S04.E18: Eleven-Fifty-Nine

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Oliver and Diggle learn that Merlyn is going to try to break Darhk out of prison. Meanwhile, Laurel gets a surprising offer and Felicity has a heart-to-heart talk with Curtis.

 

Promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq-rbz75UKs

[Soulfire]

This episode felt like one long boring checklist. Laurel photo mention, fight sequence, “I’m glad you’re Black Canary!”, Oliver saying he should’ve taken Laurel’s advice, “One last time”, “I need you to let her go”, “Not exactly how I wanted my last night to go”, “I hope you find your way back to her”, "Ollie I know I’m not the love of your life...”

 

Laurel’s DA vs. BC struggle would’ve been more impactful if we’d spent more than, you know, like 5 minutes on it this season.

 

Liked the scenes between Damien and Malcolm. Good actors together.

 

Something something something involving grottos and guns and bad accents happened in the flashbacks.

 

Poppy: “If I don't make it off this island you'll find my parents in Russia and tell them something something.” RUSSIA SEASON 5 HERE WE GO.

 

The last scene between Blackthorne and Amell was really well acted.

 

Laurel died by Oliver’s arrow. Literally.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Soulfire

[Guest]

Well, I didn't cry. Better put those tissues away.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Guest

[wonderwall]

Such an underwhelming episode... Now I'm just...

 

[janeta]

Stellar performances from everyone at the end, but i'm not sad she's gone.

[dtissagirl]

That was so insanely boring. But also I've never been this happy to watch a fictional problem being fixed finally AFTER EIGHTY SEVEN EPISODES omg. Better late than never.

[curlygirl]

I was just texting my boyfriend earlier in the episode that I had a feeling that they were going to kill Laurel off because they were making her way too competent and likeable. I had no idea that it was going to be in this episode. 

[Morrigan2575]

I laughed, good lord that was hysterical.

[Primal Slayer]

 

Can not wait to quit this show after next week. She didn't even die a hero and she had to spend her last moments on Earth encouraging Oliver to get back with Felicity. 

[jenrising]

Show, come on. I'm trying to care and then the moron is carrying around a picture of herself. I just can't.

But... Oliver and Lance in the hallway? Amazing.

[BkWurm1]

I teared up when Felicity let out a sob but before and even after that, I had nothing. That was a long slog to the end. 

 

Ok, so I guess Laurel's death is what will inspire Oliver to change for Felicity.  That's nearly as bad as last season when I heard again and again that Felicity would bring back Oliver's humanity, teach him to be faithful and then hand him over to Laurel. 

[nksarmi]

Yeah, they almost had me - I mean they were sooooo close.

 

But then, Laurel was carrying the picture that Oliver had on the island for so long and she told this man that knocked up her friend, cheated on her constantly, and shagged her sister that he was the love of her life.  I mean, it's great that she's happy he has Felicity and all that, but Laurel should have loved Tommy way more than Oliver.  I'm sick now.

 

Good riddance.

 

I'm mildly curious what she asked him to promise her.

 

And SA and Paul in the hallway?  That was good acting and might have made me cry if Laurel hadn't just called Oliver to love of her life. 

Edited April 7, 2016 by nksarmi

[Sakura12]

Laurel definitely got the you're going to die episode. That stupid picture was mentioned more time in this episode than it has in 3 years. Why is Laurel carrying around a picture of herself? Shouldn't she have the Oliver half? Or I guess self involved until the end. 

 

Laurel died as she lived, pretending she was someone else. 

[calliope1975]

Yeah, I do feel bad for Laurel's fans. I was never one, but I still think that was a shitty death. Especially with the fakeout there at the end. That's what you do to a character you like? I suppose I should have known after Sara's crap death. Sara's death was a shock that just pissed me off, but I felt Moira and Tommy's death. Not so much here. 

 

Oh well. So what is next?

[Guest]

I was bored for most of that. I don't know what critics/reviewers were smoking but that was not the best episode of the season. WTF.

[NumberCruncher]

Man, the writers really do seem to hate Laurel. I didn't truly believe that until seeing all this...just...wow.

Edited April 7, 2016 by NumberCruncher

[RoyRogersMcFreely]

Poor Laurel fans. Like they couldn't just kill her, they gave her fans hope she'd be okay then, with her dying breathe she ships Olicity. Just...yikes. But yay picture call-back, I guess? 

 

Such a lame show.

[WaitandHope]

Do they want people to hate this show? [Edited by mod: Fan talk.] . I'm a little disbelieving that they went through years of trying to make her the Black Canary only to send her out as a pathetic Oliver reject.

They didn't make me sad for her character. They made me sad for feminism.

