S04.E17: Beacon Of Hope

[Scribbles]

I could see them doing this. Maybe like she's trying to convince herself of one thing but really feels another? I thought Donna's pistachio line was telling but also the scene where she places the picture of her and Oliver face down so she doesn't have to look at it. 

 

Yup! Think also to last episode and her intensity in making moving a precision brain challenge.  If that is not hiding from your own feelings in you cozy comfy place of ultimate control, I don't know what is.  It is the type thing that has to be shown, not spoken and is an example of the show doing it well.

[Guest]

Yup.  My beef for a long time now is that she took Diggle's role vis a vis Oliver and tainted it with all the burdens of their past.  I liked that Diggle made Oliver see himself for season 1 and 2.  Then Laurel came on the team and he was pushed out of that place with Oliver a lot.  The thing is that all their heavy history is a come down and is like an anchor to Oliver's darkness and past, heavy.  Diggle sees Oliver in the now.

 

Agree. I might be in a minority but I found the O/L scenes a little awkward, simply because of their history. I totally understand why they did it if this is how they build to the next episode but it just felt too much? Maybe one scene would have been enough. I don't know. I did like how she told him explicitly why Felicity broke up with him though. Felicity has support from someone on the team?! Is this real life?! LOL.

 

I also didn't like how Diggle barely said anything. He was just there really.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Guest

[Lantern7]

I hope the cast had fun with this episode, because it felt like a dud. Sure, Curtis got a key to The Bunker, Dark got to quip, and we had an earthshaking revelation that Andy might turn on our heroes. But an episode involving Brie? No thanks.

 

I'm amazed Curtis only had the fever when he got home. I would've expected Oliver and Quentin to give him concussions from smacking him upside the head. Curtis is a long way from being a hero, and I'm okay with that.

 

Speaking of canon . . . was Dark's new friend Murmur? He was part of the wave of new "Rogues" that Geoff Johns set Wally West with back in the day The guy isn't as creepy as Murmur, but I expect that to change.

 

Wow, Malcolm is such a bitch, isn't he? Also, when will the flashbacks end? So boring. So uninteresting.

[Guest]

I am sure the fern gets him through many lonely nights.

 

We don't talk about the fern. The fern is dead to me.

 

No really. I hate the fern. LOL.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Guest

[apinknightmare]

Speaking of canon . . . was Dark's new friend Murmur? He was part of the wave of new "Rogues" that Geoff Johns set Wally West with back in the day The guy isn't as creepy as Murmur, but I expect that to change.

 

Yes - Murmur was a VotW last year.

[EmeraldArcher]

Laurel was the bee's knees in this episode. Okay, not exactly that but she didn't really bug me in any of her scenes. Or maybe that's just 'cause I was watching kinda buzzed?

B+  ;-)

[Orion]

This episode just had a really, really weird vibe. I agree that it was a Flash episode staring Arrow characters. Bad news for me is that I hate the Flash.  The whole thing was way over the top for me. All the pop culture stuff with everyone throwing out lines and movies felt out of place.

 

The Laurel stuff was so awkward I had to mute it at points. Look I know the show wants to give her an important role on the team but having her bring up, yet again, their failed relationship was so uncomfortable.

 

Loved the Felicity and Thea stuff. Finally.

 

I liked how this episode showed instead of told how hard the breakup on Oliver.  But I was really hoping that Mama Smoak would give Felicity a POV about it.

 

Really unhappy with how Diggle was left in the background yet again.

 

Curtis is a big pass for me. Love Echo. But his character is better in small doses and when he isn't Mr. Perfect.

 

This whole episode was just a big miss for me.

[calliope1975]

How dare you? The fern is dead. Lance murdered it last year. 

 

But remember - Oliver got her Fern 2.0 for her desk! The Fern lives!

[ottoDbusdriver]

We're we supposed to drink everytime someone 'Beacon of Hope' ? I know it was the episode title and all, but jeez did it pop up often.

[JenMD]

Speaking of glasses, I loved when Donna patted Felicity's after bee lady called her "Glasses."

Donna's face in that scene was priceless!  And I also loved the part where Felicity was playing with Donna's hair.  Charlotte and Emily have such a great rapport.

