ohjoy

Thank you so much -- this is my new head canon.

This got me thinking, and I went back and skimmed through the last three episodes to check.... Unless I missed something, the only Oliver/Laurel scenes in the last three episodes come when Laurel shows up in the Arrowcave to give Oliver a pep and then follows Team Arrow into danger after Oliver explicitly told her to stay put. She "saves" Oliver from the goon, gets stuck in the caved-in alley, follows Oliver's instruction to shoot an arrow to get herself out, and then heads back to find her dad when Team Arrow goes after the cure. All of that happens in the last half of the 1st episode and the first half of the 2nd. Laurel and Oliver do not directly interact AT ALL after Laurel walks away from Team Arrow and runs into the Canary. If I really wanted to (and I closed one eye and squinted really hard), I could make the summation that all of the Olicity buildup in the final episodes was done for the sole purpose of making the fakeout scene believable (I wouldn't put it past the producers to think that was a good idea), but even then, the fact remains while Oliver and Felicity are doing all of this buildup toward saving the day (and possibly beginning to acknowledge or even recognize their feelings for each other), while Oliver and Laurel... don't see or speak to each other at all (unless you count Oliver yelling at Sara to "get them out of here!" after Felicity stabs Slade with the syringe and Sara frees Laurel from the goon).

I seriously wanted Alona Tal to show up as Sarah before CL was cast, but now I'm so relieved she wasn't put through the crap of being awesome in a role the producers are determined to give to someone else. Plus, her being Laurel's sister wouldn't allow for the Jo/Ruby beat down I just realized I would LOVE to see.

The more I think about it, the more I'm sure it won't be as simple as them immediately being together or not when the new season rolls around. I can see they left it open for them to move forward, but also to pull back from. I don't think they've even decided how much Fitz will be Fitz next season, much less whether he and Simmons are going to couple up. But I can see them being a couple, if they move forward in that direction. Honestly, whether they do or don't, as long as FitzSimmons are still awesome together, I won't mind. I just don't one getting the idea that for whatever reason he/she can't be around the other one. There will be some serious bloodletting if that happens.

You're not alone. The writers may punk out on us when the next season rolls around, but I think that was the least stoic Simmons has been about anything. Just because she didn't kiss him on the lips doesn't mean her feelings don't go all the way to that depth. (Why yes, I have been watching the Arrow season finale, why do you ask?)

Shipper glasses or no, I am completely on board with this take. It's very close to what I imagined in my own head. And it kind of shows just how little lying was done to get there. He was prepared to keep her out of the fight and out of harm's way; he allowed himself to risk her when she made it clear that she was more than willing to take the risk. She's one of only a few women that he would even allow to take that risk. And there's no reason to think that anything he said in the mansion was a lie. When I think about it, his action plays out less like "I'm saying I love you, but I'm showing you what I need you to do," and much more like, "I'm saying I love you, WHILE I'm showing you what I need you to do." As others said, Oliver is really not a good liar. He's much better at using the truth to his advantage.

That "I love you" took me completely by surprise -- I was surprised I was so delighted, even though I really think it's too soon. But when Oliver walked away I thought, "He just told her to stay put while he went to battle with a man intent on destroying him, then declared his love for her, but didn't kiss her goodbye? On a CW show??" I should have known. The scene on the island at the end felt like more Olicity bait, but like Oliver said, they "both" sold it -- and hey, I guess I'm buyin'. So this season's theme seemed to have been "trust issues," and based on where most of the characters where left off I'd say next season the theme is "daddy issues." Yippee. (CORRECTION: This season's theme was probably more accurately "to tell the truth," a game in which the only winner was Malcolm Merlyn.)

I kinda wonder if Slade did take Felicity, that maybe Oliver would go after her without even questioning what it was supposed to symbolize. I don't know that he would even realize that it meant she was "the one" that was close to his heart, or if he did, that he would be surprised by it. I'm just remembering how quickly Oliver put down Count Vertigo when Felicity's life was threatened, and then afterward was all, "Sorry, not sorry."

