Carrie Ann

I wonder whether the Nyssa/Laurel scene that guy described would be part of a montage at the end of the episode? Showing what everyone is doing now that the team is kind of disbanded and Oliver's giving up the vigilante life? I don't see how a rando knife-wielding dude would fit with the other action of the finale, but I suppose it could just be them tangling with someone trying to fix one of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse or whatever SERIOUSLY I cannot keep track of this shit anymore. Thank God we are five hours away from this season being over.

I think Stefan (and Elena, since this was her idea to begin with) was just throwing everything he could out there to paint this picture of suburban hell or whatever. But yeah, I cooked when I was in HS/college, but didn't get good at it until my 20s. I'm sure Elena would/will learn. And I do think Damon can cook too. He probably just doesn't care to, because he never used to try to stay connected to his humanity like Stefan did.

Wow, I should not have read those interviews. I seriously can't stand that guy.

I honestly wonder whether MG bothered to tell AK that they were going to make Lyla quit ARGUS in 317. These eps would have filmed before that aired, right? But yeah, mentions of her two episodes in a row do make me think she's the floater, so yay!

I'm not directing this question at you, necessarily, as I don't know if you count yourself among the viewers who would see this as adultery, but: would those people object to people who are separated--divorce pending--dating? Like, no dating prior to your official divorce? That seems pretty antiquated to me. I think in every divorce I've ever been aware of, at least one spouse has started dating before everything was finalized. And I see no difference here, and in fact, there's even less moral/ethical reason not to date other people when you were forced at swordpoint to marry.

Way way back in this thread somewhere, I said that one of the reasons I enjoy following SA on social media when I avoid most other celebs is that he gets adorably mad at himself when he screws up his grammar, and then he corrects it. And earlier today, he tweeted this: And I was just waiting for the follow-up, which he delivered:

It's usually not a question of whether the actors can handle it as much as a question of what their contracts and filming schedules allow.

A place to talk casting and storyline spoilers, since I guess we didn't have one. (I think we were using the Media thread, kinda.) From the 222 episode thread: Daniel Gillies is no longer doing two shows. His character was written off of Saving Hope earlier this season. And we've talked about this before (w/r/t Nate Buzolic), but there is a difference between appearing as a regular in a CW show and on a show that only airs in Canada (or as a recurring character on another show, a la David Ramsey on Arrow/Blue Bloods), and appearing as a regular on two American Network TV shows. If you know of any actors who currently appear as regulars on two American network shows that film and air at the same time, I'd be interested to hear. So if the various actors we're discussing have had their pilots picked up to series, and they are regulars on those shows? Their contracts may not allow for appearances elsewhere, or filming schedules may prevent it. Either way, the writers will not be able to build stories around those actors/characters, so I think it's normal for people to assume we won't see much of them. Particularly when the EPs are giving interviews like this one. Michael Narducci makes it sound like Rebekah will not be a regular next season, in either of her bodies. And given that they just announced that Freya will be a regular, and given this quote: "It was a really beautiful moment for Freya to give Rebekah something and it feels very nice for Rebekah to be able to go off and have a life while Freya stays and does what Rebekah always did, which is try and keep these two brothers united," it seems that they are slotting Freya into the Rebekah role. If they were going to try to keep Maisie Richardson-Sellers in some capacity, they probably would have mentioned it instead of going on and on about all the things Rebekah will be doing off-screen in her new life. MRS is literally not even named in this interview. Claire Holt has said she'd like to appear again, but she won't be a regular, so that's what we can expect. Random appearances, probably in flashback or dreams like Nate Buzolic did this year.

I'm going to reply in the Speculation with Spoilers thread, just in case these things are spoilery.

They've talked about doing flashbacks for Sara and for Nyssa, so I'm sure that's how Matt Nable will return. He really doesn't bother me as Ra's--the writing for Ra's is what bugs me about Ra's--so I'm cool with that. So I guess we're definitely not setting up for next season in terms of any kind of new mission, new tactics, new location situation. It's just going to be a giant question mark as to how the show will go on. I'm actually fine with that, and you know, if the show gets even worse next season, then it sounds like the S3 finale can act as my headcanon series finale.

