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Social Media and Behind the Scenes: AKA Everything Else Not "News and Media"


Zalyn
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About EBR not going to Paley.  I honestly don't think anything should be read into it.  It's already a packed panel by combining all of the shows and we know EBR isn't a fan of those kind of events.  And it's not like they sent Curtis in her place (since only regulars can go).  

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4 minutes ago, EmilyBettFan said:

I have faith someone will ask a question about her. Or at least I hope so. We've had no word from her at all this season for her character. 

Lol, I'm completely positive she'll come up or at least Felicity will. 

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7 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

About EBR not going to Paley.  I honestly don't think anything should be read into it.  It's already a packed panel by combining all of the shows and we know EBR isn't a fan of those kind of events.  And it's not like they sent Curtis in her place (since only regulars can go).  

I'm honestly not surprised that they didn't send her. 1. She doesn't really do those events. So if it was a big group of the cast I would expect her, but just 2 reps from each show - they probably would pull from another cast. Plus DR is one of the original cast, so that works for me. 2. They have been writing O & F as separate people the entire season, to couple them up for a promo talk would go against their game plan this season. 3. I don't think Arrow is catering to the female cast this season, so they would probably go male first.

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2 minutes ago, Belinea said:

Regarding @tv echo's post of SA facebook q&a: Does he seem more annoyed/salty/upset lately? Because the guy was friendly but SA still brought up how people in parts hate season 5.

Is it odd that I found him bringing up lots of others hating it as a good sign?  He could have just lapped up the praise. Instead he acknowledged that the guy loving the season wasn't what everyone felt. 

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20 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Is it odd that I found him bringing up lots of others hating it as a good sign?  He could have just lapped up the praise. Instead he acknowledged that the guy loving the season wasn't what everyone felt. 

I think he's just tired of people bitching at him everyday about how they don't like the season. I know I'd grow tired considering I'd have no control over how the show is written... It's pretty much shooting the messenger at this point.

He shouldn't have said anything, but I get the frustration.

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7 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

I think he's just tired of people bitching at him everyday about how they don't like the season. I know I'd grow tired considering I'd have no control over how the show is written... It's pretty much shooting the messenger at this point.

He shouldn't have said anything, but I get the frustration.

I'm all for his frustration if any of what he's hearing makes it back to the ones doing the actual writing.  If I knew their craft service guy I'd be grumbling his ear off.  

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The thing is SA does have some influence, or at least he claimed to have some influence. Yes, the writers & TPTB write the show, but BMD was partially his idea. So either he is inflating stuff, or he does have some input. Of course, the writers don't have to listen to him or the fans. People are going to reach out to him to talk about their frustrations, especially since he makes himself available on social media frequently for it. He has made it clear that he is invested in making Arrow a success. Out of all of the cast, he is the only one that talks about having a link to the actual writing of the shows. The other people in their social media seem to imply that the most they get involved in the script is to read it. There have been brief mentions of talking about their "characters" with the writers/TPTB; but nothing big and certainly not as consistently bragging about it as SA is.

I certainly don't feel bad if people complain to him. He made himself open to it for the last 5 years. I haven't noticed a change in his behavior. Then again, he always tends to get a little salty from time to time. It's just part of who he is.

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12 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I'm all for his frustration if any of what he's hearing makes it back to the ones doing the actual writing.  If I knew their craft service guy I'd be grumbling his ear off.  

I think it's been well established that Stephen doesn't really have that much power on the show. People just have this idea that he does, he really doesn't. I mean there have been a few times he's suggested ideas and they made minor changes, but nothing major. Complaints about the season as a whole is something major that Stephen would never have control over. 

And I think he's stated multiple times that he's just an actor, he doesn't write the show, so when people still complain, it must really suck. I guess he's stuck between a rock and hard place for this one. I can only imagine what it feels like to be stuck like that.

