S05.E08: Invasion!

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Quote

A superhero event continues with Oliver waking up to a life where he never got on the Queen's Gambit. Also, Robert and Moira Queen are alive and well, and Laurel is his loving fiancée and their wedding is imminent. Everything seems perfect, but Oliver starts to notice small imperfections that make him question this new reality. Meanwhile, Felicity and the recruits take on a new threat with help from the Flash and Supergirl.

[MostlyC]

HOLOGRAM TOMMY DOES NOT COUNT!!!

He should have been Ollie's best man and have a bonding best friend conversation.

Berlanti, you owe me.

[Lady Calypso]

Well, for the 100th episode, it could have been worse. It could have been better, mind you, but it definitely had its good moments.

I laughed really hard at the Tommy shoutout. Of course he's a doctor in Chicago. I still would have preferred an in-person Tommy Merlyn instead of his dumbass evil father.

I think I realized a part of the reason why KC doesn't work for me (or I knew and just forgot until now). Her smile bugs me. She doesn't have a genuinely comforting smile. She kind of looks like the Joker when she smiles. It's creepy. I don't know whether it's because of her full lips, her weird raccoon-like eyes, or something else. I just get shivers when she tries to smile. 

I don't get emotional at Arrow much lately, but the Thea/Oliver scene was so, so well done. I genuinely teared up. Willa Holland and Stephen Amell knocked that scene out of the park, with Thea not wanting to go and Oliver knowing that at least he had to. And the realization that he would have to leave Thea behind because he couldn't force her to go? Heartbreaking. Even if she joined the group in the next scene, it was still rough. Also, seeing Susanna again. Moira had little to do, but at least she got to have one last scene with Thea and Oliver. 

Wild Dog can still FOAD. He's awful and I still don't see why he's the Chosen One, the Golden Boy for the recruits. Also, am I the only one who got pissed of at his "I don't know if superpowers are real" line? You just saw Barry and Kara use their powers! You know they're real! Jesus! Go die, Wild Dog. Also his "for those of us who had a social life in high school" line to Rory. Fuck off and die, Renee. Fuck off and DIE. 

On the plus side, Rory was great. And Cisco wasn't mopey, so that's a step up. 

The fight scenes? God, my eyes were hurting, especially the big fight scene, where they had those bright lights in the background that really blinded half the fight sequence. Also too much slow mo. 

I totally looked at the spaceship set to see if it was familiar. If anyone recognizes what set they most likely dressed up, let me know. The inside hallways looked like the ones on Legends of Tomorrow. 

Also shouldn't Sara have been driving the pod that they were in? She is the Captain of her own time ship, after all. I assume she has a little more experience. I did enjoy Oliver, Thea, and Diggle going on the time ship. Thea and Diggle got to experience the weird. 

Edited December 1, 2016 by Lady Calypso

[calliope1975]

The aliens DID redress our heroes. I love that so much. 

I missed the first half where I’m sure all the retrospective nods where, but I liked the character work I saw. The Oliver and Thea scene was great.

I did not like the spinny camera work and intrusive score. It took me out of the scenes. The alien stuff was…yeah, not my fave.

[mtlchick]

(throws confetti) Happy 100!

I liked this one.  I've seen this before with people living in alternate realities and "remembering" their true lives, but it was certainly better than what we've been seeing especially with the newbies being limited. Nice to see his parents and Laurel back. 

Barry and Kara continue to be a basket of puppies...until they pull off a bad ass moving like taking the Doctor out. 

The cliffhanger was a bit weak, but I can deal with it.  Onto the finale!

[apinknightmare]

I really surprisingly enjoyed that. Oliver with Moira and Robert, Thea not wanting to leave. I was actually somewhat moved emotionally. 

It's also weird how this show can't figure out if they want to do Laurel dirty or make things right. Oliver loves her, wants to marry her, ditches the rehearsal dinner and doesn't return her calls. Totally ditches her to leave the world for good without saying goodbye - she has to chase after him, but then he says a nice thing for closure. LOL.

