Ariah

I always liked Leslie in the comics and I like what I'm seeing in the series so far. She probably won't be working at Arkham now, but maybe she'll start a clinic in the Crime Alley? ;)

I wonder if they are testing the waters by bringing in Leslie (and trying to pull a Felicity). The chemistry between Gordon and Barbara is non-existent (my opinion) and her character is becoming useless with every passing minute. What is more, she is being written as a bad character... Before the show even started, there was a casting call for Barbara - and it listed her as... a doctor. (Jim’s fiancé, Barbara Kean, who is a “sophisticated emergency room doctor.”) -> http://screenrant.com/gotham-tv-series-cast-penguin-alfred-barbara-gordon/ Maybe that titbit is wrong, but maybe they've decided to drop the doctor storyline for Barbara and use a character that was a doctor in Batman-verse, meaning Leslie. Hey, I always liked Leslie! Plus, Morena is a goddess. If I was concerned, Leslie could just stand and do nothing and still be better than Barbara.

A., I don't believe Guggenheim when he says something is either a 9 or one of the best up to date. Just no. Besides, insisting your show can be "the best" without your lead is shooting yourself in a foot while running from a Tiger. Not the brightest idea. B., I'm afraid they will make this Felicity + Laurel scene so that we the audience will be forced to like Laurel. Felicity has been used to prop various people before. Sometimes it worked (Barry, Cisco, Caitlin), sometimes it didn't (Palmer). Guess which instance this will be? I'm also afraid the scene will involve Laurel being the one more experienced with grief, since she has lost her "Ollie" before and we'll be treated to texts like "I know how you feel" / "I couldn't sleep for weeks when Gambit went down" / "I could see him in other men on the street".

Like - for example - http://aldis-hodge.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Aldis-Promo.jpg ?

It was the best episode to date for me. Maybe it was the return of Flynn, maybe the lesser role of Ezekiel? Maybe the fact that Eve actually worked this time for me? Maybe the addition of the Library Lore and the Conclave (though shouldn't a conclave theoretically be under lock and key? And Dulac just walked right into it.) What is more, call me hopeless, call me romantic, but even though I refuse to see sparks between Flynn and Eve, I'm all for Cassie and Jake. Plus, I actually liked an evil Cassandra - maybe not the "killing people" part, but how she put Math to action. Math can be dangerous! Lamia's shock was lovely! Both shocks actually ;) ("What's with this day?!") I'd also like to know more about the entities present on the Conclave: we had Eastern Dragons, Djinn, Fae, Cúchulainn (but who was he representing?)... The tall lady with consonants (?) and a bunch of more, who were not introduced. I'm now very curious. Naturally, the show is a sort of guilty pleasure for me, Sunday Fun and all that. But it's good fun, with only some hints of seriousness in the background. It has potential to be more, even with rather clunky production values.

Just a random thought/theory on the bugging Guggenheim's tweet "I don't want to be a woman you love" (yup, I know, it's old!) Since we're also, per some other tweet, about to learn when is Felicity's birthday etc., How about: It's Felicity, over a lighted birthday candle, in the Foundry, making a birthday wish while looking at Oliver's costume -> up till this day, she has had this quiet dream/wish to be the woman Oliver actually loves, but once it happened, everything went to hell. So now, her birthday wish would go along like this: "I don't want to be a woman you love. I want you to be alive and come back" There, a sappy story.

OK, this is not a fan video per se - but it sure does look like that now, after 3 years. I didn't know where to put it, so I'm sorry Dear Mods, if it's in a wrong place... But it's a real blast from the past, just before Xmas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ihPCa2uKE an old promo by CW, constructed around Oliver, Laurel and Tommy. It looks quite... funny now, if you ask me. (btw, how can one embed videos in these posts?...)

There are so many ways the Team Arrow could doubt Merlyn's word that I'm inclined to believe that the whole 3.10 will be devoted to them trying to prove Merlyn wrong - only to have a third party barge in with hard evidence. If I were a writer I'd construct this episode putting an equality mark between the Team Arrow's attitute and the audience - not trusting Malcolm, believing that Oliver is alive. In the course of the episode, more and more evidence would point to the fact that Oliver is dead for real. And by the end of the episode, Team Arrow will accept this fact, albeit with grief. But the audience would be treated to a scene of barely alive Oliver, slowly getting better - because ending the episode with the audience convinced the main character is dead would result in a major drop of ratings (I, for one, would not tune in for the next episode, even though i love Felicity and Diggle). - - - Now for another thing... Don't you think it would be hilarious, having Slade back before it is disclosed that Oliver is alive? Imagine: Slade is back, bent on fulfilling his promise... and then he learns from Felicity that Oliver Queen is dead. Too late. Would Slade turn against the person responsible for Oliver's demise? ("You've killed my friend, whom I was supposed to kill. Now you will suffer.")