 

I definitely enjoyed the humor (I'm a pun girl, so I didn't mind all the bee jokes).  But I also didn't mind Oliver taking Curtis to task for celebrating prematurely.  I mean, of course, Oliver could have dialed it down a notch or 10, but he was right, there seemed to be a distinct lack of urgency going on right about then.

 

It doesn't sound like Curtis is interested in joining Team Arrow, so I was surprised at that turn of events.  And I definitely agree that Felicity's reason for not going back seem, at the surface, to make not a lick of sense from what we've seen so far.  I do like the idea that she might be trying to convince herself and she'll eventually come around to acknowledging how much it really does mean to her.

 

One final note, could the makeup department please lose every scrap of that terrible light peach lipstick they used on Felicity?  It's as bad, if not the same, as the terrible color she sported for half of 3.20.

[jay741982]

Paul is a character. Katie Cassidy is an actor. Did you mean Chenier Hundal, the actor who plays Paul, or Paul Blackthorne who plays Quentin? Because I haven't really seen enough of the former to judge his acting.

I meant Paul The Actor not the Character lol

[Guest]

Actually, I know why Felicity's reasoning for leaving and staying away from the team makes no sense. Because it's not really done for any in-character reason. It's just so they could remove her and have a reason to put Curtis in her place and kick-start his journey.

 

STOP USING/REMOVING FELICITY SMOAK FOR OTHER HEROES JOURNEYS 2K16.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Guest

[jay741982]

The writers are fucking dumb if they think that's a good idea. Curtis is no Felicity. With the popularity of OTA i can't see them being stupid enough to not have Felicity return to TA. Plus if Laurel dies next week there's an extra spot open.

[hogwash]

Since apparently Palmer Tech is where Felicity goes when she and Oliver are on the outs, I'm happy they've actually set up a storyline there for her. For real this time not the BS that they tried to pass off as storyline in S03. It also helps that Ray Palmer isn't there anymore (ignores LOT spoilers). 

 

All the title dropping in this episode reminded me of that S02 episode where characters (past and present) kept saying "love is the strongest emotion" (whatever that means). 

[Guest]

Anyone else play spot the stunt double with DD? Terrible. They seriously have a problem with this.

 

Also, I know we mentioned the terrible acting from the board members with the "I'M DIALING 911, I CAN'T GET A SIGNAL!' but the dudes in prison were just as bad. No, they were awful. Where do they find these people? LOL.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Guest

[EmeraldArcher]

I really liked this episode.  It was a light palate cleanser after last week's heavy dish and next week's dessert.

 

I only saw the scene once so far (and under the glare of my husband's weekly Wednesday night stink-eye), but I thought that Felicity was rejecting the thrill of the hero life that Thea said she was missing out on because Felicity said she was never in it for that reason.  And she's right; her motivation for temporarily joining the Oliver/Diggle duo was to help find Walter.  After that, it was because she saw the opportunity of "doing some real good in this city." She has never been the adrenaline junky that the others have been, even though tonight really seemed to be about ActionHero!Felicity in the field. 

 

To be clear, I think Thea is also motivated by helping people and fighting crime, but like Oliver--who also wanted to be a hero in the light as a mayoral candidate--Felicity is finding a way to help outside of being Overwatch. Tonight's 4-way sparring match (which was AWESOME!) among the four masks was a great juxtaposition between how they spend their down time* (training!) when not saving the city and how Felicity spend her time (helping people!) when she's not saving the city. 

 

*Nobody seems to hold a job but Laurel, and she only goes to work once a year. And, I acknowledge that training is critical to what they do.

 

The team's motivations for joining Team Arrow:

Oliver: To Save the City

Diggle: To Save Oliver and take out the bad guys, one of whom killed his brother

Felicity: To Save Walter and then to do some real good

Roy: To make his life count and to emulate his hero, the Arrow

Laurel: To honor her sister/feed her addiction/work out some anger/???

Thea: Still unclear, but she's clearly an adrenaline junky

 

 

[wonderwall]

I just wanted to say, I think this week's episode of Felicity and Friends was FANTASTIC. :D

[Chaser]

For some reason I want to review this episode character by character.