[Last Time Lord]

Way too much time spent on the shared hallucination, which made the other stuff stuff in the episode feel more like busywork than anything else. It wasn't a bad episode, but it felt like some of the old Doctor Who 6 part serials, where it was clear they needed some padding to make it to six episodes.

[apinknightmare]

Yeah the stuff happening on earth seemed a little too lighthearted at times, like...do do dooooo aliens have them no big. Weird.

[Sakura12]

I liked this episode better than the Flash one. It was nice seeing ST again. It's sad that Thea thinks her real life is meaningless. I'm glad she came around in the end realizing that Oliver is her family. 

They all got to kill their bad guys and say goodbye to their lost loved ones. Seems like the aliens gave them all a therapy session. I loved seeing Thea and Dig's reaction the Waverider and Gideon. 

Laurel wasn't in it much and did nothing of importance. So I was okay with that.

As for the new Arrow recruits don't like angry hockey mask, Rory is cute. and Curtis needs to stop interrupting Felicity. She can speak for herself. Supergirl seems really underused. It doesn't seem like they really needed her. She better do something in the LoT part, otherwise it was kind of waste. 

[Primal Slayer]

Laurel was the best thing about this episode. Well her and Sara. Every scene they had together was gold, can't believe they didn't give them a scene with Lance. But seeing Laurel actually be happy for a hot minute was so refreshing, if only we could've gotten more of it while she was alive. 

Katie was the MVP of the episode, girl hit it out of the PARK! Every single scene she had was sheer perfection. I was surprised that she/Amell actually had good chemistry going on. 

Not sure why they didn't have Ra's in place of the Ghosts for the big boss battle, even if he couldn't have come, replace him with another well known villain then just some boring henchmen.

Seeing Moira again was heartbreaking, I miss her so much, I needed more of her.

The shoutout to Tommy was hilarious.

Diggle was Angry Spice as The Hood! He needed to calm it down a bit! I am surprised that Felicity could work with him being that dramatic.

They did a good job of having everyone remember the reality.

Thea broke my heart with her wanting to stay in dream world, Willa did a great job with that scene. 

The image of Roy was some bad CGI goin on. What was Colton doing during this? I don't think he was filming anything, I guess he just wasn't interested in returning. Oh well.

It was fun while it lasted, ill be back with Arrow in a couple of months for 5x10. Laurel just needs to come back full time already.

[Morrigan2575]

I liked this episode (mostly).

Complaints first:

Holy crap BamBam that stupid ass swirling camera made me nauseous.

Also WTF is up with Supergirl constantly doing the hands on the hip pose and the stupid wind blown hair? Very Annoying

I really really didn't like Curtis in this episode. He is such a Gary Stuff.

Things i liked:

I loved that Felicty and Diggle were working together in dream world.  I loved that the Fern made an appearance.

Loved seeing Oliver and Moira again. That worked for me way more than Oliver/Robert

Love the Flashbacks to S1 and all the pilot references. I especially loved the Olicity and Oliver/Diggle flashbacks.

Loved that Smoak Tech was the way home.

Loved seeing Cisco/Felicty tougher, they're so much fun.

I still love Rene/Wild Dog he actually voiced something I've always had against the Supes family (I kind of hate them).

Was suprised at no Artemis, swore there was a BTS picture of her in 508.

I wasn't happy with how they incorporated Tommy and Roy but, I get they were limited.

Edited December 1, 2016 by Morrigan2575

[Last Time Lord]

2 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

The image of Roy was some bad CGI goin on.

It looked like a blown up publicity still.

[Jediknight]

Well Sara, there you go, you got to kill Darhk.  Loved her trained assassin line.

I missed Mick, he would have been useful for this mission.  Liked that Cisco mentioned him.

I don't ship anybody, but come on, Barry and Kara are still adorable together.  Didn't like Rene being an ass to them.  He should know about all the good The Flash does.

I liked that they didn't have dreamLaurel be evil and try to stop the heroes.

[mtlchick]

Quote

Was suprised at no Artemis, swore there was a BTS picture of her in 508.

