Carrie Ann

I think it's very possible that he will accept the offer, at some point, for at least a little while. Maybe after he gets arrested in 318? If he feels like there's no chance for him to have any kind of life now anyway? That feels a little late to still pull out of this and end the season on a high-note for Oliver, but I wouldn't put it past them to pack that all into the last five episodes. It could also be the reason for that one quote about Oliver vs. Ray in 319 (I think that was the episode that was referenced), and how their different approaches would be very clear. Like, Oliver will have basically given up on a life by then or something. I don't want this, but I think it's possible. And if Oliver does do this, and then somehow takes Ra's down from the inside, and then turns the LOA over to Nyssa...that will make me really unhappy. The women on this show need to take their agency back on their own--not via Oliver, or any other dude. Thea should be the one to defeat Malcolm. Nyssa should be the the one to defeat Ra's. Felicity should be the one to defeat Ray. :) A Lazarus-Pitted Sara should be the one to defeat Laurel. :) :) :)

I don't actually have a big problem with the boss/employee situation between R/F, on its face, because it's TV and I grant that things don't always reflect real life, and I was sort of fine with that answer from MG. But in this case, the professional stalking thing goes hand-in-hand with the boss/employee dynamic. If you excuse his behavior in that scenario, you are granting that it's acceptable for him to pursue her in this way. Maybe you feel that she had the ultimate power because she could reject his offer (oh wait! she did, several times, but for some reason it didn't take) or accept it. But it still started them off on that note, and it has pervaded every aspect of their "relationship" ever since, particularly when his lack of boundaries began to extend to her personal life. It adds up to what feels like a power imbalance, which leads to some of this feeling manipulative. None of which MG can see, because he writes us all off as angry shippers who haven't seen enough romantic comedies??? I hope that someday, MG will take a humility pill and at least acknowledge that the members of his audience who have valid feelings about this dynamic, and about many other aspects of his show that feel off for women, POCs, and LGBT people, aren't just overreacting because we're hysterical. He doesn't have to admit intent, but he could admit that he isn't in the best position to judge whether something is offensive to those parties, and that he will try harder to consider these aspects in the future.

Well, that was certainly a sweeps episode! Kissing and violence and things blowing up! Loved it. I LOVE that they went there with Clarke and Lexa. It felt very earned to me, and very real. Not sure how long Lexa will be on this show though, and that makes me a little nervous. I loved the conflict between Clarke and Octavia too. I am basically always on Octavia's side, because I'm a softie at heart, and she's so emotion-forward (despite her badassery), so I appreciated that though Indra defended Clarke and Lexa's decision, O was still not sold. At the same time, I was relieved to hear Clarke tell Lexa that denying her emotions and ignoring her feelings about things could make her a weaker leader. It was a fairly short arc--this Clarke turns off her emotions thing--but I'm glad we went through it and are maybe out the other side. I still think she will continue to pay in various ways for everything she's done since killing Finn, though. She's certainly lost the trust of several of "her" people. I'm so on-board the Raven/Wick train, sweet Lord. They have great chemistry and a fun dynamic. And I absolutely loved Wick just telling her that he was in for this, but wouldn't play games. She shut him down for now, but the ball is in her court. Also, when did John Murphy end up in my Top 5 characters on this show? Every line was perfect, and Richard Harmon is doing really good work this season. He sells so much of what's going on underneath the sarcasm, just with microexpressions. Finally--I don't understand at all how Bellamy wasn't burned when the flames shot him out of that pipe. His hair should have been singed at least, right?

