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As I said in my episode review, I don't understand Oliver's position. In the first episode of this season, he was perfectly willing to go on a date with Felicity. But then he failed to check for a tracker while in the field as the Arrow. So he decides that he can't be both Oliver and the Arrow - meaning he can't be in a romantic relationship with Felicity because it would distract him from his mission. But in last night's episode, not being in a relationship with Felicity and watching her go on a date with Ray was distracting him while he was in the field as the Arrow and hurting his effectiveness (as Diggle indicated to Felicity). So Oliver's distracted either way. He was only distracted in the first episode because it was their first date. Once they settled into a solid relationship, he would be less distracted than watching her get involved with someone else.

I agree with this article (warning - includes a little comic book-spoilery stuff)... Let’s Allow Arrow, The Flash and Gotham to Invent Their Own Villains By Paul on Nov 20, 2014 http://www.tvovermind.com/the-flash/lets-allow-arrow-flash-gotham-invent-villains-245126

Dr. Horrible's Evil 10-Step Plan for Destroying Arrow: 1. Kill off Sara, the original Black Canary, who had LOA training and who was played convincingly and sympathetically by Caity Lotz. 2. Fast-forward Laurel into the new Black Canary, with little training and questionable motivation. 3. Design the new Black Canary costume to have a million buckles, so as to make quick change impossible, thus hampering her effectiveness. 4. Minimize the original Team Arrow trio by sidelining Diggle and having Oliver sabotage his own happiness with Felicity. 5. Introduce Ray Palmer as a 50 Shades guy who'll make Felicity act OOC. 6. Give Thea a new love interest, who's an asshole DJ and makes Roy look like a superhero. 7. Spin off Ray into his own Atom TV series as a billionaire tech guy who dons a techie-enhanced suit to fight crime (a la Iron Man) and ship off Felicity to this new show as Ray's Pepper Potts. 8. Have the new Team Arrow trio become Oliver/GA, Laurel/BC and Roy/Arsenal. 9. Introduce a new computer geek to the Arrowcave who's a funny guy, quick with the quips, and who knows his place on the show as a supporting character. 10. Have Laurel comfort Oliver after Felicity's defection, and have them get married (a la Andrew Kreisberg's GA/BC comics). Ratings plummet, and the show is cancelled. MWA-HA-HA!

I liked this episode, despite its flaws. I was jotting down notes as I watched (+ is positive reaction, - is negative reaction), so this is essentially a rambling play-by-play... + Flashback to 6 months ago with Oliver, Felicity and Diggle in the van. Both nostalgic and bittersweet to see Classic Team Arrow. - Shirtless Ray on the salmon ladder. Incredibly inappropriate in the office and in front of your subordinate. SWM alert. - Felicity squeeing over a couture dress was IC, but accepting the dress to wear on the work date was OOC. Are the EPs actively trying to sabotage her character? - Ray announces PT and references smart people who'll help him. Why doesn't he introduce Felicity by name and title? Why else is she standing conspicuously in front of the podium? + Oliver smashes the red arrowhead. Jealous much? + Hey, Arrow show logo has been changed to have red heart arrowhead on arrow behind show name! Cool. + CH is doing a nice job showing his guilt and torment over murdering the cop. - Felicity isn't really asking your permission to take the night off to go on her work date with Ray, Oliver. She wants you to say something. Oliver: "Do what you want." Bzzz! Wrong answer. - First impression of blonde DJ guy? What an asshole. - Oliver calls Roy "Arsenal" out in the field. Great, but he's still using Diggle and Felicity's names over the coms. + Roy is outmatched by Carrie Cutter. That's actually believable. + Diggle visits Felicity in her new office. Oh, Felicity is only borrowing the blue dress - maybe only 25 Shades of Grey then? Felicity: "There is no me and Ray... But if Oliver has a problem with it, then he should be the one to talk to me." You tell 'em. +/- I don't get it. Oliver ended any relationship with Felicity because being with her distracted him from his Arrow job. But now he's distracted because Felicity's out on a date with someone else. Catch-22, Oliver. + Even the therapist thinks Oliver needs therapy. - Hong Kong flashback seems pointless. +/- Felicity looks fantastic in that dress and with her hair up like that. But agreeing to wear the diamond necklace? Back to 50 Shades again. No, not creepy at all, Ray. - Is it really that easy to find the Arrowcave pinpointed right next to Verdant? Yeah, no one will make the connection to Oliver Queen. + Oliver admits he's bothered by Felicity moving on and being on a work date with Ray. Oliver: "I just want her to be happy." Diggle: "If that were true, you'd be with her." Listen to Diggle, you moron! + Finally, we get Felicity's new title. VP of PT. - Second impression of blond DJ guy? Still an asshole. +/- Felicity sees the best in people and props up Ray at dinner. She also manages to help Diggle via phone. But WTF? Felicity: "He inspires... He wants to make the world a better place", blah, blah, blah. When did Felicity become such a smooth talker? She's the one who blurts things out and is awkward at social conventions. I guess she's matured in two years, but enough to become such a great PR gal? +/- Oh Oliver, your speech to Cupid is really directed at Felicity. "I know what it's like to love someone but can't be with them. To can't be with anyone. To have to be alone" (or words to that effect). + Cupid is now part of the Suicide Squad! + "You gotta tell her before it's too late." Diggle's giving you good advice, Oliver. Listen to him. Otherwise, you got no one to blame but yourself if you're miserable. - Third impression of blond DJ guy - he kisses Thea! Ewww. Annd... we've reverted back to typical CW teen soap drama. - Ewww again! Ray kisses Felicity - just when Oliver stops by. Of course. Ray is still creepy. Felicity is alternate-universe Felicity. Oliver continues to suffer in silence. (Bet the Felicity haters will be out in full force posting online after this episode.) + Whoa! Oliver crashes stuff off the table in a mixture of anger, jealousy and frustration. Then he and Roy go off to dinner at the Diggles. + First look at the Atom exosuit schematics. Forget 50 Shades of Grey. It's 50 Shades of Iron Man. Yep, spin-off. + Boomerang Guy appears! + + That hour flew by fast, plus no Laurel. So WIN-WIN all around.

