statsgirl

Or maybe there are things about her that she doesn't want him to know even now .... maybe not ever. Or at least until the grandchildren are grown. We've waited so long for Felicity's back story, I really hope it's worth the wait.

So two writers who like Laurel? Great. Maybe Laurel is Molly, and Oliver let's Ra's go so he can save her. (If the cliff-hanger is whether she lives or dies, I know which decision I hope Oliver makes.) That elf John Barrowman is holding? I've got one of those in my Christmas decorations box but it's been passed down in the family. Must be 50 years old by now. I wonder where Barrowm got it.

You're right, Barry wants to do it because it's the right thing. But he also wants to do it to get his dad out of jail, that's what he told Felicity in The Scientist. I think Oliver didn't mind being a killer at all when he first got to Starling City. It was Diggle somewhat, then Felicity walking out and finally Tommy dying that pushed him not to kill. Sara, on the other hand, arrived in present day Starling City on the run from the LoA because she didn't want to kill. If Laurel is going to be trained by or even by Nyssa as speculated above, she's going to be trained by someone else too. So what Oliver and Sara really have in common is the five years away and what they went through during the first two. Laurel's arc is probably going to be about vengeance for Sara's killing. At this point there's no other reason for her to become a vigilante (I can't say 'superhero' in connection with Laurel.) It's kind of ironic that they have been selling Laurel as fighting for the people who can't fight for themselves all along whereas except for a couple of episodes at CNRI, she's been in it for herself, unlike Sara, Barry and even Roy.

David Ramsey said in an interview that Diggle is about five years ahead of where Oliver is in terms of relationships. That's a good way to put it. The way they are making this work for me is that he's not just doing it with Felicity, he's also doing it with Diggle and QC too. He wanted QC but then, after the explosion, he's all "I need to focus on being the Arrow, Ray Palmer will handle it better". And he's pushing Diggle away as he is pushing Felicity away, using them for their expertise, his military and her tech, but grounding Diggle and not letting Felicity in in order to keep them both safe. So the way they're writing it, it's not about Oliver and Felicity, it's about Oliver and everything in his life that he loves. That will hold me for half a season, maybe the whole season. I love love that they are always completely honest with each other, at least after Oliver got done with the bad lies that Felicity saw through. That is one of the true strengths of their relationship. Something that was great in the restaurant scene is that he opened up to her and told her not just facts about his time away but also about his feelings and how it changed him. That was in direct contrast to how he's been with Laurel and later with McKenna, shutting both of them down when they asked about the five years. Felicity didn't ask; he offered and offered more than he's told anyone else (although Diggle's probably got a good idea of it from his own past). Also, not surprised that Felicity knew he didn't spend all five years on the island but she didn't ask and she didn't reproach him for not telling her sooner.

Oliver went after criminals to honour his father. Barry's development is similar to Oliver's -- he started looking at criminals because his mother was murdered and his father in jail so he'd going it for his father's sake, to get him out of jail. Roy wants to fight because there are bad guys and the Arrow helped save his life so he wants to be like the Arrow. If Laurel becomes the BC to get vengeance for Sara, then she will be like Oliver and Barry, fighting back guys for the sake of someone in her life who was hurt by them. Sara's story is most similar to Roy's because both of them are fighting for others because they've both been hurt, know what it's like, and don't want it to happen to other people. What Sara had in common with Oliver is the island but their experiences were very different. Even though they both done Laurel wrong, after all the trauma they both went through later, that would be a mere blip on the screen. From your keyboard to the EP's ears. Sadly, I think they killed their back-up BC precisely in order to sell the Laurel is a hero arc because now she can't fail to be BC. (Personally I'd buy Sin over Laurel as BC but, you know, comics!) If Sara were alive and physically healthy, many people wouldn't accept the idea of Laurel as BC even with the name and likely the EPs didn't want the audience split. I think most of the audience will accept her as a substitute as long as the show is good, it's only those like me who are too invested in this show or who love the BC of the comics for whom it's going to suck. I really wish they had put Sara in a wheelchair instead of killing her. It would have motivated Laurel almost as well, Sara could have helped train her, and the Oracle would be ready to go.

That fic is awful and totally hilarious at the same time.

Oliver. Remember, the guy has no relationship skills. What's really strange is that Felicity wore four different outfits that day. (Orange dress, navy and white dress, Buy More shirt, date dress) When does she have time? It makes sense that the date was that night, although dinner must have been really late since when Team Arrow was chasing the bad guys it was already dark. If the explosion is what made him give up on the idea of being CEO and in a relationship with Felicity because he lost his focus being Oliver Queen, it had to be that night.

Someone asked him his favorite Olicity scene and he said that it was one he done in this episode. At NYCC, another questioner asked what kind of scenes he liked doing and he said ones where there is the chance to do some real acting because in the actions scenes, it's just one or two word dialogues, and then he said this restaurant scene was the type of scene he likes to do.