Edited April 7, 2016 by MuuMuuChainsmoker

[kismet]

I must admit I did get a little emotional at the end. SA & PB really sold that heartbreak. Also TA crying was pretty emotional. That had to be the worst written death on Arrow to date. I feel bad for LL/BC fans, that was a crappy way to be killed. And then that speech was such a disappointment and she kept a pic of herself... so bizarre a writing choice. Although I think I did call that we would see the pic before she died. At least KC sold the emotion of the speech, even if the words weakened her entire character, but par for how they have written the character for years now.

 

Honestly, it was a boring episode. At least DD & MM were entertaining. And Poppy's purpose is to send OQ to Russia, at least were on the right course in the FB.

 

Back to Empire watching - hey Laurel's friend from s1 got onto the show as a reporter. So there is life after Arrow...

[apinknightmare]

I'm just laughing because Oliver gave that picture back to her. And then she carried it around. Like...could they seriously not do any better? 

[wonderwall]

I honestly think it was underwhelming because we were expecting it. THIS IS WHY SPOILERS SUCK. Ugh...

 

ETA: LOL Don't listen to me. Regardless it would've been underwhelming. And why did she have to mention Felicity/Oliver? Why? What is wrong with the show???? But seriously, this episode was written by Keto... And she LOVES Laurel so I don't get what happened.

Edited April 7, 2016 by wonderwall

[SleepDeprived]

I mean, it was kind of a boring episode. And Darhk just shanking Laurel was quite a bit of a letdown. I sort of wanted Laurel to, at least, have more agency in her death than being forced to stand frozen like a statue while the baddie did his thing. At least, the hospital goodbye scenes were well-acted? Anyway, shout-out to the Underworld for all the hard work that you do!

 

[Orion]

Let us have a drink to honor the real tragedy in this episode - the closing of The Pantsuit Emporium and all of it's hard working- yet fashionably challenged employees. You will be missed.

[KenyaJ]

“I made your daddy a promise.” And I salute you for keeping it, sir.

 

Bye, Laurel.

 

Ouch. That was way harsh, Diggle. I understand why he wanted to believe Andy had changed, but I’m shocked he let his guard down that much. If the season doesn’t end with Diggle putting a bullet through Andy’s head, I’m going to be wildly disappointed.

 

I have to admit I was unmoved by the death itself, but dammit, Paul Blackthorne killed me. Poor Quentin.

[Guest]

I was expecting a big eventful leave-the-show-a-hero death but that was lacklustre when she was stabbed, just like that.

 

And then the constant bringing up the picture - what even was that? Oliver clearly must have given that back to her at some point and she kept it on her all the time? Really? Don't do that. Why'd they do that?

 

And then the whole love of her life thing and giving her 'blessing' to Olicity was unnecessary.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Guest

[Jediknight]

Show, come on. I'm trying to care and then the moron is carrying around a picture of herself. I just can't.

Oliver would have told her what it meant to him, and she kept it for that reason.  So that makes sense.

 

Now, send up the Nyssa signal, and let her join Team Arrow.

[Sakura12]

Who said this was a great episode? I don't even like Laurel and I just found this ep boring. Although it was funny when Andy showed his true loyalties, they didn't even show what happened to Laurel, until they needed her to be killed.

 

[Edited by mod: Fan talk.] Sara my favorite was shot off a roof onto a garbage dumpster than slammed onto the pavement, then stuffed into a refrigerator. 

Edited April 7, 2016 by MuuMuuChainsmoker

[BkWurm1]

The flashbacks were as usual, terrible.  And worse yet, I swear they were longer.  The only important scene was the promise to go to Russia if Poppy dies, thus promising us that Poppy dies. 

 

This episode for all the confrontations and emotions and I guess reveals, felt oddly flat and detached.  Or maybe that's just me.

 

I guess Laurel dying from something as mundane as a blood clot (Ray REALLY should have got on that nano tech sooner) was the twist (and I had a friend break his ankle and go home only to die of just that) but it's such a let down for all the build up. 

[chaos is welcome]

That episode actually made me less excited for the rest of the season, even laurel free, because it was so, so bad.

So many mentions of the picture after we hadn't heard about it since mud s 2 (shado...I miss you).

The only emotion I felt other than god, is it over yet, was being pissed that Oliver would stay by laurel but couldn't be bothered to stay when felicity was paralyzed. And then lance made me feel bad because awww , poor lance.

[apinknightmare]

Oliver would have told her what it meant to him, and she kept it for that reason.  So that makes sense.

 

But he still gave it back. So...didn't mean that much. How freaking odd. 

[chaos is welcome]

Also, so tired of darkness rehash. Felt all that came out of nowhere. Color me annoyed.

