Carrie Ann

I still don't understand how that works with Malcolm's ultimate goal to erase his blood debt with Ra's. The point was supposed to be that it was an inescapable trap. Thea and Malcolm killed Sara, and the LOA doesn't care about nuance, so they're going to come after both of them, and Oliver would fight to protect Thea no matter what. If he had found this out two months earlier, he would still have gone to do that, right? I don't really see what he could have come up with in the meantime to avoid that, but I guess it's the only explanation that makes any sense.

The 11/25 EW article with Goffman is here. It's...infuriating. And actually I have to say that that old Scifi.com interview with KW didn't bother me. It's from a year ago. And at that time, you know, they kept KW around for a reason in S1, so obviously at least some of the other EPs were interested in telling more story with her. And actually KW's comments about the shipping stuff were pretty good and diplomatic. And I actually agree with her that (back when I was still watching this mess), I wanted to string out that flirty friendship dynamic with Ichabbie for awhile, before any kind of actual dating would happen.

All the blood debts in general? Or Malcolm/Thea's, because Oliver would erase it? I mean, this is only the central plot of the season, why go into detail, right?

You know, seeing that all laid out, I have to say, for as annoying as this show can be sometimes, the dialogue is really great.

Yeah, but I hope that Lexa has an actual relationship on the show, because otherwise it's not much representation to just say she's queer and then keep her celibate. Based on her conversations with Clarke this episode, I'm concerned they won't really go there with her.

Okay, can we talk about this? Because I was sort of holding onto hope that we'd get some indication in this episode of a twist in Malcolm's plan that made it all make sense, but instead we got the opposite. So let's lay this out: Step 1: During the hiatus, Malcolm goes back to Starling City, presumably to lure Sara there (or the LOA generally)? Step 2: Malcolm returns to SC with Thea, waits a few days, then drugs Thea and has her kill Sara. Step 3: Malcolm and Thea return to Corto Maltese and hang out there for another week or so until TA finally get around to tracking Thea down. Step 4: Malcolm comes back to Starling, apparently to allow the LOA to track him there and try to kill him so that Oliver will protect him??? Step 5: Malcolm hangs out and waits for a month or so. Step 6: TA finally isolates DNA and identifies it as coming from a Queen; Malcolm comes out of hiding to tell Oliver about Thea. Step 7: Malcolm did all of this so that Oliver would go fight his battle for him, so that IF Oliver killed Ra's al Ghul, then the death warrant against him by the LOA would be lifted. Ok, there are so many problems with this plan, but let's go into some of the biggest ones: -WHY would Malcolm wait to just reveal this whole plan to Oliver? How does it benefit him to put that off for two months? It doesn't, it only benefits the plot. -Did it have to be Sara who died? Couldn't it have just been any LOA member? -WHY would Malcolm think that Oliver could kill Ra's al Ghul, if he himself could not? He clearly believes himself to be more skilled than Oliver, and he's probably right, at least when it comes to swords. This makes absolutely no sense. -Why would the LOA lift the death warrant if Oliver had killed Ra's al Ghul? Would Oliver just become the de facto leader at that point? -What was his contingency plan?

If I had to guess, I'd say that @apinknightmare is right, and Laurel will lose, and get shaken up and realize she needs more training. I don't think she'll quit for good; I expect her to have a big heroic moment in the finale at least, and I would guess that's where she fully commits to this and leaves for the summer to train somewhere. I just think the fact that SA said he still hadn't worked with KC in costume means that she's probably not in costume after 313. Even with Oliver not approving of her doing this, I think they would have them cross paths if she were still suiting up. And I haven't seen any pics from 314-316 to prove otherwise yet, so I'm clinging to this idea for as long as possible.

Oh, sorry about that, I missed that one. I think Paul and Ian are on good terms, and I suspect he was trying to be respectful and not make it seem like Ian has a lot to learn from him about directing.

I didn't see any reference to Ian in that article.

Right--imagine how mad we'd be if Ray tried to tell Felicity how Oliver would feel about something. He doesn't know Oliver and he has no right to talk to Felicity from that perspective. I didn't like how that played out, or that she had to apologize to Ray, but his anger at her and the way he handled that whole conversation was the most I've ever liked him. In fact, I didn't have a single problem with Ray himself this episode, but I continue to have a problem with the way his story is pulling focus.

I think everyone is basically in agreement here--we think Felicity probably did the right thing, or was at least right in thinking that Dig and Roy had no chance against the giant truck full of dudes with machine guns. So the issue is, why are some other viewers blaming Felicity? And I agree with you, @Angel12d, that the choice to have Dig and Roy both treat Felicity as though she blew it let some viewers come to the same conclusion. If the writers' intent was not to make it look that way, I think they should have had either Dig or Roy come around in the end and acknowledge that she was right, and they didn't have a chance.

I love his response to the question about how the show should end. I agree that Elena should be human again, and that maybe the Salvatores should just be done. As much romanticizing as this show does of vampires and immortality, it'd be kind of nice to show that being human is more precious and magical or whatever.

