S04.E06: Lost Souls

[BunsenBurner]

It was a bit odd in some of the scenes with MamaSmoak that she looked really old like they left off a filter in the camera.. Then the next scene she was looking great with no wrinkles.

Felicity had every right to act the way she did with Oliver. There was no meanness coming from her just frustration. She is not used to being coddled and that was what he was doing. She is used to working through highly stressful situations on her own and he was getting in her way. She realized she was over reacting and admitted to the freak out and then thanked him. No big deal

Great show for a filler. Not usually the case with the Arrow writers.

I'm wondering if Thea is going to have bloodlust with Alex, after finding out he is notwho he says he is, and kills or maims heIm. I also wonder if she might get angry at Laurel and do the same thing.

Edited November 12, 2015 by BunsenBurner

[bethy]

About Thea, Sara and the bloodlust. Sara leaves because she can't handle it as Thea is doing, does that mean that Thea has accepted and is ok with killing someone every now and then??

I wondered about that, too. And is Thea taking care of the bloodlust by killing bad guys? In one of the fight scenes she shoots someone (multiple someones?) with an arrow. Is she killing these people? Sara was shooting them, so does that help satisfy the bloodlust if she's killing them? Does this go against Oliver's "no killing" rule? Are they simply seriously injuring the people they fight? It's hard to get a handle on shows' (I'm not just talking about Arrow here) morality regarding killing when bad guys are getting shot or stabbed all over the place, but there's no mentions of those as deaths.

Also, Laurel needs a weapon other than her night stick. She looks silly standing there waiting for an opportunity to get close enough to whack someone when everyone around her is shooting and taking care of business.

Edited November 12, 2015 by bethy

[foreverevolving]

Poppy's name is Taiana.

BTW she's an actual character from the year one comics, with the same name. except there she isn't E.Euro. the name is just weird for someone from an eastern european country.

Which mean they whitewashed another character.

[blixie]

 

I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to remember what a total hypocritical prick Quentin was in S3b, though.

 

 I don't give enough of a shit about Quentin to care what he did or didn't do,  he makes zero sense as any kind of cohesive character. I just want him and his daughter gone. I've wanted that for three years, but the least he can do while around is get sparkly with Donna, and Oliver getting to ream him out was glorious.

[calliope1975]

The man knows how to work his assets. Worst case scenario he probably would have just brought a tire into loft.

 

This needs to be a thing. Anytime Felicity gets upset or stressed, Oliver loses some clothes. Imagine what we'll get when SmoakDaddy shows up!

[morakot]

There are clearly things (like coding) that Felicity can do that Oliver cannot help her with -- just as Felicity lacks the vigilante skills that Sara and Thea have so she cannot help Oliver with vigilante work. She was stressed when she made the comment but I don't think it was actively as bitchy about his intelligence as it seems.

 

Also, there were now three women living in Laurel's one-bedroom apartment -- how did they fit?

[AyChihuahua]

What are people's thoughts about Reiter...to the extent anyone managed to stay awake during the flashbacks, I mean.  I think the actor is pretty terrible.  He seems to be a big fan of the "Bugging my eyes out makes me look intense!" school of acting.

[Delphi]

I use the flashbacks to tweet about the episode. I so don't care about them anymore. But I agree about bug eyes.

[KirkB]

I've paid so little attention to the flashbacks I don't know anyone's name. Is Reiter the guy who's apparently in charge, or the one he sent with Oliver? If it's the former I'm confused about why he is so enamored of Oliver. I mean, he dropped his gun when Constantine threatened to shoot Oliver. Why does he care? If it's the latter, I'm not too impressed. He mumbles, so I can't always understand what he's saying, and yeah, he's acting like he's supposed to be all intense but comes off as pretty weak in comparison to what's going on around him.

[Angel12d]

About Thea, Sara and the bloodlust. Sara leaves because she can't handle it as Thea is doing, does that mean that Thea has accepted and is ok with killing someone every now and then??

 

I'm not sure. I think killing those assassins a couple of episodes ago really helped to sate her bloodlust and so she probably hasn't been feeling it for a couple of weeks. But it seemed like they hinted that she was maybe starting to feel the urge to kill again towards the end of the episode and will probably struggle with that next week. Whether she'll kill again remains to be seen. I hope not. I hope she's strong enough to work through it.

