tv echo

Right now, I consider Laurel and maybe Roy the 'dead wood' in the cast that needs to be removed in order to improve the show significantly. There are a lot of ways this can be done, still satisfy comic book canon, and still have their deaths/departures flow organically from the Green Arrow story as told in the TV series, as well as enhance the other characters' development. Here's my suggestion: Laurel - In Season 3, Laurel is murdered and Sara returns to Starling City. In seeking vengeance, Sara turns even darker and becomes the Black Canary, rather than just the Canary. When she leaves, she adopts the name Dinah in her sister's memory. Sara/Dinah, as the Black Canary, becomes a recurring character who returns to the show every now and then. She casually hooks up with Oliver on her return trips a few times, before finally departing for good (perhaps to a Birds of Prey spin-off). This way, Sara stays the Black Canary and, like in the comic books, Green Arrow and Black Canary hook up and break up several times before finally separating for good. Roy - Thea returns to Starling City with Malcolm, and they fight the Arrow and his red-hoodied sidekick, Roy. Thea still does not know their true identities. Roy is killed by Malcolm or maybe even Thea. The masks come off. Thea is distraught to find out that she's been fighting her ex-boyfriend and her brother. She also feels betrayed by Malcolm, who didn't tell her that her brother was the Arrow. She reconciles with Oliver and becomes his new sidekick, Speedy. There, done. EDITED TO ADD: Further embellishing my Laurel story above - Laurel is murdered on the orders of a mob boss because she is prosecuting the trial of one of his top lieutenants. Oliver is very tempted to revert to the killer vigilante but Felicity and Diggle urge him to stay on the hero path. In tracking down the mob boss, Sara kills several underlings and informants. Oliver gets to the mob boss first, overcomes his desire to execute him on the spot, and takes him to Lance. Lance also has to overcome the urge to kill his daughter's murderer and arrests him. While in jail awaiting his lawyer, Sara (as Sara Lance) requests and gets permission to see him. She identifies herself as Laurel's sister and then kills him through the jail bars. Sara is arrested for murder but she disappears from policy custody (with Nyssa's help). Because she is now a fugitive from the law, Sara leaves the city. Later Oliver receives a message from her that she'll be in touch under her new alias "Dinah Drake" (taking the name Dinah in honor of her sister, Dinah Laurel Lance).

I loved Mulder and Scully on The X-Files and agree that they had fantastic chemistry. I would note that they stayed platonic friends through most of the series' run and only hooked up near the end. Yet you never doubted that they loved and trusted each other above everyone else, and that even the rare sexual hookups with others were passing flings and didn't touch their bond. John and Aeryn on Farscape are another couple who had fantastic chemistry. Again, this couple evolved from wary allies to trusted friends to eventual lovers. John had sporadic other love interests (Gilina), but you never doubted that John and Aeryn loved and trusted each other above everyone else even when they hadn't hooked up yet. That's what I'd like to see for Oliver and Felicity, regardless of comic book canon. They stay trusted friends with an unbreakable, loving bond for most of the series' run. You never doubt that they love each other and they can even hook up with others during that time, but it's clear those other hook-ups are temporary flings. But, in the end, you know that Oliver and Felicity will get together and commit to one another. Sappy, I know. I originally posted the below comment on That Arrow Was Poisoned!: The Bitterness Thread, but I'm re-posting it here as a rebuttal to the devil's advocate post above:

In Season 1, Laurel was supposed to be Oliver's great love and the one who always knew there was good in him even when he was being pre-island asshole Oliver. In Season 2, Laurel is still supposed to be - at least according to her - the one who knows him best. The problem is, if all that was true, then Laurel would have immediately suspected that Oliver was the vigilante as soon as the vigilante started appearing in Starling City. To everyone else, Oliver used to be and still was the asshole; therefore, he could never be the vigilante who helps people. To Laurel, if she really knew him and always thought there was good in him, then she alone should have thought of Oliver as maybe being the vigilante. Instead, she's one of the last of his close circle of people to know - and only because Slade tells her. Also, in Season 2, we find out that the Oliver-Laurel great love story wasn't really all that great. Laurel hooks up with Oliver only after finding out her sister Sara was interested in him. Laurel deludes herself with this fantasy of them living together happily ever after. Pre-island Oliver cheats on her with multiple others. Island and post-island Oliver sleeps with Sara, Shado, Helena, McKenna, Laurel, Isabel, and Sara again. The show is about the evolution of Oliver from asshole to hero. He himself has said that, 5 years ago, he was a completely different person. The person he is now - that person is someone Laurel does not know at all.

