tv echo

Spoilers from SDCC press roundtables (Jul. 23, 2016) - RealistikkVideos interview with EBR (video posted by tv echo on page 41 of Spoilers thread) -- (No idea what question/comment she's responding to) EBR: "I want to see it happen. I would love to see it happen. It comes up in episode 8. It's the 100th episode of the series. It is going to be a crossover. It is apparently going to be a four-episode crossover. Um, I don't know how we're going to do it, but it's going to be f*ckin -" -- On Palmer Tech, EBR: "I haven't seen anything to do with Palmer Tech yet. Um, she does own the company. Ray did sign it over to her last - two seasons ago... And as much as she tried to give it back to him, he didn't want it and so it's still hers. She might've been fired as CEO, like voted off the island, but I do believe that it is still her company. I haven't seen anything to do with Palmer Tech. As an audience, if we're willing to forget about it, which I don't think we are, so I do think we do have to dive back into that." -- On Felicity's father, The Calculator, EBR: "Yeah, he should be back, and hopefully, it'll be a good time." -- On where Felicity is emotionally after last season and nuking Havenrock, EBR: "That is her crux this season. That is something, um, that we're definitely going to dive into. I think she's bottled everything - um, first couple episodes, we don't really see her dealing with it, which is super interesting because, you know, it's definitely something she's living with, but I - we don't really get to her any private moments in the first couple episodes, which is why we don't see it. I think she definitely bottles it up and tries to go through her day and tries to work at a very fast pace, which is what she does, um, and gets things done. She's a very task-oriented person. But, you know, when she goes home, she - that's the guilt that she's wearing and she's always thinking about it, those are her demons, and, um, as much as I want to play the comedy in things, I don't think that that's respecting her story this season. So I do think that she has to go through that."

Spoilers from SDCC press roundtables (Jul. 23, 2016) - DC Comics News interview with WM (video posted by tv echo on page 41 of Spoilers thread) -- WM: "This year will be much more - it'll be much more gritty, much more a return to our roots. I think Stephen has said in the press a lot that this - with the goal - and it's definitely our goal as well - is to come back and make it more of a crime show, the way it was in season 1, [unintelligible words], more close-ended stories. And, yeah, magic will still be there because we've introduced it now - you know, we're going to honor that that's what we did in season 4, but it's not going to drive story [unintelligible word] the way it did last year." -- WM: "When we come into the season at the top of 501, there'll be a new kind of element of crime in the city, which we [unintelligible words] character. There will also be a lot of, uh - we really wanted to explore the mafia and have the criminal underworld that we've hinted at various times throughout the years, but this year we really want to get into that... And that will also take us into Bratva and also tie into the flashbacks, and we'll see some more [unintelligible words]." -- On flashbacks in S5, WM: "We really want to delve into the world of Bratva, really see how he became a captain, and what his experiences were there. And to make it, again, kind of gritty and visually different and dynamic as well... And we're also going to tie them much more with the present day stories thematically, so you'll feel the kind of - there'll be more, I don't know, synergy between the front and back stories than we've had in past years." -- WM: "I know Olicity is a very sort of lightning rod of controversy on the internet. We left them in a very ambiguous way at the end of season 4, and I think we'll get some clarity in the first five episodes, particularly in episode 5 of season 5. But, by the same token, we really - one of the reasons that relationship happened is we could really write into those characters and write into Steve and Emily, and we're going to do the same thing in season 5. We're going to kinda let the characters tell us where they want to go, and we'll see where we end up." -- On how to keep Arrow's character within the now expanded universe, WM: "It's a tricky thing. I think Arrow in particular being the first of four and also, in a way, being the most grounded - I mean, when they - when Marc, Andrew, Greg first came out with the show, there were no superpowers, it was very grounded, very gritty. And season 5 is an attempt to sort of answer that, and it is about balance. I mean, we have to deal with Flashpoint. We're going to do it in a way that is very much a part of the Arrow universe. And I think the way we deal with metas is the same. We want to - we always - we have to honor that they're there. We want to because it actually opens up storytelling possibilities for us. But, by the same token, we don't want it to change that much, to change that much of the DNA of the show. So it's a tricky balance, but I think we will - it will be story dependent. If we find a great story, if we want to bring in a meta, if we want to talk about Flashpoint, we will do that." -- On plans for beyond S5, WM: "We always know where we're going to end up. We usually know, at the end of the season, at least where Oliver and our Big Bad, the villain of the season, will end up. So you're always thinking, well, what is the most dramatic ending for the season. And that does raise questions for season 6 and beyond. So you're sorta thinking about it, but it's very fluid because it changes - every episode sorta changes the shape of the [unintelligible word]." -- On the definitive theme of S5, WM: "The theme of this year is definitely legacy. And it's really going to revolve around Oliver going back to his roots, as we've talked about, and also answering that question of - he got into this because he wanted to right his father's wrongs. He's going to evaluating, has he done that? And how - what is the best way to do that? Is it as the Mayor? Is it as Green Arrow? And while he's struggling with those questions, everyone else will also be similarly be thinking about their legacies - Felicity, Diggle, everybody, will be having that same head space of - you know, this is a hard life they've chosen, do they want to keep doing this? And when they do, is that - what kind of legacy to leave behind for themselves, their memory and their families?

