Spoiler Discussion Thread

[Belinea]

Storylines such as those annoy me because they are never really well executed and usually just there for drama. But I mean at least Felicity will hopefully deal with her trauma.

And really, even though I think Oliver is totally to blame for the break-up and for being a liar who lies, I don't want him to mope around again like in S3. 

Edited August 12, 2016 by Belinea

[thegirlsleuth]

16 minutes ago, Carrie Ann said:

This has happened literally never in the history of shipblocks on television, but best of luck to you!

The only people who will be rooting for this guy are the people who already want the ship blocked. 

This is going to fail, but I really hope that we can get past this without a) Felicity marrying the dude, b) Felicity getting pregnant by the dude, c) Felicity and Oliver cheating behind the dude's back, or d) any other options that result in the further destruction of Felicity and Oliver's character.

[statsgirl]

I can just see it .... Felicity dates the new cop who ends up being the season's Big Bad, because Guggie thinks nothing will bring down Felicity.

3 minutes ago, Velocity23 said:

Because relationships who are a stall last on Arrow? Especially a nameless and faceless boyfriend.

He's not going to be nameless or faceless, WM thinks we'll really really like him.

Oliver/Sara lasted 7 episodes.  And I like both characters, just not together.

[Belinea]

4 minutes ago, thegirlsleuth said:

Felicity getting pregnant by the dude,

Good God!! Don't even think about this awful scenario. 

[Angel12d]

19 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

"The one thing she has in this life is the bunker." 

So...we have OliCity, and FeliBunker? 

FeliBunker. LOL. I ship it! 

Couldn't they have just given Felicity a friend...maybe even a female friend? Or maybe she could have spent more time with Thea?

I just don't understand how one of her first thoughts is going out and getting a boyfriend. She supposedly has PTSD from Havenrock and is a mess and is no longer with the love of her life and that's what she does?! Uh...okay. I hope they explain it better on the show because this is so dumb.

I actually have no problems with Olicity being apart for the season but new love interests is still baffling to me.

[Velocity23]

But we still dont know who is playing him or his name.  He is supposed to show up in episode 1 as an established bf. That makes no sense at all.

Honestly it feels they making a bigger deal out of it then it will be.

[Belinea]

8 minutes ago, Velocity23 said:

He is supposed to show up in episode 1 as an established bf. That makes no sense at all.

Is it really that surprising? They expect you to understand that a timeline changed because a guy from another show did that on another show. Also they believe that people need freshness in the bunker and therefore bring in a new squad that nobody needed. For some reason, apart from the bf, that bugs me. Really, who wants the new guys? If they go back to S1 storytelling why can't they also go back to OTA? 

Edited August 12, 2016 by Belinea

[Velocity23]

But they never done that with any of the LI they brought in so far. And who knows what they are doing with FP.

[kes0704]

Every interview that comes out makes me less and less interested in watching.  

[Belinea]

I am currently really feeling the anti-buzz... Nothing about any of this sounds exciting. I mean, I like that Oliver will seemingly remember how to fight now that he doesn't need to be worse than all the others and I like the Russia thing but other than that it sounds like one dreary mess with characters that nobody really needs... At least I don't think anyone will need Baby Canary but who knows...

Also if they aspire to go back to their previous seasons, maybe they should look to S2 and not S1.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Belinea

[calliope1975]

I've already got my new prescription of Forget Me Now for this season. If I don't watch it, it didn't happen, right?

[Belinea]

Well, maybe Barry will change the timeline, so you never know...

[statsgirl]

Is it too much to hope that they will get to OTA but it will take the first part of the season to get there?

Yeah, I thought so.

41 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

I just don't understand how one of her first thoughts is going out and getting a boyfriend. She supposedly has PTSD from Havenrock and is a mess and is no longer with the love of her life and that's what she does?! Uh...okay. I hope they explain it better on the show because this is so dumb.

This is the part I don't get.  On one hand, WM is trying to sell that Felicity is still traumatized from Havenrock and retreating into the bunker to hide out with Oliver. On the other hand, she's out dating some random dude who we are supposed to be excited about. 