[Scribbles]

Am I the only one that was immediately struck by Sara using the words "always and forever"?  She used those words before and hearing them again was distinctive.

[AyChihuahua]

I've paid so little attention to the flashbacks I don't know anyone's name. Is Reiter the guy who's apparently in charge, or the one he sent with Oliver? If it's the former I'm confused about why he is so enamored of Oliver. I mean, he dropped his gun when Constantine threatened to shoot Oliver. Why does he care? If it's the latter, I'm not too impressed. He mumbles, so I can't always understand what he's saying, and yeah, he's acting like he's supposed to be all intense but comes off as pretty weak in comparison to what's going on around him.

Yeah, Reiter is the guy in charge who is enamored of Oliver and into magical crap. 

 

The only actor in the FBs who, IMO, is anything other than sucky is the second-in-command guy. 

[Angel12d]

I really liked Oliver's 'Tom Cruise/Mission Impossible' style stunt when he lowered himself upside down on a wire to enter the door key code. LOL. More of that please.

[kismet]

I finding interesting/odd/something to take note of, that while Felicity was (cutely) berating Oliver for hypothetically outing her to a Supervillian a few episode ago Ray actually put her in the cross-hairs of DD!

 

Ray's the worst...

Yes but now her

kidnapping/accident/injury whatever probably puts her in the hospital

is on RP and not on OQ. Win-Win for me because RP needs to get some blame for something and OQ needs to have something not be his fault when it comes to his loved ones.

Edited November 12, 2015 by kismet

[apinknightmare]

I really liked Oliver's 'Tom Cruise/Mission Impossible' style stunt when he lowered himself upside down on a wire to enter the door key code. LOL. More of that please.

Yeah, that was pretty awesome.

[Sakura12]

The flashback are just pointless now. They interrupt the flow of the episode. We're watching a scene then it just goes to a 2 second flashback then back to the present. If they don't have a point, they shouldn't be in the episode. Or they need to hire more compelling actors the ones they have now are not doing anything for me. I just don't care. 

 

We don't need to see Oliver's day to day life, use the flashbacks only when something interesting happens. 

[Angel12d]

I really like DD but I do need to see some movement on his mission or whatever the hell he's up to with that magic box. I think NM is doing a really great job but I'm getting a little bored with the repetitiveness. We're not learning anything new about him. Hopefully that will change in 407. 

 

Anyone think whatever Reiter is looking for in flashbacks might be something that links to DD in present day? Maybe they find the box. 

[apinknightmare]

We don't need to see Oliver's day to day life, use the flashbacks only when something interesting happens.

I think last night's flashbacks were intended to be interesting, LOL.

Edited November 12, 2015 by apinknightmare

[kismet]

Ray had been sending her distress messages ever since the explosion, but Felicity wasn't around to get those messages, because she was off traveling with Oliver. She was feeling guilty that he was living that tater tot life for months and months when he wouldn't have been if she hadn't left her job to travel with her boyfriend who does indeed have the perfect jaw Curtis, wtf. Felicity was angry at herself for dropping her life for Oliver, which had the side effect of leaving Ray stranded like a fallen chip between the couch cushions of Star City.

Perfect recap... but does RP have no other friends? Has he never watched movies where people shrink? Get to a safe spot and try to get someone to notice you. Freaking ride a cockroach to anywhere and get help. He was the owner of multi-billion tech conglomerate was there not one trusted scientist or microscope he could find?

 

Seriously epic plot fail on the writers part for not giving a valid reason it took over 6 months to find him. But then again, I don't think the writers really cared about it. I think he was used as a plot device in this episode to bring part of DD's evil plan to the audience. Which honestly, I'm fine with. But seriously what a waste of time from a RP perspective. Personally, I wish he just showed up on someone's cereal spoon one morning and then we worked stuff out from there.

