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Congrats to Arrow! TV Guide Magazine's Fan Favorites Awards: The Walking Dead, Outlander, Arrow and More! Rob Moynihan Dec 1, 2014 12:01 PM ET http://www.tvguide.com/news/tv-guide-magazine-fan-favorites-awards-walking-dead-1089980.aspx https://twitter.com/TVGuideMagazine https://www.facebook.com/TVGuideMagazine/timeline Other winners of TV Guide Magazine Fan Favorites 2014: P.S. The Flash won Favorite New Show.

Another nice review by a reviewer who also coins the term "Caitlicity friendship"... Arrow Season 3 Episode 8 Review: ”The Brave and the Bold” By Andy on Dec 4, 2014 http://www.tvovermind.com/reviews/arrow-season-3-episode-8-review-brave-bold-245985 Also, people may want to pick up the next issue of TV Guide Magazine because of this.

I still think the EPs are going to make more of a relationship between Oliver and the baby mama than just a drunken fling or one-night stand. She seemed too happy to see Oliver, not angry or bitter that she was paid off by Moira to go away. And Oliver seemed surprised but pleased to see her again too. See pic here: http://www.spoilersguide.com/arrow/arrow-season-3-spoilers-that-big-flash-oliver-reveal-when-will-we-find-out-more/

Good point about Diggle dressing up as the Arrow and Roy still being around. But still it would be unbelievably cruel to go that far just to fool the parents into believing Sara was still alive. Dinah isn't in danger of a heart attack, so why not confide in the mother at least and ask her opinion on telling Quentin? Also, people in Starling City have seen the Canary in action, so there could still be some reason for fooling the bad guys. But who knows. The reason will probably be a contrived plot device just to get her into costume. A lot of what the EPs do doesn't make sense. If Laurel is impersonating the Canary for whatever reason, why isn't her costume more similar to Sara's (with the cleavage)? And why go to the trouble of having a fancy leather costume (with buckles!) made just for a one or two time use?

From the spoilers, I got the impression that Laurel doesn't actually suit up in next week's episode and that her new BC costume debuts in the first episode in January. So Laurel can't be impersonating Sara/Canary to fool her parents, unless her mother Dinah is hanging around Starling City over the holidays and into the New Year. So most likely it's Oliver's disappearance that leads to Roy and Laurel both making appearances around the city in costume, in Oliver's absence, to fool some bad guys. Nyssa informs Oliver of Ra's al Ghul's ultimatum to find Sara's killer or have Starling City be destroyed. Oliver's surrendering himself to Ra's to save the city is just so deja vu. Didn't he try to surrender himself to Slade just last season to save the city? Ra's looks less scary than Brother Blood. The spoilers about the Thea and Felicity scenes in the back half of the season sound really intriguing. I'm looking forward to seeing those.

The Laurel character was ill-conceived from the get go, both as the future Black Canary and as Oliver's originally intended love interest. The show started with Laurel as a 27-year-old lawyer, with minimal self-defense training (as evidenced by the past 2-1/2 seasons). The EPs could at least have made her a cop with cop training (like Cupid's SWAT training), plus a back story that had her taking martial arts lessons starting from childhood (like Iris West's boxing lessons) or at least starting during the five years after Oliver & Sara 'died'. Now she's a 30-year-old lawyer just starting to take boxing lessons. A lawyer's job is mostly sedentary. Assuming she's working full-time as an ADA, she should be spending most of her time sitting at a desk, reading, writing and talking on the phone, while squeezing in an hour here and there at the gym in her limited spare time. The love interest set-up was no better. The very first episode showed Oliver cheating on Laurel with her sister, and then their cold, hostile relationship. Then Laurel is dating Oliver's best friend. The casting didn't help either. The actress playing Laurel should have chemistry with the actor playing Oliver, but KC doesn't have on-screen chemistry with SA in my opinion.