Here's your explanation...I guess? http://www.ew.com/article/2016/11/30/arrow-artemis-evelyn-betrayal-mole

[bettername2come]

That was a solid hundredth episode. The memory flashes were great. It was so weird to see Diggle and Oliver fighting without masks in broad daylight. Weird and beautiful. I wish we had gotten Manu Bennett instead of just Deathstroke. Loved the breakdown of villains they had to fight: Ollie vs. Deathstroke, Thea vs. Malcolm, Sara vs. Damien, Diggle vs. Andy (or random Hive agent), Ray vs. Mirakuru soldier who killed Anna. Good characterization in that moment. Happy Cisco was wonderful. This is the most I've ever liked Rory. Curtis nerding over meeting Cisco was cute. 

Stephen Amell did great work. I teared up a little at his goodbye to Thea. Bringing her in on the secret without drama is one of the best choices this show ever made, and I'm not just saying that because she flew a spaceship when the four pilots could not.

[Primal Slayer]

As far as the overall crossover goes, this was totally skippable. They didn't make any of the actual reality scenes important to the overall plot. I can already feel like The Dominators won't serve any important purpose or have any impact. Just around to cause some conflict for the heroes. 

[statsgirl]

Nice to see the nobs to Raisa and Roy.  The one to Tommy was so unsubtle, I was cringing. I bet Barrowman loved it.

Fortunately, minimal newbies.  Rene needs to go, Curtis needs to STFU.

Not enough Felicity. I needed more of her acerbicness to counteract the cloying sweetness of the Laurel scenes.  And they really, really need to stop writing Felicity as squealing girly who needs the help of men to get her job done.  Curtis to mansplain her and do the tech, Rory to solve the puzzle.

[Soulfire]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by Soulfire

[Morrigan2575]

EBR looked really great in that OTA scene. I like her hair like that.

[statsgirl]

She looked great but she squealed for help like a little girl when she saw Oliver arrive.  #NotAmused

Edited December 1, 2016 by statsgirl

[JenMD]

Not an episode that I'll save to watch again.  I appreciated some of the nods, but it just didn't do much for me overall.  The scene where Thea wants to stay behind just made me roll my eyes.  I'm supposed to believe that Oliver is going to be ok leaving his sister behind in an alien dream world? Really?  I thought she came across as incredibly selfish and idiotic.  I know I was supposed to be moved, but not even close. 

Too much Laurel for me.  Too much Wild Dog, who is increasingly annoying.  And what's with Barry and Kara taking so long to show up at Wild Dog's fight with the bad electronic lady?  That whole thing went on too long. 

I thought the part with Oliver leaving Smoak Tech and seeing all the "ghosts" of the people he loves was weird.  I don't quite get the point.  He was leaving his "perfect" life, but those were all people important in his real life (and some of them still alive).  I get that it was a nod to the show (meaningful to the viewers) but from a story perspective, I didn't get it because it seemed like he was sad to be leaving them.

[popgoesculture]

Oof... that was not great. Not terrible but not particularly... good? The teaser before the credits hit made me go "Oh, that's how they're going with this?" Mainly, I found the direction incredibly distracting and just plain bad. I don't need nostril shots, or spinny shots. Let the actors work the scene, rather than the hectic camera moments that take you out of the show completely. 

Also I'm infuriated that we spent time on newbies who were totally unnecessary. Why do we need Curtis and Rory there to do things that Felicity could absolutely do? (Are you telling me she's NOT the one to hack the aliens, or recognize the Torah? Please.) We don't need Wild Dog and his patronizing, sexist commentary -- I really wanted Kara to punch him after he called her sweetheart. I can't believe we spent time on him and his man angst when I have zero interest. I also wanted to punch Curtis when he "translated" for Felicity. Do the writers not recognize how they're diminishing their female characters (THERE ARE ONLY TWO REGULARS! HOW IS IT HARD TO WRITE FOR THEM?)?

I would've loved more of Felicity in either world (and for her to be worked in more seamlessly rather than solely through the Arrow connection), to see Thea's fight against coming back more, to see Sara spending more time with Laurel after the whole thing. Did Ray need to be taken if his realization that this wasn't reality didn't mean anything to the overall story? 

