S06.E02: Tribute

[bijoux]

11 minutes ago, Soulfire said:

 

  

Someone drew a parallel on Tumblr. I honestly don't care enough about the storyline to have caught it myself, but good job on the show's part. Also, that kid has aged five years over the course of two, so I'm counting on William going to college on the East coast next season.

    

Also, also, now that my rage over that storyline has mellowed, the swipe and Oliver's reaction in the las gif are pretty cute if you don't know the background. Never noticed it before.

[Hiveminder]

What’s so bad about buddy? It’s not a very creative nickname, but I don’t get the hate for it. 

[apinknightmare]

Just now, Hiveminder said:

What’s so bad about buddy? It’s not a very creative nickname, but I don’t get the hate for it. 

Same - it's nicer than calling him William or "son" all the time. 

[DavidJSnyder]

I call by son "buddy" all the time. 

[tv echo]

This episode was just 'meh' for me. I didn't hate it. I didn't love it...

I still like Anatoly. He isn't a black-and-white evil villain. He made some good points to Oliver. But he's also deluding himself in thinking that he's still a good man. He's complex, but still somewhat sympathetic.

Oliver: "I have never lied to my kid before."  Really? When Oliver first met William and began visiting him, he was forbidden by Samantha to tell him that he was his father.  So did William never ask Oliver who he was, or did Samantha just tell him that he's a friend of hers? Either way, Oliver was lying by omission. Oliver also kept secret from William that he was the Green Arrow. Apparently, just like with Felicity in S4, Oliver doesn't consider lying by omission to be lying. 

Every Oliver/William scene made me want to mute the sound. I'm not sure why. Btw, I noticed that William has been sitting down in almost every scene that he's been in so far.  In the one scene last night where he's standing and facing Oliver, they did this camera angle where there's some distance and then there were separate shots of each of them. I wonder if they're trying to disguise how tall Jack Moore is now. At the time of filming, he was a 14-year-old actor playing a 12-year-old character. What will they do when Jack's voice drops?

I'm glad that Felicity was the one who suggested that she and Curtis start their own company. I was afraid that the EPs were going to do it the other way around and have Felicity insert herself into a Curtis project. However, I hated that Curtis was "recoding Felicity's analysis algorithm." Still, when Felicity asked Curtis to send some of his freelance coding work her way, Curtis responded: "Look. I think that would be a waste of your prodigious talents, Felicity."  So it's a little confusing. The show acknowledges that Felicity is the superior computer hacker, but also has Curtis recode some of her work. WTF?!

Uh, Oliver, the Green Arrow is known for his expert archery skills. Last I checked, Diggle can't use a bow and arrow. Oliver has grown a lot as a person over the past several years, but his self-centeredness lingers on.

'Arrow' Debuts New Title Card For Season 6
by Jenna Anderson | October 19, 2017
http://comicbook.com/dc/2017/10/20/arrow-season-6-title-card-team-arrow-symbols/

Quote

You can spot a bird symbol for Dinah Drake/Black Canary (Juliana Harkavy), a dog symbol for Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez), a T for Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific (Echo Kellum), a technological-looking eye for Felicity Smoak/Overwatch (Emily Betty Rickards), a helmet for John Diggle/Spartan (David Ramsey), and the traditional Arrow symbol for Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell).

 

Edited October 20, 2017 by tv echo

[ladylaw99]

The beauty of not having any expectations going into a episode is that I actually didn't mind it.  I actually like some characters I couldn't stand before - looking at you WD.

I liked the scene with WD, Lance and Det Watson.  I thought it is was funny - it is the opposite of what it would really be like. 

I liked Anatoly - good guy, bad guy, I don't care, I just want him on my screen.

No flashbacks - always a bonus

William - I didn't mind him this episode.  For me he was just there.  I guess other characters annoyed more that I didn't mind his scenes.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be Arrow if there weren't a few things that I could not stand.  I am really trying to keep a open mind this season, but it is hard.  The pairings are driving me nuts. There is a little thing called rotation.  You know mix things up a bit.  I do not need to see the same pairings for the whole episode.  It gets boring.