I don't think Detective Lance will die. However, it's possible that his injury may take him out of the field and he'll be promoted to police captain or even chief of police, since he took charge of the precinct during the mirakuru army attack and a lot of higher ups were killed. I can see the EPs making Laurel the new DA.even though this would be completely ludicrous in the real world. I'm sure there are plenty of more experienced - not to mention more ethical - ADAs who survived the attack. However, if they decided to go another route, maybe Laurel could quit the DA's Office and enter the police academy during the hiatus. She would get police training at least and, when the show returned in the fall, she could be a rookie police officer. That way, she could get useful info on the streets to pass on to the Arrow. She could also get another love interest in the form of her cop partner. Unfortunately, I don't see the EPs going that route - I mean, then KC would be stuck wearing an unflattering police uniform all season rather than her fashionable, flattering outfits (which I have no idea how she afforded on her nonprofit and then government job salaries).

I see them this way as well. However, if the EPs are determined to insinuate Laurel into Team Arrow, I can see them trying to make Laurel "the Conscience" and/or "the Heart" since she really has no useful skills to contribute. I would hate that.

I said that I couldn't stand Thea now, but I want to clarify that I do think she's redeemable - unlike Laurel, whose back story, character and actions make her utterly unworthy to be either a superhero or a true love for a superhero. So far, Thea's lived up to her background as a spoiled, rich teen. However, in Season 3, I could see her really growing up, changing, and earning her place as a hero. and finally reconciling and allying with her brother. That said, I don't think I was too harsh in my criticism about Thea to date. I've never understood the inconsistent way in which 18, 19 and 20 year olds are regarded. Their bad behavior is often excused as them being immature, young or "just a kid" (perfect example is Justin Bieber). Yet, at the same time, we consider teens this age to be adults who can fight, kill and die for our country. They're also old enough to enter into legally binding contracts and to be tried as an adult for crimes committed. If teens are just kids, then raise the legal adult age and military service age to 21.

I thought Thea was 12 when Oliver left and 17 when he returned. Since a year has passed, that means Thea is now 18 - an adult who's old enough to vote, sign contracts and serve in the military. I liked Thea in the beginning but now I can't stand her. I find her a whiny, self-absorbed, spoiled brat, who hasn't earned anything. This is not the fault of the actress, Willa Holland, who is quite good. It's another example of bad writing. On the one hand, they want Thea to be mature and responsible enough to run a night club, Verdant, successfully even though she's a teen. But on the other hand, they want Thea to be an immature teen who can't or won't understand the tough choices made by her family and, in a tantrum, refuses to sign the documents necessary to keep her family afloat. She bankrupts her family and then waltzes away with her rich daddy, never having to worry about getting a job or paying the bills.

I want Felicity to have a complicated back story because a simple story would take one episode, period, while a complicated story would be a multi-episode arc. I also want Felicity to have a love interest - not to show Oliver being jealous - but to show Felicity having or trying to have some kind of normal life outside the Arrow Cave. I want her love interest to be a tough guy like Oliver and not another Barry. I never saw any romantic chemistry between her and Barry - they were too similar, too much like siblings. I can see another way to tie Felicity to ARGUS or even the LOA, without making it ludicrous that Oliver went to her for help. Way back in Season 1, when Oliver was first looking for IT help, he was referred to Felicity by someone. What if Oliver went to Walter first (saying something like "do you know someone who could help me with a computer problem?") and Walter was the one to refer him to Felicity. We know Moira knew about the LOA. We know Walter was best friends with Oliver's father and married Moira. We know Oliver's father had a list with Isabel's name on it. Maybe other names on the list were LOA or ARGUS names. We know Malcolm was also friends with Moira and Robert and presumably Walter. We know Walter trusted Felicity enough to help him investigate his own wife, Moira. What if Walter has always taken a special interest in Felicity because Walter knew or knows Felicity's father, who is somehow involved with either ARGUS or the LOA? Maybe Walter is the one who hired Felicity for QC in the first place. Maybe Walter knew Oliver was the vigilante and wanted him to have Felicity's help. Felicity would still be innocent, but an unwitting pawn.