My thoughts exactly. But I think we'll not see the rescuer, but the show cultivate the mystery - and share some clues each episode ;)

Well, they can go the route of Malcolm being the first to bring the news, the Team does not believe that due to Malcolm not being the most trustworthy person around, but at the end of the episode something happens that convinces the team Oliver is trully dead. It may be Nyssa arriving in the Foundry (unaware that Malcolm already did the deed), it may be ARGUS confirming the kill on satelite feed, it may be a cofin with Oliver's body inside... And then, the closing shot of the episode will show Oliver still alive, being nursed back to health... by someone mysterious. This would give us: a) team Arrow not fully guilable b) a moment of disbelief that they really killed Oliver Queen (for real!) c) relief that he's alive and will come back eventually, so that people will not turn away from the tv immediatelly. d) mystery for 3B prime, as to who is nursing Oliver back...

I was thinking it's going to be Malcolm bringing in the news: Barrowman said he was on the mountain, so he did collect the sword and present it to the Team Arrow-less. Actually, I was even about to write a short fiction about it... But now probably everyone will do it. As for Malcolm's credibility and "casual relationship with the truth" - perhaps he did another one of his home videos? ("Here's the zoom on the wound, you can see it isn't pretty...") So, there are two options now I can see: 1. Either Malcolm trully believes Oliver's dead and it's someone else who saves the Arrow and nurses him back to health... 2. Or Malcolm stashes Oliver somewhere, pumps him full of brainwashing herbs, calls him "Tommy" and goes on with his version of a happy family. Actually, now that I've said it, I kind of think it's the route those writers can take...

Ok, but a Lance family scene in the current setup would mean only Quentin and Laurel, right? Dinah is probably not around, and Sara is most definitelly not around. Unless we're having a flashback.

All this discussion made me wonder when I started to ship Felcity and Oliver. I remember at first I went with Laurel (the beginning of S1), because I remembered KC from Supernatural and liked her there. Also, the show was touching all the romance tropes from the book with them - on the surface. However, I think the moment I saw Felicity and heard her bubbling (and saw Oliver's genuine reaction to her) I realized that would be cool if they got together. But Felicity was just like us, regular girls: she had a crush on the hero, she wanted to be close to him, but she knew she's not really a part of his story. His story was with someone else ("Gorgeous Laurel", "Leggy model type"). And it was - sort of - fine. Untill it wasn't. Untill we felt along with Felicity how weird and disjointed Oliver acted when he got together with Sara. (Still, we knew it was not our story. We were never the girl in the story). And then, the unthinkable happened: the hero confessed his love. Which was a ruse. But it wasn't. And the girl that was not in the story, became the story. Because she was worth it. She was worth being not only a part, but a center of the hero's life. And the tiny sparks of affection, the tiny glimmers of hope that I as the person watching saw between Oliver and Felicity (but deemed them to be just in my mind, not the mind of the producers, because - canon) burst into a full-fledged flame. Thus, a part of me adores Olicity because it shows that a regular girl, a girl who is not a skilled fighter, a girl who babbles and can be awkward, a girl who did not originate in the canon - can become the heart of the story. And if she can, we all can.

But CW did manage to write an adult relationship in Nikita. At least that's how i remember Michael and Nikita - sorry, spoilers: That relationship (and the Flash episode) proves to me that CW is capable of showing us a mature relationship that does not need to be boring. And doesn't involve two people being glued by the hip together to show they are a couple. These are not teenagers, they do not need to hold hands in eachother's backpockets to show they're in loooove ;)

Wayne Tech exists. It was seen on The Flash. So maybe Batman is not yet Batman in 2014?