OTA - I almost wished I never got spoiled with these three.  I will never be ok with these three characters not interacting on a regular basis.  This show takes for granted the wonderful chemistry of OTA.  I trying to cool my jets because it is only episode two. I will forever be bitter about this.

Curtis - somehow I have managed to tune him out this episode, therefore, I couldn't even tell you what he did.

DD - This is exactly what I was afraid of last season when they brought in yet another canary. As most of you know, I do not come from a comic book background.  Therefore BC means nothing to me.  With that being said,  this show has made me hate that character.  Why they did not keep Sara as BC, I will never understand.  For me she is and always will be the Black Canary.  All these other song birds are driving me nuts.  If anything this show has proven to me over and over again that we do not need a canary.  Her attitude towards Dig is so uncalled for.  She is a hypocrite.  What right do you have to be pissed at someone for keeping a secret when just last week you were keeping one of your own.  If it weren't for Lance you would still be keeping it. 

What makes me even more annoyed is that  this conversation should have been with Felicity, Oliver or both.  

The ending was lame.  I won't get into why as many people have already stated why it was dumb. Also, I could care less about Bruce Wayne name drop.  Unless he comes on the show I don't need to hear about Bruce Wayne.

Now that they have a doctor they need to get a lawyer.  One preferable that knows what they are actually doing.

[Writing Wrongs]

I miss Season 1 and The Hood killing bad guys.

I miss when it was just Oliver, Felicity and Diggle.

The rest of Team Arrow sucks. I really can't stand Curtis and his stupid name, Mr. Terrific.

They are totally going to pair up Diggle and Dinah aren't they?

[Guest]

I didn't mind the Oliver/William stuff, which I've been dreading tbh. I still think the kid actor isn't very good but he's not as horrifying as I thought he'd be. So that's something. It helps that I think SA is really trying hard in these scenes. The end with them playing video games was kinda cute.

I will say it was a little bit jarring from last week though? William went from ignoring Oliver and being mad at him to suddenly being scared he's going to lose him as his only parent. IDK, I think that kind of thing should take more than one episode to evolve but then again, this is Arrow and they burn through that kind of stuff far too quickly. 

Also, William getting bullied because his dad is GA makes no sense. Kids that age would think it was cool or they'd be too scared of him. So...more plotty nonsense.

[ComicFan777]

Quote

Also, William getting bullied because his dad is GA makes no sense. Kids that age would think it was cool or they'd be too scared of him. So...more plotty nonsense.

The only reason I could think of to explain William getting bullied is if Star City citizens assumed that Oliver was the Hood and became the Green Arrow.  If William went to private school with the one-percenters, then I could see William getting bullied since his dad took down a lot of rich people.

[Primal Slayer]

Yeah I found it to be believable that William would get bullied. I could easily see the kids come up to him "So you're dads the Green Arrow huh? Can you fight like he can?" as they proceed to test Williams limits and mock him for not being as cool as his dad.

[Midnight Lullaby]

I'm confused about one thing..didn't they say William has grandparents? Why are they acting like if Oliver died he would have no one? Also another easy solution is to introduce him to the rest of the team that if he died wouldn't leave William alone.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, ComicFan777 said:

The only reason I could think of to explain William getting bullied is if Star City citizens assumed that Oliver was the Hood and became the Green Arrow.  If William went to private school with the one-percenters, then I could see William getting bullied since his dad took down a lot of rich people.

Maybe. IDK. I guess I could see him getting bullied for being the Mayor's son more than I could his dad being GA.

[insomniadreams88]

2 minutes ago, Midnight Lullaby said:

I'm confused about one thing..didn't they say William has grandparents? Why are they acting like if Oliver died he would have no one? Also another easy solution is to introduce him to the rest of the team that if he died wouldn't leave William alone.

Shh, stop trying to think logically. They mentioned Samantha's parents in 601. That was just...yesterday since 602 picked up the next day? How could they remember those parents exist?