I wonder if this is their way of stalling Olicity yet again but making Oliver look good in that he's not the one dating outside of it because he's the one that screwed it up last season.  So Felicity gets thrown under the bus to make Oliver look good.

[Angel12d]

15 minutes ago, Belinea said:

Also if they aspire to go back to their previous seasons, maybe they should look to S2 and not S1.

They shouldn't be looking at any of the previous seasons tbh. Not one season of this show has been flawless and I feel like many have forgotten what a slog parts of s2 were to get through (I marathoned the show at that time and even I had trouble from about 211 - 220). They need to focus on better writing for their characters rather than trying to get back to something they never really had in the first place. I mean, what does back to basics even mean? 

 

2 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

This is the part I don't get.  On one hand, WM is trying to sell that Felicity is still traumatized from Havenrock and retreating into the bunker to hide out with Oliver. On the other hand, she's out dating some random dude who we are supposed to be excited about. 

I wonder if this is their way of stalling Olicity yet again but making Oliver look good in that he's not the one dating outside of it because he's the one that screwed it up last season.  So Felicity gets thrown under the bus to make Oliver look good.

These are the people who thought everyone would love Ray Palmer and also thought we would be okay with the baby mama crap. They make no sense. LOL.

Also, yeah, this is definitely to stall Olicity and very likely to give Oliver an opening to date someone else. It's a definite possibility. I wish they had just kept them apart and left all romance alone for most of the season. Sigh.

[kes0704]

The EP's have a pretty solid history of horribly misjudging how the audience is going to react to story choices.  

If they are telling me now that I will want to "pull for" FS's new boyfriend to succeed, then chances are...I won't.  Why would I be immediately invested in someone that I don't know and that I haven't seen Felicity establish any sort of relationship with?  

Poppy was there for a whole season and I didn't care about, or become invested in her character at any point in the story.  

[Belinea]

6 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

I mean, what does back to basics even mean? 

I truly believe it means that Oliver will fight again with his bow and arrow and his fists instead of fighting with his soul.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Belinea

[apinknightmare]

I'm not here for this because I think the only romance on this show that was well-written was O/F in most of 4A, when the romantic aspect of the story wasn't front and center. When they go for drama is when it gets awful, and either they're going to go for drama and it's going to be awful, or they're basically going to pretend like O/F never lived together and were never engaged and almost married. Don't really care about watching either one of those scenarios. 

Edited August 12, 2016 by apinknightmare

[way2interested]

So is the bf going to be Tyler Ritter's character then after all, even though they still never mentioned it? Did anything say which episode he was supposed to appear in, or was he supposed to show up in 502 like the newbies?

[apinknightmare]

3 minutes ago, way2interested said:

So is the bf going to be Tyler Ritter's character then after all, even though they still never mentioned it? Did anything say which episode he was supposed to appear in, or was he supposed to show up in 502 like the newbies?

MG told JBuffyAngel that there would be a moment in the premiere that's difficult for Olicity fans to watch, and it's probably something to do with the boyfriend - if so, he'd be in the premiere.

Edited August 12, 2016 by apinknightmare

[Carrie Ann]

I don't get why they even care about getting us to pull for ol' GoodGuy McStraightShooter when it's obvious they don't intend him to be a long-term LI (given that we won't even see them get together, they'll apparently just already be together when we meet him), unless they just want us to care about him so that we will feel like Felicity has a real choice to make (again) between GG McSS and Oliver (again) OR so that we will give a shit when they kill him off. Both options are unappealing because like @apinknightmare said, it's all just really unnecessary relationship drama which is not the writers' forte.

[thegirlsleuth]

I felt like with Ray in season three people were willing to give him a chance, both for story and meta reasons, at least before he became stalkerish.  I remember people saying "Is she just supposed to wait around and pine? Good for her!" or commenting that we knew this would happen because they had to put a roadblock before the ultimate reunion of Felicity and Oliver. But that was season three, and now we have two years of history.  We know how terrible things went with Ray.  We got to see Oliver and Felicity in a mature, happy relationship.  We barely survived the baby mama garbage fire.  And they think we want to do this again?