In The Flash, they showed a future 2024 newspaper with the headline "Flash Missing". But the paper also showed a "Wayne Tech / Queen Inc Merger Complete" headline. Does that mean sometime down the road, Oliver gets his company back and Palmer Technologies changes to Queen Inc.? http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/10/07/flash-cw-harrison-wells-newspaper-theories-spoilers/

Yay - Chris Hemsworth is People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive 2014. http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20315920_20873901,00.html Go Thor!

Maybe someone else said this before (I don't remember) or maybe I'm just slow... but I just realized that Felicity is Oliver's first adult love. Pre-island Oliver was a boy so his love for Laurel was a boy's love. Today's Oliver is a man - a flawed man, certainly - so his love for Felicity is a man's love.

This is a great review. I loved the red and blue pill analogy, and the lighted fern symbolism! Great insights (it's not about the perfect man, but the right man). The Just About Write review was also good at providing insights into Felicity, Oliver and Ray.

Have you seen the promos for the new ABC show called Galavant? It looks incredibly cheesy, but they should get John Barrowman to make a guest appearance - it would boost ratings. The show is "an upcoming American fairy tale-themed musical comedy." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galavant

Here's a cute little behind-the-scenes video of SA and GG on the TV Guide cover shoot:

The CW’s ‘Arrow’ teases Cupid episode with one-page comic by Kevin Melrose | November 19, 2014 @ 10:00 AM http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/11/the-cws-arrow-teases-cupid-episode-with-one-page-comic/

2014 Fall Finale hype! (There appears to be a common theme.) Arrow - "It literally is a game changer in the sense that the series will never be the same afterwards." Castle - "[A]n episode-ending twist promises to 'change the shape of the show' for at least a short while." The Flash - "It's a huge turning point for the show...." Marvel's Agents of SHIELD - "In the end, our team -- and our show -- will be changed forever." Once Upon A Time - "Two of the show's most beloved relationships will be tested and changed forever...." Ho-hum... (http://tvline.com/gallery/2014-fall-tv-show-finales-photos-midseason-spoilers/#!1/draw-back-yourbow/)

The new Mayor of Starling City is probably off somewhere with the new DA (also unidentified), who abandoned the city to the tender mercies of Acting DA Laurel Lance, who's been with the DA's Office for only a year. In fact, I hope the new DA is a woman named Rachel Dawes and that she fires Laurel for incompetence, ethics violations, and identity theft.

