Carrie Ann

Aw, you're right. The Delia part would have been nice. I loved her. I would have been fine with Andy and Nina together too. But everything else--no.

There's really nothing you're not "allowed" to do here, and I think we should try to do a few separate threads for things like that. A recipes thread would be faaaabulous.

Yeah, Sara has been operating independently since leaving the League of Assassins (and even then, was probably working solo for the most part). I'm not sure she will take well to having Oliver in charge, or even a democratic situation. We've already seen her chafing at that. I'd rather have her working on her own, and working with Oliver when that makes sense (like right now with Slade threatening both of them and their loved ones).

I could see it going a Xander/Willow direction. You can sort of see Fitz in the Willow role right now--crushing on Simmons a bit, while she is oblivious. I could see that building on both sides until something happens. On paper, I find the idea of FitzSimmons and SkyeWard just too predictable and not interesting dramatically. But who knows? At this point, I find Fitz and Simmons the most appealing characters, so I'm not opposed to it, I guess.

I can understand this sentiment, but not for these reasons. I just truly don't see Oliver as a shallow playboy. I know that's who he was in the comics, but we haven't seen even a glimpse of that in this character, post-Island (aside from his putting on an act). The only person he's had sex with without feelings involved was Isabel, and I had no problem with that decision. (Except that he probably shouldn't trust her, even that far.) Otherwise, he's slept with four women in a year (McKenna, Helena, Laurel, Sara), and he was dating or in love with all of them. Pretty pathetic for a playboy. And as far as shallow goes...that's about the last thing I'd call this version of Oliver. Especially when it comes to his relationships with the people who know his secret. But even those who don't--Laurel, Moira, Thea, and Lance (if he doesn't know)--his relationships and interactions with them are all complex and real. Personally, I don't think Oliver is ready for a relationship with Felicity because he doesn't think he deserves someone like her right now. I think he sees her as too pure and good for him, because of the terrible things he's done and his damage. I don't think they should be together until he is ready for a good, healthy relationship, but I could see it working someday when he's done a little more work on himself.

Yeah, I think they've set up a dark arc for Thea really well if they choose to go this route. Finding out about Merlyn, as well as finding that Oliver and Roy have both been lying to her in such major ways, would send her reeling I think.

I've been guessing that Nina was West's mother and Silas was the father. Coma baby? But I don't watch the show every day, so I might have missed some critical info (like dates, etc.).

I agree that the sudden, heavy focus on Sara has made my enthusiasm for her wane a little. I also find it difficult to see her encouraging Oliver's Hood side instead of his Arrow side. We don't need to go back down that route. I do find it sort of interesting that Sara is further behind on her journey toward becoming a hero than Oliver is, but I don't think he's at the point where he should be in a relationship with someone like that. He's not a good mentor yet, as he admitted regarding Helena, and as he proved regarding Roy in this episode. I think at this stage (barring the show killing her off!), that is what will drive them apart. Just not agreeing on how to live their lives and help people, etc. Personally, my ideal scenario would be that Sara IS the Black Canary on this show, and Laurel becomes a villain. Then Sara leaves Starling to go be a vigilante elsewhere, but returns regularly, or she and Oliver are both vigilantes in Starling, but operate independently. That's what I'm looking for. What I'm not looking for is a show called Arrow & Canary. Not interested in Lance drama taking over the entire show.

Yeah, I found it kind of ironic that Oliver had that moment of introspection where he realized that he was not in a position to mentor Helena last year, and that by trying to do that, he'd probably done more damage than good. And then cue him telling Roy to break up with Thea. So, so, so many reasons that's a stupid plan, I don't even know where to start. Oh, yes I do: the moment when Oliver said, "Speedy" in order to snap Roy out of his rage. Right now, Thea is everything to Roy, and his love for her is the thing keeping him on the good side of that thin line. (A trope I dislike, but here we are.) And, just last episode, they had someone positioned next to every non-superpowered/trained character on the show to try to protect them from Slade. Putting distance between the super-strong Roy and the clueless Thea just isn't smart. As evidenced by her immediately getting into a car with Slade.

I kinda thought he was looking to pull Stan into informing on the FBI, using Nina's safety as leverage, in order to ultimately oust Arkady. But maybe he'll just request more detail on Nina and their history than the files provide to somehow get rid of Arkady that way? I thought The Centre was aware of the truth about the beginning of Nina and Stan's relationship, but now I'm not sure.

