statsgirl

Actually, I think the cocktail party clothes she usually wears would have been more appropriate. I didn't think Mrs. Gardner's clothes were anything special, and if you want something from someone, you don't show them up by having your VP wear designer dresses and $10M worth of diamonds.

From the Hopes and Fears thread: This season has really given me the impression that the major creatives forces in Berlanti's DCverse are working on The Flash, which is why it's working better than Arrow is these days and drawing a bigger audience. As an opening move, I can see why they did it. But in terms of Arrow longevity and whether to green light another spin-off, I'd be looking closer at what's going on on Arrow right now and how people are reacting to it.

Didn't KC say that her audition was crying? But even that Gumerick does more realistically imo.

She's angry, suspicious, crying, stubborn. She could do whatever is needed for Laurel, including fighting. I don't get it.

Those gowns are loaners because the actresses stand on the red carpet and give the designers names. It's a big ad for them. They're also not dresses you can wear again. Some of those are donated to museums. There are also places that take the dresses and rent them out to normal people for occasions. Sometimes the actors keep the clothes, especially the big name actors who get lots of stuff for free when they can easily afford it themselves. (Disney apparently gave Tim Allen an expensive car for The Santa Claus while the supporting actors got nothing.) Jane Kaczmarek and Bradley Whitford had a charity that sold the dresses and swag that the stars donated. But Ray bought the dress because he said couture translates as expensive. He's so rich, why would he take the time to find a place that rents dresses like that? Not to mention, it had a price tag which the rented dresses don't. None of it seems to make any sense, unless Felicity thought the dress was just on loan but Ray meant for her to keep it.

Diggle knew she wasn't busy because she'd gone to help him and Oliver after the business dinner. Then she went back to her office to work so she would conveniently be there for Oliver to see Ray kissing her. Diggle invited him over for a late dinner when he got back from fighting Cupid. Later, after attacking the table, Oliver took Roy with him when he went over. I can understand why Diggle didn't invite Felicity because Oliver was "tied up in knots" because she wasn't waiting around for him and his maybes. It is growth for Oliver, both in that he got physically angry, and that he channeled that anger into spending time with his friends instead of beating up his equipment. But I think it sucks that Felicity is paying the real price for it. She got rejected by three men that evening: by Oliver in his speech to Cupid; by Ray walking away when she wanted to keep kissing; and by Diggle in being excluded from family times (although she didn't know the last but may suspect it's going on).

He tweeted it on Wednesday during the show. There was so much going on, I missed it then. I think it was her telling the dress that they're going to be such good friends, not that whole buying the dress thing. Talking to a dress does sound like Felicity. Later in the scene with Diggle, she told him that Ray loaned her the dress for the dinner. Did she give it back? What was Ray going to do with a dress that had already been worn and was certainly not his size.

I think only Moira knew, other than Oliver, and only Moira knew the baby didn't die. Other than the mother, that is. Is this a storyline they really want to open up now, Oliver finding out he has a kid, when so much is going on and it should affect his decision to leave in 309? What am I saying? of course they do. Guggenheim retweeted it to KC and PB so she will be there too. I cannot, in any way possible think why Laurel would be going to Central City with the team because would her legal jurisdiction cover CC? To give her a canary cry so soon is incredibly bad writing . But if that article happens, I will take whatever KC they give me in that episode.

