statsgirl

When Oliver was asked how he got Steve Aoki to be the DJ at the opening of Verdant, he replied "I dated his sister." Now that Devon Aoki has been cast for the Hong Kong flashbacks, will that be an easter egg?

Tommy watching the armoured car heist: "And that's why I keep your money off-shore" Tommy is so great. Trust but verify, says Moira to Malcolm Nice parallel with Diggle not wanting to believe Gaynor is bad, and Oliver not wanting to believe Moira is either. Thea, on the other hand, doesn't trust and doesn't verify. "My father left me a message telling me what the book is.." Diggle is sceptical since it was after Oliver found the book on his father's dead body. I hope the show doesn't forget they said that like they forgot about Felicity's wine. Lots of hinting -- Thea wants a green or black car; Fyers tells Oliver "you do seem a little green" "Is that your way of saying you miss me?" "No, but if it works for you, go with it." (And that is why Felicity is so good for him.) And then she calls him "Mr. Queen" when she phones. I like that they had Oliver try to get past the encryption first and then take it to Felicity when he failed. Laurel is good with Tommy. Maybe the best I've seen her, except when she tries to convince Tommy that his father is really okay at the end. Laurel tells Tommy maybe Malcolm has changed; Gaynor tells Diggle Knox has changed. "You haven't changed and you never will. It's about time I learned that and stop letting you disappoint me" Tommy tells his father. Oh, Tommy, you are so much better than being the hero's sidekick. Gaynor: "If I hadn't got Knox this job, chances are he'd be knocking over liquor stores and robbing banks." And because you got him the job, he's robbing armoured cars. Good move. "Right after Gaynor got you hired, someone hacked our system. First person to ever make it through the firewall. Want to tell me how you did it?" Diggle has a Felicity. Carly's turned to be kidnapped. Glad to know they're spreading it around. Don't they even give Diggle a kevlar vest to wear? And Carly forgives Diggle after all that. This is a woman worth keeping around. Oliver tells Diggle that he chose him "because you see the best in people." Has Laurel has been replaced? Then he handed Diggle the book so Diggle could be the one to cross Gaynor's name off .

IF Ra's al Ghil is coming on, everyone would be sworn to secrecy. I'm still hoping that CL can't release any details because they want to announce her becoming main cast at SDCC.

Oliver's track record was preferring whichever woman was at hand and willing..... It irritated me extremely too, but the guy was cuckoo crazy by then. To be fair though, he always valued the ability to fight more than the ability to think even before the mirakuru. I figure Slade took the evaluation of his inside agent, Isabel, and thought Felicity was a bit of fluff on the side even though by then he knew she was working in the Arrow cave. He knew and loved Shado and she was a very strong woman, he knew Oliver cared about Sara and she was a strong woman, and he probably assumed that Laurel was strong as well. Felicity was the blonde who Oliver had jumped up from her IT cubicle to make her appointments, the girl who stayed in the Arrow cave when Oliver, Sara, Diggle and Roy went out fighting. After she showed Felicity how to put her feet and said 'Wing Chun is better for small people like us', Felicity remarked that Sara didn't seem to have any problem taking care of herself and CL got a hurt expression on her face. I was mad at Felicity for that because even though she had a right to be upset because she felt she was being pushed aside, Sara was just trying to help. And then Stupid Oliver came in and said 'What are you wearing?" and why aren't you at the computer and made it a hundred times worse.

There's not nearly enough Diggle and Felicity.

I was just wondering how much they tell the actors about their upcoming seasons, other than SA who seems to know a lot about what's going to happen.

I don't think Stephen Amell gets nearly enough credit for his acting (unlike for his body). Oliver is in pain in both those scenes, but with Felicity, it's out there, directed towards her and shared with her, while with Laurel it's all bottled up inside him. Poor Tommy really got a rough shake from everyone. His wasn't psycho enough for his father (who abandoned him for years right after his mother died), he was never good enough for Laurel because he wasn't Oliver, and when he saved Oliver's ass by paying off the inspector to not look into the basement lair, Oliver though he was stealing money for drugs. No wonder I like the AU fic where Tommy is still around and appreciated.