I'm getting a very ominous sense that this applies to the entire last three episodes of the season. I'm not even an [outright] Laurel hater, it's just that the story being told even in the back half of this season just doesn't match up to the story they started telling us with the most recent episode. In episodes prior to this, we got: -- Slade killing Moira as the result of confronting Oliver with a "choice" between her and Thea -- Ollie not telling Thea the truth, resulting in a damaged relationship and serious danger to Thea's life (and Roy's) -- Laurel doesn't know anything about who Ollie was (cheating, love-child fathering commitment-phobe) or is (the Arrow) unless the villain shows up to tell her, because Ollie is not interested at all in having Laurel in his inner circle -- Diggle and Felicity are part of (a growing) Team Arrow, and they do have a say and impact on the team -- Sara is an excellent crime-fighting partner for Oliver, and also the one he chooses to be with at the end of the day In this episode, we got: -- Slade killing Moira was inevitable to further his agenda with Blood as mayor -- Ollie still not telling Thea that he's the Arrow, even after it becomes painfully obvious that his lies are more dangerous to her than the truth -- Laurel knows Ollie "like she knows her own name" and is the ONLY one who can give him purpose in life -- Diggle and Felicity, after searching desperately for their fearless leader and unsuccesfully talking him out of committing suicide-by-Slade, are completely content to fade into the background so Laurel can be proven as a crucial and necessary element on Team Arrow -- Sara who? It's like I'm suddenly watching an AU version of the show, and unlike Agents of SHIELD where it went from "boring" to "everything is awesome!" this went from "could get better" to "this is not what I tuned in for." I wonder if there's any hope of dialing it back.

And it didn't seem very one-sided then either. I don't really see Olicity as a potential pairing as much as other people do, but even I thought he looked like he was seriously considering kissing her goodbye right before he walked away.

I don't think I wouls like that at all either, but based on the previews for next week, we're getting more Ward backstory, which no doubt is intended to help us "understand" him and possibly even root for him to come back from the dark side. But since I was desperately rooting for him to fully committed to the dark side for at least two episodes before we found out he already was, that's not really an option in my mind. Please let there be no good left in this Anakin Skywalker. (And with that I just realized that I've taken the Star Wars analogy way further than I ever intended. I swear I'm not that huge a fan.)

The idea of one of them being an infiltrator from another agency makes sense and seems likely, but I've gotten to the point with this show that I don't want anything to come between FitzSimmons. It doesn't matter permutation they take -- unrequited love on either side, totally happy shippy couple, BFFs against the world, evil BFFs against the world -- I don't even care, as long as don't quit being FitzSimmons. If that makes me a sap, so be it. Actually, I take that back (slightly). If Fitz dies, I will be able to deal, if only because (a) Simmons is my absolute favorite on this show, despite any potential underhandedness, and (b) I called it two episodes ago, so I will at least have seen it coming.

This is was the episode that cemented my love for Zoe. I loved her resolute storming into Niska's lair, and interrupting him to choose Wash immediate and without hesitation -- "I'm sorry; you're were gonna ask me to choose. You wanna finish?" (I know, she obviously was aware that Mal could survive the torture much longer than Wash could, but still.)

The new season of Longmire finally has an official start date: Monday, June 2. There also a description in the article about the continuing plots coming into this season: I'm interested in everything but the stalker plotline. I don't feel like that panned out all that well last season.

ITA -- and thanks for "Bland Canary," because that's absolutely going to be my new name for her until they put to rest this ridiculous notion of her having any superhero material other than her comic book name.

This is logical, has been clearly set up by the events broadcast on the show, and would move the characters forward in a way that is most organic to all involved. I'm pretty sure the producers want no part of it. I'm concerned that what we're getting instead instead is Thea blaming Oliver for Moira's death and pushing him away, and Oliver outing himself to Laurel so she can officially be the new Team Arrow supporter.

I love River (and Alex Kingston in general), but I adore Eleven/River for this very reason. I'm a fairly new Doctor Who fanatic, but I fell hard and fast for the Eleventh Doctor in general and Eleven/River in particular. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the next iteration, but River's last appearance was so beautiful that I almost don't want to see her again at the risk of diminishing those final scenes. (Almost. It is Alex Kingston.)