No, but really, I have no idea what they're doing with Oliver and William. It's like they were frozen in time for 5 months, then season 6 started, they needed the whole "bad man" thing in 601, then wanted Oliver to have a reason to hand the GA mantle over to Diggle in 602, so they conveniently forgot that other family members (like Samantha's parents, Diggle's wife and son) exist so we'd get that end scene. 

[statsgirl]

Introducing William to the rest of the team would be logical, so of course they won't do it.  It's not like he doesn't know who they are.

It makes sense that Oliver would send William to his old school but private schools here have uniforms.  Didn't Thea have a school uniform on in an scene in season 1?

"They're really big. They're eight graders".  Kid, you're like five feet tall. I have a hard time thinking they can be that much bigger.

2 hours ago, bijoux said:

Someone drew a parallel on Tumblr. I honestly don't care enough about the storyline to have caught it myself, but good job on the show's part. Also, that kid has aged five years over the course of two, so I'm counting on William going to college on the East coast next season.

Good thought. But we're still stuck with him this season.

8 hours ago, johntfs said:

 In some ways Rene is being a better father than Oliver because he thinks of his kid's welfare first and his own desire to be in his kid's life second.  Except that Oliver meddled with that, too.

That's new this season. Last season Quentin had to drag him kicking and screaming to start thinking of what his daughters wants or needs.

How did Curtis diagnose a neurotoxin from a rash in a photograph  I can buy the doctor helping them though -- she was the doctor when Laurel died so she knows that Oliver is the Green Arrow.  Also she's apparently been treating Diggle's nerve damage.  At least I assume that she's the Dr. Schwartz he said was treating him.

I really like Anatoly pointing out to Oliver that he needs money because Oliver broke their deal last season.  THIS SHOW NEEDS ANATOLY.  (Dinah and Curtis can leave now.)

2 hours ago, ladylaw99 said:

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be Arrow if there weren't a few things that I could not stand.  I am really trying to keep a open mind this season, but it is hard.  The pairings are driving me nuts. There is a little thing called rotation.  You know mix things up a bit.  I do not need to see the same pairings for the whole episode.  It gets boring.

One thing that LoT does really well is mixing up the pairings on the team. (Except for Nate and Amaya. And Nate and Ray. Go away Nate.)  Maybe MG can learn from his co-EP there.

2 hours ago, ladylaw99 said:

OTA - I almost wished I never got spoiled with these three.  I will never be ok with these three characters not interacting on a regular basis.  This show takes for granted the wonderful chemistry of OTA.  I trying to cool my jets because it is only episode two. I will forever be bitter about this.

Curtis - somehow I have managed to tune him out this episode, therefore, I couldn't even tell you what he did.

DD - This is exactly what I was afraid of last season when they brought in yet another canary. As most of you know, I do not come from a comic book background.  Therefore BC means nothing to me.  With that being said,  this show has made me hate that character.  Why they did not keep Sara as BC, I will never understand.  For me she is and always will be the Black Canary.  All these other song birds are driving me nuts.  If anything this show has proven to me over and over again that we do not need a canary.  Her attitude towards Dig is so uncalled for.  She is a hypocrite.  What right do you have to be pissed at someone for keeping a secret when just last week you were keeping one of your own.  If it weren't for Lance you would still be keeping it. 

What makes me even more annoyed is that  this conversation should have been with Felicity, Oliver or both.  

They learned from last season not to push Rene so hard but extrapolate that to not pushing any n00b so hard.  It's season 6, you're not going to get many new viewers so give the old ones what they watch for.  It's like last season when Rene was the only one to notice that Diggle wanted to celebrate his son's birthday.  Now it's Dinah being all things to Diggle and Quentin.

Overall, it's a disappointing episode.  I've deleted it from my PVR because there's nothing really that I want to see again. I used to want to keep OTA scenes but there isn't any at all in this episode except the last one with Oliver and Diggle.

Free Felicity From Curtis!

Edited October 20, 2017 by statsgirl

[ComicFan777]

Quote

It makes sense that Oliver would send William to his old school but private schools here have uniforms.  Didn't Thea have a school uniform on in an scene in season 1?

