S08.E00: Hitting the Bullseye

[scarynikki12]

Quote

Get ready for the finale with cast interviews from Stephen Amell and the cast of "Arrow," and executive producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Beth Schwartz.

 

[Lantern7]

Good special. One thing: why the lack of John Barrowman? Did he owe the producers money or something? I think all the other Big Bads were covered, including Diaz. There's a trip down Memory Lane I didn't need. They could have at least showed him getting deep-fried last season.

Colton Hayes doesn't know Parkour. Does the world make sense anymore?

Like I said, this was a good special. You can feel the love and appreciation in making the series.

[quarks]

39 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Good special. One thing: why the lack of John Barrowman? Did he owe the producers money or something? I think all the other Big Bads were covered, including Diaz. There's a trip down Memory Lane I didn't need. They could have at least showed him getting deep-fried last season.

Colton Hayes doesn't know Parkour. Does the world make sense anymore?

Like I said, this was a good special. You can feel the love and appreciation in making the series.

I think John Barrowman was busy preparing for/filming Dancing on Ice when the interviews for this were filmed. Presumably the same reason why he wasn't in the series finale, despite all of the season 1/League of Assassins callbacks.

[BkWurm1]

I was pleasantly surprised how much I did like the retrospective though it would have made maybe more sense to air it AFTER the finale so they could include clips of how it all ended.  

I liked the focus on Oliver and Felicity's relationship and on their kids and the legacy of the future team Arrow.  I wish EBR could have been a part of it but I kind of felt like every time we saw Kat, that she had a voice in her.  

The special with all the clips cut together really made Arrow look good.  

[thuganomics85]

Favorite part was seeing all of the early episodes and remembering all of the characters/actors I totally forgot about.  It was just me all "Oh, yeah, Kevin Alejandro was Brother Blood!" or "Oh, right, Dylan Bruce was on here for a few episodes."  And a brief glimpse of Walt!  Still wish we had more of him since Colin Salmon deserves to be in everything.

The interviews were fun, even if some I can't say I fully agree with.  Like Katherine McNamara seems like a cool person, but we would certainly have to agree to disagree over her singling out Diaz as one of the best villains.  Speaking of which, I know Stephen Amell's story about Kirk Acevedo's chair saying "The Dragon" on it was meant to be a fun antidote, but it just made me think Kirk might be one of those obnoxious method actors, which could explain why he came off like such a D-bag on social media (and, again, I actually generally like him as an actor, but I really didn't care for him here.)

On the other hand, Echo Kellum shot up some points for naming Chase, and it was cool of Katie Cassidy to mention Cayden, since there was so much potential there that was wasted, but even then, Michael Emerson sure managed to leave a mark.

At least the Salmon Ladder got some love!  And the shallow guy in me was glad they include the scene of Sara/Caity Lotz using it!

It felt like David Ramsey and Katherine were the most emotional ones here, but it definitely seems like everyone enjoyed working on the show, which is good.

[insomniadreams88]

This was a decent retrospective. My major nitpick is the fact that they didn’t have an OTA segment (not gonna lie, would’ve loved to see the “this started with the three of us” line again because you can never see that too many times), yet it included Laurel’s awful non-deathbed deathbed confession

Spoiler

Which should not even have happened anymore in the post-Crisis Earth-Prime world as seen in the finale

Definitely should’ve aired after the series finale to be a retrospective of the entire series. 

And some of the things people said definitely made me go “huh?” like KM liking Diaz (really everything said about Diaz) and KC’s comments about her S1-S8 “arc”

[GHScorpiosRule]

And I'm on the opposite end. I thought the retrospective sucked. Too much sound bytes from the newbies; don't care; There was no Susanna Thompson, No Colin, no Paul, no Caity, no EMILY. And the way they framed how the show was supposed to be about Oliver and Laurel, which no. A whole lotta stuff from season one was Laurel bitching at Oliver. 

And Marblemushmouth as the best villain? PUHLEAZE. I'd thought I'd seen the last of him. And since they were going into the last season or two, I'm beyond miffed I didn't see my Duncan MacLeod! Yes, I said it.