[lexicon]

The flashbacks are getting worse to me. Like a few others have said, I use that time to tweet or take a bathroom break and I have absolutely no idea what's happening in them. Last night there was a point where I looked up and Oliver was strangling a man in the ocean and I was so confuffled where the hell it had come from then remembered that it was the flashbacks and didn't care anymore. What a waste of time that could be better spent in the present

[Angel12d]

One thing I found weird is how chipper Ray was for someone who has been the size of a nugget for 6 months. And he was so clean shaven and not at all malnourished and okay, I'll concede the last point on it being a TV show but seriously, so many unanswered questions about how he ate and all of that. Not that I really care what happened to Ray but his happy attitude didn't really gel with him being held hostage in a glass box for ages. Very strange. I'll chalk this up to not handling the fallout of Sara and Ray very well because they're going to do that on another show.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Angel12d

[Delphi]

The flashback are just pointless now. They interrupt the flow of the episode. We're watching a scene then it just goes to a 2 second flashback then back to the present. If they don't have a point, they shouldn't be in the episode. Or they need to hire more compelling actors the ones they have now are not doing anything for me. I just don't care.

We don't need to see Oliver's day to day life, use the flashbacks only when something interesting happens.

This. I really wish we could have skipped over Magic Island for the week and focused more on Sara. Sure she's going to legends but I don't think they'll have a lot of time there for character development.

[paigow]

If Oliver loses the election, he will signup for Masterchef

[dtissagirl]

Last night there was a point where I looked up and Oliver was strangling a man in the ocean and I was so confuffled where the hell it had come from then remembered that it was the flashbacks and didn't care anymore.

 

Oh good, it wasn't just me. I also did not pay attention to that scene because I was trying to remember if I had missed them going into the water. And then I ended up skipping the FBs entirely on the two rewatches I've done, so. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edited November 12, 2015 by dtissagirl

[Happy Harpy]

I'm completely with you. I actually laughed because Ray wasn't the main player in his own storyline, but an instrument of Felicity's and by extension Oliver's.

Tit for tat, people, tit for tat. Nice revenge after S3. Mwa ha ha ha.

 

About Thea, Sara and the bloodlust. Sara leaves because she can't handle it as Thea is doing, does that mean that Thea has accepted and is ok with killing someone every now and then??

*whispers* Laurel, Laurel, Laurel *whispers*

[kismet]

The flashback are just pointless now. They interrupt the flow of the episode. We're watching a scene then it just goes to a 2 second flashback then back to the present. If they don't have a point, they shouldn't be in the episode. Or they need to hire more compelling actors the ones they have now are not doing anything for me. I just don't care. 

 

We don't need to see Oliver's day to day life, use the flashbacks only when something interesting happens. 

I'm still a fan of the flashback writing technique in general. But I'm so bored with these flashbacks, even more than I was with s3 - and those were boring. But at least I feel these are cheaper for the budget than HK, so perhaps that is better. If nothing significant happens in a fb than it shouldn't be in the episode. We do not need a fb every episode.

 

The only thing I could think of is perhaps this is OQ first step to the dark side. He killed an innocent man named Vlad. Perhaps Vlad is connected to Poppy, and that is what causes her to betray OQ in the end. Otherwise this fb told us absolutely nothing about the present or the fb. But I due appreciate that we know Vlad came from an Eastern European country. We are one step closer to Bratva. Or at least that's the mantra I keep through the fb.

[Carrie Ann]

The flashbacks are getting worse to me. Like a few others have said, I use that time to tweet or take a bathroom break and I have absolutely no idea what's happening in them. Last night there was a point where I looked up and Oliver was strangling a man in the ocean and I was so confuffled where the hell it had come from then remembered that it was the flashbacks and didn't care anymore.

 

Yeah, I let myself off the hook a few eps back, and I don't watch the FBs at all anymore unless my husband is there and he wants to. I think what the FBs desperately need is a very, very dynamic, magnetic character to play opposite Oliver, and preferably one who could also appear in present-day. That's why the Slade FBs worked best, to the extent they did, and especially when Sara was also there (I found Shado bland, personally). I liked the Yamashiros, but they weren't especially personality-plus, and there is just nada going on this season. Constantine was a nice break, and if it were he and Oliver on a National Treasure-style hunt for various occult artifacts every ep? That I could get behind. This? No with a side of no.

