Spoiler Discussion Thread

[tv echo]

I'm an Olicity shipper, but I have to admit that Oliver has been making unilateral decisions that have fundamentally changed Felicity's life from the beginning of their relationship...

• Revealing himself as the Hood to Felicity in S1 - Oliver's decision. Felicity is then dragged into a secret, illegal vigilante life (even though it changed her life for the better, according to her).
• Keeping his son a secret from Felicity in S4 even when they were going to get married - Oliver's decision. Felicity then became an instant stepmother, with all the attendant emotional, legal and financial ramifications.
• Taking an FBI deal to go to prison for life in S6 - Oliver's decision. Felicity then had to go into protective custody and became the sole parent/guardian to a son, with both their lives in danger.

Felicity was given no opportunity to discuss, provide input, or agree to any of the above decisions.

Edited July 26, 2018 by tv echo

[way2interested]

12 minutes ago, tv echo said:

Revealing himself as the Hood to Felicity in S1 - Oliver's decision. Felicity is then dragged into a secret, illegal vigilante life (even though it changed her life for the better, according to her).

Revealing himself was his decision, but helping out (instead of calling the police, ambulance, etc.) and staying around was Felicity's decision. She could have left any time she wanted and in fact did leave when she didn't like what he was doing literally an episode later and only stayed because she believed in what he was doing and wanted to help.

13 minutes ago, tv echo said:

Keeping his son a secret from Felicity in S4 even when they were going to get married - Oliver's decision. Felicity then became an instant stepmother, with all the attendant emotional, legal and financial ramifications.

In s4 that was a unilateral decision that Oliver did get in trouble for, but Felicity becoming a stepmom s6 was her decision with her being the one to ask Oliver to marry her. She even said before she did all of it that she loves her life the way it is and she loves William, basically lining it up for her being ok with all of the ramifications once she does ask him. Marrying someone includes signing up for potentially hard times and in some cases the potential to become a step-parent or even widow/widower.

17 minutes ago, tv echo said:

Taking an FBI deal to go to prison for life in S6 - Oliver's decision. Felicity then had to go into protective custody and became the sole parent/guardian to a son, with both their lives in danger.

This one is a unilateral decision on Oliver's part that we haven't seen the consequences for fully yet, but it is implied that the issue of this will be brought up, but (and it does not fully excuse it), like before, marriage does imply willingness to become William's sole guardian if this case arrived, being no different than say if Oliver got killed randomly in the field. Yes, this circumstance is different because Oliver chose the situations without Felicity being ok with it (unlike if Oliver was hurt being a vigilante), but living in danger potentially having to take care of William is what Felicity signed up for with their lives. If Felicity did have more input in this set up if Oliver actually did go to prison (which if she did have even more input, he never would have gone to prison, but that's a moot point since that's what the plot was always going to be), she'd still probably stick with Argus to protect the city and be William's parent and try to get Oliver out of prison. 

I do agree that Oliver making sole decisions is a repeated problem (s4, and now 623), but I don't think it's this overwhelming thing of their relationship.

[tv echo]

Not worth posting in the Spoilers thread...

[statsgirl]

9 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

Oliver made the deal I guess because supposedly he was so sure that Diaz was an imminent threat to Felicity and William's life that he felt he had no other choice but to sacrifice his life to save theirs.  Which is BS to a massive degree.  Or he felt that sacrificing his family wasn't as important as taking back control of the city which is a whole other load of BS and so I refuse to entertain that.

It's not just BS, it's moronic.  Or rather imbecilic, which is even lower on the IQ scale. Not only did the FBI fail to catch Diaz, leaving Oliver in jail and Felicity and William even more unprotected, now that he's outed himself, he leaves his wife and child vulnerable to every other criminal in the world, both those who he has fought and those who just want to make a name for themselves. Forever since it's a life sentence

At the very least he should have made sure that the FBI caught Diaz before he outed himself.

1 hour ago, way2interested said:

Revealing himself was his decision, but helping out (instead of calling the police, ambulance, etc.) and staying around was Felicity's decision. She could have left any time she wanted and in fact did leave when she didn't like what he was doing literally an episode later and only stayed because she believed in what he was doing and wanted to help.