I watched the video in the Zap2It article posted by @High Hopes on page 41 of the Spoilers page - a little more was said than what's quoted in the article, so here's my transcription of the full cast quotes from that video... -- SA: "That [Olicity as friends and teammates] relationship is much more important than the romantic element of it. I mean, obviously, that's an element. And they clearly have feelings for one another, but at the same time, the mission supersedes anything, and the mission has to do with Star City. Star City is Oliver's most important relationship on the show." -- EBR: "What's interesting about that is, you're so connected with someone, and then - they're working together, they have a common goal. They both have very strong opinions about how things should progress, and they're not going to, you know, dance around what their opinions are. They're more likely to be a little more cut-throat at that point because you know the person so well. Trying to build that friendship and like hoping - you know, always expecting the best of that person. And like really trying to get there and trying not to let your emotions override the goal at hand, I think, is always difficult for that scenario, but they're doing it." -- WM: "When we find them at the top of the season, that bond has grown stronger. And the Olicity of kind of where that relationship goes and whether it goes back to being romantic or not, again, we're going to see where that takes us. Um, we originally wrote those characters and explored that relationship as much out of a response to, 'we need a romantic storyline on the show,' but really it was the chemistry between Stephen and Emily on camera - you can't deny it. And maybe that chemistry will overtake them again and we'll put them back together. Maybe not."

No surprise - Kirkman confirms that Rick survives... The Walking Dead Season 7: One character safe from Negan by Susie Graham July 25, 2016 http://undeadwalking.com/2016/07/25/the-walking-dead-season-7-kirkman-negan/

Spoilers from SDCC press roundtables (Jul. 23, 2016) - RealistikkVideos interview with SA (video posted by tv echo on page 41 of Spoilers thread) -- SA: "Ideally, the 100th episode would not be a crossover episode, it'd be a very very Arrow-centric episode. But at the same time, it is, so that's, you know, that's a moot point. Um, I really hope that we see someone in the 100th episode that we haven't seen in awhile. That would be my hope... Oh yeah, I have people in mind." -- SA: "Oliver's most important relationship in the entire show is his relationship to Star City and what it means to him, the fact that it's his home. And, you know, his father said something very specific to him before he took his life, so that Oliver could live, and we get back to focusing on that this year." -- SA: "You know, a show is an evolving thing and the fact that we've had the opportunity to introduce new shows is wonderful and I hope they all succeed, but Arrow is a very specific thing. It's not as big a universe as The Flash or Supergirl or certainly as Legends of Tomorrow. Arrow is at its best and, you know, at its most efficient when it's a story about Star City and street-level crimefighting. So we're back to that this year, which is really exciting." -- SA: "I've talked with Greg Berlanti a lot and he said that some of his favorite shows, you know, had a - not a renaissance necessarily, but really hit their stride in season 4, season 5, season 6. And it's typically because someone has breathed new life into the show. And I really believe that that person is James [Bamford]. He's directing our first two episodes and he gets it. He gets the show. The action is mean. We are shooting some awesome sh*t right now - like just some real oners that have to be mean, and they are real mean, like bare knuckle action, and I think that's what we do well. So working with him is wonderful." -- SA: "I'm appearing in a Legends episode in the early part of the season for them and my first question was, 'Is the scene with Victor Garber?' And they're like (shakes head). So, 'okay, guys, whatever.' So hopefully, one of these days."

