S05.E22: Missing

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

Black Siren returns to help Chase; Felicity organizes a birthday party for Oliver; Lance is furious after Rene misses the custody hearing for his daughter.

[Jediknight]

Nyssa and Slade are back.  It's so awesome, we need a poet to describe it.

I'm guessing Chase is going to do something to Quentin, which will cause Black Siren to stop fighting against Team Arrow and help them.  Which I'd be completely for, they write Laurel much better as Black Siren.

[catrox14]

So, I'm thinking that Oliver is going to get Slade and Chase to fight to the death over who will manipulate Oliver the most.

[Soulfire]

Fast-paced episode. 

Could have watched an entire episode of just the birthday party. 

Felicity: "This is hard for you, isn't it?"
Oliver: "Hypothetically dating my ex-fiance? Nooo..." LOL

The William stuff is... well. I understand the show is trying to make us sympathetic towards him, but eh. They're putting too much emotional weight on someone who we saw for two seconds and has been nothing but plot points.

I think one big reason why Josh Segarra's character is so compelling as a villain is that he has no superpowers.  

LOVED seeing Slade/Deathstroke there at the end.

Will return with GIFs later.

Edited May 18, 2017 by Soulfire

[mtlchick]

A cornucopia of "Hey, nice to see you!" Malcolm! Black Cana-- Siren!  A Ghul! SLADE!

One more week and the flashbacks are gone for good. 

[KenyaJ]

“I admire you, Oliver. It takes a special kind of idiot to get dumber over time.”  Hands down, the best line of the entire series. The truest too.

William being Oliver’s breaking point would make a lot more sense if: (a) we, the audience, cared about him at all, and (b) Oliver had spent more than 24 total hours with his “boy.” But since neither of those things are true, it rings false to me. I know a parent’s love for their child generally trumps everything, but William is a stranger to us and Oliver, so the writers have failed to lay the proper foundation for this.

The birthday party was cute, though brief. Thea was super subtle, but I ain’t mad. I am, however mad that Oliver and Felicity didn’t go at it right then and there, because it’s clear how much I wanted them to they wanted to.

Fun episode. It sucks that the season is ending right when I’m feeling fully invested again.

[Tallis]

Oliver's socks revelation seems to have summoned sock adverts to this forum, or is it just me seeing them?

[Morrigan2575]

Oliver is still an idiot. Malcolm's only good for calling Oliver an idiot every chance he gets.

Curtis didn't piss me off and I'm guessing the tech will come back into play to help Dinah defeat BS next week.

Lots of good stuff although, KC still can't move her fucking face...seriously you're supposed to be an "actress" fucking emote! Evelyn is pointless but that chick can't ACG either.

They hammered the child thing so freaking often it was driving me nuts. We get it! William was kidnapped 2 freaking episodes ago.

I really hate that Husband shit. It wasn't funny when you forced the wedding, not funny now.

I know this is mostly complaints. I actually liked the episode a lot but, I'm getting the gripes out first.

[catrox14]

Malcolm had ALL the best lines tonight

"It takes a special kind of idiot to get dumber over time"
"It would be easier if we could just kill them"
"I'll cover you....really"

I'll be bummed if they kill him off. I still like him. I also still kind of want to find out that he's still the biggest bad of the series, but it looks like redemption on the horizon.

Edited May 18, 2017 by catrox14

[tangerine95]

I mostly liked it,it's was intense so pretty good set up for the finale.

Loved all the olicity and that they're taking it slow and dating again.It was cute how nervous and excited they were. Those bday party scenes were great,I wish the show did more of those type of scenes where they get to hang out.

I agree the show is putting way too much weight on William and it's falling flat.I get its his kid but for me that just not enough,I'm just here annoyed that we're supposed to get Oliver ignoring everything else for this random character who literally shared a single scene with Oliver.

[Primal Slayer]

Overall a very enjoyable episode of Arrow. I've watched like a total of 5 or 6 episodes this season and I came back at the right time.

It was great and really cool of them to give a shout out to Lord Messa and use his art on the cake. 