In s4 that was a unilateral decision that Oliver did get in trouble for, but Felicity becoming a stepmom s6 was her decision with her being the one to ask Oliver to marry her. She even said before she did all of it that she loves her life the way it is and she loves William, basically lining it up for her being ok with all of the ramifications once she does ask him. Marrying someone includes signing up for potentially hard times and in some cases the potential to become a step-parent or even widow/widower.

The problem here is that Oliver makes unilateral decisions, and while Felicity may fight them at first, she always goes along in the end because she loves him.

This just encourages him to keep doing it.  She's got to put her foot down hard (not that she will on this show).

[tv echo]

I'll have to re-watch the trailer because I didn't notice the Count of Monte Cristo book the first time around (I wonder if that's a clue)...

SDCC 18′: A Look At The ARROW Season 7 Trailer
By Dennis Mui  Posted: July 25, 2018
https://comicsverse.com/sdcc-arrow-season-7-trailer/

Quote

The biggest question mark of the ARROW season 7 trailer and possibly the whole season is the identity of a new archer. After five months without vigilantes, a new hero is on the rise. He possesses the look, the ability, and the weaponry similar to the Green Arrow. The new hero could not be Oliver since he’s in prison.
*  *  *

*  *  *

*  *  *
So far, the villains look to be human, albeit strong humans. There is also a small nod to a prison break in the trailer. A picture of Felicity and Connor [sic] rests on top of a copy of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. This could be a red herring or a joke, but I hope not.

Edited July 26, 2018 by tv echo

[way2interested]

58 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

The problem here is that Oliver makes unilateral decisions, and while Felicity may fight them at first, she always goes along in the end because she loves him.

This just encourages him to keep doing it.  She's got to put her foot down hard (not that she will on this show).

Sure, but the original post was that Oliver's been making lots of unilateral decisions for Felicity throughout their relationship when it's really only happened twice (both having extreme consequences for Oliver so he's definitely not being rewarded for it), although him going at it alone in 619 was a random outlier that idk if any of us really count since it didn't even appear in that list. I don't necessarily agree that forgiving him is "going along with it because she loves him," since generally this happens after (speculating here for s7) she does argue against it. If she went along with what they did in s4, they would have been immediately back together in 521, and if she ends up not forgiving Oliver and moving forward in s7 then there really was no purpose to them getting married. The fact that they had 3 minutes for Felicity react in 623 is what's messing up the perception here, and now we'll skip 5-6 months after the fact.

Oliver making decisions like this is his problem and a general character flaw he has just like Felicity's is shutting herself off from problems instead of dealing with them, with Oliver being the one who actually wants to talk things out and Felicity walking away, also multiple times. Because Oliver's the main character they have to give his a ton more dramatic weight and make him make even more drastic decisions. I was just always under the impression that Felicity cutting off their engagement, then quitting the team, and still refusing to talk to him about it for over a year was putting her foot down hard, and it did work because Oliver didn't do anything like s4 for over 2 years in show time. Then this happens and the show, according to SA, will address Oliver being fully aware that doing this again was the wrong decision, Felicity will address it, they'll get mad and sad, they'll get back together, and then they'll move on.

Edited July 26, 2018 by way2interested

[statsgirl]

Those were the two most dramatic examples but Oliver's been making decisions for Felicity all along, for example refusing to train her in fighting and even reacting negatively when she trains herself (2x13z0 which considering that she was already out in the field before (at Merlyn Global; against the Dollmaker)  dangerously handicapped her.  The plan he made with MM which had Felicity and his other friends thinking they were going to die in Ra's cell should have him apologizing to them for the rest of his life.

I personally react badly to this because it reminds me of my ex who would make decisions for the family because he thought he was right, and then I would have to argue for hours before he finally realized that it wasn't the best plan.  I'm still suffering the consequences of some of his snap decisions.

The problem is that instead of things getting better, they're getting worse. It's not that Oliver just didn't learn from Felicity breaking their engagement and keeping away from him romantically for a year, it's that this decision, which he didn't run by either Felicity or Diggle, puts Felicity and William in far greater danger than they've ever been in before.  For the rest of Oliver's life.  I hope he regrets not teaching Felicity to fight now.

