ArctisTor

I think they were attempting, fairly clumsily, to establish the three members of the Brody family - not unlike the members of the Brody family in the "Jaws" movies - affected by the monster in different ways. With the sequel already greenlit, I imagine that's going to follow-through somehow. Either through the boring soldier son or his son grown-up. I enjoyed the movie, but felt it would have been far better served if Cranston and Watanabe had been leading it throughout. I think those two actors and their characters could have carried the movie. I've liked Aaron Taylor Johnson in other things, I just didn't care for him here. I could have done with a lot less of bland soldier guy and his equally bland family. I don't care about the "Jaws" parallels, what worked for those movies didn't really work here.

Though that does rather seem to me like she isn't only aware the lack of on-screen chemistry between her and Amell (or, I guess, any other actor she's ever acted opposite in a romantic/sexual story), but she's also trying to explain it or give some reasoning behind it. Also that it's potentially not going away anytime soon. (Uhm, yay? Stuff to look forward to in the future forcing of the Laurel/Oliver "romance" upon the series!!!) Whether that's the actual reason or not, I don't know, but it does read as damage control to me. It's also unfortunate she seems to be putting things on her and her apparent/supposed discomfort kissing a fellow actor who happens to be married with a kid. Their lack of chemistry is a two-way street. I'm not feeling it from Cassidy, but I'm not getting it at all from Amell either, but again, something she's probably not going to put out there or imply anything - whether there's veracity there or not - about the nature of what their professional relationship may be. Though if what she says is true and I'm not even being glib with this suggestion either - if there's anything that TV could use some more representation when it comes to sexual identity, this is within that category - but the possibility Laurel could come to realize she actually has no real interest in sexual relations with Oliver or anyone else, despite any emotions or feelings? That's she's only done to this point what she feels she's supposed to do or what she thinks the partner she loves/believes she loves wants, but hadn't ever been all that invested in it? Might not be an unwelcome arc for that character. Though there are so many reasons that's incredibly unlikely to happen with regard to American network TV, it's not even worth mentioning it.

I was saying to a friend last night the whole thing feels like they're just checking things off a Prerequisite Comics Canon grocery list and with all the fervor that implies. Here's a black leather jacket and statement how Ollie "needs" her, now where are the roma tomatoes? The writing just doesn't feel like it's there, the chemistry isn't there and I'm not buying what Katie Cassidy is trying to sell (when she seems to be trying? Is she trying?). It all almost seems perfunctory and so I just can't be bothered with any of it. I own up to this being my own wild delusion, but I still cling to the fact they keep calling "Arrow's" Black Canary "The Canary" that it could leave the door open to Laurel not necessarily going the way of the traditional Black Canary but a newer, villainous incarnation. They want to go the way of the unexpected? They should go the way of the unexpected with Laurel and, frankly, I think they desperately need to. Regardless of what Cassidy seems to believe re: the future of her character and what EPs have said (EPs say a lot of stuff in interviews, a lot of it is or can end up being bullshit, it's just the nature of TV storytelling and where things can end up going). I was actually digging Laurel when she was that messy, bitter harpy throwing glasses of booze at people and also the hints she can be really, really manipulative. I just cannot buy her as this goody-goody hero, even if it's a messed-up, recovering alcoholic goody-goody hero (at least when they remembered she was supposed to be an alcoholic and drug addict, yet more evidence the writing can't seem to be really bothered?). It's not only because I've seen some of Cassidy's past work and believe that's where her strengths lie (playing the shifty, evil and bitchy characters), but the writing actually seemed invested when it takes Laurel to those darker, messier places, so, in turn, I was invested in it. Let her rage, let her be nasty, let her be manipulative and blackmail people to get what she wants. I'm not buying into her would-be Hero's Journey and I seriously doubt I ever will. And yeah, I'm also thinking Oliver/Felicity are being steered towards endgame pairing status or at least be a very serious contender for it. Much more so than the comics would suggest (or ever suggest since Felicity Smoak doesn't exist in the Green Arrow universe at all, barring "Arrow"). Whether they go Black or White Canary or whatever the hell they end up doing with Laurel, I think the writers definitely have it on the table she and Oliver may not end up together. My pet theory is they've tossed around the idea of a future "Birds of Prey" spin-off, depending on how "The Flash" does, and if that becomes a viable possibility, they ship Laurel-as-BC off to there and leave Sara (or just about anyone else, honestly) the BC of Starling City at Oliver's side. I don't think they've given up their goes at Laurel/Oliver by any means - Prerequisite Comics Canon Checklist, as I mention above - but... I just don't even think it's bias talking with the reality of the response Oliver/Felicity has had and specifically that "ruse" last night and the stark difference when it comes to just about anything Laurel/Oliver related. The EPs have undoubtedly seen and experienced it all. The EPs have repeatedly acknowledged Stephen-Emily's chemistry too, especially recently knowing what was coming, while I don't think they've ever mentioned once at any point in the series anything similar regarding Katie-Stephen. I think they've since surmised the direction the series will ultimately take and, despite that Checklist, I don't think they or any real kind of significant numbers will balk if they do go the "unexpected" route, at least what we're seeing on-screen regarding "Arrow". The people that may be pissed off probably not all that much of a concern, considering just how much they've already proven willing to wildly deviate from comics canon.