This was retweeted by SA - S4 suit versus S5 suit...

Rory O'Malley is a Tony nominated actor for The Book of Mormon and is currently playing King George in Hamilton...

From Seat42F interview with MG, as LoT EP, at SDCC (Jul. 23, 2016) (video posted by tv echo on page 180 of Mind Your Surroundings thread) -- On whether we'll see Connor Hawke Diggle again in LoT, MG: "Um, you know, we love the actor. Uh, it is more than possible. We actually - we were in the writers room the other day talking about a story set in Star City 2047, like a year after episode 6 last year. Um, and I'm really excited about - the idea is awesome, definitely something that I want to do this year... As with all things on all shows, we just need like to find the right time, the right opportunity, but yeah, that's totally like something we would love to do." As previously mentioned, MG also said that Flashpoint will not affect LoT "in the near term" because that show already deals with time travel and he didn't know how to work that with Flashpoint, but "in the longerish term, Flash will definitely have a big impact on Legends, so there's a - there'll be a storyline that'll start to come into play that you'll see a point of connection, but not at the early going."

In this Seat42F interview at SDCC, MG talked about how Flashpoint will affect LoT... -- On whether Flashpoint will affect LoT, MG: "Not in the near term. Um, because in the near term, we're - you know, we're already telling stories about our own characters changing time, so for - I don't know how to make Flashpoint and the time travel the Legends are doing work in the short term. In the longerish term, ... Flash will definitely have a big impact on Legends, so there's a - there'll be a storyline that'll start to come into play that you'll see a point of connection, but not at the early going."

Since apparently Oliver's most important relationship is and, according to SA, has always been with Star City, we need a new shipper name - so how about... #Starliver Any shippers? ... Anyone? Anyone? ETA: I hope you realize that I'm joking. ;)

Deleted.

Havenrock was mentioned by Brian Ford Sullivan and MG (if jbuffyangel is to be believed), as well as EBR...

Yay! I admit that I was surprised too, but happy that Arrow took down Flash. Now I'm voting for Arrow - hey, Supernatural got a TV Guide Comic Con Special cover this year and Arrow didn't, so I would love for Arrow to get the EW cover (maybe that'd get Arrow a little more respect with The CW/WB). But even if it doesn't, it's still an amazing accomplishment for two CW shows to make it to the final round (out of 64 shows)...

In June, GG had tweeted that the title of The Flash S3 premiere is "Flashpoint," but that it would be their own version of the comics Flashpoint story.

Here's everything that I have so far on how Flashpoint is going to affect Arrow... -- WM: "There will be some effects [from Flashpoint on the Arrow universe]. I can't tell you what, how big or how small, but there will. We will definitely honor that that is - that has happened. And there will be some characters that are more aff - more influenced or more impacted by it than others. And I definitely would say, you know, Felicity is going to be - she's going to be carrying something [unintelligible word] that through the season." (Video of Seat42F interview with WM, page 40 of Spoilers thread) -- Per Flash EP, Todd Helbing, the Flashpoint storyline is “really affecting Arrow. You’ll see it on that side mostly,” rather than on LoT, noting that Oliver and Diggle, in particular, will be impacted. (TVLine article of Flash panel at SDCC, page 40 of Spoilers thread) -- On effect of Flashpoint, WM: "Um, it will have some impact, um, but you'll have to tune in to see what it actually is... It will have a big impact on the characters that it does have an impact on." (Video of TVLine interview with Arrow cast and TVLine article, page 40 of Spoilers thread) -- SA: "Flashpoint affects our show. And, uh, I can confirm that now... Flashpoint has affected the universe we live in. Something we explain and examine in the early part of the season, not necessarily on our show. And, uh, I believe it'll have lasting ramifications. I do. In very interesting ways." (Video of TVForTheRestOfUs interview with SA, page 40 of Spoilers thread) -- Per SA, Flashpoint affects Arrow. SA: "It is explained early in the early part of the season, not necessarily on our show... And then we suddenly begin to [introduce?-unintelligible word] it. Suddenly. And then maybe not so suddenly." (I wasn't sure if he was saying "suddenly" or "subtly".) (Video of Nerdophiles interview with SA, page 40 of Spoilers thread) -- Q: How will Diggle's re-enlisting affect his relationship with his friends and family when he gets back to Star City? DR: "Well, Flash paradox will have something to do, um, with some of Diggle's reality. If you've followed what's happened on Flash, he made some changes to the timeline. It will affect Diggle to some degree. ... So, how does it affect his family? Yes, it affects his family in a very, very personal way. There's a lot going with Diggle this season and, um, yes, it affects his family. Directly." (Video of DR on TV Guide Magazine's Fan Favorites panel at SDCC 2016, page 451 of Social Media thread) -- Per DR, Flashpoint will affect Arrow. (Video of Comicbook.com interview with DR at SDCC, page 40 of Spoilers thread)

