Ariah

Just for the sake of the visual - I'd actually like to see But let's face it, Malcolm would mutilate Laurel in less then 10 seconds, tops.

My recent season 1 marathon with Arrow brought me to a surprising conclusion: Laurel used to be much more likable. She used to have this notion of changing the world for good and conviction to do that. Then - something went wrong. (Mind you, the "wrong" is not part of the plot, it's not the crucible. It just happened in between season 1 and 2, when Laurel's status changed from a love interest to an ex-girlfriend.) I will never deny that Laurel Lance had a hard time. In her own right, she has suffered a lot. It's that in comparison to what we, the audience, have seen with other characters - even Helena B., - her suffering is mild at most. She kind of reminds me of a colleague of mine, who is very self-centered. She is a nice person and can be a good friend. But whenever something happend in her life that derails her plans, it's a godamned tragedy. Every fail is epic: if she misses the bus, the world ends -> according to her own story. And you're sitting there, listening to her moaning how her life is miserable because of the bus thinking that your dad has just been given his third blood transfusion and you don't know if you'll have a chance to spend Christmas together - but you know better than to talk to people about it all the time. What I'm saying is that Laurel is the victim of her own mundanity. She's ordinary and her problems - up till Sara's death - were kind of ordinary. In the world of superheroes, larger-than-life characters, she comes across as a winy crybaby whatever she does. The fact that I remember Black Canary from "The Longbow Hunters" as a different, stronger woman, does not help Laurel. At this time, I have a feeling that however heroic the writers will make her, it will only enrage the anti-fans, not win them over. Just like with Neal in Once Upon a Time So Laurel can now start acting like a true Black Canary, be heroic, save the city or just a few people for good measure - but the discrepancy between her backstory and the backstories of other heroes on the show is to vast. The recent scene in the SPOILERS only thread just added to the feeling. I know it was probably supposed to be a heroic act but... it just doesn't fit.

Someone pretending would be my guess. A tweet posted in the SPOILERS thread regarding something spoilery in Oliver's costume in 3x13 (no pic of the costume, just a comment) -> can he be wearing LoA's black? Is my theory of brainwashed Oliver as the Black Arrow coming true?... (Hey, I'm not fond of the theory, but...) EDIT: ok, so the recent photos apparently show Oliver in green costume with nothing out of the ordinary. Good.

The Hong-Kong flashbacks may work if we have someone in the present wondering what would Oliver do - and then showing a similar situation in the past, with Oliver dealing with it (but since it's Hong-Kong, he'll probably be sloppy about it, which will paralel well with BC being sloppy...) btw, the scene with Peter Stormage and the punch looks kind of... I don't know... funny? It would have looked funny with any actress, the running, the punch and the continued dash. I'm hoping for good editing and camera work on that one. Another thought I had : what if Oliver fight Ra'S for the leadership of the LoA? Being the head of the League would be the best way to actually control it in some way. Naturally, it's just a wild guess.

They do have Team Arrow, the Arrow Cave, but they don't have the Arrowmobile. They do have the Arrow-bike, though.

Isn't it ironic how each time Oliver went into "suicide" mission with no hope of returning - he did come back. And now, when he goes knowing he wants to be back, knowing he has something to come back to... He won't. The New Zeland promo shows the LoA having a friendly pre-ultimatum chat with Oliver (and by friendly I mean "let him kneel when we talk"). I wonder if it takes place in Nandu Parbat, because the loA must have really fast jets available... Just saying. Or Nandu is actually in the Rockies, not in Tibet.

Exactly. In late season one we still had Laurel as love interest and a semi-tearfull goodbye to her before the big fight. Now we are having the same, but different. I don't mind. I have a soft spot for men willing to sacrifice their lives in order to save others. And if the man in question does it shirtless and is an Amell... Well. Am i the only one who, looking at the climbing Oliver, wants to shout "wear gloves!" ?

