S05.E20: Underneath

[calliope1975]

Bless SA and his commitment to appearing nude on camera. 

http://dmichellewrites.tumblr.com/post/160283001646/well-thats-not-distracting-thanks-kai-x

Edited May 4, 2017 by calliope1975
Cuz credits are important.

[catrox14]

2 minutes ago, calliope1975 said:

Bless SA and his commitment to appearing nude on camera. 

 

OH MY. Bless you for this.

[ladylaw99]

All I can say right now is Holy Sh$t and that kid can't afford to lose any brain cells.

[Lantern7]

Darn iPad was giving me grief. Might've felt that I didn't outright hate William and wanted me to keep that to myself. At worst, he's a reminder of how ruthless Moira could be and that Oliver didn't always try to be a good guy once upon a time.

Ollie and Felicity hooking up? That was a mistake. It was hot, though. So, so, so hot. Only way it could've been better is if they tried to work the salmon ladder into the fun. Damn, aside from Curtis buffing it earlier this season, where has that been?

And WTF is Thea? My theory: interdimensional trysts with James Olsen. Come on, that would explain a lot.

[Soulfire]

For all your pervy needs, someone already has the sex scene up without background music --

[tennisgurl]

So, I kind of cheated and found some bits and pieces of the episode, and have come away with two facts about this episode.

Fact One: Oliver and Felicity still have amazing chemistry and are amazing together and they need to get back together NOW.

Fact Two: William is an unbelievably stupid kid. I know he's little, and the Queens aren't exactly known for their great life choices, but come ON kid! Have you never heard of stranger danger? If the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang showed up in front of his house, complete with carriage with a cage and carrying a giant net, and started yelling that there was free candy in his carriage/cage, William would be out there in a heartbeat.

[Guest]

"Oh, hey! I'm chinning and upping!"

How is she so cute? I don't understand!

2 minutes ago, Soulfire said:

For all your pervy needs, someone already has the sex scene up without background music --

 

Perv here, checking in. Thanking you. Haha.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Guest

[BkWurm1]

30 minutes ago, calliope1975 said:

Sooo...when are we getting that scene stripped of background music? For science, of course.

I?science.  Love it so hard.  

[benteen]

Great episode.  I appreciate a bottle episode when done right and this one was.  Strong work from SA and EBR here tonight.  Though I was annoyed at Felicity saying that she understood why he kept William the Idiot a secret. 

Geez, that kid gets kidnapped by Damian Darhk and nearly killed and gives up his real name is two seconds.

Anyway, really liked this one and seeing Team Arrow work together to help Oliver and Felicity.

[lemotomato]

How long do you think it'll take for this one to get to 25 million views? ;)

[calliope1975]

2 minutes ago, lemotomato said:

How long do you think it'll take for this one to get to 25 million views? ;)

We'll see if the gifs hit the porn blogs like last time. ?

[Chaser]

8 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

So, I kind of cheated and found some bits and pieces of the episode, and have come away with two facts about this episode.

Fact One: Oliver and Felicity still have amazing chemistry and are amazing together and they need to get back together NOW.

Fact Two: William is an unbelievably stupid kid. I know he's little, and the Queens aren't exactly known for their great life choices, but come ON kid! Have you never heard of stranger danger? If the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang showed up in front of his house, complete with carriage with a cage and carrying a giant net, and started yelling that there was free candy in his carriage/cage, William would be out there in a heartbeat.

All the stranger would need to say is "Do you want to color?"

[Mellowyellow]

The "I'm not going anywhere" gif

Is that a flashback?

Waiting for my chicken to grill so I can eat lunch and watch this!

[jay741982]

1 hour ago, Angel12d said:

Well, I loved everything until the end when she apologized. I knew they'd have Felicity take the blame. Really not happy about that. Everything else was amazing though and that sex scene? Um. Hello. That surpassed 320 easily. So hot!

I almost thought Oliver was gonna take her from Behind lol

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, lemotomato said:

How long do you think it'll take for this one to get to 25 million views? ;)

Probably by tomorrow as I'm currently watching a million times. ;P

[catrox14]

1 minute ago, jay741982 said:

I almost thought Oliver was gonna take her from Behind lol

Oh he did....he did...

[KenyaJ]

3 minutes ago, jay741982 said:

I almost thought Oliver was gonna take her from Behind lol

We all did. Lolz.