[BkWurm1]

First impressions prior to reading anything:

Oddly enough, from the crossover angle, I like The Flash part better but it was a pretty good Arrow episode for the most part, though I was right there with Thea shaking my head that they were on their second space ship of the episode.  So strange to be here.  I even started wondering if they were still dreaming about stealing the ship and escaping. 

Smoak Technologies being the exit was just from their subconscious, lol, not even something that Felicity planted.  Enjoyed that a lot.  Yep, she looms large. 

Fake Felicity was just off enough that she worked for me.  Like when they approached Ray at the pre wedding gathering and pulled him away to talk, FauxFelicity was just kind of twirling around in the background. 

If I had one complaint, it would be that while Felicity was in the episode a lot, the only emotional connection we got with her and any of the other characters (and then it was only Oliver) were in the flashback bits and lines.  And they were really good, but the contrast between what we’ve had in the past seasons and now when the real her is stuck looking after the noobs in the bunker and not even allowed to express any emotion or concern and we don’t even get a shot of her looking relieved that they are safe, yeah, it left a massive hole. 

If I had only two complaints (if you haven’t guessed yet, I can come up with more than two) I would put a big red bullseye on Rene the WildDong.  He’s just sooooo awful and of the noobs, so much of the focus was on him and he’s just an ass and for no reason.  And again, I got the weird vibe that the show is pushing him as an Oliver successor.  I don’t get it.  And if calling Felicity “Blondie” hadn’t been bad enough in the past, he called Kara “Sweetheart”!  Mick Rory called her “skirt” and managed to make it funny and endearing, but lordy, lordy, Rene just rubs ever nerve the wrong way.  There’s nothing I like about him.  It’s got to the point where I cringe when I see his face.  Can’t stand the sneer and the superiority.  AT ALL! 

The lady Cyborg wannbe was really random.  Wish Barry had let her kill the Dong.  Anyone else kind of feel bad for her though that after Barry knocked her down and left her dazed, then it was Supergirl’s turn to punch her across the room just so she got to have a turn?  Lady looked down already to me.  Overkill.  I cringed. 

Speaking of cringing. What business does Nate have in calling Felicity and Co the nerds/geeks when he has spent his life as an academic with his nose in a book.  They write him really strange.  REALLY strange. 

The alt world stuff was interesting.  Teared up over Thea and her mom.  And then Thea and Oliver.  Loved parts of the fight on the lawn, like when Thea shot the arrow over to Sara to catch out of the air and use to finish off dude.  That was fun.  Took me a minute to figure out who Ray was fighting (the masks that killed Anna)

I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts later. 

[Primal Slayer]

Apparently Colin didn't even know about hologram Tommy lol.

[Mellowyellow]

So Felicity didn't hack the Aliens? What did she actually get to do then?

[apinknightmare]

8 minutes ago, popgoesculture said:

Did Ray need to be taken if his realization that this wasn't reality didn't mean anything to the overall story? 

I think he was taken because he was the only other person in the group who wasn't a meta human, not for any significance he had in the dream world.

[thuganomics85]

So, the aliens put Oliver, Sara, Ray, Thea, and Diggle into come kind of shared hallucination, where they all lead different lives, which included Oliver never being the Arrow and being engaged to Laurel (bet Katie Cassidy loved that!), Diggle becoming The Hood instead and teaming up with Felicity, Ray getting engaged to Felicity, and both Oliver and Thea getting their parents back.  Great seeing the parents again: especially Moira.  I still miss her and the awesomeness Susanna Thompson brings to the role.

I know this show thinks James Bamford is a god amongst men when it comes to directing, and since he does get positive reception elsewhere, I guess it isn't unwarranted, but I just find his style of shooting sloppy and clumsy as well, when it comes to action.  All of the fight scenes felt very way too rush, poorly edited, and fake looking.  And it was way too obvious that wasn't Neal McDonough doing most of it, but a stunt guy with a wig.  I certainly get not having him do dangerous stuff, but put some effort into hiding it, show!