[AyChihuahua]

Vlad was trying to kill him.  Not so innocent.

 

I think we should nominate someone each episode to pay attention to and summarize the flashbacks.  It would have to be a revolving responsibility, obviously, as no one here is sufficiently evil to deserve that punishment every week.

 

I'll start (okay, I didn't really pay attention, but give me a break, the FBs are really boring): Reiter and Conklin and Oliver went to Constantine's well-appointed for some reason cave dwelling where he got that Orb-y thing.  I'd like to know how the curtains in a damp dirty cave look so nice, and also why there were curtains.  Oliver keeps Reiter from stepping over the threshold (something to do with what Constantine had told him re pure hearts, blah blah).  Reiter bugged his eyes out.  Conklin didn't seem to know what Reiter was really up to re this stupid magic crap.  Conklin told Reiter not to trust Oliver.  Reiter bugged his eyes out.  Reiter took the Orb-y thing (that Constantine had said was useless, apparently...I skipped that episode bc of all the Laurel) and illuminated some writing on the wall and bugged his eyes out.  Then something happened that I missed, and then Oliver was at the beach leading a party of the slaves (Conklin was there too) to dig something up.  Some slave guy named Vlad (not the Impaler) got kind of bitchy.  Conklin took Vlad-not the Impaler aside and seemingly told him to kill Oliver.  Vlad tried to drown Oliver, Oliver got the upper hand and drowned Vlad.  Nothing was, as far as I can remember, actually dug up.

 

At some point Oliver took food to Poppy, who is such a total non-entity I can barely stand it.

 

The end.

Edited November 12, 2015 by AyChihuahua

[Starfish35]

Yeah I was going to say. The guy tried to drown him.

[kismet]

The flashbacks are getting worse to me. Like a few others have said, I use that time to tweet or take a bathroom break and I have absolutely no idea what's happening in them. Last night there was a point where I looked up and Oliver was strangling a man in the ocean and I was so confuffled where the hell it had come from then remembered that it was the flashbacks and didn't care anymore. What a waste of time that could be better spent in the present

Life got in the way so I wasn’t able to watch the show from the beginning. So when I turned on the TV my first moment was OQ drowning and then killing the man. So for me, it was just the usual OQ killing a bad guy. But then when I was able to watch the episode from the beginning, I realized that Vlad was not a bad guy. So maybe that was there point, OQ crossed a line and maybe that will mean something.

Seriously though it wasn’t enough to make the flashbacks worth the amount of time they take away from the present. Especially in this episode, where a few more secs could have given us more of the scenes that so many of us wanted.

[tarotx]

I think it will be a turning point to Oliver killing more easily. These people can turn on him on a dime. The Flashbacks are short so that's good. I would only remove the Poppy scene.

[AyChihuahua]

Life got in the way so I wasn’t able to watch the show from the beginning. So when I turned on the TV my first moment was OQ drowning and then killing the man. So for me, it was just the usual OQ killing a bad guy. But then when I was able to watch the episode from the beginning, I realized that Vlad was not a bad guy. So maybe that was there point, OQ crossed a line and maybe that will mean something.

Seriously though it wasn’t enough to make the flashbacks worth the amount of time they take away from the present. Especially in this episode, where a few more secs could have given us more of the scenes that so many of us wanted.

I'm not saying he was a BAD guy, but he did try to drown Oliver first. 

[arjumand]

BTW she's an actual character from the year one comics, with the same name. except there she isn't E.Euro. the name is just weird for someone from an eastern european country.

Which mean they whitewashed another character.

 

I mean Taiana? I thought there was a /t/ missing there somewhere.

 

Oh well. And then to choose the most stereotypical name for the guy, Vlad? Ho hum.

 

I honestly can't say I mind the island flashbacks, because I was so sick of HK, Oliver learns to do his own laundry, Oliver learns how to meditate, etc etc thing. In this case, at least there's stuff happening.

 

Storywise though, I do think putting him on the island now is a mistake, unless there's a branch of the Bratva on the island too. Because he needs to have got the tattoo from somewhere. Or maybe Poppy gave it to him (Taiana does not work, like at all). So he's going to get off the island, go to Russia, spend time there, and then go to Lian Yu again? IDK.