[insomniadreams88]

Just a few thoughts, might be back tomorrow with more after I rewatch:

Hated that Felicity apologized for William. She didn't need to apologize for that. So, ignoring that whole part.

But besides that, loved it and the O/F conversations. Oh, the chemistry. Show, be happy that you have a main couple with this much chemistry. Take advantage of it. Really though, I'd like to see them try to show them with other LIs after this episode. Good luck with that.

I'm also glad that they didn't try to make Felicity out to be the bad guy in the FB after the FB sex. And I can understand why they were where they were in 501 after the FBs. But it should not have taken until 520 to get those answers.

But wow did the Billy mention seem to come out of nowhere in that scene? 

And get back to OTA too. This was a good start. Keep going.

I liked the Dyla stuff, but I also felt like they were sort of having enough Diggle/Dinah just in case in the future, they can't have Lyla around due to scheduling? 

Oh, and William is just an idiot. Samantha, tell him not to talk to strangers! You clearly haven't yet. Maybe after this, she'll think about it? Maybe? Probably not. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, insomniadreams88 said:

But wow did the Billy mention seem to come out of nowhere in that scene? 

There were a couple of things I felt like they mentioned like they had a checklist. Oh, we have to mention Billy at some point. Check! And let's mention Felicity's severance check from PT to explain why she doesn't have a job. Check! Haha. Random.

[Mrs. de Winter]

3 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

But wow did the Billy mention seem to come out of nowhere in that scene? 

WM helped write the episode so I assumed the mayo would come up given her instance on how important he was in interviews.  I am ignoring this much like the apology for the kid.  Both are stupid and do not fit what actually happened on screen. 

[Chaser]

Finally found a Diggle rescue clip! I loved that so much. OTA Always.

[BkWurm1]

22 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

The "I'm not going anywhere" gif

Is that a flashback?

Waiting for my chicken to grill so I can eat lunch and watch this!

Yes, in the flashback.

[Mellowyellow]

2 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Yes, in the flashback.

Oh damn I was hoping it was present day.

[BkWurm1]

17 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

But wow did the Billy mention seem to come out of nowhere in that scene?

Agree.  They could have made the Billy mention make sense but instead they framed it in a way that just wasn't supported by the chronology of the series.  

5 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Oh damn I was hoping it was present day.

It works still.  :)

[Guest]

I find it interesting how Felicity is always willing to sacrifice herself. Even back in s2 when she was taken by the Count she was all "Not for me!" meaning she was willing to be injected with Vertigo. And then earlier this season she was willing to sacrifice herself to stop the nuclear bomb. And here she told Oliver to let her go.

Oh but I forgot. She's not a hero because she's just an IT girl! I wanna fight!

[SleepDeprived]

15 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

I liked the Dyla stuff, but I also felt like they were sort of having enough Diggle/Dinah just in case in the future, they can't have Lyla around due to scheduling?

No! This isn't a thing that will happen, okay?! I won't allow it! It hurt me so much that Diggle was sleeping on the couch and Lyla was so sad and hurt at him being such a Judgy McJudgerson. I really hated that they were fighting. So, no to any Diggle/Dinah happening in the future ever, okay?!

5 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Oh damn I was hoping it was present day.

We kinda had something similar in the present when Oliver used his actions instead of words and proved that he wouldn't go anywhere/would never let Felicity go when they were in the elevator shaft, even though a) she asked him to because she was willing to sacrifice herself so her boys could survive, b) he was suffering from blood loss and was in so much pain at the effort it took to one-handedly lift her back up, and c) Diggle's massive arms about ripped out of its sockets trying to keep his OTP on the ladder/rope. ;)

Thank you to the kind soul that uploaded the 'no bg music' clip. If anyone needs me, I'll be spending the night watching science on the YouTubes!

[benteen]

33 minutes ago, jay741982 said:

I almost thought Oliver was gonna take her from Behind lol

I thought so too.

[Chaser]

I'm pretty sure Felicity thought that as well.

[Guest]

We all thought it. But then they remembered they're on the CW. Haha.

[insomniadreams88]

3 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

I find it interesting how Felicity is always willing to sacrifice herself. Even back in s2 when she was taken by the Count she was all "Not for me!" meaning she was willing to be injected with Vertigo. And then earlier this season she was willing to sacrifice herself to stop the nuclear bomb. And here she told Oliver to let her go.