Diggle as The Hood was the best simply because I'm pretty sure David Ramsey was actually just cribbing Stephen Amell's style on a lot of the stuff, especially the way he talks.  Knowing those two, they were probably getting a kick out of it.

I'm guessing Deathstroke never revealed his face, because they couldn't convince Manu Bennett to come back.  I also wonder if Eugene Byrd wasn't available, because Diggle having to fight Andy at the end, would have made more sense instead of just a bunch of faceless goons.

The explanation of no Tommy amused me.

Meanwhile back on Earth, Wild Dog should just change his name to Captain Buzzkill.  He would be the person who looks at someone like Supergirl, and just sneers at her.  And thinks anyone with powers suck.  And call her sweetheart.  Seriously, I would have forgiven Barry for all of Flashpoint, if he just let Wild Dog take the full blast of of that electrical weapon.  At least Rory was his normal awesome self.  And Barry and Kara tag teaming the cyborg lady was fun.  As for the Geek Squad, Cisco was close to his normal, likable self again.  Felicity really can do anything!

Thea considering staying behind was the dumbest cliffhanger ever.

OK episode, but it was kind of hampered by having to serve as both part of the crossover and has the 100th episode of this particular show.  I kind of feel bad that the show didn't get to celebrate this milestone for itself, and had to accommodate it's fellow ones instead.

[Angel12d]

I have a lot of thoughts (some good, some bad) I'll probably post tomorrow but I thought Oliver saying goodbye to his parents was very moving. Plus his scene with Thea. I'm also weirdly glad he got closure with Laurel too even if their scenes made me want to choke down some bleach. Sorry but boy am I glad they couldn't make fetch happen. 

The Olicity flashes were perfect and kudos to SA for the desperate longing way he whispered Felicity's name there. My heart.

Loved seeing GA Diggle and the OTA scene was great. Loved how Oliver only knew everything was wrong when he was with Felicity and Diggle. Of course. 

I'm kind of side eyeing the way they wrote Felicity though. They're lessening her skills just so others have something to do or say and can we not? She's a freaking genius, she could run circles around most people. Let her shine where she's supposed to instead of cutting her off at the knees, so to speak. 

Edited December 1, 2016 by Angel12d

[ParadoxLost]

The constructed world to make them content while they were scanned was really well done.

The nice touch that caught me a little off guard was Diggle.  Ollie, Thea, and Sara all got to go home where their fantasy of what could have been played out, where parents and siblings didn't die.  Ollie knew it wasn't right and it wasn't him and went searching.

But Diggle's "happy" place was the Arrow Cave with Felicity doing the vigilante savior thing.

The rest of the show was an afterthought and pointless.  They just needed to integrate to the crossover and didn't try very hard to have a reason.  Contrary to shocked faces that they were in space, that was kind of obvious once they were beamed up Star Trek style.  I was hoping that they were going to actually mount a rescue or use the alien tech to hand wave Felicity hacking the hallucination or something.  Once it was evident it was just a stall to locate them I lost interest.

The new Arrow junior team is just awful.  The Flash and Supergirl tag team wasn't enough to save it. 

[insomniadreams88]

Some quick thoughts:

I wasn't wowed by this like I hoped to be. The best (and most heartbreaking) scenes were with the Queens. Oliver saying goodbye to his parents, thinking he had to say goodbye to Thea, Thea wanting to stay? Oh, those hurt in a good way. 

Loved Diggle as the Hood and the OTA scene in the bunker - and the flashes Oliver had of Diggle and Felicity - but I wish we'd seen OTA together in the real world after their return. Why couldn't Felicity be on the Waverider?

Speaking of Felicity, first Curtis interrupts her, then Rory recognizes something she should have? Really? I guess we can blame that on stress? They do remember she's a genius, though, right? Remember when Barry and Caitlin called her the best hacker in the world on The Flash? Do the Arrow writers even know that happened? 