So the neck device ended up being Black Sirens but a collar for DD...they finally get a girl who has a Canary Cry and all of sudden she needs help focusing it....I think it will be what helps her get the upper hand with Black Siren. I for sure thought that they'd have Siren take it and that be the reason why she gains an upperhand in a battle but guess not.

This show needed more casual moments and we got just that with Olivers birthday party. It was really refreshing but lawd....The Curtis/Felicity convo afterwards.

 Turning Curtis into a glorified shipper and seemingly nothing else.....no me gusta. Shouldn't they be having him focus on his relationship with his husband?

Why wouldn't Oliver want his sister with him? At least he doesnt have to worry about her as much as he would Felicity (but I know...he loves her, etc...gotta get that OTA in) Though I guess it could also do with Felicity not being able to defend herself in a fight as well as Thea could.

Siren in da house!!!! Play with them emotions girl! I was hoping we'd see her break out of Argus instead of taking the lazy route "oh she just happened to get out of a high security jail cell" Poor Quentin. He always gets put through the ringer. The Thea/Quentin scene was great. The Siren/Quentin scene later on was great. Katie/Paul always deliver the best. In fact the entire Lance family deliver the best scenes together. Black Siren isn't just a one note villain (srry!), she has feelings and I'm glad that they chose to show it with him.

Diggle looked like he was going 10mph trying to hit that woman lol. Like dude...you should've known how this would work and turned the hell around and gone like at least 45mph.

I'm surprised that Malcolm doesnt have any connections but I am here for him ripping into Oliver. It was very enjoyable. I loved how he told Oliver that he got his back just so he could get some kills in lol. I laughed at how it's pouring down rain but Oliver gets like 1 drop on him. Chase gets all wet in a matter of 2 seconds but Oliver is perfectly dry.

Nyssa is back! YASSS! It's great seeing her. Why don't they just sign Katrina full time? Just go through with it already. I enjoyed Malcolm not wanting to work with her.


Laurel!!!!!!!! Imaginary Laurel but still!!! Laurel!! I like KC as a blonde but there are no lies that she looks drop dead gorgeous as a brunette. Great scene with her and Oliver.

And in true Arrow fashion, it takes all of an hour to get halfway across the world.

The guy they got to play Slade looks A LOT like Manu. That's some good recasting. Props to them for pulling it off so seamlessly. 

I wonder why Chase didn't have DD and Rene with the rest of the gang, seems weird to kidnap them only to keep them all separated.

[SleepDeprived]

This episode was fun and quite intense. I was pretty entertained but I'm gonna need a moment to properly think about everything that happened.

Also, Oliver and Felicity are so cute. That party was super adorable. And they're "taking it one step at a time" dating! Pass it on!

[statsgirl]

I didn't see Lance furious at Rene.  That was him being kind of affectionate and annoyed.  I have no idea how Black Siren feels about Lance though.

I never thought I'd be so glad to see Malcolm. The shade at Oliver was just perfect.

As glad as I am to see Nyssa, how did she get there so fast?  Does that portal to Nanda Parbat still exist?

From the live posting thread, about Laurel:

11 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

He must've been so disappointed when he came home and she told him to rot, LOL

That's actually funny though.  Are we going to see Oliver contact Laurel next episode and she rejects him?  How do they get from the image of Laurel making Oliver choose life to what happened in the pilot episode?

 

12 minutes ago, Soulfire said:

I think one big reason why Josh Segarra's character is so compelling as a villain is that he has no superpowers. 

That and some very good acting skills.

10 minutes ago, KenyaJ said:

“I admire you, Oliver. It takes a special kind of idiot to get dumber over time.”  Hands down, the best line of the entire series. The truest too.

Fun episode. It sucks that the season is ending right when I’m feeling fully invested again.

They're really bringing their A game now.   Except in terms of William, whose benefit is still a figment of their imaginations.

Why did it take so long?

[LeighAn]

It seems the "husband" thing is something Marc feels the need to double down on as much as the William thing.

I won't be watching until later so looking forward to the gifs @Soulfire ?