Maybe I'm just grumpy because I was hoping for encouraging things from SDCC and all there seems to be is bearing down even harder on the things I didn't like before (Oliver in prison for longer; Felicity on protective custody island; Curtis still around and involved in Felicity's company; Rene and Dinah also still there; LL2 redeemed)

Quote

I'll have to re-watch the trailer because I didn't notice the Count of Monte Cristo book the first time around (I wonder if that's a clue)...

I was hoping the first time I saw the trailer that it was a clue but I don't think how it could be.   Edmond Dantes was an innocent man when he was imprisoned but Oliver is guilty of the things the Green Arrow did. Also Dantes escaped; Oliver can't because he made the deal for the sake of NTA.

I think it was just a glib comment on a good man who is imprisoned.  And maybe on having the beard.

Edited July 26, 2018 by statsgirl

[way2interested]

16 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Those were the two most dramatic examples but Oliver's been making decisions for Felicity all along, for example refusing to train her in fighting and even reacting negatively when she trains herself (2x13z0 which considering that she was already out in the field before (at Merlyn Global; against the Dollmaker)  dangerously handicapped her.

When did he refuse to train her? Not training her doesn't equal "making the decision to refuse to train her," plus 510 implies he's fine with her training or working out but that there's a difference between self-defense and then actually going out into the field (which is consistent with Roy, Laurel, and the newbies).

18 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

The plan he made with MM which had Felicity and his other friends thinking they were going to die in Ra's cell should have him apologizing to them for the rest of his life.

I partially agree with this (the letting the team think they were going to die part). However, his plan never involved the team and specifically was him making decisions that didn't impact anyone except himself (not counting the effect him leaving has on his friends). The team's/Malcolm's decision to take everything into their own hands (Felicity wasn't even going to go and even suggested they don't listen to Malcolm) is what led to the situation in an abrupt fashion, which is why I don't necessarily put it on the same level as Oliver not telling Felicity things that did affect her directly. It was crummy, but I do see slight significant differences (along with Oliver telling them to trust him while everything was going on) that put them on different levels, even if he was dumb there too.

24 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

The problem is that instead of things getting better, they're getting worse. It's not that Oliver just didn't learn from Felicity breaking their engagement and keeping away from him romantically for a year, it's that this decision, which he didn't run by either Felicity or Diggle, puts Felicity and William in far greater danger than they've ever been in before.  For the rest of Oliver's life.  

I do partially agree with that as well, and still think it's down to they wanted a dramatic decision for Oliver without thinking it all the way through. My only counter is that Felicity's already accepted that their lives will always be in danger regardless, if they didn't catch Diaz and Oliver never made the deal (according to show logic), Diaz would have continuously targeted her and William for the rest of their lives as well as established in 622. With the deal, Oliver may have placed a bigger target but also put a bigger cover over his family at the same time, from villains and from the authority. It's still not the best decision, but different from s4, where the secret was just beneficial to him. It's more like the secret keeping of s4 mixed with the self-sacrificing smaller picture thought process of s3.

[KenyaJ]

2 hours ago, statsgirl said:

It's not just BS, it's moronic.  Or rather imbecilic, which is even lower on the IQ scale. Not only did the FBI fail to catch Diaz, leaving Oliver in jail and Felicity and William even more unprotected, now that he's outed himself, he leaves his wife and child vulnerable to every other criminal in the world, both those who he has fought and those who just want to make a name for themselves. Forever since it's a life sentence

At the very least he should have made sure that the FBI caught Diaz before he outed himself. 

Oliver: Diaz is unstoppable. I can't stop him on my own, so I need the FBI's help.

Watson: Sure, but in exchange for helping you catch Diaz, you have to confess to being the Green Arrow and go to prison for life.

Oliver: And if we don't capture Diaz?

Watson: You still have to confess to being the Green Arrow and go to prison for life.

Oliver: Okay. Deal.

 

I realize Oliver wasn't negotiating from a position of strength, but the stupid still burns. One thing I'm interested to know is what the FBI's been doing to catch Diaz since Oliver went to jail. Anything? Or did Watson conclude that her work in Star City was done once she put Oliver away? I'm going to assume it's the latter, because Watson didn't seem to care about Diaz at all until she was able to use him as leverage over Oliver. And if catching Diaz was a priority to the FBI, Black Siren would be in jail for impeding his capture. If the FBI isn't being diligent in trying to track him down, maybe that's another factor in Oliver wonder if he made the deal for nothing.