Regardless, yeah he really shouldn't have said anything. Stephen has a problem keeping his mouth shut lol

2 minutes ago, kismet said:

Yes, the writers & TPTB write the show, but BMD was partially his idea.

I don't believe that's true at all. The mama drama was happening regardless, Stephen just convinced them to not have Oliver outright lie in episode 8 (it could've been much worse I guess). But that flew right out the window when he lied to her in future episodes. He had some influence, sure, but it's just a minuscule amount.

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2 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

I think it's been well established that Stephen doesn't really have that much power on the show. People just have this idea that he does, he really doesn't. I mean there have been a few times he's suggested ideas and they made minor changes, but nothing major. Complaints about the season as a whole is something major that Stephen would never have control over. 

And I think he's stated multiple times that he's just an actor, he doesn't write the show, so when people still complain, it must really suck. I guess he's stuck between a rock and hard place for this one. I can only imagine what it feels like to be stuck like that.

Regardless, yeah he really shouldn't have said anything. Stephen has a problem keeping his mouth shut lol

I don't believe that's true at all. The mama drama was happening regardless, Stephen just convinced them to not have Oliver outright lie in episode 8 (it could've been much worse I guess). But that flew right out the window when he lied to her in future episodes. He had some influence, sure, but it's just a minuscule amount.

Whether or not his power is real, the people believe he has power. They are going to take their complaints to him. You don't see other Arrow stars lining up Facebook lives & interacting with fans about Arrow. He is the only cast member that interacts consistently with fans about the show. Where else would these people turn? Because I'm sure they've already expressed it to the official Arrow social media channels. If he wants to not hear the complaints, then he needs to stop interacting with the fans.

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11 minutes ago, kismet said:

Whether or not his power is real, the people believe he has power. They are going to take their complaints to him. You don't see other Arrow stars lining up Facebook lives & interacting with fans about Arrow. He is the only cast member that interacts consistently with fans about the show. Where else would these people turn? Because I'm sure they've already expressed it to the official Arrow social media channels. If he wants to not hear the complaints, then he needs to stop interacting with the fans.

LOL OK? I'm just saying I understand his frustrations even though he should've kept his mouth shut. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place because people honestly don't know any better and he wants to keep an open line of communication with fans. It must suck to pour your heart and soul into something and receive a lot of criticism/hate in return. And sometimes being in that position at a certain point, people can have the tendency of making poor decisions - as humans do. 

That's all I'm saying. 

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It's kind of a double-edged sword situation, at least as I see it - at first, him having an active social media presence was good, because Arrow was a fledgling show on a not very successful network, so that helped a bit to build up the fanbase, get buzz going, etc. The more fans felt involved - that the star was hearing and communicating with them, answering questions, etc. - the more the online engagement increased. And, yeah, I think some do think he has real power - and that's a perception he's fostered, which he probably should not have done, because that's contributed to the current situation. 

Plus, it's changed because now there are some pretty vocal people out there who are unhappy with any number of things and aren't shy about spelling those issues out. . . .in great, sometimes even hostile detail. (I'm not referring to all fans, of course, or even all of the unhappy fans; just the ones who are particularly aggressive.) Added to that is that it seems like he's also fielded (what seems like) an increasing number of personal attacks recently, so his frustration is apparent for all to see. 

Not answering people would probably be best, but with the ratings and social media buzz/activity down, I guess an argument could be made that now is not the time for him to pull back. Plus, I don't think his ego would allow him to, which is a problem, in and of itself.

Edited by weathered1
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His saltiness comes out when it's aspects of the show he likes or tries to change that don't give him the best ratings or the best reviews. BMD didn't go over well and that was his idea. Sometimes I wonder if Oliver is getting to him.

Going to the producers/writers and making Oliver less into a player and more into a one woman kind of guy.

So for every good idea he has, he has an even more idiotic idea up his sleeve. Good Lord lol

Edited by EmilyBettFan
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41 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

It must suck to pour your heart and soul into something and receive a lot of criticism/hate in return. And sometimes being in that position at a certain point, people can have the tendency of making poor decisions - as humans do. 