Me too! The Malcolm/Nyssa fight was particularly egregious. Loved many of your points, but pulled out the ones I agreed with most while watching. Nyssa being disinherited for being a lesbian is...yikes. I shudder to think how they will handle this going forward, but if this season doesn't end with Nyssa victorious in some form, I will lose it. It appears that she will end up recruiting/training Thea and Laurel, which I believe we all called WAY way back in the fall, and I'm fine with that. But that doesn't mean that Laurel isn't still the WORST. OK, I know I have an uncharitable view of her, but the things they make her say and do...it's like sometimes they seem very aware of the criticism of her character and her laughable journey, and other times they are totally tone-deaf to it. Like, the jealous little gleam in her eye when she asked Thea if she'd really picked all of her fighting skills up in just a few months. And, then they have Laurel--LAUREL--ask Oliver how he can possibly manage to lie like that, every day, for weeks? You lied to your own father for months! And then all the stuff about how she felt like with Malcolm "dead" she would lose this last piece of Sara--well, you've snatched up every other piece of her available, just short of making yourself a skin-suit, so maybe just cling a little tighter to all that leather.

Yeah, this is what's so stupid about the way he handles his Twitter/Tumblr. First of all: you can choose your level of interaction, so, you know, answering these questions isn't actually required of you. Second: he clearly does pick and choose what questions to answer, because we know (from sending in our own) that he ignores many of them. (To give him the benefit of the doubt, my guess is that he logs in, goes to his inbox, and starts answering until he has to do something else.) It would be better to just ignore the incoherent ones than to waste time answering them. I would actually prefer if he ignored any that were really insulting, too. It just allows him to write off all the people who share that opinion as irrational. Third, when you're responding, try not to insult the intelligence of a majority of your fans and critics. It's rude.

There's more, and I can't bring myself to c/p all of them--most are brown-nosing or incoherent anyway, but here's another one that irked me:

OMG, this guy.

Yes, this tone issue really threw me off in this episode. The stuff everyone else was dealing with--Roy and Thea and their guilt, Nyssa and ugh Laurel and their grief, Oliver and Diggle and their Crazy Mystical Journey to the Underworld. It made Ray and Felicity seem like silly little kids, playing around. There are no stakes for Ray Palmer. There is no gravity (har har) to his story. And Felicity being her silly self with him was not refreshing, the way I think the writers want it to be. It just felt...wrong, and disconnected, and like it belonged to a different show. The Oliver in that pit--still so bonded to Diggle and devoted to Thea--and the Felicity in that high rise have no common ground anymore. It will be...interesting to see how they manage to bring them back toward each other, because right now, I feel no connection between them at all. Anyway, otherwise, I found this pretty underwhelming, in terms of surprises. But I did really like the Oliver/Diggle stuff, the Thea stuff, and the Roy stuff. Colton Haynes continues to do a good job with what he's given, and he and Willa Holland play so nicely off of each other. I feel so much more for them together now than I ever did in previous seasons. So, that's ONE relationship the writers have managed to improve.

Oh gross.

Guess it's Diggle's turn in the Dunce cap again. Maybe Roy will take it back next week?

I'm pretty excited about the police department crossovers, and it has me curious as to how they intersect with the Game Changer That Changes The Game. I guess it could be as simple as a villain who Quentin follows to CC and then back to SC, with Joe (and Cisco...for some reason) in tow? Or vice versa?

I'm the weirdo who loves angst in my ships--like, my fave episode & scene for my Fringe ship is devastating for them, but I could watch it over and over. What's happening with O/F is not good angst. It's just plot-driven nonsense that has turned the volume down on every positive aspect of their dynamic, except for Felicity calling Oliver on his shit, which has been cranked to 11. I want to believe they still like each other, let alone love each other. Angst only works if you still believe in the relationship at its center. I'm not sure I do anymore? I don't know what they're going for, but it feels like a thing where Oliver is wrong wrongity wrong and Felicity is always right, but how would you know, because they don't actually speak to each other in anything other than sighs or barked orders or passive-aggressive sniping. UGH, anyway. I'm prepared to like absolutely nothing about them for the next five episodes. 319 makes me really nervous--the Ray/Oliver different approach thing is a concern for me. I can't take much more of Saint Ray Full of Light. Things could start to turn by 320, but I'm not counting on it.

