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Here's the usual gushfest from Emertainment Monthly... ‘Arrow’ Review: “Taken” February 26, 2016 Nora Dominick ‘17/ http://emertainmentmonthly.com/2016/02/26/arrow-review-taken/

Here's a thought... what if the person in the grave this season is Sara Lance. The message would be that you can't cheat death. That would be a shocker. S4 starts with Laurel bringing Sara back from the grave and ends with Sara going back into the grave.

Here's what I found odd about Ray's behavior in this LoT episode - he seemed strangely uncaring and incurious about the fate of a woman he once loved (Felicity). Instead, he spent his time on the ship lightheartedly thinking about hooking up with Kendra. FYI, final adjusted ratings for "Star City 2046" are 0.9 and 2.47... http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/02/final-adjusted-tv-ratings-for-thursday_26.html

Gotham - Episode 2.14 - 2.15 - Press Releases Posted by SpoilerTV at Wednesday, February 24, 2016 http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/02/gotham-episode-214-215-press-releases.html

Sleepy Hollow - Episode 3.15 - Incommunicado - Press Release Posted by SpoilerTV at Wednesday, February 24, 2016 http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/02/sleepy-hollow-episode-315-incommunicado.html

Early overnight ratings for this LoT episode were 0.9 and 2.46... http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/02/ratings-news-26th-february-2016.html

Here are some of SA's comments from a Variety interview about this LoT episode... ‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’: Stephen Amell Previews a ‘Defeated’ Oliver and New Green Arrow in Future Star City Laura Prudom FEBRUARY 25, 2016 | 03:50PM PT http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/legends-of-tomorrow-connor-hawke-green-arrow-oliver-star-city-2046-1201715349/

MG explained to EW why Connor Hawke was not Oliver's son, and EW also interviewed Joseph David-Jones (who played Connor)... Legends of Tomorrow boss and Joseph David-Jones dissect Green Arrow reveal BY NATALIE ABRAMS Posted February 25 2016 — 9:11 PM EST http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/25/legends-tomorrow-green-arrow-connor-hawke-diggle

I'm sure Tara Butters appreciates having a husband who would lie to her for no reason. And I say "for no reason" because Oliver could've told Felicity without jeopardizing his chance to see his son. He'd simply be lying to Samantha instead of lying to Felicity.

Two WhatCulture articles on 415... Arrow Season 4: 18 WTF Moments From ‘Taken’ Andrew Pollard 26 Feb 2016 http://whatculture.com/tv/arrow-season-4-18-wtf-moments-from-taken.php Arrow Season 4: 13 Questions We’re Asking After Taken James Hunt 26 Feb 2016 http://whatculture.com/tv/arrow-season-4-13-questions-were-asking-after-taken.php

I don't recall if this was posted before, but Alex Kingston was cast last fall in a new Canadian TV series called Shoot the Messenger (scheduled to air this summer on CBC-TV). So I imagine that this limited her availability to appear on Arrow... Shoot the Messenger casts Elyse Levesque, Alex Kingston, Lyriq Bent CBC News Posted: Sep 02, 2015 3:30 PM ET http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/shoot-the-messenger-casts-elyse-levesque-alex-kingston-lyriq-bent-1.3212724

I'm really surprised that media reviewers aren't commenting on the fact that Oliver quickly revealed to Samantha the secret identites of himself and his entire team (without their consent), as well as the secret location of the Arrowcave. Samantha is a woman that he hasn't seen for 10 years, who deceived him for 10 years, and who made an unreasonable demand on him - yet he trusts her with such deep secrets?

4YourExcitement review of 415 - ITA with everything that's quoted here (but not with everything in the article)... OLIVER ENLISTS THE HELP OF VIXEN TO BRING BACK HIS SON IN THIS WEEK’S ARROW Verena Cote | February 25, 2016 http://www.4ye.co.uk/2016/02/oliver-enlists-the-help-of-vixen-to-bring-back-his-son-in-this-weeks-arrow/

I give up - and agree that Diggle is not the one in the grave. However, I still think Quentin is a strong possibility. Dinah would come to her ex-husband's funeral, and Nyssa would come to support Laurel (it's not like Nyssa has anything better to do). Or Nyssa could be returning to help Team Arrow fight the Big Bad.

As regards whether Oliver had also decided that he and Felicity can't have kids, I agree with Laurel Hurley's assessment of Oliver's thinking in response to a similar question:

TV Equals review of 415 - ITA with everything Jessica Breaux wrote in this article... Arrow “Taken” Review (Season 4, Episode 15) Jessica Breaux February 25, 2016 http://www.tvequals.com/2016/02/25/arrow-taken-review-season-4-episode-15/

Three If By Space's generally positive review of 415 (rated it 8/10)... Arrow 415 Review: “Taken” Features Fatherhood, Sacrifice, and Vixen By: Alisha Bjorklund February 25, 2016 http://www.threeifbyspace.net/2016/02/arrow-415-review-taken-features-fatherhood-sacrifice-and-vixen/#.VtBflPkrLIU

Los Angeles Times reviewer thought that Oliver & Felicity were both right and both wrong, and that 415 was an "above-average chapter of Arrow" - he also wrote a comment that made me want to stand up and cheer (my use of the word "cheer" is a clue!)... Ollicity no more! Oliver trades one headache for another in 'Arrow's' 'Taken' By James Queally FEBRUARY 25, 2016 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-arrow-taken-recap-20160224-story.html

Ugh... please tell me that Madison McLaughlin's character isn't going to be the new Black Canary and that they aren't going to duplicate what I've heard is the comics' big age difference between BC and GA.