Maybe other people have to keep saying it because we never see it on screen other than she worked at CNRI but even then she was doing shady things. This occasion certainly didn't warrant it. She's a lawyer working for the DA's office (when she couldn't get a job at another firm and blackmailed Kate Spencer to get it) and it's her job to be there for interrogations. If anyone in that scenario was trying to save the world, it was Oliver and his team. With Sara helping them.

Maybe, if they write it right, they can make that work for her. It's KC's strength. it seems like they're tried everything else -- crusading lawyer, hating then loving daughter, vengeful ex, addict, jealous sister, loving sister, Arrow fangirl, anti-Arrow crusader,, Nancy Drew investigator -- and nothing has made a large part of the audience love her. If they're determined to keep her on the show as the Black Canary, what else can they do? One of the people I got into watching Arrow was just mentioning that. She loves that part, and also when Tommy arrives at the door and asks "How are you, sir?" and Quentin replies "Proficient with handguns". The person I was talking to feels like her own father doesn't care about her and she loves how much Quentin cares about his daughters. She wishes her father would act like that, but Laurel just resents it. It's another example of how good Laurel's got it, and how much she uses it to fuel her anger.

True. I just checked. Sara says "Laurel Lance, always trying to save the world." Interesting. Maybe that was what they were hopping for from Sara's death. Being a lawyer didn't make her compelling, the addiction arc didn't make the majority of the audience feel for her, her relationship with Sara ended with Sara looking like the good sister. Maybe they are hoping that a vengeance arc will make people fall in love with her.

Maybe at that point, Oliver had been alone on the island so long and without food, he was hallucinating the dirt as blood.

But I still hate that Tommy died! And even with Tommy dying, except for being good in his relationship with Laurel, Tommy wasn't a better Arrow than Oliver was. having chased this quote over three threads... Isn't episode 3 My next question is, if they know there's a problem, why don't they try to fix it instead of pushing her into the leading Black Canary role right now? I thought she worked really well in The Calm as a good lawyer and devoted daughter and if they had left her doing that for half a season, maybe people would have liked her more, especially if Sara is away from Starling City. Why have that episode kick-start her superhero arc instead of later in the season? Maybe you are right that they know the problem but is their solution to ? That's just going to make the contrast between Laurel and Sara even more obvious. The only thing I can think of is that it's in KC's contract to make her the Black Canary but that seems strange given that they weren't sure the show was going to last. Do they put that sort of thing in contracts?

I'm, surprised people want Felicity killed off, other than the Laurel fans. Of those options, the only one that couldn't apply to another character is "to keep comic canon", except that now she is in the comic canon. Shock, irony, mystery and angst are all covered by Sara's death.

Stephen Amell had two projects he was going to do but they both fell apart (all too common in the entertainment world). EBR worked on the Brooklyn movie and did the international press tour with Colton Haynes. The hiatus may be five months for the audience but it's only about three for the actors.. The more I think about that photo KC put out two days after the episode in which Sara died showing her being prepped for her Black Canary mask, the angrier I get. Usually I try to differentiate the actor from their character but that is just so completely insensitive to the idea that some members of the audience bonded with Sara and are mourning her passing (because we do, we mourn even fictional characters). No wonder her portrayal of Laurel ends up coming out Me! Me! Me!

When you have people like Alan Sepinwall say Emily Bett Rickards should be in contention for an Emmy, and reviewers rave about the character, I'd say she's doing pretty well. I think Stephen Amell, EBR and Willa Holland (if they give Thea something juicy) are the most likely break-out stars. Amell has expressed an interest in directing so he may form his own production company and EBR has been writing scripts. I don't know about Willa Holland. Colton Haynes seems pretty smart so while not a breakout star, he may use the show as a springboard up. I can see Katie Cassidy as the new Heather Locklear. I hope Stephen Amell is right and Caity Lotz will have another role in 5 minutes. I think most of the audience will accept Laurel as the Black Canary because most people don't care that much about what they're watching. As long as they're entertained and she's not the pebble in the shoe of the show, they'll accept it or fast forward through her scenes. Of the 3 people I got to watch the show, no one likes Laurel and two of them keep hoping she's going to be off the show. What I can't get my head around is that for people who seem so committed to making a high quality show, a mini-movie each week as they've said, that they can't see the problem that is Katie Cassidy's portrayal of Laurel, or that they are willing to live with it.

I think we're agreeing. The dinner was what the real Oliver Queen could be, and I think it scared him to open up that much. That is why Diggle had to push him even to ask Felicity out on a date. And when Roy found the tag in his suit, he jumped on that as a reason. Odds are 99% he would have missed it anyway, even if he weren't going out with Felicity (in which case the rocket would have hit the foundry) but wow, did he grab that as a reason real fast. While he could do a superficial relationship right now, he believes that he's can't do the real kind of relationship that being with Felicity would be just as he can't be the CEO QC needs (another excuse he jumped on). I think in both cases it's his fear that is making the decision in both cases, although he probably thinks being CEO would be easier than being open in a relationship with Felicity.. .