Even more depressing to me than MG's Olicity comments was this on Tumblr (edited slightly): Just doubling down on the idea that it's apparently impossible to hold on to the things that work while simultaneously developing other things, but you know, at least he keeps getting this question, so maybe that will get through his thick skull? The way they're handling Oliver's non-journey, Olicity, and the way MG keeps dismissing the very idea of the original trio--it's sending me the exact same message as his idiotic "don't watch" response. He's telling me they couldn't care less what viewers like about the show, and that they are possibly incapable of looking objectively at how things are working. The easy PR response to these questions is this: "While the team has to expand and change with the show, the core of Oliver/Diggle/Felicity will always be at the heart, and it always comes back to them. Don't worry, we have more scenes with them coming up." Which I promise you, they do not (remember how we were going to get some great D/F scenes after the hiatus, BUT ALSO great scenes with Laurel? Yep, no notable D/F scenes at all.). But even if you don't have anything with them coming up, because you screwed up and your priorities are in the wrong place--just say that shit so people believe that you still understand Thing 1 about what your fans love about your show. This is not some small niche group of fans--this is the VAST majority of your fanbase and critics. If anything could be said to be almost universally appreciated about this show, it was Original Team Arrow.

I just don't know how many more times I can see them have the same exact conversation--which based on the producer preview, it looks like we're in for again--before I just lose any good feeling I ever had about that relationship. It's like the writers forgot that Arrow fans love Oliver too--not just their fave side characters. The way they talk, it's like they find it really satisfying to take him down a notch (x infinity), and they think we'll appreciate that too. I just want to see him win again, and to see people support him. But I guess that's right out until the finale.

I have the dreads worse than ever after reading all of that, and the Tumblr spree Marc is on. Just...not good.

I want Felicity to stand up to Waller. Mostly because: where is ARGUS this season? It's so weird to have Waller the clear antagonist in the flashbacks and not see her at all in the present day.

Cool, great. I feel the opposite. So lots of talk about Atom and Thea in that interview posted in Spoilers Only. I'm interested in the Thea part--I really can't imagine where she will go next, especially since we know she too is in Starling at least for 317.

For whatever reason I just don't even think we're making it to a reception where a bouquet would be tossed. I feel like we'll be lucky to get through the ceremony, and then shit will hit the fan. But who knows? I will continue to cross my fingers MG was kidding because that is so stupid I just cannot.

Good point--have we seen anything of JB in episodes after 315? And if Ra's does keep him, as some sort of collateral? Ridiculous. Just kill him and get it over with. If Oliver agrees to do anything for Ra's that would cause mass damage in order to save Thea, himself, or any other individual people, I might have to shut this show off permanently.

I could do with a LOT more Raven, particularly from her POV--I think we're in a downswing for Raven's story right now, but I expect them to re-activate her story again, and I look forward to it. But I do think we have POV from plenty of other non-Clarke characters, particularly women. I would say Octavia and Abby particularly get a good share of focus and POV. I'm not sure how you can believe both that all men are made insignificant by the women but also that all the women are for the most part just "around." I guess if you think Clarke is the only character who is allowed anything, then...ok, but I don't understand the appeal of the show if that's how you feel, because I feel if anything, the show has become more of an ensemble this season than ever. As for some characters disappearing for episodes at a time--that doesn't bother me. It happens on every ensemble show I watch. Every show with a big cast will end up with episodes with a bunch of 90 second scenes, or one scene per grouping, or it will skip characters for an episode or two. It's just a storytelling choice, and it's one that doesn't bother me, personally. Plus, that really doesn't have anything to do with the gender question when it happens to all non-Clarke characters, IMO.

I'm starting to think that it's either Ray in the hospital, or the hospital thing is being sort of overblown altogether--and that Mama Smoak is just in town because they had a planned visit then, and they end up at the hospital for a fairly minor reason, and then shit goes down there, as others have suggested. If Felicity were seriously injured, it would be a bigger deal, and if Donna were sick or something, she wouldn't be in Starling. And yeah, whatever The Offer is, it doesn't prevent Oliver from being in Starling, in public. So he either escapes with help from others, or he accepts some mission from Ra's, and he can be in Starling (at least part-time) to complete it. Not sure why Merlyn gets to ride his coattails back home, or why Oliver would even want that, since killing MM would make Thea safer, but whatev. (Also, I think MG was kidding about the wedding bouquet, because if they were actually doing that, I don't think he'd spoil it.)