Ruse or not, that was about a hundred-fold more romantic than Laurel/Oliver actually having sex last season. I just... don't know how Laurel/Oliver can ever match-up when they can't to Olicity apparently only (maybe...or not) faking it for the cameras. Stephen's and Emily's chemistry is absolutely ridiculous. Oliver/Felicity weren't only still the story getting all the romantic beats from the start of the season and right to the end, but they even remind me of that deeper level of the Ollie/Dinah romance in the comics and what makes that pairing in the comics appealing to me. The idea of them being this heroic team taking out all the bad guys as well as being in love with each other, but not always knowing how to deal with it and balance it with what they do.

I think one way or another, Slade is going to kill Sara. Simply for her being alive while Shado's dead. Though the thing with that, because she's tied with the League of Assassins like Malcolm Merlyn and Merlyn's whole, "There are parts of the world where death is an illusion"? I don't know if "Arrow's" League has Lazarus Pits, but I wouldn't be shocked they have some equivalent thanks to the existence of a plot device like Mirakuru the magic juice around. Slade wouldn't know the League has anything like this, so just assumes whatever he does, Sara is dead. Maybe everyone else assumes it too, but Nyssa gets her back to Nanda Parbat and manages to save her in the nick of time. Though probably with Sara beholden to the League for the rest of her days, if she isn't already calling them into Starling City for help based on this Wednesday's promo. Basically what I think goes down is Slade intends to wipe out everyone - specifically all the women - who could qualify as Oliver's remaining most loved, Thea, Felicity, Laurel and Sara. Though I think of those four, only Sara will (appear to) die. Malcolm successfully protects Thea (and maybe he dies in the process because there's no last minute salvation for him). Sara tries to protect Laurel, but I think Slade potentially has nearly the whole of his army surrounding Laurel... this is specifically intending Sara to die, knowing or baiting Sara to rescue her sister. Though Slade has just enough respect for Sara to allow Sara to go down fighting. Though what Slade doesn't know is the League has some kind of magic juice of their own, so Sara is saved in the nick of time, just likely sequestered at Nanda Parbat for the foreseeable future (maybe with Sara making guest appearances later on). Slade takes Felicity and Oliver goes to rescue her. This would seem to classify Felicity as Oliver's most beloved. Which I do think she is, at least these days. Though I fully admit I'm all for Oliver/Felicity happening, I don't necessarily need them "endgame" to enjoy the relationship/romance arc. I tend to think they won't be "endgame". I certainly could be wrong and would be glad to own it if I turn out to be, but the way I've always seen post-island Oliver is he's a survivor and he's adapted this kind of Love The One You're With mentality as directly tied to that intensely honed survival instinct. I'm not sure he has conscious awareness he's doing this, but because I think his close relationship to Felicity is tied to that survival instinct and I feel he trusts her in a way he trusts very few others with the exception of Diggle, even Sara (who I feel has sort of been tainted, so to speak, by her association to the League even if Oliver didn't entirely or openly acknowledge this and as much as Oliver trusts Sara personally, I don't think he's ever trusting the likes of the LoA)? He loves Felicity and loves her most of the women close to him, again, at least these days. That could change, if Felicity does or has done something that betrays his trust in a critical way somehow and/or, Oliver's head being what it is, even if it's something maybe not entirely or not at all her fault (like who her father is or turns out to be, for example). I don't think Oliver trusts remotely easily, not even his friends entirely. I think he trusts Diggle and Felicity the most (they're "the only ones that matter") as they know the most about the person he is now, but that deep wariness is really hard for him to shake-off. I'm not sure he ever will and maybe he shouldn't considering how he spends his nights. Though I do think something happens in the finale where he finally reveals more to them and potentially Thea he's ever done before. Maybe it's full disclosure time finally for his team or as close to it as we're getting for now. Hopefully in parallel to this, we start getting more information about Felicity. I could be giving the writers more credit than they deserve, but I could see the irony there of how she's one of the closest characters to the main character/hero, that this distrustful, survivalist hero is potentially in love with her, and she talks so much, yet her background remains so elusive. How Felicity at once appears this open book, yet has this whole background story we only barely know about. Maybe there are things there Oliver could wish (and maybe we wish) he didn't know.