 

Curtis. 3x17 was Ray's big episode right? Note to self, keep an eye on 5x17 next season. I like Echo and I think that's why I can like Curtis. I thought he had some great moments, but I do think they went a little over the top with him. My favorite moments were with Lance. I like Curtis/Paul. Please don't kill Paul. I was surprised that Curtis decided not to join TA, but I have a feeling that is a set up for some stuff happening.

 

Laurel. I continue to hate that they use their history to qualify her to give relationship advice. I won't type up all the reasons here because I already did that for 4x11. Other than that, I can't complain about Laurel here. She was making sense. KC also came across well too. Softer. Settled. I would have enjoyed this character if this is how they wrote her from Day 1. Shame.

 

Thea. Did she ever acknowledge Felicity's personal reasons for leaving the Team? I can't remember. All I remember is Team Arrow is so Cool. Beacon of Hope. I'm still enjoying Thea this season and I have forgiven her for being MG sock puppet so I did enjoy the majority of the Thea and Felicity scenes. Especially the last one. The scene I didn't enjoy leads me to:

 

Felicity. I'm going to echo every one who said that her reasoning doesn't make sense given history. I needed her POV so that really disappointed me. I want a followup about her lying to herself but I honestly think that was the last of any 'reasoning.' Blah. Other than that, I loved Felicity. Her loved the combo of her and Thea being in the 'know' and Donna just loose in the wind. It was a lot of fun. Petting, hair-muffling, pistachios, high heels and sign shields. Fun times. 

 

Oliver. Poor sexually frustrated Oliver…..I honestly don't have much to say about Oliver. I liked him being grumpy to new people. Do his eyes wander with everyone or just KC? I may just notice it more him with KC. It annoyed me. Olicity was small but meaningful. It made me happy.

 

Diggle. Would love to talk about Diggle but I really can't because I don't think he did much. It made me sad.

 

VOTW: Campy, funny and pun-y. In a way, much in the same way Cupid was last week but I believe it was approached much better this week. I honestly think you need to bring the humor with villains like these. It was a fun filler episode.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Chaser

[wonderwall]

LOL SA almost hit EBR with the quiver... BE CAREFUL SA, SHE'S PRECIOUS CARGO. 

 

[quarks]

Decent filler episode, even if I was headbanging at some of the dialogue.

 

Good things:

 

1. Damien Darhk. Arrow, I have come to the conclusion that the only character I absolutely don't want in the grave is Damien Darhk. And before everyone protests that Oliver and Felicity would not exactly have that sort of reaction to Damien's death, well, if they'd been watching him this episode, THEY TOTALLY WOULD.

 

2. Damien, explaining what usually happens to him before someone snaps on handcuffs, and Malcolm, a few seconds later, discussing performance issues. Well played, Arrow, well played.

 

3. The sparring scene at the beginning of the episode. Now this is what Arrow is about, show! More of this, please.

 

4. The film references were hilarious.

 

5. Curtis is a member of Team Arrow, yay! He and Quentin fleeing from the bee was hilarious.

 

6. And speaking of Quentin, his, yes, this is what my life is now. You could just hear Paul Blackthorne thinking: It'll be a gritty, realistic superhero show, they said. You'll be able to focus on great dramatic scenes, they said.

 

7. Awwwww, Felicity picked up a lamp and broke it to save Oliver. Awwww, Oliver says that Felicity never has to thank him. Awww.

 

8. And awwwww, Oliver's all mean now that Felicity isn't around and all worried that he won't be able to save her.  

 

9. Donna, finally realizing what we've all known for some time: these characters get assaulted every week and should just not be wearing heels. I am kinda curious about if she managed to get everyone out of the building or if someone else took over.

 

10. Thea and Felicity had more than one actual conversation. Wow!

 

 

Questionable things:

 

1. You can say it all you want, Arrow, but I am just not buying that Oliver Queen ever read a Harry Potter book. I'll fanwank that he and Felicity listened to one of the audio books if I must, but otherwise, no.

 

2. Ok, this secret elevator was already questionable, but it only goes from the executive floor to a secret basement?  Especially given that the board meeting and Felicity's office are the same set, even if the show wants us to believe they're on different floors.  

 

3. I know Curtis is a) a good guy and b) supersmart and c) in possession of a Team Arrow phone, but seriously, should the Arrow Cave and Team Flash really be that easy to find and walk into?  Do Team Arrow and Team Flash not understand the value of locks?