Edited July 26, 2018 by KenyaJ

[BkWurm1]

15 hours ago, apinknightmare said:

Maybe. But it ultimately doesn’t matter what *she* was worried about. If Watson so much as hinted that she had anything on Felicity or could prosecute her in any way, even just to persuade Oliver to do what she wanted, he would’ve done what she asked without question. 

I don't disagree but I'm just saying we don't have any evidence of the kind that during Oliver's "negotiations" a threat to Felicity from the FBI factored into it.  Once he made the deal for immunity for those on the team that were in the FBI's crosshairs, I can understand his logic in making sure everyone was protected (though maybe those totally not being looked at like Curtis would have liked a say in whether they got a permanent note next to their name from there out)  but going in, Oliver didn't have reason to believe that Felicity was at risk. 

The show might throw some threat in about it now post facto to make his choice seem less assinine but honestly, nothing will since Oliver really could have just called up some help from his friends and handled this on his own and then continued to live his life free with his family.  But that wasn't the plot that MG wanted.  

In one of the interviews, one for some reason I think was from MG (not at ComicCon but recent), there was mention of Beth kind of being stuck with how he'd left things.  I'm hoping that bit of self awareness translates to if Beth had been in charge then, she would have at least made the choice more reasonable.  

[apinknightmare]

22 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I don't disagree but I'm just saying we don't have any evidence of the kind that during Oliver's "negotiations" a threat to Felicity from the FBI factored into it. 

I know - I said as much in the comment you first quoted and responded to, LOL. 

[way2interested]

20 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

In one of the interviews, one for some reason I think was from MG (not at ComicCon but recent), there was mention of Beth kind of being stuck with how he'd left things.  I'm hoping that bit of self awareness translates to if Beth had been in charge then, she would have at least made the choice more reasonable.  

MG referenced that they could change the plot if they wanted since he wasn't in charge anymore, and then a reporter at SDCC asked Beth if she felt stuck with the ending of 623 that she had to write to after being promoted to showrunner. She said no since she sees it as a chance for a restart with Oliver's secret being out and Oliver being in jail. What I'm getting from Beth is that she likes the idea of dramatic plots (good or bad drama we shall see, but at least the dark character stuff she seemed really excited about), so I think she's going to focus more on the situation at hand and kind of hand wave how we got there.

That and no one is going to know anything about it until it comes out if she can control it. Seriously, the Beth memes may be my new favorite thing this season so far.

[insomniadreams88]

5 hours ago, statsgirl said:

this decision, which he didn't run by either Felicity or Diggle, puts Felicity and William in far greater danger than they've ever been in before.  For the rest of Oliver's life. 

Weren’t Felicity and William standing behind him on TV when he said he was the Green Arrow in the finale too? Even in protective custody, all it would take is one person recognizing either of them - pink hair is not a disguise - and the wrong person finding out.

I almost want Watson to come back and visit Oliver in prison and for Oliver to go, “you’re keeping an eye on my family, right?” And for Watson to go, “you never actually made that part of the deal. Really, the deal you made with the FBI was moronic. ARGUS is protecting your family, but we’re doing nothing because we don’t care. You’re right where I wanted you and you made it so easy.”

[BkWurm1]

I hope Oliver journals about how he should leave negotiations to Felicity in the future.  

[KenyaJ]

1 hour ago, BkWurm1 said:

I hope Oliver journals about how he should leave negotiations to Felicity in the future.  

He should just leave all his critical thinking to her, in general.

[TwistedandBored]

My sister has gotten it into her head that the last scene of 701 shows us Felicity having an abortion and that is why everyone it is a huge twist. lol. Yeah. I don't think that is it. Like Arrow is not the kinda of show that will go there. 

Anyways, I do think they might show us the new big bad is the leader of Argus that Layla will have to answer to though. 