The general viewers not in fandom wouldn't know what Sterek is because Sterek doesn't exist in the series. It's almost completely a fan invention that's run amok. In canon and looking at the series objectively, those two are barely friends. Which doesn't really make it an apropos comparison to Olicity since Olicity have an established close relationship, completely unlike canon Sterek. I wouldn't call Olicity "pandering" anymore than any other latter season romantic storyline like Sawyer/Juliet in "Lost" or Joey/Pacey in "Dawson's Creek" that really worked and made sense in their series. More specifically when it seemed like those characters might be paired off seriously with other characters earlier in the series or were paired off with those other characters and the stories run their course or the stories were shelved (for whatever reason) for the indefinite future. I wouldn't hold it against those latter season romantic pairing arcs just because they weren't there from the inception or the fans they might have had. I didn't consider them "pandering". Oliver/Felicity explored is also hardly inexplicable if we ignore the fans. Felicity hasn't only been a primary member of the main character's core team since halfway through last season, but obviously also one of the few people to know the main character's alter ego for about that long. Add to the fact the chemistry between the actors, the characters being through dangerous situations together, both of them being conventionally attractive, within the same age bracket and the fact the characters are close companions already? Not to mention them being that very popular dynamic of complimentary opposites which happens a lot through all forms of media? Even if there were no fans there, I completely get why they've been explored all throughout this season. I feel like Olicity's pre-existent fandom is throwing people off somewhat or being used as this finger to point blame at something some in fandom, at least I'm presuming, find apparently inexplicable or out of nowhere? Except as I said above, there are a lot of reasons one can lay out why Oliver/Felicity were an attractive option for the writers that don't factor the fan fervor at all. Obviously, the free publicity is nice, but if there wasn't meat on that bone in the series' narrative, they wouldn't have gone there. Clearly they saw something of value there for the series over all and the main character's arc, something they could pull some great stories and episodes out of (and they have done), or they wouldn't have bothered at all. With the money it costs to make TV series, they don't take major story arc decisions lightly. You can bet this was deliberated over carefully for it involving the main character so significantly and with another regular that also has an important role in the series. If it were only about some fans screaming on the internet, that just isn't a sufficient enough reason for writers/EPs to go ahead with anything that would have taken up so much story time, effort and resources to film.

Though one way or another, with "Gotham" out there now, I'm not going to be shocked the Batman talk in "Arrow" fandom will get more prevalent, not less. People wondering when Batman/Bruce Wayne or Nightwing or others from Bat-verse will show up. Even if most of us know Batman is probably showing up in "Arrow" never ever. Nightwing... there were those rumors and that actor from TVD seemed to be preparing himself for the role, but not sure anything came of that or it was pushed to S3...? We did get Harley Quinn, briefly. Though straying away from DC a bit, because I don't put it against any TV series taking influence from whatever hot new (superhero) thing happening now, I also can see influence from the Marvel movie universe. "The Avengers" specifically. Though when they decided to make Felicity Oliver's EA instead of the IT girl at the start of season 2, I immediately thought of Tony and Pepper. She's also literally Tony's His Girl Friday. Also some of the romantic beats between movie!Tony/Pepper and Oliver/Felicity seem similar.

Oh! Great thread idea! Nothing of substance to contribute really, but I love some of those shots of Oliver on that salmon ladder (I love them ALL, let's be real), but there are a few in particular where Oliver's on it in his glorious shirtlessness and they've got steam coming out of the pipes from behind him. Aside from any meta thoughts of the underground Foundry representing a kind of Underworld/Hades (I believe the foundry was a former steel or iron works? Reminds me of Hephaestus), but Stephen's body being hot as hell. LOL

She had been almost resigned to the possibility Slade abducting her that ep Diggle tried to keep watch outside of her house. Like she'd already made peace with the possibility of her death due to the work they do/the danger Slade posed to them all. If she's telling Oliver it's okay and she's not afraid to die, to not give into despair and Oliver not to blame himself? Like Paikea in "Whale Rider" or something? "Arrow" might actually pull a tear or two out of me. Though I'd lean towards her having a vial of the Mirakuru cure in a syringe or dart squirreled away somewhere on her person and she stabs Slade with it. Evening the odds for Oliver to defeat him... but potentially sacrificing herself in the process, because Slade would inevitably kill her for that. I still think that "essence of heroism is to die so others may live" line Oliver said in "City of Blood" was foreshadowing. Just not for his (possible) death, but Felicity's. Not that I think an Oliver or Felicity death would stick at this point in time, even if they have to inject her with Mirakuru (or toss her into a Lazarus Pit or something) to bring her back.