[insomniadreams88]

Loved the party stuff. Loved the Olicity stuff. Loved the OTA stuff. Liked that we got a brief Diggle/Felicity scene, but too little too late. (I've also given up on getting a good Felicity/Thea scene anytime soon sadly.) Where was all of that the rest of the season? Seriously.

The heart-eyes from Oliver and Felicity confirm that they can really never give them other LIs again. I'd really like to see them try after that party. They thought the others weren't being subtle about giving them alone time? They were the ones not being subtle. 

Liked how Lance reacted to Black Siren. Paul Blackthorne was really good in those scenes. Though I do feel like Thea had time to shout out, "just her doppelganger from another Earth!" before she was tranqed, so obviously they just wanted to wait for Thea and Lance to have that conversation.

I like Nyssa (and I liked the Sara mention), but I never want to hear "husband" again from her. (Same with "daddy" from Black Siren. I cringed the hardest the entire episode during that.)

And like I said in the Live Posting Thread, I hate that every time William shows up and is danger, they expect us (and Oliver) to stop caring about everyone else because he's his son. And that's what they show too. I didn't like the "my boy" line, and I just never want to see or hear about that kid again. 

As for the ending, I think it would have had a greater impact if we didn't know Slade was coming back. 

Finally, I liked that "Ms. Smoak" but I also wish it hadn't taken until the end of the penultimate episode of the season for any sort of interaction between Felicity and Chase.

[calliope1975]

I liked this ep - enough to rewatch and buy on iTunes. It was a nice setup to the final battle. I still wish Oliver was smarter, but I'm going to have to let that go.

Real talk - that child is a terrible actor, hasn't been on screen enough for me to care about, and could be erased by Flashpoint 2.0, and I would not care. At all. I have a feeling Oliver's built up some super cool dad/son relationship with that kid that never happened and/or we never saw. 

MB is a dick, but I was glad to see Slade again. 

To back up, that party was perfection. I could have watched an entire episode of Oliver talking about socks. 

[Primal Slayer]

They really should just move William to Earth 2. Put him and Sam to sleep and just take em across the pond. They wouldn't even notice.

[Soulfire]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2017 by Soulfire

[Primal Slayer]

I really wish they would've had Oliver just break at one point and be all

[Lady Calypso]

17 minutes ago, Soulfire said:

The William stuff is... well. I understand the show is trying to make us sympathetic towards him, but eh. They're putting too much emotional weight on someone who we saw for two seconds and has been nothing but plot points.

Yeah, I have very little sympathy because they hardly bring out the William card unless the kid's in danger or something. It's hard to care when he's nothing more than a plot device. Not that I want to care about the kid, because that means he could end up showing up a lot more and the last thing this show needs is a recurring kid character. 

Also, the "That's my boy" line from Oliver felt cheesy and awkward. Most nowadays can't pull the line off without sounding like a grandfather who is proud of his son or grandson. Well, except for this guy:

But Jensen is always an exception. 

As for the rest of the episode, it was a good setup to the finale. Everyone getting captured was pretty good. Starting with the low man Rene, and working the way up to the most important people, Diggle and Felicity! We all know William was captured days ago, so he doesn't count, even if his revealed kidnapping was last. 

The flashbacks were alright. I know they are ending soon. Now, I figured that we'd have a mention of Laurel at some point, because like it or not, she was still an important part of his life at that time, so not hearing her name in the last couple of episodes wouldn't have made sense. Seeing her was unexpected and that wig was HORRIBLE (could they not get a wig closer to pre-series Laurel's hair?) So seeing her in this episode didn't really shock me or upset me because I knew they had to follow season 1 canon of Lauriver, even though they've diverted away from it since and they've ignored Laurel mostly in the flashbacks.

Black Siren seems to be set up for a redemption arc, at least partially. I'm not sure how I feel about that, to be honest. I get that Katie's back as a series regular as BS so they need some humanizing aspects to her, but I hope she ultimately stays evil, or on that spectrum of the morally grey area. And if she can just share her scenes with Quentin, that would be helpful. Katie really does her best work with Paul Blackthorne.