It was all so very sloppy.

[tv echo]

There was a lot more Olicity and a lot more of the next gen kids in this retrospective than I expected. From watching this retrospective, I have to believe that they really want to move forward with Future Team Arrow in the spinoff. Here are my two favorite quotes from this retrospective...

Beth Schwartz: "When we first saw the dailies of Emily in that classic scene with her and the red pen, we just saw a different side to Stephen... There was just this chemistry that was undeniable."

Stephen Amell (about Felicity): "She brought out this part of him, a vulnerability and emotionality that you really, I don't think, would have seen otherwise. I think that makes it the most important relationship that we've had on the show."

Btw, here's the 509 (What We Leave Behind) flashback scene with Oliver & Felicity ("I do believe in magic") that they nicely intercut with Oliver's marriage proposal scene in this retrospective:

(Olicity Queen)

Edited January 31, 2020 by tv echo

[KittenPokerCheater]

Wow.  Just watching the episode now, and SA comes across as pretty fragile in his interviews.  I guess he was very burned out by the end.  Or something.  I felt kind of bad for him.

The rest of the cast seemed more energetic and engaged and happy (but Emily wasn't interviewed for this? Did something happen? Curiouser and curiouser). And it made me realize how much I enjoyed the earlier seasons.  It was great to see the clips and the commentary.  Loved that David Ramsey is such a fan of Season two, and of Manu.

[way2interested]

4 minutes ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

The rest of the cast seemed more energetic and engaged and happy (but Emily wasn't interviewed for this? Did something happen? Curiouser and curiouser). 

Those were filmed with the cast around during the season (EK and CH even though they weren't regulars were still around in the middle of the season multiple times) EBR was only on set for the last 2 days of principle filming and likely wasn't around to film interviews.

[Samwise979]

Wow can't believe how young everyone looked in those season 1 flashbacks. Time goes by fast. Unless/until you look back you don't realize how much really changes. 

[Chaser]

Don’t lie. You wanted to make Batman the tv series. Green Arrow was the closest you could get.

I never realized how much bad cgi there was over the years. But man, when they went gritty the stunts were good. 

I didn’t appreciate SA’s jawline enough in S1. 

I hated the magic in S4 but I liked NM. He deserved better. I forgot how hot Chase was, why couldn’t he have been Felicity’s BF? S5 would have so much better. The whole villain segment and no one mentions Laurel henchmen-ing in the background of two of them. LOL. How confusing is everything with Laurel/BS? They never mention it’s two different characters. 

I miss EBR but really love all the actors and shrowrunners talking about her and  Olicity. It feels like the character got special attention.

Kat, Ben and Joseph are gifts to the Arrowverse. Likable, respectful and well spoken. Joseph getting choked up was so sweet and cute.

It was a pleasant retrospective. I kind of wish it was a more informational and chronological. I would have liked more on the evolution of Arrow.

Oops. I just realized this is in the wrong thread. It was supposed to be in the Arrow Special one 🙄

Edited January 31, 2020 by Chaser

[janeta]

Oh poop—I wasn’t able to see this when it aired, and just assumed it would be on the stream somewhere, but I don’t see it...? 
 

oops, nm, got it. 🙂

Edited February 1, 2020 by janeta

[olicityfan25]

They really went the wrong way with making Billy her bf. I agree with you Chaser. Should have been Chase!

[Josh371982]

On 1/31/2020 at 12:30 AM, Chaser said:

Don’t lie. You wanted to make Batman the tv series. Green Arrow was the closest you could get.

I never realized how much bad cgi there was over the years. But man, when they went gritty the stunts were good. 

I didn’t appreciate SA’s jawline enough in S1. 

I hated the magic in S4 but I liked NM. He deserved better. I forgot how hot Chase was, why couldn’t he have been Felicity’s BF? S5 would have so much better. The whole villain segment and no one mentions Laurel henchmen-ing in the background of two of them. LOL. How confusing is everything with Laurel/BS? They never mention it’s two different characters. 