That's called life - every professional has had that experience. And some professions get it worse than others. Personally, I think he handles the majority of his social media about Arrow just fine. I don't mind the saltiness, it means he actually still invested in it. It's when he goes detours outside of his projects that things get dodgy.

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5 hours ago, weathered1 said:

Not answering people would probably be best, but with the ratings and social media buzz/activity down, I guess an argument could be made that now is not the time for him to pull back. Plus, I don't think his ego would allow him to, which is a problem, in and of itself.

I'm actually surprised by how much he answers people. I've followed him for a few years and saw his posts, but it wasn't until last week that I clicked on the "visitor posts" section. He's on there replying to people all the time! It's crazy how much access fans have to him, which I think is what leads to some people thinking they are actual friends and crossing lines when it comes to posting about his personal life. 

In the past he has made it seem like he has at least some influence over storylines, talking about how over the summers he sits down with GB and the showrunners to discuss general direction. He also said that after last season he was going to "protect his character" more, a fact that people are now hilariously throwing in his face when commenting about this season. 

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It's a promoted tweet (I think they get money from whomever the sponsor is), so maybe whoever is in charge of social media finally clued in to the fact that Felicity has been trending and that clips featuring Felicity get lots of RTs. 

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22 hours ago, wonderwall said:

LOL OK? I'm just saying I understand his frustrations even though he should've kept his mouth shut. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place because people honestly don't know any better and he wants to keep an open line of communication with fans. It must suck to pour your heart and soul into something and receive a lot of criticism/hate in return. And sometimes being in that position at a certain point, people can have the tendency of making poor decisions - as humans do. 

That's all I'm saying. 

I understand what you are saying.  And you are right, it would be frustrating.  I guess what I personally was trying to say is that even though I know his actually influence in the writing isn't that extensive, I'm frustrated enough with the show that I want the ones making it -no matter what their level of influence - to know so that it can't help but get back to the ones that actually are in charge.

 I can sympathize in how SA may feel and I personally won't ever write anything negative directly to him, but I'm at the point where I'm not feeling too bad about his frustrations.  Misery loves company and all that, lol.  I'd let him and everyone else off the hook if I had any solid feeling about if this what we are getting is short term now or the new order of what's to come.  

4 hours ago, lemotomato said:

It's a promoted tweet (I think they get money from whomever the sponsor is), so maybe whoever is in charge of social media finally clued in to the fact that Felicity has been trending and that clips featuring Felicity get lots of RTs. 

So yeah, that new intern.  ???

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On 9/2/2017 at 8:43 AM, kismet said:

The thing is SA does have some influence, or at least he claimed to have some influence. Yes, the writers & TPTB write the show, but BMD was partially his idea. So either he is inflating stuff, or he does have some input. Of course, the writers don't have to listen to him or the fans. People are going to reach out to him to talk about their frustrations, especially since he makes himself available on social media frequently for it. He has made it clear that he is invested in making Arrow a success. Out of all of the cast, he is the only one that talks about having a link to the actual writing of the shows. The other people in their social media seem to imply that the most they get involved in the script is to read it. There have been brief mentions of talking about their "characters" with the writers/TPTB; but nothing big and certainly not as consistently bragging about it as SA is.

I certainly don't feel bad if people complain to him. He made himself open to it for the last 5 years. I haven't noticed a change in his behavior. Then again, he always tends to get a little salty from time to time. It's just part of who he is.

Stephen has a lot of influence over the show especially when it comes to his character,he just doesnt have influence over the execution of the writing and the creative part(with the exception of the BMD story). I feel like his influence is him pretty much telling the EPs what complaints people have regarding the show,like he claimed this summer when he replied to a guy (who pretty much implied that everyone but tumblr fangirls hates felicity and that she hurts the show),that he listens to criticism and talks to the EPs. For me,i really think stephen,after all those fanboys whining about the "felicity and friends" show on his wall for months, asked from the EPs to focus more on the action,to make Oliver more "badass" violent,stoic and playboy-ish, pretty much what fanboys have been asking and to cut down on the olicity front. I trully believe he got very butthurt over the felicity and friends comments even though,he didnt notice that the vast majority of these comments were basically Laurel fans who were very mad over her death and channeled their anger into hate towards felicity(well,even more hate anyway).