Rory remains my favorite of the recruits. Rene remains awful. And not even a mention of Evelyn. I mean, I know they didn't want to deal with the whole betrayal angle, but it's not like she goes to school or anything and no one wondered where she was while aliens were attacking? Sure... (Also, I had a random moment where I felt bad for Paul when Curtis was saying it was the best day of his life. Paul doesn't know about Curtis being Mr. Terrific, right?)

Loved the Tommy mention/Chicago Med shout-out. But the holograms were... odd? And not that good? 

On the one hand, too much Laurel (and too many "I love yous"), but not enough Laurel/Sara, if that makes sense. Still think they would have been better off having her engaged to Tommy (who was off-screen the entire time) and still explored her relationships with Sara and Oliver. And what about Thea? Did we even see those two talking in the alt. world? 

Poor Lance had one scene, in the dream world. I guess it was intentional to put him in rehab before the crossover so they wouldn't have to explain his absence? 

 

ETA: I'm glad they had Ray remember his fiancee should be Anna, not Felicity. 

Edited December 1, 2016 by insomniadreams88

[popgoesculture]

4 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

I think he was taken because he was the only other person in the group who wasn't a meta human, not for any significance he had in the dream world.

Was Mick not outside with them when they started to get beamed up? I thought he and Felicity were standing there and were told by Barry to run inside as well. I just think they could've easily had Ray run inside and not bothered with him at all in this ep. (And I say that as someone who doesn't mind Ray, but would've preferred Felicity having a chance to be part of the action for once. They keep sidelining her, and erasing her abilities as the "plot" allows. Beam her up, make Ray her pretty boy hallucination fiance, have her buying out QC. What do we get from Ray being there that wouldn't be better served by Felicity. a longstanding member of the cast?)

[bmoore4026]

Kara and Barry sooooooooooooooo should have taken turns kickin' the shit out of Mad Dog.  I will not be sad if the Dominators kill Mad Dog.  They won't, though, because even they don't give a shit about Mad Dog.

[Lantern7]

Nice work juggling the milestone and the epic crossover. Laurel wasn't a drag. Not like I want to see Katie as Black Siren anytime soon, but she was decent here.

Cisco/Curtis/Felicity for the win. It's a shame Ray couldn't geek out with them, but he was fighting off memories of Kevin Spacey in the Dominmatrix. I feel bad for Renee. He and Diggle could be related, with their disdain of metas.

Still thinking Barry/Kara could totally work. We could give Cisco to Iris.

Sweet that Sara is a badass no matter where you stick her. I know that wasn't really Slade, but she kicked his ass good. And she got to smack Dark around. And she caught an arrow shot from Thea. Are we sure she's not from Krypton? I mean, she has more or less come back from the dead three times.

Hi, Malcolm! Still a douchebag? That's nice.

ETA: Back in the first season, I suggested Diggle could take Oliver's place if Stephen left the show. Funny how things worked out tonight.

[benteen]

Even though the crossover got mostly lost in the end (a really cool end with the space chase) I very much enjoyed this 100th episode.  The look at the alternate lives were fun.  I suspect we might have gotten more returns but with the crossover that just wasn’t possible.  Poor Walter Steele got reduced to a throwaway line.

The scene where Oliver says good-bye to his “parents”, followed by his scene with Thea was really, really strong stuff.  The highlight of the episode.

Loved seeing Diggle as the Arrow again, complete with Christian Bale Batman voice.

Rene is an asshole to Oliver and now is an asshole to Barry and Kara.  Go **** yourself, Rene!

I laughed at the way Sara said “in a text” to Oliver, which sounded like Party Girl Sara.

LOL that they couldn’t even mention Deathstroke by name.

[Morrigan2575]

One thing I forgot to mention I thought the tone of Team Felicty was a bit off. To happy/peppy/excited for people who just lost their friends to aliens

[BkWurm1]

Quote

I thought the part with Oliver leaving Smoak Tech and seeing all the "ghosts" of the people he loves was weird.  I don't quite get the point.  He was leaving his "perfect" life, but those were all people important in his real life (and some of them still alive).  I get that it was a nod to the show (meaningful to the viewers) but from a story perspective, I didn't get it because it seemed like he was sad to be leaving them.