The show hobbled itself by wanting Laurel to be a strong, vigorous person, fighting for the rights of the little guy, and then saddling her with anger and resentment and longing for Oliver deep into season 2. They wanted to show how strong she was by how well she got on with her life after the boat went down -- she got into law school and completed it, she got a job she loved at CNRI, she dealt with her father's drinking after her parents marriage broke up (after Laurel had moved away from home). It makes sense that she didn't get into a relationship during those five years. Research on break-ups found that if you are the one being dumped, it takes five years on average to be able to get into another relationship. I finally figured out how to say what I wanted to above about Laurel's anger not being justified. It's the idea of objective vs subjective. Objectively, Laurel has had the easiest life of any character on the show. How much anger she feels at Oliver and Sara and her parents is subjective. I still think a better cast actress could have made it work though. Thea was a bitch in season 1 but Willa Holland made it work, making us feel Willa's resentment at her mother, trying to deal with all that was happening to her. I think there is such a sense of Laurel being stuck in anger is that that's where KC feels most comfortable and that, along with Laurel crushing on Oliver, is what she portrays best. It's a tempting thought but I can think of two reasons why it's not going to happen on the show. Nyssa is an assassin and they want to keep Laurel on the good side otherwise they might just as well have kept Sara. But the bigger reason is that it takes years to learn skills to that kind of level. Nyssa isn't going to hang around Starling City, putting her life on hold for 3 years to train Laurel, maybe longer since Laurel has a day job, and the EPs aren't going to send Laurel off the show to Nanda Parbat while she trains. A time jump for Laurel's character would make the viewers who care about all the other characters and want to see their development furious.

Five months of flirty-flirty, and it still took Diggle to push him into asking Felicity out. At last. When you add it to his speech after losing QC, that this isn't the right time for him to run QC, that he couldn't do that and be the Arrow too, it seems like he was looking for a reason to back out of a relationship with Felicity just as he was grateful for a way to back out of running QC. He likes flirting with Felicity, he even liked going to dinner with her, but he doesn't want more, he feels he can't do more. If it were just sex as it was with Isabel, or a surface relationship with secrets and lies as ti was with McKenna, he could do that. But to be as open and honest with Felicity as she deserves, to have that kind of relationship with her, he can't do that. It's not that Felicity will get hurt by being with the Arrow as much as he feels he will fail with her, just as he will fail with QC.. That's why he backtracked so fast IMO. In a way, the kiss and then telling her "don't ask me to say I don't love you" was like holding his hand over the flame to see if he could take the pain of not having her. Maybe Felicity knows that, knows that he wants to dangle the dream before them, and she refuses to be the mutt..

shadow2008, they need to put you on the writing team. Laurel can't be the Black Canary as long as Sara is being the Canary, but those are great ways to have her step aside so Laurel can take her position. Not if they think that the only reason people were upset with Laurel is that she wasn't donning the fishnets fast enough. That writers room must be full of people who keep complimenting the emperor on his new clothes.

Oh he's totally into Diggle. When he was talking about bringing back Battle of the Network Stars, he said himself, Jared P. and David Ramsey and then anyone else the other teams want to suggest. Then he added Robbie Amell. I thought it was diplomatic of him not to mention Caity Lotz, given the timing and all, because she would totally win on the CW team.

Diggle's brother really is dead, unlike Sara who came back. And so Diggle is trying to act father-like to his orphan nephew, like taking him to see Santa Claus, which must be hard on Diggle because as well as hurting himself, he knows the kid is hurting because he's growing up without a father. Diggle also went through a divorce (even though he's back with Lyla now), which is harder than a relationship break-up, and there are all the PTSD issues he went through in his tours in Afghanistan, the bits that were chopped off him. You can't discount someone's pain because other people have had worse things happen to them in their lives. But going back to the blog post again, because given what has happened to her compared to what has happened to other people, I don't think Laurel's anger is justified. I think it's out of step with what has actually happened to her, although I know this is what KC plays best.

I think she's been through some. Not a lot. And less than every other character on the show, including Roy and Diggle. I think it's okay for her to have mixed emotions now that both Oliver and Sara are back. But I don't think the amount of anger Laurel carries is "understandable and justified", which is what the post says. She's been angry for a long time for less reason than anyone else. And she's done a lot of hurting of other people herself in her anger. Laurel supporters argue that Sara isn't good enough to be the Black Canary because she's an assassin even though she hates killing people and only went back to doing it to saving Starling City. I think that someone who takes out their pain on others, especially people who have experienced even more pain than she has, isn't the right person to be the Black Canary either. White Canary, maybe.

Right now, I'm guessing that Amanda Waller puts Oliver high on a rooftop and orders him to kill someone, and when Oliver looks, it turns out to be Tommy.

Good point. If Malcolm Merlyn joins Oliver's side against Ra's, then we can add Thea and Malcolm to the superhero group.