S06.E01: Fallout

[Mellowyellow]

I'm watching right now!

Typing here during the crap scenes!

I think they has Curtis do the bomb thing at beginning because they wanted to save the Felicity reveal for a little bit later.

***

Ok I gave up and fast forwarded a whole heap of crap! Boring and full of bad acting! KC's bad acting continues to floor me! Dinah's acting is just as bad. I am not sure what emotions she is trying to convey! MYSON is a better actor! There! I said it! Kid is not as bad as I expected! The dialogue did him no favours but compared to BS/BC I thought he was a notch up!

Not enough Felicity! Like at all! 

On the whole it was a hell of a lot better than 5A because at this point all I care about is shipping since imo most of this show is trash anyways and the ship was done very well in this episode. My personal aim this season is to accept that it's trash and try not to whinge too much and watch better shows that do not require whinging! 

hehe I am probably in a good mood since I fast forwarded a tonne of stuff! 

On an extremely pleasant side note: OMG Oliver sooo wants to jump Felicity!!! New face for this season seems to be slightly dirty heart eyes! 

[BkWurm1]

9 minutes ago, lemotomato said:

Felicity figured out that BS was going to attack the Police Academy.

Except then it didn't happen, lol.  She didn't even run coms.  I did like that she got to go in the field and brainstorm for how to make that happen but it was a fleeting scene.  She didn't have any bad scenes, just wasn't enough a part of the overall episode for my money.  

[strikera0]

1 hour ago, insomniadreams88 said:

IAs for Diggle, why couldn't he have those conversations with Oliver or Felicity instead of Dinah? There has been too much Diggle/Dinah going back to last season and I hate that it looks like that trend is continuing. 

Well, DR and JH have great on-screen chemistry. It makes sense that the producers would try to write more scenes for the two of them. But yeah, I think it's about time that Diggle and Felicity get to have some one-on-one conversations again and it would also be nice if the producers would finally give us a clue about

Spoiler

Dinah's upcoming (not Diggle!) love interest, so that people can stop worrying every time they are in a scene together. 

Edited October 13, 2017 by strikera0

[statsgirl]

21 minutes ago, lemotomato said:

Felicity figured out that BS was going to attack the Police Academy.

It was a ruse though to get them out of the bunker so BS could attack it.  I guess they wanted to have Diggle in the fights scenes with the Black Siren Gang. The show still didn't explain how Oliver, Rene, Dinah and Curtis teleported back to the lair, or how it was okay for Oliver to leave in the middle of the ceremony.

Looking on the plus side for the episode:  Oliver mentioned that William has grandparents so he doesn't have to go to conferences like Thea, he can just be visiting his grandparents.  A lot.

[BkWurm1]

And why would Slade take off on with no shelter when he had the option of shelter?  I know he didn't stick around long enough to hear the suggestion, but he's a survivor.  He's only going to ditch them if he had a better option and he did NOT have another option.  And supposedly he went back to them?  

And why did he do nothing with Thea?  He saw her and was able to send Oliver to her, but offer any care or treatment to the sister of a man he calls friend didn't even occur to him?  

I HATE that we got no reaction shots of Oliver finding out who survived except for Slade, looks dead Thea and hey, Sam survived and is fine...oh nope, spoke too soon.  Maybe I shouldn't have made that promise to the kid.

We should have gotten the kid's reaction to his mom dying and Oliver not keeping his promise and THEN done the five month time skip.  Ack, this episode is going to bug me.  

Edited October 13, 2017 by BkWurm1

[Mellowyellow]

I am in some Twilight zone where I did not mind William! 

I do not know what to do with myself!

He will be a lovely brother tot he Olicitots when he sorts himself out! 

[BunsenBurner]

What was the purpose for blowing up the police station and the arrow cave? What a waste.Did they need the space for other sets? 

Could they just get rid of BC, BS, WD and Curtis and keep PB, SA, DR and EBR?

Thea had the easiest job of all. Play dead/comatose in 2 different scenes.

Edited October 13, 2017 by BunsenBurner

[Mellowyellow]

1 minute ago, BunsenBurner said:

What was the purpose for blowing up the police station and the arrow cave? What a waste.Did they need the space for other sets? 

Could they just get rid of BC, BS, WD and Curtis and keep PB, SA, DR and EBR?

No purpose! They have to hire KC for "reasons" and write her a storyline so she needs stuff to blow up since they are setting her up as some sort of terrorist.

[LeighAn]

10 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

 

On an extremely pleasant side note: OMG Oliver sooo wants to jump Felicity!!! New face for this season seems to be slightly dirty heart eyes! 

I liked that it was Oliver pushing for Felicity to come over and not the other way round. Man is feeling thirsty for some love.

[Last Time Lord]

I enjoyed this. I loved awkward dad Oliver. He has no idea what he's doing, it's amazing.

I think it's adorable that Willaim has a Flash backpack. Though, now I'm wondering exactly how the logistics that work. Does Barry get a royalty check from merchandising rights of or something? This is going to bother me.