[Soulfire]

 

 

[kismet]

 

Can not wait to quit this show after next week. She didn't even die a hero and she had to spend her last moments on Earth encouraging Oliver to get back with Felicity. 

Can't agree with your sentiment about quitting... but I totally understand why you would want to. That was a really low blow and poor treatment on LL/BC. I wouldn't stick around if she had been my favorite.

[Tallis]

Weren't there supposed to be a couple of other big twists other than Laurel's death? Andy was one (although everyone, ever guessed that) but what was the other? Laurel about to give up being BC? Damien (finally) figuring it out? Something I missed while tweeting/posting?

[Pete Martell]

It's sad to think that Katie was on this show for 4 seasons and at one point was supposed to be the leading lady, and she still had better material in a tiny handful of Supernatural episodes than she did here. And that show isn't exactly known for doing right by female characters. 

 

Black Canary was one of my favorite comic characters growing up, and while I never really had any expectation for the show to get it right, I'm still sorry in the end the show never came close to doing her justice.  

 

I don't blame Olicity or Felicity for that - they just don't write well for women, period. It's a shame to think of just how many times they need to keep proving that point. 

[calliope1975]

Oliver would have told her what it meant to him, and she kept it for that reason.  So that makes sense.

 

I'd agree with this is we'd ever actually seen that happen. I'm not even being sarcastic; that could have been a really good, emotional scene (barring the anti-chemistry.) Even if they'd thrown it in a few episodes ago, it would make more sense than what we got here.

[MuuMuuChainsmoker]

For people who aren't regulars of the Spoiler Discussion thread and *ahem* even some of you who are, a reminder not to post about Laurel fans or Olicity haters and/or their reactions to this episode.  

[Guest]

I do agree with the reviews that DR was really good tonight. And Diggle's sad "Andy..." when he realized he was playing them all along made me feel really sad for him. He was so hopeful that he'd changed. 

[tennisgurl]

Well...that happened. I was sadly spoiled, so I knew it was coming, but I still feel bad. She has been a part of this show since day one, and while my feelings towards her and gone from cold to temperate to cold to mildly warm, I still feel like she deserved better. 

 

The whole point of Poppy and her ambiguous accent was to send the gang to Russia for some reason? There had to be an easier, less time wasting way to get our gang to take a trip to Russia. Again. 

[cambridgeguy]

Diggle to Oliver - I know what the Kevlar won't protect.

Everyone with eyes - So do we, it's the exposed arms and head.  Seems like a stupid design, actually.

 

Speaking of armor, maybe they should invest in some sort of combination of bullet proof AND stab proof armor.  In a world where a surprising number of people are fond of arrows it could be useful.

[Ruby25]

I would prefer it if MG just admitted "we screwed this character over and we couldn't fix it and I'd like to apologize to the legions of comics fans for never giving you a true representation of this iconic character and this iconic duo. We failed. We admit it, we own it and now we're moving on."

 

Just admit you failed, dude. That'd be a whole lot more preferable to this.

[Delphi]

So unlike the board I was sad and I cried and my boyfriend came home and asked why I was sad. I've had a lot of death in my life so characters dying still hits me. Hard.

And the actors pulled this out of the park. Good acting makes tv death worse.

Mostly I'm really mad that they didn't start writing Laurel correctly until they decided to kill her.

[BkWurm1]

Yeah, they almost had me - I mean they were sooooo close.

 

But then, Laurel was carrying the picture that Oliver had on the island for so long and she told this man that knocked up her friend, cheated on her constantly, and shagged her sister that he was the love of her life.  I mean, it's great that she's happy he has Felicity and all that, but Laurel should have loved Tommy way more than Oliver.  I'm sick now.

 

Good riddance.

 

I'm mildly curious what she asked him to promise her.

 

And SA and Paul in the hallway?  That was good acting and might have made me cry if Laurel hadn't just called Oliver to love of her life. 

Laurel just came out of surgery, maybe she was still high on happy juice and thus not really thinking clearly??? 

 

I hope the promise she asked of Oliver is revealed in the next episode.  I don't want it dragged out. 

 

I HATE that she told him he was the love of her life as if she planned on pining for him forever. She thought she was going to be fine.  It made NO sense for her to say that with her whole life still in front of her.  Say that he'd been the most meaningful relationship in her life if you want him to know how much you valued your time together, but love of your life is so wrong on so many levels.  So was I wrong?  Was the reason she went into a spiral of self loathing and addiction actually because OLIVER left, not because Tommy died?  It completely undermines everything. 

