Spoiler Discussion Thread

[DrSpaceman10]

They did say there were holding off on Felicity's past on purpose so they could give it better attention in S3, so I don't think she will be sidelined for Sara. Maybe it was the decision to hold off what they had planned that caused her to be more in the background. They didn't have a back up plan for her.

 

I hope you're right, but there haven't been any spoilers about Felicity's backstory yet (hopefully at Comic-Con?). These EPs make me bitter lol

[Velocity23]

but didn't we get spoiler last year also oh Felicity is gonna get a backstory, we gonna meet her parents. They were spawning it from last years Comic Con, then again at premiere time. But nothing came from that. Just a few crumbs. so i think people aren't that trusting towards the spoilers. And the fact that it was known for a long time TOD would be a Lance melodrama, then 2 weeks before hand they started spawning it is a Felicity centric episode. Just for F & D to be sidelined. 

[Starfish35]

I hope you're right, but there haven't been any spoilers about Felicity's backstory yet (hopefully at Comic-Con?). These EPs make me bitter lol

Didn't someone say that EBR said that she was promised one parent this year? I remember because it created a big discussion on which parent we'd rather see on the show first.

[HighwayFlower]

They said we would in S2, but then they decided to push it back because there was too much going on in S2 that they didn't want to squeeze it in. If that's the case, I'm glad they did so we can get a good full story and not a rush job.

But i don't trust them either so who knows!

Edited July 16, 2014 by HighwayFlower

[Password]

If that is the case that Felicity's story was pushed back until s3 they really depended on people sticking around through the Lances, something I didn't particularly like. It just doesn't make sense that a guest star is so much more fleshed out than one of the most popular regular characters.

The show took a turn for the worst in the second half of s2 for me because I no longer felt like it was the show I wanted to watch. If they say Felicity's story was too big I expect big things this season. One measley parent for goodness sake. I really hope she and Diggle don't get sidelined again.

[Morrigan2575]

Didn't someone say that EBR said that she was promised one parent this year? I remember because it created a big discussion on which parent we'd rather see on the show first.

Emily said in one of those WB International Media events she did, that she was promised one parent in S3 and she was going to do everything she could to keep them to their word.

[Velocity23]

I think the push back was also responsible that everybody was rumored to be Felicity's dad. From Robert Queen, Ivo, Slade, Fryers ... The incest theory was big for Felicity & Oliver.  

[Sakura12]

That's how I felt at one point too. It was no longer Arrow but BC and Sara was the lead of the show.

 

I never got it was the Sara show, Sara was always with Oliver and her story was about Oliver hence the fact they had them date again. I'd rather we had more Sara story without Oliver but that was never the case even the dinner from hell wasn't about Sara, it was about Oliver and Laurel and everything else was still about Oliver.

 

So I still saw the Oliver show. 

Edited July 16, 2014 by Sakura12

[Starfish35]

The incest theory was big for Felicity & Oliver.

I think that was mostly from anti-Olicity fans hoping the show would kill it off.

[DrSpaceman10]

Here's a quote from an interview done in May with MGuggenheim about Felicity's backstory:

 

 

MG: It’s funny, the whole back story for Felicity was worked out at the beginning of season 2, and we thought, We’re absolutely going to get to it in season 2. We’ll finally do this episode, and you’ll finally seeing this parent.And then we just have a lot of characters and we’re pushing a lot of story. That story kept getting kicked down the road. Then we realized we ran out of room in season 2. We’re determined to tell that story in season 3. We’ve dropped little hints about it.

http://okmagazine.com/meet-the-stars/arrows-executive-producer-shares-the-secret-to-felicity-and-olivers-chemistry/

It sounds like Felicity's long talked about backstory is only one episode?

[Velocity23]

The problem with Sara in second part of S2 was that she was in every single part of the show. She was on the island, she was in the lair, she was fighting together with Arrow, and that we got a whole lot of backstory for a guest star in a short period.  Felicity & Diggle become sidelined, Roy not being actually part of the team. And she became also part of the suck fest that was the Lance melodrama. It was just too much too soon. I would have gladly taken that 1 episode in S2 and meeting Felicity's normal parents. Now i want more. 

Edited July 16, 2014 by Velocity23

[HighwayFlower]

I hope it's more then that! With all the crazy Daddy theories out there, imagine if he just turns out to be the auto mechanic down the street?