As an added bonus: they have a tendency to shove their romantic developments into the summer, thinking that a recap in the fall will bring us up to speed.  As much as I saw Oliver and Felicity coming from season one, I get why some people were blind sided by the date in 3.01.  Personally, I thought they would go into full on flirt mode at that point and was surprised when they rushed into the date. I feel like we did get to see them as a functional couple after the summer of love, but again, we are getting this blossoming romance happening offscreen and they want us to root for or even understand it?  Show me, don't tell me, Arrow.

[dtissagirl]

5 minutes ago, Carrie Ann said:

unless they just want us to care about him so that we will feel like Felicity has a real choice to make (again) between GG McSS and Oliver (again) OR so that we will give a shit when they kill him off.

OR when it turns out he was ~evil all along~.

This is just reminding me I quit Veronica Mars on account of a Piz infection.

[Belinea]

I honestly don't get what they expect people to enjoy on any front. Maybe they are trying to make the best thing about S5 the flashbacks. 

Because when you are telling people that they will have a difficult time watching certain things why would you expect them to tune in. 

I mean, I get that they need drama but don't they have enough? Shouldn't they try to get people excited instead of angry and disappointed? 

Stupid action without good and interesting plots that don't make any sense won't even bring in that many viewers either. At least that is what I choose to believe and if the only good thing about your premiere is to hype one fight scene, what else is there? At the end it will be overhyped as always while the plot will be messy.

While I am at it, I have to admit that I enjoy watching Hart of Dixie on the CW, and in S3 they introduced a love interest that the main character met over the hiatus. Very few people enjoyed that. They took all season to get rid of him and I quit watching halfway through. 

Edited August 12, 2016 by Belinea

[apinknightmare]

1 minute ago, dtissagirl said:

This is just reminding me I quit Veronica Mars on account of a Piz infection.

DO NOT even mention that name.

1 minute ago, Belinea said:

I mean, I get that they need drama but don't they have enough? Shouldn't they try to get people excited instead of angry and disappointed? 

Not sure how to express this without getting into fan talk, but I do think they're trying to get some people excited. Just...not us.

[statsgirl]

And Piz was a good guy.  I'm afraid Felicity is going to date the guy who ends up as the Big Bad, thereby destroying her previous superpower to know the good guys from the bad.

10 minutes ago, thegirlsleuth said:

I feel like we did get to see them as a functional couple after the summer of love, but again, we are getting this blossoming romance happening offscreen and they want us to root for or even understand it?  Show me, don't tell me, Arrow.

I think they don't want to show romance, just tell and move on to the good stuff, the fight scenes.

[Password]

38 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

This is the part I don't get.  On one hand, WM is trying to sell that Felicity is still traumatized from Havenrock and retreating into the bunker to hide out with Oliver. On the other hand, she's out dating some random dude who we are supposed to be excited about.

If this was any other show I would trust the writers to explain Felicity's issues with Havenrock and the reasoning behind the new boyfriend. But this is Arrow. They won't do it properly at all.

[Angel12d]

6 minutes ago, Password said:

If this was any other show I would trust the writers to explain Felicity's issues with Havenrock and the reasoning behind the new boyfriend. But this is Arrow. They won't do it properly at all.

This. Other shows could use a temporary boyfriend to show that Felicity's in denial or just searching for something because she's such a mess but on Arrow it will probably just look like she's moved on really easy and needs a man to survive (which is not true at all but I trust nothing).

BE GONE, DEMON STORYLINE. 

 

21 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

MG told JBuffyAngel that there would be a moment in the premiere that's difficult for Olicity fans to watch, and it's probably something to do with the boyfriend - if so, he'd be in the premiere.

UGH. We're probably gonna see them in bed, aren't we? 

Edited August 12, 2016 by Angel12d

[Carrie Ann]

9 minutes ago, Belinea said:

I honestly don't get what they expect people to enjoy on any front. Maybe they are trying to make the best thing about S5 the flashbacks. 

Because when you are telling people that they will have a difficult time watching certain things why would you expect them to tune in. 

I mean, I get that they need drama but don't they have enough? Shouldn't they try to get people excited instead of angry and disappointed? 