I wonder if one of the reasons Tommy seemed so much better for Laurel is because SA was playing Oliver as closed off and PTSD'd in the pilot and early episodes, and Tommy was fun and engaging, someone who lightened up the angry and obsessive Laurel. Opposites work better as romantic partners on TV; I can see why someone coming to the show not having read the comics would see Tommy, who drops in on Laurel and tales her out for a break and makes her smile, would be a better romantic choice for her than Oliver. If that were true, they would have saved me from a lot of frustration as Laurel bounced back and forth between wanting Oliver and not wanting him, loving him and hating him. Such a waste of showtime and my anxiety as I dreaded the Oliver would end up with Laurel. I wonder what made them decide it had to be Tommy that was killed off to trigger the next stage of Oliver's journey. I think they were promoting Barry as an 'impediment' because Felicity was interested in another guy (as if!) and a catalyst because Oliver got jealous and Diggle pointed it out to him. Most fanfic do it better.

Answering in the relationships thread.

In the panel clip, EBR says that when they get back in season 2, there's a lot of tension between the three again and that will span over the season. SA referred to the scene in Unthinkable being a culmination of Oliver and Felicity's arc through the season so it sounds like the EPs told her that part of the plan at least for Felicity by then.

She was the apex of the triangle, and yet Laurel-the-character wasn't really necessary to it, any female who both Tommy and Oliver wanted. Yes, she was pretty and I'm told she's smart but I never understood why these guys wanted her in the present. Maybe Tommy because he didn't seem to know any nice women. The s1 finale didn't help because Oliver told her to stay out of the Glades, Moira told her to stay out of the Glades, Quentin told her to stay out of the Glades but she didn't listen to them so Tommy went down to save her and ended up getting killed. And then she turned around and blamed the Hood for not saving him, and her father for trying to take her to AA. Granted, it's tough to play but KC never got me to feel any sympathy for Laurel. That's a big problem for me with almost all of Laurel's scenes, that the self-entitlement and arrogance takes over. I don't know if it's in the character or KC's interpretation of her (I suspect the latter) but it's like she expects the world to revolve around her and when it doesn't (Dinah believing Sara is still alive), she takes revenge. Even with Oliver, she'd say it's over forever, and the next episode she'd be running to him with her emotional problems.

Would Isabel have even noticed her? As long as Lyla sat at the back and kept away from Oliver, I don't think Isabel would have bothered with her. (Yeah, I really don't like Isabel.) I don't think he needed to defend Felicity specifically, just as he should have done if Isabel had gone after Diggle*. Saying "Isabel, let's keep this [battle] between us" would have told her to fight fair. You should protect your people, not leave them to be to be cannon fodder. *i can't see Isabel going after Diggle though. For all her 'poor me, it's so hard to be a woman in the corporate world', Isabel is the kind of woman who goes after and puts down other women, but not men.

That made me laugh, because like much of Laurel's "transformation", it's totally superficial.

Yes, when Diggle was worried they couldn't do the mission because Isabel went along with them, Oliver said "I'll take care of Isabel". (Such an unselfish person to have your back!) I hadn't connected that to the title though. I guess Diggle saving Deadshot was his way of keeping his enemies closer. The reason Oliver sleeping with Isabel bothers me so much is because it feels like a throw-back to pre-island Oliver where sex was just another sport he played at. I understand that he wanted to keep Isabel from finding out what Diggle was up to but there were ways other than exchanging bodily fluids with her.

Great bumper sticker on the truck: Be Safe At Night. Sleep With a Fireman. One of my least favourite episodes, and I hated the conclusion where he walks back into the fire and dies. What I did like is Diggle pushing Oliver back into his groove. Oliver is so using Walter's disappearance as a way to avoid doing Hood stuff, and Diggle is practically stuffing him into his leathers. Nice continuity, because that's what Diggle said he would do for him when he signed on. I also like Thea kicking Moira's ass to get back to work. (parallel!) And I want Moira's suit. And then there's the 'A' story. sigh. Why did the fire investigation team not connect the turpentine on the outfit with the lack of turpentine in the warehouse? Are they as incompetent as the DA's office? The guy playing the fire chief was in an episode of House playing a mob lawyer with a closeted brother. Way to dismiss Joannah's idea, Laurel. You told yourself myths when Sara died and so Joanna is too? It's always about you. Laurel calls the Hood and he comes running. But..." I didn't trust that you'd come. Where have you been?" Social chit-chat before the mission. And Oliver is pouting because Laurel thinks he's a killer. I am so over their completely dysfunctional relationship. "That guy needed a swift kick in his lazy ass." I love Tommy. "I am not exactly the best example for healthy living" Startling self-awareness from Laurel. Oliver tells Laurel what he's found out and she replies "What shall I do with this information?" Seriously? What kind of a lawyer and cop's daughter are you? Are you sure you want to end up with her, Oliver? And then she does one thing and gives up and ask him for help again. Didn't Laurel tell Oliver that she was moving past him last episode? How many times do I have to sit through this conversation? I am so completely over their dysfunctional relationship... oh, I already said that. Did someone really think this push/pull would make me root for them as a couple? Also, she's so helpless in terms of solving the puzzle with him that's it's really irritating. Oliver, at least go around the corner so Laurel can't see you when she's talking on the phone to the vigilante. I am so with Quentin bugging the phone and giving it back to Laurel. At least someone in the Lance family thinks.