[Sakura12]

The problem with Sara in second part of S2 was that she was in every single part of the show. She was on the island, she was in the lair, she was fighting together with Arrow, and that we got a whole lot of backstory for a guest star in a short period.  Felicity & Diggle become sidelined, Roy not being actually part of the team. And she became also part of the suck fest that was the Lance melodrama. It was just too much too soon. I would have gladly taken that 1 episode in S2 and meeting Felicity's normal parents. Now i want more. 

 

Yeah, she was there a lot but the show was still never about just her, her story was still tied to Oliver. So seeing the Sara was the lead of the show over Oliver never made any sense to me. Did she get more screen time then other characters, yes. Did she get more than Oliver. No. Oliver was still the lead of his own show. Sara's island screentime (excluding ep 15) amounts to about a minute or two of screentime, so that hardly overpowers the entire show. 

 

I have to say the viewing experience when not shipping on a show compared to the viewing experience when shipping gives you a completely different outlook. I don't care when someone will kiss someone else, or if the ILY was fake, if one character gets more screen time and they are badass and interesting, hell yeah. If another character starts getting more screen time because they have an interesting story to tell, go for it. I just don't want the least interesting character getting more screen time when they have failed to make them interesting. 

Edited July 16, 2014 by Sakura12

[statsgirl]

 And considering we've had more Felicity related spoilers so far than for pretty much anyone else, I'm not yet worried about her getting short changed this season.

Are there Felicity related spoilers?  There is the description of 'Daniel' (Watch for this formidable fella to be a love interest for Felicity and a rival of Oliver’s – both personally and professionally) who we now know is Ray ("An unparalleled scientist and inventor, Ray will play an unexpected role in the lives of Oliver and (rumored love interest) Felicity as the new owner of Queen Consolidated.") There's the line from the show's pr "Oliver believes he can finally have a private life and asks Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) out on a date.”  And there's the scene with Oliver and Felicity walking down the steps of a building, Oliver talking and Felicity listening.

 

Once again, everything is about how Felicity fits into Oliver's life, the rivalry with Ray professionally and personally, Oliver deciding he can ask her for a date, Oliver dealing with losing QC.   There's nothing, again, about Felicity herself.  Roy got mirakuru and Thea, Sara has LoA, Nyssa and her current life as an assasin, Diggle has Lyla and baby and Suicide Squad, Laurel has her law practice, Quentin in now Chief, but there's no spoiler about Felicity that isn't about Oliver or her plot contrivance to introduce Ray as they used her last season for Barry.

 

If that is the case that Felicity's story was pushed back until s3 they really depended on people sticking around through the Lances, something I didn't particularly like. It just doesn't make sense that a guest star is so much more fleshed out than one of the most popular regular characters.

The show took a turn for the worst in the second half of s2 for me because I no longer felt like it was the show I wanted to watch. If they say Felicity's story was too big I expect big things this season. One measley parent for goodness sake. I really hope she and Diggle don't get sidelined again.

I don't think Felicity's story was too big, I think that they preferred to spend the time on the Lance family drama and then they ran out of time because they needed to set up the big finale.  The EPs figured she was a fan favourite and people would stick around for her no matter how little she got.  For all their talk about loving the character of Felicity, they take her for granted.

I think the push back was also responsible that everybody was rumored to be Felicity's dad. From Robert Queen, Ivo, Slade, Fryers ... The incest theory was big for Felicity & Oliver.  

With practically zero information on Felicity, fans were desperate.  The statement that two things from her speech in Heir to the Demon would come into play in the finale had people speculating all over the place.  As it turned out, only one did.  

 

But I think that the number of theories and how crazy many of them were shows how much people want to know more about Felicity as a person rather than as a shadow of Oliver.  Even Sin has one parent, Sara and Laurel have two, Thea had four (including Walter and Malcolm), even Roy has told us about his mother but we still know absolutely nothing about Felicity's and (going back to the topic of this thread) we have no spoilers about them, still.

[Orion]

For me not liking Sara by the end of S2 didn't have anything to do with shipping. I was actually... Ambivilant to that relationship. The last thing I want is for O/F's relationship to be rushed so I, personally, like road blocks. Oliver is the protagonist so I expect the majority of the story to be about him or having subplots impact other character so that in the end it moves Oliver. What I was not expecting was a guest star to get so much screen time that characters I care about get sidelined for 7 episodes.

