statsgirl

Yes, that whole Robert Doughtey rant is gold. Another way of comparing the reviews is Who is writing them? How much credibility do they have in terms of general criticism or are they fan sites? It seems to me that the positive reviews come from more obscure sites that deal with comic books and genre things. A couple of reviews linked here since the last episodes are guest reviewers, Laure fans who asked if they could contribute to the site. The mainline TV critics -- Mo Ryan, Alan Sepinwall, Matt Roush (TV Guide), Robert Doughtery (TMN), Vulture, aren't happy with the way things are going this season and especially the way they are going with Laurel. And then there's John Campea, big enough fan to run the ArrowAfterShow who has now quit over her.

The problem is that making her stumble at the beginning of the episode and super competent 40 minutes later is not good character development. I love Robert Doughtery's reviews of Arrow. In this case, he's saying exactly what I'm worried about.

Stargate: SG-1 8x04 Zero Hour (I had to look it up)

That's a much better interview than most. Good for the interviewer. (Who knew he used to work in insurance?) He was asked which he preferred, action or drama scenes and he answered that he doesn't prefer one over the other "but the drama is more important, and not just the drama but the character moments." He once asked David Nutter the director of the pilot episode which scene he like the best, thinking it was going to be one of the action scenes. Wow. In a nutshell what they're doing wrong with Laurel and even Ray this season.

How was Toby Stephens? Does the son of Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens have his parents' acting chops?

Unless they write Felicity completely out of character for Laurel and Raylicity, the only reason I could see for her being mad at Oliver is if he agrees to let Malcolm join them so he can protect him. If Malcolm went to Nanda Parbat after Rebeca's death (look, a link from the episode with Brick!) when Tommy was 8, that would explain the young Nyssa casting. In the comic preview, it looks like Malcolm is genuinely worried for Thea's safety. Which would be sweet if, you know, he hadn't brainwashed her into killing Sara. When she finds out, she'll never be the same again. If it were Malcolm himself he wouldn't care but he should be smart enough to know that Thea would. And preparing for the approval. I could like Ray if only they weren't pushing Raylicity because it's already tainted. I could like Laurel as the lawyer she was at the start of The Calm and Left Behind. Why do they keep screwing it up? Not the sweetest moment but MG did say it was the closest they had been for a while. Which is true since at the end of Unthinkable Oliver was telling Slade to do what he wanted with Laurel, he was done playing the game. Nope, not happening. That would take a great suspension of disbelief than mirakuru, Oliver coming back from the dead and Ray actually shrinking. I could see her being kind (maybe) but never humble.

I want to know what those herbs are, and why QC/PI isn't getting a patent on manufacturing them . This show is trying to gaslight because I'm convinced Laurel would be more useful in the DA's office where when "the police have plenty of evidence", she could be someone competent enough to put the crooks behind bars than out in the street with her big stick.

Was that Audrey Marie Anderson (Lyla) in tonight's Castle episode, I Witness?

Ive seen that one before. Oliver appearing suddenly and saving the Glades does not compute with Diggle asking him if he can live with the new world order. I wonder why there is not even a brief shot of Oliver and Felicity if Olicity is that important.

Sloppiness. Christie Laing played Diggle's love interest in s1. Let's just look up the old files instead of actually doing some work. I guess it would have been seven at that point. That's a fair bit of time in TV land. I can buy it. There's a saying that when a man remarries quickly, it's because his first marriage was good. When a woman remarries quickly, it's because hers wasn't.

They're doing it in one episode. A hero's journey should be.. well, a journey, not A Day In The Life. Brandon Routh On Ray's Feelings For Felicity, How Oliver's 'The Man!'

I think both his crazy eyes and power suit are a better fit on The Flash.

He's super-competitive, he has to win even if there's no game. When he does, then he's easy-going.

I think those reviews support that the EPs were right to move the emphasis away from Laurel and on to Felicity. She even cries better. I'm bitter what they've done to Felicity and Diggle to make Laurel become BC. But it's worked for them to some extent, there are a lot of people excited for Laurel's BC, and many accepting of it in the sense of 'if we have to have it, at least it's not too bad'. I hope this emphasis on doesn't continue because I still have no interest in the Green Arrow/Black Canary show, and I'm really afraid that's what it's going to be from now on. With only one episode in the trilogy done, I've reached my Laurel quota.

That's kind of hilarious. It's like someone wrote a script and they got a computer to read it. I felt sorry for Routh. He knows the complaints about Ray and he's trying to get beyond them.

