S06.E04: Reversal

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Just as Oliver starts to get things in order, Black Siren launches another attack on the citizens of Star City.

 

[mtlchick]

So Michael Emerson is the eeeeevil version of Harold Finch without a limp and different glasses, right? 

[BkWurm1]

AHHHHGGGHGHH!  I LOVED THAT.  

[Angel12d]

That was the best episode. I might even have a new favourite. 

[tennisgurl]

*flails about in the throes of Olicity goodness*

As I said in the episode thread, I am very easy to please. 

[Primal Slayer]

This was probably my fave of the season thus far. Just like with 5x10, when they mix in Black Siren during the more Felicity centric episode, it just manages to fire on the right cylinders for both. 

Black Siren had her widow game on HIGH tonight and I am here for it. I don't need her to become a good guy as long as they can give her some type of decent storyline. The parking lot scene with her was my fave. She looks good being more dressed down and simple, she referred to herself as Dinah  and she had good witty remarks! 

But I am ready for her storyline to go beyond just DD and the constant "hear is some superior male come to sweep her off her feet to have her help him in their evil plot". It's played out. 

Felicity getting in the field was fun, along with Oliver being behind the comms. The team really got act as a team for what feels like the first time in forever. 

Cayden James is a dirty little mofo and I cant wait to see what he does next. Using Felicity to help him do his dirty work while she doesnt even suspect it was a great touch. 

I am worried that the plot is just going to come to a sudden stop now like it did in 6x01. 

[BunsenBurner]

Can we have every episode written by the writers of this episode? Pretty please??

[Morrigan2575]

Emily looked really hot in this episode, the hair, makeup clothing all working for her.

Helix Dynamics interesting name, prefer Smoak Tech but, since it's a partnership guess that was off the table ?

Dinah needs to stop with the freaking poses, it's annoying.

Olicity scenes were too cute. I especially loved the role reversal, right down to Oliver manning the computers and leading Felicity through the building.

I know I'm in the minority but Rene cracks me up. The Hoss/Boss line and the question about Evil Laurel making out with victim #2 amused me.

Speaking of BS, after this episode I can see that redemption arc starting next week. I mean she only killed 4 people today, 9 in episode one, obviously her kill count is going down, means she's going light side. Plus she only got the tiniest enjoyment out of killing the poor security guard. Totally Team Arrow material.

Michael Emerson was Cayden James. Who could have predicted that?! Total shocker right there.

[Angel12d]

I'm so in love with everything Olicity right now. My brain can't focus on anything else. LOL. They were just perfection. This is the Olicity we deserved all along. They talked, they kissed. They worked through their disagreement. They were partners. And their chemistry is better than ever and I didn't know that was even possible! 

#DEAD.

[insomniadreams88]

Best episode of the season so far. Easily one of my favorites of the series. Can't wait to rewatch it. Feels good to say that about an episode of Arrow.

I have never loved Olicity more. This is the Olicity we and they deserve. The date was perfect. The kisses were perfect. Oliver supporting Felicity was perfect. (And it was really obvious he had followed her and Alena.) Oliver using confirmation that he and Felicity are back together to lightly threaten Alena was perfect. But come on, couldn't Slade have waited until they were cuddling in bed after they had sex to call?  

Loved supportive Oliver. (Worth mentioning twice.) It's good to see him like this too because I was really over stupid Oliver and actually hated him last year. This year? Love him. Pep talks for Diggle and Felicity. That's the Oliver he should be in season 6. 

Happy we got a bit of Felicity/Diggle, but it doesn't make up for all the Diggle/Dinah we had to sit through for three episodes. (Speaking of, were there actually no Diggle/Dinah scenes in this episode? Or did I just not notice it like I would have because they didn't dominate the episode?)

I was really happy to see Alena survive the episode because any time we get more of her means less Felicity/Curtis. Although I didn't completely hate Curtis this episode, I was slightly annoyed by his whining about staying behind. It's not like he's the best fighter or something. They don't need him in the field. And even if Felicity was just MIA because she wanted a night off, she would have deserved it and Curtis should have happily sat at the computers.

