apinknightmare

It looks the same, minus a glove.

Yeah, she's carried that jacket around and worn it and smiled like a loon when Sara gave it to her. If she's "honoring" her sister and then "becoming" her sister, and they've used that jacket as some kind of symbolism, why did they make the sleeves on her BC costume look like Sara's instead of incorporating the actual jacket somehow? They could still have a completely different overall-looking costume while still using the same jacket.

Yeah, I haven't been surprised in a good way so far, but I'm open to giving it time to play out. And I'll forever be bitter at myself for believing the "lighter, gentler" Arrow business.

About the BC costume - I'm a little baffled as to why they don't have her wearing Sara's jacket? Someone suggested that it might be a situation where she doesn't feel like she's "earned" it or whatever, but it's so strange that they designed a costume that has the exact same design on the sleeves. And yeah, those buckles are stupid. I don't look for complete practicality in my superhero costumes, but that buckle situation is just ridiculous.

People did correctly guess at Thea being brainwashed and the outcome of the duel (which was somewhat easier since they're ripping off the Ra's storyline from the Batman comics). My point isn't that they don't do predictable things, it's that sometimes those predictable things do lead to surprising outcomes, and that reading people's theories on what certain spoilers mean shouldn't deter someone from watching the show. Get deterred by the things that actually happen, not by what we think is going to happen.

+2. And it's strange because I usually like everyone when they're in scenes with Felicity, and Ray's one person I think I'd like more if he wasn't around her. Or if he wasn't a romantic interest for her - and this has nothing to do with shipping tendencies, because I was for Ray before I was against him, haha. And I could even be somewhat okay with SOME of the personal boundaries issues (not the pinging her phone, but maybe banging on her door early in the morning type thing) if he was just some genius who needed her brain power to do good in the city and wasn't kissing her and running off or sharing sob stories about this dead fiancee after tracking her to a nightclub. Just a good old-fashioned fun working relationship with no stalking or crazy eyes.

If it makes you feel any better, I've been reading spoilers ever since I first started watching, even while I was binging, and nothing really ever seems to happen the way anyone thinks it will. Like, people thought Felicity might get kidnapped in the finale, but I don't recall anyone calling that it would be a ruse. When pictures of Laurel holding the bow from 2x22 were released, people got worried that she was going to become some kind of archery prodigy, but it was nothing. It's all part and parcel in killing time between eps and during breaks, but don't let spoilers and spoiler analysis deter you - we're almost never right, haha. We might guess about an outcome, but we're usually wrong about how the show gets there. Or we're right about a turn of events, but are wrong about where they go with it.

True. He even said as much!

Oh, most definitely. And honestly, this is my first season actually watching these beginning to middle episodes live. I didn't come in until nearly halfway through S2, so I was able to binge watch all of that, and I just try to think about what I would have thought about those episodes if I had watched them while they were airing instead of being able to breeze through one right after the other. What I saw in the beginning of last season wouldn't have ever led me to believe I'd get what I got in the end, so I'm trying to keep some modicum of faith that this is all (clumsy and plot-driven, yes) setup for something that I might enjoy more later in the season.

I'm really interested in this suit now - If they're not going full Iron Man, I wonder if he's just going to have, like...plates of armor with gadgetry on certain areas of his body so that it's more protection than a suit? Like something over his chest, some gadgety on his forearms and thighs and whatnot.

Yeah, the tone of that article wasn't so great, but that was the writer's interpretation of what MG said, so...I'm trying to not get worked up over stuff like that because it causes undue emotional stress, haha. And I guess maybe I'm in the minority here, but I actually think that of all the OOC-ness and writing to plot, they've by and large done a pretty good job at handling Oliver and Felicity's relationship. There have been a few head scratchers, but the relationship is generally being handled in a way that I think makes sense and is in character. Would I change some of it? Sure - I think the Oliver Queen vs. Arrow stuff is stupid thus far, because the only thing he's doing to not be Oliver Queen is be with Felicity, but maybe that'll make sense later? It's tough to say at this point. But everything as far as the two of them (and I'm talking just about how they relate to each other, not how Felicity is with Ray, etc.) is okay with me and about lives up to what I had expected for this show on this network. So, while a lot of the other things they've done on the show puzzle me, Oliver and Felicity themselves with regard to their relationship with each other? I don't really worry about that.