Really curious how things will develop now that Oliver's secret is seemingly out, And exactly who it was that rescued Black Siren.

[statsgirl]

I don't know about the Arrow lair but MG said that they had to lose one of their sets because the area around it was getting too noisy to shoot it. I assume that's the police station.

[insomniadreams88]

I still can’t believe we didn’t see Oliver reuniting with at least Felicity and Diggle on the island. I expected it, but I had hoped that I’d be proven wrong. 

[Mellowyellow]

Just now, LeighAn said:

I liked that it was Oliver pushing for Felicity to come over and not the other way round. Man is feeling thirsty for some love.

They had me there! I honestly thought they were going for the "Oliver is too busy tackling MYSON to have a relationship with Felicity" angle!

SOOOO surprised! Like I said the shippy stuff was VERY well done! 

[statsgirl]

7 minutes ago, Last Time Lord said:

I think it's adorable that Willaim has a Flash backpack. Though, now I'm wondering exactly how the logistics that work. Does Barry get a royalty check from merchandising rights of or something? This is going to bother me.

It's how they pay for STAR labs.

[BkWurm1]

1 minute ago, BunsenBurner said:

What was the purpose for blowing up the police station and the arrow cave? What a waste.Did they need the space for other sets? 

Could they just get rid of BC, BS, WD and Curtis and keep PB, SA, DR and EBR?

Well with the police station set, they were losing that sound stage and had to rebuild it anyway so why not blow it up, lol.  It's just that they still haven't explained WHY BS did it.  There's no proof she knew Quentin would be there that hour or that the minion would be in interrogation right at the precise time.  

So many plot holes.  

I wonder who was in the copter at the end.  ME?  One of Barry's other time remnents?  

[Last Time Lord]

2 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

It's how they pay for STAR labs.

Makes about as much sense as anything over in Central City.

[BunsenBurner]

Don't you think the Flash backpack is a little young for a 6th grader?

[statsgirl]

8 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I wonder who was in the copter at the end.  ME?  One of Barry's other time remnents?  

This season's Big Bad.  A man, of course.

Spoiler

My guess is Richard Dragon.

[jay741982]

2 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Well with the police station set, they were losing that sound stage and had to rebuild it anyway so why not blow it up, lol.  It's just that they still haven't explained WHY BS did it.  There's no proof she knew Quentin would be there that hour or that the minion would be in interrogation right at the precise time.  

So many plot holes.  

I wonder who was in the copter at the end.  ME?  One of Barry's other time remnents?  

My guess is Richard Dragon

[BkWurm1]

4 minutes ago, Last Time Lord said:

I enjoyed this. I loved awkward dad Oliver. He has no idea what he's doing, it's amazing.

I think it's adorable that Willaim has a Flash backpack. Though, now I'm wondering exactly how the logistics that work. Does Barry get a royalty check from merchandising rights of or something? This is going to bother me.

Really curious how things will develop now that Oliver's secret is seemingly out, And exactly who it was that rescued Black Siren.

 

Long time ago on Lois & Clark, they had Supes set it up that he got a cut of the merchandise and it was all sent to charity.  I make that my fall back assumption for all the hero's since then but in the show's reality, there's probably just a free for all.  

1 minute ago, BunsenBurner said:

Don't you think the Flash backpack is a little young for a 6th grader?

Actually, I think these days even college age kids probably could pull off superhero merchandise.  

1 minute ago, statsgirl said:

This season's Big Bad.  A man, of course.

  Hide contents

My guess is Richard Dragon.

I only hesitated on Dragon because I've been thinking he's still in jail but maybe that's part of his backstory, not his present. 

[Last Time Lord]

5 minutes ago, BunsenBurner said:

Don't you think the Flash backpack is a little young for a 6th grader?

Maybe, a little. Especially in our world, but in the world where the Flash is a living breathing person, I can see the statue of limitations on that being skewed ever so slightly.

...

Is he really in sixth grade? He looks so much younger, to me. I would have guessed fourth grade, at best

[RobertDeSneero]

So, we're just going to get a lot of flashbacks to what happened on the island this season, aren't we?

[popgoesculture]

1 hour ago, GirlvsTV said:

I haven't watched regularly in a really long while and skipped nearly all of season 5.

I'm in the same boat, and I thought I'd tune in tonight and... wow. That was bad. Arrow has always veered into the cheesy, but it was fun and had good character moments in the past. But this time the writing was SO bad that I was cringing. Even compared to Legends/the Flash... the Arrow writing was sub-par. Also, show, you made two of the female characters incredibly stupid (why was Samantha running back TO the island when Felicity was listening to Oliver who was on the boat WITH William and why have Thea even bother to go after her) and then have Felicity fall to create some sort of drama? Bleah. It was amazing how little impact Thea's outcome had on Oliver/the show. This is the sister who he joined the League of Assassins for, the member of his family that he always sought to protect. 

Also, I thought that Wild Dog was really rude in his comment to Felicity when she brought their food (why in the world is she bringing them dinner? when they're all going home anyway?). Like the line reading was much too harsh and not good-natured snarky -- although why he continues to call her Blondie and NO one else on the team says anything is beyond me.  