The birthday party was spectacular. Leave it to Team Arrow to think that a surprise party wouldn't start with violence! They are definitely setting up Oliver and Felicity to get back together, and I am thrilled. If they can leave the stupid drama out of their relationship, then that's even better.

So, Slade's back, and he seems nice toward Oliver. I guess the Mirakuru is completely out of his system, and he's gotten over his Oliver issues?

[spartan]

KC is perfect, LAUREL E1 AND BLACK SIREN IN SAME EPISODE , yess.  Focus on oliver,  no dinah, quentin is very cute with black siren, poor quentin, nobody tell him, episode good

[Primal Slayer]

3 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

So, Slade's back, and he seems nice toward Oliver. I guess the Mirakuru is completely out of his system, and he's gotten over his Oliver issues?

But are supposed to believe that Chase would TOTALLY forget about Slade and not try to recruit him or kill him if he didn't join? That part seems like a total miss depending on how next week goes.

[Mrs. de Winter]

4 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

That's actually funny though.  Are we going to see Oliver contact Laurel next episode and she rejects him?  How do they get from the image of Laurel making Oliver choose life to what happened in the pilot episode?

I wonder how much they wish CD was available and could have used Tommy instead in that scene (if for no other reason because KC doesn't look anything like she did in season one). 

Clearly KC did not spend her free time taking acting lessons.  Love ya PB, but looks like you have moved back to fast forward land given your scene partner. 

Show, as others have pointed out, you have to make me care about the kid if you are going to make such a big deal of him. 

And while we're at it show, the husband jokes - have worn out their welcome.  It was funny (arguably) once.  Now, it's old, tired, and annoying. 

Loved Malcolm and his sharing his truths with Oliver.  It almost makes me wish he had been around more this year to call Oliver stupid. 

Felicity and Diggle together are always a plus.  And kudos to the show for showing Lord Mesa some love.  He seems like a good guy who manages to be respectful to all of the fandom. 

[apinknightmare]

3 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

Black Siren seems to be set up for a redemption arc, at least partially. I'm not sure how I feel about that, to be honest.

I wish they hadn't gone as far as they did with her this ep by revealing that chaining Quentin up was difficult for her and that she'd struck a deal with Chase that he'd stay safe (unless she was lying). Insinuating that everything on E2 is the same means that she should pretty much have difficulty being a true meanie to everyone it would be interesting to see her have conflict with. 

Not that this show can stay consistent from episode to episode. 

14 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

That's actually funny though.  Are we going to see Oliver contact Laurel next episode and she rejects him?  How do they get from the image of Laurel making Oliver choose life to what happened in the pilot episode?

I mean, it makes sense to me that Oliver would hallucinate a forgiving Laurel, since he'd fucked her sister into death on that boat and was probably super desperate for that forgiveness. My guess is though that they're gonna retcon her reception to him (or maybe show that she privately had some misgivings about it, which is...not great).

[Primal Slayer]

This episode makes me rethink how sincere Siren was back in 5x10 when she offered to help Oliver take down Prometheus. They will probably leave it up in the air but who knows, she could've been willing to change sides before feeling like there is no way this is gonna work out so screw yall! back to my original plan.

[insomniadreams88]

1 minute ago, apinknightmare said:

I wish they hadn't gone as far as they did with her this ep by revealing that chaining Quentin up was difficult for her and that she'd struck a deal with Chase that he'd stay safe (unless she was lying). 

Yeah, none of that made sense to me. She has a metahuman canary cry. Why can't she just scream Chase (and anyone else if the others with him try to stop her) into submission long enough to get away from him?

And her initial interactions with Lance didn't feel like they matched up with when she was chaining up Lance. Maybe it's just because the "daddy" parts bothered me so much. 

[apinknightmare]

Quote

This episode makes me rethink how sincere Siren was back in 5x10 when she offered to help Oliver take down Prometheus. They will probably leave it up in the air but who knows, she could've been willing to change sides

If E1 is just like E2, she was probably angling to get that E1 Oliver D.

