S03.E09: The Climb

[ban1o]

Is Tatsu dead? I kinda missed a part of this episode and only saw her fight with China White. Didn't see what happened.

Edited December 11, 2014 by ban1o

[apinknightmare]

Is Tatsu dead? I kinda missed a part of this episode and only saw her fight with China White. Didn't see what happened.

 

We don't know. But when Oliver talked to Maseo about why he joined the League, he mentioned "after" and I'm assuming he was talking about whatever happened to Tatsu. Although I hope he didn't just up and leave his kid - unless he's Malcolm 2.0.

[strikera0]

They KNEW they were coming to this point sooner or later so why didn't they just NOT make him say that in episode 4? That just baffles me tbqh. 

 

Because they are making up the story as they are going along.

[Angel12d]

I still can't believe that Quentin doesn't know Sara is dead. It'll be s5 and he'll be asking Laurel if she's heard from Sara yet. JFC. Absurd. 

[KenyaJ]

I finally put my finger on why Ray and Felicity always feel so off to me. Every time they have a scene together, you can feel the shift in the show as it tries to turn into a 40s era romantic comedy, and it's not working for me at all. I don't get "quick-witted" from Brandon Routh; I just get "manic," and it makes me uncomfortable watching such obvious EFFORT!!!! on his part and the shows. I wish both he and the show would take it down a notch, or 1000 so I could enjoy his scenes more. In quieter moments, he's fine. 

 

I loved Thea busting out her new skills on Oliver and his "holy shit" stunned face. That was quite the wakeup call. I'm really interested to see how Oliver deals with all these revelations about her when he comes back. Tonight he seemed so focused on saving her life that he didn't really deal with the 467,836 lies she told him, and I need to see the fallout from that.

 

I tempered my expectations greatly for the big Olicity scene, and didn't even really let myself consider what might happen. But I'll freely admit that Oliver's simple, declarative "I love you" punched me right in the gut. It's nothing I didn't know, but just hearing him say it like that stole my breath. Nicely played, Amell. 

 

And I can't even believe that Quentin still doesn't know his daughter is dead. I'm even more disbelieving that Dinah -- who is a motherfucking parent herself and should understand Quentin's right to know better than anyone else -- is basically fine with Laurel's lies as long as she hurts the person who killed Sara real good. JFC. Also, it sounded so stupid to have Laurel tell Dinah she's doing everything she can to find the killer when we haven't seen her doing jack shit but hitting stuff for the past 6 weeks. Whatever, show.

Edited December 11, 2014 by KenyaJ

[blixie]

I found Nable astoundingly..meh like the rest of the episode. His delivery just lacks the gravitas needed, he as fine in the fight but well he's a footballer so I never doubted he'd be good in a fight.

 

 

They KNEW they were coming to this point sooner or later

 

Did they? Who knows, I'd guess they changed her from doing it with Agency and Awareness, to lacking in Agency and Hypnotized. They talked big about her having a significant story line, but outside episode 3 she got macked on by an annoying DJ and that is about it.

 

 

this has nothing to do with Sara and her life choices or Thea and her decisions.

I hate everything this "storyline" has chosen to be.

[statsgirl]

Well that looked pretty dead to me.....  I wonder if Nyssa is the one who Lazarus Pits him.

 

Malcolm Merlyn is really truly awful and I think Oliver should have shown that video to Thea of the plane and the short shooter, and tell her about the drug.  He's so so bad that if Oliver doesn't come back, Thea will be completely taken over by him.

 

I really really want Felicity and Diggle to go over to Thea's and explain the facts of Merlyn life to her.

 

Speaking of the mind-control drug, lamest explanation ever.

 

parallel I liked:  Felicity knows two things; Oliver knows two things.

parellel I didn't like:  Felicity tells Oliver to kill Ras; Dinah tells Laurel to make those who killed Sara pay.  (Also, Laurel is still doing bugger all to find Sara's killer, it's Team Arrow doing all the work.

