MarDelSol

Unless you're referring to something else I don't see, that's Malcolm. You can see it in the next episode's preview

A part of me still thinks this is an elaborate fakeout for Thea. I'm not sure the writers can resist killing another woman.

If someone passes away at the end of 19, then 20 might open with one of those closeup scenes where the actor walks around in a daze with a camera attached to their body. It's a handy way to convey shock and disorientation.

lmao I just noticed that Mia was randomly swapped out for Cupid in #40 in the cover (and probably the issue as well). Kreisberg is shameless. I guess he heard his Green Arrow run was ending and had to get a Cupid plug in there somehow.

Heh. Yeah, but that character made him popular for whatever reason. I guess teen girls just loved looking at him.

Because social media follows of actors do not equal viewers. It's not like Teen Wolf tanked in the ratings after he left. The ratings grew.

If it is Roy, I don't think I'll mind much. He's improved this season but he's still fairly boring/inessential. And Colton, bless his kind heart, doesn't help things. I'd be a little shocked though. This show killing off a white male superhero with a bunch of comic canon? Whoa. I always figured Thea or Diggle were next in line on the chopping block. That's part of why I think this might just be a misdirect.

Probably not. DC is already dumping Andrew Kreisberg and the other guys and bringing in a new creative team in a few months.

I love how much the writers were saying Malcolm isn't really evil, how Malcolm is motivated by love for his family and honor and all that nonsense and then he does this: brainwashes his kid to murder a friend of theirs and then uses the kid's life as leverage to save his own. So stupid. If you're going to write a character like that, that's perfectly fine. But please don't pretend they're some complex, morally gray character.

Of course. This is the same show where the head writer, a former lawyer, forgot that conflict of interest was a thing.

No. I think it'll go something like this: Oliver is worried about Ra's threat on the city. He meets up with Thea for Christmas. He hugs her extra tight and says that line about protecting her, to which she's obviously confused. "What do you mean?" "Just that I'll always be there for you/It's nothing/whatever." I'm guessing he doesn't confront Malcolm about the murder. He finds out Thea's been hanging around with him and that's what enrages him, probably threatening him to stay away. Only the audience will find out about who killed Sara. Team Arrow will think Oliver was framed. He'll go off to Ra's to demand a trial by combat. One of the last scenes of the episode will reveal Thea being the real killer (barf). Then the show will drag this crap out until episode 12 when Sin reveals whatever and the characters figure it out. Then lots of terrible melodrama follows.

You might be right. While they were filming in the episode 10 to 11 range, Barrowman posted a selfie with Holland on set, both in winter clothes. You can only see a little bit of the set behind them, but the buildings look old and worn as if they could be in some old mountain town or something. I was thinking something similar when I first saw that pic: that Malcolm and Thea either go looking for Oliver or already know where he is and go to him. I'll go post the pic in the SPOILERS thread.

Agreed about it looking like Oliver. But it is Thea's place. That's from when Malcolm was peeping on Oliver and Thea like a weirdo. It has the same brick on the side and the same metal rail design outside.

Looks like a Christmas tree ornament. I'm sure it'll be the opposite of what we want, and it'll be more like Felicity calling Thea a monster for killing Sara and blaming her for Oliver's death/sacrifice/Leaguening.

If Thea murdered Sara, then I'm probably done with this show. It would be so monumentally stupid and nonsensical. And I could totally see the writers doing it. It's exactly the kind of moronic twist done purely for shock value I expect at this point. And I'd feel pretty bad for Willa Holland. Like, here's her character's trajectory: Clearly a bunch of nods early on to her becoming Ollie's sidekick with Thea/Mia/Dearden/Speedy and archery trophies. I'm sure the EPs even told her as much when they hired her. She's then used as a rich brat who represents the worst teen melodrama CW-ness of the show. Then instead of bringing her into the fold and making her Ollie's sidekick, her character is pretty much only used to introduce a male character, Roy, and give reasons for Roy to get closer to Oliver and eventually be his sidekick. She's mainly used as Roy's Girlfriend, or a damsel for either Roy or Oliver to save. She becomes the reason the Queen family fortune is lost. She nonsensically goes off with Merlyn, a mass murderer who she loathes (at least this part had some storytelling promise to get her trained and put her in the A storylines despite making little sense). In the very next episode she murders a fan favorite character.