Edited November 12, 2015 by arjumand

[kismet]

Vlad was trying to kill him.  Not so innocent.

 

Yeah I was going to say. The guy tried to drown him.

True. True. :) I was just trying to provide some type of purpose/logic to the fb.  OQ generally doesn’t kill people who are not bad guys. And Vlad was one of the people. So maybe was not an innocent, maybe it was self-defense. But even in his self-defense mode OQ does not “kill” people in pd or fb since the show made his “no-kill” rule, few exceptions here and there. But Vlad was one of the first in-show kill of a non-bad guy.  And they even gave him a name before they gave Poppy a name.

 

I think it also helps to watch the FB out of sequence, because then you actually unintentionally try to figure it out. If I had watched the show sequentially, I probably would have had a different reaction. Probably like watching tumbleweeds.

Edited November 12, 2015 by kismet

[Sakura12]

The guy Oliver killed was self defense. We still have yet to see the guy Oliver is in Season 1. Adding a love interest just seems pointless unless they are going with man pain making him dark which is stupid. He already lost Shado and thinks he lost Sara at this point, that's enough death of a loved one man pain. 

Edited November 12, 2015 by Sakura12

[TwistedandBored]

I loved the episode. It was great character episode. 

 

 

Also, the Oliver of the flashbacks seems to be lighter and smiley one too this season. Honestly, they need to increase pressure on him and start making him dark instead of telling us he has darkness in him. How did this idiot get to be the Oliver we see in season 1?

[calliope1975]

I'm not saying he was a BAD guy, but he did try to drown Oliver first. 

 

Isn't Oliver basically a slaver, though? I did not pay attention to the FB's so maybe there was another reason that dude tried to kill Oliver. I mean, I know eventually Oliver will try to atone and become a leather clad superhero, but to that guy, Oliver holds a gun on them and is forcing them to provide slave labor. He also apparently killed Poppy. Oliver's kind of the bad guy.

[kismet]

The guy Oliver killed was self defense. We still have yet to see the guy Oliver is in Season 1. Adding a love interest just seems pointless unless they are going with man pain making him dark which is stupid. He already lost Shado and thinks he lost Sara at this point, that's enough death of a loved one man pain. 

Yes, but what if Vlad was Poppy's one true love or her brother. Will that have ramifications to him? Will Poppy find out and then have an overreaction to it, ala Slade. Will this be the mistake that connects the FB to the present? Will this be what reveals Poppy's bad side or will it mean nothing. Now, I'm overthinking the FB, because I need them to have a purpose or not waste me time.

 

I really wonder if they are backing off the Poppy as a LI, nothing in the writing has been romantic. And there are no sparks. He has more sparks with LL. But perhaps things might change now that he brings her food. IDK, I feel like they must be hearing some of the lackluster response to the fb, perhaps they will alter their plans. It is early enough in the season that they can change stuff, I wouldn't even consider it the writers lying to us or playing us. It would be intelligent writing to make changes if the story is failing.

[Sakura12]

I'm also kind of mad that we didn't get a scene of Sara finding out Diggle named his daughter after her. Which is kind of an important thing to do.

[Moya the Leviathan]

There aren't a lot of shops in Nanda Parbat, so I hope Oliver's not expecting Nyssa to get a big ticket item from their registry.  Also he's got to make sure that Nyssa and Sara sit together.

Somebody on the internet photoshopped some lovely Al-SaHIM and Al-SaHER towels for last season, that I'm betting Nyssa would be happy to regift. 

[Actionmage]

Isn't Oliver basically a slaver, though? [snip] but to that guy, Oliver holds a gun on them and is forcing them to provide slave labor. He also apparently killed Poppy. Oliver's kind of the bad guy.

 

While I understand the characters having opposing agendas, Oliver was sent in to infiltrate the actual bad guys. He can't do that  and be Our Oliver, as I know you know. That means he also can't even let the slaves know what's up with him because Oliver would not be able to guarantee that a) they'd keep his secret or b) they'd continue to act the way they need to continue to act until Oliver gets the intel he needs and/or can try to save as many folks as he can.