You couldn't pay me to visit the Flash forum here. FYI, yesterday I posted a link to TVLine's summary of spoilers from the Flash panel at SDCC (but it's only from the panel and doesn't include any extra info that might be revealed in press interviews)... http://tvline.com/2016/07/23/the-flash-season-3-sneak-peek-flashpoint-comic-con/

Spoilers from Arrow panel at SDCC (Jul. 23, 2016) (video posted by tv echo on page 40 of Spoilers thread) -- On who was the mysterious guy at the end of the S5 trailer, MG: "Donald Trump... Uh, no, he's a new character. Um, he's our Big Bad for the year. We call him Prometheus. That said, before you're typing and blogging and everything, it's not the Grant Morrison-Howard Porter Prometheus from Justice League, just straight up. But the new character is someone who fits into the theme of legacy this year that is going to be driving all of our characters, quite frankly, including the Big Bad. So he is pretty badass and mean." -- On the chances of seeing KC again, WM: "Well, we will definitely see her in 501 in our premiere of the season. And we have made a deal with her across Arrow, Flash and Legends, so Katie Cassidy is definitely not gone from this universe." -- On Oliver being at war with two sides of himself and what excites SA going into S5 with this version of Oliver, SA: "Syndication? ... No, uh, I'm very excited because there was this one extreme of Oliver that we saw in season 1 and then a very reactionary version of Oliver that we saw in season 2 after the death of Tommy. And what we see now with Oliver is - we see an Oliver that understands that it's not just black and white, that there are shades of grey, and he's really back to the mission of first and foremost, the most important thing in my life is honoring what my father asked me to do, is protecting Star City, and I feel like that has - I've been saying all day today, this certainly, I don't think, is the last year of show, but it's definitely the end of a chapter. And that is, this was conceived as a five-year journey, so Oliver both in the present and in the flashbacks - um, I feel like if we do this year right, we will have the ability to then start anew." -- On what they're doing for the 100th episode, MG: "Well, you know, it's interesting, our 100th episode is 508. Turns out, 508 will be chapter 2 of our three-part crossover. So the 100th episode is going to be the middle part of the crossover. Uh, and then episode 9 is our midseason finale. So we're kinda designing things to be like a hundredth - two-episode hundredth episode celebration, the bigness of our mega crossover, and the bigness of our midseason finale. So it's actually timed kinda perfectly." -- On what excites her about the version of Felicity going into S5 after everything she went through last season, EBR: "I'm excited to explore her story this year. The girl's gonna be dealing with a lot of bottled-up emotions, um, unfortunately. She's going to work through them. I think we're going to do them quite honestly. As a selfish point, I always like to play the comedy in those sort of things, but I don't think that would be totally if I just [unintelligible words] respectful of her journey coming out because she's holding onto this guilt of killing 10,000 people in the lesser of two evils. So yeah, she's going to be dealing with that and, uh, hopefully doing it with a smile, but I bet when she's alone, she's got some private tears going down." -- On Quentin coming into S5, PB: "Lance is utterly miserable coming into season 5... Small demons haunting him. And, um, yeah, trying to pick up the pieces of lost family, his guilt and everything that's involved with that with Laurel, and no job. I think, somebody said that - when he picked up you (to EBR) and your dad that time, in the car - somebody said, 'oh look, Lance lost his job... He's an Uber driver now.' And I think that's the future for Lance." -- On Diggle at the start of S5, DR: "He's in Chechnya and he's an Uber driver... uh, he's not - he's not in Chechnya (others are laughing, and WH asked, "Why Chechnya?")... Cause he actually is in Chechnya. He actually is. Um, he's in Chechnya. He's with the Special Forces handling some business over there. He's still a man of two minds, uh, to a great degree. He, uh, misses the team, but he's still dealing with, uh, the tragic death of Black Canary, who he - obviously he blames himself for that. And, uh, why he pulled the trigger in killing his brother. He's still dealing with that. And we deal with that in a very very visceral way - there's a great scene we just shot with Diggle and how he deals with the death of his brother and his involvement with that. So he's very much at the beginning of the season a man of two minds. He's still conflicted about the events of season 5." -- EK: "I think Curtis is just really like influenced by Green Arrow. You know, he really looks up to him and, you know, he