I can't figure out if the writers hate Laurel or just love her so much that everything she does is golden. When she does something, it's because she's got a good reason. Even when it's stupid, it's because she's trying and she's got a big heart. Her hair was down in the first couple of episode in season 2 and then EBR fought for "the Felicity look" of glasses and ponytail. This season, her hair has been down a lot around Ray and her clothes are somewhat different. I think EBR deserves credit for keeping the various versions of Felicity consistent.

Episode 15 if The Offer. The radical turn? Oliver joins up with Ra's, unless it's with Malcolm because they're on Lian Yu in ep 14. If Oliver is on Lian Yu the whole time, the Felicity scene will probably be a flashback and will be something they want the fans to get really excited over but will be brief enough that Oliver won't remember it three years later when he goes to Felicity with his laptop. It won't be Goth Felicity though because she would already have graduated and been blonde button-down Felicity. I like the idea of her interacting with Maseo but I'm not sure that would break the internet. On the other hand, if Oliver isn't on Lian Yu the whole time, it could be a scene he has with Felicity either before he goes or after he gets back. AK is often just as bad as Guggenheim. He's the one who keeps pushing Raylicity and how the second part of the season will be Felicity trying to decide between two men. I think the genius of this show has been find lightning in a bottle and grab it and hold on. SA's casting, Diggle's humor, Felicity, Manu Bennett's casting, CL's Sara (until they dropped her for Laurel). It feels like the biggest problem of this season is that they dropped that and they've been writing to Laurel's and Ray's plots rather than what works organically on the show. I think they're sticking to Olicity. But Olicity in season 7 or 8, which is why we get this wretched stuff now. But if he's writing to get a fan reaction, whether it's the love for Laurel Canary now or to beak the internet (and piss off Olicity fans), that's still writing to the fans. It's not writing what they ask for just because they ask for it (which would be wrong) but it's like an 8 year old trying to think of what would piss off his parents to get the reaction he's looking for.. He also thinks that people want angst and star-crossed lovers in their TV relationships. He's still stuck on the Moonlighting Curse. Or maybe he was infected by Romeo and Juliet in middle school. The promotion for 311 was Laurel becoming the Black Canary at last. I thought the premise for Buffy and Angel in terms of star-crossed lovers (if Angel were to ever sleep with her and be truly happy, he would lose his soul and return to Angelus) was truly brilliant for stalling the ship. But even that only lasted for 3 years.

Felicity's hair is often out of its ponytail when she's around Ray. Oliver-hair is a ponytail, Ray-hair is down and flowing. I think they started it in ep 3x02 when she went to accept the job at QC. But I think when Diggle went to talk to her about Oliver in 3x07, it was in a ponytail.

I don't think these have been posted here yet. Lord Mesa strikes again: https://twitter.com/lordmesa/status/558433730813902848/photo/1 https://twitter.com/lordmesa/status/558426170320883714/photo/1 https://twitter.com/lordmesa/status/558376371999608834/photo/1 https://twitter.com/lordmesa/status/558345243976667136/photo/1 https://twitter.com/lordmesa/status/560932177357971456/photo/1 https://twitter.com/lordmesa/status/560959572345495552/photo/1

Poor Felicity. First grief for Oliver, now all that guilt over Quentin....

I just watched the Asia promo again. After Laurel and Roy do the "You have failed this city" line, they run at the other side like a giant game of Red Rover or a football scrum, and then Brick's men rush at them, and meanwhile Brick is standing at the back, safe and in control. It's hilarious.

Brava! Well done! I could live with it if it had happened that way. Well, maybe.

More and more, I feel the problem with this season is that it's gone from good storytelling and characterization to Comics! Yay! and Felicity has been caught up in that, used to prop the new comic book characters on the show, Ray/Atom and Black Canary It's easy to write her babbling and funny, it takes more effort to give her a real characterization and growth arc. Apparently we're supposed to think she's falling for Ray Palmer because he's The Atom, rather than get squicked out at his boundary issues.

Felicity is kind of ditzy too, especially in the early episodes with her rambling. And Donna, once you got beyond the ditziness, showed a core of emotional intelligence about how people function. I imagine it's helped her to survive as a single mother in Las Vegas. From the Examiner review of 3x11:

Yes. I can see why Laurel is doing it if she thinks it will kill Quentin, but everyone else enabling her is ridiculously stupid on their parts. There's no way he's not going to find out eventually. Conventional wisdom is that Laurel is handling Oliver's death very well. I disagree -- her failure still to come clean to Quentin shows she's still in shock over Sara's death, and putting the suit on and going out to fight with Oliver gone is more massive denial than handling it well. I wish the show would address this. It would make Laurel a more sympathetic character than beating up people.