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Celebrating 100 Episodes: Top 10 ‘Arrow’ Characters So Far Nora Dominick Nov. 29, 2016 http://emertainmentmonthly.com/index.php/celebrating-100-episodes-top-10-arrow-characters-far/ 10. Malcolm Merlyn 9. Roy Harper 8. Donna Smoak 7. Thea Queen 6. Laurel Lance 5. Tommy Merlyn 4. Oliver Queen 3. Sara Lance 2. John Diggle 1. Felicity Smoak

‘Arrow’ Recap: What If … ‘Arrow’ Never Happened? Robert Chan Dec. 1, 2016 https://www.yahoo.com/tv/arrow-recap-what-if-arrow-never-happened-125434159.html

ARROW: "INVASION!" REVIEW Jesse Scheeden Nov. 30, 2016 http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/12/01/arrow-invasion-review

Arrow Season 5 Episode 8 Review: “Invasion!” Chris King+ December 1, 2016 http://www.tvovermind.com/the-cw/arrow/arrow-100-episode-review-invasion-crossover

Review: ‘Arrow’ Keeps ‘Invasion!’ in Stasis With 100th Episode Celebration Kevin Fitzpatrick Nov. 30, 2016 http://screencrush.com/arrow-invasion-crossover-100th-review/

Arrow Review 5.08 – “Invasion!” November 30, 2016 | Posted by Michael Haigis http://411mania.com/movies/arrow-review-5-08-invasion/

Arrow Review: Invasion! (Season 5 Episode 8) November 30, 2016 Lissete Lanuza Sáenz http://telltaletv.com/2016/11/arrow-review-invasion-season-5-episode-8/

Arrow Season 5 Episode 8: Invasion Review Arrow episode 100 is part of the big Invasion crossover, and also the best episode of the season so far. Tyler McCarthy November 30, 2016 http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/arrow/260361/arrow-season-5-episode-8-invasion-review

‘Arrow’ Recap: “Invasion!” – Arrowpoint BY KAYTI BURT November 30, 2016 http://collider.com/arrow-recap-invasion/

Why Arrow's Crossover Was The Perfect 100th Episode BY LAURA HURLEY November 30, 2016 http://www.cinemablend.com/television/1592000/why-arrows-crossover-was-the-perfect-100th-episode

A series-best Arrow imagines an Oliver Queen without heartbreak By Alasdair Wilkins Nov 30, 2016 11:10 PM http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/series-best-arrow-imagines-oliver-queen-without-he-246701

Arrow recap: 'Invasion!' BY SARA NETZLEY November 30, 2016 http://www.ew.com/recap/arrow-season-5-episode-8

MG comments on 509: MG comment on 510:

Info on MG's live facebook chat later today... https://www.facebook.com/CWLegendsofTomorrow/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

I'm actually looking forward to watching tonight's LoT episode - and that's not something I would say every week.

Like Barry, Oliver needs constant pep talks. In yesterday's Deadline and Variety interviews (posted in the Starling City Times thread), MG said that the Dominators hallucination experience leads Oliver to "double down on" and "re-commit" to his mission and to "strengthen" his purpose and that Oliver has a "new sense of purpose." Whatever all that means.

The holograms weren't people he lost. And it would make no sense for the aliens to show those hologram images and give them those dialogue lines. So it was like Oliver manipulated the hallucination to recall all of the inspiring words that had been said to him by loved ones in the past. So we have them reinforcing Oliver's resolve to return to reality and continue to fight the good fight (in a very Harry Potter-esque moment). I guess Diggle wasn't one of the holograms because he was one of the real people who entered the hallucination. Moira: "You're never without me, my beautiful boy. There's nothing else to say except... I could not be more proud of you." Felicity: "You've become someone else. Become something else... You honor the dead by fighting, and you are not done fighting!" Tommy: "I know I called you a murderer, but you are not. You are a hero." Roy: "You saved my life. You gave me purpose. This time, we had to save you." Laurel: "I know who you are in your bones, Oliver, and that person doesn't give up!" Robert: "This is your responsibility now." As MG's interviews indicated, Oliver then returns in the mid-season finale next week fully recommitted to the cause.