I think Thea had a uniform. 

I found that some private schools do and don't.  Most of the private grade schools in my area do, whereas a lot of the private high schools have been phasing out uniform requirements. 

Edited October 20, 2017 by ComicFan777

[arjumand]

13 hours ago, apinknightmare said:

I'm glad I'm spoiled, because if I wasn't this would probably be the episode where I tuned out and didn't tune back in again. 

Thank you for this, because seconds after this episode finished I definitely said "I'm done."

I mean, what the fucking fuck.

First of all, Oliver should have emptied a gun into Anatoly as soon as he said William's name.

Second of all - oh why am I even bothering?

I mean, most of the episode, Felicity and Curtis were on a whole different show, about wacky coders and their antics, Oliver was on As the World Turns (along with Agent Watson - I mean, really? A news station shows a photo and the FBI is there! Come on, now), and Anatoly was proving my point about him always being an asshole, but I could have done without being proven right, thanks. Digg apparently no longer has a wife and son, or they don't count? Somehow?

I'm not angry, Oliver. I'm just disappointed.

[scarynikki12]

7 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

It makes sense that Oliver would send William to his old school but private schools here have uniforms. 

Mine didn't.  As long as we weren't showing up dressed for a nightclub we could wear anything we wanted.  I once wore a Barenaked Ladies shirt that I bought at their concert that just said: BareNaked.  Not only did I not get in trouble but it turns out a lot of my teachers had also gone to the concert and we talked about which sets we enjoyed most.  Wearing that at other schools in my city would result in a request to turn the shirt inside out at a minimum rather than a friendly chat about a concert.  A lot of private schools still do uniforms but quite a few let the kids wear whatever with some guidelines.  Maybe the high school has uniforms but the middle school doesn't.  Or Oliver and Thea went to a K-12 school that recently changed its dress code. 

[Soulfire]

Pretty shot --

[statsgirl]

9 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

I once wore a Barenaked Ladies shirt that I bought at their concert that just said: BareNaked.  Not only did I not get in trouble but it turns out a lot of my teachers had also gone to the concert and we talked about which sets we enjoyed most

Back when the band was not as well known as they are now, the mayor of Toronto at the time refused to let them play at City Hall, thinking they really were barenaked ladies.  Poor woman I don't think she'll ever live it down.

In my city, increasingly public schools are opting for uniforms too, not just the private ones, as a way to make it easier on parents who can't afford status symbols.

On another note, what happened to Palmer Tech?  Felicity's severance package may have run out but doesn't she own a lot of shares in the company that Ray left her?  She should be getting money from that unless the Board ran the company into the ground.

[SmallScreenDiva]

14 hours ago, apinknightmare said:

I'm glad I'm spoiled, because if I wasn't this would probably be the episode where I tuned out and didn't tune back in again. 

Same. It's not even that it was a bad episode, per se. It was a lot of little things that alternately bored me or annoyed me. I can't even bring myself to rage. It's what it is. 

[insomniadreams88]

1 minute ago, SmallScreenDiva said:

Same. It's not even that it was a bad episode, per se. It was a lot of little things that alternately bored me or annoyed me. I can't even bring myself to rage. It's what it is. 

Yep. And I think it's that I expected more after comments from the press? Plus, it started with the whole hype about the name drop, then they released that as a sneak peek and it wasn't all that exciting to me, so going into the episode, I was sort of already disappointed? 

[Cleanqueen]

1 hour ago, Angel12d said:

 

I will say it was a little bit jarring from last week though? William went from ignoring Oliver and being mad at him to suddenly being scared he's going to lose him as his only parent. IDK, I think that kind of thing should take more than one episode to evolve but then again, this is Arrow and they burn through that kind of stuff far too quickly. 

 

That's most kids, one minute they hate you the next minute they cant let you go. As long as you find a solution to their temporary issues they're happy for now. It's the teens that tend to hold the grudge longer.

[apinknightmare]

24 minutes ago, SmallScreenDiva said:

Same. It's not even that it was a bad episode, per se. It was a lot of little things that alternately bored me or annoyed me. I can't even bring myself to rage. It's what it is. 