Speaking of sitting at computers, I wouldn't mind seeing more of Oliver on comms and I liked that there was a bit of learning curve. 

I actually don't totally hate Black Siren when they embrace her being evil. 

Glad to finally get the confirmation that Michael Emerson is Cayden James, and while I am worried about what what he did means for Felicity in the future, I really can't wait to see more of him. Also love that Felicity is "Ms. Smoak" to basically all villains. It's the respect she deserves. I do wonder if something's going to come out of Cayden continually praising Felicity in front of BS. 

[apinknightmare]

I don't even care that the blow up the internet plot was so achingly dumb because that episode was so much fun to watch. And I wanted to quit 2 weeks ago - LOL @ me x infinity.

[statsgirl]

I'm amazed at how perfectly this show can write Olicity.

And why they gave us 4B and 5A.

[Angel12d]

So Michael Emerson was perfect, too. This show is so lucky to get him. He's fantastic. He does creepy weird so well. LOL.

But I'm so nervous about Felicity now. That was foreshadowing her getting arrested, right?!

[apinknightmare]

1 minute ago, Angel12d said:

But I'm so nervous about Felicity now. That was foreshadowing her getting arrested, right?!

Yes.

[jay741982]

Just now, Angel12d said:

So Michael Emerson was perfect, too. This show is so lucky to get him. He's fantastic. He does creepy weird so well. LOL.

But I'm so nervous about Felicity now. That was foreshadowing her getting arrested, right?!

Since Midseason finales have been shitty for her lately I'm predicting she's arrested at end of 609 :(

[Soulfire]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(GIFs from among others: 1, 2.)

Edited November 3, 2017 by Soulfire

[KenyaJ]

Honestly, I think that may have been my favorite episode of the entire series. Even the best episodes usually feel weirdly paced to me, but this one felt perfect, like nothing got rushed and important emotional beats had room to breathe. And I really like how what seemed like two divergent storylines ended up meeting together. I feel like that so rarely happens on this show, but it was great.

I loved Alena's return and her chemistry with Felicity. I hope she's really on the up and up and not insinuating herself in Felicity's life at Cayden's direction. (Having said that, I'm already excited imagining the can of whoop-ass Oliver would open on her if she did. I love Protective!Oliver.)

Speaking of Cayden, I already love his presence on the show. Michael Emerson brings such an awesome sense of creepy menace. I am so here for him and Felicity going toe to toe intellectually all season.

Finally, I've shipped Olicity since that first scene in Felicity's cubicle, but even I didn't realize how great they could be. The new, improved Olicity has such maturity and emotional resonance. We're really getting to see Oliver's emotional growth this season and it makes all his scenes with Felicity even better than usual. All of their scenes tonight were amazing. I could weep with happiness. I hate that the writers sacrificed their relationship for a year and a half, but this is the payoff we deserve. As RuPaul would say, "Don't #&^$ it up," writers!

[Primal Slayer]

Didn't WM say that ME wouldn't be playing his usual creepy? I enjoyed him but he doesn't seem that different yet from what Ive seen him in, in other shows.

[Lantern7]

The Olicity is strong with this episode. And it's fun to know that there are shippers within the show itself. In the spare four hours he gives himself, Curtis probably writes steamy fanfic about those two. The password protecting the stories is "HOSS," because nobody would suspect that.

Seriously, I know the shit will hit the fan soon. Michael Emerson and Siren will fuck things up, William will be kidnapped at least three times by the finale, Diggle will portray Old-School Roy Harper from the "Hard Traveling Heroes" arc, and Thea will probably be reborn as a pale, bulky hobo zombie or something. It's best to cherish episodes like these while we can.

And nice that Felicity has a direction with the start-up. If she had to be pressed for a few more weeks, she'd give up on tech, go into arms, and call the company "The Smoaking Gun." Why are you looking at me like that???