Like others said above Sara was everywhere at once. Island, Arrowcave, fight scenes, Lance Drama, Verdant, With Quentin, Slade, Submarine, Amazo, BOP, Sin, Team Arrow Jr, and LI. And IMO she wasn't given a compelling story. The beginning of S2 where she was beating up mysoginist criminals and watching over Laurel and helping Oliver that was good story. By end she was just a mess. Going from wanting to die before she killed again to happy to return to the LOA. All of that while my favorite character was left with 3 lines about her background made me resent Sara.

Add in the Arrow PR being aware enough of the strength of the Olicity fan base to tease us with promos (sometimes literally featuring the only scene Felicity was in) did feel like bait and switch. And I think that's why I'm more annoyed with today's spoilers than anything else we have gotten. They lead with Olicity and than gave an episode title to a Lance. I am not here for another season of Felicity or Diggle crumbs.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Orion

[Password]

For me not liking Sara by the end of S2 didn't have anything to do with shipping. I was actually... Ambivilant to that relationship. The last thing I want is for O/F's relationship to be rushed so I, personally, like road blocks. Oliver is the protagonist so I expect the majority of the story to be about him or having subplots impact other character so that in the end it moves Oliver. What I was not expecting was a guest star to get so much screen time that characters I care about get sidelined for 7 episodes.

Like others said above Sara was everywhere at once. Island, Arrowcave, fight scenes, Lance Drama, Verdant, With Quentin, Slade, Submarine, Amazo, BOP, Sin, Team Arrow Jr, and LI. And IMO she wasn't given a compelling story. The beginning of S2 where she was beating up mysoginist criminals and watching over Laurel and helping Oliver that was good story. By end she was just a mess. Going from wanting to die before she killed again to happy to return to the LOA. All of that while my favorite character was left with 3 lines about her background made me resent Sara.

Add in the Arrow PR being aware enough of the strength of the Olicity fan base to tease us with promos (sometimes literally featuring the only scene Felicity was in) did feel like bait and switch. And I think that's why I'm more annoyed with today's spoilers than anything else we have gotten. They lead with Olicity and than gave an episode title to a Lance. I am not here for another season of Felicity or Diggle crumbs.

 

Yes, yes and yes to your entire post.

For all their talk about loving the character of Felicity, they take her for granted.

 

This.

Edited July 16, 2014 by ArrowLimbo

[Starfish35]

Felicity is my favorite character too, and yes I was frustrated with the back half of the season, but it never made me resent Sara even a little bit. I was frustrated with the writing, and was frustrated that they never developed the potential for Sara/Felicity friendship that I saw and was hoping for, but I love Sara herself. I like having more than one woman on Team Arrow, and honestly, better Sara than....someone else.

Right now where I'm concerned Sara's position is much more tenuous than Felicity's. Felicity is not going anywhere. Sara, in my opinion, could be written out at any time because of....she who we're not allowed to talk about right now. So that's why I'm far more concerned about Sara right than Felicity.

That's just my opinion and where I am. It's not that I don't like Felicity. I just don't think she's nearly as at risk as Sara. In my personal opinion.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Starfish35

[HighwayFlower]

I love both Felicity and Sara and loved their friendship. More of them together would be awesome. For me there is no threat or competition there. I never took Oliver and Sara seriously as a couple, so my perfect world is more Felicity with her and Oliver as end game, Sara as the permanent Black Canary who drops in as needed (From her BOP spin off) and she who must not be named... Anywhere that's not on my screen.

[dtissagirl]

Is a cut scene a spoiler? In anyway, Berlanti explains why the Felicity/Oliver kiss was cut from the finale:

Question: Word has it Arrow‘s Oliver and Felicity shared a kiss in the Season 2 finale that hit the cutting room floor. Can you do your usual awesome work and find out why it was cut? —Julie

Ausiello: As EP Greg Berlanti explains it, “We felt like we didn’t need it, for a lot of reasons. But in part, we already were playing with [the viewers’] affections to a certain degree,” by having Oliver “profess” his love to his No. 1 gal, knowing that Slade was listening in.

Source: http://tvline.com/2014/07/16/scandal-season-4-time-jump-spoilers/ [warning, spoilers for every show ever!]

What amuses me the most about the avalanche of tidbits coming from casting and from Berlanti's visit to the TCAs is how there hasn't been a single blip about Laurel/KC since the season finale. Nada. I've never seen anything like this happen before with the second lead of a show.