 

If that scene was a '9', Guggenheim is working in base 16.

 

At first I thought they were going for the people who died and were waiting for him on the other side, but Oliver saw the four people he cared about the most:  Robert, Moira, Thea and Felicity.  Not that that's going to put the matter to rest for those who believe that Laurel is his true love.

 

 

And yeah, I just...I cannot believe after that sweet moment from him she just let him leave without saying anything at all. I'm not faulting her, I get why she might be scared to, but...he might not come back? I don't know.

She knew he was going to go --if nothing else she knows by now that nothing changes Oliver's mind when it's made up except experience, she even said she wasnt't gong to ask him not to go.  if she begged him not to go, it might distract him and that would be dangerous.  But hey, MG, a real kiss wouldn't have hurt.

[ban1o]

Having Thea kill Sara when she was drugged was underwhelming and a copout. Diggle, Laurel and Roy barely seemed to be in this episode but I guess that will change when the show comes back. But the fight scene at the end was really good. Too bad everyone knows that Oliver isn't really dead.

 

Also I know I'll get hate for this but Thea is really starting to annoy me with her loyalty to merlyn like geez she does realize that HE is the one that was responsible for the death of her father, step father and his own son, Tommy and hundreds of other people. I just don't get it. And it's so obvious he doesn't give a shit about her considering how he threw her under the bus like that. In fact if the writers actually planned this out why didn't Merlyn show Oliver the video in episode 4 when they were accusing him of murdering Sara and acted like he had nothing to do with it? Why did he let it drag on like that?

[Lila82]

My thoughts seem to have fallen into the shallow end of the pool:

 

Ra's is a beautiful mix of Chris Messina and Mat Fraser and it's so very wonderful to watch.  Except the high-waisted pants.  I know the 90s are back and all, but I already cringe when at Spike when watch "Buffy" reruns.  We never need to see those again.  Same goes for Thea's sequined harem pants.  Why, costumers, why?

 

I'm so very envious of Felicity's red dress.  Fashionable and work appropriate.  She's making progress!

 

Brandon Routh is adorable!  Where was all this personality in "Superman Returns"?  Blame it on Kate Bosworth?

 

I adore Paul Blackthorne but his American accent is making him sound like Jimmy Stewart and it hurts my ears.

 

Laurel is such an asshole.  The only thing I like about her is that she doesn't let other people tell her what to do, yet she does the same thing to her dad.   Yes, he has a heart condition, but so do many people, and they still suffer bad news and survive. Hypocrite asshole.

 

I do have one actual question: where was the epic battle being fought?  Did they teleport to the Himalayas?  Can the League of Assasins apparate?   Does Starling City have good skiing? Someone, help.

 

ETA:

I liked that in the flashes before Oliver's eyes, he remembered Thea as the sweet teenager he left behind.  He knows she's changed, but it's completely in character to remember as she was rather than the girl she's become.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Lila82

[Jediknight]

At first I thought they were going for the people who died and were waiting for him on the other side, but Oliver saw the four people he cared about the most:  Robert, Moira, Thea and Felicity.  Not that that's going to put the matter to rest for those who believe that Laurel is his true love.

He didn't see his true love though, there was not one shot of the salmon ladder.

[SonofaBiscuit]

parallel I liked:  Felicity knows two things; Oliver knows two things.

 

 

Someone help me out, I've seen this twice now.  What two things did Felicity know?  I think I missed that part.

[wonderwall]

He didn't see his true love though, there was not one shot of the salmon ladder.

They've been cheating on each other the entire season. Safe to say Oliver and Sally are on a break

[Starfish35]

Hahahaha ok I'm just laughing right now. I can't believe that I still managed to overestimate these writers. *facepalm* Hypnotized Thea is the murderer, Tatsu is possibly dead, and Laurel still hasn't told her father. Wow. Oh, and the Ra's retcon! Seriously?!?