Kreisburg tweeted "Felicity's line to the dress was an ad-lib by Emily on set!" The Great Dane analogy is well, great. We had a Great Dane once who was convinced he was a lapdog. He would sit in the laps of guests, front feet firmly planted on the ground. Very affectionate and completely uncontrollable. I've been thinking about Oliver witnessing the kiss. I still think it's the cheesiest trope possible but I now think it might not be such a bad thing. Diggle told Oliver that Felicity had heard him say that he couldn't be with anyone. Oliver replied he just wanted what was best for her to which Diggle called him on it, that if he wanted what would make her happy, he would be with her. I assumed that he headed over to her office to her that. * But really, more likely would be that he went over so say he was sorry she had to hear that because that's the kind of guy Oliver is, thick as a brick when he's got a thought into his head. And if he had spoken to her, they probably would have gone through the same thing all over again. he'd say he cared for her but couldn't be in a relationship with her and Felicity would shut down again. So going over there and seeing another guy kissing Felicity, a sign that she really has moved on from him, was just what Oliver needed. * the fact that Diggle knew that Felicity would be at her office working just makes me even more mad that he didn't invite her over to his place. His speech was sincere. It was what he said that she didn't like. I liked the shrink scene too, and the fact that she looked like a real shrink and not a Hollywood version of one. But telling Oliver he needed therapy -- way crossing ethical lines. I wish they would do more with Paul Blackthorne. Three short scenes with Oliver, and everything else has been with Laurel this season.

But he also told her that he may never be in the place to have a relationship with her or anyone. That still sounds like a maybe to me -- maybe he'll get to the stage where he can have a relationship with her or maybe he never will. I agree, that's growth on Oliver's part. But Felicity is the one paying the price since she's the one excluded from the family dinner because of Oliver.

What strikes me most about Chris Hemsworth is that he's married to Elsa Pataky, who played Vera in the short-lived Queen of Swords TV show which was a guilty pleasure of mine. (And also that she's 9 years older than he is, so kudos to him for staying faithful to her and their three kids). Anyone wanting to be techy like Felicity? Stanford is offering an online course (mooc) in Cryptography. Secret keys, public keys and encryptions. I really like on-line courses but this one has too much programming for me.

I have a worse one ... Diggle and Felicity have moved on with their lives and Laurel and Roy are the ones running missions out of the Arrow lair, hiding from Thea as she gets closer to discovering the secret. After Draw Back Your Bow, I'm not sure they will remember that Diggle and Felicity are family, but I don't think they will drop them too much because ratings.

It will be a goodbye but it also has to be an 'I love you' at least underlying if it's going to have any emotional impact beyond his scenes with Diggle and Roy. I think they're counting too much on people knowing comic book canon. Another mistake, IMO because most viewers aren't familiar with Ra's or the comics.

If Oliver and Felicity get everything out in the open, there's nothing to keep them from getting together after he gets back. I'm expecting an amnesia plot at the least. If there were a contest for worst nightmare, this would win. I thought the LoA had an honor code, and Ra's wanted to kill Malcolm for killing innocent people with the earthquake. How does he handle that with killing innocent people in Starling city because Oliver can't find the killer in 48 hours? WTH? I think I read that Ray is in episode 3x08, maybe to mess with Felicity meeting her Team Arrow needs. I don't think walking away from the kiss is enough to have to make amends to her, especially three weeks later. My guess would be that she figures out he has some underlying motive for hiring her than the obvious job for Palmer Tech. Maybe this is where she discovers the suit and his plans for the mine she just talked Gardner into selling him. I don't see Oliver as the type to encourage her to be happy with someone else as long as he wants her himself (see 'go to Tommy'/'forget Tommy, I can be with you now' that he did with Laurel), nor do I see Felicity being serious about Ray if Oliver is an option for her. I do think she may get closer to Ray if Oliver is missing, unless she's too pissed off at him for going and dates Ray out of spite.

I think Felicity was interested in his plan to give the excess energy back to Starling City for free. That's the sort of thing she would get behind, along with rebranding the city to make it better. That's the reasoning that got her on board with Oliver originally, punish the bad guys and make Starling a better place for everyone. And once she got over his inappropriateness, she got the game plan. (He's still no Sheldon Cooper though.) I don't think they're serious about Raylicity, no matter how many times the EPs talk up their "incredible chemistry". Telling her he wanted it to be platonic and walking away from her while she's still up for the kissing showed that she's not his #1 agenda item. He's just there because MG thinks it's great to stall Olicity as long as he can.