I really loved the symmetry of the Flash and Arrow crossover episodes. Oliver and Barry each had a positive, though opposite, effect on each other. -- Oliver convinced Barry to think, plan and prepare before zooming into action. He called Barry out on not taking his hero role seriously enough, in essence, for treating it like a fun game. This advice could save Barry's life in the future. -- Barry convinced Oliver that he has not lost all of his humanity and that it is Oliver Queen, not the Arrow, who can inspire. He called Oliver out on taking himself too seriously, in essence, being a douche and wallowing in self-pity. This advice could save Oliver's soul in the future. Both heroes can be a bit of a jerk. Granted that Barry was whammied when he was being his jerkiest, but his using his superspeed to do the salmon ladder was a jerk move and when he acts so smug about his superspeed, I just want to slap him down. Oliver can be a jerk about a lot of things, as discussed previously. Another nice bit of symmetry. On The Flash, the Arrow first entered the episode by his unannounced entry into the opening fight sequence, saving the Flash's life. On Arrow, the Flash first entered the episode by his unannounced entry into the opening fight sequence, saving the Arrow's life. Agreeing with Lord Kira - even though both their moms were murdered, Barry didn't spend five years in life-threatening situations, under constant stress, being tortured, and then learning to fight, kill and torture others in order to survive in foreign environments, surrounded by bad guys. Barry also didn't lose both his parents - his dad is in prison, but alive. Barry also didn't lose his best friend and a woman he loved. But the biggest difference is that Barry's trauma was due to things happening to people he loves (his parents) while Oliver's trauma was due not just to things happening to people he loves but also to himself personally (he was tortured and forced to fight, he had to torture and kill other people, his life was in constant danger, he was cut off and alone). It's like if you had two people who both lost loved ones, but one went to war while the other stayed home. Both men had trauma, but Oliver's was worse (in my opinion). So Barry was wrong to dismiss Oliver's pain so lightly. However, Barry was totally right that Oliver has to move past his pain and concentrate on the present. Oliver referred to Sara as "a woman I loved" to Barry. So he loved Sara. I assume he still loves Laurel as a friend at least. He loves Thea as a sibling. He probably loves Diggle and cares for Roy. And we know he's in love with Felicity (at least for this season). For someone who thought he had lost his humanity, he sure loves a lot of people - which makes his self-sacrificing, martyr complex even more BS. Barry in costume as the Flash is just as recognizable as Oliver in costume as the Arrow - but I guess that's just one of the things you have to handwave on a superhero show. I noticed Diggle is still not in costume out in the field. Even though Roy, Oliver and Barry all wear masks, Diggle had no mask when they confronted those Bratva bad guys. But at least Diggle got more than two lines of dialogue in this episode. As Bkwurm1 noted, the Hong Kong flashbacks seemed unnecessary and could easily have been omitted. I guess the point of them was to show how Oliver learned his brutal interrogation techniques, but these flashbacks likely just confused Flash viewers who were watching Arrow for the first time. The brief Quentin and Laurel scene was also pointless and just seemed like an obligatory appearance by these two characters, so that the EPs could say that, yes, they did appear in the crossover episode. Although the brief shot of Thea being startled by the Flash zooming by was also unnecessary, at least it was a fun shot. And Thea's appearance in Verdant made sense. It was interesting that, on the issue of how ruthless can you be to get results, Oliver and Lyla are one one side, while Barry and Diggle are on the other side. It's an understandable divide, but what's interesting is that I still don't know which side I agree with. (It's the 24/Jack Bauer conundrum.) I wish we got a better look at the new Arrow suit. I liked that Felicity knew that Oliver had a sentimental attachment to the hood. I also like the look and "what"(?) that Oliver gave Felicity after she made her comment about how the island prison had minefields. Oliver smiled more and seemed much happier in these two crossover episodes than he has all season (except for the first half of the "The Calm" episode). Questions: -- If the Arrowcave can so easily be penetrated by their enemies like Deathstroke and Boomerang, then why can't Thea get past the locked door to the basement of a building that she now owns? Surely she can get someone to bypass that computer-coded lock. -- If ARGUS now knows about the Flash, wouldn't Waller want to try to commandeer Barry for her own purposes? If she's ruthless enough to destroy Starling City and kill millions of people, then she should be ruthless enough to kidnap Barry. -- Now that Diggle and Lyla are engaged, does that mean Lyla is doomed and that Diggle will end up a single father by season's end? The preview for next week's episode was totally shades of Batman Begins...

I really enjoyed the Flash-Arrow crossover for a lot of the reasons that have been mentioned by others above. The original Team Arrow being back in action and working with Team Flash was great. Oliver was likeable again as the 'elder statesman' superhero. His scenes and fights with Barry were both believable and enjoyable. His 'coffee dates' with Felicity were heartwarming. The Wells-Felicity scene was interestingly ambiguous. Etc. A few nitpicks. All the love triangle scenes involving Barry, Iris and Eddie just felt so deja vu... so, boring. We didn't get to see Arrow and Flash actually capture the Rainbow Raider. Anyone else think the EPs are going to do more retconning and make it so pre-island Oliver had actual feelings for his baby mama, which is why he cheated on Laurel with her? Nice review of "Flash v. Arrow"... ‘The Flash’ Recap: ‘Flash vs. Arrow’ Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 at 3:51am PST - by Marc Buxton http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2014/12/03/the-flash-recap-flash-vs-arrow P.S. I'm 'meh' on that Suicide Squad movie casting. Nobody on that cast inspires me to see that movie.