Very spoilery images c/o Tumblr (all the promo images from 2x23 c/o SpoilerTV): https://31.media.tumblr.com/2f039ab939ca315669355d1812f155c4/tumblr_n59tgvk9qu1t2isbco1_1280.jpg https://31.media.tumblr.com/af922f2683d9ac7d23749ba0adf8d603/tumblr_n59tgvk9qu1t2isbco2_1280.jpg That looks like they're in the basement of a large building? Queen Consolidated, maybe?

I'm not convinced Thea shot him at all. Especially in the case of Malcolm Merlyn, unless we see a body literally bleeding on the ground and clearly lifeless, I won't believe he's dead. They didn't show us a felled Malcolm, so I totally believe he's still alive. I think, like some specs I've seen around, Thea shot a Mirakuru soldier coming up behind Malcolm. Also putting this out there, I think despite Slade having opportunities to kill Thea several times now, I think she's still Slade's final target, the last of Oliver's family and the one he loves most. Oliver calling her basically "pure of heart" in the last ep kind of made me think of virgins sacrificed to dragons and such. Slade was just biding his time until her death aligned perfectly with his Make Oliver Suffer plan. Though I think this partly because I see a Slade vs. Malcolm Merlyn showdown way too tempting for the writers. I feel like it had to happen the second we found out Malcolm was coming back and it was something they'd likely save for the season finale. So, we get Slade vs. Malcolm, Malcolm doesn't succeed, Thea is taken and that mobilizes the entire team.

The fact Diggle - who doesn't have a knee that was kicked in by a guy jacked on Mirakuru and also didn't just have a ton of masonry fall on him in the sewer - would have been much more physically sound to carry Felicity around. However, Oliver carries Felicity anyway, specifically hands his bow over to Diggle so he can do it. There was literally no reason for it aside from Oliver simply wanting to carry Felicity, despite what had to be considerable pain from his knee and the masonry. Oh, Oliver.

Oliver and Felicity look at each other and they put Oliver/Laurel's sex scene last season to shame. That's lightning in a bottle kind of chemistry. Though I'm already befuddled double over if they do force Laurel into the Black Canary role eventually and equally force Lauriver endgame? How are both of these arcs not going to be compared to the arcs that came before? Laurel-BC constantly compared to Sara-BC (and left wanting), the Lauriver love story compared to the Olicity love story which does indeed seem to be happening (and Lauriver left wanting)? As if Katie Cassidy weren't already climbing up a very steep mountain, they throw the Sara-BC and Olicity boulders at her as well? If I didn't know better and despite the gushing they do in interviews about KC/Laurel, I'd seriously wonder if the writers/EPs were legitimately trying to sabotage KC/Laurel, but try to do it so no one of relevance (KC or her people or whoever keeps pushing she stay in "Arrow") realizes what they're doing.

All these Katie Cassidy interviews of late and her really seeming to try to make any kind of effort, even being super-gushy? When she's pretty much done little to zip with regard to promoting her character, much less "Arrow" as a whole, in ages? I suppose this is what my brain does, but all I could think was she's getting in whatever self-promotion she can while she can because she knows: A) The media has a tendency to focus on certain aspects of "Arrow", herself and her character tend not to be among those things. (From what I can tell, the media tends to love the action sequences/stunts, Oliver/Stephen Amell, Team Arrow, Olicity and Felicity/EBR). B) If any significant attention is given to any of these other aspects of "Arrow" the media loves in the last two eps of the season? She knows she's likely going to get steamrolled and she and her character potentially forgotten all summer. Even if Laurel does manage to get some story which could be considered relevant in the overall narrative / season 3, Cassidy believes the media won't focus on that or won't care. Or worse, could even potentially pan it, make it some kind of punchline and then ignore it. C) I think she and the EPs already know whatever happens probably won't turn the audience tide in favor of her character, so she's got to try to focus on working the media. Again, while she can. I'm wondering if whatever Laurel has left in the last two eps, we pretty much saw the bulk of it in the trailers? 2x22 could be the last portion of Laurel in any substantial way for the remainder of the season? Hence all the more reason Cassidy is getting out there right now. Of course, the media tends to focus on the stuff they know will get them some traffic/sell magazines and considering that, more often than not, tends NOT to be news about Cassidy or her character in "Arrow"? I think she's either in denial of that or her people have encouraged her to put herself out there much more than she has done the past several months because they know they may not get many more opportunities after whatever happens in the finale happens. I'm just wondering if something's happened where things got very real for her and potentially for her place in "Arrow" and it's finally got her out there doing something about it. Except it all kind of feels way too little, too late. Though anything here is basically Sisyphus climbing up that mountain considering how indifferent the fans and media are to or flat-out dislike Laurel. Largely for sound, justifiable reasons and unfortunately for her, it's not all her fault and that other stuff she can do virtually nothing about. When the writing for Laurel isn't schizophrenic, it's just plain dull and removed from the action or some mess of all three of those. As many have pointed out, doesn't help in the slightest either she has almost this anti-chemistry with Stephen Amell. It's like a void every time Laurel and Oliver are in a scene together attempting to be ~romantic~.