Oh no! I actually thought Drunk Martha was the Best Martha! I mean, YES, that part was so so so gross. But she was drunk, and probably not thinking straight. And Elizabeth was not giving off the usual horrified, disgusted vibes a sister-in-law would, so Martha didn't even have that to snap her out of her reverie about Clark's wild animal lovin'.

I just want you to know that I became more and more horrified with each of those bullet points. Now I am SO thankful we never got to that season. Good Lord.

Keith: Best TV Father of all time? Discuss.

I hope there's still a little jackass in there, but I'm happy to be rid of the "psychotic" part.

The way I think the doppelganger thing works is that all of them would be drawn to each other, not a one-to-one situation. If Elena met Tom, she would have been drawn to him too. It doesn't make sense for Katherine to have one person the "universe" is trying to match her with, and have that person born 350 years after her. In order for each doppelganger to have one match, they'd have to be born within a few years of each other. So if Tom was Elena's fated person, then there was another Amara-ganger from the 1860s who Stefan never met, and another Silas-ganger born in the 1400s who Kat never met. That...doesn't seem right. Or else the universe is pretty crappy at this match-making stuff.

For Two Swords,

This is so true. I never really felt much from her until she started to have some attitude. And not the high and mighty kind, but the angry, bitter stuff. It wasn't enjoyable, but it was believable. At this point, I seriously would believe anything you told me about the producers plans for either of the Lance sisters. Kill one off? Yep! Keep working on their journey to becoming a hero? Sure! Turn one into a villain? Sounds great! Make one the endgame love interest for Oliver? Boo, but I'd believe it!

I can understand what you're saying, but I just disagree. I'm not interested in this version of Elena, at all. I'm not interested in a show where EVERY character becomes more and more amoral. It just takes away any stakes, because you know that there's nowhere but down to go. It's why I was glad that Caroline didn't kill Tom--even though Enzo was a very convenient solution, I don't really care. That's fine with me. I just want a few characters still trying to be good and not hurting innocent people. I'm not saying she should sit in judgment of Damon--although nothing she's done compares to the systematic hunting and killing of an entire family, generation after generation, just because one of them had a hand in his torture, for one example. I just don't want to see the heroine of this show decide that her personality, her values, her family, her friends--none of them is more important to her than Damon. Yuck. And right now, that's what we're looking at. If the show decides they want to go that route, I get it, but I'm out.

I started this show after the second or third episode, because I saw a gifset on Tumblr of Abbie reacting to something Ichabod did and she just looked awesome. Even in gifs I could tell Nicole was something special.

Ooh, I never heard what the next season would have been about. Wanna give me a quick summary?

This is based on nothing at all, but I really hope they're heading toward making Laurel a villain. Until she made up with Sara and started AA, her story this season was definitely playing like a villain origin story, not a superhero origin story. The tail end of this last episode gave me a glimmer of hope that they still might go that direction.

I would have been fine if they hadn't gone with a contemporary British accent for the Common Tongue, but they did. And that is clearly what Dinklage is going for, and missing some of the time. I hear NCW's accent slip sometimes too, but not in the Try-Hard way. More like, oops, that was a Danish lilt. For your second question, I'd say the latter.

I mean, in this last episode, he didn't even speak. But that one nod when Felicity said, "I think if you find the Huntress, you should kick her ass" was perfect. I love Diggle--he and Felicity are tied for #1 in my heart. He's such a great friend to Felicity and to Oliver, and such a grounding presence for such an over-the-top show. They desperately need that energy (Felicity serves the same function in a spunkier way), and I've missed him a lot. The producers said something about (speculation) That will be welcome.

Yeah, there has definitely been a dropoff in the amount/quality of Felicity time, but I think it's just because the front half of the season was pretty Felicity-heavy (compared to S1). I am definitely WAY more interested in Famous Original Team Arrow than I am in the Lance sisters, but I'm willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt and see how they pull off the last quarter of the season. I think they know the kind of magic they have in Felicity, so I don't doubt they want to use her in the best way possible. I just think they're setting up some other things here.

I just meant "Super Senior" in the sense that he's basically just hanging around Beacon Hills with teens, like the guy who's graduated but still goes to the high school parties. He's a little older than these teens, but younger than their parents. And you're both right--they just haven't figured out what to do with him post-un-Alpha-ing. He really needs another love interest (NOT KATE), or at least another purpose in his life.