I watch Sleepy Hollow and my fave characters are Ichabod and Abbie - the show needs to go back to focusing on these two as a team. I don't like Katrina and think she's the weak link on that show, but I don't hate her as much as many posters on the SH forum. I'm actually thinking of quitting the SH forum because there's so much OTT hatred for the Cranes there.

I must be watching a different show because I don't hate the Cranes (although I don't like Katrina and think she's the weak link on the show), so I'll join the minority here. I saw Jenny come up with the idea that Frank should be the one to wield the sword since his soul was already claimed. Abbie and Ichabod agreed, and then Frank agreed. Yet only Ichabod is being condemned here for Frank's death. I saw Ichabod telling Jenny to take an injured Abbie away to safety while he, Frank and Katrina continued to fight Moloch's army. I saw Frank telling Ichabod "no, let me" and charging forward with the sword when the Horseman of War's 'avatar' galloped up. I saw Frank being a badass swordsman before heroically triumphing even though he was mortally wounded. I saw Ichabod arguing with Abbie about who should next wield the sword to kill Moloch. Ichabod wanted to be the one, but Abbie insisted on being the one and she was holding the sword at the time. Ichabod respected her decision and then listened to her plan. I then saw Abbie, Ichabod, Katrina and Jenny each being willing to sacrifice their soul to use the sword to kill Moloch. Then I saw that Abbie's plan apparently involved Abbie using a fake sword to provide a distraction, while Ichabod was the one to sacrifice his soul by using the real sword to kill Henry. I saw Ichabod holding the sword to Henry's throat and making a last-ditch plea to save Henry's soul while being fully prepared to run him through. Ichabod obviously miscalculated and was taken in by Henry's fake remorse. I do have sympathy for Ichabod and Katrina as parents, though. Having recently sat down to Thanksgiving dinner with loved ones, I know how difficult it must be to turn away from or give up on a family member - even a long lost one. If Henry had been Abbie's biological son, perhaps a child she gave up for adoption when she was a teen and magically grown into an adult who became an evil Horseman, would we have more sympathy for Abbie's reluctance to kill her own child? I don't think Henry is redeemed at all, so Katrina's faith in him was not rewarded - she was not right. I think Ichabod had already lost much of his faith in Henry and only made that last-minute effort to save Henry for Katrina's sake. Henry killed Moloch because Moloch betrayed him, not to save his parents. I think Henry will die by season's end. Moloch said to Henry that "there have been Horsemen before you, and there will be Horsemen after you." Sounds like foreshadowing to me. I think Moloch's gone, but I agree that we haven't seen the last of Frank. I wouldn't be surprised if the back half of this season involved them trying to save Frank's soul. I've read some of the post-episode interviews with the show runner, and it sounds like they'll be going back to more episodes centered on the two Witnesses as a team, so I'm looking forward to that.

I'm unsure about the number - 23 is probably right. I want Arrow to be about Arrow as well. I was criticizing the EPs for using the introduction of other superheroes as an excuse to mine the comic books for ideas rather than coming up with original ideas on their own.

This looks great... New Agent Carter Promo Gives First Look at Peggy’s Double Life By Chris King on Dec 1, 2014 http://www.tvovermind.com/agent-carter-2/new-agent-carter-promo-gives-first-look-peggys-double-life-245700 This is an interesting article... How Should Superman Return to TV? By Paul on Dec 1, 2014 http://www.tvovermind.com/tv-news/superman-return-tv-245716

Regarding using Arrow to do origin stories for other superheroes (in addition to being a test for spin-offs)... The EPs have to fill up 22 episodes this season. Doing additional 'origin' stories also uses up some of that time and they don't have to come up with more ideas for Arrow-related stories. It's a lazy way of storytelling - introduce new characters and use the comic books as 'inspiration' for their stories.

The more I see of Robert Kirkman, the less I like him. I'm sick of the Shane v. Rick question. I hated Shane. If Shane had been the leader for the past four years, he would've sacrificed the entire group to save his own skin. I was touched by Emily Kinney's obvious sadness at leaving the show. I'll take an actor showing honest emotion over another actor presenting a PR-polished front any day.