[Angel12d]

1 minute ago, apinknightmare said:

Yes.

? ? ?

[GHScorpiosRule]

17 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

So Michael Emerson is the eeeeevil version of Harold Finch without a limp and different glasses, right? 

That’s what I was thinking! He’s EVIL FINCH!

I’m so glad I wasn’t spoiled because I LITERALLY SQUEED! And screamed ??FINCH!!??

If they manage to bring in ??Reese?? he better NOT be Evuhl! Though I would love to see him and Oliver fight and see who would win!??

[tennisgurl]

So I only saw the second half of the episode (cant wait to see the other half!), but I LOVED it! Olicity is everything it should have been this whole time!

Oliver and Felicity switching roles, with Ollie as Overwatch and Felicity in the field! 

Kissing and heart eyes!

Oliver with the supportive speech! Felicity and Oliver bonding over their mutual guilt complexes! Oh my God I am dead! Dead Dead Dead. 

Michael Emerson is going to be a great bad guy. He is so creepy, but a classy kind of creepy. Like whenever you see him, you feel like he`s sizing up ways to best kill you and make it look like an accident. Even when he plays good guys (like on POI) he can really channel the creepy. 

Also, what genius decided to put the internet in Star City, murder and terror capital of the world?!?! Also, I mentioned it in the episode thread, but whenever they talked about the bad guys killing the internet, I just flashed back to that episode of the IT Crowd where the guys convinced Jen that the whole internet was inside a jar, and when she broke the jar, she broke the internet! 

[Angel12d]

I loved that whole Oliver on comms bit. He actually started to sound a bit like Felicity, talking quickly. So cute. And their Olicity theme played as they were talking at the end. I have such heart eyes right now.

[thuganomics85]

Is it too earlier to say that Cayden James is already one of my favorite villains on this show?  Because Michael Emerson is that freaking awesome already.  He is already bringing the right amount of coldness, intelligence, and creepiness that easily makes me believe that he is going to be a huge threat this season.  Perfect casting.  Only complaint is that the other guy wasn't Jim Caviezel, but that would have been asking for too much!

Overall though, this was easily the best episode by far this season.  Loved Felicity being front and center, and her need to make-up for helping Helix spring him. I thought they had the right amount of balance of acknowledging that she was a fault on some levels, but she still had good reasons (trying to bring down Chase), and it was risk that was worth taking, even if it didn't work out.  Also glad none of the rest blamed her for it, because if anything, they've all likely done something similar (especially Oliver and Diggle.)  Combined that with some great Felicity/Diggle moments and especially ramping up Oliver/Felicity again, and I can't complain at all!

Great seeing Alena again too and I do hope she comes back once she takes some time.  Kacey Rohl really shines in her scenes.

Oliver being "Overwatch" for a night was awesome.  Even if he would totally be the guy who mixes up his left and right.  Classic Oliver!

Glad that Diggle seems to be getting a better handle at being the leader and the rest of team is more in sync.  Even Curtis didn't bug me too much.

Not sure what the endgame is for Laurel/Black Siren, but I certainly can't see it ever being a redemption arc at least.  She's just a psychopath who kills at will, even when she doesn't have too.  When the character played by the guy who was once Ben Linus is like "You know you don't have to murder every person we face-off against, right?" to you, you are clearly in the darkest of dark paths.

The fight scenes were pretty solid too, which surprised me since Gregory Smith tended to struggle with that aspect in the past.  Maybe he just needed more practice.  He's starting to become one of my favorites behind the chair.

Only complaint I had is that they seemed to go out of the way to make Dinah really dumb between her doing two versions of "English, please!" and wondering why would bringing down the internet be that huge of a deal.  I'm not a huge fan of her character, but that was getting a bit ridiculous.  Won't think too much of it, because I'm guessing it was just a case of them needing a soundboard for Curtis and Felicity to dump exposition against, and she drew the short straw.