It's not super clear, but I took it as these were the people that most shaped his life and who gave him strength and purpose and inspiration.  Some were of course still alive, but they currently weren't with him and while he was still in the mind reading thing, he was able to physically manifest them?

 

36 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

So Felicity didn't hack the Aliens? What did she actually get to do then?

  She was able to located the aliens.  Basically they pinged the location of the ship and Felicity translated the junk CIsco got.  Yeah, not sure why anyone was supposed to be surprised that aliens from space that beamed them up into the sky were keeping them up in space.  Um, duh?  

Edited December 1, 2016 by BkWurm1

[ParadoxLost]

There's no spinning in the Arrowverse.

 

Never mind

[GirlvsTV]

That was probably the last episode of this show I'll ever watch and it's the only one I've watched live this season. All the flashbacks and interactions b/w the returning cast just put a huge spotlight on how lacking the cast chemistry is in the current season. They tossed all that awesomeness aside to focus on the newbies - the very worst part of this episode (except for Rory, he can stay even if his rags thing is weird and kind of dumb). 

And Wild Dong has actually replaced LL as my most hated Arrow character. Oliver was initially written in a way that allowed him to be an asshole and still be sympathetic. Wild Dong is just an asshole and a sexist one at that. 

Curtis was beyond annoying - it's actually really weird to me that Cisco can drop by and feel not a bit out of place in the Arrow Cave or with the team, but the newbies all stick out like sore thumbs. 

This alien story is so lazily written. I mean, when you have a superhero show you know the good guys will win, so you have to make the journey to their ultimate victory compelling. This is not, it's just boring and kind of silly.

The only question this ep left me with: Why was Felicity included in the hologram fam Oliver left behind? Was it just because she was a fake version of someone he loved in the dream world? It just seemed odd since everyone else was either dead or no longer on the show.

Edited December 1, 2016 by GirlvsTV

[KirkB]

Overall I enjoyed this episode, but not quite as much as I wanted. I think it suffered from having to split duty between continuing the crossover and celebrating the 100th episode. As a result neither got the attention or focus it deserved.

That said, this was the first time in...well, ever I suppose, that I wasn't bothered by Laurel. I don't know if KC being away from the show for a while gave her a new perspective or what, but I liked her scenes with Sara and she and SA almost worked well together. I still don't see the grand love affair the show so desperately wants to try and convince me existed between Oliver and Laurel though. I guess she got to play Laurel differently because she didn't have all the emotional baggage of Sara and Oliver dying. Don't get me wrong, I'm still glad she's gone, because if Laurel actually comes back she's going to be the same character she was and that's the version I didn't like.

I don't care that Evelyn wasn't there, but why didn't Felicity or the others mention her/her absence?

Like so many here, Wild Dog bugs me. I'm not sure why he's hanging around with people he seems to dislike so much. Rory, on the other hand, can stay as long as he wants.

[apinknightmare]

3 minutes ago, GirlvsTV said:

The only question this ep left me with: Why was Felicity included in the hologram fam Oliver left behind? Was it just because she was a fake version of someone he loved in the dream world? It just seemed odd since everyone else was either dead or no longer on the show.

I think it was maybe supposed to be people he'd "lost"? Which only kind of makes sense since he only lost her romantically - she's still working with him and everything, so IDK.

[Chaser]

Amongst all he lost, maybe she represents what he can get back. 

[Primal Slayer]

Saras face is cracking me up. But these two were sooo good to watch together again. I need me some more of the Canary sisters. 

[LeighAn]

10 minutes ago, GirlvsTV said:

 

The only question this ep left me with: Why was Felicity included in the hologram fam Oliver left behind? Was it just because she was a fake version of someone he loved in the dream world? It just seemed odd since everyone else was either dead or no longer on the show.

I think it's just meant to symbolise people who have impacted him no different then him seeing flashes in 3x09. And a call back to important quotes they've said to him. 