I agree that the strongest parts of this episode were Oliver's moments with his parents and with Thea. I also agree that SA's acting was very good, although I don't think he conveys confusion that well. I was unclear as to exactly when Oliver's confusion completely cleared up and he remembered everything. I also agree that Felicity and even Diggle to an extent got shortchanged in this episode. However, I realize that my opinion is colored by me being a big Felicity fan, who believes that Felicity - along with Diggle - saved the show in Season 1. Too much Wild Dog. Too much Curtis. It is abundantly clear that TPTB (DC?) are pushing these two comics characters this season. Are we sure that AK didn't write this episode? Because I thought a lot of Oliver's dialogue supported AK's recent interview statement that Laurel is Oliver's "great love." I also thought that this episode downplayed Oliver's love for Felicity. First, there's an OTA scene, where Oliver finds the Arrow Bunker and sees Felicity and Diggle (dressed as the Hood) there. He has Olicity memory flashes: meeting her for the first time, seeing her on their first date, their first kiss, their first time making love, when she was shot, and putting the ring on her finger at their fake wedding. Yet then, after remembering Felicity and softly saying her name, he immediately goes to see Laurel and desperately tries to convince her to marry him right away. And we get this dialogue: Oliver (entering): "Laurel, I -" Sara: "Don't you know it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?" DreamLaurel: "Or skip out on the rehearsal dinner?" Oliver: "I - I know. I said I was sorry." Sara: "In a text." Oliver: "Sara, can you give us a few minutes, please?" Sara (to Oliver): "You're lucky I'm not a trained assassin or anything." (Leaves) Oliver: "I... oh, wow. You, um - you look beautiful." DreamLaurel: "I called you over 20 times last night." Oliver: "I can't explain last night. I just... today - today, I want to marry you." DreamLaurel: "Well, that's good because there are guests here." Oliver: "No, not with guests, not in a few hours. Now. Laurel, I need to - I need to get out of here. I - we can elope." DreamLaurel: "Oliver." Oliver: "I'm being serious. I don't know what's going on with me right now. I just know that I want to be with you as quickly as humanly possible." DreamLaurel: "What is going on with you?" Oliver: "I - last night, somebody reminded me that I have everything. And I don't want to give it up. I'm afraid that I'm gonna give it up." DreamLaurel: "Well, that's very sweet of you, but we have over 200 guests coming, and your parents, they've spent a fortune on this wedding." Oliver: "I know, and I'm - I'm sorry if this is confusing or if I'm scaring you, but the only thing in the world that makes sense to me right now is that I love you. And I'm gonna take that job at Queen Consolidated, and I swear to God I'm gonna work every single day to be the man you fell in love with." Later, there's this goodbye scene between Oliver and DreamLaurel: DreamLaurel: "Ollie, Ollie, Ollie! What's happening." Oliver: "I'm sorry. The person you fell in love with - that's not me. And I never deserved that love. And you always deserved better." (Oliver holds her head with his hands and kisses her on the forehead for a long time.) DreamLaurel: "Please." Oliver: "I love you." DreamLaurel: "I love you. Don't go!" (Oliver walks away, stops and looks back at her, and then leaves.) It sounded like Oliver's dream was still to be married to Laurel, that he only left the alien hallucination because of obligation, and that the only reason he didn't try to reconcile with Laurel in reality was because he didn't think he was good enough for her. Therefore, the implication was twofold: one, that since Oliver was willing to marry Felicity, he didn't think Felicity deserved better than him; and, two, that since he felt he was good enough for Felicity but not good enough for Laurel, Laurel was somehow superior to Felicity. In short, this episode implied that Laurel really was his great love and that Felicity was Oliver's second choice. Having recently watched Poldark, I'm reminded of the Ross-Demelza-Elizabeth love triangle, where Ross had this idealized image of Elizabeth and considered her, a gentlewoman, superior to Demelza, a miner's daughter. However, this implication/conclusion is contradicted by everything we've seen on the show over the past three seasons. Aside from the first season, Oliver never acted like he was still pining over Laurel or that he considered her superior to Felicity. Instead, he often acted like he barely tolerated Laurel's presence at times and didn't think about her all that much. Prime example: when Ra's stabbed Oliver, his last 'dying' thoughts were of his family and Felicity, not Laurel. Continuing the Poldark comparison, Laurel might've been Oliver's love at one time, but it was clear from the past three seasons that that was no longer the case. So the 508 dialogue made no sense in the overall context of all four plus seasons of the show. What did make sense to me is the idea that Laurel always had high expectations for Oliver and he was constantly disappointing her. On the other hand, Felicity always believed in him and saw him as a hero (for the most part, putting aside the BMD). So I could understand why he would prefer to be around Felicity.