[Nostariel]

I did cry at the end, but I cry at TV commercials so I can't honestly say that it's because the writing was any good. I spent most of the episode distracted by how bad it was. Not just the writing, but the direction and even some of the performances were lackluster. What a crappy way for the character to go out. I knew I'd likely be disappointed, but I didn't think it would be THIS bad. Just...meh.

[calliope1975]

The whole point of Poppy and her ambiguous accent was to send the gang to Russia for some reason? There had to be an easier, less time wasting way to get our gang to take a trip to Russia. Again. 

 

Remember when Oliver could have gotten on that ship bound for Russia but then they inexplicably changed the name to Coast City or somesuch? Yeah, I regret the decisions the writers have chosen.

[Primal Slayer]

I am still in disbelief that they actually had Laurel spend her last minutes propping up Olicity to get back together. 

[Carrie Ann]

I was expecting a big eventful leave-the-show-a-hero death but that was lacklustre when she was stabbed, just like that.

 

And then the constant bringing up the picture - what even was that? Oliver clearly must have given that back to her at some point and she kept it on her all the time? Really? Don't do that. Why'd they do that?

 

And then the whole love of her life thing and giving her 'blessing' to Olicity was unnecessary. And I'm not even a Laurel fan. 

 

I am absolutely baffled by every choice they made regarding Laurel in this ep. First, she was awfully quick to agree with Oliver that she should hang up the buckles; only to (correctly) change her mind. Why not bring that up earlier in the season?

 

But most importantly, they utterly botched her death and deathbed scenes. She was killed (effectively) while she was immobilized, de-powered. Yes, she was there to bravely fight Damien, but they still didn't let her actually fight him to the death. That sucks.

 

Her deathbed scene should not have been with or about Oliver. At all. In any way. That benefits no one, not even O/L shippers. It makes Laurel look a little pathetic for never having moved on from the guy who was such a d-bag to her, especially when Tommy died for her, but OKAY. The O/L relationship was not a dangling thread that the show needed to address to allow O/F to go on. That whole maudlin embarrassing scene was just...unnecessary.

 

Anyway, it should have been Quentin at her bedside. That's the only relationship she ever had on the show that had any meaning (other than with Sara, arguably). That's the person she should have been thinking about as she died.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Carrie Ann

[Sakura12]

I was too bored to cry. Then they just killed like her every female character where she's unable to fight back. They haven't learned. Or only men get to die heroic deaths in comics, I'm glad I don't read comics. 

 

I feel bad for poor Quentin he lost his two daughters, three times. 

[statsgirl]

Wow, that was underwhelming.  DR was good and I think they've set up something good for future episodes.

 

Found family beat out blood family finally.  I'm glad Malcolm didn't kill Thea though.

 

Was Damien Darhk looking through the hospital window or was that just my imagination trying to make sense of why Laurel suddenly died?

 

Edited by mod][.

I mean, I feel like Digg and Felicity tried harder to save Oliver back in S1 when he had a seizure. 

I want to know why they pumped her chest when the shock machine was right there.  My daughter asked, why did they have the pads on her hospital gown, maybe if they had put them on her, it might have worked.

 

 

Diggle to Oliver - I know what the Kevlar won't protect.

Everyone with eyes - So do we, it's the exposed arms and head.  Seems like a stupid design, actually.

Bingo.

 

Can not wait to quit this show after next week. She didn't even die a hero and she had to spend her last moments on Earth encouraging Oliver to get back with Felicity. 

I think the ending of this episode was awful [Edited by mod.]. Up until DD killed her when it wasn't even about her but about Quentin, they did a good job. But the ending, with the blessing on Olicity and then having Oliver pull the picture out of her wallet and saying that he was the love of her life. Just UGH.  It's way unfair to Laurel. At least let her have got over Oliver and die a strong person.

Edited April 7, 2016 by MuuMuuChainsmoker

[EmeraldArcher]

A few random thoughts:

1. So Oliver can only stay in the hospital room if the patient isn't Felicity? I didn't like that the show seemed to be emphasizing the romantic aspect of Oliver and Laurel's relationship because it spent all season emphasizing their friendship.

2. I think they amped up the action by a lot this episode, and everybody had awesome kicks. Which is weird, given that they haven't fought in that style before, except for Thea.

3. I wonder if they'll actually use the footage of Felicity and Oliver in the limo that we saw in the flash forward. That tone seems really off for their recent interactions, including tonight's hug.

4. I really think Digg's harsh words are another powerful motivator for Oliver to try to change and prove to Felicity that he is better. I've finally learned that if someone is really stupid one episode, that I just need to wait because they've already corrected it in future episodes.

5. I think that Laurel's choice to don the mask one last time to help contain Darhk and free the hostages qualifies her death as heroic. As Oliver will point out next week, it was her choice, and I think her motivation was clearly heroic.