I completely agree about Diggle. First he's marginalized even in the ARGUS story of Corto Maltese, and then he becomes this bumbling Pandarus. I wish he had given Oliver a Gibbs slap (upside his head) instead of going to Felicity to ask her to let Oliver have his way in everything. At least he still has Lyla and little Sara. The DJ is creepy and arrogant. I wanted Thea to channel her inner Moira to take him down. I did like Oliver and Roy talking about how not okay they both were though. She's going to find herself with Ray on Team A.T.O.M. though, if Diggle keeps helping Oliver in pushing her out of the lair like that. Team Arrow is fractured and it's Oliver who screwed it up because Felicity can't win for losing around him. If she wants a relationship with him,she can't have it. If she wants to pretend nothing happened like she did at the star of ep3, Oliver gets angry at her. If she stays out of his way till he gets his head out of his ass, Diggle excludes her because Oliver is such a sensitive plant, he can't deal with having her around while she's having a life of her own. Felicity is a better person than I am because if I were being treated like this by my friends, I would say "screw you, I'm finding a vigilante of my own who will treat me with respect and you can deal without me. But then we wouldn't have seen him as all romantic and swooping her off her feet. (I found it squicky but I'm sure it was meant to be seen as romantic.) What she should have learned from growing up with her mom in Las Vegas is that presents like that from someone you barely know always come with strings and expectations attached. So to make this storyline work, Felicity has to become stupid. I find inevitably that with storylines to stall relationships, both characters end up becoming very stupid which is why I hate them so very much. Real couture dresses don't have price tags. The people who buy them don't care about the price. I bet the tag was there to show that it was new and not on loan too, for those who don't buy couture.

This is what has really makes me bitter about the Cupid episode, that Felicity is separated from her friends in the lair and befuddled by Ray. And really, she's done nothing wrong. Oliver was the one to decide they can't be together so she tried to move on with her life. But she's being shut out of the friend moments with Diggle and Roy because horrors, she went on to get a job that doesn't depend on a Queen. And while Ray seems good on the surface, he's playing mind games with her and she can't trust his gifts or his attention. I was really looking forward to the cross-overs episodes but now I'm dreading them because of the discord between Oliver and Felicity. So bitter. Oliver is the one who is emotionally stunted but Felicity is paying the greatest price because he still has Diggle and Roy. I also hated that Diggle was only concerned with how Oliver was doing. Not a word about how Felicity felt, or how she was doing in her job. The poor woman rushes between Palmer and the lair and not one of her supposed friends seems to give a damn about her. Guggenheim, with his stupid star-crossed angst, has succeeded in making me dislike Diggle, as well as Oliver and think less of Felicity. Well done, sir.

Cupid had skills from before. I can buy she picked up archery in six months given her obsession with the archer who saved her life. It depends what kind of a VP she is. Not sales or anything administration-like but if she's a VP in charge of Special Projects where she runs a team that does whatever weird thing Ray gets into his head, I can buy that. The more I think about Ray saying "I meant to keep this platonic" the more I think Ray's interest in her is not about Felicity herself. Someone is going to have to do it if Oliver ever gets the company back.

I thought the end shot of Oliver looking at Matseu and his family was an anvil to how he felt left out, and that's why he took Roy with him to Diggle's house so the whole Team minus Felicity (that still burns me) can have happy times. I'm glad they're setting up Cupid etc for a possible Suicide Squad spin-off. Of all the villains this season, I've liked her the most. As paigow said, Felicity's salary as a VP should be paying her enough to buy a dress that costs that much on her own if she really wants one, or at least enough not to be completely bowled over by something that costs $2,500. Is Beckham couture? I was thinking something like Versace. That would really suck for Felicity, if Ray only hired her because he's stalking Oliver. Poor girl can't get anyone to love her for herself: Cooper is a nutcase; Barry prefers Iris; Oliver won't get out of his manpain; and Ray only wants her because Oliver does? It's bad enough that he walked away from her after kissing her and she's all what? why don't you come back and keep kissing? Poor Felicity, with her brains and looks and she can't get a guy who is interested in her for her sake. I feel the same way I felt when Christie Brinkley's husband cheated on her -- if she can't keep a guy, what chance do those of us who are mere mortals have? On the plus side for Ray, if he meant to keep it platonic because he's only using her, at least he's not out to hurt her too much. I would have liked that, for just one person to be there for Felicity for Felicity's sake. With Oliver telling her "do what you want" and Ray walking away from the kissing leaving her alone working while her friends are with each other, I really felt this episode was punishing her for wanting to have a life. This show twists everyone for the sake of Oliver's manpain (it's like Longmire like that) but in my case, I like Felicity more than I like Oliver and I really don't like what Mericle and Schwartz do to her. Putting a $10 million necklace on her made no sense other than an over the top 'Don't you just love Ray?' gesture. Did he want the mine owner to think that he was so rich he could throw money around like that? Or that he was sleeping with his VP and that's why she was covered in ice? Spending $3 million to buy a tech company to get Felicity to work for him I can understand (unless he only wants her because she's Oliver's) because he can make money like that. Dressing Felicity so completely over the top doesn't make any sense to me from a business standpoint.