Oh but I forgot. She's not a hero because she's just an IT girl! I wanna fight!

I really wish they'd explore this, but I fear it'll never happen. 

3 minutes ago, SleepDeprived said:

No! This isn't a thing that will happen, okay?! I won't allow it! It hurt me so much that Diggle was sleeping on the couch and Lyla was so sad and hurt at him being such a Judgy McJudgerson. I really hated that they were fighting. So, no to any Diggle/Dinah happening in the future ever, okay?!

I know. That did hurt especially since that couch was not big enough for him. And I really want Dyla to last until the end. But we've seen that stupid things happen on this show. 

[Hiveminder]

Just finished watching the episode, and I loved it. 

Oliver and Felicity were both short with each other in the beginning (Felicity was more vocal about it because she's Felicity and he's Oliver.), but it was totally understandable given their conversation before the EMP and the stress of the situation. 

So happy that Oliver told Felicity what Chase has him believing, and delighted that her rebuttal included flamingos. 

I understand how the flashback got them from 4.23 to 5.01, but it does not explain why Felicity took up with Billy. Nothing does, really. 

I wasn't at all bothered by Felicity 'apologizing' for William, because I don't think she was apologizing in the way people are reading it. By saying she understood why he lied I took it to mean exactly that. She comprehended the reasons why he lied.  That doesn't have to mean she thinks it was the right decision now, and I think the talk of her realizing she was becoming like him actually pointed to it being the wrong decision. Becoming like Oliver in the sense of being willing to do anything to get Chase is a bad thing, so Felicity connecting that realization to understanding why Oliver lied to her tells me that she sees a little more clearly now how his mindset, developed after years of trauma, drives him to do things like that. And when she said she understood why he 'had to' lie about William, I didn't think she was using 'had to' in the sense of 'he had to do this because it was the right thing to do'. I heard 'he had to do this because his trauma compels him to act this way'. 

So, I don't think Felicity was saying anything close to, "You were totally right to keep your son a secret from me. We're coolsies now." I think she was saying, "What you did is still wrong, but my new understanding of what drove you to do that let's me see your actions in a different light and realize that your motivations were not what I thought they were. "

[ParadoxLost]

1 minute ago, Hiveminder said:

I wasn't at all bothered by Felicity 'apologizing' for William, because I don't think she was apologizing in the way people are reading it. By saying she understood why he lied I took it to mean exactly that. She comprehended the reasons why he lied.  

I must have taken it that way too because I launched into a litany of 'Well, I don't understand.  I don't understand.  Seriously, I don't understand.  If they explained it then I didn't comprehend it   Because I still don't understand." immediately after Felicity said she understood.

And really, I don't understand.

But then I got distracted by the last scene.  These dummies figured out that their nemesis was after Oliver's kid very early in the episode (as the reason for being locked up) and they had time for Felicity's spine thingy to be fixed and Oliver to have surgery and no one dispatched any team member to safeguard Oliver's kid.

[wonderwall]

Is it weird that I thought this line was so romantic?

http://gothsmoak.tumblr.com/post/160287309176/wait

Edited May 4, 2017 by wonderwall

[BkWurm1]

11 minutes ago, Hiveminder said:

hink she was saying, "What you did is still wrong, but my new understanding of what drove you to do that let's me see your actions in a different light and realize that your motivations were not what I thought they were. "

This is where I need to land to make sense of it.  And it does work since she was basically giving a shotgun apology for everything based on understanding him better.  

[JamieLynn832002]

5 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

Is it weird that I thought this line was so romantic?

http://gothsmoak.tumblr.com/post/160287309176/wait

I don't know but so did I

[calliope1975]

I know we have to defeat Chase and all, but I'm cool if the season ended tonight. Because now I think I'm supposed to be worried about what's going to happen to Spawn, and lol, no. 

I also hope to never again hear from the EP's about the uncertainty of SA/EBR's chemistry, and we best be done with other LI's. 

[Hiveminder]

11 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

I must have taken it that way too because I launched into a litany of 'Well, I don't understand.  I don't understand.  Seriously, I don't understand.  If they explained it then I didn't comprehend it   Because I still don't understand." immediately after Felicity said she understood.

And really, I don't understand.

But then I got distracted by the last scene.  These dummies figured out that their nemesis was after Oliver's kid very early in the episode (as the reason for being locked up) and they had time for Felicity's spine thingy to be fixed and Oliver to have surgery and no one dispatched any team member to safeguard Oliver's kid.