Edited July 28, 2018 by TwistedandBored

[BkWurm1]

34 minutes ago, TwistedandBored said:

My sister has gotten it into her head that the last scene of 701 shows us Felicity having an abortion and that is why everyone it is a huge twist. lol. Yeah. I don't think that is it. Like Arrow is not the kinda of show that will go there.

What on earth prompted that impression?

[TwistedandBored]

3 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

What on earth prompted that impression?

I legit have no idea but she always goes for the most extreme version of things. So, I wasn't even phased for a minute. I just got annoyed after she started saying since the show has more female writers now that this is something they would want to do ...blah blah blah. I stopped listening to be honest. lol

[way2interested]

Argus being the big had would be cool, though. I'm still getting the feeling that the ending scene will be something with the big bad and/or Roy.

I'm also getting the growing feeling that Felicity's only going to be in the very beginning (dream sequence) and the very end (not the last scene but at least a set up for 702) while Oliver has the A plot, Rene and Dinah the B plot, maybe something with Diggle for C plot, and then set up for Felicity/BS for D plots.

[BkWurm1]

I expect you to be right about very little Felicity.  I don’t expect to see her in the first episode except for the dream sequence.

I was thinking about that and the cast talking about a new storytelling technique.  What if it’s the timeline?   What if they catch us up on what’s going on with Oliver and a few others but in the next episode we go over some of the same timeline from a different character’s perspective?  

Someone at a future con should ask if Arrow is still in real time each week for the most part.  

I’m mixed in my opinion if this multiple episodes covering the same time idea would be happening.  I think it could open up deeper story telling but some viewers would be confused and it probably would mean we’d get less of certain characters certain weeks a lot more often.  

[way2interested]

10 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I was thinking about that and the cast talking about a new storytelling technique.  What if it’s the timeline?   What if they catch us up on what’s going on with Oliver and a few others but in the next episode we go over some of the same timeline from a different character’s perspective?  

I could see that, but I don't know how much they'd split it up like that or how long logistically they could keep it up. Theoretically, you've got the cast split up between the two episodes to give the time on their stories (Oliver, Diggle, Rene, Dinah, to lesser extent BS I guess in 701 and Felicity, Curtis, maybe more of Roy and then the 7a villains in 702), but then at some point they'll have to come back together. I was thinking that something in 702 prompts Felicity to get the team back together (counter to the Longbow Hunters being introduced to us at the same times), so that would put more of the characters back together except for Oliver going forward, unless, I guess, they could still continuously shift from character to character per episode even if other members of the cast are there. Splitting the storylines then between Oliver and the team every other episode while the stories happen concurrently could be the type of technique that could give SA more time off.

18 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I’m mixed in my opinion if this multiple episodes covering the same time idea would be happening.  I think it could open up deeper story telling but some viewers would be confused and it probably would mean we’d get less of certain characters certain weeks a lot more often.

Yeah, but I guess by s7 they don't think many viewers who wouldn't be able to follow are watching at that point and it could give the more character-highlighting stuff that Beth seems to want. I would also guess that if certain characters get less that they'll probably do some small but dramatic set-up to keep the audience invested to watch that focused episode (a Rene episode would have a small Oliver plot where something important happens, a Dinah episode could have an Argus plot connected to it, a villain episode would also be the one where Oliver ends up leaving prison, etc.).

I do find it funny that 701 will likely do what people thought they would do back in 601, tease consequences for Felicity but then don't reveal what she's doing until near the end, though.

[BkWurm1]

In my mind there would be episodes every once and a while (and certainly in the final stretch of the season) where everyone would be together and the time line aligned and zipping along, maybe making those episodes feel more urgent and immediate.

[way2interested]

I guess I just find it hard to picture doing it that way for 22 episodes, even if you assume that say 7 episodes (708, 709, 715, 720-722, and some episode in between) would have them together since some of these plots sound like they have no choice but to involve others, but maybe if they limit the others to those specific episodes when those plots come up they could sustain it. Maybe we'll get some idea if they film another public scene in 703 and we get the title for it.

[BkWurm1]

I agree.  It probably would be hard to sustain.  Maybe it’s something they only do when the storyline would call for it?   Maybe it would be more at the beginning when they are already all separated anyway?

Maybe I’m totally wrong?  

All possibilities lol.  