All the messaging this hiatus seems directed at making a specific type of viewer excited--those who care most about the stunts and action and have been disappointed by the past season or two in that regard, because I think that's who they're most concerned about getting back on board right now. Hope this isn't considered fan talk, it's just those are the only things the EPs have been discussing in a positive way (new costumed characters, badass fights, back-to-gritty-dark-basics or whathaveyou), and the talking points have been repeated enough that it's obviously not incidental. We have very little information about any of the series regular characters, and what we do have is all negative (except for Felicity's great love story, of course!!!). So if you watch the show because you care about the main characters and their relationships, they aren't really giving you anything to get excited about. If you want to see costumes and fights, have they got a show to sell you! How things will feel when they actually play out on screen is a different story, but right now, I think the PR message is pretty consistent.

[apinknightmare]

3 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

UGH. We're probably gonna see them in bed, aren't we? 

Probably! Hopefully this one won't leave her there to go fly his new super suit. 

[Belinea]

7 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

BE GONE, DEMON STORYLINE. 

But haven't you heard, you are going to love this new guy because he is such a good guy. Because all the others aren't. And Felicity should know because apart from married Diggle, taken Roy and gay Curtis, they had her test most if not all of them on who is the best kisser. 

Edited August 12, 2016 by Belinea

[way2interested]

8 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

Not sure how to express this without getting into fan talk, but I do think they're trying to get some people excited. Just...not us.

This is what I've been thinking with pretty much everything that they've decided to talk about with regards to s5. I do think that they'll be more to the season than what they're saying, but on the other hand I keep playing in my head the idea of "why are you trying to grab those who have proclaimed nothing but hate to you for 2+ years while accidentally alienating those who haven't." 

Everything else has just been buzz words rather than actual answers or explanations to me.

[lemotomato]

Don't forget about Big Olicity Episode 505, guys! Which, given WM's comment "I think it’s going to take a while for them to figure out what that relationship is and how much they want it" and her hoping that we'll like the new BF, probably means Oliver and Felicity "break up for good" again. Because if we got 3 marriage proposals, we have to see them call it quits 3 times too!

This show exhausts me makes me angry.

Edited August 12, 2016 by lemotomato

[thegirlsleuth]

3 minutes ago, lemotomato said:

Don't forget about Big Olicity Episode 505, guys! Which, given WM's comment "I think it’s going to take a while for them to figure out what that relationship is and how much they want it" and her hoping that we'll like the new BF, probably means Oliver and Felicity "break up for good" again. Because if we got 3 marriage proposals, we have to see them call it quits 3 times too!

This show exhausts me makes me angry.

Well, 505 is probably the episode where Felicity and her boyfriend get married.  *evil laugh* *followed by weeping when those idiots actually do something that dumb*

[way2interested]

2 minutes ago, thegirlsleuth said:

Well, 505 is probably the episode where Felicity and her boyfriend get married.  *evil laugh* *followed by weeping when those idiots actually do something that dumb*

That's a silly theory. Oliver is going to get together with the reporter, duh! Then they're even!

JK, I don't even care anymore. I'm with the show for the long run, since I get my enjoyment even from some of the worst episodes, so I'm disappointed but not really completely discouraged.

[tarotx]

This boyfriend business just feels so off-weird-and like I'm missing something. 

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, Angel12d said:

This. Other shows could use a temporary boyfriend to show that Felicity's in denial or just searching for something because she's such a mess but on Arrow it will probably just look like she's moved on really easy and needs a man to survive (which is not true at all but I trust nothing).

BE GONE, DEMON STORYLINE. 

 

UGH. We're probably gonna see them in bed, aren't we? 

This was my unfortunate thought when EBR said something along the lines of she'd be "hot on that" right off the top (TV Line SDCC interview).  I am half expecting her to be in bed with said boyfriend when her phone goes off and it's Oliver needing something at the beginning of the episode.  If it is an ongoing relationship, I am guessing Detective Malone because he's not from the comics so he's not a superhero in waiting.  IIRC, someone on here also said he had some comedic abilities as well.