That was probably it since they're giving us the good stuff now: http://www.spoilertv.com/2014/05/arrow-episode-222-streets-of-fire-sneak_7.html There's the Malcolm Merlyn we were waiting for.

That certainly isn't only a sharp contrast to Oliver, obviously, but it's a sharp contrast to Sara too. Sara who used Oliver's bow without needing to be talked step-by-step through the process and shot a man about 50 ft away to save Oliver. Sara who is the Black Canary, while Laurel.... is not. Sara who will be coming back very, very soon. Laurel's shot and having to be coached reminds me more of Roy's shooting lessons and him barely able to hit the target. Then the placating encouragement from Sara as one does when one is coaching someone new to something. Roy is a novice and sidekick and Laurel also seems to be placed in this position, whether she realizes it or not. Problem is, I doubt Laurel would care for that. I don't think she'd abide to any realization she's a third wheel or not Oliver's equal (and not equal to any of Team Arrow, for that matter). That Sara fits in his world so much better than she does, that Sara has a place (which will be proven probably with whatever action sequences we get in 2x22 or 2x23 that Laurel witnesses. Sara, a trained assassin with her assassin cohorts in tow, able to take down Mirakuru soldiers when all Laurel could do was ineffectually hit one with a pipe that only forced Oliver to save her ass). Laurel could be taught, but the notion she'd be somehow subordinate to Oliver, have to be mentored by him, but also potentially his partners and until she brings something definitive to the table, she could get benched for however long it takes? I don't think her pride could withstand that.

It could have also been by way of Isabel's assessment of Oliver/Felicity's relationship - or lack thereof - that Slade never bothered giving her a second glance. This compounded with Felicity being this geeky, babbling IT girl and - perhaps in "Arrow" universe - not considered as conventionally attractive as Laurel Lance (or Sara or any of the well-known women Oliver has been romantically attached). Slade arrogantly thinking he's right all the time and knows Oliver's every move before he makes it? He wouldn't see Felicity coming at all.

In lieu of another DC television series with a new shiny trailer out, here's a thread to discuss the influences on "Arrow" and comparing/contrasting it to other superhero (or non-superhero) stories of any medium. Though based on that "Gotham" trailer, which definitely seemed to have taken notes from Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, and "Arrow" already having considerable influence from the Dark Knight trilogy as is? If "Gotham" is a hit, I wonder if that might put pressure on the "Arrow" folks to push the limit more on how dark they can make "Arrow"? Speaking more aesthetically here than anything, because I imagine they could only get away with so much 'dark' in the storylines with the timeslot they're in, but could we see a darker Starling City in the future? Grittier and less brightly lit?