I think Oliver was suggesting they get a place because they both needed somewhere to stay and they were sleeping together, so why not? And Sara knew that he was blissfully ignorant of the connotations of something like that. I think it was less "What are you talking about?" and more "Do you realize what you're asking?" Because I really don't think he did.

My comment about Ray actually had zero to do with his viability as a love interest or even how they've portrayed him (I agree with what you wrote). That comment had more to do with the reaction to MG's interview ("we chart our own course," and the part of the article that said Olicity fans aren't going to be happy at the end of 3x12) - We knew it wasn't going to be an easy road for O/F, we knew there was a ship block in Ray coming up, we knew O/F weren't going to be together right away. But that interview comes out and the only new piece of information in it was that something-we don't even know what-is going to happen with Felicity (and we now know per MG that it has nothing to do with Ray) that's not going to be good news for her relationship with Oliver, and it spurred a mass freak-out about how Olicity fans are being jerked around, about how Lauriver 2.0 is now back in the cards and is Felicity going to be killed off for that to happen. I absolutely know that the level of distrust fans have for the writers/producers of the show plays into knee-jerk reactions like these and I absolutely know the fear of investing your time into something that's just one giant tease. But I also know the fandom cycle of getting all riled up over one initial interview, then subsequent articles come out and clarify the initial comment or...whatever, then people calm down a bit (I am 100% guilty of this from time to time). Everyone processes things differently, and boards like this are for writing those things out and discussing them, but that comment was just sort of a, "hey - nothing's happening that we didn't already know was going to happen."

I thought it was a general statement about Felicity being stretched thin this season, but it could've been just in reference to that one episode. I don't remember.

I'm not going to worry about Laurel getting integrated into Felicity's place until there's some indication that's going to happen. I was worried about that happening at the beginning of the season when it came out that she'd be working with Team Arrow, and it turns out she hasn't really done that much with them after all. I'm more interested in what the team is going to tell her about Oliver's disappearance/death and if she finds out that Thea was ultimately responsible for Sara's death and that Oliver fought Ra's to save her. I think that will go a long way towards telling what kind of integration she'll have on the team in the future - I imagine it would be hard for her to get over that. Granted, they could have her get over it immediately to show a forgiving spirit, but they've never really gone the sympathetic route with her.

It could be, at least for a little while. Especially since someone (I can't remember which EP) said that Ray's on a different trajectory, and it also ties in with EBR saying earlier this season that Felicity's going to feel a little stretched and have difficulty juggling everything. Not sure how I feel about it - I'd have to see how they do it.

Oh, that was just a general comment to her being included on that list! I think that dress is maybe not entirely event-appropriate, but I think she looks good in it. I don't even think she belongs on a list with all those other travesties.

Her speech made me cry. She's so great and I love her show so much. I'm so happy for her!

I actually don't think KC's is that bad compared to the rest. Yikes.

Plus, he has a tendency to be sensational and miss the mark in terms of how he thinks the audience will react. Whatever it is probably won't be too bad, and hopefully will make sense for Felicity (whatever it is).

No, she said that she has some information about Felicity from the TCA that isn't about Ray. I think she's got her own arc, and then she's got one with Ray.

I actually like Ray apart from Felicity, so I agree. I really don't think they intended to make him so creepy, and apart from her with a do-over as a love interest (or no love interest at all), I could see the appeal if they made him tone down the crazy eyes. I probably wouldn't watch it though, haha.

They think people don't like her because she's not BC yet. So, in their minds, they are "fixing" her.

Ray Palmer isn't completely disliked - I've definitely seen some comments from people who do like him. But I'm a little surprised that they're talking about a spin-off for him - they must be very preliminary plans. He hasn't even put on a suit yet. I think he'd be fine away from Felicity; he actually is generally pretty likable, but his behavior toward her is creepy and over the line. I think I'd like him in a role where he was sans love interest, or maybe with a different love interest with a fresh start where the writers have (hopefully) learned from the mistakes they've made with him.