apinknightmare

So? If they're showing us a flashback, it's probably from a part of the evening we didn't see. Felicity's wearing the exact same thing down to the necklace and earrings - that's not a coincidence.

Guys, he's leaning in to kiss her before he even gives her the necklace. Dude does NOT waste time.

Yeah, they're all wearing the same clothes. It has to be a flashback.

Yeah, I think pictures like the ones with Ray are specifically to get us all riled up and will wind up not being exactly like they're made out to be. Although I can't imagine any scenario in which him handing her a dress to wear wouldn't be creepy (maybe she mentions she has one at the dry cleaners earlier? Maybe she has some dry cleaning in her office? IDK), maybe it is already hers and there's a logical explanation for it. The necklace is very Pretty Woman though. Guys, words cannot express how I want Ray to not be creepy. I wanted to root for them, but...I just can't, haha.

^ It's giving me Streets of Fire feels. Don't crash the van, Dig!

Not gonna judge until I see how it plays out, not gonna judge until I see how it plays out...

I have occasionally wondered if she's one of the people who was going "further from their comic counterpart" or whatever it was that AK or MG said at the end of last season with regards to S3. But then I figure that's wishful thinking and too good to be true and I push that thought far, far, far away.

See, I thought this scene would be an emotional goodbye of sorts, since I think it's going to appear that Oliver dies instead of him willingly going with the League (since what would be the point of only having him in flashbacks if we aren't to believe that he's dead in current time)? Isn't ep 9 when AK tweeted that SA and EBR were acting their butts off? Then again, I guess that could be the first time we hear an "I love you" from her. Probably isn't a better time to do it, haha.

I didn't get anything hinting at romance between them in that hug either, I just can't really figure out why they had her crash the car if it wasn't to have the imagery of Oliver carrying her away from it, which seems kind of shipper tease-y to me, although it could just be typical comic hero stuff. The scene in the hospital was definitely stiff, but then again I think most of their scenes together are, regardless of the subtext we're getting (or not supposed to be getting) from it.

Anyone who uses the term "pandering to shippers" isn't going to be happy with anything related to Oliver and Felicity, so I just ignore their opinions about behavior right off the bat. These previews are always cut trickily, so who even knows how he's acting? It's not like Oliver hasn't been jealous before, so...that's not OOC. It's a positive thing that he recognizes where his hurt feelings and/or jealousy are coming from (her going to dinner with Ray) rather than just acting like a dick for no good reason. I wonder if this is going to be the episode where we finally get some insight into Felicity's feelings? Or where he flat-out tells her he loves her? I'd prefer if they got everything out in the open. Oliver tells her he loves her, doesn't want to lose her. Felicity telling him she loves him, but what's she supposed to do? He's married to his crusade and she wants to be happy, and she doesn't trust him not to push her away and call things off when things get tough. This gives us a solid foundation, and gives Oliver a starting point with regards to how thoroughly he's messed things up and how far he has to go to fix them. This is a pipe dream, I know, but my preferred way of dealing with the sitch.

Yeah, if they want Laurel to be a believable hero, they should've had her climb out on her own and rescue herself, similar to the way Felicity saved herself last week. Or better yet, they never should've had her crash the car, which made her look inept AGAIN, but I guess we needed that scene of him carrying her and the subsequent hospital scene to throw shippers a bone or....something.

Also, I'm probably in the minority, but I don't really have a problem with Oliver telling Laurel what to do with regards to her wannabe vigilantism. Oliver's always been in the business of telling people what they should or should not do, and he's always been a hypocrite, very "do as I say, not as I do." He behaves this way towards other people too: Thea, Moira, Roy, Felicity, Diggle...pretty much everyone. Thankfully he's beginning to come around to realizing that he's wrong about a lot of that stuff, and hopefully he'll evolve further as the series progresses, and I'm rooting for him to get better. For now? That's who he is. Laurel's not listening to him, she's doing as she damn well pleases. She wants training? She goes out and gets it. Oliver doesn't approve of who she's training with? Tough shit, she's going back for more. I'd feel differently if she was kowtowing to him, but she's not. She never has. They're both behaving in-character, while still leaving room for growth.

Yeah, there was really no other way to carry her.

This is probably really naive of me, I'll admit, because I do think she's safe because she's popular. Diggle is a fan favorite for sure, but he doesn't seem to have the same level of fandom buzz as Felicity does (probably because he's not part of a ship), and Quentin and Sara (much as I love both of them) were never beloved like Felicity seems to be. I really don't see them killing her off.

Why would they kill her if ratings tank? She's the one consistently well-received part of the show for both fans and critics, and if the ratings tank, they'd probably tank further by getting rid of her. The payoff of the shock value wouldn't make up for the pissed-off viewership.

I get being distrustful of these people, but why is anyone scared for Felicity at this point? They're not going to kill her off. They got huge ratings for her ep last week, they use her to generate buzz for the show via promos and such, MG and AK have said how much they enjoy writing for her. Even though her name is comic canon, she is their creation; I'm sure there's a level of attachment there. Even if they wanted to get Oliver and Laurel back together they wouldn't have to kill Felicity to do it - in fact, the only way I think they could pull it off would be to have Felicity find happiness elsewhere so she's not even in the equation. At least she'd still be around to dangle in front of fans - if they kill her just to get Oliver and Laurel back together again, what's the point? They'd be losing those fans entirely.

Nah, they didn't forget. The writers on this show write to plot, and their stupid plots required that Laurel not be able to defend herself, so Laurel didn't defend herself. She'd still throw a punch when the scene called for it, like during City of Heroes when that gang crashed the banquet she was at, or when she clocked the mirakudude that was holding her hostage. They really did her a disservice by damseling her so damn much over the course of this show. And IIRC, the only two people who have started from scratch were Oliver and Sara, who had the longest journeys and learned to fight for survival purposes. Digg is ex-military, and Roy was parkouring and fighting since his introduction. Laurel has self-defense training, so she's not starting from scratch, but she's the least experienced out of all of them. With her, though, it's not her ability to fight that concerns me. It's her terrible decision-making and tenuous grasp on what actual justice is that make her an unsuitable vigilante prospect at this time. But, Oliver started out murdering people, so I suppose that's another area where Laurel has room to grow and learn. I wish I cared enough to want to be excited to watch it.

Ew, ew, ew. I bet you're right - although, no, Tommy. Use your ghost words for something that's actually worth while.

Yeah, I didn't get anything at all from last night's episode that still even hints at Oliver/Laurel at all in a romantic sense. She's always going to be in his life, he's always going to care about her, and that's really all I got from him last night. She's his friend and he cares about her, and that's that. I mean, the director couldn't even drum up friend chemistry between them, it was like Oliver was talking to a weepy beige wall.

"I don't like that she's out having dinner with Palmer. Apparently she is just moving on with her life." Well...yeah. She told you she was going to do that, you beautiful idiot. A+ self-awareness though, I'll give you that.

IIRC, there was something the producers pitched to her regarding Laurel and Central City that she said was genius, but I don't think that's part of the crossover - (I think she said something along the lines of "if they ever do it.")

Salmon ladders?

I agree, but the last sentence of the Arrow synopsis does mention that both teams must come together to save the city, so I guess Caitlyn and Cisco play a part, too. How does one use their ability to make people lose control of their emotions to rob banks?

Those descriptions are kind of...messy? Scattered? IDK. The Flash episode sounds more interesting than the Arrow one, although I will definitely be watching both.

I don't know - when Nyssa went to visit however many days later, the grass was pristine, like they sodded over it to cover their tracks. Who even knows with this show.