 

4. What sort of IV halts a cold?

 

5. Those robot bees were presumably made of some sort of high tech metal or synthetic, right? So how exactly were they reproducing themselves in Oliver's body which presumably doesn't have any of that high tech metal or synthetic? Is Oliver secretly a robot bee? THIS EXPLAINS SO MUCH.

 

6. You can tell me I have to call it "bunker" all you want, Oliver, but I'm sticking with Arrow Cave.

 

7. I'm not really buying Felicity's reasoning for not returning to Team Arrow, largely because - as Flash is showing us - she could easily do both: develop tech at Palmer Tech to help people while working with Team Arrow at night. Especially because, as she reiterated, her main reason for joining Team Arrow in the first place was to make a difference. There's other tech companies in the Arrowverse - Curtis was all excited about the Star Labs computers and Brie Larson can make those bees. Speaking of which -

 

8. If Brie can make ROBOT BEES that are able to continually adapt to their environment and turn into a robot bee guy, why on earth doesn't she have the tech ability to build her own implant?  Or, barring that, surely the technology behind continually adapting robot bees could earn her enough money to buy the implant, even if it's a billion dollar thing. I realize she's supposed to be crazy, but even with that this made no sense. 

 

9. So, is Alex coming to work for Palmer Tech or not? Don't leave us with more dangling plot threads like this, Arrow! The last time you did we got Samantha and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED THERE.

[wonderwall]

Let's bask in the glory of Diggle's arms this amazingly choreographed action sequence:
 

 

Edited March 31, 2016 by wonderwall

[Guest]

I actually liked the Andy Diggle reveal at the end because I wasn't sure what they were doing there. It could have gone either way. It's also possible he's on the good side and is double crossing DD and HIVE. Who knows?

 

But mainly I'm glad they're bringing Diggle back into focus with the HIVE storyline which is all I wanted.

[EmeraldArcher]

For some reason I want to review this episode character by character.

 

Oliver. Poor sexually frustrated Oliver…..I honestly don't have much to say about Oliver. I liked him being grumpy to new people. Do his eyes wander with everyone or just KC? I may just notice it more him with KC. It annoyed me. Olicity was small but meaningful. It made me happy.

So glad you brought this up! I noticed that too and was so glad to see it because his eyes wandered for three seasons!! Three!!  And then, happy Oliver looked people in the eyes.  Happy Oliver didn't avoid eye contact and was present and engaged (not like the kind that Felicity broke--the other kind).  It was such a subtle acting choice, and I firmly believe it was deliberate, to show how closed off Oliver was.  And now that he feels isolated again post-breakup, he's doing it again.

 

I forgot to mention my very FAVORITE PART of this episode--Oliver's stubble is stubble again and no longer a too-thick, too-scraggly beard-ling!  Yay!  He also looks like his cheekbones are finally losing the puffiness they've had for a while now.  He looks younger and leaner--my favorite version of Oliver!  I would have forgiven him instantaneously for his stupid lies and BMD if he'd looked as good then as he did tonight!  #shallow #blessed

[bmoore4026]

Jesus God, the bee puns were driving me up the wall!  Also, the "bee-yotch" put downs were asinine.

 

And who's this black guy with glasses?  I know he's been on before, but I can't remember his name?

 

Now what did Queen Brie need Felicity's chip for?  Was she dying?  They better not kill her off, bee puns be damned, because she is very enjoyable.  I refuse to call her Bug Eyed Bandit when Queen Bee is far, far better.

 

And Diggle's bro is going to screw shit up for everybody.  Classic little bro hijinks, and I should know considering I'm the youngest of three siblings.

Edited March 31, 2016 by bmoore4026

[quarks]

Bad things:

 

1. Sets. Arrow, you're making me cry here. Ok, kudos for turning the flashbacks into a mini-bottle show using one of the LoA sets, minus several points for trying to disguise that set with a grey filter that was hurting my eyes, and minus several more points for suggesting that Curtis and Paul have been shacking up with Laurel.

 

And in what was otherwise a bottle episode, too.