I wish and hope it is. But I fear that as long as there is more manpain to be derived by Oliver, Ray/Felicity ain't going anywhere.

Well Oliver is letting Laurel call the shots on that one. That's exactly what Diggle told Felicity in The Undertaking when she went to his apartment to get Diggle back with with Oliver.

I know this show is bad in terms of the money trail but there is no way Ray Palmer has enough money to buy QC outright or even take it over by leveraging because QC is that big. The show has only said he's the CEO and CEO don't rename companies after themselves because it would mess with the branding. Burger King just bought Tim Horton's but it's going to stay called Tim Horton's because the original name is worth a lot in terms of reputation. It's just more bad writing for Oliver's manpain.

I don't think anyone said Felicity was being a bad friend because she isn't scolding Ray for changing the name. But I do think she should have told Oliver it was coming so he didn't have to see it on TV without knowing it was coming. Because even though he was a crappy CEO, Felicity knew how important it was to him to get his family's company back in ep 1 so not giving him a head's up was insensitive. I don't think that Palmer had actually bought the company, in fact probably even he doesn't have enough money to buy it outright although he could afford to buy Tech Village, but QC is going to cost a lot more than $3 million. He's just the CEO and CEO's don't rename the company after themselves. It's called Facebook, not Sandburg Technology. I was really hoping that Oliver throwing things in the Arrow cave wasn't about Felicity and Ray, but like his seeing the kiss, this show went for the lowest common denominator. I don't like what this plot is turning Felicity into. I don't mind it hurting Oliver because he's been a douche a lot of times but Felicity has done nothing but try to live her life the best she can and be kind to people, so I hate that 1) she's being turned into a not-nice person and 2) she's being separated from her boys because she's not willing to be Oliver's doormat. I'll hang in for 309 too but if Felicity is still being dumped on and it's the rise of the Black Canary, I can't see any reason to watch in 2015.

I think Thea called it a "something Kiss". Remember when Felicity talked about her abandonment issues and how she couldn't lose Oliver too because it would hurt too much? What choice does Felicity have other than the one she's making? There is nothing to re-prioritize unless she loses something essential to her life. She's been trying to juggle the two jobs since she started to work for Ray instead of doing low level sales work. She's committed to Oliver and the cause but he doesn't pay her and she's got to live somehow. She's been trying her hardest to make it work. But if she can't, either she gives up being a vice-president at the company (whatever it's called) and doing work that she loves doing, or she gives up on Team Arrow and the family she's finally found and loves. Diggle gets to have both family and crusade; Oliver gets to be able to decide that he's going to be able to be both Oliver Queen and The Arrow, but Felicity has to give up either her work or her friend/family because she the one person who can't have both unless Oliver chooses her. What do these writers have against women?

What does she need to rethink? She's still committed to the team and the cause. The only decision she's made are to a) go back to a job she trained for instead of sales at Tech Village; and b) not sit around waiting for Oliver to decided if he wants to be with her. I can't see anything wrong with the first and I know you supported her in the second. So why is she being punished by being separated from her Team? Yes. If Diggle is so keen on getting her and Oliver to make up, why didn't he invite her over for drinks after dinner?