My feeling has been that Oliver realized he could have been with her all along somewhere around...oh say...316, when he saw her with Ray.* It wasn't when he returned in 312 (although he did seem to have those kinds of feelings while he was recovering, until Tatsu convinced him he would need to sacrifice everything precious to him in order to beat Ra's). And O/F were pretty cold to each other from that point until after she got with Ray. 316 is when he pouts to Dig about Felicity moving on and how he's going to die alone and Ra's was right about everything!!! I think the gravity of the Ra's situation kind of put things into perspective, and I don't know if the realization was immediate or gradual, but I basically feel like if Felicity had broken up with Palmer at any point from 316 on and approached Oliver, he wouldn't have been able to fight it anymore. He probably would have tried some "I can't do this to you because of Ra's" ish, but then would have been happy when she shut that down. I mean, his face when she almost says "the man that I love" in 319...that's not the face of a man who was going to keep pushing her away. So I think by the time he came to this realization, it was no longer his choice to make. The ball was no longer in his court. And in the finale, I think/hope that Oliver is still going to feel like it's Felicity's choice, because of the damage he's done since 321. (*We'll never know what he was going to say to her when he came to the office in 307, but it seems impossible that he was going to ask her to be with him then, based on everything that came after. (That scene makes me eyeroll for just that reason--because it's not logical that he really had anything new to say to her, so the only purpose was to make Oliver feel more pain.))

Wonder if they'll pin down her accent before filming starts! Ugh. This isn't a surprise, but yeah, I'm not a fan. So of the four female regulars, I'm down to only one I still like (Davina). I'm not sure I'm tuning in next season.

I hear you, and I won't presume to know whether you count yourself among the marginalized groups you listed. But for a lot of people who do notice that stuff--characters who reflect themselves, because it's more of a rarity--they don't find it as easy to be colorblind, or whatever. When one of those characters is murdered simply to punish a white male character, that's frustrating. When another is killed to make room for the original (heh) white person to take over again, that's also frustrating. We went from a show that at one point this season featured four black actors, one Indian-American actor (Gia), plus two queer characters, to now two black actors and one queer character. And everyone else is white and hetero (that we know of). That's a lot to swallow in the span of a half-season. As this kind of erasure and exclusion also notoriously occurs on TVD, people will continue to comment on it.

In a show that has spent a season selling a Malcolm Merlyn redemption angle, I don't think it's so crazy to think that some members of the audience could view its villains as existing on a moral spectrum, with grey areas. It's not a stretch to consider that many people watching the show (regardless of age) might believe that while Ra's is awful, he really loves his daughter, deep down, and wants the best for her. Just like Malcolm does for Thea. But I don't think that most people who are upset about Nyssa being forced into a marriage fall into the category of people I described above. I don't think they are unaware that Ra's is evil, or confused as to whether the showrunners believe it is an evil act. They're upset that the show is perpetuating a pattern of treatment of gay characters, gay women in specific, AND that it has yet to condemn the act in the text from that standpoint. It's not a lot to ask. As I said a few pages back, I think a lot of this would have been alleviated had Laurel made a comment about Nyssa. That's literally all it would take. Having Laurel express horror that her friend, who is queer and was in love with Laurel's dearly departed sister, is going to be forced into a marriage with a man who may or may not be brainwashed--that's not spelling it out; that's hitting your emotional beats. But hey, they didn't include a line like that because this story is not about Nyssa. Instead, the only person who made a comment about the grossness was Felicity, and she made it in regard to Oliver. It's obvious that the show's concern in this situation is only for Oliver, and Nyssa is simply being used to further his pain in this LOA story. Maybe they'll turn it around somehow in the finale, but unless it ends with Nyssa killing Ra's herself...I doubt it. As I've said before, this kind of anger is not always about the exact story they're telling at this moment; sometimes it is about what happens to women and minority characters in general, what prices they pay, how they are used and abused. When you see the same story beats repeated across culture, it shows a pattern. I mean, this is Cultural Studies 101. Women--gay women and POC women in particular--are exploited and killed off at a much higher rate than male characters. That pattern communicates that that's the type of story people are interested in telling, or reading, or watching about you. That's your role.

Yep, I've been dreading the love child storyline since last season, and it's not because of Olicity angst. I honestly don't know how they'll handle it when it comes to the two of them, and I'm not particularly concerned about it. (Unless they take it in a silly OTT or OOC direction, like Felicity freaks at the fact that Oliver is not involved in the life of a kid he didn't know about.) (If @ostentatious's theory that Oliver has known for a long time is true, it will not bug me as much.) No, the reason I've been dreading it is that I HATE the Sudden Kid trope, because 1) Kids are rarely good actors. 2) The kid, no matter the amount of screentime, becomes the #1 most important thing in the hero's life; the thing to which all else must take a backseat. And that makes me roll my eyes, because 3) We're expected to believe in the feelings and care about a relationship that appeared out of nowhere, and I never, ever do. The only happy ending of this storyline for me is the kid already having a father figure, and Oliver deciding to leave that family in peace. But that's not happening, so basically my only hope is that they subvert some of these tropes, and that the kid is on-screen for like 10 minutes total and rarely discussed after next season.