Do i think Stephen specifically asked for them to erase olicity's romance? No. Do i think he has something to do with them downplaying Olicity? Yes. Why? Because olicity is Oliver and Felicity and when it comes to Oliver,i think stephen asked them to stop focusing so much on his romantic relationship and start focusing on his night activities. I think comments like "Oliver is weak now because he is always listening to felicity" or "the show has become all about romance"  got to him,considering he is all about people telling him how badass his character is. Do i think Stephen doesnt want Olicity to end up together? No. Do i think he doesnt care much about it ever since Olicity stopped being a fan favorite couple? Yes.

I just think that Stephen and the EPs value and care way too much about male fans and love getting validation from the male viewership. Which is why Stephen actually admitted to listening to their complaints and talking to the EPs months ago when they were bitching at his wall,while this season he is spending more time mocking or dismissing fans and telling them to pretty much stop watching. Which is also why when it comes to olicity fans,majority of which are women,the EPs easily dismiss them as just shippers and fail to see them as actual fans,while when it comes to comic purists,mainly fanboys,they treat them as dissapointed fans even though they are literally fangirling over their comic canon ship all the time. Of course thats just my opinion.

The GA/BC shippers(cause thats what they are) often use the "i want them to honor the comics" argument to justify their shipping bias,because they cant admit they are shippers or else they wont be able to insult all these olicity shippers for rooting for a fictional couple. Of course the same GA/BC fans have zero issue with the show ignoring or erasing comic canon when it comes to many other things,even major stuff such as Thea not being Olivers sister in the comics.

Funnily enough,Stephen claimed the most important relationship in the show is Oliver and the city,but the show does a really bad job at showing that in my opinion. So whatever stephens opinion might be,it is not translating into the actual script and the show is clearly not the show people want but rather a show that in its effort to target a specific group of people(i mean way too many things that happen this season are basically what these stans have been whining about all summer and while some of these things are really improving the show,some others are really harming)it shits on its own show canon by being a cheap version of a previous season,just so they can go out and say they are back to basics. However i dont think Stephen and EPs care much about that,since the group of people they seek validation from,seems to enjoy the current status despite the viewership and online buzz decreasing week after week. They are certainlly getting pressed though,enough to make a snarky comment from time to time.

Edited by theOAfc
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Steve mentioned in an interview that he gets copied in several drafts of the scripts, and that he gives notes on them -- I remember he even said not just on Oliver stuff, but all stuff -- that IS literally the process of how non-writers have influence in script. I mean, maybe they ignore 99.9% of his notes, but he's definitely part of the writing process.

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Stephen also constantly says that he doesn't write the show, doesn't have control over storylines or direction and just works really hard to do the best job he can whenever people complain to him like he has the power to fix things.

Its possible ...Stephen just talks out of his ass.

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12 minutes ago, LeighAn said:

Stephen also constantly says that he doesn't write the show, doesn't have control over storylines or direction and just works really hard to do the best job he can whenever people complain to him like he has the power to fix things.

Its possible ...Stephen just talks out of his ass.

In Portuguese we have an expression that translates to "taking the target out of one's asshole", which is what I think when he says he can't influence story.

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My take:

I've seen a lot of crap on Twitter and around the social media sphere about how Stephen is fully or partially to "blame" for how this seasons turned out. Reasons given because his jealous of Emily's popularity, he's egos bruised because frat boys hate Olicity, he wants to be popular with comics stans, he's fictional relationship is interfering with his real life marriage, I even read that his rumoured affair with Emily soured and now he's trying to push her out the show.