I've already posted my comments in the Mind Your Surroundings thread on why I think that no one was eliminated as a grave suspect in last night's LoT episode. From the casting description of Madison McLaughline's possibly recurring role, she might be a "Sin" equivalent character for Laurel to mentor going forward - which would argue against her being the one in the grave. Because Quentin is at the top of a lot of grave lists, I think the anvils are going to drop hot and heavy for Laurel and/or Diggle until 418, so they can "shock" us with Quentin's death.

The only references to Lance were Grant or Connor (I don't recall which) asking Sara if she was related to the "late Captain Lance" and then Oliver saying that they were all "gone" in response to Sara asking about Laurel, her father and Felicity. As for Diggle, I already explained in my post above that he could still have died in 2016 in a future where the Legends do defeat Savage and return to Star City. I'm not saying this is likely - just possible. I just don't think the EPs would outright eliminate any suspects from the grave this early.

I also watched the "Star City 2046" episode of LoT. I thought SA did an excellent job playing an old, bitter Oliver. And Connor Hawke as Diggle's son was great. Grant Wilson, as Slade's son, looked too young to have battled and defeated Oliver 15 years prior. I thought that they did a pretty good job of carefully NOT eliminating anyone as a suspect for the 2016 grave other than Felicity (which we already knew). We do know that in this version of 2046, Diggle and "Captain Lance" are dead. However, we don't know when they died or how. Either Grant or Connor (I don't recall which) asked if Sara was related to the "late Captain Lance". That implies but doesn't necessarily say outright that Quentin was still alive in 2031. Quentin might've been a city legend. Diggle has not been completely eliminated from the 2016 grave for the following reasons. Initially, I thought that Diggle was still a suspect because Lyla could be pregnant when Diggle dies in 2016, which would make Connor only about 29 years old. However, Connor says, "My dad is dead because I couldn't save him." This implies that Diggle survived to live long enough for Connor to know him. However, this is the future timeline in which Vandal Savage is not defeated and Sara/Ray never return to Star City. But LoT will end before Arrow S4 ends, with presumably the Legends defeating Savage. What if Diggle dies in 2016 in a timeline where Savage is defeated? I don't want this, but I'm just saying we can't assume that Diggle is in the clear. (Quentin might also have died in 2016 and "Connor" might never exist in a future timeline where Savage is defeated.) In this episode, Rip says that this is the future timeline where Sara and Ray never return to Star City. The official episode synopsis says that this is the future "where they never stop Savage". Therefore, I conclude that the reason Sara and Ray never return to Star City is because they're either killed by an undefeated Savage or lost in time. As for Laurel, Thea and Felicity... Sara: "What happened to you? To Laurel, to my dad... Felicity." Oliver: "They're gone. All of them." Sara: "What do you mean...Ollie? Oliver: "Gone. What do you want me to say, Sara? 30 years ago, you and Ray hopped on a spaceship, and you never came back." (Later) Oliver: "Felicity left, after everything that happened. Everything her company was working on is being kept in a warehouse at Adams and O'Neil. Entry code is 4-5-8-7." When Oliver said that they were all "gone," I assumed he meant dead, but then he said that "Felicity left, after everything happened." So I don't think "gone" necessarily means dead.(*) And by "everything happened", he could've just meant the 2031 Uprising when Grant Wilson brought an army to Star City and took over, defeating Team Arrow. So we don't know if Felicity is dead or if she just left the city and is still alive somewhere. Same for Laurel and Thea - they could either be dead or living somewhere else. It was either sloppy writing or deliberately ambiguous writing. (* For example, on The Walking Dead last season, Beth was with Darryl when she was kidnapped and taken away in a car. Later when Rick asked about her, Darryl just said that she was "gone".) We don't know why Felicity left or the circumstances. We can't assume anything, let alone the worst possible motive. For all we know, Oliver drove her away. Or she joined Team Flash in Central City. We do know that Oliver lost an arm to Grant Wilson in the 2031 Uprising and then Oliver stopped fighting, disappeared, leaving everyone (including Connor) to believe he was dead. For all we know, he spent the next 14 years on Lian Yu, only returning to Star City the year before. The point is, if Felicity left, she must have had a good reason. After watching four seasons of Arrow, we know she has plenty of courage and is not a quitter, so there must have been a pretty good reason for her departure. The fact that there is a Smoak Technologies doesn't necessarily mean that Oliver & Felicity never got back together or never married. Some women keep their own name after marriage. But Smoak Technologies somehow comes into being sometime before 2031. There's also the discrepancy with the Flash future headline that referred to "Queen Inc." - which apparently doesn't exist in this version of 2046. So we still don't know how that fits in the timeline. Someone on twitter asked MG if the code used on LoT (4-5-87) was Felicity's date of birth, and MG replied "Nope": https://twitter.com/mguggenheim/status/703040960188383234 He then said that the numbers were Vince Terranova's "ident code" from the TV show, Wiseguy (which he loves): https://twitter.com/mguggenheim/status/703041321485758464 Someone then asked when was Felicity's birthday, and MG responded: https://twitter.com/mguggenheim/status/703042796534439936 (Check out the fan replies...)

Probably it's that they didn't wait until the end of the season to defeat the Big Bad (or maybe it's that the Big Bad has changed from Darhk to Malcolm or Ruve?):

From the DenofGeek article (in the Spoilers thread)...

Smoak & Arrow posted this excellent response to someone complaining that Arrow is supposed to be an "action/superhero show" and not a show centered around Olicity: February 25, 2016 http://smoakandarrow.tumblr.com/post/139982134879/i-am-a-100-olicity-shipper-i-really-love-these