 

Your point about how Oliver seems to the slaves, and to Vlad specifically, is valid, yet why was it so easy to turn on Oliver when Conklin was the harsher and longer-term heartless guard? Why would you believe Conklin about anything other than how much pain he's going to inflict? Yes, it's obvious to anyone that Conklin is beyond frustrated at how Oliver is treated as a "golden boy" by Reiter. Still, it's Conklin; how can you believe it's not some elaborate set up to take two thorns out of his own side?

 

Sadly, after thinking on it, I think kismet is correct. If not fully correct, then on the right path.

 

 

There aren't a lot of shops in Nanda Parbat,

 

Nyssa will peruse the annual LoA/Nanda catalogue of candles and accessories!  She will probably find a lovely version of an anniversary candle for the happy couple. 

 

(Here's what I had in mind, just a bit more Nanda Parbat-y: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Numbered+Anniversary+Candles&view=detailv2&id=EA091DD1524356B02350255980A1FE5968EE5CEB&ccid=8%2BVsiXr6&simid=607996567644016526&thid=OIP.Mf3e56c897afa6e20be21085012536c1ao0&ajaxhist=0&first=1; you can zoom in to see the picture a bit better.)

Edited November 12, 2015 by Actionmage

[AyChihuahua]

Isn't Oliver basically a slaver, though? I did not pay attention to the FB's so maybe there was another reason that dude tried to kill Oliver. I mean, I know eventually Oliver will try to atone and become a leather clad superhero, but to that guy, Oliver holds a gun on them and is forcing them to provide slave labor. He also apparently killed Poppy. Oliver's kind of the bad guy.

Oh yeah, totally.  As far as they're concerned Oliver's the enemy.  But, I mean, what else was he going to do?  I guess he could have just incapacitated the guy, but I don't think there was a whole lot of time for him to think about that kind of thing.

[Angel12d]

LOL okay so according to MG on twitter, Spartan is actually Diggle's codename for real now. I'm digging that Felicity gave it to him.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Angel12d

[Orion]

I feel like we are missing the most important question that this episode left unanswered, how the hell has Ray Palmer been going to the bathroom for 6 months and did DD have his ghost build a tater tot sized potty? Also, given that Ray has been in a glass box with a camera inside is DD really a much bigger pervert than I previously thought?

 

First episode of Arrow I have watched since 3x17 beyond Youtube-ing a few scenes (to limit my exposure to a certain character) and  I was not disappointed. The whole episode just convinced me that I would watch OTA, Diggle/Oliver, Diggle/Felicity, Felicity/Donna, Olicity read a phone book for hours on end and enjoy every minute of it. See what happens when emotional beats depend on relationships I believe in show!

 

 When I watched Daredevil over the summer the one thing I wished that the Arrow writers would take away from that show was to occasionally have characters sit around and talk. Last night that happened. Felicity even got someone to talk to so we didn't have to guess her POV and gave her agency in her emotions.  Loved the character building that went on.

 

The emotional scenes that were shown with Felicity behaving the way she did held truth for me. As someone who has been married for a loooonnng time that was how real couples fight. It's not pretty, sometimes it is not nice and in a perfect world those arguments wouldn't happen but it was true. I think part of the reason those scenes made people uncomfortable was because it is uncomfortable to watch couples fight. When you know a person better than anyone else you have the ammunition to attack places you know will hurt, Felicity never did that. She got angry at Oliver because he wasn't listening to what she needed. She even told him when they got back to the loft, that the first thing he said to her when she told him Ray was in trouble was that she needed a shower and nap. Oliver was looking out for Felicity but that's not what she needed at that moment. Was he right? Yep. But Felicity wanted his support in finding Ray not his concern for her. It put them at cross purposes for entire episode and, as often happens, brought up other issues that up until that point were just laying beneath the surface, not big enough to have an argument, yet. If you have ever seen a couple have rip roaring fight about leaving a toilet seat open or leaving socks on floor it's because that's the final straw on a bubbling cauldron of something else. It's never actually about the socks and it wasn't about Ray. I enjoyed those scenes a lot, not because it was fun to watch but because it real.