All unproven speculation which IMO comes across to me like blurred lines between how people feel about his fictional character and how they feel about his public persona attributing power or motive to him that's probably not there. Either that or looking for a scapegoat that they can directly take there complaints to because Stephen has as much impulse control as Donald Trump and they'll get a response back rather then silence from the actual creatives of the show.

Hes not a writer. He's not a producer. He's not a director. And him saying that he makes suggestions or talks to the writers about his character is no different then the times Katie David and Emily have said the same. It's just that he says it with a lot more ego and self importance then they do.

As the lead he's probably got a smidge more influence then the rest but at the end of the day the writers wrote the BMD because they wanted to, they brought in new characters because they wanted to or were told to, they brought in other love interest because they wanted to or felt they needed to ect.

Stephen can talk himself up all he likes, the fandom can spin the narrative that he's the man behind the curtain or the writers accomplice, but at the end of the day he's name isn't on any of the creative/producing credits ergo his influence in the grand scheme of things is probably very minimal, humouring or appeasing him influence at best.

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I think he influences the story more than the rest of the cast because he seems interested in being part of the process and he is the lead but I don't think it's a huge influence tbh.I doubt he's the one that caused them to write olicity like they have been, I think that comes from MG trying to respond to the complaints about romantic drama last season and his dumb idea of that is to avoid any type or drama and basically emotion even when its actually needed for the scenes and storylines to make sense.

I doubt Stephen had much to do with that or that he asked for it specifically,  imo it seems like all he cared about this season is that the fight scenes are good and no one can say Oliver isn't a badass fighter. I think those complaints really got to him more than anything. 

Edited by tangerine95
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8 minutes ago, tangerine95 said:

 

I doubt Stephen had much to do with that or that he asked for it specifically,  imo it seems like all he cared about this season is that the fight scenes are good and no one can say Oliver isn't a badass fighter. I think those complaints really got to him more than anything. 

This is about the extent of real creative influence I buy that he has. I don't like that I my fictional character got his ass kicked and had to stand to the side, I want to look cool, make me look cool.

We know he is allowed some freedom in his acting choices, and I'm sure he talks to the writers about his character and things he'd like cause television is a collaborative process, but I doubt that's given any more or less power then any of the cast talking to the writers about their character.

I'm not a conspiracy theory person and the whole Stephen asked for Olicity to end or Felicity to be sidelined because of his own insecurities and the writers bowed down to that feels too conspiracy theory to me. But that could be my own bias because I don't think Olicity is being written as over or that Felicity is being sidelined/phased out so who's to say.

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13 minutes ago, LeighAn said:

This is about the extent of real creative influence I buy that he has. I don't like that I my fictional character got his ass kicked and had to stand to the side, I want to look cool, make me look cool.

He has also claimed that (I think in his first Nerd HQ interview) - driven by people on Facebook pointing out Oliver's tendency to sleep with every female character that had more than two lines on the show - he asked the writers to stop it.  Which did happened.  If he was not being truthful and it was a change the writers were making anyway - well I don't feel too bad for him now when it is perhaps biting him a bit that people believe he has influence with the writers. 

I think his primary concern - not surprisingly - is about how Oliver, and by extension SA, is perceived.  And the easier fix for the things people were mocking him for was the fights.  I also don't think he was ever as supportive of Olicity as much of the fandom thought.  His support seemed to be based primarily on two things - his ability to be the benevolent star who saw EBR's talent and talked to the writers about how great she was (a story he told often in interviews) and the fact that it gave him an out from the horrible Oliver/Laurel interactions by 1) removing the need for that romance and 2) proving he could deliver romantic chemistry so that the issue was just him with KC and not him period.  I don't think he dislikes the pairing or went out of his way to have them taken apart, but I do think at this point it had severed it purpose for him so it is not high on his list anymore.  If fans were to be open to a new GA/BC romance he would not care.   I have no issue with his involvement either way - it is business for him at the end of the day.  I suspect that if the decision is made to go back to Olicity he will again be a "big" fan.  