Personally, I think each superhero show should have only one masked & costumed superhero. More than one, and it looks like you're at a comic-con. I still think Nyssa is a viable suspect as Sara's killer even though she showed up at the Arrowcave and vowed vengeance. Part of her mission could've been to throw Oliver off the trail of suspecting the LOA and maybe framing Malcolm. If Nyssa hadn't shown up in the Arrowcave, and Oliver only knew that Sara was killed with three arrows, wouldn't he immediately suspect the LOA? Also, why did Nyssa leave before killing Sara's murderer? Also, Nyssa is the one who told them that Malcolm was alive and that Sara was in Starling City to track down Malcolm for the LOA. When Sara saw Oliver and then Laurel, she didn't say anything about Malcolm, I believe. So how do we know that Nyssa was telling the truth about Sara's purpose in the city? Finally, about Felicity's getting a DNA test run on the arrows, what if that DNA turns out to be Oliver's but it's a frame-up (planted DNA)?

The Flash is slipping down in my superhero show rankings, while Agents of SHIELD is moving up. Flash - While Dr. Wells and Detective West remain the standouts of this show for me, I'm starting to feel like I'm watching the same villain story week after week: a superfreak created by the Star Labs explosion starts causing trouble; Barry has trouble defeating him or her at first, but eventually figures out a way to prevail. Also, too many scenes remind me of scenes in other shows or movies. It's disconcerting. For example: * Iris: "I'm a cop's daughter. I know how to take care of myself." = Laurel: "Cop's daughter. Remember?" * Iris punches the bad guy (who kidnapped her) after he's already been super-punched and disabled by The Flash. = Laurel punched Slade's henchman (who kidnapped her) after he'd already been shot by an arrow and disabled by Sara. * Eddie teaches Barry how to punch a punching bag, wearing boxing gloves. Flashback scene of Detective West teaching child Barry and child Iris how to box. = Ted is teaching Laurel how to box. (Do these EPs have a boxing fetish or what?) * Barry watches Iris smooch with Eddie. = Clark watched Lana smooch with Whitney. * Iris meets with The Flash on a rooftop and is all fan-girly while trying to interview him for her blog. = Margot Kidder's Lois Lane met with Chris Reeves' Superman on a rooftop and was all fan-girly while trying to interview him for The Daily Planet. * Iris is reporting on the Streak for her blog and will now be investigating other superpowered people as well. = Chloe reported on the Blur and was investigating other superfreaks as well. AOS - The search for the hidden alien city is an intriguing storyline. The mystery of the origin of Skye's mother is also intriguing. More focus on the rest of Team Coulson is good. Ward is now irredeemiably evil. Bonus points for the flashback scenes with Agent Carter. The problem is still Coulson. As a mild-mannered bureaucrat who showed up briefly in each of the Marvel movies, he was fine. As the ruthless new director of SHIELD, he's not believable to me. Whenever he threatens a bad guy and has to act menacing, I find it hard to take him seriously.

I did some research because I'm not as up on my Biblical knowledge as I should be, so here goes... The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are mentioned in the Holy Bible in Chapter 6 of the Book of Revelations, which tells of a “‘book’ or ‘scroll’ in God’s right hand that is sealed with seven seals. The Lamb of God (Jesus Christ) opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons four riders on white, red, black, and pale horses. Athough the Bible only names one rider (Death), the four Horsemen are commonly known as Conquest, War, Famine, and Death, respectively. http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-four-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse/ The Horseman of Conquest (white horse) refers to an Antichrist who will be a false imitator of the true Christ. He will lead many astray and will be a ruler who will conquer, perhaps in the name of peace and/or religion. The Horseman of War (red horse) will bring terrible wars. The Horseman of Famine (black horse) refers to a great famine that will take place, likely as the result of the wars and earthquakes all over the world. The Horseman of Death (pale horse) symbolizes death and destruction, and is the culmination of everything else brought by the other Horsemen. http://www.gotquestions.org/four-horsemen-apocalypse.html http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2014/05/17/who-are-the-four-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-a-bible-study/ On Sleepy Hollow, we've seen the Horseman of War (Henry Parrish/Jeremy) (no red horse so far) and the Horseman of Death (Headless Horseman/Abraham) (pale horse). So the producers could be saving the Horseman of Conquest (white horse) and the Horseman of Famine (black horse) for future seasons - assuming the show lasts that long.