Technically, it's who SLADE thinks is the most important person to Oliver, not necessarily who actually is the most important person. I do think Slade will abduct Laurel, it makes sense considering Oliver had been pining away for Laurel while he was on the island and, as yet, I do think Oliver still thinks she is the most important person. I think Oliver, much like Felicity, has been in deep denial about their feelings for each other and so even if Slade had surveillance on them, because of that denial and Felicity - superficially - not really reading as Oliver's (or Slade's either, for that matter) type, per se, Slade's completely overlooked her. However, though I don't think we can deny Laurel being "close to Oliver's heart", so that is technically true. She's just not the only one close to his heart and may not be the closest anymore. It just may take something climactic for everyone's eyes to be opened to that. Targeting Laurel also gets back at Sara, so would make her the most convenient target for Slade, seemingly perfect. I just don't thinks she's as perfect a target as Slade thinks she is. I think the "unthinkable" may be more than one thing in the ep and most of it focused on Team Arrow. No here I go buckwild with the specs/predictions, but I think Felicity appears to die (though she actually doesn't) due to a heroic sacrifice. That line Oliver said and right to Felicity, about a hero only being a hero because they're willing to die or something along those lines, seemed too foreshadowing. After Tommy's death and his mother's it's one death too many for him and that's what drives Oliver over the no kill vs. kill edge and he's in kill mode. It also ties back to 2x03 vs. 2x06 and who Oliver is apparently willing to kill for. Laurel was in real danger via the Dollmaker, but Oliver restrained himself from killing him (didn't restrain Sara though). He couldn't restrain himself when Felicity was in similar peril via The Count. So, in blind rage and grief, Oliver does the "unthinkable" and takes the Mirakuru intending to lay waste to Slade for Felicity's death, also maybe expecting to die because of it (not believing he can control the rage, so tells Diggle to shoot him in the head when/if he loses control, which could be another "unthinkable" thing, asking Diggle to kill him). Though Slade doesn't realize Oliver was pushed over the edge because of Felicity, not because of Laurel (Laurel kidnapped may be part of it). Ultimately, Slade - perhaps much like Laurel - doesn't know Oliver as well as he thinks and so doesn't know what he's unleashed or why. When Slade realizes what's happening and/or Oliver starts turning the tide, he may offer to let Laurel go, but then that won't stop him, because it wasn't really about Laurel. That and the Mirakuru may have already taken too much hold over Oliver. This is also kind of gross, but I also suspect there might be seeds planted of Stockholm Syndrome between Slade and Laurel while he has her. I think they may have been planning something to happen or start to happen between Slade and Laurel in the planning stages of the season. I'm thinking way back on the promo art for season 2 and how we have all the major relationships of the season paired off together. Team Arrow is front and center, Roy and Thea off to the right, but there's also Laurel and Slade paired together to the left. That always seemed rather odd to me and was wondering if that would ever pay any dividends in the season arc. It could be we may see it in the finale and potentially into season 3. I think Slade could also potentially tell her the truth about her father and that he knew about Sara being alive and being Black Canary for months and hadn't said anything to her or her mother. Which could alienate Laurel from Quentin. Whatever else happening in the finale could alienate Laurel from Oliver too. Slade setting himself up as seemingly the only person telling Laurel the truth, a beginning of a dark seduction and Laurel has been becoming a pretty dark character all season. Not to mention that anvil-dropping line, "Once you let the darkness in, it never comes out." Slade is also played by Manu Bennett, off his rocker as Slade is, I have suspected it too tempting for the writers to pair him off with someone eventually. Because I don't think Isabel Rochev will be long for this world and unless it's someone new or Amanda Waller (shout-out to Crixus and Naevia?), it could end up being Laurel. More especially if Laurel is recruited by ARGUS, which I think has been rumored to happen (though WHY Waller would want or need a DA who was almost disbarred for her substance abuse issues, I don't even know). Slade and Laurel would also have being victims of substance abuse in common, both of their lives ruined or nearly so because of it and come to regret the things they did while under the influence. Strangely make them kindred spirits in that way and, in some ways, may legitimately be the only ones who 'get' each other and, in theory, with Laurel alienated from her father, she'd lose him to parlay with over this common ground. Not to mention Laurel getting dark and Slade already dark. Then we get an arc of Laurel trying to resist that darkness, but ultimately succumbing to it anyway. Also because I think Manu is a stronger actor than Stephen Amell and Manu is the sort of actor who could have chemistry with about everyone and anything, I think he may make for a stronger scene partner opposite Katie Cassidy than Amell or even Paul Blackthorne (one of the very few actors I feel does work in scenes with Cassidy).

I also think that's why Oliver values Diggle's and Felicity's camaraderie so much. They helped and help give his Arrow role more meaning in the humanist sense, in turn, help give his life more meaning. They both literally help him reconnect with his humanity when one could say he'd basically been honed into this primal creature for 5 years who'd lost his humanity. Help maintain that balance between the man and the monster he's capable of being (many commented over on TWOP that Oliver was essentially a serial killer in season 1 with the cold-blooded killing and crossing names off a list, I don't disagree). Some primal creature solely concerned about his own survival and in constant life & death struggles. They both help remind him there's more to living than just surviving. There was and is more to the work they do than just cold-blooded revenge. In a way, one could see it as a metaphor for storytelling. If there isn't conflict or challenge, there really is no story. It's kind of just nothing or empty. One could say like Oliver himself pre-island, going from party to party and girl to girl (cheating on a woman he supposedly loved all the while, though seems clear whatever he was searching for, he just wasn't finding it in those girls and not with Laurel either). I think of that line from "The Hours", "Mrs. Dalloway, always throwing parties to cover the silence." Like Oliver tried to fill his life with a lot of noise and stuff, ultimately to prove meaningless and so he was never satisfied. He was nothing and his life was empty. Often a likely story for those partyboy characters in fiction. However, that's kind of why I suspect something terrible is going to happen - or at least appear to happen - to either Diggle or Felicity (and I'm leaning towards Felicity) in the upcoming eps that's going to make Oliver absolutely crack. That hold he had on his humanity broken and he's going to give into his monstrous side, at least temporarily. Right up until whatever he thought happened to that member of Team Arrow turns out not to have happened and he comes back to himself.