1 hour ago, LeighAn said:

Hes not a writer. He's not a producer. He's not a director. And him saying that he makes suggestions or talks to the writers about his character is no different then the times Katie David and Emily have said the same. It's just that he says it with a lot more ego and self importance then they do.

I do think it is different given his billing even if he does not have one of the titles listed.  It is the difference between a lower level employee and a senior manager going to the CEO with an issue. Right or wrong the senior level employee will have more influence (assuming the lower level employee can even get in the door).   I believe it was EBR who mentioned once that the only reason she had spoken to MG and Co. about her character recently (or what was recently at that time) was that they happened to be at the airport waiting on flights and she took advantage of that because she had not been able to speak to them otherwise.  I don't think that is an issue SA has ever faced. 

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1 hour ago, LeighAn said:

I've seen a lot of crap on Twitter and around the social media sphere about how Stephen is fully or partially to "blame" for how this seasons turned out. Reasons given because his jealous of Emily's popularity, he's egos bruised because frat boys hate Olicity, he wants to be popular with comics stans, he's fictional relationship is interfering with his real life marriage, I even read that his rumoured affair with Emily soured and now he's trying to push her out the show.

Theres a difference between believing that Stephen is influenced by the constant felicity and friends or anti olicity whining and that he might have expressed these complaints to the EPs and a difference implying that Stephen has a secret anti Emily agenda because a small group obsesses over their privacy and makes up stuff. I think he tries to please the popular opinions and truth be told looking at his page last season and during summer hiatus,the popular opinion was that the people were tired of olicity. He pretty much went out and replied to someone who basically put the blame of last season's failure on felicity/olicity,saying that he listens to them and talks to the EPs. Make of that what you will. 

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5 minutes ago, dtissagirl said:

The main reason I'm finding this season to be lacking is on Steve, and solely on him. And while it's not a writing influence, it has had a ginormous effect on the show: it's his acting choices in present time scenes that are making me dislike Oliver. And those are deliberate, because I'm actually digging flashback Bratva Oliver, and I can see glimpses of the Oliver I liked whenever he's in scenes with actors that are so giving that if feels like Amell can't help but engage. Paul Blackthorne did that to him in this last ep. Josh Segarra seems to have that effect on him too. But with everyone else outside of OTA, he's not giving me *anything* but constipated robot, and well, there's so little OTA that constipated robot is now the star of the show.

And I do not understand the acting choice to disengage. To be emotionally closed off, or to like like he'd rather be elsewhere in so many scenes. Is it related to dudebros telling him Oliver was emasculated last season? Is he bored? Is he annoyed corporate suits are dumping IPs on his show? I don't know why he's playing S1 detached Oliver in S5. All I know is that I hate to watch it.

Yeah this is my issue as well and I think its to do with both SA trying to make Oliver seem badass so he limits showing too much emotion and with the fact that they're giving him so much screentime with new characters instead of those he's worked well with for seasons.

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16 minutes ago, dtissagirl said:

And I do not understand the acting choice to disengage. To be emotionally closed off, or to look like he'd rather be elsewhere in so many scenes. Is it related to dudebros telling him Oliver was emasculated last season? Is he bored? Is he annoyed corporate suits are dumping IPs on his show? I don't know why he's playing S1 detached Oliver in S5. All I know is that I hate to watch it.

I totally agree. That's why I liked the crossover episode so much. Steven finally played it with more emotion than we've been seeing all season. I don't know if it was because he was working with people he was comfortable with instead of all the newbies, but that was the first time this year I felt he knocked it out of the park. Even his conversations with Felicity (i.e "mortal lock") seemed robotic. That's why I'm not looking forward to him promising an "adult" conversation between the two of them in the future.  I'd rather they yell and cry and actually act like people who were once about to commit their lives to each other. 

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