really wants to get out there and help Star City as much as he can... And it's a struggle though." MG: "Yeah, actually, we got some pretty big plans for Curtis, uh, specially with respect to this marriage... As you sorta saw, he is - he wants to become a vigilante and he wants to start fighting crime. At the same time, he's got this husband at home who is probably going to start to notice that he's coming home with all these bruises and cuts and... it's going to raise some questions... We're really looking forward to watching Curtis try to answer them." -- WH: "Well, I think that, uh, Thea's definitely gone through a lot in the last obviously four seasons totalling. But in the last season, she went through everything from being drugged by her father again, being stuck in an ark, losing her basically pseudo sister, putting on a real cool costume but also being struck by this bloodlusty thing, killing people all the time and then stopping doing that, and holding a knife to a little girl's throat and realizing that it's not the bloodlust doing that to her, it was actually just her. So I think she just needs to take a step back for a second and realize what's going on in, like, her own psyche and maybe like do something that's like structurally good for her and maybe Star City, which is maybe helping out Ollie since he's Mayor.... I think, this year, she's going to be doing a lot of stuff, helping out Oliver like she has done like in the last season, but in a different way, since now he's not necessarily a Mayor moonlighting as a vigilante - as you guys so nicely wrote - he is a vigilante moonlighting as the Mayor at the moment. So someone's going to need to, uh, do some duties." -- On Oliver as Mayor, SA: "What a garbage Mayor he is. He's terrible. And he's terrible because he is alone. There's no team. So all of his focus and all of his energy is going into being the Green Arrow, being a vigilante, trying to stop crime within the city. And Thea is carrying all the water as Mayor, basically. And so, you know, I - he ran for Mayor and was, I guess, kind of elected for Mayor for excellent reasons, but, um, those reasons have gotten lost in the shuffle a little bit. So hopefully he rediscovers them because I really like the idea - I know that - you know, longtime fans of Green Arrow know what a politically inspired character Oliver Queen is. And he had a point of view, he had an ideology, and I think that all of those things would be very interesting to explore on the show. So he'll have to get his head out of his you-know-what and start working well with others - which probably will never happen. So I like the idea of him as Mayor. Very cool." -- On status of Olicity at the start of S5, WM: "It's still a partnership. I mean, the way we left them in the bunker at the end of last season was somewhat ambiguous and we will kick them off in a similarly ambiguous state. That said, you will find out some more right around episode 5. And, you know, I think we're just going to let the characters kinda take us where they will." -- On whether SA and EBR like the "inbetweenness" of where the Olicity relationship is now, SA: "Very much so. We have a really dynamic scene in the premiere where we speak to each other as equals, as team members. Um, you know, I've always thought that Oliver's most important relationship in Arrow is his relationship to Star City and his love of that city. And that is the main objective at - at this time in his life. I think it's pretty clear that he - Oliver loves Felicity, but I don't know if that means they're going to be together. But I really like the scene that we had in the pilot. Emily and I like high-fived after because we were fired up." EBR: "It sorta transformed. We didn't know it was going there and I feel like their - Felicity and Oliver's communication and collaberation aspects of themselves are just getting stronger as teammates and that's a good thing."

I totally missed that Oliver's new GA costume has long sleeves when I first watched the "Arrow Comic-Con 2016 Highlight Reel" (posted on page 40 of Spoilers thread), but then I read the following tweet: What also annoys me about SA's interview comments is that he keeps saying that Oliver's alone and there's no team. Uh no, there is a team - it just has two people in it. Last season, Oliver even said in 403 that he had Felicity as backup. So yes, he may be alone out in the field, but there's still a team. Felicity's new boyfriend is probably just another way they're going back to S1 - he's like the new "Tommy" (the guy dating Oliver's girl). BTW, I also watched a video (not posted) of a SDCC press roundtable interview with MG, as LoT EP (I think it was a Seat42F interview), where he said that Flashpoint will have no effect on Lot in the near term, but there will be some effect for some long term story that they're working on. I wonder if he's referring to the four-show crossovers.