Edited May 18, 2017 by apinknightmare

[Primal Slayer]

4 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

I wish they hadn't gone as far as they did with her this ep by revealing that chaining Quentin up was difficult for her and that she'd struck a deal with Chase that he'd stay safe (unless she was lying). Insinuating that everything on E2 is the same means that she should pretty much have difficulty being a true meanie to everyone it would be interesting to see her have conflict with.

Siren having a good relationship with her father isn't different from Iris/Joe still having a loving relationship on E2. But her relationship with Oliver/Quentin is  probably where it ends. Her/Thea probably didn't grow to become close, her/Tommy probably didn't happen and the odds of her knowing Felicity/Diggle are slim to none.

[insomniadreams88]

Just now, apinknightmare said:

If E1 is just like E2, she was probably angling to get that E1 Oliver D.

And if E1 is just like E2, E2 OQ cheated on her, took her sister on the boat, and she would have still taken him back. You know, I really hope E2 Tommy is alive and was treated a lot better than E1 Tommy. 

[Angel12d]

I enjoyed the episode! 

Loved all the cute party stuff and the Lord Mesa cake! Now we know why MG kept mentioning the cake and saying it was awesome. Haha. Felicity ordering it for a 6 year old though because she didn't think she could order a GA cake for a grown man. LMAO.

Olicity were perfect. So much chemistry and all the heart eyes. Me like! Me want more! I also liked the way they agreed to date again, just take it slow. It makes sense after everything that's happened. Now I just need a kiss. 

The Black Siren stuff. I'm not sure what to make of her suddenly caring about Quentin and saying that it's hard on her too. IDK, I just don't trust what she says tbh. Also poor Quentin doesn't deserve this emotional manipulation! Stay away from him! 

Nice to see Nyssa again but STOP WITH THE HUSBAND CRAP. I once joked in s3 that I knew Nyssa would call him "husband" but I didn't expect it to continue into s5. I cursed myself, didn't I?!

Edited May 18, 2017 by Angel12d

[apinknightmare]

1 minute ago, Primal Slayer said:

Siren having a good relationship with her father isn't different from Iris/Joe still having a loving relationship on E2. But her relationship with Oliver/Quentin is  probably where it ends. Her/Thea probably didn't grow to become close, her/Tommy probably didn't happen and the odds of her knowing Felicity/Diggle are slim to none.

Yes, and her having conflict with E1 Oliver and Quentin would be what's most interesting to me. That she has a soft spot for people that she was close to on the other earth right away = not very interesting to me. I've already seen Felicity knock her out, and don't care much for her relationship with Diggle, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[statsgirl]

I really liked the Lord Mesa easter egg.  Funny, and respectful to the fandom.

7 minutes ago, Mrs. de Winter said:

I wonder how much they wish CD was available and could have used Tommy instead in that scene

It looks like Chicago med has fewer episodes so maybe he'll be able to visit on Arrow.

29 minutes ago, Tallis said:

Oliver's socks revelation seems to have summoned sock adverts to this forum, or is it just me seeing them?

Not on the board but I just saw a commercial for something to help people with limited mobility put on their socks and take them off again.

17 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

As for the rest of the episode, it was a good setup to the finale. Everyone getting captured was pretty good. Starting with the low man Rene, and working the way up to the most important people, Diggle and Felicity! We all know William was captured days ago, so he doesn't count, even if his revealed kidnapping was last.

That's a good point, they're taking people in the reverse order of importance.  Nice to see our opinion of Rene substantiated.

I feel about William like I feel about Laurel -- that they think I care about these characters a lot more than I really do.  I'm not going to worry about what they're going to do with Black Siren s6 but I do think she's more interesting when she's grey than when she's supposed to be good.  That's always been the problem with Laurel, the writers wanted her to be good but KC is so much better at playing a bitch.

Tbh, if they gave her a s6 contract based on how she played Black Siren in 5x10, why would they want to redeem her?

[strikera0]

13 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

Nyssa is back! YASSS! It's great seeing her. Why don't they just sign Katrina full time? Just go through with it already. I enjoyed Malcolm not wanting to work with her.

