SonofaBiscuit

Hopes this season: Now that there's a baby in the mix, we need the obligatory moment where Felicity holds the baby and Oliver lovingly admires her from a distance as he imagines her someday holding their baby (or Felicity can admire Oliver as he holds the baby...whichever). We kind of had a moment like that in the hospital when baby Sara was born, but that moment was so sad and seemed more like it was about Oliver realizing that he could never have that life! There needs to be some sort of gala that requires Oliver to wear a tux (because suspenders! This is where I would insert the gif if I knew how to do that). I don't care, they can even make it some Ray Palmer event that Oliver just so happens to be invited to. Oliver can ask Felicity to dance and tell her how beautiful she looks. Sigh. Finally, Oliver and Felicity need to rip each other's clothes off this season. Make it happen, show!

I've always had the impression that the flashbacks are one of the least popular parts of the show. Does it seem that way to anyone else? So yeah, I agree that this is a stupid idea and has the potential to cost the show viewers right out of the gate. I'm not sure that I want to watch a show called Arrow that doesn't include The Arrow!

^Cool for them. Not cool for us.

Hmm. Yes, I quite like this part of your idea. There has been some speculation that maybe Laurel is actually going the villain route. But I have to wonder, what do they do with her then? KC doesn't have the charisma of John Barrowman or Manu Bennett, so I can't imagine her being a series-long bad guy. Does she go bad and then end up dead? Does she become a villain but then goes back to being a good guy? I mean, this gives Laurel something to do for a while, but where do we go from there?

Does anybody that follows SA on facebook have any opinions on his excitement level this season? Is he posting less Arrow stuff, is he less enthusiastic than normal? None of the above? I rarely check out his page, so I have no idea, but I'm curious.

At the very end of the New Zealand promo, there is a scene of Felicity with tears in her eyes, and she's wearing the blue dress and necklace. What do we think is going on there? Maybe Oliver stops by to see her and tells her that he wants to be with her, but she tells him that she's moving on with her life? She's been crying a lot this season, and I don't like it.

The washboard abs impress me. But on a purely superficial level, of course. Not so sure about all of the other shady behaviors that go with those abs... OMG. So funny!

Ooh. Shirtless Brandon Routh photos over in the other spoiler thread. I know Ray's a bit creepy, but I'm always up for the eye candy. Ray has his very own Sally, too. What the hell? He picks out Felicity's blue dress for her? Did that happen in 50 Shades??

Didn't that aftershow or one of the Guggenheim's interviews mention that if you like what you're seeing now, tune in because there's more of that in 3B? I remember thinking, "Fuck!" because I'm hating what I'm seeing now. I'd like the opposite of season 3A, please (minus 98% of The Calm, and the Felicity episode).

I remember that interview too, because I remember hoping that he was talking about Laurel. Sadly, I think that this has to end with Laurel as some sort of costumed hero. Otherwise, it doesn't solve their "what to do with Laurel Lance" problem. When the vigilante route doesn't work, does she just go back to being an ADA, but now her character has the added bonus of knowing the Arrow's true identity? I'm not sure that would solve their problem of making her relevant. Maybe Laurel will decide that she doesn't want to be Sara, so she takes off the Black Canary costume and adopts a new identity.

If this is where we're headed, I'm fairly certain that KC doesn't know yet. I wouldn't want to be the poor bastard that has to endure her wrath when she finds out (if this were to hypothetically happen, of course).

Kick Ass was exactly what I was thinking of when I was typing my post! I think that the writers are in a tough spot because if Laurel suits up and is too successful, people will be annoyed by how quickly she's progressed when Oliver had to endure five years of torture and hell. But if Laurel suits up and is a failure, that's not really going to win her any fans because she's basically doing that now, just without the costume. Sometimes I wonder if they are just stringing KC along letting her believe that she's becoming BC, but then they'll pull a surprise! reveal on her. Maybe the season ends with Laurel in peril and she just doesn't come back next season (like a Columbus Short Scandal situation). Or maybe KC thinks life is good and she is becoming BC, but little does she know, the story ends with Laurel realizing that she's not her sister, she's just plain old lawyer Laurel Lance. That would be so mean, but it sometimes happens. Well, these are the same guys that wasted all of that time on Sara when she just ended up dead, so they do seem to enjoy telling pointless stories.

