apinknightmare

I was just wondering if this guy was supposed to be someone I cared about?

Well, you're dealing with a dumb shit, Bronze Tiger.

Like, you break free from federal custody and you don't run? I knew he was an idiot, but not this much of one.

If only he could ARROW TO THE MOON in the same episode I would be SO EXCITED

Of course these cops don't believe him. AND YES, IT WOULD BE ENOUGH TO TAKE HIM

I realize that maybe I shouldn't put this out into the universe but this is the dumbest shit I've ever seen on Arrow - and that's saying something.

This isn't real, right? How is Oliver just waltzing around everywhere he wants?

You know Laurel lost her appeal, yes?

Fingers crossed Diaz gets gored on a police baton

Looking forward to Oliver tunneling out behind a poster of Raquel Welch!

Oh, I definitely think they're all shady, I just couldn't really figure out the situation. Like why Oliver is the only one out of his cell - it must be because Diaz opened it? If it was because he was getting released I don't know why everyone would be so far away from him.

Does anyone get what's going on here? My best guess is that Diaz breaks in and calls Oliver out over the loudspeaker and his cell is the only one that opens. If he's getting early release I don't really understand why the guard is so far away from him? Or why the riot squad is closing in. The action was cool, but the reasoning behind it is going to be so achingly dumb, I can tell.

If Diaz has the prison guards and the riot police working for him, I SWEAR TO GOD, SHOW.

I think they meant that it's the midseason finale in that it's the last episode of Arrow this year. The mid-season finale for the storylines that we've been following on Arrow so far this season is next week- I don't know how they could bring any of that to a close during the crossover given the subject matter. The Flash's MSF is also next week (not during the crossover).

Next week is the MSF.

I don't think Oliver coming home because Diaz was arrested is the most logical conclusion to come to, especially since it was never offered as a solution thus far in the show. I think it was mainly brought up the way that it was - from Laurel in front of Diaz as something that hadn't been discussed before - because the writers needed it done that way to propel something for the next episode.

Maybe he won't be and he'll just be in a few scenes mumbling incoherently, and the rest of the episode is Oliver taking out guards and other prisoners until he finally breaks the 3D printer and takes him out of commission for...not nearly long enough, because it seems like they're back on that set in 11 based on BTS pics. I wonder if they're talking up this episode so much because they think it might be their shot at getting a stunts Emmy?

No worries - things get lost in the shuffle!

The "barely any Felicity" is coming from a reddit post by someone who claimed to have spoilers that may or may not be true, although I'm guessing that is true based on the whole thing taking place in real time in prison, which comes from an interview Stephen and James did with The Mary Sue posted further up on this page (which would also mean that there are no flash forwards in this episode). From the article:

I just want Oliver out, and I want to know how Oliver gets out, and I want to know what happens with Diaz because he is somehow still around in episode 12. He's like an infection with no known cure Beth WHYYYYYYY. Also hoping that "barely" any Felicity involves her and Oliver having a nice happy reunion, crying while running into each other's arms with kissing-slash-burying their faces into each others' necks and breathing in REAL deep as they hold each other let me have it pls.

I could watch a full 42-minute fight if Oliver's the one kicking ass and outsmarting people. I cannot watch 42 minutes of Diaz's dumb ass parading around with flamethrowers and being generally extra as he yells in his stupid bargain basement Pacino voice. Please spare me, Beth!

I'm gonna get real emotional if Diaz manages to escape again, that's for sure. Also, for those curious about what else might be happening in this episode:

OMG, she almost #KidVicious'ed didn't she?!!!

Yes, I am able to follow the conversation. And I'm saying that if she truly felt sorry for the thing that she is allegedly apologizing to Felicity for - which is the same thing that she is for whatever reason ALSO blaming Oliver for at the same time she's allegedly apologizing to Felicity for it - that she would take full responsibility for the thing that she did. Instead she's playing nice with Felicity to make up for the bad thing she did, while simultaneously placing blame on Felicity's husband for that same thing, which doesn't exactly seem remorseful to me, but whatever. Maybe the simpler answer is that she and Felicity are working together for a common goal, and she isn't exactly apologizing for anything.