I know, right? Nyssa has always been one of my most favourite recurring characters. I would have much rather seen her as a regular cast member than the likes of Curtis or Rene. 

Quote

I wonder why Chase didn't have DD and Rene with the rest of the gang, seems weird to kidnap them only to keep them all separated.

I'm guessing they are probably with Talia. Got to keep her involved somehow. 

[Primal Slayer]

Just now, apinknightmare said:

Yes, and her having conflict with E1 Oliver and Quentin would be what's most interesting to me. That she has a soft spot for people that she was close to on the other earth right away = not very interesting to me. I've already seen Felicity knock her out, and don't care much for her relationship with Diggle, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just because she cares about them (Quentin more then Oliver) doesn't mean it cancels out conflict. She obviously has no qualms about crossing the line between good and bad and considering she was practically like "f it, I'll kill Oliver anyway" already puts her relationship with Oliver on a different pedestal. 

[apinknightmare]

1 minute ago, Primal Slayer said:

Just because she cares about them (Quentin more then Oliver) doesn't mean it cancels out conflict. She obviously has no qualms about crossing the line between good and bad and considering she was practically like "f it, I'll kill Oliver anyway" already puts her relationship with Oliver on a different pedestal. 

Where did I write that it cancels out conflict? I just wrote that it made it less interesting - I mean she was apparently strong-armed into helping Chase the first time, strong-armed again, but she's worked out safety clauses? No threat at all that she might actually hurt Quentin or anyone else basically? Meh. Glad you stan it though.

[catrox14]

25 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

[snip]

Also, the "That's my boy" line from Oliver felt cheesy and awkward. Most nowadays can't pull the line off without sounding like a grandfather who is proud of his son or grandson. Well, except for this guy:

But Jensen is always an exception.

[snip]

Nice. Sorry, it's like I get summoned or something. Well played.

Ugh. Stupid Laurel. Please. Go Away. Poor Quentin deserves so much better than that asshole in his face.  I'm glad, Thea was there to make sure he understood that BS is bullshit. Go AWAY, Laurel. Far, Far away.

My head!canon remains that Oliver was trying to shoot the Laurel hallucination and he accidentally shot the lock off the cell door.

[Primal Slayer]

1 minute ago, apinknightmare said:

Where did I write that it cancels out conflict? I just wrote that it made it less interesting - I mean she was apparently strong-armed into helping Chase the first time, strong-armed again, but she's worked out safety clauses? No threat at all that she might actually hurt Quentin or anyone else basically? Meh. Glad you stan it though.

Anyone else though? She didn't say she worked out a safety clause for anyone besides Q.  The threat is obviously still there, not as much for Quentin for her but it is still easy to have him choose between her or Thea which would probably raise the threat level on her side. 

[insomniadreams88]

The problem with any safety clauses is I can't see Chase honoring any deals. He killed his own wife. I don't think he'd care about others' loved ones especially once he has everyone on Lian Yu. True, Black Siren might not know about his wife (she probably didn't get a TV at ARGUS like Chase did) but still. Why would she believe him? 

[apinknightmare]

5 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

Anyone else though? She didn't say she worked out a safety clause for anyone besides Q.

I know? They've already shown her having a soft spot and being dumb enough to think Chase might honor it so I just don't find her as threatening as someone who just straight-up doesn't give a shit about anyone (like Chase). I think they played their hand with that too early, that's all. It's my opinion. You really don't have to keep trying to talk me out of it.

ETA: I would love it if it turned out she was lying to Quentin though.

Edited May 18, 2017 by apinknightmare

[Lantern7]

Damn. Barry is getting put through the wringer on his show, yet Oliver still has him beat in manpain. And on his birthday to boot.

Can't blame Ollie for his moves. It just so happens that he's on a CW show at a point where the protagonist always gets his teeth kicked in. Luckily, Malcolm is back from his epic failure with the Legion of Doom. And Nyssa is back to generally be awesome. And Slade on top of all that? Dang.