I miss EBR but really love all the actors and shrowrunners talking about her and  Olicity. It feels like the character got special attention.

Kat, Ben and Joseph are gifts to the Arrowverse. Likable, respectful and well spoken. Joseph getting choked up was so sweet and cute.

It was a pleasant retrospective. I kind of wish it was a more informational and chronological. I would have liked more on the evolution of Arrow.

Oops. I just realized this is in the wrong thread. It was supposed to be in the Arrow Special one 🙄

Kat Ben and Joseph ARE Gems. The Spinoff shouldve been centered around the 3 of them 

[tv echo]

Video of "Smoak Signals" (Felicity) and "Queen of Hearts" (Olicity) segments of the Arrow: Hitting the Bullseye retrospective...

Arrow 8x00 Cast talk about Olicity [HD]
Flash & Arrow   Feb. 2, 2020

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Other segments from this retrospective...

Arrow 8x00 Cast talk about first season [HD]
Flash & Arrow   Feb. 1, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsTtYuPr5eA

Arrow 8x00 Cast talk about Flash [HD]
Flash & Arrow   Feb. 2, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExYnvzibfqo

Arrow 8x00 Cast talk about their favorite villain [HD]
Flash & Arrow   Feb. 3, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2UFML9BOA

Arrow 8x00 Cast talk about the crossover [HD]
Flash & Arrow   Feb. 4, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlayxxzmcMs

Edited February 24, 2020 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Retrospective (Arrow: Hitting the Bullseye) – Arrow producers and cast members look back at eight seasons of the show:
Greg Berlanti: "So Laurel Lance was the lost love, you know, and represented that for Oliver."
*  *  *
(Title: "Smoak Signals")
Beth Schwartz: "When we first saw the dailies of Emily in that classic scene with her and the red pen, we just saw a different side to Stephen... There was just this chemistry that was undeniable."
Marc Guggenheim: "Felicity was kind of like this safety valve character."
Stephen Amell: "I think what she brought out of him and that lightness really was one of the main factors that allowed us to build out my character... You can only watch someone sulk around for so long."
Marc Guggenheim: "It was like, 'oh, this is gold,' and it provided this whole other color to the show."
Colton Haynes: "It's really a testament to Emily because she started the show as a one-day guest star... It's incredible."
Greg Berlanti: "And once she entered the show, we were able to find comedy and humor and lightness in a way that we hadn't been able to previously."
Beth Schwartz: "There's so many intense moments on the show... To break it up with some humor allows everyone to breathe."
Stephen Amell: "If you can't take the time every once in a while to wink at the viewer... you've got to lean into that a little bit."
*  *  *
Stephen Amell: "You mix things up enough that, when the serious moments do happen, people go, 'oh, okay, alright, it's time - it's time to lock in.'"
*  *  *
(Title: "Queen of Hearts")
Colton Haynes: "Well, I like to say that I am the captain of the Olicity ship."
*  *  *
Beth Schwartz: "The two of them are amazing together, even through all their bumps."
Katherine McNamara: "I knew how much the fandom cared about their relationship."
Beth Schwartz: "That to me was the best time, when they were just starting to fall in love with each other."
Colton Haynes: "Their relationship has blossomed, and to see the heartache and the love between them has really, really been special to watch."
*  *  *
Beth Schwartz: "'We're falling for each other and we're heroes, which means one of us could die at any moment'... And that's always been the challenge of their relationship."
*  *  *
Stephen Amell: "She brought out this part of him, a vulnerability and emotionality that you really, I don't think, would have seen otherwise. I think that makes it the most important relationship that we've had on the show."
*  *  *
Marc Guggenheim: "Because of the events on Crisis On Infinite Earths, Oliver has succeeded. The mission is complete."
Beth Schwartz: "For him to become the ultimate hero, the person has sacrificed his life... It just felt the most fitting way to end the show."
Stephen Amell: "I hope when people look at the totality of his journey, redemption for him was saving the city... And, um, I feel like he did it."

Edited April 3, 2020 by tv echo