Overall, a great episode that made me love Arrow again!

[insomniadreams88]

Forgot to mention, name of Felicity's start-up. I don't hate it, but I don't know if I totally like it yet either?

Also, I have no idea why Alena had to bring up the biostimulant when really Felicity or Curtis should have thought of it, considering it's in one of them and the other one made it. 

[Angel12d]

2 hours ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Forgot to mention, name of Felicity's start-up. I don't hate it, but I don't know if I totally like it yet either?

Also, I have no idea why Alena had to bring up the biostimulant when really Felicity or Curtis should have thought of it, considering it's in one of them and the other one made it. 

Yeah. I expected far worse but I'm not sure yet. IDK. I have to think about it. It might grow on me.

I can't believe I'm gonna say this but I even enjoyed the Laurel/BS stuff?! I thought the first scene of the episode was AWFUL but apart from that, everything else worked. Though the BS vs BC stuff is boring and they need to stop it. We get it, you can both screech at each other. Enough already. 

[SleepDeprived]

Y'know, I always knew that Oliver and Felicity make-out everywhere all the time. I mean, all the fics tell me that they do so it had to be true. Heh. And then I got to see that make-out against the wall that transitioned into almost-couch sex and it was super hot! And adorable 'cause they were smiling at each other so much. But, also, so... HOT! And not only did we get hot make-outs but we also got supportive, caring, sweet, trusting each other, and working through their problems together Olicity wrapped in a Felicity-centric episode with Michael Emerson (!!!) set-up as her very own arch-enemy. Like, I couldn't ask for anyone better to pit against my bae, Felicity, than Michael gd Emerson; and I am so anxious-excited about Cayden James setting up Felicity and that she's got no idea about it all. This episode was beautiful (their role reversal was perfection) and I'll be re-watching it so many times.

"I wanted the chance to be there for you the way you've been there for me."

[insomniadreams88]

Just now, Angel12d said:

Though the BS vs BC stuff is boring and they need to stop it. We get it, you can both screech at each other. Enough already. 

Yeah, this. If I don't have to hear/see another canary cry for a few episodes, I'd be happy. 

[BunsenBurner]

8 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Forgot to mention, name of Felicity's start-up. I don't hate it, but I don't know if I totally like it yet either?

Also, I have no idea why Alena had to bring up the biostimulant when really Felicity or Curtis should have thought of it, considering it's in one of them and the other one made it. 

Didn't she tell Felicity that they didn't have to have oversight of a company to get the price to go down?

[Angel12d]

27 minutes ago, Soulfire said:

 

(GIFs from among others: 1, 2.)

We have an ass grab. I repeat. We have an ass grab.

I notice the important things. ?

[Morrigan2575]

36 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

I don't even care that the blow up the internet plot was so achingly dumb because that episode was so much fun to watch. And I wanted to quit 2 weeks ago - LOL @ me x infinity.

In the live posting thread I mentioned Law & Order but, it was actually Elementary that did a similar storyline. Someone was killing random people, except they weren't random they were all part of this organization that protects the Internet. Maybe these guys are Elementary fans?

ETA I just Googled it, there is a group that hold the "keys" to the Internet.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-internet-is-controlled-by-secret-keys-2016-10

Edited November 3, 2017 by Morrigan2575

[Trisha]

That was wonderful. Oliver being a mature, supportive sounding board and pep talk giver (to Dig last week and Felicity this week) makes me love him again - and it's been a while since I've thought that. His entire role this ep was all about supporting her. Amazing. 

Micheal Emerson was great. Katie Cassidy did fine (though I remain confused by her total inability to walk like a normal person). The fight scene in Helix was really well shot (which made up for the weird way the date was lit - I spent that whole scene wondering if EBR had food stuck in her teeth). And all the Olicity moments were perfection. I don't even mind that there probably won't be any the next two episodes because this will totally tied me over. Keep it up, show.  