You're right--it's a TV show in America, where excluding or erasing minority characters is the norm. I'm not surprised that it's not notable or concerning for a lot of people.

SA also responded to or retweeted a selfie Paul Blackthorne posted, and said something about loving his hiatus beard. I think Lance is safe too. I'm voting Ra's and Shrieve for the deaths. Something has to allow FB Oliver to get out of this Hong Kong situation and into the Bratva for S4, and I don't think they'd leave a character like Shrieve hanging out just trying to destabilize the US economy (...or...whatever his goal was? honestly I don't pay attention to the flashbacks). I don't think DC would care about them "killing" this version of Shrieve out of concern for any future projects with that character; that's precisely what Arrow has done with the other characters DC wants to use for other purposes.

Ha, I think we try to tackle this question every week. I'll take a shot. The cure was one dose, yes. So Elena took it. Damon would drink from her in order to also be cured. I don't believe we know whether Damon would have to drain her entirely, but we do know that only one vampire can drink from a cured vampire and also receive the cure. That vampire then becomes the carrier of the cure, so to speak. Both would be human, but Damon would be the carrier of the cure. Elena's blood would no longer act as a cure. And it seems that there is some magic in the cure that allows the newly-human vampire to age from their vamped age, but once a vampire drinks from them, they begin to rapidly age to their "actual" age. So it's not particularly dangerous for Elena to live as the human carrier of the cure, because if she were bitten and suddenly age to her actual age, it would make her 21. If Damon becomes the carrier, it means if any vampire ever drinks from him, he will die within weeks, because he is 166 years old. Does all that make sense? (Or...TVD sense, at least?)

With the way it feels like the season will end, I kinda think the 3.5 comics might cover stuff that happened during the S3 time period that we didn't see or something. It seems like the first batch of Arrow comics (before 2.5) were meant to take place within the seasons (S1 or S2 depending on timing).

I was probably more open to Angie because of Nikita love (as I was more receptive to Sousa because of Dollhouse, less to Thompson because of CMM in general), but also because it was a show full of dudes, with Peggy getting crapped on by most of them most of the time. Angie was a relief to me. I wanted more women in Peggy's life. And I really loved the ep where Angie covered for her when Thompson and Sousa were coming for her.

I'm really worried about that storyline too, Danny Franks. I love GoT (though I view it as a very well-made soap opera, not like an award-worthy prestige piece), but I'm not sure I'll make it through this season if things go down the way I think they might.

From the episode thread: Yeah, they need lives so that there is a purpose to all of their fighting. This season, Diggle was the only person who had that. Felicity worked as an EA--I mean a VP--for her boyfriend, though we almost never saw her working on anything that wasn't the ATOM suit, at a company that apparently had no other employees. Seriously, the last time I remember seeing anyone else at PT was maybe in 307 when they announced the name change? But anyway, I kinda don't think it's a coincidence that post-315, we got: basically our only significant Dig/Felicity scenes a dinner scene at the Diggles' a wedding and rather abruptly in 316, Oliver and Felicity once again interacting as though they liked each other I think it's silly to always cry 'network interference,' but honestly it did feel like the network intervened a bit. Or else the EPs finally paid attention to the feedback they were receiving and incorporated those elements again, because they were sorely lacking for the first 2/3 of the season. I know this is the bitterness thread (and best believe that I am hella bitter about this mess of a season), but it does give me a bit of hope that they've taken it on the chin for some of their choices, and hopefully we'll see improvements in some areas next season.

Replying in the Bitterness thread.

I mean, IF this wedding is happening, then I would basically guarantee that it's been in the cards since pre-season. This is the type of thing they plan for, for their whole finale mirrors the premiere motif. No way to know until post-season, and you can reject whatever they tell you, regardless, but that moment in the hospital of Oliver seeing Dig with his family and looking at them all longingly is going to pay off somehow.

Can someone clarify something for me? I keep seeing people elsewhere really talking up a Bonnie/Kai ship--and I'm not hating on that, though I don't ship it myself--but I don't get the point? Christopher Wood is in JP's new show, which was picked up, so...he can't really make it past the finale, right? Am I missing something?