Carrie Ann

Yeah, what I posted up-thread isn't my interpretation of the events of the show. It's what the show presented. The scenes are pretty straightforward, though intentionally vague to begin with in order to create that suspense--that Stefan, whose humanity at this point was still in doubt, might really hurt Bonnie. But it is very clear that the way things went down was always the plan. It is implied (by Abby's look around as though she'd heard something; by Bonnie immediately running into Stefan) that D&S were watching them until they split up, and then they each followed their target. Going after one Bennett each to kill them and sort it out later? No. The plan was to turn Abby, and to keep Bonnie distracted and separated until the deed was done, and that's what they did. Stefan got the easier part of the job because Damon decided to let him off the hook.

I don't think there's any super convincing reason for Ra's to tell Felicity to go to Oliver, except that the writers on this show don't like anyone (male or female, though particularly the latter) to take any action without someone first telling them they should. Because then their motivations can be spelled out for us! Hurray! In-show, I think the best explanation is pretty much what's been given here. RAG is used to such unlimited power over everyone around him that he's basically fearless, and he 100% believes he'll be able to turn Oliver into Al Sahim, so he doesn't recognize the O/F relationship as a threat. So I equate that moment to his rare moments where he shows any sort of feeling for Nyssa (or, another example though we didn't see it: letting her relationship with Sara happen in the first place). It's like he likes to play human sometimes, as long as it doesn't impede his goals.

Very normal office decor, DD.

Okay, I just rewatched this scene (it's from 315, "All My Children," starts at about minute 26), and here is exactly how it goes down: Damon and Stefan are in the car and talk about how Elena will hate them for doing this, but she only has to hate one of them. Only one of them has to do "the actual deed." (Intentional vagueness from the writers to build tension.) Coin flip, but we don't know who "wins." Later, Bonnie and Abby are together inside the old witch house. They split up--Abby gives a look like she hears something--and Bonnie almost immediately runs into Stefan, who tells her Bex, Klaus, etc. have Elena and are going to kill her unless they can stop Esther. Bonnie says they can't, and Stefan responds that he'll have to find another way. She's trying to leave the room, and is scared and says, "Even if you kill us, Esther is drawing from our ancestry, living and dead." Stefan says that Esther is drawing from the witches. The only way to cut her off is if one of them is no longer a witch. Cut to: Damon snapping Abby's neck. Now, the show structures it to be suspenseful, like maybe Stefan is going to kill Bonnie. But that's just them holding back the brothers' plan from us until after it's complete. The whole point of the coin flip was to determine who would turn Abby; the other person would distract Bonnie and keep her from her mother. Damon and Stefan were clearly watching Abby and Bonnie and when they split up, they moved in to work their plan. I do agree that it's silly to act like Damon not being upset that Bonnie didn't intervene at Klaus's is a show of magnanimity on his part, though.

I updated yesterday from Windows 8 and I'm about a thousand times happier with Windows 10 than 8. I liked 7, which I had on my old laptop, but 8 was horrible. The only issue I had is that I had to reset my touchpad settings, but otherwise, everything transferred properly. It's so much more functional and logically organized than 8. I'm sure I'll run into bugs too, but getting rid of that stupid, pointless homescreen thing is worth any other headaches.