Edited December 11, 2014 by Starfish35

[wonderwall]

Someone help me out, I've seen this twice now.  What two things did Felicity know?  I think I missed that part.

S2E22. "You are not alone, and I believe in you"

[Morrigan2575]

He didn't see his true love though, there was not one shot of the salmon ladder.

I think they broke up, big fight...Oliver didn't like Sally hooking up with Barry.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Morrigan2575

[Angel12d]

Did anyone else expect more of a reaction from Roy that Thea is a killer now? He was so blasé about it. This is what happens when they cram too much in to one episode. We miss the reactions that are important.

 

Someone help me out, I've seen this twice now.  What two things did Felicity know?  I think I missed that part.

 

From s2 when she said 'You are not alone and I believe in you.'

[apinknightmare]

She knew he was going to go --if nothing else she knows by now that nothing changes Oliver's mind when it's made up except experience, she even said she wasnt't gong to ask him not to go.  if she begged him not to go, it might distract him and that would be dangerous.  But hey, MG, a real kiss wouldn't have hurt.

 

Oh, I wasn't expecting her to ask him not to go or anything - she said she wouldn't because she knows him well enough to know he wouldn't stay. That works for me. I just have difficulty believing that she wouldn't tell him she loved him too or say something along those lines when, even if she believed in him wholeheartedly (and I know she did), it could very well be the last time she sees him. It's not like she'd be emotionally manipulating him or anything to simply say it. It could've been soft and true like his was, and that's that. Just so he knew before he marched off to GET STABBED IN THE CHEST BY RA'S AND THEN FALL OFF A CLIFF onto the fluffiest snow bank ever, am i right?

[Orion]

I'm seriously developing a twitch from this show and not telling Quentin his child is dead. Literally everyone else on the show, the hotdog vender at the Rockets arena probably knows at this point but not Quentin.  Laurel and Dinah are more alike than they thought and the show successfully made me not like Dinah for the first time, so good job?

 

The timeline for this episode was horrible. We were flashing back, then forward, then back further, then to current, back to flashback, back to forward. I didn't know what was happening when a lot of the time. And apparently the flight to Nanda Parbat is like 2 hours.  The once again stuffed way to much into an episode and we missed character moments.

 

The dual was better than I was expecting. But everything else was pretty predictable and disappointing.

 

Although I will be living off who Oliver flash to as he was dying and the forehead kiss for a long while.

[apinknightmare]

I'm seriously developing a twitch from this show and not telling Quentin his child is dead. Literally everyone else on the show, the hotdog vender at the Rockets arena probably knows at this point but not Quentin.

 

Laurel can't lose another person, don't you understand?

And seriously, I know some of y'all thought it was ridiculous to think she'd suit up to fool Quentin, but who's with me in thinking this is happening now? I think she's going to do it and he'll realize fairly quickly, and she'll have to fess up soon, but she will still get UNHOLY (mother-approved) VENGEANCE ON...wait, she doesn't know Thea did it. LMAO Or will she kill Malcolm? Or will Malcolm whoop her ass? Eh, who cares

Edited December 11, 2014 by apinknightmare

[BkWurm1]

So the stuff with Ray was no where near the level of horrible I was afraid of but that kind of relates to my level of expectation about everything (almost) else.  The episode was kind of underwhelming.  Maybe it was because I was so spoiled but I didn't feel like much of anything unexpected happened.  Worse, I feel like the producers got dosed with that herb Malcolm was growing and think they wrote a show that supports Ra's caring one fig for Sara.  So confused and not in a good way.

 

Maybe every time Ra's uses a pit he gets amnesia and maybe the next time he was told Sara was dead he decided he was mad. 

 

I liked that Maseo didn't outright hate Oliver, there was some left over friendship there.

 

Such a cop out having Thea the guilty party but just a walking tool for Malcolm and his uber convoluted plot.  Plus, wasn't Sara tracking Malcolm in Starling City?  Wasn't she in town for a while before Malcolm showed up?  I'm so frustrated with the lazy writing. 