[statsgirl]

1 hour ago, BkWurm1 said:

I’m mixed in my opinion if this multiple episodes covering the same time idea would be happening.  I think it could open up deeper story telling but some viewers would be confused and it probably would mean we’d get less of certain characters certain weeks a lot more often.  

While in interview they don't seem to get it how much NTA is disliked, can they really be that tone deaf? And although the fanboys cheered The Dragon, it make a lot of "worst episode" lists and even those reviewers who loved the comics snarked at the episodes when Oliver was barely there..

This technique might have worked if NTA was a hit but I think only OTA and Roy can consistently carry episodes.  Sidelining them for multiple episodes is asking for a ratings and viewership drop.

[tv echo]

Nice little summary...

DC TV Watch: A Deep Dive Into All Those Comic-Con Reveals
JULY 28, 2018  by Sydney Bucksbaum
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/dc-tv-watch-comic-con-2018-news-explained-1130293

Quote

Arrow 

Meet the villains | After teasing The Longbow Hunters last season, Arrow is finally introducing the villain team-up this season. The iconic group of assassins takes shape onscreen in the form of three new characters: ruthless and precise killer Red Dart played by Holly Elissa (Whistler), a beast of a man with brute force Kodiak played by Michael Jonsson (Van Helsing) and master of stealth Silencer played by Miranda Edwards (The Magicians, Orphan Black). Red Dart had a few different prior incarnations in the comics but after The New 52 reboot, she's pretty much exactly how Arrow is bringing her to life. A female assassin with the Longbow Hunters working for Richard Dragon aka Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo), she actually came up against the Green Arrow and failed to take him out. As for Kodiak, in the comics he's known as the leader of the Shield clan but not much else is really known about him aside from his intense combat skills. And Silencer, also known as Honor Guest, is a relatively new comic book character with her first appearance in 2018. Talia al Ghul's protege is one of the DC Universe's most skilled assassins. But with her source material so new and fresh, Arrow has essentially a blank slate for this female villain. 

New chapter, same workouts | As one of the standouts of the Arrow-verse shows at Comic-Con because the season seven trailer was actually chock full of new footage, fans got their first glimpse of Oliver (Stephen Amell) in his new home: Slabside Prison. And while this season is a totally new chapter in the long-running series now that Oliver publicly confessed to being the Green Arrow and turned himself in to the FBI, it seems like the series has actually come full circle. Just look at the workout Oliver's doing in his cell. Major season one vibes, no? But is that Count of Monte Cristo easter egg a bit too on the nose?

In control ... or out of it | The trailer also revealed a few key plot points to fans, like a time jump of five months taking place in the premiere and that Oliver feels out of control in prison while being targeted by his old foes he helped lock up. Despite his intention to keep his head down and not fight back, he'll be forced to defend himself ... in a nude shower room brutal fight scene. Yes, you read that right. Arrow is definitely not holding back this season.

A new archer? | With Oliver locked up and Star City cracking down on vigilantism, Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) reveals there hasn't been any vigilantes spotted in the five month time jump. But the trailer clearly shows someone in the Green Arrow costume running around town. Could that be Roy (Colton Haynes), freshly exonerated and free to don the hood? Or is it Rene (Rick Gonzalez), trying to take up the mantle to continue Oliver's legacy?

Edited July 28, 2018 by tv echo

[BkWurm1]

1 hour ago, tv echo said:

Could that be Roy (Colton Haynes), freshly exonerated and free to don the hood? Or is it Rene (Rick Gonzalez), trying to take up the mantle to continue Oliver's legacy?

If it was Rene, it would PISS me off so much.  Talk about not having any right to wear the hood.  I worry they could be right after how much RG went on about figuring out how to honor what Oliver told him about keeping going in while he was gone (or something like that, i skimmed his interviews at best)

[way2interested]

2 hours ago, statsgirl said:

This technique might have worked if NTA was a hit but I think only OTA and Roy can consistently carry episodes.  Sidelining them for multiple episodes is asking for a ratings and viewership drop.