[Velocity23]

Its frustrating because while i like Sara, Felicity is still my favorite. And i want Felicity back-story and don't care for any romantic relationship atm. When people say there are spoilers about Felicity it just makes me throw stuff because thats not the truth. Its basically either about Ray or Oliver. Still no spoiler about Felicity's story. And with Sara i always now have the fear that the one that should not be mentioned will show up in the SL. And i hate that some Sara and Felicity's screen-time was cut out and also a line about Felicity's parents most likely for the "I know you in my bones" speech from the one that should not be mentioned. 

[Orion]

@Starfish35 I hear what you are saying the best way I can describe it is if your parents favor your younger sibling over you. You should resent you parents (the writers) for showing favoritism but you really just end up annoyed with your sibling (Sara). Not the best analogy but the closest I could get.

For me I would be sad if Sara died but I've always believed that you can't tell a respectable origin story for two superheroes in one show and do them both justice unless you change the focus of the show from a single protagonist to an ensemble show.

At the end of the day it comes down to, for me, the writers lost my faith that they can write well for more than one female character at a time and these spoilers are not changing that opinion. YMMV of course.

[statsgirl]

When people say there are spoilers about Felicity it just makes me throw stuff because thats not the truth. Its basically either about Ray or Oliver.

 

No, no, you do them an injustice!  There is a spoiler that her lying to Roy that he did nothing bad while under the mirakuru is going to come back to bite her.  That's a spoiler that's about Roy.

 

I'd say it's because they have trouble writing for women but look at Sara, who has the LoA, Nyssa and Nanda Parbat as well as her relationship with Oliver, Thea has going evil with Malcolm, Laurel has job and boyfriends and family, even Dinah has a teaching career and a man.  Felicity, who is acknowledge to be a strong woman by all three EPs, is defined on the show by her hacking skills and her relationships with others, the men including Diggle and Sara.

[Velocity23]

Wasn't that spoiler released before the S2 finale aired? Look i don't mind waiting for Felicity's story but for god sake don't freaking tease and then say whoops not just yet. 

[JayKay]

With the "Sara" episode I really think it's about introducing Ra's al Ghul over just being about Sara. Sara is our way to meet the Demon and his League. We'll see what kind of training Sara received and probably when she fell in love with Nyssa. They already used the LOA title and they can't very well call it Ra's al Ghul or The Demon without giving away that we will be meeting him or most likely meeting a shadow of a man that will eventually be Ra's when they cast him. 

Yeah, I'm thinking it will be more than just about Sara in flashback. I'm not exactly worried they'll kill off Sara in present time... yet. However, I'm guessing we'll witness the metaphorical/spiritual death of Sara in flashback... and the birth of Ta-er al-Asfer, international assassin. Hence the dreaded "Sara" episode title of death.

 

As for more Sara screentime, bring it on. Especially if she's not weighed down/forced in by being Oliver's love interest this time around. More Nyssa would be great as well. Seems like women are written better on this show when they aren't sleeping with Oliver.

[statsgirl]

Wasn't that spoiler released before the S2 finale aired? Look i don't mind waiting for Felicity's story but for god sake don't freaking tease and then say whoops not just yet. 

It was released before the s2 finale aired but they said that this was something they would look at in s3.

 

 

Seems like women are written better on this show when they aren't sleeping with Oliver.

Let's say 'not associated with Oliver'. Felicity hasn't slept with him yet and she's weighed down more than anyone else.

Edited July 16, 2014 by statsgirl

[Password]

As for more Sara screentime, bring it on. Especially if she's not weighed down/forced in by being Oliver's love interest this time around. More Nyssa would be great as well. Seems like women are written better on this show when they aren't sleeping with Oliver.

 

If it's at the expense of characters I like, no thank you. Felicity for real needs back story, far more than Sara does. Diggle also became a shadow during those Lance centric episodes so please, his story too. Never mind poor Roy, who for some reason I feel I know more about than Felicity.

 

I never bought into Arrow to see BC's journey. I had no time for Laurel's journey, so I have none for Sara's if there's too much. I am interested in Felicity and Diggle and most of all Oliver. (Oh and Thea)

 

As long as they don't make the same mistake they did with Sara in ep 13-20 i.e. she was everywhere then I'm ok. Like I said, doses is fine. All and everything, and I start throwing things at the tv.

Edited July 16, 2014 by ArrowLimbo

[JayKay]

Let's say 'not associated with Oliver'. Felicity hasn't slept with him yet and she's weighed down more than anyone else.