 

I did love Thea fighting the GA though I can't believe she didn't just roll her eyes and ask Ollie what was up with the costume.  The mask does not hide who his is to people who know him. 

 

Laurel...the worst thing about Laurel not telling her father because he can't handle it is that I'm pretty sure they are going to make Laurel right (which is why she should have told him when they were at the hospital!!!!).  Yep, Quentin is still popping his 'they are going to kill me off next' pills. 

 

The "moment" between Oliver and Felicity was good but I can think of a couple from last year that I would have rated higher.  Even the ILY doesn't compel it up higher since that is old news now.  I LIKED hearing it said so casually and definitive but their scene didn't move me and that made me mad 'cause this is all I have to hold onto for months.  What is going to keep me going will be what Oliver saw as his life flashed before his eyes.  That moved me.  That made the tears come.

Edited December 11, 2014 by BkWurm1

[Betweenthisandthat]

I hate everything this "storyline" has chosen to be.

 

I don't like what's going on with it and it sucks.  

 

I don't give a damn about Oliver's love life, not when everything else seems off. The stuff I do care about is getting shoddy treatment.  Like, is there a way to love this show long term if you don't ship Olicity?  Those scenes between them and his remembering the kiss isn't enough for me.

 

Laurel knows nothing about what's going on with Thea being the killer and Malcolm planning the whole thing and Oliver going off to take the blame?  Doesn't she kinda need to know that this stuff is going on since Sara was her sister?  Isn't Oliver kind of being a dick by telling everyone goodbye except the person who lost her sister?  I'm not Laurel/Oliver shipper, and I don't see the show ever going there again, so an Oliver/Laurel goodbye isn't a threat to anything.  Why didn't it happen?  Why is Laurel isolated from this when this involves her just as much as Oliver?  Will someone tell her why Oliver left?  Did Oliver tell Thea he'd be gone because I don't remember that scene?  He only told her he'd watch after her but how will she react to his disappearance?  Very little about this makes sense.

[blixie]

 

Like, is there a way to love this show long term if you don't ship Olicity?  Those scenes between them and his remembering the kiss isn't enough for me.

 

Yeah because as an Olicity fan clearly it was enough for me. Except not, that episode was a huge disappointment on every single front. Except Brandon Routh as Ray, I loved him, and he looked damn good. 

[El Seed]

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with everyone who was disappointed with the forehead kiss. I thought it was perfect. Oliver was getting his affairs in order, and in that moment it was laying it out for Felicity. Forehead kisses are intimate; they may not have the obvious passion of lips on lips, but, for me, that intimate emotion wins every time over passion. And that moment with Felicity wasn't a moment of passion, it was a moment of intimacy. With a forehead kiss all of the emotion is focused on the receiver. This wasn't a kiss for Oliver, it was for Felicity. Oliver (finally!) telling her "I love you" backs it up.  He can be a selfish man sometimes, but in that moment he was giving her what she's wanted for a long time, and this time it was all focused on her.

 

The timeline for this episode was horrible. We were flashing back, then forward, then back further, then to current, back to flashback, back to forward. I didn't know what was happening when a lot of the time. And apparently the flight to Nanda Parbat is like 2 hours.

 

 

Agreed. The whole thing was wonky. And I hope Oliver remembered to pick the blue flower before he met up with Ra's. This was Batman Begins, right?

[apinknightmare]

The "moment" between Oliver and Felicity was good but I can think of a couple from last year that I would have rated higher.  Even the ILY doesn't compel it up higher since that is old news now.  I LIKED hearing it said so casually and definitive but their scene didn't move me and that made me mad 'cause this is all I have to hold onto for months.  What is going to keep me going will be what Oliver saw as his life flashed before his eyes.  That moved me.  That made the tears come.