Cynical me was afraid Felicity's storyline was simply being hero support ala S1/S2. Now throw in love interest for another dude which could play similar to Oliver/McKenna Hall.  I am sorry tormented by Havnrock and therefore clinging to the bunker (but dating?) sounds similar to Laurel dealing with the conflict between being ADA and a vigilante which was pretty much a one and done.  The only difference being Felicity isn't going to die.   

I guess until Oliver decides to date or whatever they are ambiguous?!  I wonder if SA hadn't told the fan at HVFFNY if there would have been any mention of the boyfriend at all in the marketing.  TVLine guy was at con and heard the rumors.  They asked at SDCC.  The boyfriend is now being used to try to woo the upset comic fans back?

I know this is Oliver's story.  I don't have a problem with Felicity being support in the bunker but I do have a problem if her screen time is completely minimalized which I have to admit it SOUNDS like it MIGHT be.  If nothing else 4.10 showed me little Felicity on screen means little interest by me.  I love action and stunts but repeated fights scenes bore me after a while.

[statsgirl]

1 hour ago, tarotx said:

This boyfriend business just feels so off-weird-and like I'm missing something. 

I think it's WM and MG who are missing something.

They thought we would be behind Oliver jumping Sara, that we would love Ray, that Felicity being Laurel's BFF and telling her she has a light Sara doesn't would be a good thing, and they thought the Oliver/BM scenes were amazing. They are terrible at predicting how the audience is going to react to something.

[calliope1975]

I don't want to return to my S3 viewing habits of waiting for East Coast feedback before deciding to watch. I'm afraid to tempt fate by thinking there's no way it could be as bad as that disaster of a year, and yet, these spoilers... I can't believe I want the boyfriend to be Barry, cuz of the whole the worst thing, but here we are. 

[tangerine95]

I think it's weird how they're talking about this bf thing.It's like if people didn't mention it just because SA did to a fan then they wouldn't even tell us about it.It's not being talked about as a storyline for Felicity or olicity at all, we don't even know who's playing the guy.I don't get how Felicity dealing with Havenrock and WM saying she has nothing but the bunker mixes with having a bf.

As for Wendy saying we'll love the guy lol I doubt she actually belives that, I think its just a standard answer meant to not give anything away. 

I don't think Felicity will be sidelined tho.Imo they are having her deal with Havenrock because of all the criticism that she didn't react to it enough.I do hope they have ways of actually showing that and that she will breakdown at some point and not just hide it with humor.That is in character for Felicity but I don't think making jokes to hide to pain should be all there is to it.

They didn't say anything new about Digg or Thea or Lance either I think.Like their storylines are also mostly promoted as dealing with stuff that happened at the end of season 4.

[Angel12d]

31 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

This was my unfortunate thought when EBR said something along the lines of she'd be "hot on that" right off the top (TV Line SDCC interview).  I am half expecting her to be in bed with said boyfriend when her phone goes off and it's Oliver needing something at the beginning of the episode.  If it is an ongoing relationship, I am guessing Detective Malone because he's not from the comics so he's not a superhero in waiting.  IIRC, someone on here also said he had some comedic abilities as well.

Cynical me was afraid Felicity's storyline was simply being hero support ala S1/S2. Now throw in love interest for another dude which could play similar to Oliver/McKenna Hall.  I am sorry tormented by Havnrock and therefore clinging to the bunker (but dating?) sounds similar to Laurel dealing with the conflict between being ADA and a vigilante which was pretty much a one and done.  The only difference being Felicity isn't going to die.   

I guess until Oliver decides to date or whatever they are ambiguous?!  I wonder if SA hadn't told the fan at HVFFNY if there would have been any mention of the boyfriend at all in the marketing.  TVLine guy was at con and heard the rumors.  They asked at SDCC.  The boyfriend is now being used to try to woo the upset comic fans back?

I know this is Oliver's story.  I don't have a problem with Felicity being support in the bunker but I do have a problem if her screen time is completely minimalized which I have to admit it SOUNDS like it MIGHT be.  If nothing else 4.10 showed me little Felicity on screen means little interest by me.  I love action and stunts but repeated fights scenes bore me after a while.

Yikes. I must have missed that "hot on that" soundbite. So yeah, they're probably gonna be in bed together, like some gross contrast to O/F being in bed together in 401. Hahahahaha. MY EYES.

