apinknightmare

I wonder if that line in Heir to the Demon, where Oliver tells Diggle "If half of the stories I've heard about Ra's al Ghul are true, Sara kills his daughter? We will all pay." is foreshadowing. Not that I necessarily think Sara would kill Nyssa, but...

I really hope Lyla doesn't die, not only because she's awesome, but also because I really don't care to see a woman killed off to set off Diggle's suddenly single father manpain. Not that I don't love DR and I think he'd handle it beautifully, but...eh. As for Lyla not being head of ARGUS for long, since it's a government agency, she wouldn't really have a choice about stepping down if she was told/asked to. I thought that maybe Waller was suspended due to the drone incident and Lyla took her place during that time - maybe she steps down because Waller comes back? I'm hoping that's what happens. Out of the three possibilities listed above, I think Sin's the most likely. I guess he could also be talking about Sara, too. When was the last time CL was in Vancouver? While her being signed on for more episodes is a comfort, maybe they're going to be flashbacks? She could be out assassin-ing though, and if something does happen to Sin, maybe she needs time away (although I would think she'd stick around to at least find whoever did it). Basically what I'm saying is that I have no idea.

I hope so. I just got worried because it seems like that was done last year - they had Roy proficiently arrowing in the finale.

UGH because I'm afraid the person he's going to be training is Laurel, haha. Hopefully it's Thea. Or some other person we don't know about. ETA: I do think Felicity should learn how to defend herself, but I don't think Oliver should be the one who teaches her.

Spoilery things from Stephen's Facebook Q&A: 1. Two lies and a truth: 1. There's going to be a boxing glove arrow this year, 2. Not everybody makes it and 3. Roy has the only new superhero suit (SA said Oliver gets a suit upgrade, so we know that's one of the lies. I'll take a guess that #2 is the truth). Potential UGH: 2. Regarding a question someone asked about whether Oliver's ever going to train Felicity to fight (his answer: he hopes not - Oliver likes Felicity away from danger): "Oliver training people is actually going to be an interesting plot point for season 3"

Well, I for one hope they don't have time for Laurel's story because I really don't care about it, but just because this guy may or may not be in only a few episodes doesn't mean they're not going to focus on her. They'll just be focusing on her without him.

Yeah, if he accepted a gig with another show, either the filming details have been worked out with Arrow, or he's not going to be on Arrow long enough for it to matter. I'm not even sure he's going to be Wildcat on this show - The banner in the background of the gym read "Home of the SBC (Starling Boxing Club, I guess) WIldcats." Who even knows what they're planning to do with him.

Full disclosure, since I'm the one who brought it up: It never occurred to me that the arrow shooting "breakdown" (for lack of a better word) would've been an adrenaline thing, considering their lives were continuously in danger as they were trying to flee, so I didn't think she'd even have time for a crash. I just assumed it was another instance of the writers making her "badass" when they needed her to be, and then damseling her when they needed to do that. Kind of like how they had her felled by a tranquilizer dart and then kidnapped by one of Slade's goons, but then they had to have Laurel throw a punch at the guy holding her in the treatment plant before she'd run to safety. It's like they know they've had her be damsel-y for too long so they have to remind us that "Hey, she can hold her own too, remember!" But I'll concede the arrow thing could've been an emotional reaction to a life-threatening situation.

I know Sara was watching out for her-I went back and edited. Although I wonder who took over when she went to Nanda Parbat? Point that Laurel could've tried to branch out on her own, and that's a real problem with her characterization. It doesn't make her look noble or brave, it just makes her look stupid. And, I guess leads to scenes like the one where she (surprise!) ends up saving Oliver from a Mirakudude and then minutes later winds up nearly having a breakdown when she has to hit the broad side of a rubble barn with an arrow.

But all he'd have to do was make her aware of the danger. How she chooses to respond to it is on her-it would've been good information for her to have, knowing that Slade was a threat to her. Sara was already looking out for her without her knowledge. Laurel knowing about Slade would've made all their lives easier.I guess she could've gone out and done something stupid and tried to take him down herself (LOL), but IDK. I just hate that he hid that vital info.

I mean, ultimately I get why he didn't want to tell Laurel (or anyone else for that matter) that he's Arrow. There's no reason, however, for him to not tell Laurel about Slade. It was the absolute worst information to withhold, and it just makes him look like a bigger idiot. If he had told Laurel Slade was out to kill her dead, the story probably wouldn't have played out much differently. She might not have opened the door for Slade to tell her Oliver was the Arrow, but she still would've been DiD when convenient to the plot. But it would've meant he cared about her safety enough to give her a head's up, especially since Slade was out to get Oliver, not Arrow.