That's basically exactly the same as the midseason finale, right? That's good for them, I think.

It's sort of funny because it's well-known that many celebrities buy Twitter followers (here's an article about doing that), so a lot of the "who has more followers" thing is just pretty meaningless, unless the difference is vast. Unless Twitter does a massive purge like Instagram did, it's hard to see who's buying followers. But I can still see why if it's a coin-toss, a casting director would go with the person with a larger social media presence. If you're looking at Colton Haynes with 1M followers vs. some lesser-known actor with 100k followers, it's a pretty easy call to pick Colton and have direct access to your target market through him.

These two points are sort of tied up for me, in that I half-agree with you about EBR's emotional stuff--it's hit or miss for me. I think her comedic chops are great and I think in general she has great screen presence, but she doesn't yet have the level of emotional nuance that Stephen has, for one example. Absolutely the most I've enjoyed Felicity and EBR this season was in 308 (and Flash 108), because the writing for her was fun and funny and played to her strengths. Even the "Get up, Oliver," part was the kind of subtle emotion I think she does well. Maybe it really is just crying/holding back tears that is the problem area. Now back to Colton: the reason Roy is working for me this season is that the show has realized what CH does well, and they're using that. They've limited his emotional stuff, and the few moments he's had have worked for me. Actually worked better because they're rare, and because he's presented as stoic and sarcastic, so when he says something like, "Don't abandon me," it hits harder. So now, Roy is this pragmatic kid, sarcastic but kind, and his maturity feels appropriate for what he's been through and what Oliver's been teaching him. It's the kind of slow, subtle storytelling that I wish they would have implemented for their other new superheroes. But anyway, something I wish they would have done this episode that wouldn't have stretched any of the actors too far is to go to an act break with Team Arrow crying together. Not like, a big cry huddle, but you know, the type of thing people do when they've just learned a loved one is dead. Instead they just showed them all sitting in their various positions around the lair. I just...I looked back at some of the spoilers and MG said that 310 would be full of tears and we'd all need Kleenex, and yeah, not so much. I felt a little tug in my throat at the "still think of myself as his bodyguard" bit, but that's it. MG also said that 311 wouldn't be so tearful, so yeah, that confirms my suspicion that we're just skipping over the grief.

I've said this before in a different way, but yes, I think they are banking on their best assets (characters/relationships) being basically bullet-proof, and they're very wrong about that. These characters and their relationships with each other are taking a beating, and I'm not sure they're all going to fully recover. I don't have any negative feelings about the way Dig or Felicity handled things tonight (though I think the emotion could have been stronger, from both of them), but I'm not at all surprised that others do, and I expect that will continue through the next few episodes. If Felicity is either pretty firmly over on Team Atom for awhile or evenly splitting her time--it's not going to be fun to watch. Particularly if she's also full of rage at Oliver in that period. Now that we know Oliver wasn't in on any kind of plot to fake his own death, I don't know what the source of her rage would be aside from just too much emotion in general. And I love Felicity, and I can sympathize with her, but that characterization is never an easy sell, and I don't expect it to go over well at all. And frankly, as much as I love Team Arrow and Olicity, I think on a subconscious level, this stuff will start to wear on me too. I already just feel vaguely disappointed with everything this season, despite lowering my expectations with every episode. I still desperately cling to whatever crumbs of Team Arrow/Olicity I get, but even those crumbs aren't as good as I want them to be. And I just feel like after they all kiss and make up (literally, in one case), I could look at them in the foundry with the 101 superheroes who now work there, and realize that it's kind of all been tainted, and we're just never getting that magic back.

I mean...I would include The Ark people in any discussion about whether humanity deserves to survive. They killed every adult who ever broke a law. They sent 100 kids down to Earth practically sure they would die. I hope the show is trying to demonstrate that every one of these societies, in survival mode, has adopted inhumane practices and beliefs. They were pretty heavy-handed with that message tonight: lots of "we're the same" kind of talk. Anyway, I too feel a little fatigued by the constant breakdowns of any alliance, but I'm hoping we're in a detente for a little while anyway. And I do love that the show always complicates things and throws shit at the characters to figure out. So far, they've done a pretty good job of making the characters approach these issues in ways that feel right based on who they all are as individuals. That said, it will be hard to figure Clarke out in the future, because they took her down a path I didn't expect for her. Sending Bellamy off with an "it's worth the risk" was pretty cold. I do hope they don't keep her in this mode for too long, because that emotionlessness can get tedious from a lead character. Also...I feel like Lincoln just marched off to his death. Again. I love him, and I don't want him to die, but I'm in constant fear for everyone on this show (aside from Clarke & Bellamy who I think are safe).