Slow, self-sacrificing suicide is exactly what they showed was his mentality (or at least what he was wrestling with) all season, and exactly what I described in my post. "Someday, that's gonna be me." He was going to keep fighting this fight, trying to protect people, until it killed him. Even if it was fatalistic, it doesn't mean it wasn't also self-sacrificing. I definitely hear that you don't like Oliver enough to feel sorry for him anymore, but the good news is we're probably past it now. But about the bold: in this instance, it wasn't about putting just themselves in danger. It was everyone else too, the whole plan, in Oliver's mind. If he told them enough to let them decide for themselves, then it would already be too late. The risk was in telling them at all. "My life, my choice" did not apply. But beyond that--and to address your last question about not telling Dig--my original point is that I don't think Oliver cared about hurt feelings or being disrespectful or domineering at this point. He cared about keeping people alive. He was desperate, and scared, and operating semi-blind--having nothing more than Malcolm's information as to how things might proceed. He didn't know he'd be sent back to Starling to retrieve Nyssa, or that the team would work against him on that, which would lead to the Lyla thing, etc. He didn't know Ra's would move against Starling so quickly. He didn't know it would be the Omega virus. He was adjusting his plan as they went, and Malcolm told the team when the time came that the risk was greater if they didn't know and couldn't help. But I agree that it was disappointing that the season and final few episodes were structured to require Oliver not to tell at least D&F after spending so much time learning to work with them--and I'm not saying the writers weren't making choices here; that they couldn't have made others--but like I said, I don't think we were supposed to see it as a great thing. I think it was sort of the last gasp of that Lone Wolf Martyr Oliver. Maybe he didn't want to put Dig in the position of lying to his family or to Felicity (who is canonically not a good liar, so Oliver expecting her to be able to convincingly put on a show for Ra's, if necessary, would make no sense to me). Maybe he knew Dig might be a part of his testing and that it wouldn't sell if Dig knew. I don't know, but I don't think "surprise" is the only logical reason not to tell Dig here. And I 100% agree that Oliver should have just given Malcolm up immediately. Absolutely everything would have been solved if he had (as MG basically admitted, "then we have no season!" haha vomit), and taking him at his word in 304 is probably the loudest I booed at Oliver this season. It was clearly a mistake (a super-obvious plot-necessary one), and one he might undo if given the chance. It's just...that's baked into the whole premise of the season, so I just couldn't stay mad at Oliver about it. That "Thea needs her father! It would kill her soul if he died!" thing is a horse they're gonna ride 'til the end I guess, and I've given up hoping they'll ever stop using it to keep MM alive and semi-relevant.

For me, it was clear that Oliver was willing to either die, or survive but lose every relationship that mattered to him, if that's what it took to keep everyone else alive. It was worth it to him to lose everything. He would rather everyone hate him, but stay alive, than risk all of their lives (and the lives of everyone else in Starling) by letting them in on his plan. He saw that as a serious threat--you may not. But I do believe that Oliver believed it was too big a risk--that it would rely on (at least) five other people being at least as good at acting as he and Malcolm were, lest Ra's see through the ruse and kill them all. And so, for me, all of Oliver's actions make complete sense. He was pretty sure he'd die anyway, and as long as they lived, whatever they might feel about him afterward was worth it. I don't see that as sociopathic; I see it as self-sacrificing. Along the same lines, I don't think the show EVER presents Oliver as a person with the highest emotional intelligence, so his underestimating how upset Dig would be about Lyla is right in line with his character. (Also, I think Oliver had good reason to believe Dig might be more understanding about all of this. Dig has been shown to be pragmatic to a fault in the past.) But once Dig's level of anger was clear, Oliver quickly accepted it, as though it was no real surprise. He was sad, but clearly prepared for that response. That the others forgave him--perhaps because they weren't personally targeted as Dig was, or because they too had moments of shittiness w/r/t their loved ones, or because they too have a mercenary streak, or because they have a pretty solid understanding of Oliver and saw the rationale in his actions even if they disliked them--doesn't mean that the show thinks Oliver was 100% in the right. I think if you're a person for whom Oliver's actions crossed the line, then Dig is your surrogate, basically. That's the show saying, "This was a complicated situation and all responses are valid." Felicity's fairly quick forgiveness is just as valid, and in character IMO, as Dig's rejection. (I imagine many long conversations on that roadtrip though!) As far as what he learned--I think the point of that gifset, and the point of Felicity's motivating speech, was that Oliver was approaching this battle--and his whole life--with a fatalistic attitude. He assumed he would die, or if not, then anyway his life was still worth the least of all of those around him. And that was not sustainable for an actual life, nor even the best or most effective gameplan. He needed to want to live again, and realize that he deserved that, and that he was stronger with a desire to live. So he went into the last battle with that in mind, survived, realized he had a lot to learn about himself and what kind of person he wants to be, and he set off to figure it out. So if you mean that he didn't "learn" that everything he did was wrong, well, yeah, I don't think he did learn that and I don't think it's a fact that his approach was actually the wrong one, so.... But he did lose one of the three most important people in his life. And he did learn that the fatalistic approach was not the only way, and that he's not the only person who can protect the city. He was certainly not in that place when we started in 301.