They also chose Ben Sokolowski, who I think is one of the better Arrow writers. He wrote Streets of Fire, Three Ghosts, Keep Your Enemies Closer, Identity and The Promise this season. So Diggle is in but not Felicity because she's another character in the comic-verse?

The Hart to Hart video was great work. And look, a series where the couple is happily together and all the drama is about the mystery!

His idea was to 'get a place' where they could both live, as roomies and bedmates. Her interpretation was of 'living together', a serious relationship thing, like a try-out for marriage and that's what stunned him. But the show seemed to be saying that he was jealous of Barry in ep 10, Blast Radius. Was it the circumstances that changed, or that Oliver changed his mind? It wasn't that he didn't have feelings for anyone and then Sara arrived up and he suddenly decided that he could be with someone he really cared about. Oliver realized he had feelings for Felicity and made the decision not to act on them, in line with what he had said and then he fell into a relationship with Sara when she decided to stay in Starling City.

I think that was because they hadn't planned on her being anything but someone Diggle went to for information. But the chemistry between David Ramsey and Audrey Marie Anderson made them write this back story for the characters. I know AK said that they hadn't decided if Isabel was going to be good or bad at that point but I thought she was such a Bitch (with a capital B) in this episode that I don't think I could have accepted her as a good guy later. She was like Laurel on steroids, judgmental, arrogant and the only person good enough to be treated with any kind of consideration by her was Oliver, probably because he was rich and powerful and sexy.

I really love this episode. Lots of Diggle, Diggle/Lyla, Diggle/Felicity/Oliver. Anatoli. (and no Laurel) Oliver could have gone back to Isabel after Felicity told him about Roy. It was his choice not to. It's a trace of pre-island Oliver, if he's not interested in it, he's not going to do it unless he has to. When Isabel asked him what qualitifications Felicity had, why didn't he say "A degree from MIT"? Oliver to Roy "You're completely exposed"... but, wasn't he he was behind the pillar? Amanda Waller wears only one style of shoe. I wonder if she has them in every colour. "As far as they're concerned, she's already a framed picture on our lobby wall." This episode really starts building a Lyla/Diggle relationship story. Another actress who was supposed to be an occasional bit player. "Lyla, you're always the exception." I love Quentin deciding to let Roy go when he uses the Arrow password. He's come a long way. Some really good conflicted acting by PB. "The catastrophic risk of turning on the accelerator".... remember that folks." Clueless Oliver: Lyla Michaels ("It's his spy girlfriend who works for ARGUS" fills in Felicity) Mirakuru is stem cell genetic therapy? Nice us of a trendy term but it makes no sense at all. Felicity is all perky when she gets out of the car to get on the plane to Russia.... and depressed when coming back. Such is the power of Isabel. Oliver: I'll take care of Isabel, Diggle. (No matter what extremes he has to go to, eh, Oliver?) Jean Loring telling Thea to break up with Roy because it could hurt Moira's case ...stupidest subplot ever. I will speak no more of it except to say, Moira rocks. And it was her turn to wear the blonde ponytail this episode. I like Anatoli. When can he come back? season 4? as a regular? "What crime fits your punishment?" A Gilbert & Sullivan fan in the gulag. What is Floyd Laugton doing there? Was he on a mission? Is that how Lyla found him? I'd forgotten the eyepatch is new, courtsey of the Hood. Oliver asking Isabel "Why does saving my family's company mean so much to you?" Oliver clearly didn't do any research on her, so shut up about Barry, Oliver. Isabel to Oliver "Underneath that swagger, I see you pretty clearly,.. You're intelligent, driven, pretty lonely". (And she's still accusing Felicity of being a brainless floozy.) And Oliver buys it. Fratboy dazzled by a pair of boobs still. My favourite line of the series: So we're not doing the 'what happens in Russia stays in Russia'? We're still in Russia. (the 'you idiot' implied) Since Diggle was arrested and in prison, how did the Russian authorities let him leave the country? Felicity couldn't have hacked the system since she doesn't speak Russian. I love the set-up for finding out why HIVE wanted Andy Diggle. Somthing to look forward to next season, I hope.