Though the thing with Red Arrow, Speedy and Arrowette... they're all sidekicks. There's some debate there on them being partners, usually from the aforementioned sidekicks, but they all popularly have subordinate or secondary positions to the de facto leader, Green Arrow. All the major arcs of those characters in the comics were largely coming of age stories and growing into their hero roles. Roy's role in that was distinct and clearly Oliver was his mentor or attempted mentor, as the case may be. Also for Roy's young age. His novice status is unquestioned and completely understandable. Laurel in red - though she got awfully bossy in the Arrowlair - doesn't really bode well for her being any kind of an "equal" anytime soon, despite her attitude. That could be something she learns in rather glaring, if perhaps also painful, detail in the episodes to come. A hard pill to swallow for a woman who views herself as this strong, independent Single Female Lawyer, but she's a total newbie to this world of vigilantes, heroes and archnemeses. She doesn't and shouldn't really know what she's doing (and yeah, I'm writing off her apparent "good shot" with Oliver's bow a lucky shot, I don't imagine she's going to get another in that episode... my guess actually is she gets abducted by the villain... which is the embarrassing fate of many a sidekick in comics). More especially if - as I've been suspecting - her desire to step into this world (as if she owns it) and truly learn what Oliver does and what Oliver is may be a Be Careful What You Wish For scenario for her. And yeah, I also suspect she'll be proven wrong in her belief she "knows" Oliver better than anyone. I don't think she really knows what Oliver is capable of and there are ample opportunities she could find out in this season's finale with the corner Slade is forcing Oliver into. Making Oliver increasingly desperate. While we're explicitly given dialogue by Oliver himself and not to mention the actions of both prove it, Diggle and Felicity are "partners", equals to Oliver in their own ways. Laurel isn't being placed in that position at all. Oliver even essentially tried to put her in the kiddie table (refused to let her go on the mission) because it was about the core trinity. However, in nosy, foolhardy sidekick fashion, she sauntered into danger anyway and like many an upstart sidekick, likely without getting the full mission brief or having a real idea of what she was charging half-cocked into. Does she even know what Mirakuru is, much less what it does to people? The red color also really off-sets her from the dark green and black of Team Arrow. Woman sticks out like a sore thumb. Roy wore red too, obviously, but at least they tended to film him in the shadows and in the dark a lot. The red sidekick color also fit Roy (whether he's ultimately Arsenal, Speedy or Red Arrow). Laurel is lit up like a damn Christmas tree with those colors.

I do feel like the class issues are something that one could see being there in “Arrow”, but either totally overshadowed for the action sequences or the dramatic moments. Like who Blood targeted for recruits and when Diggle calls Oliver out in season 1 for wanting to “gentrify” the Glades and how that’s not as great an idea as Oliver (a privileged rich man) thinks it is. It’s why I think there could be some validity in my assessment of Laurel carrying a chip on her shoulder and internalized a lot of the class discrimination she experienced rubbing shoulders with so many super-rich kids. This influencing her choices, potentially influencing Sara’s too. That for all Laurel tried to be the Good Girl, over-achiever and seeming Be Better than those around her. Sara went the opposite route, that she partied with them, but didn’t try to fit within their apparent social norms. Like Laurel had to work twice as hard to get just as much as what the super-rich like Oliver or Tommy get handed to them (Like Oliver is made the CEO of his family’s Fortune 500 company because he inherited the role, forget he knows nothing about business or running any kind of business). I’d hate to think it, but maybe a small portion in Laurel also grooming herself to be the would-be future Mrs. Oliver Queen though, again, if she did think this to any degree, I do think it was mostly unconscious on her part. Laurel working so hard to be exemplary because that’s what would be expected of a billionaire’s wife (and to be able to fill Moira Queen’s shoes, quite big shoes to fill). Though Laurel had, unfortunately, already been emulating Moira a little too much in the sense of both having had unfaithful romantic partners. Though Moira knew about Robert’s infidelity, Laurel seemed to be totally ignorant of Oliver’s until the Queen’s Gambit sank… which is amazing as to how she somehow missed it with how indiscrete Oliver seemed to be? I go back to my thoughts on Laurel clinging really hard to some fantasy ideal of both Oliver and their relationship rather than necessarily seeing Oliver for the person he really was. Like you said Alibelle, Laurel seeing Oliver too much like this “prize” and not as a person. It struck me how proud Oliver seemed to be when he hit that pile of wood with the flaming arrow on the second try, hundreds of feet away. Had he ever actually had to work to earn anything in his life until he landed on that island? Probably not. I’ve had discussions with a friend regarding the similarities between Oliver’s parents and Laurel, namely how they all seemed to enable him and seemed to do very little of the way of treating him like the adult he was. Likely never often called him on it when he’d done wrong or messed up either and when he had a problem, they just magically made it go away or just never spoke of it or acknowledged it. Laurel either didn’t know or was willfully blind to Oliver’s rampant infidelity and partying all the time. The fact he dropped out of four colleges and Robert treats it like a joke. How Moira expects Oliver to always break his promises, but then she never seemed to encourage him to keep them or confront him when he broke them, so how does she expect he keep them? Who actually did the parenting? Did he ever get any kind of real parenting? What kind of relationships were built here – though love may have been there with all these relationships – when it seemed Oliver was always the one enabled and getting away with murder? Not putting this all on Oliver’s parents or Laurel, Oliver certainly bears some blame for how he turned out after he got to a certain age and still seemed to fail to take any responsibility for his life. Though due to how he was raised? That enabling and negligence possibly internalized in Oliver and compounded with the trauma of the island experience that forced him into this extreme survivalist? It’s kind of no surprise Oliver is so messed up in the head and likely with the self-respect and self-worth issues he seems to have.