I liked this episode overall, but I do have some nitpicks. For example, why didn't Elsa and/or Emma use the wishing stone necklace to wish away the Spell of Shattered Sight or to protect all of them from that spell? Also, I really hate RumpleGold and his incredible selfishness. I wish he could be killed off or leave the show, but I know that won't happen. While I loved Colin O' Donaghue's portrayal of Hook in this episode (his face expresses emotion really well), why didn't he try to outwit Gold once he hatted the fairies? He could've hidden the box and then demanded the return of his heart in exchange for the location of the box. Oh, and the Snow Queen can go off with Gold to Selfish Land. But my biggest nitpick is the time line for the freezing, unfreezing, drowning and rescue of Anna and Kristof. Anna and Kristof can't have been frozen in ice for 30 years because Hans was not 30 years older when he entered the room just after they unfroze. Was Arendelle also time-stopped for 28 years like the Enchanted Forest by Regina's spell? If so, there's still a 2-year gap. Or were they time-stopped for 28 years and then frozen for 1-2 years? I'm assuming Hans and Blackbeard are still back in Arendelle and the Enchanted Forest? In any event, when Elsa used the necklace to make a wish, their box is magically transported across both time and realms onto the beach in Storybrooke - just in time to save them from drowning. Big handwave. While Elsa fits into this show pretty well and is a quite believable character, I just find Anna and Kristof (and Hans) a bit too cartoonish and out of place on this show (maybe it's the acting). I'd love for Elsa to continue on OUAT, but unfortunately, the Frozen characters' time on OUAT is limited since - from what I hear - Disney is already working on a Frozen 2 movie.

Felicity is #2 on this list... 7 TV Characters We Ship With Everyone On The Show by shaunna murphy 11/27/2014 http://www.mtv.com/news/2010333/best-tv-ships/?utm=share_twitter

Well, the 11/26/14 TV Line 'Ask Ausiello' Spoilers did say that

Here's one way that I think The Flash differs from Arrow... I can picture a Flash musical episode in the future - perhaps tied into the freak of the week (like Buffy did some years back) - esp. given that Jesse L. Martin comes from a Broadway musical background (Rent) and of course Grant Gustin comes from Glee. However, I cannot by the wildest stretch of imagination ever picture an Arrow musical episode.

I still haven't gotten over the much-discussed point that there was no reason to keep Sara's death a secret... For all of her character inconsistencies, at least one thing has remained consistent - every time something happens to someone else on the show, it's still all about Laurel in her mind - and apparently in the EPs' minds. Every time the EPs give her another "island", I just hear 'Marcia, Marcia, Marcia' in my head. Now we're going to have to endure a series of episodes after the midwinter break that really are all about Laurel.

'The Walking Dead' Spinoff Series To Film In Pennsylvania Soon: Casting Call Posted http://www.designntrend.com/articles/27943/20141129/walking-dead-spinoff-series-film-pennsylvania-soon-casting-call-posted.htm http://www.thespoilingdeadfans.com/threads/companion-series-in-pennsylvania.6763/

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and safe travels this weekend!

I don't want them to change the name of the city because 'Starling City' sounds more like a real city than 'Star City' - what, are we in a futuristic metropolis now? But, of course, their answer to the question of "why change the name" is the same as the answer to the question of "why must Laurel become the BC" - because of the comics. This is why story developments that don't develop organically from the TV show but are inserted for comic book reasons don't always make sense to the many viewers who've never read the comics. I'm back to not caring who killed Sara - just please get that story arc resolved and over so we can move on. Regarding Felicity knowing where Oliver is and isn't, I'm leaning toward agreeing with the theory that Oliver has given a cover story to Thea and the world as to why he's leaving the city, but has confided to Team Arrow that he's really going to Ra's.

Unfortunately, Maggie Q is stuck on Stalker with Dylan McDermott (whose character on that show I find a bit creepy). Did you know MQ and DM were dating in real life? (source)

Maybe MG should spend more time and thought on the actual TV show, and less on the related comics.

When they found the door to the underground chamber, they expected to find an empty crypt where the sword was hidden. I don't think either of them expected to find anything alive running loose down there, let alone a gorgon. It wasn't until they climbed down and saw the frozen stone statues that they realized there was any danger and then Ichabod told Abbie to run and get out. So when Ichabod said "after you" to Abbie at the entrance, he was being a gentleman in letting the lady go first through the door. He would not have said that if he suspected possible danger below. Plus when they find themselves in dangerous situations, he respects her abilities and knows she can handle herself in such situations. I think Ichabod has flaws, but I don't think he is a coward. I don't think Ichabod can win here. If he treats Abbie like an equal, he's putting her in danger. If he tries to protect her, he's not treating her like an equal. I also don't agree that Ichabod cares only about saving Katrina and Jeremy, but I'm obviously in the minority here.