Even the acting was bad. Stephen Amell looked like he did not know what to do with his hands half the time and the kid isn't helping in the acting scenario. PB, DR, and basically everyone could not make the writing (and directing... hi Shaky Cam which apparently is an "artistic choice") work. 

And Slade is just wandering around the hospital? Isn't he still wanted for Moira's death? 

I was just really hopeful that it'd be better after the mess of Season 5. 

[statsgirl]

Samantha died as she had lived - making bad decisions for other people.  She decided to keep William from knowing Oliver is his father and pretty much from having a relationship with him so William has no idea who this guy is other than he keeps getting kidnapped because of him. Then as she was dying, Samantha told Oliver to keep William with him in this very traumatic time  instead of with her parents who William knows and presumably feels comfortable with and maybe doesn't have to change schools to live with while William gets to know his bio Dad.

Oliver may reject seeing a therapist for his own trauma but he owes it to William to seek professional help for him.

[Racj82]

1 hour ago, Mrs. de Winter said:

I am seriously hoping someone asks DR at the next con if he and EBR are fighting or not allowed to work together any more.  It is just beyond stupid how hard they work at pretending they are not friends.  

Felicity was the one most concerned about Diggle. Even after the fight escalated, her concern was Diggle.

Don't have a problem with Dinah or Dinah/Diggle. People are always clamoring for more roles for women and more multi  dimensional ones. We have it and it's a problem? She had more than one part of the story this week. Good. And they need to continue to establish more kinds of connections and friendships within the group if we are going to keep having so many in the group.

Damn, Felicity was looking good. Looking fight ready.

Fuck that shit with Diggle. His pride is putting the team at risk. It's a bullshit unnecessary secret and risk.

[Delphi]

2 hours ago, Angel12d said:

Arrow has this problem with not letting emotional moments breathe? So Samantha's death and finding Thea just fell flat for me because we moved on too quickly. IDK. I shouldn't be disappointed because promo had forgotten the cliffhanger existed but I guess I didn't expect the show to act like it, too.

Ugh,  there is finally proof that Samantha was too dumb to live.   But Ollie finding Thea did work for me,  but solely for the primal groan of misery that Stephen uttered with his hands over his face.   People criticize Stephen's abilities but really what he lacks in dialogue he more than makes up in body language. 

 

Episode as a whole though,  meh. 

[Chaser]

Based on twitter the most exciting thing about this episode was Felicitys wardrobe.

[BkWurm1]

1 hour ago, Last Time Lord said:

Maybe, a little. Especially in our world, but in the world where the Flash is a living breathing person, I can see the statue of limitations on that being skewed ever so slightly.

...

Is he really in sixth grade? He looks so much younger, to me. I would have guessed fourth grade, at best

The show runners say the actor who is 14 is playing William at 12 now.  

52 minutes ago, popgoesculture said:

 

Also, I thought that Wild Dog was really rude in his comment to Felicity when she brought their food (why in the world is she bringing them dinner? when they're all going home anyway?). Like the line reading was much too harsh and not good-natured snarky -- although why he continues to call her Blondie and NO one else on the team says anything is beyond me.  

 

1

I agree with this so much.  I was really startled how hostile he sounded and then the episode just rushed right on past.  That line could have been delivered in a joking tone but yeah, that's not what happened at all.  

[quarks]

And Arrow starts off its new season with deaths! Plot holes! Bad guys just strolling into the Arrow Cave! And set problems!  Pacing problems! 

So we know this is definitely Arrow.

Good things:

1. Yay, Raisa is back! Rather convenient that she's apparently just been hanging around for the last few years waiting for Oliver to give her a job, but let's not quibble too much.

2. Yay, the reporter who hasn't slept with Oliver is back! 

3. Ok, crazy bombing guy who is willing to knock out his own tooth to create a bomb? YES. This is the sort of over the top villain that I tune in for, Arrow! More of guys like him, please.

4. Finally, Wilddog isn't just strolling around in a hockey mask. That's a relief.

5. Also a relief: Diggle showing signs of severe PTSD. One thing that this show used to take somewhat seriously was the effects of violence on people, and what the appropriate response to violence is; this gives me some hope that the show might head back in this direction - though hopefully at a slower pace.

6. In a show that usually burns through plot way too quickly, I appreciate that this episode did not end with William saying "ok, dad," but rather William kinda sulkily agreeing to go to a baseball game.

7. Oooh, William has a Flash backpack. Awesome. Well not entirely awesome because it's Barry, but still, that was cute.  Almost enough to make me ignore that you're making that poor kid sleep in one of the CQ/PT/mayoral offices, OLIVER. 

(And for the people claiming the kid is too young to have a Flash backpack, I would like to assure all of you that I absolutely, 100% do not have an R2D2 purse or a Mickey Mouse backpack and I do not know what you are talking about.)