Oh, one more little thing I loved: Cisco making eyes at Thea and Roy/Felicity explaining to him why she's off limits. Cute.

In the extended promo, at 0:31, we can see big windows being broken from the outside in what looks like Thea's new apartment. Could it be the LoA coming in for Xmas dinner?

Loved it! Some bits I liked the most: - "Speedy" misunderstanding -> Roy? No, Barry. (But I thought of Thea first) - Keeping the hood. I just hope Oliver's new suit does not get torn in the next episode... - Thea's first cameo. That DJ needs to have his nose broken by Roy. Or Oliver. Or Thea herself. - Felicity using the exploding arrow to ward off Boomerang. Smooth and cool under extreme circumstances. - Cisco trying the Salmon Ladder. He did pull up higher than I would. - Oliver growing up and settling into his less-brooding self. But still not refraining from shoting that final arrow into Boomerang's hand. Dear writers, the numbers came back and the crossover was a hit. Keep in mind that was also because the writing and characters felt good, not only because you've mixed the teams and had the boys fight it out. The characters in these two episode felt more rounded and real (maybe it's because you've sidelined the characters that work less? Maybe.) Learn from this. Use this strength. Write the rest of the 3B season this way. You have repleted the credit I gave you, do not mess this up!

Maseo's kid is probably dead, though. Maybe Sara killed him accidentaly? Anyhow, Ra'S got a bit of a beer belly. Or he ate a lot of Big Belly Burger. The outcome of the duel may be the cliffhanger of the episode. And is Oliver tied up in the indoor scenes with Ra'S, or is he just holding his hands behind his back?

I think "guys like us don't get the girl" means simply -> "guys like us don't get to have a normal life, don't get to be simply happy. People around us get hurt. We can involuntarily hurt the people we love." (also: Barry, it's creepy, she's practically your half-sister. Do you see me hitting on Thea? No. She kind of acted that way around me in season 1, but you weren't around the CW then) Still is was nice to see Oliver smiling. And acting normal around Felicity. I guess he kinds of basks in her presence and doesn't sulk anymore around her. Which is good, right? Let's see if it stays in Starling City and is not limited to Central City.

Actually, I think he does. But it was never stated. I liked the episode - the cheerfulness of Flash bled into Arrowverse and even Oliver Queen smiled. Actually, it was kind of weird seeing Oliver having coffee with Felicity (I guess he's just taking whatever minute he can have with her - platonically). Barry's frustration with Oliver grew before the fatefull meeting with the meta-villain. There was this incident with shooting the policeman, there was Iris' fascination (and the list - Barry keeps thinking about her as his girl, so now he knows 'his girl' is willing to cheat with Oliver...). The arrow in the back just drew the point home. The fight itself was fun to watch and my money was on Oliver - Barry needs to understand there's more to crime-fighting than luck and speed. Also loved Felicity's reaction to Barry dissing Iris. I guess Felicity thinks Iris is having the same feeling for her superhero as ms Smoak does for hers. Wells probably checked more info on Oliver from his Files on the Future and came out fully equipped. I still wonder if his talk about Oliver's father was actually about the father... Or did the future Wells talk with Oliver himself in 10 years time.

I'm with Oliver on that one: Barry needs to learn. If last Flash episode tought us something, it was that Barry relies too much on his speed (who'd blame him?) and less on outhinking his enemies. That's a skill you need regardless of whether you're a meta-human or not. It's also pretty obvious in the clip that Barry in "under the influence". He went after the meta/villain alone, got infected (probably nobody knows about that yet) and is now acting out. The final act of the episode will probably feature an apology from Barry and some sort of "You were sort of correct, Barry" from Oliver. Also, the wording that Felicity/Wells scene will be 'tense' - is it a past tense or a future tense tense? ;)

But whenever he unwinds, something bad happens. When he sleeps with McKenna, she is hurt. When he sleeps with Laurel, Tommy dies. When he mends fences with Moira and gets her appreciation for being a hero - she dies. When he opens up to Felicity - their date goes up in flames... It's almost a pattern and after a while a guy may think he doesn't get to be happy.