Spoilers from TVLine interview with Arrow cast and WM (Jul. 23, 2016) (video posted by High Hopes on page 40 of Spoilers thread) -- On the theme of S5, SA: "Back to basics... This is not by any means the last season of the show, but this is definitely the end of a chapter in the show. It was envisioned and pitched as a five-year journey for Oliver, and we're really focusing on the initial goal of the show, which is, we have to make Star City a better place to live. And, uh, that's what we're focusing on this year." -- On effect of Flashpoint, WM: "Um, it will have some impact, um, but you'll have to tune in to see what it actually is... It will have a big impact on the characters that it does have an impact on." -- On rumor that Felicity's getting a new boyfriend ths season, EBR: "It is a true rumor. She steps on him pretty hot off the bat. You'll meet him pretty quickly." On how Oliver will react, SA (joking): "I think he'll be fine. I think he'll be fine. He'll hug a pillow pretty much like I'm hugging a pillow right now, but he'll do it in private... Or the opposite of that... We meet him in episode 1, he dies in Act 4." EBR (joking): "Tragic... And Felicity cries and Oliver's there to cover the tears." SA (joking): "'I don't know what happened! He got shot with an arrow in the head? Don't look at me!'" Other cast members were laughing during this exchange. -- On how Oliver will react when he finds out he created the Big Bad, SA: "I mean, I feel Oliver will react the way he always reacts - he'll seek the advice of others and, uh, you know, be totally calm and not react violently at all... or whatever the opposite of that is." -- EBR feels that Felicity's best friend is probably Curtis "because at this point we haven't met any of Felicity's friends at all" (nodding towards WM while everyone laughs), which is something that she's been asking for. SA (joking): "Felicity's friends are hanging out with Diggle's parents." Diggle: "He was hatched, wasn't he?" SA: "And they're all in a house with Raisa, the maid."

Here is MTV's news article on Olicity's SOTY win (article also mentions Arrow's Oct. 5 return date)... OLICITY JUST WON SHIP OF THE YEAR...AGAIN! KRISTIN MAGALDI July 24, 2016 http://www.mtv.com/news/2908736/olicity-wins-ship-of-the-year-mtv-fandom-awards/

Video of the spoilery first half of the Arrow panel at SDCC has been posted on page 40 of the Spoilers thread, but included in that video are the following nonspoilery bits: -- Mod said that he solicited questions for this panel on twitter and that "the predominant question had something to do with a little thing called Olicity." -- On Olicity's MTV SOTY win, MG: "Thanks to all the fans online who worked really, really hard to make that happen." SA: "9.6 million votes."

Spoilers from SDCC press roundtables (Jul. 23, 2016) - TVForTheRestofUs interview with WH (video posted by tv echo on page 40 of Spoilers page) -- WH: "Starting off, as you all know, Oliver ended up winning the campaign to become Mayor, so one of her major duties right now is helping out her brother, instead of inside the lair, inside the mayoral office. Um, so she's kinda spearheading - not necessarily his campaign any more, but all of his policies and everything for him right now... Because basically instead of moonlighting as a vigilante as the Mayor, he's vigilante moonlighting as the Mayor. So Thea's kind of left there picking up all the pieces left behind when he's not able to, you know, be there [unintelligible words] his mayoral duties and job... I mean, as you guys saw at the end of the season, she kinda decided to hang up the suit a little bit and kinda take some time off to figure out what she is on her own. So this is very much helping her." -- WH: "Thea is definitely taking a different role in her life and a different role in Star City altogether. Um, she wants to obviously always be helpful, always be taking care of others - she tends to put herself before other people [unintelligible word] for the wrong reasons plenty of times. But right now, she is spearheading this part of her life rather than the other." -- WH said that she hopes that Thea will get to the point where she feels comfortable going back to Team Arrow and that her rejoining the team is always a possibility and something that will definitely happen at some point.