 

I liked hearing him say that he loved her, but I liked the "If it's you asking, I'll do it" even more. And yeah, the last thing he saw before he fell...sigh. I didn't cry, but I felt things.

[Betweenthisandthat]

Except not, that episode was a huge disappointment on every single front. Except Brandon Routh as Ray, I loved him, and he looked damn good.

 

It's just not even those Olicity scenes affected me emotionally.  If you ship something, at least that can be a bright spot. Ray does look good though I agree.

[apinknightmare]

I don't give a damn about Oliver's love life, not when everything else seems off. The stuff I do care about is getting shoddy treatment.  Like, is there a way to love this show long term if you don't ship Olicity?  Those scenes between them and his remembering the kiss isn't enough for me.

 

Even people who ship Olicity don't love this show, but it's like finding a pearl in a pile of steaming poo at times, so it's something to hold onto when things get stinky. Like now. 

[SmallScreenDiva]

The writers changed the dialogue in the previouslies to work in the plot of Ra's actually caring about Sara. They just completely retconned him from episode 4.

 

I'm not so sure it's retconning yet. Nyssa gave her father a look when Ra's said, which tells me she twigged on it. Might be something that gets picked up in the back half.

[KenyaJ]

I don't give a damn about Oliver's love life, not when everything else seems off. The stuff I do care about is getting shoddy treatment.  Like, is there a way to love this show long term if you don't ship Olicity?  Those scenes between them and his remembering the kiss isn't enough for me.

 

I'm already tired of the implication that shipping Olicity = being happy with the show. Is that the only aspect of the show we're capable of caring about? And even if it were, why would any Olicity fan be over the moon about their storyline thus far this season?

Edited December 11, 2014 by KenyaJ

[Orion]

rel knows nothing about what's going on with Thea being the killer and Malcolm planning the whole thing and Oliver going off to take the blame?  Doesn't she kinda need to know that this stuff is going on since Sara was her sister?  Isn't Oliver kind of being a dick by telling everyone goodbye except the person who lost her sister?  I'm not Laurel/Oliver shipper, and I don't see the show ever going there again, so an Oliver/Laurel goodbye isn't a threat to anything.  Why didn't it happen?  Why is Laurel isolated from this when this involves her just as much as Oliver?  Will someone tell her why Oliver left?  Did Oliver tell Thea he'd be gone because I don't remember that scene?  He only told her he'd watch after her but how will she react to his disappearance?  Very little about this makes sense.

 

Why would Oliver tell her when every time a suspect has come up Laurel has been more interested in killing them right there even when there was evidence they were not guilty?

 

Oliver is leaving town and Laurel is waiting to fly off the handle. Imo that was actually the smart thing to do. You don't tell someone who is already out of control something that will set them off further when you are not going to be around to stop them from killing a person.

[blixie]

Yeah I'm not even appreciating the Olicity right now, I find it to be just as infected as the rest of the show by poor plot driven writing.

[BkWurm1]

The timeline for this episode was horrible. We were flashing back, then forward, then back further, then to current, back to flashback, back to forward. I didn't know what was happening when a lot of the time. And apparently the flight to Nanda Parbat is like 2 hours.

 

Lol, one of the things I 'm pretty sure of is Felicity left work at Palmer Industries in a grey dress but changed into a red one before she went to the Arrow Lair that same night. 

 

I'm trying to convince myself that Nyssa didn't have to fly to Nanda Parbat since that would mean she flew all the way back just so they could turn around and get back on the plane.  Maybe they have back up temples carved into the base of mountains up in Vancouver.  They have mountains, right?

[wonderwall]

I liked hearing him say that he loved her, but I liked the "If it's you asking, I'll do it" even more. And yeah, the last thing he saw before he fell...sigh. I didn't cry, but I felt things.

I cried because apparently I'm an idiot. Flashback montages always get to me. ALWAYS. Without fail. I love how Oliver saw Felicity last, in my opinion that was the best 'olicity' moment of the episode. I don't think it means in any way that he cares about her the most, but it shows how much of an affect she has had on his life in only two and a half measly years. This episode made me certain that they're in it for the long haul, and to be honest? I'm sort of glad that this made me dispel all of my previous worries. 