Fingers-crossed that they don't make me hate the idea of Oliver even touching Felicity by the time they're done "exploring his feelings" for her this season.

I never bought into Arrow to see BC's journey. I had no time for Laurel's journey, so I have none for Sara's if there's too much. I am interested in Felicity and Diggle and most of all Oliver. (Oh and Thea)

I like Felicity and Diggle and Thea too, but I like Sara just as much. Honestly, I didn't even enjoy Arrow until season two, so that could be a big part of it. If they announce at Comic-Con that CL has been made a regular, I expect to be quietly pleased with more integrated Sara screentime in season three. They won't have to put her into episodes as much and frantically as possible. But I'll have to wait and see.

[BkWurm1]

I find that the name of the episode being Sara odd. I'd expect it if they had just done the reveal she was alive and then we'd get her flashbacks for the first time but we did that and I feel like we already know Sara so why title the episode Sara?

I don't believe she's going to die for all the reasons already mentioned up thread but I do suspect her name being the episode title is significant. Like I said, we already know Sara Lance, at least on the surface so my first thoughts are we are going deeper into her backstory with Nyssa and the league like has been suggested. I still think that is true but I come back to the name. I get the feeling the flashback will be when "Sara" became/chose her new name "Canary" but all that is already suspected and there has to be a tie in to the present that makes the episode name Sara significant.

At the end of season two it seemed that In Sara going back to the league, she in a sense ceased to exist once again. There would be a nice symmetry if flashbacks have her giving up her name and then some thing in the present has her reclaiming it but that basically was what most of season two was about before they undid it in the season finale, so why rehash that mess?

Maybe it isn't simply about going from Sara to Canary and back to Sara. Could it be too much to hope that we might be getting a key bit of new knowledge about Sara and her name (not just the Canary part) that might change our perception of her? Yeah, I'm still rooting for a Sara Dinah Lance reveal, but I'd take Sara borrowing her Mother's identity (or Laurel's for that matter) if she needed to fall off the grid again.

[SleepDeprived]

So, Laurel is Voldemort? According to Urban Dictionary, 'she-who-must-not-be-named' means someone "whose name bespeaks evil to such an extent that it should not be spoken aloud." Fitting nickname, I guess, judging by the vitriol that even a whiff of her existence incites. Hee.
 

What amuses me the most about the avalanche of tidbits coming from casting and from Berlanti's visit to the TCAs is how there hasn't been a single blip about Laurel/KC since the season finale. Nada.

 

Well, who is really checking for Laurel news, anyway? The media, usually, have little to no interest in asking the producers anything related to her and when they do ask, it has to do with Sara's status, as well. So she's best left ignored and glossed over (similar to how I feel about her scenes). Berlanti has always seemed more partial towards Felicity and Oliver/Felicity than the other EPs, I think. Guggenheim, recently, has been talking more about it, as well. From interviews, it's Kriesberg who seems to not want to let go of the Laurel of it all.

 

As for more Sara screentime, bring it on. Especially if she's not weighed down/forced in by being Oliver's love interest this time around. More Nyssa would be great as well. Seems like women are written better on this show when they aren't sleeping with Oliver.

 

Ditto. I pretty much love/like most of the women on the show. I only had problems with Isabel (did not live up to my expectations), China White (was a bit of a boring villain), Amanda Waller (such a disappointment), and Laurel (*sigh*).

 

Count me in as one who doesn't think Sara's going to die, in spite of the doom her name as the episode title seems to suggest. Maybe, like @BkWurm1 suggests, they'll finally reveal her name is Sara Dinah Lance. And, like most have said, the episode will probably delve into her LoA background and I'd even hazard a guess that the villain is a former LoA member that Sara has been tasked to dispatch. Maybe Ra's is testing her newfound loyalty to the League by sending her back to SC for an assassination. I just really doubt that they would kill off Sara so early, and not even during November Sweeps, at that!

 

As far as Vertigo 2.0's new drug, maybe it's Felicity that gets dosed. And, like most tv-drug side effects, she promptly forgets about events before, including when Oliver asks her out. She'll be oblivious about Oliver wishing to be with her, and Oliver can continue manpain-ing about his life that prevents him from being with people he really cares about (never mind that it's the same life that Felicity leads).

 

Really, though, we only have partial information on 2 episodes. There's still 21 others where Felicity, Diggle, and Thea can get their backstory/centric episodes. I'm optimistic that my faves will have their time in the sun, especially since both Felicity and Diggle will, now, have ties to the official Green Arrow comics. That tells me that their parent company, DC, has become pretty damn invested in those two, as well.