Honestly, I don't actually understand it either, but Felicity says she does, so, good for her. As long as it gets Olicity back to having sexy times with each other I'll go with it. 

But yeah, these writers fail at psychology. 

I want to add that my absolute favorite part of this episode was Oliver trying to show Felicity how to do the salmon ladder. They were so playful and relaxed. There was a moment when Oliver laughed, and it was wonderful to see him like that, especially after the last few episodes. Drunk Olicity is the second best Olicity. 

(The best Olicity being established, stable, done with these relationship stall shenanigans Olicity, of course.)

Edited May 4, 2017 by Hiveminder

[Artsda]

I loved the episode, one of the best this season in holding my attention.

Just not sure how I felt about Felicity apologizing and understanding about Oliver's lies. It would have been one thing if he lied to all, but he knew Thea among others all knew about his kid. He purposely didn't tell his fiancee even after he knew Thea knew or Malcolm knew. 

[lemotomato]

22 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

Is it weird that I thought this line was so romantic?

http://gothsmoak.tumblr.com/post/160287309176/wait

I loved it, especially since it's followed up by Felicity's trust in Oliver to not miss when he shot the arrow. That's why they're my OTP!

[Mellowyellow]

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE x 2000000000000

First things first! Damn EBR is a beautiful woman!!!!! She looked AMAZING in that post coital scene. Just absolutely gorgeous!

Also as a happily married woman I should not derive so much joy from seeing EBR's midriff but I squeed over it. I have no shame! 

That sex scene was waaaaay better than 320! It was cute, sexy, humorous, and totally like the best Olicity fanfic sex acted out! 

When he flipped her around I was like "OMG they wouldn't! I just read somewhere that CW is supposed to be kid friendly!"

"I'm chinning and upping" SHE CANNOT GET ANY CUTER!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I was REALLY dreading the apology at the end. Like reaaaally dreading it and I was going to totally block it out but it surprisingly worked for me.

I took that scene as Felicity explaining she now understood how tempting it was, bit by bit, to start to wander off down your own path and do your own thing and start keeping things to yourself.  She understood how Oliver was lured into lying to her, hiding things and being secretive in general because she has finally gotten a tiny taste of that lure herself. 

I don't think she was saying Oliver was right to lie to her about William but rather she understood how easy it was for him to be pushed into lying.

Of course the way he looked at her during that scene really help!!!!!! 

The way the looked at each other! They love each other so much! SA has THE BEST heart eyes ever. You can SEE him think Felicity is sunshine and rainbows with just one look! ARRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Hehe loved that scene at the end where Curtis was all "Oooh my ship is back!!!" and the others gave him dirty looks and he's all like "Oh don't pretend you don't all ship it too"

I LOVED THIS EP SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And EBR IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited May 4, 2017 by Mellowyellow

[Hiveminder]

7 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

 

I was REALLY dreading the apology at the end. Like reaaaally dreading it and I was going to totally block it out but it surprisingly worked for me.

I took that scene as Felicity explaining she now understood how tempting it was, bit by bit, to start to wander off down your own path and do your own thing and start keeping things to yourself.  She understood how Oliver was lured into lying to her, hiding things and being secretive in general because she has finally gotten a tiny taste of that lure herself. 

I don't think she was saying Oliver was right to lie to her about William but rather she understood how easy it was for him to be pushed into lying.

You said that much more clearly and concisely than I could. 

[Guest]

I forgot to say earlier, I really liked the Rene/Dinah/Curtis dynamic. Dinah was a lot better in this episode. Just stop giving her generic badass one-liners and she'll grow on me even more. I actually laughed when you could see the three of them before Diggle opened his apartment door, haha. 

As a whole I thought this balanced the action/emotion really well. I wish they'd remember this more often. 

[wonderwall]

There were people who honestly thought that Oliver loved to kill after episode 17 aired and were disgusted.... 

I wonder what they think after this episode? LOL

[ohjoy]

3 hours ago, calliope1975 said:

I’m thrilled to be happy watching my show again! It’s been so long. That’s my OTA AND my OTP. 

Back to basics, ya'll! It only took 20 episodes to get there!

This is the first ep all season I've actually been looking forward to watching like I used to, and it did not disappoint. My OTA, my OTP... and Sally. I've missed you so.