 

In regards to the episode, I'm going to be in the minority and say I really liked it regardless of its flaws. Not because of Oliver/Felicity but because I liked Team Arrow working together. I liked how this episode made me like Ra's. He may not look deadly, but he definitely is. I liked Maseo, and I liked Dinah and Quentin, Ray didn't even annoy me as much, Malcolm proved to be irredeemable and that was great imo. My only gripes were Ra's suddenly caring about Sara's death, Roy's non-reaction, Thea being used as a puppet (ALTHOUGH, this gives me hope that she'll be the one to destroy Merlyn when the time comes), and Ray's stalker tendencies came back which was annoying. 

[Betweenthisandthat]

You don't tell someone who is already out of control something that will set them off further when you are not going to be around to stop them from killing a person.

 

Oddly enough that sounds like why Laurel isn't telling her father.  Not that he's out of control, but we're beaten over the head with his health issues, and how he'll fly off the handle and then die.  So maybe Oliver thinks Laurel will go crazy and get herself killed if she knows the truth.  Both rationales stink, but that's what the show has given us to work with.

[SonofaBiscuit]

I don't even think I can look at gifs from this episode.  Oliver kneeling with blood dripping from his mouth was way too upsetting.  Like, I know you'll be back, but gosh that was horrible. 

[wingster55]

Man that was such a great goodbye between Oliver and Diggle and so fitting to their three year friendship and not some lame handshake where once again he literally exits a scene for Oliver/Felicity. 

Oh wait...

[wonderwall]

I don't even think I can look at gifs from this episode.  Oliver kneeling with blood dripping from his mouth was way too upsetting.  Like, I know you'll be back, but gosh that was horrible. 

It hurt my heart man... I care about the characters way too much. I don't care about the plot or whatever. But Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity own my heart and if anything bad happens to them, it makes me incredibly sad :p 

Man that was such a great goodbye between Oliver and Diggle and so fitting to their three year friendship and not some lame handshake where once again he literally exits a scene for Oliver/Felicity. 

Oh wait...

To be fair, his 'goodbye' to Felicity or Thea weren't really stellar either :p I think it's because he was confident he would make it back home? IDK why he thought that. But yeah, that's what I got from his expressions and stuff

[TV Anonymous]

Now I've got mention something shallow.  This is a show that has had Emily Bett Rickards, Katie Cassidy, Celina Jade, and Caity Lotz, so there's been no shortage of beautiful women.  That being said Katrina Law as Nyssa blows them all out of the water, and that's saying something.  She's just freaking stunning.

 

Should have seen her in Spartacus, then.

[ban1o]

Man that was such a great goodbye between Oliver and Diggle and so fitting to their three year friendship and not some lame handshake where once again he literally exits a scene for Oliver/Felicity. 

Oh wait...

I actually agree. Oliver's goodbye with Digglewas extremely underwhelming. His goodbye with Roy was even better and that's saying something. But Diggle has gotten the shaft this season.

[Carrie Ann]

Couple things: after Oliver says the I love you and leaves Felicity gaping, she's doing the Oliver thing with her fingers.

 

 

Also, after stabbing Oliver in the right side, avoiding his heart, Ra's shoves him off the cliff, looks off the edge and slams the sword in the rock. It seemed sort of...intentional. Probably not, but worth noting in case.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Carrie Ann

[Angel12d]

Is it bad that I'm now laughing because someone on reddit said that Thea was the one who killed Sara, just after 301 aired. Lol this show. It's a shame when you can predict everything. 

 

I love Olicity but there are other parts of the show I (used to) enjoy just as much, if not more. Those things seem to be long gone now.  Team Arrow dynamic working flawlessly. Diggle in the field. So yeah, I cling to whatever 'joy' I can get and if that's a small Olicity moment, then so be it.

