statsgirl

I'm impressed with all the theories here. Well done, everyone. Unfortunately I'm so bummed out about all the Laurel from 309 to 313, I just can't get excited about Arrow. I'm trying to tell myself that I got through the 5 month hiatus in the summer, I can get through 2 months till hopefully Laurel's arc is over.

Ha, ha, ha, ha .... sorry. In real life, DNA and other forensic evidence is not as clear-cut as it is on TV (and the psychobabble on Criminal Minds not as flowing, excuse me, that's a particular aggravation for me). Maybe a hair might be left behind, although it would have to get wrapped up in the feather of the arrow and as far as I can recall, everyone either wears a hood or a wig. But some skin or saliva -- how would they know it's the killer's? And how would they be able to do a DNA match? Oliver's not going to find something and say "here, test it against my DNA" and most people don't have their DNA on file. Maybe at a stretch Thea does because the Queens were worried about her being kidnapped as a child (do people do that?) but Nyssa's or Sin's won't be. Most likely if they find anything, it will be Laurel's since she dragged Sara to the Arrow cave.

It seems that everyone is using gloves with fingers .... except Laurel's new costume.

Well, Stephen Amell did say that at the end of the season, there would be so many superheros on Arrow that Oliver could take it easy... . And then as they're trying to tell him, Oliver goes missing. Cue the angst.

I think Laurel gets to be the Black Canary right away because Sara was the Canary, although MG referred to her a number of times as the Black Canary. Although really none of it makes much sense since while Yao Fei and Shado wore the hood first, Billy Wintergreen wore the two colored mask and was called Deathstroke. The whole Canary story has been such a mess since they decided that Sara wouldn't do as an endpoint. Either they never should have brought in an actress who could play a good Black Canary and give her an organic origin story, or they should have left her in position. I'm bitter because this show is wasting my time trying to figure out the Canary storyline, like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. The harder they try, the less sense it makes.

Especially if she kept using it on a regular basis -- it would just look so odd against everyone else having reality-based abilities. Really, there's no need to draw even more attention to how inorganic Laurel as BC is. I can see Sin as the Black Canary before I can see Laurel.

Do we know that Oliver offers himself up to Ra's? It's a theory to explain why Oliver goes where he goes, and a potential reason for Felicity "don't do it, big Julie" scene, but it may just be that Oliver goes to whatever mountain for another reason and disappears.

I think in this episode, Ray Palmer was more socially inept than stalkery, although I still wouldn't put it past him to SWM Oliver. But he did make Felicity a VP, recognizing how good she is, and for that I can forgive him some. Yep. Helena redeemed for a possible BoP spin-off, The Atom in either his own or on The Flash.

She shot Malcolm because he killed over 500 people and he wouldn't stop stalking her. But why would she kill Sara? As far as she knows from the newpapers, the female vigilante is a good guy. She has no agency at the point of killing, but she does have when she realizes what she's done. And it would parallel Roy's story about killing the cops, how do they fix this now?

Maybe Thea chooses to reject what Malcolm does to her/expects of her? Instead of continuing down a dark path with him, she rejects him and then has to earn her way onto Team Arrow? It's the same idea, to choose either Malcolm or Oliver, but just from a darker staring point. Zombie Tommy was always my preference. Really, the pool of suspects is so small at this point. Thea, Sin, Nyssa or Zombie Tommy, with Malcolm, Ra's or Amanda Waller pulling the strings. The puzzle is almost all filled in. I was looking at the pictures from The Flash vs Arrow, and Felicity's already wearing three different outfits. She's like the wardrobe department's personal Barbie doll.

I think Thea would have to be brainwashed too to kill Sara, his brother's exgirlfriend, her friend's younger sister, and someone who has never done her any harm. It would just be easier for Malcolm to brainwash Thea, than for Ra's to do it to Nyssa. (Wow, these guys are a couple of wonderful dads, aren't they?) Stephen Amell seemed very enthusiastic about Katie Cassidy in his red carpet interviews. "She's really come into her own this season." Given the four episodes that have highlighted her, I can see that she's "come into her own" (i.e. doing better). I just can't get enthusiastic myself, although maybe "coming into her own"

Maybe Young Nyssa is also about how Ra's preps her to be brainwashed later. It's all about the induction. Thea is the most obvious choice in terms of characters left on the show and it gives her a redemption arc for the next season. There's little in science that justifies Ra's being able to brainwash Nyssa to that extent. (As much as I wish it were Laurel getting her final revenge on her younger sister, that's really unlikely. Hey, maybe Laurel was brainwashed. The anger at Sara was there from years before, making her more likely than Nyssa. ) That makes sense if its called Canaries and its about the handing over of the torch.

Ra's would have supplied her with a Malcolm Merlyn arrow in the two birds with one stone (get payback on Malcolm, get rid of Nyssa's girlfriend) theory. Katrina Law is not that much shorter than CH so Felicity's lower trajectory/short person doesn't make sense. I was trying to explain the Merlyn DNA theory to my daughter, that the DNA on the arrow they think is Thea's but it's really Tommy's, when she said "Isn't being able to tell the difference between male XY and female XX the easiest test there is?" Now I feel so stupid.

Does Oliver mean that there is no fun in being with a depressed, brooding lonely hero? In that case, why not stop being depressed lonely and brooding? If ep 3x13 is called Canaries, I fear it will be rage-inducing as they bring Sara to help crown Laurel in her new role, because there is no way they're going to give up on her as BC so soon. If the show is back Jan 21, then does that mean that there are only 2 non-Laurel episode in sweeps month. They really are confident, aren't they?