And I'm guessing they're ambiguous until Felicity tells Oliver to stop waiting for her and then he goes and asks out someone else or they just have a discussion where they move on completely (although part of me isn't sure about that because they've already done that in s4 so it would be repetitive). I'm seriously not getting all these positive Olicity vibes for 505. I will gladly be wrong though.

I agree, it is starting to sound like Felicity's screen time is minimized. Donna's no longer around. She doesn't have PT. And WM said she's basically in limbo until they deal with Havenrock which, IMO, sounds like they want to put her on hold while they set up the newbies. I SAID WHAT I SAID! 

Really though, IDK. There's still too little information/spoilers out there but what we do have is definitely not catering to me because I'm not in their precious demo.

Edited August 13, 2016 by Angel12d

[apinknightmare]

We've gotten more information about Felicity than we have about Diggle, at least. What's he got going on? Feeling guilty about Laurel seems to be about it. I'm sure they'll both have more going on than it seems like. They just don't want to say too much (IMO) because of whatever Flashpoint shenanigans they're imposing. 

[Angel12d]

What do you mean? We know Diggle has his scruff for a couple of episodes and he's darker than ever. That's mountains of info! 

*Snort laugh*

[way2interested]

8 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

I think it's WM and MG who are missing something.

They thought we would be behind Oliver jumping Sara, that we would love Ray, that Felicity being Laurel's BFF and telling her she has a light Sara doesn't would be a good thing, and they thought the Oliver/BM scenes were amazing. They are terrible at predicting how the audience is going to react to something.

I still think it's something off, tbh. Those other times at least had a story to tell and an overall purpose, if just badly executed (and I stand on my belief that the "feels" comment about the Oliver/BM dailies was him trying to save face from the immediate backlash from 408). They knew that some people would react negatively to some of those things but didn't acknowledge the idea that there were other not-shallow reasons to dislike them, such as the poor quality or execution.   

Here, we're not getting even any reasoning of why she's with this guy, who he is, or what he's doing in the story. Every time he's brought up so far it doesn't even seem serious to me, this new bit included, so it partially doesn't even seem real since there is nothing but words to confirm it and no person, story line, pictures, or serious acknowledgement to back it up. It's still happening I know, but I'm taking it as seriously as they seem to be, which is (at least from the TvLine interview imo) not really much.  

[Sunshine]

I think now that I have vented I feel better. LOL!  My expectations are of course based on this show's writing history but they could surprise us somehow. Good news is now that I have extremely low expectations I might enjoy the show with the exception of the comparison to GOT.  Why?  This is on the CW and at 8pm but violence isn't really my thing so I hope Bratva fight club isn't too rough.  I am expecting more than the obvious swings and misses and hair tosses which have highlighted the last season or two of fights.  

I wonder if Dolph Lundgren got the part Cody Rhodes auditioned for.  I also wonder if it's the Jewish guy from the flashbacks that I don't think they ever announced casting for - the family man who wrestles with his demons.  Or is there someone yet to be announced?   

[statsgirl]

13 minutes ago, way2interested said:

I still think it's something off, tbh. Those other times at least had a story to tell and an overall purpose, if just badly executed (and I stand on my belief that the "feels" comment about the Oliver/BM dailies was him trying to save face from the immediate backlash from 408). They knew that some people would react negatively to some of those things but didn't acknowledge the idea that there were other not-shallow reasons to dislike them, such as the poor quality or execution.   

If they were expecting a backlash, as there was with Oliver and Sara jumping each other, wouldn't downplaying the chemistry between Oliver and BM and emphasizing Oliver being caught between a rock and a hard place have served them better?  There was no way anyone but a Felicity/Olicity hater would have liked to see chemistry between Oliver and BM.

Quote

Here, we're not getting even any reasoning of why she's with this guy, who he is, or what he's doing in the story. Every time he's brought up so far it doesn't even seem serious to me, this new bit included, so it partially doesn't even seem real since there is nothing but words to confirm it and no person, story line, pictures, or serious acknowledgement to back it up. It's still happening I know, but I'm taking it as seriously as they seem to be, which is (at least from the TvLine interview imo) not really much.  