 

1 hour ago, Hiveminder said:

Oliver and Felicity were both short with each other in the beginning (Felicity was more vocal about it because she's Felicity and he's Oliver.), but it was totally understandable given their conversation before the EMP and the stress of the situation. 

Is it weird that I loved how snippy they both were, in their own way? You're totally right: Felicity is more vocal when pissy about stuff, but I think Oliver has this commitment to not being Yelly McYellerson toward her, so his frustration just comes off in clipped sentences and immediate dismissals. She gets vocal, he storms off, or visibly struggles to bite his tongue until he can storm off. They should not be adorable to me at that stage -- but who am I kidding, they totally are.

 

1 hour ago, Hiveminder said:

I wasn't at all bothered by Felicity 'apologizing' for William, because I don't think she was apologizing in the way people are reading it. By saying she understood why he lied I took it to mean exactly that. She comprehended the reasons why he lied.  That doesn't have to mean she thinks it was the right decision now, and I think the talk of her realizing she was becoming like him actually pointed to it being the wrong decision. Becoming like Oliver in the sense of being willing to do anything to get Chase is a bad thing, so Felicity connecting that realization to understanding why Oliver lied to her tells me that she sees a little more clearly now how his mindset, developed after years of trauma, drives him to do things like that. And when she said she understood why he 'had to' lie about William, I didn't think she was using 'had to' in the sense of 'he had to do this because it was the right thing to do'. I heard 'he had to do this because his trauma compels him to act this way'. 

So, I don't think Felicity was saying anything close to, "You were totally right to keep your son a secret from me. We're coolsies now." I think she was saying, "What you did is still wrong, but my new understanding of what drove you to do that let's me see your actions in a different light and realize that your motivations were not what I thought they were. "

 

28 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

I took that scene as Felicity explaining she now understood how tempting it was, bit by bit, to start to wander off down your own path and do your own thing and start keeping things to yourself.  She understood how Oliver was lured into lying to her, hiding things and being secretive in general because she has finally gotten a tiny taste of that lure herself. 

I don't think she was saying Oliver was right to lie to her about William but rather she understood how easy it was for him to be pushed into lying.

Headcannon accepted!

[LeighAn]

3 hours ago, Soulfire said:

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to personal reasons I havent watched the episode yet and probably wont for a couple of days. I only watched 5x19 yesterday. So this is very much appreciated @Soulfire youre doing gods work! 

Im glad everyone enjoyed the episode and loved reading everyones first impressions. 

[AudienceofOne]

Dear Arrow writers 

I would officially like apologise profusely for my rant after last week's episode. I'm afraid I was over-sensitive after some of this season's narrative decisions and Flash's awful treatment of its female characters. I wholeheartedly apologise and am anticipating an awesome season finale after this fantastic episode.

Regards, a contrite viewer

[Delphi]

 I'm going into this without reading other comments,  so my bad if I retread,  I will go back and read though!

Kodo and Podo!  I named my kittens that years ago. Beastmaster for the win!

I loved all the olicity,  ugh it was so adorable it made my hateful self smile. 

Curtis got points for making matchmaker. 

I noticed that Stephen changed his voice for every olicity scene.   Has that always been something he does,  because it works magnificently,  but I didn't notice it until tonight. 

[lemotomato]

2 minutes ago, RandomMe said:

Is it weird that I loved how snippy they both were, in their own way? You're totally right: Felicity is more vocal when pissy about stuff, but I think Oliver has this commitment to not being Yelly McYellerson toward her, so his frustration just comes off in clipped sentences and immediate dismissals. She gets vocal, he storms off, or visibly struggles to bite his tongue until he can storm off. They should not be adorable to me at that stage -- but who am I kidding, they totally are.

I felt the same way. I usually don't like it when they fight, but it was obviously so overdue and I was so encouraged by the fact that they were actually addressing their issues and not bottling things up, pretending that everything was fine like they've been doing this whole season.

Plus, the more they argued, the more I was convinced they'd reconcile for good, because that's how it works on TV

[Guest]

Oh.

I just realized the parallel of Felicity saying "You have to let me go" compared to when she said it in s4 and they broke up. Only this time he didn't let her go. It's fine. I'm fine.

[Chaser]

Oliver's expression when Felicity said she doesn't flourish well was totally Jim from The Office. LOL