8. Felicity and Oliver back to being cute again. Let's stay this way, show. I'm nearly begging you here.

Questionable things:

1. Oliver, are you seriously asking any of us to believe that people are voluntarily returning to Star City after the past five years? Have you not been watching your own show? One year without a terrorist attack is not going to do it, dude!  Not to mention that just two nights ago, we learned that the job situation in Star City is so dire that even trained assassins are forced to work retail jobs!

2. Fabulous wardrobe, Felicity, just fabulous. And now that we have that covered, why the hell are you wearing high stiletto heels in an office setting that you think is about to be attacked, and in the Arrow Cave that you know was just attacked? 

I mean, yes, I get why - this show is also trying to sell us designer clothing, and I appreciate the thought, but maybe - and I'm just throwing this out here - we could all focus on practical designer clothing? When I'm cheering on Black Siren for her comparatively sensible wardrobe choices, we have problems. It was one thing for Felicity to be wearing tight shirts and skirts when she was coming back and forth from an office job - though I need to point out that both she and Laurel dressed more sensibly, while still looking professional, in the first season.  But there is no reason for her to be wearing that stuff in the Arrow Cave unless she wants Oliver to rip it off her, and even then - and she turned down Oliver's request to come have dinner with him, so we can toss out that reason.  It's reached the point of being a serious distraction - I was so fixated on WHY ARE YOU WEARING THAT SHIRT AND THOSE SHOES that I nearly missed the OOH FELICITY IS HIDING A SECRET FROM OLIVER AGAIN anvils dropping everywhere - though as I'll note in a bit, there was another reason for that.  

Kudos to Dinah, though, for keeping things somewhat more practical.

3. Though speaking of Dinah, I'm delighted to learn that she's observant, if less delighted to learn that she's somehow become the most observant member of the team - especially given that all of these team members have known each other longer than she has. Seriously, there was no reason why Oliver or Rene or even Curtis wouldn't have noticed Diggle's problems before she did. Or for that matter, Quentin.

On the other hand, she's spent the last six months encouraging Quentin to lie to his friends, so, she fits right into this show.

4. And speaking of that - uh, Quentin, you spent last season assuring us that Black Siren wasn't your daughter. Now, suddenly, after she helped kidnap a young boy and your friends, you think she's your daughter again?

5. Uh, I know I shouldn't be asking Arrow practical questions, but why is Slade just wandering around Star City openly like that, especially since he's kinda recognizable? I know that Oliver agreed to have him freed from Argus, but the rest of the city should presumably be able to recognize the guy and say, uh. Wait? Isn't that the guy that TRIED TO DESTROY THE ENTIRE CITY?   At least Malcolm had the sense to only walk into that hospital room at night, not in broad daylight!

6. Was anyone else shocked that Oliver didn't already have the local news on? It seems to be the only thing these characters have watched for five years now.

7. "Who could have told them the secret changed location of the event?" I DON'T KNOW, GUYS, BUT MAYBE ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE GOING TO BE ATTENDING THE EVENT. Come on, Team Arrow! You're supposed to have some collective intelligence here.

8. How did Team Arrow change from what they were wearing at the police thingy to their costumes so quickly?

Bad things:

1. For one glorious, glorious moment, I thought - I really, honestly thought - that we had another hospital set. A hospital set that even took the trouble to acknowledge that not everyone can afford a private hospital room, particularly vigilantes running around instead of pursuing high paying corporate jobs.

AND THEN THE CAMERA MOVED.

Oh, MG. You promise me new sets, and then we're right back in the same hospital room again.

2. Speaking of sets, Oliver's apartment set is the QC/PT/Mayor's set - they slid in a new wall and redressed it, but that was it. 

3. Way to completely ruin the suspense of blowing everyone up by pretty much immediately showing all of them alive and eating burgers, Arrow.

4. At this point, I genuinely do not understand why Oliver doesn't just turn the Arrow Cave into a Villains Bar and start charging for drinks. They're all walking into the place anyway, and he could use the money, given how much it must cost to fix that place up every few months.

Alternatively, Oliver, you could try putting your so called secret button to the secret elevator in a better hiding place.

5. Samantha's death. In five seasons of cheerfully killing people off, knowing that a good half of them are going to come back anyway, Arrow has previously done at least one thing correctly: not one character has staggered through fire and smoke to collapse into Oliver's arms and beg him to take care of her son. Ok, Laurel came semi-close, but at least - and I can't believe I now have to defend that scene - she didn't stagger through fire and smoke to get there.

6. On a related note, Samantha. There are various people running around throwing bombs, screaming at things, and running into caves. You know that Felicity is standing right there, communicating with Oliver. Is your right move to TALK TO FELICITY AND ASK HER TO ASK OLIVER ABOUT THE KID, or RUN TOWARDS THE BOMBS INSTEAD OF THE KID?  Great job on getting yourself killed and Thea injured there.

6. Speaking of which. Samantha. This episode revealed that you do, in fact, have parents. Parents that even Oliver thinks would do a decent job of raising the kid. You didn't even want Oliver near the kid before he managed to get the kid kidnapped not once, but twice, and you think it's a good idea to waste your last breath begging him to take care of your kid? 

