wrong. Felicity becoming CEO is another weird thing that I hope they can handle better this season.

John Campea is not on the show--he used to host a podcast (maybe it was a youtube show? I never watched it), called The Arrow Aftershow, that Stephen Amell appeared on. It had a pretty high profile. Anyway, John Campea had a very clear definition of what he liked and wanted from the show, and he quit in Season 3b because he promised he would if Laurel became Black Canary.

I think about that perfect post often and it always makes me laugh.

The show is going to push insta-team and insta-friendships because Greg Berlanti is the only EP who was thoughtful about things like that. WM seems like a good check for MG's lack of care in that area, but still, most of this was in place before she took her position. F/L and D/L were already Hug Friends out of nowhere in S3, and Laurel's known Thea since birth, so we're not going to see relationship development. The best I can hope for is that this won't feel so awkward this season. I think that's possible, IF, as I said last week, the directors/writers will encourage KC to play Laurel a little lighter and more open and friendly. Katie and Emily seem to have become really good friends in the intervening months, so hopefully some of that will translate to screen.

I'll be honest--though I'm a much bigger Arrow fan than a Flash fan, I'd feel happier if CP won this. I'm proud of EBR and all the great things she's done with Felicity. But CP was dealt a pretty crappy hand with her character (because these EPs are incapable of learning from their mistakes), and she kept Iris this side of sympathetic by sheer force of will (and natural charisma). She's really the only reason I'm still planning to watch Season 2, because I'm hoping things will be better for her, and that the rest of the characters will treat her better and I won't have to hate them all anymore. So, yeah, anyway--I'd love to see that recognition for CP. Not sure anyone's beating Caitrona though.

If I had to make a bet, I'd say that they won't write it in. Vampires not being able to conceive has always been a pretty key reason not to want to be one, on both shows. Caroline has nothing "special" about her to create a loophole--she's not a doppelganger, she's not an original, she's not a hybrid. Hayley carried a child as a werewolf--that's in line with what we've been shown of them. They can conceive as any human/animal does. That Klaus could impregnate her--that was new, and the writers were sort of able to take advantage of the fact that we didn't know much about hybrids and Klaus hadn't been one for long enough to have slept with a bunch of (human or werewolf) women to learn that his, uh, stuff was viable again. I mean, maybe I'm just being naive, but given that (I'm guessing based on the photo and timing of the announcement) Candice is probably due in February/March, and they only film until early-mid April, she could end up incapacitated or MIA for the last quarter of the season. They could film her scenes for the last few episodes early, before she goes on leave. There are a number of ways they can work around her pregnancy, and I think it's more likely they will than that they will write it in. Who knows? But I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because I'm definitely in the "NO MORE BABIES on my vampire shows" camp, and also because it really screws up a lot of things about their mythology if they give her a magic baby. (Unless...she's just a host for it? Somehow? I guess?)

Apparently it hasn't been addressed in-show, but Jason Rothenberg did answer a fan question by saying that Bellamy is 23. And I agree that it doesn't make sense that his only punishment for hiding his sister was to be knocked down from Guard Cadet to janitor, while Octavia herself was sent to juvenile detention and their mother killed. Honestly, the whole family being punished makes the most sense, but if not, then both kids or only Octavia being free would be more logical than what the reverse.

Lucius Light.

Ugh, that sucks. The last thing those two intersecting fandoms need is more pitting of female characters against each other.

Yep, they need to shut down Quentin's vendetta for the Arrow if they ever want him to be sympathetic again. When he chose not to turn Laurel in, that was the point of no return. You can't have him complicit in Laurel's activities while still going after Oliver. If they need the threat of authorities hanging over TA's heads, then give Quentin a superior who wants to lock up all vigilantes--heck, make that person secretly tied to the Big Bad in some way--and let Lance just be the silent partner of Team Arrow. We don't need the same tired story for years on end, especially when it renders his character weak and hypocritical, and requires the stunting of his growth. No more plot-required character trashing please--I'm letting go of the stuff from S3, but it needs to stop in S4.

Yeah...I'm not convinced either. I've heard this same line about so many of my favorite characters over the years and it's almost never turned out that way, or what the EPs have seen as great stuff has actually moved the character off to their own little sideplot. I don't want that. I want Year of Diggle at the center of Team Arrow. I will remain hopeful that with WM as co-EP, that will be the direction we go, because she seems to put more emphasis on character/relationships vs costume/codename.

Yeah, I actually agree with most of your post, SonOfABiscuit, but months away from the show have made me feel more generous and I'm basically just wiping the slate clean. There's nothing to be done to change the fact that I dislike the way most things were handled in S3, and I doubt I will ever be as happy about and into the show as I was in S2 and the hiatus after, but that's okay. I'll be happy enough if I just don't feel rage-y every week, and if the characters I love are more in-character than I found them in S3. I think a lot of the late-season/hiatus interviews have come pretty close to an acknowledgement that things got screwed up in Season 3, and all I can do is hope that things are better in S4. It doesn't take much to turn me back around on things like this, so I'm ready to just start fresh.

No, I know, but it's still great for him. I was just curious about his charitable campaign totals in general.

I'm so sad Natasha is on Tony's side because I want the whole CA:WS on one team. (Plus...maybe I think she should get over this Bruce thing and just make out with Steve.)

Man, that is seriously incredible. Especially given that it felt like a shorter timeframe compared to some of his campaigns. Anyone among our numbers people here on the forum have other totals for his charitable campaigns this year?

When they talk about this season being lighter overall, it makes me wish they would give KC the permission/direction to be lighter too. Part of what has made LL so unappealing to me is her humorlessness. Based on the little info we have for S4, I'm guessing we're skipping over most of BC's skill development and the development of her friendships with Dig and Thea (I understand those two were previously friendly, but we didn't see a lot of their friendship), as well as the development of their little three-person crime-fighting team. That's...fine, though it will make it a little less believable or engaging for me, but if that's the case, then please, PLEASE just let Laurel laugh and smile with them. Let her do anything other than act imperious and haughty. People had such a strong reaction to seeing her lighter side with Cisco--I hope that the EPs took notice of that and allow her to be that way with the characters on her actual show. KC can smile! I've seen it! It's possible! And while I'm fairly sure I'll never emotionally invest in her character because that ship has sailed, I would find her a lot more enjoyable and less of a sour note if she acted like she enjoyed herself and other people sometimes.

Reason enough for me.

Oh Lord, I have blocked so many things about this season. I'm honestly just going to try my hardest to give every character a clean slate for S4--or at least one that is clean of their worst moments in S3.

Yeah, I don't think we ever saw Thea defending MM's actions, but she had apparently developed some sort of emotional connection to him, based on the moment where she asked Oliver not to make her choose between her brother and her father. (Honestly, the very lowest point for me with TQ.) She only really seemed to turn off her emotions for him when she learned that he used her to kill Sara, and even then, the show wanted us to believe she would have lost her soul if she'd allowed Malcolm to be killed (implying that she was still harboring some sort of feeling for/about him deep inside).

Well, I think the Pierce is, by nature, pretty subjective. You can have arguments for or against, like with Gene, but it's going to come down to what you as an individual viewer find crucial to your enjoyment of a show. For me, Lindsay is more crucial than Tobias, particularly because of her interactions with Lucille and Maeby. I think it might actually be harder to come up with a show without a Pierce--if you eliminate shows like The X-Files, Sherlock, etc., that have essentially two leads and everyone else is very supporting.

DR is working those jeans and that shirt. Those arms...I need these people back on my screen ASAP.