[Sakura12]

If we are getting Sara's LOA story then maybe a better title would've been "Ta-er al-Asfer" 

 

The show isn't called Felicity either, so I'm not to upset that we are not getting everything about Felicity right away. I do however wish they'd give her life outside of Oliver and the Arrow Lair, which they might be doing this season. I would've taken a quick clip of Sara and Felicity just laughing and drinking wine at a closed Verdant. Or Felicity and Diggle at Big Belly Burger, anything to get her out of the Arrow Lair for a few seconds. But I think the main reason is Felicity was supposed to be a one-off character so they obviously didn't have a series long plan for her character. When they liked EBR's performance and made her regular they seemed to just like her to be awkward and say funny lines. Then it became all about the cutisie Olicity scenes, which were getting a tad annoying. So I am glad they backed off those of in the later half of season 2. Don't get me wrong I still think that half of the season was a complete clusterfuck with way too much going on and not enough time to tell all the stories. As others have said Felicity is safe, so I don't have to worry at all about her not being part of this season, but I am worried about Sara and Diggle. So I care more about learning where they will fit in the show over whether or not Felicity gets all the screen time. 

 

Also that's only the second episode, the 6th episode could be titled "Felicity" Or if it were me I'd title it "Smoaked" Maybe this what they meant by a more intimate season 3. We will get to know each of the characters more intimately.

[apinknightmare]

Also that's only the second episode, the 6th episode could be titled "Felicity" Or if it were me I'd title it "Smoaked" Maybe this what they meant by a more intimate season 3. We will get to know each of the characters more intimately.

 

It seems really odd to name an episode after Sara; and mentioning the more intimate feel of S3, I wonder if other characters will be getting episodes named after them to explore more of their back story? On the other hand, I would only want to see episodes like that for a handful of characters (and would dread "Laurel").

[geepi]

Is a cut scene a spoiler? In anyway, Berlanti explains why the Felicity/Oliver kiss was cut from the finale:

Source: http://tvline.com/2014/07/16/scandal-season-4-time-jump-spoilers/ [warning, spoilers for every show ever!]

What amuses me the most about the avalanche of tidbits coming from casting and from Berlanti's visit to the TCAs is how there hasn't been a single blip about Laurel/KC since the season finale. Nada. I've never seen anything like this happen before with the second lead of a show.

Maybe they are saving it for SDCC ? Or they know it won't go down well, ergo the Olicity date bait. I am 90% sure, they exaggerated the "date" SL and what we see on-screen would be a letdown. After the second half of season 2, I am not giving them the benefit of doubt

[abhi]

The thing is there's not much in the background of Felicity to be explored. Yes, we should get info and a bit of flashbacks to her life but I don't think it will be major. Sara does have her connection with LOA and if Ra's comes in Season 3, then the show can explore Ra's through Sara's flashbacks. I think its more about story telling then anything else.

[FAU]

The thing is there's not much in the background of Felicity to be explored. Yes, we should get info and a bit of flashbacks to her life but I don't think it will be major. Sara does have her connection with LOA and if Ra's comes in Season 3, then the show can explore Ra's through Sara's flashbacks. I think its more about story telling then anything else.

 

All the more reason Laurel's character doesn't make any sense to how the writers want it to be.

[statsgirl]

 

I find that the name of the episode being Sara odd. I'd expect it if they had just done the reveal she was alive and then we'd get her flashbacks for the first time but we did that and I feel like we already know Sara so why title the episode Sara?

It's  not unknown on the show to name an episode after a character.  'The Scientist' was Barry Allen, 'Heir to the Demon' Nyssa, and 'The Man Under The Hood' Slade.  Season 1 had 'An Innocent Man', 'Dodger' and 'The Huntress Returns'.

 

It may be that Sara is so popular they're naming her directly in an episode about her her to promote s3.

 

The thing is there's not much in the background of Felicity to be explored. Yes, we should get info and a bit of flashbacks to her life but I don't think it will be major. Sara does have her connection with LOA and if Ra's comes in Season 3, then the show can explore Ra's through Sara's flashbacks. I think its more about story telling then anything else.

We don't know what there is to explore in Felicity's background until we find out something about it which is another reason why it's so frustrating to know next to nothing about her. Sin seemed disconnected from everyone till we got the Sara flashback with her father on the island.  Even Sara was just Laurel's sister who drowned on the Queen's Gambit until they connected her with Ivo and then the LoA.