 

 

Man that was such a great goodbye between Oliver and Diggle and so fitting to their three year friendship and not some lame handshake where once again he literally exits a scene for Oliver/Felicity. 

Oh wait...

 

 

As much as I love Olicity, I totally agree. I wanted more from Oliver and Diggle's goodbye. Not even a hug? Laaaaaame! I will say though that Roy, Felicity and Diggle all said goodbye as if they believed Oliver was coming back. I think they hugely underestimated Ra's for some reason. It felt like they were all saying 'Catch ya later bro!' It didn't fit with the moment at all.

[wingster55]

To be fair, his 'goodbye' to Felicity or Thea weren't really stellar either :p I think it's because he was confident he would make it back home? IDK why he thought that. But yeah, that's what I got from his expressions and stuff

Roy still got a hug and a "Take Care of Thea" and Felicity got the "hero says goodbye to the girl" trope/scene. He could've said something to Diggle. "You're in charge" or "I should always listen to you" or "Wear the hood"

[statsgirl]

Diggle got a bromance/partners handshake.  It wasn't a hug but it. seemed appropriate.  Only Thea got a hug and that's because Oliver was sacrificing himself for her.

 

IMO, Olicity is getting the same shoddy treatment the rest of the show is getting.  There are moments, but they are few and far between and meanwhile we get scenes with crazy eyes Ray.

 

I was surprised that Roy didn't react more when he heard that it was Thea who killed Sara. But maybe he understands, having killed a cop himself.

 

The plot was very Malcolm Merlyn, killing two birds with one stone.  Either Oliver wins, in which case he's free of Ra's, or Ra's wins in which case he free of Thea's meddlesome brother.

 

I don't mind Laurel and I liked her scenes with Dinah and Thea.  I wish this "don't tell dad" storyline was better.  But everyone seems to be okay with it, so...that lowers the stakes.  I wish that happened more often.  This show has so many characters and yet it forgets the relationships that used to exist and then trot them out when convenient that it starts to feel telegraphed.  I wish we saw the women on this show interacting more than they do.  I'm much more interested in them anyway.

 

I think they're struggling even more this season to write Laurel.  They've got the anger and determination but she's doing nothing to find Sara's killer, just taking boxing lessons and still talking about how she'll extract vengeance from him /her and we know that's not going to happen because it's Thea.  (And tbh, I don't think KC can do the scene where Laurel finds out and rages at Thea.)  So moving her into BC zone is still kind of pointless, and even more bizarre when she's telling everyone she knows that Sara is dead and please don't tell my father.

 

 

Oddly enough that sounds like why Laurel isn't telling her father.  Not that he's out of control, but we're beaten over the head with his health issues, and how he'll fly off the handle and then die.  So maybe Oliver thinks Laurel will go crazy and get herself killed if she knows the truth.  Both rationales stink, but that's what the show has given us to work with.

The difference is that while Quentin has a heart problem, we don't know how he will react to hearing about Sara.  Laurel, on the other hand, has gone off on a vengeance spree every time she heard about the next person in line killed Sara, except for Roy when Oliver stopped her.  That's the problem with Laurel, it's always been the problem with Laurel (good consistency, writers) that she goes off on a tangent and does stupid things without proving her information first.

 

I thought MG said that we would see in this episode why Laurel puts on the BC costume. Unless it's to keep fooling Quentin, I still don't see why.

 

That scene where Ray tells Felicity about Anna(?) was so bad, I was eye rolling so hard. Yet another woman was fridged to propel a man's heroic journey. YAWN.. 

They really need a new schtick. On this show, the women (Shado, Moira, Sara, Tatsu, Barry's mother and now Anna) stay dead while the men (Slade, Malcolm, Ronnie on the Flash) survive.  Robert Queen did die but I wouldn't be surprised if Malcolm revived Tommy somehow.