 

2. Flashbacks. Yikes, the flashbacks. Did we really just spend a couple of episodes running round and round and round in tunnels, only to go right back to the IDENTICAL NARRATIVE PLACE we were just a couple of weeks ago - Oliver and Poppy trying to save her friends from the jail, and Reiter trying to become a god?  Arrow, we've gone from boring to completely pointless, and glowy eyes are not helping.

 

3. Speaking of the flashbacks, that god thingy really didn't give Reiter a lot of power given all the effort he's gone through to get it - infiltrating the U.S. Army, finding an evil island, kidnapping people and turning them into drug slaves. If I did all that I'd at least want the power the fly. I feel the guy has been cheated.

 

4. Those anvils for Paul. Arrow, some of us just went through this with The 100 fandom and really, truly, don't need a repeat. I realize this has probably already filmed, but since it hasn't aired yet, if you are doing this, please, please, take the time to edit and do the necessary pickup shots. Talk to The 100 showrunners and writers right now if you need more incentive.

 

(I realize Paul is a more minor character, and Arrow hasn't exactly been presenting itself as a great example of queer representation, but still.)

 

5. Ok, if the chip in Felicity's spine is really all that expensive, then how exactly did Curtis manage to make it in the first place without generating financial alarm bells all over the place?

 

6. Can the annoying PT board member dude just go away already? Dude, you're already about to make millions on the battery thing, and now you want to profit on disabled people? You suck. We already have fun villains on this show, plus Reiter. We don't need you.

 

7. I love Donna, but I can't help thinking that even she wouldn't try to do relationship counseling in the middle of a hostage situation, even if she is getting used to them.

 

8. One of your teammates has access to a supersonic sound device that she uses to amplify her scream. Do you a) invest in some nice earplugs and other sound muffling devices to ensure that you won't get hearing damage from it, and b) assume that putting your hands over your ears will be enough? If b, congrats! You're on Team Arrow! 

 

Come on, guys! She's had the device for about a year now. You should be prepared for this.

 

And now, Laurel:

 

An unusually decent episode for her, featuring her as a) the atypical voice of reason, b) sympathetic, c) supportive and d) useful. She was kind enough to explain to Curtis that they'd given him an IV without his permission! She was even tactful, or trying to be, for what I think may have been her first such moment in the entire run of the show.  And she got in a pretty good line about the puppies and the kittens.

 

And finally, after far too many episodes featuring Oliver saving Laurel, Laurel finally got to save him.

 

And yet, just as it's not a season of Arrow without Oliver lying shirtless and dying on a table, it's apparently not an episode of Arrow without Laurel failing in some way or another. Oh, Laurel.

 

Number of times Laurel failed as an attorney: 1) despite being aware that Damien is a member of a large criminal organization that presumably has representatives in Iron Heights, not arranging for protective custody (something that she's brought up on the show previously, 2) not arranging to restrict Damien's access to visitors. Impressive, given that she wasn't even acting as an attorney this episode.

 

Number of times Laurel failed as a vigilante:  Apart from not being able to take down robot bees without help from Curtis and Felicity - also true of Oliver, Diggle and Thea this episode - nothing. In fact, for once, Laurel was arguably one of the most effective members of the team - not just in a co-leadership/support role, where she encouraged Curtis and calmed down Oliver and got Oliver to focus, but also in a combat role against the bees. Being able to cheer her on was a nice change.

 

Number of times Laurel failed as a human being, two: 1) a slight bit of tactlessness in bringing up Palmer Tech - I realize they had to introduce the audience to the idea that Team Arrow still felt uncomfortable bringing Felicity up to Oliver and that Oliver was trying to act as if he was ok with things even though he totally wasn't, and of course to throw in a Harry Potter joke the same week that Flash had a dementor, but, still, that was the sort of conversation where you say, "I might have an idea," and then talk to Thea later in PRIVATE, Laurel, 2) I get wanting to give Oliver some physical comfort, Laurel, really I do, especially since Amell is still rocking the kicked puppy look, BUT, caressing the cheek of your ex boyfriend just weeks after his girlfriend dumped him because he lied to her about the kid he fathered while cheating on you - look, it's just not good, ok?

 

On the other hand, this was a considerable improvement over her usual list of failures, so, progress!