[Hiveminder]

Did BS take that woman’s shoes?  That’s gross. 

I know I should have been concerned during the scene when CJ, BS and other guy walked into the vault thingy, but I was far too distracted by BS’s culottes. They really need to ditch the coat. 

Otherwise, this episode was wonderfully squee worthy. 

[johntfs]

I haven't seen the episode in full yet, but I think Katie Cassidy generated more heat and chemistry with the dude she seduced and presumably murdered at the episode's start than she has had with anyone, especially Oliver.  At the end of that scene with the screech going off I was like "No!  Laurel!  Don't kill him!  He's the guy who could be your soul male if you had, you know, a soul!"

Edited November 3, 2017 by johntfs

[Hiveminder]

3 minutes ago, Trisha said:

That was wonderful. Oliver being a mature, supportive sounding board and pep talk giver (to Dig last week and Felicity this week) makes me love him again - and it's been a while since I've thought that. His entire role this ep was all about supporting her. Amazing. 

Micheal Emerson was great. Katie Cassidy did fine (though I remain confused by her total inability to walk like a normal person). The fight scene in Helix was really well shot (which made up for the weird way the date was lit - I spent that whole scene wondering if EBR had food stuck in her teeth). And all the Olicity moments were perfection. I don't even mind that there probably won't be any the next two episodes because this will totally tied me over. Keep it up, show.  

Their date was oddly lit. Felicity was so bright and Oliver’s face had some kind of weird blue tinge sometimes?  It was strange. 

[Angel12d]

So...Felicity is gonna get arrested at some point, yes? Maybe that will get Oliver and Diggle back together at some point in the future, teaming back up to save their girl?

[Soulfire]

For science!

[Angel12d]

40 minutes ago, Soulfire said:

 

(GIFs from among others: 1, 2.)

I can't believe they let me appear on the show. I feel so honored. 

[Lantern7]

25 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

So...Felicity is gonna get arrested at some point, yes? Maybe that will get Oliver and Diggle back together at some point in the future, teaming back up to save their girl?

Damn. Never watched that series, but Fox Reality's Reality Remix (hosted by Kennedy!!!) went all in with her. I hope there are no nightmares for me.

I kinda like Curtis with the jacket on and the hair up.

ETA: "Cayden James"? I heard "King James." Please tell me I wasn't the only one.

[BunsenBurner]

It makes me wonder if when Felicity is arrested if somehow BS taunts FS and tells her what CJ did when FS broke in to the internet server place and that’s how she and OQ and Digg break her free or get her off. 

[catrox14]

I only remember the Olicity kiss up against the wall, and Michael Emerson and that is fine with me.

Why does BS walk like she's on the damn cat walk? It's so stupid

[WindofChange]

Just look at where their hands are. Get some, fam! You deserve it :')

Edited November 3, 2017 by WindofChange

[Angel12d]

The only issue I had with this episode is how dark some of the Olicity scenes were. Like, if they're gonna grab the goods, I wanna see it, you know?

[quarks]

Well, that was fun, despite one or two major plot holes that threatened to swallow up the entire episode:

Possibly unintentionally hilarious things:

1. The way at least three separate characters were all "WHOO HOO, OLICITY IS BACK TOGETHER, YES!"   I laughed. I was only disappointed that Michael Emerson didn't join in with the Olicity love. 

Good things:

1. Michael Emerson, taking all of five seconds to bring extreme menace to the role and immediately leaping into the role of one of Arrow's best villains. 

2.  And naturally, Arrow managed to connect him to Person of Interest and an Evil Island. Nice.

3. And while I'm on the subject of Michael Emerson, hey, some actors can pull a solid performance from Katie Cassidy, and ME is definitely one of them. Nice closing scene from both of them.

4. Oliver behind the computers - and completely forgetting the difference between his right and Felicity's right.

4. Oliver deciding that wearing a gas mask would go unnoticed in Star City.  I laughed. Then he got away with it. I stopped laughing and realized that he probably had a point.