To clear up some questions I've seen here (I think I'm right about these, but no promises): 1--As to why Ra's wouldn't know someone lives in a cabin on his sacred grounds: Tatsu doesn't seem to live in that...cave cabin thing. Maseo says, "I asked her to come here to bring you back to life." 2--I didn't see Oliver's body on the little cliff when Malcolm peered over the edge, so I don't think Malcolm saw it, but assumed Oliver went into the ravine due to the placement of the sword. UNLESS he's lying and he knows that the sword stuck in the rock actually means "I dealt a non-fatal blow; come collect your dude." Assuming that's not the case, I think we should believe that Maseo retrieves his body at some point shortly after his death. 3--I think the show was intending to make Felicity's choice to protect Dig and Roy seem more like a 50/50, I can see both sides thing. But because both Roy and Dig act like they totally would have gotten those guys (in the big truck, with multiple guns), the audience sort of looks at Felicity like, Oh damn, you blew that one. I think she made the right call, personally, but on a day that Oliver was there, she probably would have just tried to convince them that this wasn't going to work. Hell, Oliver might have called it there too. Anyway, I feel sort of...underwhelmed by this episode, and I don't expect that to improve in 311. I don't think they're going to particularly spend any time on any of the characters' grief, or go deep on that in a realistic way, so we're just going to get Felicity "standing strong," and Dig trying to lead, and that's about it. It's just disappointing. If you're going to kill off the main character, you should wring a lot of emotion out of that, and I don't think they're going to bother, so now it's just more obvious than ever that there was only one reason Oliver "died." And it was to make room for Laurel, and to build up Ray and Roy, to a much lesser extent. And if I were to rank all the characters on the show in order of how much I like and care about them, those three would come in dead last. So yeah, I'm just going to grit my teeth and get through the real BC trilogy, and hope the writers took some of the criticism they received this fall to heart and made improvements for the last third of the season.

I agree about Caroline--I meant to include her in the door-slamming, but then it just made me feel a little sad. And I was trying to remember when she learned that Bonnie was alive--she learned at the end of episode 8, and we left off on episode 10, with her mom's diagnosis. But, 608 was Thanksgiving and 610 was Christmas, so yeah, that was a month of time that she could have been kicking everyone's ass to get shit done. I'd be more hopeful about getting a good story for Bonnie when she gets back if it weren't for the fact that we're going to be spending that time seeing the Delena honeymoon period. So, there are two people who will be too wrapped up in each other to care about Bonnie any more than they ever do when they're together, which is to say: only enough that she doesn't harsh their buzz.

Poor Bonnie. I hope she slams the door in all of their faces. (Except Caroline, because she's going through some shit and doesn't deserve that.)

It's actually hilarious because she spent 75% of the episode NOT letting herself feel those emotions, so when she finally does in the last 15 minutes--and is STILL trying to hold it together--that's whiny?

This interview contains more thoughtless slights against Caity Lotz, as have several of KC's interviews this season and before. I'm sure she doesn't intend them that way--I do think they are/were friendly with each other--but the ways she talks about the show, her character, her fellow castmembers just ends up coming across as...well the kindest interpretation would be that she's just very self-absorbed. That she's so focused on herself and her own character that she pays no attention to other characters, and doesn't realize how condescending and insulting she can sound.

Especially since they've indicated that the period of it being "in your system" is about 24 hours. Unless she's at death's door, it's not even really a risk. And like Caroline's father, she can just choose not to turn if that's what she wants. It's stupid not to try. But I'm not opposed to the idea that vampire blood on its own can't cure cancer. I could buy that what it does is heal acute wounds, but that it doesn't go through your cells and clean them out and kill growths or whatever. That's fine, and it actually does jibe with what Grayson (and other Whitmore people) were doing--testing out vampire blood for uses in humans. They even talked about cancer, right? He was treating some little kid, wasn't he? If it had been as easy as just giving the kid blood once, he would have just done that. So I'm fine with it being vampire blood + medical science = cure for cancer, but then Elena burned all of the files on that stuff, right? So they'd have to start from scratch. And maybe that's what they'll do; maybe Jo and Elena will work on medical crap to see if they can come up with something. Or else they'll just let Liz die because that's what the writers want, and yeah, they definitely don't care about their own mythology or logic enough to let that get in their way.

Yeah, the Duncan stuff was poorly-conceived from the beginning--even if they'd had a really magnetic performer, that relationship would have been a really hard-sell, for me. But you know, the Veronica/Logan relationship should have been a hard-sell for me too, and it ultimately wasn't because of the performances. So I can see how in RT's head, Duncan and Veronica have this really complicated dynamic, but one that means good drama. But then he got this Lumpy Cake Donut (love it, @apinknightmare), and it ended up feeling gross and boring instead of compelling. Also, that plus Piz really show off a lot of RT's less-savory gender relation views. I mean, he still talks about these guys in such black & white terms. I think he recognizes the complexity and overall goodness of Logan, but he really doesn't see the negatives about Piz or Duncan. Which...man, those two are just composites of every Nice Guy cliche there is. And he just doesn't acknowledge that at all.

This is not happening. Laurel and Roy...also no. But yeah, that would be hilarious from a visual perspective. I do like Colton Haynes a lot, and that alone makes me more interested in Roy's story this season. Those interviews makes me hopeful about that, and about Thea too.