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TNT is really keeping Noah Wyle employed year-round, first with Falling Skies and now with The Librarians. The Librarians - Series Premiere - Advanced Preview: "Thoroughly Entertaining" [spoilerS] Posted by Robert Fruin at Tuesday, November 18, 201 http://www.spoilertv.com/2014/11/the-librarians-series-premiere-advanced.html I had watched TNT's The Librarian trilogy of movies and thought they were okay, but when I heard about the TV show, I immediately thought of Warehouse 13. But I'm willing to give this new show a try - esp. if it turns out to be as good as the above review indicates.

I really liked this episode, although I missed Ichabod interacting with both Mills sisters, It was both scary and touching. This episode highlighted the strong sisterly bond between Abbie and Jenny (holding hands!) and their very different personalities. When they first saw their mother's ghost appear in the video footage, Jenny was visibly shocked but Abbie was so matter of fact that it was jarring. At first I thought it was an acting misstep, but now I think it was an acting choice. Abbie has always been the more stoic older sister, while Jenny has always been the more emotional younger sister. Great job by both NB and LG. The Mama character was a little bit too over-the-top and crazy for me. I didn't see enough of her saner self to understand why the Mills sisters ever saw her as a strong, beautiful mother. She just seemed crazy all the time (yes, I know she wasn't really crazy, just tormented by demons). Maybe if they had included a scene with the mother and daughters before the mother started acting nuts (the good times), then I would've gotten a better sense of what the Mills sisters missed about their mother. Hawley is a pointless character. In previous episodes, he just took the role that Jenny would've taken - that of the one with information about supernatural artifacts. In this episode, Hawley took the role that Ichabod would've taken - as support and help for the Mills sisters. It just seemed like Ichabod was largely sidelined just to give Hawley more screen time, and that the producers are really pushing Hawley on the viewers. I much prefer Ichabod working with the Mills sisters over Hawley working with the Mills sisters. And bring back John Cho - if not as Andy, then as Andy's twin. Katrina works best in small doses - so her small scenes in this episode worked to show us, first, that she planned to kill baby Moloch and, second, that Moloch has magically grown into a young boy. However, I much prefer Katrina in her colonial dresses. Her corset and jeans outfit just looks ridiculous - like a modern woman wearing spanx as outerwear. In any event, I think Katrina is doomed. Glad Frank is out. That asylum has to have the worst security ever.

This episode description is for next week's Episode 10 ("Lovecraft"). This was not the best Gotham episode, but it had some nice scenes. I liked Gordon and Bullock working together to solve the latest crime. I liked the Bruce and Selina scenes. And I thought Penguin was great - much better than Fish Mooney, whose scenes often seem like they belong on a different show. I didn't like Harvey Dent. I guess they're going for the villain version rather than the good guy version. He immediately comes off as a slick politician. I can't believe Montoya and Allen would trust Dent - but then they've been wrong about people before. Gordon trusts Dent only reluctantly because he feels he has no other way of making progress on the investigation into the Waynes' murders. But you just know he's going to regret it. Dent's sudden rage was supposed to be a foreshadowing of his Jekyll and Hyde personality (his "two faces"), I guess. Barbara's departure and her surprisingly self-aware note about how scared, weak and needy she is, and how she has to leave town in order to get herself together - many of the reasons why she's such an unpopular character - actually made me like her character for once. Then the ending scene showing her in bed with Montoya made me despise her again for being a lying, cheating girlfriend. Barbara is rich and could've stayed holed up in a hotel. But apparently she can't even stay by herself for a day and has to hole up with someone who will protect her. Gordon deserves better, and I hope he dumps her.

You're right - I watched the scene again and the killer did say her name. I guess that rules out Thea for me. I'm back to Nyssa as the killer (on orders from Ra's? for Sara's betrayal?). I don't think it's Malcolm because Sara says "What are you doing here?" Since Sara was in the city to track down Malcolm, she wouldn't have asked that of him. If Nyssa is Sara's killer, then it would also work for why Oliver goes to Ra's and demands trial by combat. The flashback to little Nyssa might also be a clarification for Nyssa's motive.