5. Oliver and Felicity after Oliver removed the gas mask. I laughed.

6. Felicity so into going after Cayden James that she completely forgot about dessert.

7. This, incidentally, is the sort of Olicity drama I'm all for - should we or should not go after dangerous computer hackers on our own?  

8. And one more positive Olicity thing - the various scenes framed to mirror previous Olicity moments. Nice.

9. I've been complaining that Arrow, after doing comparatively well on this front (compared to Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, that is), was severely falling down on showing us friendships between women, just as, surprisingly enough, Flash and Legends of Tomorrow were improving on this front - and then, we got Felicity and Alena in this episode.

10. Nice and subtle call back to Legends of Tomorrow there with the Upswipe comment. 

Questionable Things:

1. I have accepted a lot of highly questionable things from this show before.  And I do mean a lot. League of Assassins, magical spinal implants, pretty much every legal situation. But accepting that Oliver would be willing to give up hot sex with Felicity just because Slade wanted to talk?  Slade? My suspension of disbelief only goes so far, show.

2. I know the answer was "for a later joke," but come on - Felicity not taking about ten minutes to change into something slightly more practical for her mission?  We already saw the designer dress, show. Time for her to at least wear moderately sensible shoes.

3. That was all very romantic, Oliver, but I kinda think William would say that "putting on a gas mask and following your vigilante girlfriend into a fist fight," not to mention "providing technical assistance to Team Arrow," is basically kinda going back to being the other guy.

4. So, Star City is not only back to just having the one hospital room, which I am bored with, but also the one airplane hanger that we have now seen in multiple episodes? Or was I expected to think that Cayden James

5. When Felicity is inevitably arrested in the winter finale, will Oliver be allowed some conjugal visits? Asking for, um, reasons.

6. And are we ever going to get to see Oliver and Felicity reach the dessert stage on this show? And by this, unlike Felicity, I mean actual dessert. So far they've been bombed, interrupted by Laurel and Thea, and now by Black Siren murdering people. Relationships can only last so long without chocolate, Arrow. Pay attention to this.

7. And speaking of Oliver and Felicity dating, I cannot believe that the other diner didn't ask for a selfie. She clearly wanted one. 

Bad things:

1. Look. I'll buy - kinda - that the internet is all kept in one place.  What I will not buy is that whoever decided to keep the internet in one place chose Star City for that location - a city under regular attack multiple times a year.  This city can't even keep its mayors and DAs alive and/or unevil.  True, putting the internet in Central City runs the risk of having particle whatevers hit the internet and wipe out data everywhere, but what's wrong with Coast City? You keep telling us that it has excellent pizza!  Or Ivy Town! The Dominators left there back in the 1980s, so it should be safe now.

2. Even if I could buy that someone chose to put the internet in Star City, I am not willing to buy that they were able to put it into one of Star City's two warehouses. Villains invade that warehouse every week, Internet guys! Do you not watch the show?

3. I think it's time we started asking important questions, and by that, I mean, asking what the hell is going on with the sound department and the recording equipment? And I'm not talking about the usual mumbling here - multiple scenes tonight appeared to be using ADR, and in at least two cases, poorly looped ADR.  It's a specifically Arrow problem - the sound on the other Arrowverse shows was fine this week - and it's not confined to this episode, either. What's going on?

4. Not willing to buy that Felicity and Curtis would need to be reminded that hey, they have a piece of high tech medical equipment that they could start developing for their startup. That wasn't just a major medical breakthrough, but something that was cited as a reason for her departure from Palmer Tech, and apparent subsequent complete failure of the company. AKA, a plot point brought up in more than one episode, and something that came up as an issue just a few months ago.

Which gets me to my major complaint about this whole subplot: I'm delighted that Felicity is starting a company.  But in general, people who start up companies typically have the idea for what the company will be doing first before starting to put the company together. This "we're starting a company, but we don't know what we're going to be doing" has felt off from the beginning, and while I'm glad to see it finally answered, I'm less delighted to see it answered by another character and about two weeks too late.