There's been talk how the men of Spartacus are coming over to Arrow and I thought - hey, wouldn't it be great to have more of them? (and not only men...) Like: Dustin Clare (Gannicus) -> great Aquaman in my books. Frankly, great anything in my books, just as long as he's not a villain. Ellen Hollman (Saxa) -> Laurel Lance after plastic surgery. Anna Hutchison (Laeta) -> Barbara Gordon / Oracle

Actually, I'm dreading what Oliver staying over with the LoA will mean. We'll probably not be getting any scenes in the BC Trilogy, but later on we may get some hints as to what was happening with/to Oliver during that time. I don't think the writers will pass on such a chance to torment him more. (I'm thinking of some brainwashing going on, but I really have no idea what the LoA does to its "Guests"). Still, I'd rather watch three episodes of tormented Oliver than BC Trilogy.

So Laurel is the Regina (OUAT) of Arrow?... Woe is me Canary? Will we be watching her struggling with the terrible secret over Christmas Dinner and opening presents (one box would be for Sara, naturally)? If Oliver leaves for LoA without saying goodbye, she's going to be really bitter about it.

Well, there were these photos on twitter with Ray lightly injured and some "bad guys" with Uzis laying around as he was fixing his jacket (as if after a fight).

Wow, it's here! ...and what kind of light-sword was that?!

So it seems like Wells is the only one from Flash Team that is in the dark about Oliver? Both Cisco and Catlin know. Also, I guess the exchange refering to the fact that Barry has superpowers and Oliver just a bow and arrow takes place after Barry is affected by a 'metahuman' that changes his personality (Felicity looks mega-worried). And Oliver goes off to "calm down" Barry - which prompts both teams to speculate wheather a regular human can actually fight the Flash and win. I also believe the fight will end in a draw (or that Oliver will manage to knock Barry down and maybe inject him with a tranqualizer). Barry is too cocky about his powers after the personality change.

Could the whole "knows where he is; knows where he is not" mean that Felicity is not looking for Oliver because he is NOT WITH HER? Maybe she will give him a choice and he will choose to leave instead of staying with her. So she will not look for him. I know it's rather OOC, but who knows with these writers. (Guggenheim twitted the scene is also "surprising" and Felicity being all "Stay with me, be with me, live, don't go, love me, i love you" would be surprising at this point of the narrative) But my romantic side still wants to see a scene like this: Oliver wants to leave without seeing Felicity, because he knows it can be too painfull for him. But she finds him in the Foundry. She wants to talk him down. He won't listen, won't even look at her (again: too painfull). She forces him to. If he won't stay, she wants to go with him. She will not let him do this alone. He won't let her go with him. They both blurt out truths about their feelings. They kiss. And just as they break apart, Felicity touches her neck: Oliver used the kiss to distract and tranqualize her, so that he can leave. He places her in the bed she bought for him, leaves something of value on the pillow (an arrow? a necklace like the one for Digglette?) and he's gone. Felicity wakes up, angry, shocked. She picks up the com, but there's only static... Ok, sorry for the rambling :)

I hope that before the hiatus of doom we will get a nice teaser for the second part of the season... with more characters shown than just Laurel being BC. I also hope to see at least two scenes with Oliver actually living at Thea's. You know, breakfasts, dinners? Meeting the sleazy DJ in the doorway and manhandling him out?...

I'm watching the gifs from the event and both EBR and SA are so adobrable! But at the same time I'm thinking that one has to really be careful what one does at such galas, because your every gesture, every look will be gif-ed and analysed. I kind of feel bad for SA's wife. A guy can take an innocent look towards EBR's fine legs and the Tumblr goes wild.

The problem for me is not that those 3 episodes are all about her, but that they are also sans Oliver. Or sans present time Oliver. Good that Mentalist is back since 30 November, i'll have something to comfort me.