[BkWurm1]

But, Felicity's reasoning for staying away from the team made zero sense to me.  I'm just going to fanwank that she's lying to herself about it to make it all hurt less.

 

 

Also since she feels she CAN'T be on the team because of Oliver, she's at the point where you start coming up with all the positive (if weak ) reason why the choice you've made is the right one.  I do think that she has a right to express a weariness for the constant fear and worry.  Right now she's not exactly in a happy place.  All the bad stuff is magnified.  I wish we could get her PoV and I have hope for that but it might be last year all over again where they are saving her PoV for a big reveal moment to change things.  Or maybe it will come once Felicity and Curtis have time for a chit chat, lol. 

One final note, could the makeup department please lose every scrap of that terrible light peach lipstick they used on Felicity?  It's as bad, if not the same, as the terrible color she sported for half of 3.20.

 

I think in this case the muted color of her lipstick was on purpose as was her near all black wardrobe.  All the color has left her life. 

[Primal Slayer]

Now what did Queen Brie need Felicity's chip for?  Was she dying?  They better not kill her off, bee puns be damned, because she is very enjoyable.  I refuse to call her Bug Eyed Bandit when Queen Bee is far, far better.

 

 

 

She has a tumor on her spine and if they remove it, it will leave her paralyzed. 

[Chaser]

Felicity used the T-Spheres. I know someone on here called it.

[apinknightmare]

Oliver. Poor sexually frustrated Oliver…..I honestly don't have much to say about Oliver. I liked him being grumpy to new people. Do his eyes wander with everyone or just KC? I may just notice it more him with KC. 

 

I think the eye contact thing is one of Stephen's biggest terrible acting quirks. He does it ALL THE TIME. Even during heartfelt moments he's looking somewhere else half the time.

[RoyRogersMcFreely]

Well the episode itself didn't bring the funny for me, but it did point me in the right direction by making me remember this: 

[Chaser]

I think the eye contact thing is one of Stephen's biggest terrible acting quirks. He does it ALL THE TIME. Even during heartfelt moments he's looking somewhere else half the time.

I used to work at a preschool and when Stephen was doing that I was like "1 2 3 All Eyes On Me"

[BkWurm1]

 Is Oliver secretly a robot bee? THIS EXPLAINS SO MUCH.

 

Literally laughed out loud. 

 

 

 

I didn't like it, at all really, but it didn't make me angry. I felt like it was trying too hard or something.

 

Pretty worried about Paul, though.

 

The episode had an odd effect on me too.  There were lots of good things but overall I left it depressed at where everything stood.  It's not forever but I do feel like it's going to be longer than I want to tolerate. 

 

 

I really hope Paul doesn't bite the bullet, there has been enough gay people dying on the cw for my liking this season.

If he dies the show runners should probably be given a pass in this case.  This is the trade off for Curtis being gay  since

Mr.Terrific's spouse dying is part of his origin story in the comics.

 Though wouldn't it be nice if they could be more creative for once? 

 

BUT, caressing the cheek of your ex boyfriend just weeks after his girlfriend dumped him because he lied to her about the kid he fathered while cheating on you - look, it's just not good, ok?

 

If I had any doubts before, that cheek caress took care of them.  Next week the internet is going to be an interesting place. 

Edited March 31, 2016 by BkWurm1

[ComicFan777]

5. Ok, if the chip in Felicity's spine is really all that expensive, then how exactly did Curtis manage to make it in the first place without generating financial alarm bells all over the place?

 

To mass produce the chip, the cost isn't necessarily the actual materials to make the item.  The cost of mass producing the chip can include: researching the safety and quality control assurances for medical devices, testing and trials of human subjects to get the device approved for the public, appropriate licenses from the government, studies involved in researching side effects, and if these tests make test patient sick, then the company is also responsible for taking care of their medical needs.  Stuff like that can take years of research can be pretty expensive and the cost would then be passed along to the public.

 

A couple of ways that Felicity would be able to lessen the cost to mass producing the device if she can qualify for government grants or get multiple companies to help out in the research.  I'm sure there are other ways...

 

The reason why Curtis can make Felicity a prototype is because she is the test subject with no additional studies put into it before she had it implanted - so the only cost was the materials for the chip itself which is probably relatively cheap in comparison to the costs of mass produced one.