Yeah, nothing about it made me mad, I just don't have any particular interest in what they've set up (or the way they've set it up). I feel a little better about it this morning, but...eh. 

[Hiveminder]

1 hour ago, Angel12d said:

I didn't mind the Oliver/William stuff, which I've been dreading tbh. I still think the kid actor isn't very good but he's not as horrifying as I thought he'd be. So that's something. It helps that I think SA is really trying hard in these scenes. The end with them playing video games was kinda cute.

I will say it was a little bit jarring from last week though? William went from ignoring Oliver and being mad at him to suddenly being scared he's going to lose him as his only parent. IDK, I think that kind of thing should take more than one episode to evolve but then again, this is Arrow and they burn through that kind of stuff far too quickly. 

Also, William getting bullied because his dad is GA makes no sense. Kids that age would think it was cool or they'd be too scared of him. So...more plotty nonsense.

I never dreaded William, but I was wary. I think it’s going pretty ok so far. 

William and Oliver’s relationship is progressing oddly, but this is Arrow. That’s what they do. 

 

1 hour ago, Primal Slayer said:

Yeah I found it to be believable that William would get bullied. I could easily see the kids come up to him "So you're dads the Green Arrow huh? Can you fight like he can?" as they proceed to test Williams limits and mock him for not being as cool as his dad.

Yeah, bullying is more about finding whatever reason you can to pick on the person you’ve designated as your target, even if you’d think your friend in the same situation was just the coolest. 

 

Oliver may have decided it would be better for the mayor’s son to go to public school, or he might have hated his old school. Raisa  implied in 6.01 that Oliver didn’t have the greatest time at school. Or maybe that school was super expensive and Oliver decided that he would save his money for college since he’s not a billionaire anymore. I’ve heard there are private secondary schools that cost as much as college. I don’t think Moira and Robert would have blinked at sending Oliver and Thea to a school like that. 

 

41 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

 

On another note, what happened to Palmer Tech?  Felicity's severance package may have run out but doesn't she own a lot of shares in the company that Ray left her?  She should be getting money from that unless the Board ran the company into the ground.

Shhh. Don’t think so hard. 

[bijoux]

1 hour ago, Midnight Lullaby said:

I'm confused about one thing..didn't they say William has grandparents? Why are they acting like if Oliver died he would have no one? Also another easy solution is to introduce him to the rest of the team that if he died wouldn't leave William alone.

I actually naively believed that that would segue into Oliver bringing Felicity at least over for dinner.

[LeighAn]

I actually liked that episode for the most part and didn't have the slightly annoyed reaction I guess others had. I thought I was going to hate it based on the live posting thread.

 

I really like the Oliver/William stuff to the point that I think if they lose the kid now it will be a loss because it's such an important dimension to Oliver's character now. I can't see them stepping back from William without sacrificing Olivers character in the process. I mean the kids still not great in terms of acting abilities but he does what he needs to do and Stephen compensates for the rest. I liked that last scene and I also don't mind that they aren't showing Oliver as an amazing father. It feels more realistic.

I also didn't mind the Curtis/Felicity stuff although it does annoy me slightly that they have Curtis encroaching on Felicity's turf. The 'recoding' Felicity's algorithm software did have my eye twitching a little. But for the most part they have a fun dynamic. I just think the writers go OTT with the banter between the two and less should be more. Characters like Felicity and Curtis work a lot better when partnered with a straight man. 

Favourite moment had to be Rene and Lance in the FBI office. It might have been the moment when I came to genuinely love Rene as a character haha. And I like the FBI agent. I'm willing to keep her. 

It did feel more like a set up episode but I thought it had some nice character moments and any episode with Anatoyli is all good in my books. I agree with whoever in the thread commented that the fact that he and Oliver do have an established relationship and connection with one another makes him a more nuanced villian the your run of the mill VotW. Plus that first introduction of the Bratva was awesome and well filmed.

Now speaking of unearned relationships. "No Dinah what bothers me is you getting up in my business" Same Diggle Same.