That's one of the reasons I'm actually finding it hard to picture, not to mention the logistics problem of giving all of the series regulars a focus episode (there's simply not enough time to do that). At most I can picture a split between characters, like Star City-prison-Felicity until she gets back to the city, and then they would just switch which one (not character, just setting) gets the focus per episode. 701 is prison (B is city, C is Felicity), 702 is Felicity (possibly, B is city, C is prison), 703 is the city (possibly, B is prison, C is Felicity), 704 is prison (possibly, B is Felicity, C is the city) and then go through all over again, never sidelining all members of OTA or the newbs at one time. 

All spec though lol. I could be completely wrong

15 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

If it was Rene, it would PISS me off so much.  Talk about not having any right to wear the hood.  I worry they could be right after how much RG went on about figuring out how to honor what Oliver told him about keeping going in while he was gone (or something like that, i skimmed his interviews at best)

There's a shot in the promo of Rene (looking more conflicted-inspired than "oh, this is my arrow that I shot) taking an arrow embedded in a gate that was shot after Dinah and the cops confront the GA, plus there's another shot of him talking to presumably criminals by himself as himself with a gun, so I don't think it was him. I think he might be on the new GA's side and against Dinah, which will be a source of conflict for 701.

Edited July 28, 2018 by way2interested

[statsgirl]

I don't think Rene parkours much less is a good enough shot with an arrow to pass as the Green Arrow so you may be safe from that insult at least.

[kes0704]

10 hours ago, way2interested said:

I'm also getting the growing feeling that Felicity's only going to be in the very beginning (dream sequence) and the very end (not the last scene but at least a set up for 702) while Oliver has the A plot, Rene and Dinah the B plot, maybe something with Diggle for C plot, and then set up for Felicity/BS for D plots.

After a season that left a lot of people hoping NTA would leave town, I think it would be a risky to start off with minimal Felicity and a lot of Dinah and Rene. 

If they want people to give the new season a chance, it doesn’t seem like the best move to give more time to characters that aren’t popular, especially as some fans judge the first episode as an indicator of how they season will play out. 

I think if there isn’t a clear indicator of a story plan being set up for Felicity and Diggle, but one for Dinah and Rene is set up by the end of 701, it may not go over well. 

Edited July 28, 2018 by kes0704

[way2interested]

37 minutes ago, kes0704 said:

After a season that left a lot of people hoping NTA would leave town, I think it would be a risky to start off with minimal Felicity and a lot of Dinah and Rene. 

If they want people to give the new season a chance, it doesn’t seem like the best move to give more time to characters that aren’t popular, especially as some fans judge the first episode as an indicator of how they season will play out. 

I think if there isn’t a clear indicator of a story plan being set up for Felicity and Diggle, but one for Dinah and Rene is set up by the end of 701, it may not go over well. 

I don't think it's going to be *a lot*, since Oliver's going to be the main plot/set up. Then they have to set up the city stuff snd Dinah and Rene seem to be the only ones still working in the city with Curtis MIA, so it has to be them. Plus, it's tying to the new GA (one of the main draw ins from the trailer for the new season) just as much as their own plots, which I think says that even they know Dinah and Rene in the city isn't enough for a plot. 

What Felicity's doing and however the episode ends is going to be the draw to watch the rest of the episode/the next episode, which makes sense since it's important to keep people watching if they can.

[Sunshine]

Maybe the Konomi Rhodes character decides to dress like Green Arrow. I believe that character is an archer.

[KenyaJ]

1 hour ago, tv echo said:

-- One asshole (male) interviewer said that he was "bothered" when the show took a "soapy direction" with "the kid and the married life" and he then asked something unintelligible about Oliver being in prison. (I think this was the same media guy who complained to James Bamford about Arrow's "later seasons" becoming "too soapy" in the Lisa Steinberg video with Bamford posted upthread.)  Beth Schwartz replied: "For me, I don't know if this is soapy or not, but what I love is, um, you know, I like grounding our characters in reality. So the reality is he has a wife and he has a child, and how does that affect them when he's in prison? So getting into the real of that - to me, I don't know if I would call that 'soapy' or not. It's more about the - you know, the effects of how that - how it affects everyone on the team, his family. Um, yeah, it's going to be - it's going to be a dark season."