We could also argue whether Oliver truly loves Laurel considering he told Slade to do what he had to when he told Oliver he was going to kill Laurel, lmao. The one inarguable fact here is that Oliver is an emotional (and sometimes intellectual) moron. (For the record, I do think Oliver loves and cares for Laurel - just not romantically anymore)

I'm fully prepared to be wrong, but I do think this will be his reasoning. Stephen Amell said at upfronts that regardless of whether or not Oliver meant the "I love you," the "because of the life I lead" still rings true. The producers said during Comic Con that Oliver's struggle this season is whether he can be Oliver Queen (have a private life) and be the Arrow. The answer at the beginning is going to be no. He'll push her away because that's how he deals with things and has dealt with them from the beginning. To me it does. He did the same thing with Laurel at the end of the first season. He found out about the Undertaking and was ready to stop it, ran to Laurel the very second he thought he could hang up the hood, then disappeared after the earthquake. Things are going well in Starling, so he asks Felicity out - a catastrophe ensues. This is just history repeating itself, as it tends to with Oliver. Hopefully he learns something this time. I'm not 100% sure about Felicity's motivation (maybe it could be the stark realization that she's got her life wrapped in a cause and there's a very good chance that she'll have missed most of her life by the time she's done fighting for it). I am, however, 95.5% sure that's exactly what Oliver's will be.

Yeah, he endangered the lives of nearly everyone he cares about - he wouldn't have even had to tell them he was the Arrow, just that he knew Slade from the island. Yes, that would be admitting that he wasn't alone, but why is that such a big deal? I would love it if Laurel blew up at him. I still have this faint hope that the "I know you like I know my own name," crap they keep selling is a set up for her really having her eyes opened to just how much she doesn't know him. Sadly, I think they'll just fast-track to being BFFs and "business partners" or whatever.

This is especially idiotic since we find out in the finale that during their last fight on the island, Slade specifically lists all the people he's going to take away from Oliver, AND LAUREL WAS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. God, he's such a moron. The whole concept of keeping secrets to keep people safe is so stupid since, hey...this person's coming for you but I'm not going to give you a clue so you won't be on your guard/suspicious/on the lookout, and when he's around you'll have no idea, okay? LOVE YOU, MEAN IT, BYE. Like, how many times has Laurel been a target? Granted, it's not always due to her association with Arrow, but...anyway. Whatever the show tries to sell, I think he didn't tell her for self-preservation reasons. She had such a crush on Arrow in the first season, I can understand him keeping it a secret because he wanted Laurel to love HIM. The second season, she turned on him so quickly, I don't blame him for not revealing himself, especially when Laurel was in the midst of her addiction. Do I think for a second that any of Oliver's reasons had anything to do with Laurel's safety? Nah. Not one bit.

I would probably buy this if she hadn't been kidnapped/had her home broken into eleventy billion times. In this instance, telling her would have made her safer.

They must've literally killed everyone though, because she hadn't even been there a year, haha. I'm not too worried about it - I figured she'd be DA ever since KS bit it.

I think it's likely that she's DA since MG said, "now that she's a DA." Since she was an Assistant DA last season, the "now that" implies a change of status, but I guess we'll see. I'd prefer if she wasn't though, because, well, I was going to say it's utterly ridiculous that she'd be DA, but a lot of this show is utterly ridiculous in both good and bad ways, so...yeah. Kate Spencer died for a reason. KATE SPENCER DIED SO THAT DA LAUREL LANCE COULD LIVE!!!

This is the interview where I read it: http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/arrow_season_3_spoilers_caity_lotz_new_villain_olicity_date-2014-07

Yeah, I think it's associated with Deadshot in the Arrow 'verse (although i could be wrong about that)

Corto Maltese - it's the title of the 3rd ep (and a fictional country in the DC universe)

I thought one of the EPs mentioned it during the CC interviews with regards to her part on Team Arrow and the whole "business partners"/you book 'em, I'll cook 'em scenario. ETA:

No, that's not her love interest. Not sure who he is. She could have her badge out if she's there on official business. Maybe this Ted Grant is into some kind of legal mess (or one of the kids he mentors is). It still makes me cackle that she's DA, I mean...really. The electorate/government in Starling City must be chock full of morons - she was co-counsel on (and LOST) the biggest case ever. Gah.

Seriously. Plus, the way they edit them in, a lot of times it takes the tension right out of the current events, because the storyline keeps getting interrupted to go back to the past. We already know Oliver lives through whatever, so...

All the Olicity info released thus far has served to a) reel in some people who felt like they'd been tricked by the finale, and b) get the loudest group of fans talking and excited about the show. All we really know is that Oliver and Felicity love each other, they go on a date, and it's over by the end of the first episode. The producers have managed to create a spectacular amount of buzz without giving away hardly any information (all while tempering the expectations of that group of fans), which is, I'm sure, every show's dream. Oliver and Felicity generated a ton of buzz last year considering their "moments" amounted to three or four minutes *tops* every few episodes - and there were quite a few where they barely interacted at all. Yes, it seems like Oliver's feelings for Felicity are going to be the impetus for some personal growth this season, but I think it'll be part of the theme for the season, not the main story for the season. I don't think anyone needs to worry about Olicity/Ray drama overtaking the show. I'd bet the majority of the Ray angst is going to come from him taking over Queen Consolidated and setting his sights on Applied Sciences (and his interest in Felicity professionally - we really don't know how much of a love interest he'll even wind up being). The producers give away so much relationship information because it's a relatively small part of the show and it has the most ravenous/vocal fans. It's the easiest give/take there is - a win/win situation if there ever was one.