 

Anyway, I just loved the whole episode and please show go back to this so I can enjoy more episodes with the characters I love and like to analyze and read about. Please.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Arrow Rescues People And Relationships
People are saved from certain doom. And then there's kissing. Kind of a lot of it.

[foreverevolving]

I'll just leave this here:

https://twitter.com/kasarrow/status/664666548884279296

 

And this:

[BkWurm1]

Poppy's name is Taiana.

Did they ever actually say her name in the episode?  If they did, I missed it both times I watched the FBs.

 

Perfect recap... but does RP have no other friends? Has he never watched movies where people shrink? Get to a safe spot and try to get someone to notice you. Freaking ride a cockroach to anywhere and get help. He was the owner of multi-billion tech conglomerate was there not one trusted scientist or microscope he could find?

 

Seriously epic plot fail on the writers part for not giving a valid reason it took over 6 months to find him. But then again, I don't think the writers really cared about it. I think he was used as a plot device in this episode to bring part of DD's evil plan to the audience. Which honestly, I'm fine with. But seriously what a waste of time from a RP perspective. Personally, I wish he just showed up on someone's cereal spoon one morning and then we worked stuff out from there.

 

Personally I think it would have been much more entertaining if tiny Ray had been secretly following them around, trying to help or getting in the way the whole time.  As it is, I'm very confused about the timeline and his survival.  Does being little mean surviving a fall from the top of a sky scraper?  He said he got blown out to a construction site, I guess he could have meant to one super high up but no, he said he'd been fighting cochroaches.  Why would there be any of those on a sterile multi story half built job site? 

 

How long did DD have him?  It sounded like since just a few weeks after getting shrinked.  I suppose he could have been in better digs until just recently.  Actually, my biggest surprise of the episode was that the team didn't go looking for Ray at DD headquarters where QL used to get summoned to. 

One thing I found weird is how chipper Ray was for someone who has been the size of a nugget for 6 months. And he was so clean shaven and not at all malnourished and okay, I'll concede the last point on it being a TV show but seriously, so many unanswered questions about how he ate and all of that. Not that I really care what happened to Ray but his happy attitude didn't really gel with him being held hostage in a glass box for ages. Very strange. I'll chalk this up to not handling the fallout of Sara and Ray very well because they're going to do that on another show.

Super pumped and chipper Ray made sense to me.  That would be me after any kind of trauma.  Super up and can't stop talking about my experiences.  The down side to his time alone will catch up to him later (when it is plot appropriate on LoT, lol)

 

The flashbacks are getting worse to me. Like a few others have said, I use that time to tweet or take a bathroom break and I have absolutely no idea what's happening in them. Last night there was a point where I looked up and Oliver was strangling a man in the ocean and I was so confuffled where the hell it had come from then remembered that it was the flashbacks and didn't care anymore. What a waste of time that could be better spent in the present

Like other's said, perhaps Vlad will turn out to mean something to Poppy.  In the Year One comic, Poppy's character was enslaved along with her husband who had been horribly killed by their captures.  So maybe this is Arrow's version of that? 

[Moya the Leviathan]

Also, there were now three women living in Laurel's one-bedroom apartment -- how did they fit?

 

 

*whispers* Laurel, Laurel, Laurel *whispers*

Liz: Pop.

Annie: Six.

June: Squish.

Hunyack: Unh-uh.

Velma Kelly: Cicero.

Mona: Lipschitz.

[DavidJSnyder]

LOL okay so according to MG on twitter, Spartan is actually Diggle's codename for real now. I'm digging that Felicity gave it to him.

Really improbable speculation based on comics-

Maybe that means that Diggle is the one in the grave but he's going to come back in a robot body.

[kismet]

I'm also kind of mad that we didn't get a scene of Sara finding out Diggle named his daughter after her. Which is kind of an important thing to do.

I feel like that might come in one of the future crossovers, perhaps during a dinner scene. I wonder if they filmed a scene for a future episode which is why we saw BTS photos in what appeared to be Dig's apt/Lil Sara's bedroom. Perhaps to get it on film in case CL is too busy to film a scene during LoT.

 

I believe the show will cover it in time. We might just have to be patient.  :(