 

No to be fair I didn't see anything wrong with Dinah perse and I still don't find her as grating as others do; it's just that Dinah has not earnt such an intimate relationship with Diggle or any of the characters really. It was the same problem with Laurel once they pushed her on to the team  overnight she was bffs with everyone and treated like family even though it came out of no where and wasn't earnt. Same thing is happening to Dinah.

 

In contrast Rene was someone we saw want to join Green Arrows cause, go through Oliver School of vigilantes, we saw them butt heads, we saw Oliver trust them enough to reveal his identity and saw Rene evolve from cocky vigilante wannabe to someone who had Olivers respect. So seeing Oliver open up to him about his son and then talking about their kids does feel more earnt then Dinah being John and Lances confidante.

 

I do feel like the writers think that just because they have the Black Canary moniker that that's 90 per cent of their work done and they don't need to put much effort into stuff like character motivation, nuance, evolving as a character etc. And given the fans of the character maybe they're right ?‍♀️ It does help that Juliana is a better actress then Katie and has better chemistry with the team. 

 

But yeah I put it as a pretty solid Ep overall albeit not an overly exciting or momentous one. Now bring on 6x03 ?????????

[Delphi]

4 hours ago, apinknightmare said:

Same - it's nicer than calling him William or "son" all the time. 

Well,  of course hee wouldn't do that,  he'd go around calling him 'my son'.

[Midnight Lullaby]

27 minutes ago, bijoux said:

I actually naively believed that that would segue into Oliver bringing Felicity at least over for dinner.

I guess Oliver has to have the obvious idea when the plot calls for it..even if 

Spoiler

knowing that he is giving her a key the next episode and they'll be married in a month what is the show waiting for exactly?

[Hiveminder]

I kind of get what they’re doing with the whole William will be alone if Oliver dies even though he has grandparents thing. Being an orphan is heavy, even if you have grandparents there to take care of you. Of course, it might fall flat for some people who don’t feel like the relationship between Oliver and William has much depth because they barely know each other. I don’t agree with that. 

[Midnight Lullaby]

I absolutely agree there's a difference but wouldn't it feel natural to mention they exist in a conversation like that? Then maybe have William point out it's not the same..but ignoring their existence felt weird to me.

[statsgirl]

Maybe they want us to forget that William has grandparents?  Because they would be the logical place for him right now, no matter what Samantha said.  Even if Oliver quits being the Green Arrow, he still doesn't have the time William needs.

48 minutes ago, Midnight Lullaby said:

what is the show waiting for exactly?

That's what I was thinking.  Barry and Iris went from "Who are you?" to "We are The Flash and the gold standard in relationships" in one episode but Oliver and Felicity, who resolved their differences in April and in the season finale were kissing so they they don't have any regrets, are still treading water, spending nights miles apart.  Worse, no kisses or even touches the last two episodes.

[Hiveminder]

I don’t know. I think it’s more important to try to soothe the kid’s worry about a becoming an orphan than to talk about what will happen to him when he does. 

[Midnight Lullaby]

If someone tells me he has no one my first instinct is to point out the people who love him..but that's just me.

[statsgirl]

34 minutes ago, Midnight Lullaby said:

If someone tells me he has no one my first instinct is to point out the people who love him..but that's just me.

Nice use of Cogntivie Behavioral Therapy.

If they really wanted to do what's best for William, he would have spent some time with his maternal grandparents, who he presumably knows and knows that they care about him, and gotten the mourning and attachment from them.  Then he could have moved in with Oliver for the start of the school year. But then they wouldn't have had the "I'll be all alone"/"I'll quit my nighttime job" out of it.

Or maybe that's what happened and why it appears that Oliver is just starting out parenting William and the writers forgot to tell us.

[ohjoy]

5 hours ago, Hiveminder said:

What’s so bad about buddy? It’s not a very creative nickname, but I don’t get the hate for it. 

 

5 hours ago, apinknightmare said:

Same - it's nicer than calling him William or "son" all the time. 

 

5 hours ago, DavidJSnyder said:

I call by son "buddy" all the time. 