 

It's been speculated that Felicity's father could work for Ra's al Ghul, or even that he is Ra's himself (unlikely) since he abandoned Felicity and her mother many years ago. Or someone else significant in the DC world.  If her background wasn't big, why push it off until s3 instead of telling us more last season?  Not to mention, it would be a waste of storytelling potential to have it be nothing.  It would make sense for it to be at least one episode, and better yet to push the story in the second half of s3 when the Ray story arc has been resolved.

Edited July 17, 2014 by statsgirl

[wonderwall]

I agree. I don't think that there would be much planning that the EPs supposedly did if Felicity had an ordinary background. There must me something that links her to the comic universe other than the fact that she's a part of team arrow. And 1 episode is enough for now and have more of her story told in the second half of season 3 in morsels so they spread it out. I kind of like felicity being a mystery... as long as the writers are intent on solving said mystery

[BkWurm1]

@statsgirl

I find that the name of the episode being Sara odd. I'd expect it if they had just done the reveal she was alive and then we'd get her flashbacks for the first time but we did that and I feel like we already know Sara so why title the episode Sara?

It's not unknown on the show to name an episode after a character. 'The Scientist' was Barry Allen, 'Heir to the Demon' Nyssa, and 'The Man Under The Hood' Slade. Season 1 had 'An Innocent Man', 'Dodger' and 'The Huntress Returns'.

I find Sara too seemingly ordinary a title. The examples listed reference people but never their direct name. There's no Barry, or Helena, Or Nyssa or Slade. The title tells a deeper story about them than just an identifier. That's why I'm expecting the name "Sara" in this case to some how come with a special meaning or something to subvert the simple label of Sara. Just what that is going to be I don't know.

Of course if season three is packed with character named episodes then I'll expect them next year to be even more direct and entitle at least one episode Olicity.

[At Leisure]

I hope Felicity's back story is not too over the top or unbelievable with her father as some sword wielding villain from Oliver's past or some vicious monster to come in the future. For me, the beauty of Felicity lays in the fact that she is a perfectly ordinary character, relatable in its simplicity and beautiful in the complexity that surrounds her.

She is the one character in the whole show that doesn't come with unnecessary baggage. I don't think that having a back story should be synonymous to having a shady character lurking in her past. I would actually prefer her father to be some Hollywood extra who abandoned her and her mother to pursue his dreams in L.A. I would love for her mother to be a difficult yet endearing woman who works in a restaurant.

What is wrong with having normal, though selfish, people in your life instead of homicidal maniacs like Malcom? I hope the reason for pushing her back story to season 3 was not because it contained a super villain that the EPs want to use against Oliver but because they wanted to give it their full attention and time.

For once I would like Felicity's life to be just hers and not tied with Oliver's to further the plot. I think her character has more than earned the right to go have a story arc independent of Oliver's manpain or anyone else's for that matter.

She doesn't need to be someone's daughter or lover to be relevant, though those aspects cannot be disregarded. And since the show is about Oliver so he has to tie in some where, I just think that the link should be natural and not forced and doesn't undermine Felicity's significance on the show.

Edited July 17, 2014 by At Leisure

[tv echo]

If Oliver tells Felicity that they can't be together and convinces her that they have no future, then I can understand if Felicity feels that she must get over her feelings for Oliver as soon as possible for the good of Team Arrow and their mission.  And the way to do that would be to start dating someone else  - like Ray.  That doesn't necessarily mean having sex right away.  I can't see Felicity as someone who would jump into bed with a guy on the first date.  I think she would have to fall in love with him first.  I can see Felicity trying to develop deeper feelings for Ray while dating and failing.

 

So I wouldn't fault Felicity for dating someone else sooner rather than later, but I do think it would be out of character for her to have sex with someone else while she's in love in Oliver (unless she was drugged).  This makes her different from Oliver.  If Oliver was telling the truth in "Unthinkable", then he loved Felicity even while he was sleeping with Sara.

[Password]

So I wouldn't fault Felicity for dating someone else sooner rather than later, but I do think it would be out of character for her to have sex with someone else while she's in love in Oliver (unless she was drugged).  This makes her different from Oliver.  If Oliver was telling the truth in "Unthinkable", then he loved Felicity even while he was sleeping with Sara.