QC stock would only provide them an income when it started paying dividends, which most likely hasn't happened yet. Thea had no money because she refused to sign the trust fund papers. That tanked most of the Queen money but Oliver managed to stash some from his own trust funds that didn't go when QC crashed. Maybe they would assume that rich people couldn't do anything on their own (like their own laundry) and needed an assistant to do all that for him. On the other hand, unless the money was in gold bars locked away somewhere, it would be earning interest which the IRS would be taxing anyway. So putting Felicity and Diggle on salary would actually be providing a tax break for Oliver. I think we've spent more time trying to figure this out than all the EPs put together.

I've complained about this season a lot but I think they got this right in the last episode. You didn't see her arguing her case but in The Calm you did see her doing girlfriend things, buying him a fern and that infamous bed, running through his speech for QC, encouraging him, and dating him. And then he seizes on the first excuse he can to shut her down and out of his personal life No, but Diggle did a number of times and it got him nowhere. If Diggle, his mentor and comrade-at-arms can't make Oliver see he's being an idiot, then nothing Felicity says will. (I do think Oliver will listen to Diggle before he'll listen to anyone else, especially about something like this.) Oliver even pushed away Sara when he thought she was in danger from Slade by being with him. In Draw Back Your Bow, Felicity basically got denied thrice. The first was when she told Oliver that she was going to a business dinner with Ray, hoping he would tell her what he later told Diggle, that it bothered him that she's dating Ray Palmer. But what he told her is "do what you want', i.e. I don't care enough what you do to be upset by your seeing another man. Later Diggle came to see her and told her that they both know that Oliver is making the wrong decision but that he's rather go ten rounds with the League of Assassins (foreshadowing!) then talk about his emotions aka Oliver is not going to budge even though Diggle has talked to him. Then after the dinner when she went back to the lair to do tech for them, she hears Oliver tell Cupid that he can't be with anyone. The thing about Oliver is that he makes Gibraltar seem crumbly. When he gets an idea into his head, the only thing that makes him change it is someone dying. What could Felicity say after that? Nothing that would make him change his mind. He wants her in his life but he wants it his way, having her around whenever he wants her but not giving her anything emotionally, and he's not moving. It's been two months since the date and he's giving her nothing, while forming relationships with Thea and Roy. No arguments about feelings are going to reach Oliver. That's why he had to see the kiss. He's a visual learner.

The only thing I can think of it that they must feel very secure about a season four pick-up. TVbythenumbers says it's sure to be renewed because that will give the then numbers for syndication. A one part trilogy. This is InstaCanary we're talking about, after all. Didn't AK say that there will be little Diggle and Felicity in the three episodes?

I didn't know she existed either before the show. But it seems that every time someone complains about this Laurel Lance becoming the Black Canary, the rebuttal always is that she has to be because comics. Usually with the addition of "and she will end up with Oliver when Felicity steps away/realizes that it's Laurel Oliver really loves/goes back to being a minor character. I think it's easier to write a show for one character on whom expectations rest, rather than trying to do it for two.

The Flash is also less burdened with canon (I think) because they only have one totally iconic character. Other than Barry being The Flash, they're pretty much free to do what they want with the other characters. They don't have the Black Canary problem.

If Stephen Amell needed a break, I think they should have thrown in a Suicide Squad episode instead of InstaCanary, all the time. I was thinking that John Campea won't give up on the show but 3 episodes of Laurel donning the buckle suit instead of Diggle/Felicity centric episodes as he asked for may just break him. Maybe that's what SA told him after the show and why he sent out the tweet that he quitting it. Add me to the group that thinks it's a risky (aka stupid) move to make those three Oliver-missing episodes about Laurel with little Diggle and Felicity. Also, aren't 312 and 313 sweeps episodes? I think people will tune back in when they hear that Oliver is back but it's still risky given that people don't seem to be as in love with this show as they were at the end of s2. It does seem like a 'no win' situation with Laurel. If she's a great Black Canary, people will resent that it happened so fast; if she's a lousy Canary then her fans will be upset if she decides to stop being BC, and so will the comic book fans who are convinced that she has to become the Black Canary because she's called Dinah Laurel Lance. I think the only two ways to get out of it is have Laurel decide she's not cut out to be a vigilante (I love the idea of her trying to be mayor because that's a character she could grow into) and let Sin take the job, or move to Coastal City to train for a few more years until the show goes off the air. Among all the reason why Laurel shouldn't be the BC, this is the one that is the biggest for me. She's all about the killer instinct, the judgement of other people who don't live up to her standards. A good vigilante should be about helping those who can't help themselves, not feeding her ego by punishing others. On the other hand, if KC's contract really is up at the end of this season, this may justify moving her off her leading lady status.

Even less than that to work with. If Oliver has $4 million, why was Felicity working at Tech Village at the start of the season? And why did Oliver hand-make the necklace for Diggle's baby, implying that he couldn't afford to buy something for her? Sleeping in the lair so he can save his money for Arrow tech is good but the rest redefines the meaning of "cheap".

Also #flarrowscreening from jbuffyangel, who often gets quoted here explaining the Olicity situation. If she liked it, it's probably good. Someone else

I don't think Oliver is interested in running the company, at least not at this time if ever. But there was a time a little while ago when he did want it back because it held his family's name and legacy so I think there would be some sadness to see that lost.

#Arrow #ArrowvsFlash I don't know where else they would be tweeting.

Maybe you should. I like her vids, she says something with them. In this one, I liked the way certain scenes were played backwards, showing Oliver moving back from Felicity.