When I was watching Gotham last night, there were two scenes during which I thought "the Arrow EPs should take notes": 1. Barbara has left Jim Gordon. After she was kidnapped by Falcone's henchman last week, she's now terrified and nervous all the time. She leaves behind a note in which she says that she's scared, weak and needy, and can't be the girlfriend that Jim deserves, so she has to go away to get herself together. Her note laid out all of the character's weaknesses, and the reasons that she is arguably the least popular character on Gotham. For some reason, that surprisingly self-aware note made her more likeable to me. (Of course, then she later cheats on Gordon and makes me dislike her again.) -- The Arrow EPs should have Laurel acknowledge her faults and misdeeds (all the reasons why a lot of fans don't like her). So far, she's gotten away with a lot of stuff - like the DUI, the blackmail, breaking the law, violating legal ethics, the abuse of power, etc., and her father has enabled her (except for calling her out on the riot squad order) - and she still strides forward like there's nothing wrong with her, her attitude or her behavior. Have her show some self-awareness, some conscience. Maybe she still won't be fixable for reasons other than the writing, but it'll be a good start. 2. Alfred is teaching young Bruce how to box, and they're both wearing boxing gloves. Bruce had been bullied by other schoolboys in a previous episode and asked Alfred to teach him how to fight. Tween Selina Kyle, who's temporarily staying at Wayne Mansion in a kind of protective custody, sees them and asks why Bruce is learning how to fight when he lives in such a sheltered mansion. Bruce says that it's for when he's out in the city. Selina replies that they don't wear gloves out in the city. -- I immediately thought of Arrow. Learning to box isn't the same as learning martial arts. Laurel and anyone she faces won't be wearing boxing gloves when she's out on the streets.

As I posted before, I'm also leaning toward Thea being Sara's killer. After Sara hugged Laurel and Laurel left her alone on the roof, Sara put her mask back on and was walking away when she was shot with the arrows. Why have her put her mask back on at that particular point? She's still on the roof alone. it could be so that the mask can fall off dramatically when Sara tumbles off the roof. Or it could be so that the killer doesn't know the masked blonde woman is Sara. Sara recognizes the killer and is not threatened. The killer doesn't recognize Sara with the mask on. Again as I posted before, the motive could be tied to some BS story fed to Thea by Malcolm, in order to get Sara off his back (since she was in the city to track him for the LOA). This would also add to Oliver's guilt. If he had confided in Thea last season that he was the Arrow and brought her into the Arrowcave, then Thea would've been let in on Sara being the Canary as well.

I'm so sick of Rumple/Gold getting the upper hand and his smug "dearies" - I just want him to die now, but he probably won't. After liking the Snow Queen for a few episodes, I'm now over her. I'm tired of her "poor misunderstood me, just looking for two magical 'sisters' to love me" rationale as well. First of all, you killed one biological sister and understandably scared off the other one. Now the two replacement 'sisters' you want are young enough to be your daughters and have their own lives to lead, so grow up, SQ! Snow, Charming, Regina, Robin, Will, Henry, Belle, even Anna and Kristof -- also annoying. Just let Elsa, Emma (despite her gullibility) and Hook have their happy endings. The only things I liked about this episode? Elsa wasn't fooled by Ingrid. Hook's "talking phone" comment. Emma accepted her magic. The mysterious Sorcerer.

I liked this episode very much, although I missed Rick. It might've been slow in parts, but the character-oriented stories interspersed with the more action-oriented stories make this show work for me. (If I wanted to watch just zombies being killed week after week, I'd watch Z Nation.) I understand the complaints, though. Perhaps if they had Darryl, Carol and Noah rescue Beth by themselves in this same episode? Although I am looking forward to Rick & gang to the rescue next week. I see a deep bond between Darryl and Carol, but nothing romantic. I agree that Carol wanting to save Noah under the bookcase after wanting to shoot him dead (I also don't think she was aiming for his leg) was odd. Darryl should've left Noah to die - the kid took his crossbow and left them facing walkers! The water in that water cooler had to have been sitting there for years - it must be bacteria-laden. I noticed that Michael Cudlitz's name appeared in the opening credits before Emily Kinney and Chad Coleman. Usually, they list the main cast first and then the rest of the regular cast in alphabetical order. So I guess this means we're stuck with Abraham for awhile, but Beth and Tyrese are probably doomed?