I think it was a two fold scene closure for the people he's lost and leaving behind and in some ways he "lost" Felicity but then Felicity is highlighted more by being higher then the other holograms and her quotes are about Oliver not giving up and how important he is as a hero. So I see here place there as more a hopeful silver lining nod. At least I hope that will end up being the case. 

[Slovenly Muse]

Quote

But Diggle's "happy" place was the Arrow Cave with Felicity doing the vigilante savior thing.

This actually really bugged me. I could understand Thea wanting to stay, and everyone else having a hard time remembering their real lives because the fantasy was everything they thought they wanted... but Digg's fantasy was just... doing exactly what he'd been doing before, but in a different costume? I get that his brother is alive in this reality (though we never saw him), but how is a fantasy life of dark, brutal vigilantism to make up for wartime misdeeds in ANY way enough to make him want to forget the WIFE AND CHILD he has in reality? Even with Ray we got a glimpse of the "perfect life" that kept him in the fantasy mindset: Felicity. Which, it's actually kind of sad and touching that he still loves her this much. But with Dig, I didn't get any sense of what was actually keeping him willing to believe the dream, or what the fantasy was giving him that his real life did not. (Apart from one reference to his brother being alive, but that was rather downplayed, and it's not like he had to look Fake Andy in the eyes and tell him goodbye, the way Sara did with Laurel.) I found that really weird and disappointing.

[Trini]

Well, kudos to the writers for making sure that the crossover characters didn't take over the episode. Actual important crossover stuff was what, 3 minutes? If that? Happy 100th Arrow!

However, nearly everything outside the dream scenes was the most un-Arrow-est Arrow episode EVER. Aliens! Metahumans! Random Cyborg Chick! Spaceships! Never thought I'd see a space pod chase scene on this show.

I did like the dream scenes, though. Oliver loves everybody!

[Angel12d]

I liked that Felicity had Smoak Technologies. I also liked that it was the way out, kind of a guide home. Felicity still lighting his way, I guess? Haha.

Seriously though, can they make that happen soon? Maybe Oliver can tell her about it or something.

[JohnSmithSensei]

It was hilarious to hear Rory geek out over Barry in his Ragman voice. I'm SO over Rene's lame Vegeta impression; Vegeta was actually awesome.

[Jediknight]

1 hour ago, JenMD said:

Too much Laurel for me.  Too much Wild Dog, who is increasingly annoying.  And what's with Barry and Kara taking so long to show up at Wild Dog's fight with the bad electronic lady?  That whole thing went on too long.

Barry heard about a great karaoke bar that also serves ice cream, so that's where they went.

1 hour ago, BkWurm1 said:

And if calling Felicity “Blondie” hadn’t been bad enough in the past, he called Kara “Sweetheart”!  Mick Rory called her “skirt” and managed to make it funny and endearing, but lordy, lordy, Rene just rubs ever nerve the wrong way.

That's because Mick giving somebody a nickname is like a badge of honor.  He calls Ray "haircut", and Ray's his closest friend since Snart died.

1 hour ago, apinknightmare said:

I think he was taken because he was the only other person in the group who wasn't a meta human, not for any significance he had in the dream world.

Ray was taken because he was the smartest person there.  Remember they were probing their minds and looking for intel, and at the end had built a weapon.  They'd need to look into Ray's mind.  The technology he used to make the ATOM suit is also similar to the technology the Dominators used.

Edited December 1, 2016 by Jediknight

[HighHopes]

I'm pretty sure Smoak Tech wasn't real. Ray commented that the building appeared out of nowhere, and that Alien Reality Felicity never owned or created or thought of Smoak Technologies. 

[calliope1975]

7 minutes ago, Slovenly Muse said:

but Digg's fantasy was just... doing exactly what he'd been doing before, but in a different costume? I

I suspect it didn't get much thought in the writers' room. More like:

"We're going to have Oliver go to the bunker. You know what would be cool? Digg as Green Arrow."

"Why would Digg's perfect life be GA? Wouldn't it be one big happy family with Lyla and Sara(!) and Carly and Andy?"

"Yeah, whatevs. It's Digg in the GA suit!"

"But..."

"We're doing it."