Off the top of my head, she could be with him to introduce him to the show, as they used her with Ray and with Barry to some extent.  They could use  him to stall Oliver and Felicity getting together again because they can't write them any other way other than with bad plot contrivances. 

Or, best case scenario, she's with him to emphasize how she's still screwed up after Havenrock and thinks this is what she deserves rather than being with Oliver who she really wants.  But I'm not going to be so lucky.

[TrueMyth]

5 hours ago, Belinea said:

And what’s this about a new boyfriend for Felicity?

I can tell you that we love the character. He is very different than anybody else we’ve seen her with. He’s not Ray Palmer; he is not Oliver Queen, but he is a straight shooter good guy that we’re really hoping the audience likes and pulls for.

http://www.greenarrowtv.com/arrow-ep-wendy-mericle-talks-season-5-anatoly-felicitys-new-bf-huntress-more/

This literally sounds to me to be the exact narrative slot that they hoped Ray would fill (minus I guess the comic book hero destiny and additional rivalry with Oliver with with his company).  But it is exactly the thing that they didn't sell me on with Ray.

[thegirlsleuth]

I would never describe Barry as a straight shooter good guy.  He is a bumbling-his-way-to-his point "nice" guy. I don't think the BF is going to be Barry. I can't decide if they are burying this boyfriend news because they know if is going to be a disaster with some hardcore fans--i.e. ME--or because they are hiding his true narrative purpose.  They seemed to loudly proclaim Ray was a love interest from the beginning.

Collectively, these writers are emotionally tone deaf, which takes some doing on a group level.  I don't know how writers' rooms work, but couldn't someone raise their hands and say "No.  Human adults don't act that way."? 

[Angel12d]

*whispers* It's gonna be the cop.

He's not Ray but he'll just be another bland slice of white bread/jar of mayo.

You know who else we haven't heard anything about? Thea. Although after the last two seasons I've lost the ability to care. They need to keep her away from Malcolm and maybe she'll have a chance.

Edited August 13, 2016 by Angel12d

[way2interested]

Just now, statsgirl said:

If they were expecting a backlash, as there was with Oliver and Sara jumping each other, wouldn't downplaying the chemistry between Oliver and BM and emphasizing Oliver being caught between a rock and a hard place have served them better?  There was no way anyone but a Felicity/Olicity hater would have liked to see chemistry between Oliver and BM.

Off the top of my head, she could be with him to introduce him to the show, as they used her with Ray and with Barry to some extent.  They could use  him to stall Oliver and Felicity getting together again because they can't write them any other way other than with bad plot contrivances. 

Or, best case scenario, she's with him to emphasize how she's still screwed up after Havenrock and thinks this is what she deserves rather than being with Oliver who she really wants.  But I'm not going to be so lucky.

They did emphasize the rock and a hard place thing for Oliver, and only one writer really pushed the chemistry thing between them, which is why I thought that they didn't really expect people to buy into the chemistry. They didn't expect people to vehemently be against Oliver's reasoning not just for hater reasons is what I saw. They were going for audiences to feel conflicted at the situation instead of actually liking what was going on or being angry and disappointed at Oliver/the plot. 

Those are your reasons for the bf, which I agree with and could be correct, but they have not given any reasons in describing him, is what I mean. I know they are not going to explicitly state that he's only here to stall, but they haven't gone into any detail about him, other than this nice guy comment and that he would be in 501. They likely wouldn't have even mentioned him if SA didn't reveal it a while ago to start the "rumors." It wouldn't have been much to merely say something like "during the hiatus, Felicity got a boyfriend which will show her trying to balance her own secrets blah blah blah" or "well, Felicity thinks that they should move on, and you'll see physical evidence of that in 501." Instead, they are talking around it still without giving details other than the ones already out on the internet, much like they are doing with s5 in general. Like the rest of s5, I think there's something more to it, and I'm confused as to why the secrecy for certain details. 

[apinknightmare]

3 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

*whispers* It's gonna be the cop.

Straight shooter/good guy literally. And also a goober. 

Edited August 13, 2016 by apinknightmare