Evelyn is totally getting killed next week, right? Also, why didn't anybody sit Quentin down and tell him about Laurel-2? "She looks like your daughter, she sounds like her, she even sucks as hard as her . . . but it ain't her." Here's hoping Dinah knocks her on her ass.

[thuganomics85]

Holy shit, Slade's back!  Not just "random stunt guy in the Deathstroke suit" Slade, but they finally brought back Manu Bennett!  I thought that bridge had been burned (while I hated how they did over the character, Manu could have been way more tactful then he was), but I guess they made peace (probably helped that Manu's post-Arrow career hasn't been all that great.)  Still, glad to see him, and even if that one moment, he commanded the screen.  One of the most charismatic actors out there.

Even then, of course I'm the most excited about the return of my beloved Nyssa and the gorgeous Katrina Law.  This better be leading to an Al Ghul face-off.  Love how Malcolm still hates her ass.  Hope we see more of her now that Training Day is likely over.  Although, I don't know if I want more of her here, or for her to finally reunite with Sara on Legends of Tomorrow (not to mention, seeing how Nyssa would react to the likes of Mick Rory...)

Speaking of returns, never would have predicted seeing Yao Fei/Byron Mann again.  Talk about some season one nostalgia.  And, hey, a Shado mention/flashback!

Malcolm had all the best lines, but then again, he usually does.  Welcome back as well, you magnificent bastard!

All that said, I found a lot of the actual stuff going on to be kind of dull.  Of course, Chase not only had this all planned out to the tee, Oliver naturally fails every single time, and now everyone on Team Arrow is captured.  And even then, he holds strong, but then he sees William and snaps like a twig.  There is no suspense here.  It's gotten to the point where I'm wondering if this is all a ruse, and Chase is actually from the future, because he seems to know everything.  He might as well be Savitar Jr.

So, Black Siren returns, in order to bring Katie Cassidy back to the fold.  Honestly, I'm more curious if Katie's going to get second billing status again for next season, or will she settle for a special "with" billing instead (assuming Chase exits come finale time.)  Anyway, once again, Cassidy seems way more effective playing a villainous role, but I'm still mainly indifferent to her.

At least Rene didn't abandon his daughter.  I can totally believe Chase planned that on purpose and told Evelyn to wait until right before the court date.  He probably gave an evil laugh too!

Not sure what to make of the flashbacks.  At this point, I'm waiting for it to end with Oliver just recruiting Sylvester Stallone to pop Dolph Lundgren across the jaw, Rocky IV style!

Finale should be exciting! 

[bmoore4026]

I'm so motherfucking sick of the League of Assassins I could motherfucking puke.

[SleepDeprived]

Quentin to BS: "My Laurel wouldn't be that stupid." Oh.

I would like to take back what I said in 5x10 about KC as BS. She's still not good, y'all, even as a villain. Like what was mentioned upthread, is it really too much to ask for her face to move a little and properly convey some emotions? That flashback Laurel (wig and all) was terrible. It's a good thing that William was in this episode so, at least, she wasn't totally the worst actor? Child, please don't take this as me being mean but, if this is your chosen profession, please go to acting school some time?

Oliver's birthday party was the best part of the episode and was super fun. I love it whenever we get to see the Team relaxing a little. The Lord Mesa cake was a nice touch and a very sweet shout-out to such a nice dude. I loved how everyone is so supportive of Oliver and Felicity getting back together. They're just so cute. Their heart eyes and those smiles were just adorable. Although I'm going to need a lot more info about Oliver's thing with socks and Felicity's mentioning a night spent under the stars.

I laughed at Oliver grabbing his chest after Felicity pointed the gun at him. Nice little bit by SA there. I call shenanigans, though, that Olicity didn't even lunge for a goodbye kiss before Digg and Felicity left the bunker. Also loved the Delicity scenes we got, even though I find it highly questionable that neither Digg nor Felicity noticed the big ramp behind Talia that catapulted them onto that huge cargo container box and totaled their car. I know Felicity wears glasses but Diggle should have good eyesight, noh? I did chuckle at the Isabel Rochev call-back so forgiven, I guess.