Flash 308 scenes that included Felicity, even when she had minimal or no lines (vids courtesy of Juan Vallejo Z)...

MG and SA should just shut up at this point.

From CBR interview with Bamford (posted in Spoilers thread): S4 - Oliver & Felicity were yin and yang. S5 - Oliver & Prometheus are yin and yang. Just like Oliver's most important relationship is now - not with a person - but with Star City.

I think the repeating Olicity dialogue is intentional, but not as a way to get Oliver to realize he's in a fake reality. I think it's part of the narrative that the EPs are trying to sell of Oliver and Laurel being star-crossed lovers. They're saying, look, if Oliver had never gotten on the Queen's Gambit - he would have somehow* changed into a committed, loving, mature adult; he and Laurel would have gotten married; and Laurel would be the love of his life. So don't blame us for Olicity, blame destiny and one ill-fated boat trip for why Lauriver is no more. (It's the Sliding Doors concept of two parallel paths in life, and one choice decides which path you take.) (* Major eye roll. There are plenty of real life examples of spoiled, womanizing, self-centered sons in wealthy families, enabled by rich parents, who grow up/age into spoiled, womanizing, self-centered adults, married or not.) It's also consistent with the EPs' bending over backwards this season to appease Laurel/BC/comic book fans - from the canonization of St. Laurel to her multiple mentions/appearances/legacy. I think the backlash over her death last season was bigger than they expected and they attribute the dropped ratings in 4B primarily, if not solely, to killing her character off. That's because MG has blinders on when it comes to criticism of the BMD.

The Flash crossover episode felt flat in places. While I liked seeing the different characters from the various DCTV shows all meet each other (their small interactions were my favorite part), the rest of the episode was just 'meh' to me. I also found the Dominators to be kinda... silly. Every time the aliens appeared on screen, I laughed. I doubt Oliver would've been so supportive of Barry if Flashpoint had resulted in Thea being dead. Oliver runs out of arrows and is defenseless. At that point, either Diggle or Thea could've shot him with a gun/arrow, but no, they have Sara go in to fight Oliver hand-to-hand.

From 413 (Sins of the Father): Oliver: “Will you marry me?” Felicity (holding up hand with ring): “I think I already answered that question.” SA has said that the 100th episode begins with Oliver running. So I'm thinking it'll be an AU twist on the beginning of 401 (another copying of an Olicity scene): Oliver wearing sweats is running and then heads home - but home is the Queen Mansion and it'll be Laurel who's waiting for him there. He takes a shower, Laurel joins him, and they have shower sex. Etc. (with a side of 'ick'). I'm hoping that in this AU hallucination, Team Arrow consists of Diggle as GA and Felicity as his backup - and that they target corrupt businessmen like... Oliver Queen, who's followed in his father's illegal footsteps. I hope Diggle says to Oliver, "You have failed this city!" Right. They were so close as sisters that one ratted the other out and sabotaged a potential relationship, later snagging her sister's crush as her own boyfriend, and then the other one slept with her sister's boyfriend.