 

1 hour ago, Delphi said:

Well,  of course hee wouldn't do that,  he'd go around calling him 'my son'.

My personal annoyance with "Buddy" is not the nickname itself or in general - it's Oliver- specific, in that I seem to be missing the moments when Oliver calls his son by his name to his face. Has he done that this season? Last season he called him My.Son. to just about anyone who would listen. Now that the kid is around fulltime, he's started referring to him as William to other people more, but not when he speaks directly to William. Just seems weird to me, like he sort of replaced "Myson" with "Buddy", so my brain just switched it back for fun. 

He doesn't call Thea "Speedy" all the time - he does address her by her name occasionally. If he just spoke to William by his name sometimes (or more often, if I'm missing it), maybe it wouldn't stand out to my ears as much.

[JamieLynn832002]

I do wonder how close William is to Samantha's parents because William and Samantha disappeared for over a year and no one seemed to have reported them missing. I suppose they could have maintained contact with her parents while in hiding but that would seem to to defeat the purpose.

[johntfs]

7 hours ago, Hiveminder said:

Anatoly can keep his hypocritical speech about ‘honor’. He thinks honor is not going after someone’s kid? That’s the bare minimum standard for not being a total irredeemable psycho. 

True, but Anatoly's ultimate point was that there are many, many people that Oliver will encounter (and has already encountered) who do not rise to meet that minimum standard.  So perhaps Oliver should reconsider the whole mayor/vigilante thing since he has some extra skin in the game.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Just now, JamieLynn832002 said:

I do wonder how close William is to Samantha's parents because William and Samantha disappeared for over a year and no one seemed to have reported them missing. I suppose they could have maintained contact with her parents while in hiding but that would seem to to defeat the purpose.

I'm pretty sure Samantha told her parents where they'd be. This is the woman whose bright idea it was to go back into danger to look for HerSon, even though Oliver was already out there doing that very thing, and William, the idiot kid, who went away (fuzzy on this one) with Damian, and again with Chase.

What's amazing is she managed to stay hidden from Oliver for 10 years.

And for all that blathering that Oliver did in season four about being so busy going back and forth between Star and Central City, presumably, to visit and get to know William, one would think that Oliver is someone he'd just met when Chase was holding him hostage last season. 

I didn't like any of last night's episode. I don't like how Dinah is all up in Diggle's face as if she's his keeper.

Wait. Scratch the not liking anything. ANATOLY. I'm sad that I will never hear him say to Oliver "My favorite American!" anymore.

1 hour ago, statsgirl said:

but Oliver and Felicity, who resolved their differences in April and in the season finale were kissing so they they don't have any regrets, are still treading water, spending nights miles apart.  Worse, no kisses or even touches the last two episodes.

The writers probably believe this is good draaaama that will have payoff in the end. Whatthefuckever. I'm irked and I'm not even a shipper.

[JamieLynn832002]

1 minute ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I'm pretty sure Samantha told her parents where they'd be. This is the woman whose bright idea it was to go back into danger to look for HerSon, even though Oliver was already out there doing that very thing, and William, the idiot kid, who went away (fuzzy on this one) with Damian, and again with Chase.

Ha! Good point. And in S4 I think William actually left with Malcolm, the one-handed man who apparently just appeared in his bedroom which may be worse than leaving with Damian so yeah, I'm clearly giving these people way to much credit.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 minute ago, JamieLynn832002 said:

Ha! Good point. And in S4 I think William actually left with Malcolm, the one-handed man who apparently just appeared in his bedroom which may be worse than leaving with Damian so yeah, I'm clearly giving these people way to much credit.

That's it! Malcolm, out of revenge, took William to Damian. And idiot William, happily left with this stranger he'd never met before. Now Oliver may be dumb as a box of rocks sometimes, but William gets all his idiocy from Samantha.

[apinknightmare]

36 minutes ago, garnetarden said:

Now that the kid is around fulltime, he's started referring to him as William to other people more, but not when he speaks directly to William. Just seems weird to me, like he sort of replaced "Myson" with "Buddy", so my brain just switched it back for fun. 