I think that we're going to continue to see Laurel fail and be inadequate even after she puts on her BC costume. The EPs know that they can't just put a costume on her and tada! the power of the magical black leather activates. I'm pretty sure that they believe that this is Laurel being tested and enduring her own personal island, just like Oliver and Sara did. Problem is, I think that there's sort of this expectation that when you put the costume on, you're good to go. We've kind of seen that on this show with Oliver, Sara, and Roy training, becoming badass (less so with Roy), and then putting on the costume. With Laurel, they're doing it all backwards so I'm not sure if people will buy into it, or if they'll just be left shaking their heads.

Yeah, I think that Oliver will appear to be dead at the end of episode nine. 'Cause the only way Laurel is suiting up is over his dead body. People have speculated that maybe Laurel will be the one in charge giving orders if Oliver is missing or dead, but I wonder if Felicity will even bother sticking around if she thinks Oliver is dead. Maybe she and Diggle will bail and Laurel will be on her own (probably not because the plot dictates that Laurel will need support, so I imagine that Diggle and Felicity are stuck with her). I've seen people speculating that there will be a large time jump between episode nine and ten, and I've seen people here shoot that down since The Flash would have to do a time jump too. I don't know if the time jump will happen, but I will rage if we have to jump ahead six months or so to accommodate one character's "transformation."

Doesn't MG realize that hate is the kind of feedback that will eventually force you to turn off the TV? I don't get the delight that he has over enraging fans. I don't enjoy punishing myself by watching something that I hate...I'm just hanging in there to maybe gets some crumbs of the stuff that I like (but I'm watching in a way that won't help ratings because yes, I am that petty).

Well, I mean, she did try to shoot a gun with no bullets, so holding the stick incorrectly is consistent, I guess.

I find it interesting that MG is excited about the feedback, even if it's negative. SA certainly did not seem happy about the negative twitter feedback. I wonder how SA feels about the direction this season is going in. Maybe he loves it...who knows. I kind of knew that Laurel would be in costume after the mid-season break, but seeing that photo has really brought me down. Even though it probably won't happen, I'll just hold onto hope that they are fast-tracking this to get Laurel off the show at the end of the season (I really think that they're fast-tracking this because they have literally no idea what else they could possibly do with the character...but fingers crossed for removing Laurel from the show).

You could do what I've been doing. I've been watching episodes of shows that I want to catch up on in Arrow's Wednesday timeslot. I just finished My Mad Fat Diary series 2 and tonight I'm starting Orange is the New Black season 1. So much less stress and anger that way, I tell you. I was holding out hope that things would improve in the back half of season 3, but it doesn't look like. Even the Olicity stuff (if we ever get any, that is) probably won't be enough to keep me around. So disappointing.

So episode ten is confirmed then. Nice slow burn there, writers. That should be interesting since it sounds like the show will break for mid-season at nine and return in January with episode ten. But will the audience return as well??

Yeah, I though Laurel would suit up around episode eleven, but maybe it is tonight since Guggenheim interviews have been pouring out all morning. To avoid getting my post deleted, I'll just say that I don't know what these guys are thinking. They're super stubborn, that's for sure. I hope that the audience response is not kind and that the ratings reflect how people truly feel about this storyline.

See, I'm worried that if people just stop talking, the EPs will assume it's because we've accepted this problem character. "They're not talking about her anymore...our grand plan has worked." What they don't know is that they won't force me into submission, I'll eventually just give up and tune out.

Guggenheim has this unique ability to totally crush any remaining excitement that I have for future episodes. Maybe he really is responsible for the crap-fest that this show has become because I basically haven't enjoyed Arrow since Barry Allen left, and I think that's approximately when Kreisberg and Berlanti checked out for The Flash. Since Felicity has the same outfit on in all of the photos and scenes that have been released, I would not be surprised if she has minimal screen time in this episode. Poor Diggle. Where is he?!

Gosh, I hope not. I hate those kind of episodes more than anything :) It's basically a waste of an hour because nothing that is happening is actually real or will have any effect on the story whatsoever. So yes, this is probably exactly what they are doing.

Kreisberg and Berlanti, please come back and save us from this disaster!

From the Access Hollywood Interview: I have to laugh at the fact that they think KC's journey is a "slow burn" because I think it is all happening way too fast. Also laughing at his response to the reaction to Laurel this season. "Split and divided" is putting it mildly, I think. Just my opinion of course. Also from the interview: I hear this one a lot as an excuse for Laurel and why people don't like her. I mean, isn't that a fucking problem that you've created a character but have no purpose for her? When you are having to bend over backwards to insert someone into the story, maybe you should just cut your damn losses?