I feel really horrible about this. I've met Anna Hopkins, a warm, funny person in real life, and I wish her only the best in her career, but let's face it: it's entirely possible that Samantha is the all time worst character on this show. No, wait, I forgot that DJ. Second worst. Still.

7. So....I'm to take it that Quentin actually did kill Black Siren, so she was dead dead, until a Mysterious Someone returned to resurrect her?  Arrow, I realize that we left this particular point well behind in the third season, but could we perhaps never have another resurrection until at least season 8? It's kinda not working with your "I'm also a serious city mayor!" vibe. 

8. Chase. All of those bombs and you only killed off one person, who only got killed off because she felt the need to make a spectacular, overdramatic death?

9. How did Black Siren and her goons know when, exactly, explody guy was going to get a can of soda? Were they just standing around nearby? If so, why didn't any of these cops, cops that Oliver claimed were doing an awesome job, notice them?

10. Pacing.

This has always been a problem on Arrow, and it was on full display tonight, in an episode that tried to deal with the aftermath of the last episode, give an excuse for changing the police set, introduce a couple of new villains and the Black Siren storyline, introduce Diggle's PTSD, try to say something about fatherhood, hint that Felicity is keeping secrets, try to persuade us that Curtis is useful, and give us a few cliffhanger.

It was too much.

Scenes had no time to breathe - this was particularly bad with the second major Quentin/Oliver scene, but was also an issue with the Oliver/Rene scene, Samantha's death scene, and Thea's scene - the "shock" that Thea was alive but in a coma was completely flattened by the fact that the episode never gave us a chance to think that she was or even might be dead. And a few plots and "shock reveals" suffered as a result. The fatherhood comparisons that the show was trying to create never really jelled together - which in turn meant that many of the emotional moments had virtually no impact whatsoever. 

It made me miss Arrow's first season days, with its usually intertwined A and B plot, separate C plot that distracted characters and/or gave Arrow a reason to put Laurel on screen, and the flashbacks - which usually reflected what was going on in the A plot. Here, the Diggle PTSD plot, which really should have been a separate C plot, was sort of entangled with the A plot, to the detriment of both, and the flashbacks went back and forth between reflecting the A plot (people are blowing things up!) and the B plot (Oliver can't bond with his kid), and occasionally the D plot (Quentin feels very guilty) leaving the poor E and F plots (Oliver and Felicity still have feelings for each other! Rene has a kid!) kinda dangling out there, despite attempts to connect those to the B plot.  Continually shifting Dinah, who really hasn't known any of these people for all that long, between the A, C and D plots weren't helping. And that's not even counting the resurrection stuff, the Slade has a kid stuff, the Felicity secret stuff, and the wait, Oliver chooses NOW to take off his hood? plot.  (A plot that would have had more zing to it if Oliver's secret wasn't known to about 80 people by now, but I digress.)  

Not to mention that a moment of stillness/quiet/hesitation can help increase the tension. You've done that before, Arrow.

There's a solution to this, and it's one Arrow has tried before, and hopefully will try again: Do not try to put six separate plots plus teasers for four more plots plus a "tragic" death scene into one 42 minute episode. You'll lose the emotional impact.

And now, Laurel!

Merciful arrows, but do we have - can we have - is it possible that we have finally entered a universe that offers us a - dare I say it - almost - almost -  competent Laurel?

I think we do! Sure, Katie Cassidy was not at her best tonight, and some of the ADR work was uncharacteristically obvious (did they have to rush this episode in post? I'm seriously asking - KC wasn't the only one with ADR issues) and, let's face it, entering the Arrow Cave is not exactly high on the list of Things That Are Hard For Bad Guys To Do. Her semi-success on the bridge was more thanks to Diggle's PTSD and Wilddog's incompetence than her abilities, and tricking Oliver into thinking that an explosion will happen at a big city event is not too hard to do, given how many big city events on this show end in explosions. But she did have the common sense to get a goon who could explode things into the police station, she did steal a T-sphere, I really like her boots, and after five years of watching this character fail as a lawyer, a human being, a vigilante, an alien, and a metahuman, I will take what little scraps that I can take.

Though it wasn't all competence:

Number of ways Laurel failed as a villain, two: 1, spending so much time threatening another character that she failed to notice someone about to shoot her, like, Black Siren, it's not that I want you to succeed, exactly, but maybe next time spend a little less time on the threats and more time looking at the people with guns, 2, needing to get resurrected, like, Laurel, you are very lucky that that island attracts Evil People and had enough smoke billowing from it that a helicopter could get there, but even on Arrow, expecting this really shouldn't be part of your survival strategy, especially since this is bound to lead to 3) getting herself indebted/bound to yet another supervillain rather than striking out on her own. 

I honestly did have hope that after working for Zoom and then Chase, Black Siren would finally be able to launch herself as an independent bad guy following her own agenda - that is, finally empowering this damn character. Sigh. 

[DrSpaceman10]

What's worse than meh?