All the villains know who the most important people are in Oliver's life. Is it odd that I kinda loved that Chase honed in on "Sis" and "Ms. Smoak" on the island? JS is just so good in this role. I'm pretty bummed that we'll probably lose Chase next week when he gets defeated. I will miss the pretty.

Malcolm's back and, while I'll admit that he was pretty fun and useful in this episode, I really didn't miss him at all and would be fine with him disappearing again after this season. I always welcome Nyssa's presence but I have to agree with everyone that the "husband" thing has been overplayed. I'm excited to see her square off with Talia in the finale, though! Manu looked terrible but Slade actually teaming-up with Oliver again is kinda exciting, provided he doesn't backstab him next week.

[Hiveminder]

56 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

That's actually funny though.  Are we going to see Oliver contact Laurel next episode and she rejects him?  How do they get from the image of Laurel making Oliver choose life to what happened in the pilot episode?

42 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

I mean, it makes sense to me that Oliver would hallucinate a forgiving Laurel, since he'd fucked her sister into death on that boat and was probably super desperate for that forgiveness. My guess is though that they're gonna retcon her reception to him (or maybe show that she privately had some misgivings about it, which is...not great).

I feel like I missed something. Why would Oliver's hallucination of Laurel have any effect on how the actual Laurel acted in the pilot?

[apinknightmare]

2 minutes ago, Hiveminder said:

I feel like I missed something. Why would Oliver's hallucination of Laurel have any effect on how the actual Laurel acted in the pilot?

I'm not saying it would - but IIRC

Spoiler

I think MG said we're going to see some reactions from people finding out that Oliver's alive that we didn't get to see in the pilot, so I wouldn't be surprised if they retconned Laurel's or added an additional scene that ~softens it.

[Angel12d]

When Diggle and Felicity had that car crash...I'm just saying, if Felicity was driving her trusted van, that wouldn't have happened. LMAO.

Actually, now that I think about it, it felt like there were quite a few callbacks to the last couple of episodes of s2? 

[apinknightmare]

2 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

When Diggle and Felicity had that car crash...I'm just saying, if Felicity was driving her trusted van, that wouldn't have happened. LMAO.

Speaking of car crashes, is there only one road out of Star City? If not, Chase and co need to play the lottery since their ability to predict the future is flawless.

[LeighAn]

8 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

 

So, Black Siren returns, in order to bring Katie Cassidy back to the fold.  Honestly, I'm more curious if Katie's going to get second billing status again for next season, or will she settle for a special "with" billing instead (assuming Chase exits come finale time.)  Anyway, once again, Cassidy seems way more effective playing a villainous role, but I'm still mainly indifferent to her.

From memory in the announcement wast Katie brought back as a season 6 regular not a series regular? Therefore she can't get second billing cause as yet she's not a main cast member. So she'd probably have similar billing to like Adrian Chase/Josh Segera 

[statsgirl]

Oliver in the pilot acted like Laurel was extraneous to his life.. I can understand that in terms of his focus on his mission and the whole "I can't be with someone I care about" schtick.  But his vision of Laurel just saved his life -- I would have expected him to be softer, more caring of Laurel than he was in the pilot episode.

@BkWurm1 said it first in the live posting episode but WTH was it with Oliver thinking that sending Felicity and Diggle away would be what flummoxes Chase?  Oliver's go-to move every May, and some Decembers, is to separate those he cares about from him.  Chase doesn't need to be psychic to know that's what Oliver is going to do.

1 hour ago, Primal Slayer said:

A. She was lying
Or
B. She's naive

We already know she lied in 5x10 that she cared about Oliver and Thea, and that Chase forced her to help him.

Edited May 18, 2017 by statsgirl

[Angel12d]

Just now, apinknightmare said:

Speaking of car crashes, is there only one road out of Star City? If not, Chase and co need to play the lottery since their ability to predict the future is flawless.

I think so? We've definitely seen that road before. Wasn't it even the one where they watched Roy drive away in s3? LOL.

Chase is always ten steps ahead, remember? He knows EVERYTHING! Haha.