Edited March 31, 2016 by ComicFan777

[foreverevolving]

I thought Donna was great in this episode. I really like Donna/Felicity's relationship. And I LOL'd when she grabbed the wet floor sign as protection. Haha.

 

The Thea/Felicity scenes were good too. Wish we'd seen more of them before now. The last one was the nicest because it didn't feel like the first time they'd sat and hung out together and just talked. Nice.

I enjoyed the last one, I think all of them even passed the bechdel test.

 

Let's bask in the glow of Diggle's arms this amazingly choreographed action sequence:

 

 

 

This what happens when you have actors who can move gracefully. I look forward to the stunts at the end of the season and next year to return to their awesomeness

now that buckles will be gone.

 

Also since she feels she CAN'T be on the team because of Oliver, she's at the point where you start coming up with all the positive (if weak ) reason why the choice you've made is the right one.  I do think that she has a right to express a weariness for the constant fear and worry.  Right now she's not exactly in a happy place.  All the bad stuff is magnified.  I wish we could get her PoV and I have hope for that but it might be last year all over again where they are saving her PoV for a big reveal moment to change things.  Or maybe it will come once Felicity and Curtis have time for a chit chat, lol. 

I think in this case the muted color of her lipstick was on purpose as was her near all black wardrobe.  All the color has left her life. 

 

So pretty much Felicity going through the five stages of grief in regards to her decision to quit the team..?

Edited March 31, 2016 by MuuMuuChainsmoker

[wonderwall]

Y'know... While Iw as watching the episode I didn't think the Cry looked that silly... But then I saw a gif and I was proven wrong. It looks ridiculous. 

 

[BkWurm1]

The reason why Curtis can make Felicity a prototype is because she is the test subject with no additional studies put into it before she had it implanted - so the only cost was the materials for the chip itself which is probably relatively cheap in comparison to the costs of mass produced one.

 

Maybe I heard wrong but didn't they say the one Felicity had cost $750,000 but they'd got the price down to a quarter of a million but that board wanted to add a couple zeros to the price tag? 

 

Curtis being the golden boy that saved the company likely had access to anything the company had access.  It feels exaggerated but I'm willing to just shrug it off at this point. 

[apinknightmare]

Y'know... While Iw as watching the episode I didn't think the Cry looked that silly... But then I saw a gif and I was proven wrong. It looks ridiculous.

She looks like she's in the middle of a drunk karaoke rendition of "I Will Always Love You."

[BkWurm1]

Y'know... While Iw as watching the episode I didn't think the Cry looked that silly... But then I saw a gif and I was proven wrong. It looks ridiculous. 

 

My complaint was couldn't they have moved him to a part of the lair where they weren't risking all their electronics?

[JenMD]

I think in this case the muted color of her lipstick was on purpose as was her near all black wardrobe.  All the color has left her life.

I can go with that, I did notice the somber wardrobe (love the blue shoes, though).  But I just wish they could have found a more flattering pale color, it's just so not a good shade on her.

[EmeraldArcher]

Uh, guys? Did anybody else think Quentin looked kinda sexy in that black sweater?  

[BkWurm1]

Uh, guys? Did anybody else think Quentin looked kinda sexy in that black sweater?  

Just came off a weekend watching clips of PB speak in his real accent.  I have residual drool to spare. 

[statsgirl]

 

 

8. One of your teammates has access to a supersonic sound device that she uses to amplify her scream. Do you a) invest in some nice earplugs and other sound muffling devices to ensure that you won't get hearing damage from it, and b) assume that putting your hands over your ears will be enough? If b, congrats! You're on Team Arrow! 

 

Come on, guys! She's had the device for about a year now. You should be prepared for this.

I may be remember wrongly but I think I saw Curtis giving them ear plugs on a headset thingy, everytone except Oliver.  Although that doesn't help with the delicate equipment though.  Good thing Felicity isn't going to be going down there any time soon.

[bettername2come]

Oliver read Harry Potter. A few of the Harry Potter books. I want to call this ridiculous - but then he does have an affinity for lightning-themed,red-and-gold-wearing  heroes whose mothers were killed in front of them because the villain knew about future events. 