Hoping this episode was just an anomaly as far as Felicity goes, and that her part increases substantially next week. I have no interest in DD, and I can't watch a show that has that much of a character I don't care about or like. There was one scene where I almost thought we were going to get an OTA scene, then the camera panned back and Tinah was there too -_-

The rest of the episode was rushed, boring, badly acted, repetitive (basically every Myson/BS/BC scene was the same), and ridiculously overcrowded. If Curtis didn't exist, Felicity would have gotten to destroy the missile in the beginning of the episode, which would have been so much cooler. And imo Arrow just doesn't work without a sizable, important role for Felicity. 

3 minutes ago, Chaser said:

Based on twitter the most exciting thing about this episode was Felicitys wardrobe.

It was to me, it was especially funny/sad that she had about a line each wardrobe change. 

And Tinah needs to stop flirting with Diggle. And Quentin. And that random bad guy in the police station. 

[LeighAn]

My head canon for Felicity's gorgeous enviable yet completely impractical wardrobe choices is that she's trying to dress up and look good for her sort of boyfriend/future husband and the extra cute outfits are just her version of wooing/foreplay. 

Edited October 13, 2017 by LeighAn

[popgoesculture]

I didn't even know that we were supposed to get that Felicity was hiding something. I was so distracted by the LACK of story and assumed I'm supposed to be cool with her just changing outfits, saying a line, bringing food, and then changing outfits again... and having her role usurped by others on the team. At least she isn't running towards bombs for no reason?

Arrow writers, if you don't have respect for your characters and their choices, then how am I supposed to? What a terrible way to kill off Samantha, who was already a poorly written, inconsistent plot device. If you wanted to make any of this MEAN something, then give me fleshed out characters who make difficult choices and make mistakes but also try to make up for them. MAKE THEM HUMAN, rather than robots spouting what you think is good dialogue. Seriously, the whole "blowing up the island" villain scheme was dumb, but somehow the denouement of all that is even dumber.

(And I cannot imagine that Samantha's parents didn't put up a custody fight, or that they weren't already named as the primary guardians in her will. The show just shouldn't have even mentioned them. Also, Oliver, it's so incredibly dumb to take a kid away from his school/friends/relatives after the death of his mother and be like "hey, I'm this stranger who played action figures with you and also inadvertently got you kidnapped twice. you're living with me! but it'll totally be great!")

[Mellowyellow]

Huh? Felicity was hiding something?

When? I totally missed it!

[ohjoy]

33 minutes ago, quarks said:

Bad things:

6. Speaking of which. Samantha. This episode revealed that you do, in fact, have parents. Parents that even Oliver thinks would do a decent job of raising the kid. You didn't even want Oliver near the kid before he managed to get the kid kidnapped not once, but twice, and you think it's a good idea to waste your last breath begging him to take care of your kid? 

I feel really horrible about this. I've met Anna Hopkins, a warm, funny person in real life, and I wish her only the best in her career, but let's face it: it's entirely possible that Samantha is the all time worst character on this show. No, wait, I forgot that DJ. Second worst. Still.

Oh good -- it took me an hour to talk myself down from being upset at William's grandparents for leaving him with Oliver. This just seems like a bad idea all around. Although maybe I'm just still perturbed that Thea got blown to a coma offscreen while Samantha got to squeeze in one more "parental requirement that does not actually benefit my child" before dying. At least the writing seems to be playing to the kid actor's strengths.

 

As to Slade's variation on "you're gonna have to choose between being the (Green) Arrow and being Oliver Queen a father":

[tennisgurl]

It was honestly so weird to see Slade just walking around in street clothes being all normal. Not that your getting any complaints from me about Slade being a good guy again (I still smile whenever he calls Oliver Kid), considering how I was never that impressed by his turn to evil, and how they basally just said "well, he went crazy" to explain all the shit he did for poorly explained reasons, but its still weird. The guy is a well know super villain, and he is just walking around the city he almost destroyed with an army of super soldiers? Do people know who he is? I think they do. 

So, when the gang gets together for Oliver's holiday party, will Ray run into Slade and be like "Uh, Oliver, why is the guy who lead the legion of deranged super soldiers that murdered my fiance, almost killed me, and scarred me for life drinking punch with Dig"? Thats going to be awkward, even if Slade really was just totally nuts and never goes dark side again.

[SmallScreenDiva]

36 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Huh? Felicity was hiding something?

When? I totally missed it!

Me, too ... I mean, I noticed her being evasive about the "tonight" thing but didn't realize there was more later?

Anyway, that was bad. Jumbled. All over the place. I fast-forwarded through so much. Why the hell was Tinah everywhere? I have no interest in her. I don't give a fuck about her. And the more I see of JH, the more I notice the bad acting. She's not quite as horrible as KC but LORDY! Too many poses before, during and after fighting. It's not a photoshoot, girl.

Felicity and Oliver were cute but there wasn't enough of them, there certainly wasn't enough of Felicity.

Also, Curtis balls really don't belong on a show like Arrow. That opening sequence with the missile was bad.