I think my favorite theory I've seen around is her dad may be Ted Kord (aka, Blue Beetle, a genius inventor/scientist and so where Felicity could have gotten it). They'd have a window for Kord Enterprises, which has been name-dropped before in the series a few times, to become very relevant if they use it to help save Queen Consolidated. Whatever brouhaha the writers pull out of their asses claiming QC is in trouble, that is. Ted partly seeing a wise business venture and wanting to save the jobs of all those thousands of employees, but also Ted maybe wanting to reconnect with his daughter, Felicity. They could connect or parallel this to Oliver's arc too, maybe claim Ted left behind his family due to fearing for their lives due to his secret superhero shenanigans? Oliver - if he is in a relationship with Felicity by this point - still fearing for Felicity's safety being the woman the Arrow loves. Though both being superheroes and both concerned for Felicity's safety, that could make for a really contentious relationship between Oliver and Ted, not to mention Oliver's more than checkered past with relationships. This would also put the shoe on the other foot of Felicity finding herself with billions at her disposal if she should desire it and Oliver the one who's penniless (thanks to the writers handwaving any real knowledge of billionaires and their bookkeeping). It could be Felicity who funds Team Arrow's efforts if Thea, depending on whether she finds out Oliver's secret or not, rejects the Merlyn fortune. Ted Kord would be an interesting addition to "Arrow" and he'd fit in the universe for his lack of superpowers. Also with the popularity of the "Iron Man" movies, I wouldn't be shocked Ted, if he appears, is more like Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark (another billionaire genius inventor/scientist) than he is his actual comics counterpart.

Like y'all here, if I'm basing the assessment on who they intend Oliver to be with in a significant way (and at least for the time being), I'd lean a lot more towards Felicity than Laurel right now. Despite the last ep, what seems to be happening in Wednesday's and EP interviews. The thing about EP interviews is that they talk a lot of talk for any number of reasons, mostly it is the publicity. However, it's definitely possible they could be trying to placate or reassure certain fans, in this case, I'd guess it's the comics canon purists (who I think make up the Laurel/Oliver fanbase for the most part. Since, as many of you pointed out, it's hard to tell what exactly it is of Laurel/Oliver, solely based on their "Arrow" storylines, that would draw anyone to the pairing, aside from totally shallow reasons). Placate and reassure them because there's a significant Oliver/Felicity arc coming and possibly starting as of the S2 finale and the EPs know the comics purists are going to be upset by it, hence all the interviews of late. One could say Katie Cassidy was also placating these fans in the Calgary Expo with the way she described any Laurel/Oliver coming, like the EPs, trying to reassure those fans that Laurel/Oliver would be endgame... but, reading between the lines, not anytime soon. As for the Laurel/Oliver in the last ep and Wednesday's, I'm thinking it might be misdirection. Laurel/Oliver fucked in last season's finale arc and they seem to be trumping up the Laurel/Oliver again in this season's finale, but I think they're going to pull the rug out from under this one. Namely out from under Laurel's feet. I think Sara was indeed referring to Felicity as Oliver's "light". Sara - like Diggle - would have been there in the Arrow-lair every day and likely saw how Felicity effects and influences Oliver, vice versa. I do think we're supposed to see Diggle as having long since surmised something significant going on there between Oliver and Felicity, being around both all the time and often in tense, dangerous situations (him basically calling Oliver out on his jealousy in "The Scientist" [?], along with other moments him acknowledging the Oliver/Felicity elephant in the room in some way). Honestly, unless we were just going to assume Diggle was mistaken in "The Scientist", we were likely supposed to take Diggle's comment on what Oliver's really feeling (and for whom) for the truth. Something we weren't meant just to forget either and it wasn't "ship teasing". Ship teasing would, for example, have been that Tarzan and Jane moment that Olicity had way back in "City of Heroes" (the first one in the jungle). Though we've not only consistently gotten moments like that strewn out all over the season, a few in "City of Heroes" by itself IIRC (interesting they open the season that way too), we've also got Diggle's comment and others like it, that's well beyond ship teasing at this point, but banking on at least one character's own intelligence and observance skills to acknowledge what's there in series canon. We are led to believe Diggle is quite intelligent and observant based on two seasons of character development, hence they're very likely not just "teasing" Oliver/Felicity.