[wonderwall]

Oh poor Quarks... This is what BFS tweeted:

 

 

 

Brian Ford Sullivan
‏@briforsul
And the answer to our mystery question: believe it or not, this is the first episode of #Arrow shot entirely on our existing stages

[apinknightmare]

I thought Oliver had earplugs in AND covered his ears?

[InsertWordHere]

This is a bit out there, but couldn't Bee Lady use her bee robots to do essentially the same thing as Felicity's implant? Obviously, it's impossible in the real world, but in this story, her bees could band together and form an impenetrable bee soldier. Seems like a genius like her could get the drones to perform a similar function.

 

I may be remember wrongly but I think I saw Curtis giving them ear plugs on a headset thingy, everytone except Oliver.  Although that doesn't help with the delicate equipment though.  Good thing Felicity isn't going to be going down there any time soon.

Everyone, including Oliver, had earplugs.

[looptab]

The challenging thing for the writers, was it writing Laurel decently? She almost looked like a human being. But..

Agree. I might be in a minority but I found the O/L scenes a little awkward, simply because of their history. I totally understand why they did it if this is how they build to the next episode but it just felt too much? Maybe one scene would have been enough.

^^This. If they wanted to project an awkward vibe, they managed it. I'm not sure it was intentional, though. Look, I get what they were doing, but, hell, I cringed all the same. Stop having Laurel give relationship advice!!  Maybe because we've had so little scenes between the two of them, but it really felt too much. Also, nice shipbaiting, show!

 

The episode was fine. I appreciated the comedy - especially the visual comedy of it: Donna shielding herself, patting Felicity's glasses; Felicity trying to shut up Donna with her hair. And every time they ran around, I heard the Benny Hill Show music.

-Oliver, stop being so mean! 

-"Your friend didn't forget you" - "Never will" hahahah

-Damien Darhk was great.

-I have to watch again because the reasoning for Felicity not coming back made as much sense as the bees.

- Thea and Felicity <3

Edited March 31, 2016 by looptab

[ComicFan777]

Maybe I heard wrong but didn't they say the one Felicity had cost $750,000 but they'd got the price down to a quarter of a million but that board wanted to add a couple zeros to the price tag? 

 

Curtis being the golden boy that saved the company likely had access to anything the company had access.  It feels exaggerated but I'm willing to just shrug it off at this point. 

 

I think the ticket price for Felicity's chip will depend on what they put in hers - which may differ than the mass produced one and gets complicated depending on the factors put into it.  Thinking about it some more, if Curtis did a rush job, the initial prototype could have very expensive materials that get the job done because he didn't have time to do further research on alternative cheaper materials that are as effective.  Did he have to build a new machine to apply the coating on the chip?  Did the cost of her chip include all the failed ones?  I have no idea what they put in it - say with Ray's supersuit they used a dwarf star part which I have no idea what the going rate for that would be but it seems rare.  I don't think I was paying enough attention to know if he mentioned materials and process used for the bio-conduction.  Curtis has access to company materials, so it should cut down costs there.  For mass production, they will need to look into economizing it if possible in the area of materials and processing.  Depending on the science of the chip, they may substitute cheaper materials than the initial prototype, but that may not always be possible. 

 

Edited March 31, 2016 by ComicFan777

[looptab]

My complaint was couldn't they have moved him to a part of the lair where they weren't risking all their electronics?

The light bulbs break, the computer screens don't...o-kay.

[Guest]

^^This. If they wanted to project an awkward vibe, they managed it. I'm not sure it was intentional, though. Look, I get what they were doing, but, hell, I cringed all the same. Stop having Laurel give relationship advice!!  Maybe because we've had so little scenes between the two of them, but it really felt too much. Also, nice shipbaiting, show!

 

Agreed. It was awkward to me because it rested on the fact that Laurel supposedly knows Oliver and can give him advice simply because they used to date and uh, no? All this show has done, over and over, is prove how little Laurel really knew Oliver, especially when she was dating him, so the whole thing fell flat, IMO. And it's awkward because I feel like KC tries to act like there's something there and SA doesn't so it doesn't gel with what they're trying to sell.

 

But, you know, if fans want to buy into that ship baiting when Oliver literally just said Felicity was his always and he'd been content for the first time in 8 years, then uh...go for it, I guess? LOL.