I can think of another reason why KC is so gleeful at getting the jacket from Sara. KC doesn't have another equally high-exposure gig lined up. More importantly, if the CW's Arrow and Flash are incorporated into the larger DC movie universe in the future, then there's the possibility (however remote) of Green Arrow and Black Canary ending up on the big screen. Perhaps she sees herself as the DC equivalent of Marvel's Black Widow.

I agree that the "Oliver losing his fortune" storyline is ridiculous. The whole point of incorporating is to protect your personal assets. Also, losing your job as CEO should not affect your status as a shareholder. Devaluing the stock of a company will drive the company into bankruptcy and it'll be bought by another company. Where's Walter through all of this? I seem to recall that Oliver gave Diggle and Felicty each a million dollars before he left for the island after Season 1. Even if Felicity used some of her money to redo the Arrow Cave, they should still have enough money to set up the new Arrow Cave. I still can't believe that Oliver has no money or valuable personal assets (family art, jewelry, property, etc.) at this point.

I would love to see a complicated back story for Felicity that is not connected to the island events, but could be connected to ARGUS. Maybe her father is an ARGUS agent or rogue agent or double agent. Maybe she could find that someone broke into her apartment and searched her things while she was out, and it turns out to be a bad guy looking for clues to her father's whereabouts. Maybe the officer or detective investigating the break-in could be a hot young cop who is charmed by Felicity and asks her out. Maybe she could start dating this cop, but she's always having to rush away from her dates because of Arrow business. Maybe Lance (who's become police captain or chief of police) could develop a paternal concern for Felicity, who has no father.

Hi! First time poster here. I never read the comic books. but watched Arrow through both seasons. i remember being surprised and impressed by how good the pilot episode was in Season 1, but skeptical of the Oliver-Laurel love based on what I saw (lack of chemistry). Now I am even more skeptical of the Oliver-Laurel 'epic love'. I think the EPs never expected backlash against the sister-swapping because of the popularity and longevity of The Vampire Diaries (with brother-swapping at its core romance). I fully expected Laurel to survive Season 2 because it's the CW and CW shows must have a romantic triangle. I wouldn't be surprised if the Season 3 promo cast photo features Oliver with Laurel on one side of him and Felicity on the other side. Of the four women in Oliver's life, I think Laurel is the least deserving at this point (though that could change later). Here's my rundown (from least deserving to most deserving) based on actions to date that I've seen on the show: 4. Laurel - She deliberately thwarted her sister's happiness and went after the guy her sister was interested in. She then deluded herself with this fantasy of them being soulmates and living happily ever after. She ignored or disregarded her boyfriend's repeated cheating. She unfairly blamed others for her own misfortunes. When her 'dead' sister turned up alive, she did not welcome her back but was angry, bitter and self-absorbed. As a lawyer, she violated the ethical standards of her profession and the oath she took when she was admitted to the bar (State v. Queen). She has no remorse in using blackmail to get what she wants. She displays an unearned sense of entitlement. 3. Thea - She grew up rich and spoiled. With only a high school diploma, she was able to take over Verdant only because it was a family-owned business and her last name is Queen. She threw a tantrum and refused to sign papers, thereby impoverishing her family, solely because her mother and brother lied to her about her real father to protect her. She refused to talk to her brother about the reason he didn't tell her. Though her family is now poor due to her, she still managed to land another cushy situation by getting into a limo with her rich dad at the end of Season 2. Her anger toward her brother seems over the top. She has not earned anything (yet). 2. Sara - She slept with her sister's boyfriend. She suffered and became an assassin for the LOA. She returned to Starling City in order to protect her sister and father. She was willing to sacrifice herself to save them. She helped the Arrow fight the bad guys and save others. She made a deal to return to the LOA in return for Nyssa's help in defeating Slade's army. She has matured and evolved over the past 5-6 years. 1. Felicity - She is an indispensable part of Team Arrow. She helped Oliver repeatedly with IT-related stuff, both before and after she found out he was the vigilante. She risked her life to help him defeat the bad guys on multiple occasions. She is loyal and has been unselfish in both words and actions. She encouraged and supported Oliver to keep him going and on the path toward becoming a hero. And, of course, her actions in the Season 2 finale are the actions of a true heroine. By the way, I was not an Olicity shipper and did not see the viability of an Oliver-Felicity romantic hookup for most of the two seasons, but changed my mind after the Season 2 finale. Now I see what everyone's been ranting about, but I agree that it should be a slow burn.