If the point of the characters is 1) grief sex with an attractive woman or 2) seeing someone can have both wife and children and still be a fighter, I vote for the latter, especially since the description reads "Maseo Yamashiro, who will be introduced in flashbacks as Oliver’s handler. Over time, he also will evolve into a teacher and a friend who helps Oliver step ever closer to becoming the superhero he is today." That sounds like he'll be in the show for a while. Yes, Oliver, you can have a wife, especially one who is able to fight alongside you, although if Oliver grows increasingly unhuman in Hong Kong, I don't know how much he'll be able to help.

I agree. When he said it, it was the truth and given what SA has said in interviews, it's still the truth. Oliver feels that he can't be with Felicity. But because Felicity didn't apply them to herself, it's possible that she's going to interpret them as a lie when she sees him with Sara. She heard "because of what I do, I can't be with someone I could really care about.. and so I spend my time with meaningless sex with women I don't respect" not "I can't be with you". So when she turns around and sees him with Sara, she's going to think that he lied about not being able to be with someone he cares about because it's clear he really cares about Sara. Or at best, she's going to think that Oliver cares about Sara so much that he's willing to chance a relationship with her against his own rules (and that he doesn't care about Felicity herself because he wouldn't break his rule for her).. Sara was also someone Felicity liked and admired. I don't think sleeping with Oliver was inconsequential to Felicity, it never is when you've got feelings for the other person. But it was one more area where Sara kicked ass and she didn't. Like I said, Sara was someone Oliver so cared much about, he was willing to break his rule for her and that had to have hurt.

Paul Blackthorne was on ER s10 playing Alex Kingston's love interest, a womanizing, arrogant, untrustworthy hotshot, rather like pre-island Ollie. (I wonder what his method preparation for that role was.

From the Relationships thread: That makes me wonder why they couldn't write something for Laurel as a character independent of her relationship with Oliver/Arrow. They did for Diggle, a character they had to create from scratch, giving him a military background, knowledge of PTSD. as assassinated brother, an ex-wife and the whole Suicide Squad set-up. They did for Sara and Thea, who also don't exist in the comics. Even Felicity, whose existence pretty much revolves around Oliver, we can see as a strong character in her own right. I think the problem is twofold. The first is KC's acting strengths. There's nothing wrong with a bitchy or unpleasant character, for example from Paul Blackthorne's old show ER which had both Kerry and Romano as anti-heroes the audience ended up caring about. KC is best when she's playing bitchy but they won't let her do it on this show. I don't know why, maybe it's the idea of Dinah Laurel Lance playing an anti-hero that is unacceptable. The second problem is who the Black Canary is, as Orion has talked about above. In the comics she's equal to or more important than the Green Arrow. But this is a TV show about the Green Arrow and it's hard to do the Black Canary justice if they want her as anything other than a sidekick and that will upset comic book fans even more than GA not ending up with BC. Even with Sara, who was still on guest star status, as soon as she joined the team, it became the Oliver & Sara Hour, instead of Arrow or Team Arrow. And people liked Sara. .Good point. The only way I can see keeping Laurel good and on "team Arrow" (as opposed to Team Arrow) is to give her a completely different skill set -- legal -- and away from the black leather jacket fighting squad. Otherwise, they're going to find themselves in an even bigger mess.

Oliver was the alpha guy, the hotshot who led, while Tommy was the follower, the Type B who wanted a good time but also worried that he would hurt the other person. I can see Tommy being Oliver's wing man because he could get the girls that Oliver didn't have room for. Laurel always went for the high status things.