Yep, for me, it keeps coming back to a few things that make NO sense: 1) it didn't have to be Sara who was killed, and in fact, she's not the most logical person for Malcolm to choose; 2) once it DID happen, there was no reason for Malcolm to hide the truth for several months, when his end goal was for Oliver to fight Ra's; 3) Malcolm has no reason to believe that Oliver would actually defeat Ra's. (And the whole, "well it's a win-win for MM regardless" argument just doesn't hold water for me when he went to all of these ridiculous lengths, which are wholly unnecessary if he's equally happy to have Oliver killed.) I refuse to even engage with the notion that Malcolm cares about Thea (or Oliver) (or anyone), even in a "twisted" way, because no he obviously doesn't, and there is no part of his storyline that supports that idea. So the time we've already wasted on the Aw He's Not All Bad story is just that, wasted time. So, yeah, I guess I find myself in the camp that Malcolm--despite JB's limited screentime--is the biggest problem of the season. He just barely edges out Laurel for me, but only because at least she's always been around and we knew they would do something with her. There was no actual need to bring MM back, and certainly not in this way. But on the other hand, I would guess that the EPs are probably working harder to appease KC than they are JB, because again, they didn't need to bring him back if they didn't want to. So I could believe that ultimately, they've made more decisions about the direction of the season based on what they needed to do to get KC into that BC costume, than they have to make MM relevant again.

Also, when people talk about this show being exciting from a gender perspective, we're not only talking about Clarke. Frankly, most shows would be happy with Clarke, and not bother spending time on many other female characters. Many shows would have male characters in almost every other role of power. But on this show, Abby, Raven, Octavia, Anya, Lexa, Maya, Indra, and others are written as individuals, with different strengths, weaknesses, priorities, impulses. If you think that's common on television, then I guess my TV must be broken, because I search for these kinds of shows and I can only think of a few that fit the bill. As far as making men insignificant, I would wager that this might be an example of the phenomenon discussed in this interview--when women are represented at 17% level, men perceive it as 50%, and when they reach 33%, it's perceived as being more than 50%. I would suspect many women have a skewed perception too, because we're not used to seeing ourselves represented at an equal rate. The men on The 100 aren't rendered insignificant any more than the women are, but their roles may not reflect what you're used to seeing on TV. Which is, again, the reason some people find this aspect of The 100 exciting and refreshing. Jaha, Kane, and Abby have all traded leadership duties of the Ark. Men are in control at Mt Weather. The Grounders appear to be a matriarchal society--though I'm not sure that's been explicitly stated--but there are men at every other level of leadership there too. As for The 100, if anyone was in charge in Season 1, it was Bellamy, with a shift toward a shared/divided leadership with Clarke (and Finn sort of) through the season. Clarke was recognized as the stronger leader by outsiders, and thus, she came into that role. Frankly, Bellamy didn't seem to particularly want it by that point. Our other male 100-ers are Monty and Jasper, who are not the usual type of male heroes on a CW show, but are getting plenty of experience leading their group within Mt Weather. Just because men don't happen to occupy the ultimate positions of power that we're used to seeing them hold does not render the male characters insignificant.

Yeah, I had the same confusion when I watched the series. You can read about that weird episode and the weird airing of it here.

I don't know if they ever thought they might expand on Liv's sister and niece, but I think they were only there to give her a personal life, and to show the differences between Agent Dunham and Liv. With John dead, she doesn't have anyone else to ground her life outside of work, to make her seem like a whole person. Walter and Peter were getting to know each other again, so their personal/professional lives were intertwined, but Liv didn't have that (and in Season 1, Liv is clearly the main character, where in later seasons, it becomes almost a three-lead show). I thought the sister/niece thing was entirely unnecessary, but tonally, Season 1 was still getting its footing. Once Walter, Peter, and Liv formed tighter bonds with each other, they didn't need spend time on outside relationships to lend emotion to the show.