Oliver called him William when he spoke to him last night - I only remember it because it was from my favorite part, William pounding on the Flash (backpack).

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

Oliver called him William when he spoke to him last night - I only remember it because it was from my favorite part, William pounding on the Flash (backpack).

I knew you'd love that bit. Did you picture yourself in William's place? And also was the Flash backpack Barry's face? ? ? ?

[ohjoy]

15 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

Oliver called him William when he spoke to him last night - I only remember it because it was from my favorite part, William pounding on the Flash (backpack).

Ah, good. I may have to go back to that part. I admit to being slightly distracted while watching, and possibly missed hearing his name amidst the backpack punching. 

[statsgirl]

39 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

That's it! Malcolm, out of revenge, took William to Damian. And idiot William, happily left with this stranger he'd never met before. Now Oliver may be dumb as a box of rocks sometimes, but William gets all his idiocy from Samantha.

Maybe William thought he was another of "Mommy's friends".  What an incredibly stupid way to introduce a strange man to play in her son's bedroom.

50 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

What's amazing is she managed to stay hidden from Oliver for 10 years.

Oliver wouldn't have been looking for her.  She told him that she miscarried the baby and he had no reason to look her up -- she was a one night stand during his relationship with Laurel.

Samantha said that she was moving to Central City to be close to her family so presumably William knew his grandparents while he was growing up.  Did he think that they were abandoning him now that he was living with his father?

[GHScorpiosRule]

6 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Oliver wouldn't have been looking for her.  She told him that she miscarried the baby and he had no reason to look her up -- she was a one night stand during his relationship with Laurel.

Right! See how much of an effect her presence had on me, that I forgot that pesky little detail.

[leopardprint]

9 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Samantha said that she was moving to Central City to be close to her family so presumably William knew his grandparents while he was growing up.  Did he think that they were abandoning him now that he was living with his father?

I think the mention of the grandparents is either an option for a Myson exit strategy complete with tear jerking "I'll see you next weekend...Dad" or a potential custody fight storyline because how does Oliver have custody of Myson? Did he straight up kidnap him? 

My overall issue with the presence of the Myson storyline is kind of represented by Oliver asking Diggle to take over. Myson is the most important thing to Oliver, so Oliver making great sacrifices makes sense however he is not the most important person to Diggle that it's acceptable for his kid to possibly lose their father while it's not for Myson. Not interested in seeing everyone dump everything to accommodate Oliver's parenting woes. 

Edited October 20, 2017 by leopardprint

[Midnight Lullaby]

It would be kind of funny if the grandparents showed up because Oliver simply took the kid home because Samantha asked him to without getting custody..I don't think he is even registered as William's father..anyway I guess they might show up when things between the two start going really well or where's the fun? 

Edited October 20, 2017 by Midnight Lullaby

[BunsenBurner]

Could someone please tell me if anything important was said between O and MySon in the scene that ends with  MySon asking O to play with him? There was no audio and the screen was all messed up. Thanks. 

[apinknightmare]

19 minutes ago, BunsenBurner said:

Could someone please tell me if anything important was said between O and MySon in the scene that ends with  MySon asking O to play with him? There was no audio and the screen was all messed up. Thanks. 

Nope, nothing important! IIRC Oliver just asked what he was playing, and Myson explained what it was.

 

ETA: oops, I thought you were asking just about the video game part!

Edited October 20, 2017 by apinknightmare

[LeighAn]

13 minutes ago, BunsenBurner said:

Could someone please tell me if anything important was said between O and MySon in the scene that ends with  MySon asking O to play with him? There was no audio and the screen was all messed up. Thanks. 

Oliver apologises for leaving William alone to go do his Green Arrow thing and says he was wrong to which William says that Raisa told him that it was hard for Oliver to admit he was wrong. Oliver then precedes to tell him that he thinks he's figured out a way to spend more time with him. Then William asks him if he wants to play his game with him. Oliver is touched. Oliver asks how do you play. William tells him that he doesn't know he just mashes buttons.