I kind of hope Felicity will be wearing black with red accents for several episodes. As I'm currently rewatching season 1 and 2, I kind of think Oliver began thinking of Felicity as someone more than a friends in 2x07, with the "He had you, there was no choice to make" line. But it was not too conscious, by then, rather an instinct and fear of losing a very dear person. The moment it hit him hard was, for me, when she hugged him in I believe 2x22, saying "And I believe in you" (the light symbolism was present in the scene). Felicity, on the other hand, is much harder for me to define - she had a mighty crush on Oliver Queen in her first scene, she appreciated the Arrow's heroism in 1x23. But the very moment she realised she loves him? I kind of like to think it was the scene in 2x08 when she finds him almost dead AND the 2x09 scene of "Promise me" and the subsequent hug on return. Yes, I am obsessed.

Does it sound cruel if I hope his protective instinct coupled with ruthlessness will result in him deliberately breaking both of her legs to keep her of the streets? (He did shot Roy to protect him, right? It's not below Oliver's morality code) It does. OK, sorry about that. (But I kind of think that BC's amateur hour will end up with either Aresnal or Diggle hurt, because they'd have to protect her instead of focusing on the real danger. That's when BC will learn that costume is not everything... )

I'm not reading the fact that Oliver may come back sans part of his persona as erasing the three (ok, 2,5) years of personal development. The real Oliver Queen would still be there, but burried. If done right, this could actually be a decent plot (ok, now I have written myself into a corner, with the words "if done right"). It's true: I watch Arrow for Oliver. I love the guy, even when he's being an emotionally handicapped jerk. Episodes without him will be difficult to watch and I'm certain I'll fast forwards some bits and probably never rewatch them. But it's now virtually impossoble for Oliver to come back unchanged. If he seems unchanged it means something is terribly wrong and will be revealed in the final arch for drama purposes. Funny thing, because in the comics . Frankly, I'm kind of looking forward this changed Oliver in 3B, but I don't want him too dark too long. I need a story in which love brings him out of this darkness - and I don't mean only romantic love, but also the love of family and friends.

It's also the fault of the director - a quick cut to Laurel's face frozen in stupor would highlight the fact she's shocked at Oliver's news. But having her just stand there in the background like a manequin in the closet... Really, it's only half the actress' fault!

I'm hoping the quote, if it's from Felicity, is taken from her "epic" breakdown scene, in which she's talking to Oliver's quiver / bow / costume, alone in the Foundry. There was a tiny quote from EBR, where she said that she cannot imagine Felicity not talking to Oliver anymore - now granted, it's logical it was about the period after the date and the breakup, but perhaps - just perhaps - the writers will give us a heart-clenching scene of Felicity mourning and talking to Oliver's belongings: "I don't want to be a woman you love if it means you're not coming back. Please, let things be the way they used to be, I don't need anything else, just be here. Just be alive."

So maybe we're misinterpreting the whole "spoiler" thing and the fact that Oliver was wearing his suit is in fact the actual spoiler? ;) Naturally, Canadagraph also writes 'Colton Haynes' when it's apparent this is the stuntdouble, but...

What if the spoilery element of that costume on Oliver in the scene with Arsenal was a blood stain on the chest? It wouldn't have been visible on the dim photos... If he's a halucination, Roy could witness Oliver suddenly dying (and abandoning him - again). Arsenal could chase a real criminal, at the same time seeing Oliver running at his side - but then Oliver just colapses and dies => cue the blood stain.

Wow, Barrowman looks like Tom Cruise, but with more charm! Colton is so damn cute... Stephen's hair makes me laugh (also - why so serious?) David puts Denzel to shame.

Roy's greatest fear can be being abandoned by Oliver - and reliving that again and again. I was thinking Oliver and Sara were both halucinations in the photos we've seen. On the other hand: I'm starting to get really annoyed by Guggenheim's twitts ;) His "Who says Oliver's coming back?" makes me quite furious - not because I have doubts that Oliver will be back, but because promoting your show by stating the core element of the show may not be present after the hiatus is a marketing failure. They should be asking not the "IS Oliver coming back at all?" but rather "HOW is Oliver coming back?". That would be both intrigung and interesting, now it's just eye-rolling. Unless Guggenheim's comment is metaphorical and it's about the fact that Oliver Queen is not coming back, but the Arrow is.

Malcolm Merlyn, the king of home videos. "This is me, getting my first kill at the League of Assasins!" "And this is me, shooting Oliver in the back just before Christmas, good times!" "This is me, gloating with Ollie in chains. Good profile." "This is me, dying. That was hillarious." "This is Moira and me... Wait, that happened 18 years ago..."