Oh, and that kid is just bad. Stiff as a wood. I can't see the supposed spectacular scenes with him and Stephen. It's not even the awkwardness that the scene calls for, it's just nothing. Flat. Elicits no emotion. As toneless as the boy. 

So disappointed. So, so very disappointed with the premiere. I give it a D.

Edited October 13, 2017 by SmallScreenDiva

[insomniadreams88]

I didn’t think Felicity was hiding anything? 

[Mellowyellow]

2 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

I didn’t think Felicity was hiding anything? 

Neither did I but apparently she is! I'm waiting for someone to explain it to me!

[JamieLynn832002]

1 hour ago, popgoesculture said:

Oliver, it's so incredibly dumb to take a kid away from his school/friends/relatives after the death of his mother and be like "hey, I'm this stranger who played action figures with you and also inadvertently got you kidnapped twice. you're living with me! but it'll totally be great!")

Got you kidnapped twice AND got your mother, the only parent you've known, killed* It makes Oliver look beyond moronic that this being an issue hasn't occurred to him in five months.

 

 

*Mostly Samantha got herself killed by running towards the bombs/away from safety but I doubt William sees it that way.

[BkWurm1]

Quote

I was so fixated on WHY ARE YOU WEARING THAT SHIRT AND THOSE SHOES that I nearly missed the OOH FELICITY IS HIDING A SECRET FROM OLIVER AGAIN anvils dropping everywhere - though as I'll note in a bit, there was another reason for that.  

I'm very curious on your take because beyond her seeming a bit nervous about the kid, I didn't pick up on anything.  I mean, she didn't get to do anything that was just about her except for the passing comment about making her mom get on a plane and then wiggle out of dinner that night, but I don't expect it to be anything but some nerves about the role she might play in William's life and in Oliver's life and where she stands.  Her expression said to me she was bummed it wasn't the right time yet but of course, she's the one setting the right time but she and Oliver also are very clearly close again.  Him very much wanting to talk to her and that fact that they made it seem like calling and talking at night was kind of their new normal.  Even just the very happy looks they exchanged when she promised a raincheck on dinner.  It went both ways.

So if she has any secrets, I think it's going to be just some insecurities they will be able to work out fairly easily.  

@quarks was there anything else you were seeing?

I suppose she could be feeling guilty since Thea sent her back to the safety of the plane while she chased after Samantha but it's not something to really feel guilty over.  And I really didn't get that vibe.  

 

Quote

7. So....I'm to take it that Quentin actually did kill Black Siren, so she was dead dead, until a Mysterious Someone returned to resurrect her?  

I've read a couple takes on this now.  I thought she seemed still very injured when that dude showed up and offered her his hand.  So I am thinking she was never dead.  I read somewhere else that they thought she was only pretending to have been hurt.  And now the idea of being resurrected.  

I'm still thinking she was shot and was then rescued and taken somewhere to tend to her injury but that the director and the acting by KC were so poor that it wasn't clear.  I could have sworn she was trying to grimace in pain as she got up.  

Edited October 13, 2017 by BkWurm1

[Midnight Lullaby]

4 hours ago, DrSpaceman10 said:

 

And Tinah needs to stop flirting with Diggle. And Quentin. And that random bad guy in the police station. 

I don't think the actress knows how not to, lol. She keeps going for sexy equals badass woman. Siiigh.

[MaisyDaisy]

5 hours ago, BunsenBurner said:

Don't you think the Flash backpack is a little young for a 6th grader?

My daughter is in 6th grade, and yes, there are no super hero backpacks at her school, but we do live in a coastal beach town, so the kids are all into 'cool' surfy stuff. I guess if you lived in a town that had masked heros, that might be cool?

But the whole 'bad man' scene, that does not remotely seem age appropriate, pretty cringey.

I kinda felt that Samantha went out the same way she came in. I have never been able to see her as a charcacter, she was a walking plot prompt, her actions as a single mother made no sense to me (as an actual single mother). I always felt like she was written from the view point of how a older white male would see a single mother, like they didnt even try to consider how someone in her position might think.  

[BkWurm1]

Quote

Don't you think the Flash backpack is a little young for a 6th grader?

I think the Geek Culture is just too mainstream for there to be an age where it's no longer age appropriate.  He's probably too old to play with action figures but never to collect them.  And he'd be the perfect age for tshirts and when he has a key, then I could see him having a mini Flash (or mini Atom would be more appropriate) for his key chain just like so many adults.  And superhero stuff in video games has no age limits.  Is it just because it's a backpack?  If it was a giant picture of the flash in his suite, I'd have thought it looked juvenile but the more subtle nod with the little lightning bolts I thought made it ageless.   

And I also take the Flash backpack as a direct jab at Oliver.  William is choosing his old favorite over the GA. 

Plus, if this was world where there actually was a dude like the Flash, it soooo wouldn't be limited to children fanboying over him.  

[TV Anonymous]

6 hours ago, BunsenBurner said:

What was the purpose for blowing up the police station and the arrow cave? What a waste.Did they need the space for other sets? 