 

However, I really hope that the Ray/Felicity "romance" is over now that she knows that he lost a fiance and isn't over her, and that Oliver loves/loved her.

 

 

Oh, I wasn't expecting her to ask him not to go or anything - she said she wouldn't because she knows him well enough to know he wouldn't stay. That works for me. I just have difficulty believing that she wouldn't tell him she loved him too or say something along those lines when, even if she believed in him wholeheartedly (and I know she did), it could very well be the last time she sees him. It's not like she'd be emotionally manipulating him or anything to simply say it. It could've been soft and true like his was, and that's that. Just so he knew before he marched off to GET STABBED IN THE CHEST BY RA'S AND THEN FALL OFF A CLIFF onto the fluffiest snow bank ever, am i right?

You're right, if he was thinking she was moving on with Ray, she should have said something like it back to him.

 

Also, if they are using the Lazarus Pit on Oliver, will he come back a bit mental? 

Well they have to come up with the next way to keep Oliver and Felicity apart....

 

ETA:  Matseo said, and Oliver repeated later, that they were meeting to fight in a neutral place so I assumed it wasn't in Nanda Parbat. Maybe they have a meeting ground in the Rockies, or the Andes.

Edited December 11, 2014 by statsgirl

[ban1o]

I agree with the poster earlier who said laurel should have at least been told about what happened to Sara and Oliver should have said goodbye to her but whatever.

[Angel12d]

I agree with the poster earlier who said laurel should have at least been told about what happened to Sara and Oliver should have said goodbye to her but whatever.

 

It is weird that they didn't say goodbye but I just accepted that she was busy with her mom and Oliver clearly believed he was coming back so no harm, no foul.

 

It's strange that Laurel is so separate from everything though. Like she says she wants to find who killed Sara but is just leaving it all to Team Arrow, even though she's explicitly said she's not on their team. I'm confused about that tbh.

[wonderwall]

I agree with the poster earlier who said laurel should have at least been told about what happened to Sara and Oliver should have said goodbye to her but whatever.

I thought so too. Now she's going to be hounding Team Arrow while they're going to probably keep the truth from her because that's what people do in this show... smh Laurel deserves to know who killed her sister just as much as Quentin deserves to know that his daughter is dead and who killed her. 

[apinknightmare]

I agree with the poster earlier who said laurel should have at least been told about what happened to Sara and Oliver should have said goodbye to her but whatever.

 

Nah, if Oliver told her why she was going, he'd have to tell her why, and then she'd go to murder Thea and Thea would put her on her back with a quickness. It was best for all involved that he didn't, IMO

It's strange that Laurel is so separate from everything though. Like she says she wants to find who killed Sara but is just leaving it all to Team Arrow, even though she's explicitly said she's not on their team. I'm confused about that tbh.

 

Yeah, Laurel does not give two shits about finding who actually did it, so long as she gets to leather up to attempt to whoop their ass.

[wingster55]

Only Thea got a hug

 

Roy got one too. 

[bluebonnet]

I'm super confused.  I thought Thea knew Oliver was the Arrow?  

[wonderwall]

While watching the show I never really thought of Diggle/Oliver being all huggy. But then again, they did hug in the season premier so now I kind of see why it's weird to see Oliver not hug Diggle but hug Roy... Also I probably glazed over the Roy bit because he's completely uninteresting to me tbqh, I didn't even know they hugged until you all mentioned it :p 

 

I still maintain that Oliver thought he would come back which is why all of the goodbyes were sort of underwhelming. 

[ban1o]

Nah, if Oliver told her why she was going, he'd have to tell her why, and then she'd go to murder Thea and Thea would put her on her back with a quickness. It was best for all involved that he didn't, IMO

 

Yeah, Laurel does not give two shits about finding who actually did it, so long as she gets to leather up to attempt to whoop their ass.

She didn't try to kill Roy when he basically admitted to doing it under the influence and she barely knows him. She wouldn't have done anything to Thea.