Veronica and Wallace above all others, for me. But a few others I love and haven't seen mentioned are Nikita and Berkhoff from the CW Nikita, Starbuck and Helo on BSG, and Mary and Branson on Downton Abbey. I think something I liked about those dynamics is that the women are sort of your "strong female character" types, who have tons of stress and drama and emotions running high elsewhere in their lives, and the guys (who may also have that stuff going on in their lives) provide a grounding presence for them, a feeling of ease and comfort. The friendships are (generally speaking) drama-free, just mutually supportive and positive, and I like all the characters more because of those relationships.

Add one more set of super blue eyes to S4. That character sounds terrible. But I'm sure they'll adjust the concept for TV.

Maybe they should solve their dispute by making out. I'm just saying, that's a lot of frosty prettiness.

Yay, I love Jeri Ryan! I hope that character lives past the second episode...

I wouldn't be surprised if they sacrificed the loft set for a new Oliver/Felicity home set. Thea could go on living in the loft; they just wouldn't have scenes there.

Maybe Oliver and Thea will support her bid for mayor or whatever (srsly, the people of Starling must be really sick of mayoral elections), and then somehow Oliver will end up being deputy mayor for reasons, and then obvs eventually the mayor will die as they all must and Oliver becomes the mayor.

I don't know that I really see much of a difference between how excited he was last summer hiatus (or at the beginning of the season) compared to now. I think his enthusiasm waned or became more sporadic over the course of the season, not necessarily because he was dissatisfied with the show but just out of fatigue. I do think he's probably going to have a lot more fun this season, so I'm happy for him (and for me, for all of us).

Also, they barely interact? Like, GG talks and EBR walks around him. Weird...

I saw the chemistry with Bonnie/Damon in the early seasons (as I did with Bonnie/Stefan), but never really shipped it because I'm a delicate soul who stays away from ships I don't believe will ever be canon. If I'd had more indication that the show might ever go that route? Then maybe. But I didn't see it until this season and it still may never happen, but it's too late for my heart. It wants what it wants. ;) And good for Steven! That show seems like a good fit for him and his muscles.

I'm gonna be in mourning for that scruff for the next ten months. WHY CAN'T WE HAVE THIS???

Jason Dohring will be on TO this season in a recurring role. Dammit, just when I think I'm out, they bring me back in.

I'm not a big fan either, but if I am going to see something in 3D, it's only the ones that are filmed that way. I use this site to check, and based on that, it feels like the trend for filming in real 3D is slowly fading for non-animated films. It's expensive and not really worth it because most people don't know anyway. They're buying the tickets whether you film it that way or not, so why bother?

Yeah, it's canon. She mentions accidentally eating a pot brownie once, and it was a bad experience because she's allergic to nuts.

I don't think it's wishful thinking at all--I saw a lot of positive reaction about her in 322 from people who'd been irritated by her/her storyling for awhile. A lot of stuff that was like, "Huh, just like that, I love Felicity again!" I don't think it would be hard at all for them to turn people around again.

Well, they definitely did, because like I said w/r/t the Leah Pipes (The Originals) dust-up, that interviewer was a man. But honestly, there are sexist people all over, not just KSite and TV Fanatic.

The interviewer didn't do that to Leah's face--a writer for the site had done an end-of-season write-up about the show, and in that article said Cami needed to be killed off. (I think the site had said the same thing the previous season too.) Leah saw it apparently and called them out on it. The interviewer (who did not write the article and probably hadn't read it) was clearly thrown off, and in their tweets about it, the site account was all ass-kissy, "We love you!" I won't give them the clicks to find out, but I think the author of that article may have been the person who interviewed WM, EBR, etc.?

(Never mind, you all convinced me it's cute and I should push through and I did and lo it was cute.)

That is adorable. Ugh, I don't want to ship Sara with anyone but Nyssa, but...