 

I honestly can't think of one aspect of Oliver's family life that was "soapy" last season, especially not when compared to bitter feuds, villains double-crossing each other, courtroom shockers, and a doppleganger pretending to be someone she's not — all classic elements of soaps. Would this guy think Oliver's kid and married life were soapy if he was married to the Black Canary and the kid's name was Connor?

Edited July 29, 2018 by KenyaJ

[insomniadreams88]

1 minute ago, KenyaJ said:

Would this guy think Oliver's kid and married life were soapy f he was married to the Black Canary and the kid's name was Connor?

I was just wondering the same thing. Probably not. 

[Angel12d]

701 better have more Felicity than Dinah and Rene or I'll riot. ? I'm not going through another S6 where Felicity's storyline wasn't set up in 601 and everyone was like "wait and see, it's too early" and then she got nothing. No thanks. So I'm with @kes0704. If NTA get more set up than Felicity and Diggle, I'm gonna hate them even more.

I also still can't believe there's people out there who think Oliver having a wife and kid is soapy when he literally slept with his father's mistress. And came back from the dead. Oliver finally settling down after 6 years is the only realistic thing on this show. My god. ?

Edited July 29, 2018 by Angel12d

[kes0704]

4 hours ago, KenyaJ said:

Would this guy think Oliver's kid and married life were soapy if he was married to the Black Canary and the kid's name was Connor?

Considering that none of these guys complained that the show was “Laurel and Friends” when they were on their fourth consecutive season of Lance family drama and did a father/not his actual daughter Lance family plot in season 6, I’m going to go with no, they wouldn’t think it was soapy if Laurel had a pivotal role in Oliver’s married life/kid story.

[BkWurm1]

9 minutes ago, KenyaJ said:

According to SpoilerTV, the title of 703 is "Crossing Lines."

If that's correct maybe part of the episode will center on some kind of police strike? Aka crossing picket lines?

And then, of course, the actions of whoever that skitters on or across some kind of line of behavior.  Normally I'd assume Oliver but he's already apparently crossed lines in the season opener.  Maybe he'll go back the other way.  

Maybe this is an Argus and Lyla centric episode?

[way2interested]

It literally could be anyone XD

[Featherhat]

It's a title that could mean everything or nothing depending on what's happened previously/happening this ep but is also totally bland as it's been used in pretty much 500 TV episodes at some point. 

[statsgirl]

Hey, maybe "Crossing Lines" means Felicity actually gets to go out in the field and fight.  That would definitely cross a line for the fanboys.

I bet it's BS and her law career though.

[way2interested]

I think it would be closer to do with Oliver or Diggle/Argus though rather than BS. Although maybe it could be one of those double meaning ones and be about Diggle with Argus, Felicity fighting back, Oliver in prison, BS against Diaz, Dinah with her police stuff, Roy with whatever, etc.

[apinknightmare]

Hopefully it’s Diaz crossing the line between life and death. 

[kes0704]

Sydelle Noel appears to be back in Vancouver. Maybe Agent Watson is making a return appearance? 

Edited August 2, 2018 by kes0704

[BkWurm1]

Maybe she offers Oliver a way out of Iron Heights?  

[bijoux]

Or reveals that his stay there is part of a bigger plan rather than the worst plea bargain ever. Still holding onto that hope. 

[bethy]

19 minutes ago, bijoux said:

Or reveals that his stay there is part of a bigger plan rather than the worst plea bargain ever. Still holding onto that hope. 

Please, please, please let this be true.

[BkWurm1]

4 hours ago, bijoux said:

Or reveals that his stay there is part of a bigger plan rather than the worst plea bargain ever. Still holding onto that hope. 

Then we can move on from yelling at Oliver for making this choice without even talking to Felicity, to yelling at him for making this choice without telling her there could be a light at the end of the tunnel...unless he actually DID clue her in on the long-term plan.  

Yeah, probably too much to hope for. 

[Proteus]

Has the role of that new young female cop ever been cast?

[way2interested]

21 minutes ago, Proteus said:

Has the role of that new young female cop ever been cast?

Technically no, along with the other 2 recurring characters that are supposed to appear, but, like the Longbow Hunters, I'm guessing they've already been cast and they just haven't announced them yet.

[strikera0]

Hm, maybe they're indeed going to do a low rent BOP episode with Dinah, BS and some other random character as core members?