Could they just get rid of BC, BS, WD and Curtis and keep PB, SA, DR and EBR?

Thea had the easiest job of all. Play dead/comatose in 2 different scenes.

Care to translate those for us mere mortals to understand?

[BkWurm1]

Quote

Could they just get rid of BC, BS, WD and Curtis and keep PB, SA, DR and EBR?

18 minutes ago, TV Anonymous said:

Care to translate those for us mere mortals to understand?

 

BC=Black Canary.  BS= Black Siren  WD= Wild Dog  PB= Paul Blackthorne,(Quentin) SA= Stephen Amell (Oliver), DR=David Ramsey (Diggle) EBR=Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity)

[Mellowyellow]

@Soulfire It's soooooo nice to have all your gorgeous Olicity gifs again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SQUEEEEEEEEEE

Hopefully there will be so much Olicity goodness to keep you crazy busy this season!

On another note I am in love with Felicity in the yellow top and skirt ensemble. She looks soooooo good! She was so hot! I will resist using her surname to type a cheesy comment but OMG she was hot in that outfit! That and the red dress! I do not know how Oliver can resist! 

[JamieLynn832002]

On rewatch, Dinah didn't annoy me as much, although there were several points I was sure she was going to make out with Dig...and Lance. They need to dial that back, at least with Dig since he's married.

 

I think what really bothers me about the cliffhanger conclusion is that it undermines last season's "Prometheus is so powerful and far ahead of us" narrative. He covered an entire island with bombs and only definitively managed to kill one person? And he really only managed her because she was behaving stupidly.  I feel like defeating that Chase would have been really easy.

[benteen]

That episode wasn't very good.  It's still too early to tell but I wonder if Arrow has run its course at this point.

Also annoyed that no one bothered to tell Quinten that Laurel is NOT his daughter and it looks bad that he let her get away.

Is Diggle injured or does he have PTSD?  I wonder what triggered that...he certainly has had more brushes with death a dozen times over (not to mention the whole killing Andy thing) that were worse than what he went through on the island.

Yeah, KC was pretty bad here tonight.

Thea is in a coma.  I guess that's how they'll deal with Willa's increasingly few appearances with each passing season.

Oliver is saddled with a kid now.  Okay, terrific...

Quote

1. For one glorious, glorious moment, I thought - I really, honestly thought - that we had another hospital set. A hospital set that even took the trouble to acknowledge that not everyone can afford a private hospital room, particularly vigilantes running around instead of pursuing high paying corporate jobs.

LOL.  Arrow does love their hospital set.  I think the only WB/CW show that loved its hospital set more was Smallville, where you saw the hospital set in EVERY F'N EPISODE!!!!!

I laughed at the thought of people coming to live in Star City during Oliver's lousy and uninspiring speech.  It's probably because the real estate is so cheap because no one wants to be in a place that is constantly on the verge of destruction.

GASP!  Oliver's secret identity has been revealed.  This has never happened before...except for the two times in previous season that it DID happen.  Sigh.

The good?  Nice to see Slade again.  And even the woman that used to work for Oliver's family.

[ladylaw99]

I didn't have many expectations for this ep., Season 5 taught me to have none.

That being said, this ep was a little boring and anti-climactic.  I really thought they would have concentrated on the island and the after effects of the explosion.  What the hell was I thinking.  Everything I hate about this show was front and center.  This ep would have been better as the second ep not the premier. 

Too many questions left unanswered. How did they find Diggle?  What condition was he in? How did they find Felicity? How did they get off the island? Why didn't Slade help Thea when he knew she was hurt or possibly dead? I know I was suppose to feel something when Oliver found Thea but I didn't. There was no build up to this and she has been hurt and almost dead one too many times.  Samantha I am glad you are gone but the death scene was LOL terrible and predictable. 

Why are these writers not allowing Felicity and Diggle to interact.  That scene with DD and Diggle would have had more impact if it was Felicity and Oliver.

Speaking of DD.  One hour into season six and I am so sick of the birds.  I will never like that cry, it is so stupid to me.  There was way too much BC and BS.  I thought I was watching a show called Arrow not Which BIRD can annoy me the most.  

Speaking of annoying, what the hell was up with Quentin.  I can't believe we are going down this road.  PB is a great actor, stop giving him crappy storylines.  Get him away from BS and BC, he deserves better.

I like the 2 second scene with Delicity and what little we got of Olicity.  I didn't even mind WD and myson except for that one "bad man" scene and the kid needs to get rid of that backpack.  One of my kids is his age and they are past the novelty backpacks (at least  my kid is).  

I also found it weird to see Slade in casual clothes.  Why was he at the hospital? Was he hanging out there in hopes to run into Oliver. 

Lastly, I hate Bam's directing, the canaries were already making me feel nauseous, his directing threw me over the edge.

[ladylaw99]

I forgot.  Curtis needs to go.  The fact that he is taking away what Felicity is capable of doing is really starting to get old and I don't find him funny.