 

I think herein lies an issue that I hope they bring up. Oliver for some reason still seems capable of loving one person and sleeping with another. He did it with Laurel, first season he was so in love with her but still somehow ended up with Shado and later on connecting with Sara. The sleeping with Sara thing caused more issues than the majority issue with Laurel.

 

For me if he knew he had such strong feelings for Felicity then still slept with Sara it makes me think he's an asshole who hasn't changed from pre-island Ollie. He may not cheat anymore but he has zero emotional maturity and turns to sex as a substitute for dealing with his feelings.

 

If the ILY was his realisation, that's a pill easier to swallow because I believe wholeheartedly that Oliver kept any and all more than platonic feelings for Felicity in a box at the back of his mind, never to be touched. If anything his "because of the life that I lead" speech made known that even if he did have feelings, he wouldn't nurse them or allow them to go any further. Now the lid has been flipped, it may be more than a little difficult to shut it again.

[Sakura12]

If Oliver was telling the truth in "Unthinkable", then he loved Felicity even while he was sleeping with Sara.

 

Sara broke up with Oliver "Seeing Red" two episodes before "Unthinkable", so he wasn't sleeping with anyone when he said that to her.

 

I also believe despite what the EP's say, Oliver and Sara got together for comfort and sex, is it mature? No. But after what they've been through I can see why they wanted that and thought that only the other can give that to them. Plus there was no need to explain anything to the other person, they didn't have to hide what they do, why they are covered in scars and why they are the way they are. It was easy and uncomplicated when their lives are anything but. It wasn't their sex life that was complicated it was their night time activities life that was the complication in their relationship. 

 

Oliver probably knows he's not ready to be with Felicity, he's still got so many issues from the island and before. He doesn't want to hurt her and he thinks that he will. So I think is "I can't be with someone I care about" is more I can't be with someone with I care about when I ultimately hurt them. He probably figures Sara can handle it if he does something stupid or she'll just get over it. Or he can't hurt Sara any more than he already thinks he did. That's a pretty bleak outlook on his love live, but he is not ready to be Felicity. Even now after Slade he's still not ready. He needs to grow up some more and accept himself first before getting involved with the woman he loves. 

Edited July 17, 2014 by Sakura12

[tv echo]

Let me clarify - I was assuming that Oliver realized his feelings for Felicity long before he said ILY to Felicity but simply chose not to acknowledge them.  But, as ArrowLimbo pointed out, when Oliver was "in love" with Laurel, he still had sex with Shado and Sara, as well as countless others (including his baby mama).  Even if Oliver didn't realize his feelings for Felicity before "Unthinkable", I still think Oliver is able to compartmentalize and have sex separate from love.

 

My point is that Felicity is not someone who could have sex separate from love and that she would not be able to have sex with one person while in love with another person, in my opinion.

[Velocity23]

Well DC at least seems to see Sara as the Black Canary!

 

DC Comics @DCComics  ·  15m
If you're a fan of Black Canary on #Arrow (and who isn't?) there's some good news for you: http://bit.ly/1qhQuIz

[HighwayFlower]

That annoys me, because I honesty think Sara would be happy to see Oliver with Felicity, and that " what will she think" implies drama that I just don't see happening.

[Starfish35]

I don't think it will happen either. I think that's just TVGuide's spin.

[writersblock51]

Interesting about DC Comics - glad they're happy & publicizing CL's return.  Why am I still nervous? ha

 

 

I still think Oliver is able to compartmentalize and have sex separate from love.

 

@tv echo, that's my thinking as well. I think he's been able to do that since he was a teen.  Perhaps he learned it from both his parents.  I never doubted that Moira and Robert cared about each other, a lot, but they certainly weren't faithful (especially Robert).

[Sakura12]

Sara never struck me as the jealous type even before her assassin makeover. She'd probably be happy for both of them. Plus she may be back with Nyssa. There would be no need to be upset if she's with someone she loves.

[Morrigan2575]

I think that's just the write putting their own spin on things.  What's hysterical is that I haven't seen a single writer going what will Laurel think?

 

Personally, I never got the impression that Sara would be jealous or angry of O/F in fact depending on how you take her comments in 2.20 she might have even been encouraging Oliver to get with Felicity.

[Password]

I wouldn't be surprised if Sara said "So you got it." Or some such. Because really, her words just did not apply to Laurel and fit kind of perfectly for Felicity.

[Velocity23]

I still remember the hilarious recap Natalie Abrams from tVGuide did after season finale about Lauren and Olivers great love because of history.