[insomniadreams88]

3 minutes ago, quarks said:

Star City is not only back to just having the one hospital room

This reminds me. Since Alena was there this week, what happened to Thea? Did they move her when they heard someone the team knows was being brought in?

[statsgirl]

14 minutes ago, quarks said:

What I will not buy is that whoever decided to keep the internet in one place chose Star City for that location - a city under regular attack multiple times a year.

Really cheap real estate.  People keep fleeing and putting their property up for sale.

11 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

This reminds me. Since Alena was there this week, what happened to Thea? Did they move her when they heard someone the team knows was being brought in?

I think they forgot about her.  When Oliver's phone rang at the end, I really thought it was Thea coming out of the coma and not Slade.

This article has some vague spoilers but I thought this was interesting in terms of why BS is working with Cayden James, which is something I had been wondering about:

Arrow EP Wendy Mericle Discusses Cayden James’ Vendetta Against Oliver

Quote

Why are Cayden and Black Siren a match made in villain heaven? How do they compliment one another?

They need each other. That can’t function independently. Cayden could do a lot of damage on his own. Black Siren, as we’ve seen, can, too. But, if you bring them both together, they are even more unstoppable. She’s the brawn and he’s the brains. It’s not that they don’t have ways of accomplishing things on their own. The other thing is Black Siren knows when the team sees her, and Cayden knows this, it’s a reminder of Laurel. They know she’s not Laurel, but it’s this reminder and gives Cayden an emotional edge every time he employs her and brings her into the field against the team.

So BS is the brawn and Cayden the brains... okay, I can buy that. I like the twist that they're deliberately using her resemblance to Laurel against the team.

I think this is the best Black Siren episode they've had yet.  Keep the level up, guys.

[Racj82]

Ugh. I don't give a damn about Oliver and Felicity as a couple. I never did but I also feels like it dominates too much of the show discussion in general (not attacking anyone here). They are just another couple to me. Take them or leave them. It almost makes me wish Felicity never came aboard.

I really enjoyed the episode. Great teamwork, shifting Dynamics, cool villain and everyone had a role. Great stuff all around. I feel like this was done partly because everyone else will be in the background next week.

[WindofChange]

You GUYS there were so many callbacks/ parallels in this episode. I'M IN LOVE

http://oliverxfelicity.tumblr.com/post/167073245771/i-know-two-things-i-know-this

http://overwatchandarrow.tumblr.com/post/167073007740/oliverxfelicity-is-that-what-i-sounded-like-all

http://overwatchandarrow.tumblr.com/post/167072890065/oliverxfelicity-423-604

http://oliverfelicitygifs.tumblr.com/post/167066739049

http://smoakinelli.tumblr.com/post/167070483332

AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE

http://oliverxfelicity.tumblr.com/post/167074186656/320-406-520-604

Edited November 3, 2017 by WindofChange

[WindofChange]

21 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

Ugh. I don't give a damn about Oliver and Felicity as a couple. I never did but I also feels like it dominates too much of the show discussion in general (not attacking anyone here). They are just another couple to me. Take them or leave them. It almost makes me wish Felicity never came aboard.

Just as Westallen is a couple and deserve their own development/Screentime in The Flash, Olicity is the same for Arrow and deserves to be developed as well.

But what's great in this episode and in their interactions (which apparently you missed) is that we saw character growth for both Oliver and Felicity.

We saw Oliver grow to be more supportive from the sidelines, saw him go out of his comfort zone in order to help the woman he loves most, and we saw him be level headed and see the benefits of working as a team and imparting that knowledge onto others. 

On the other hand we saw Felicity deal with the ramifications of her actions (something Barry rarely ever faces!) with Cayden and learning from Oliver that it's OK to lean on your team members even though you feel like you're the one who messed up. We saw Felicity listen to Oliver's advice when Felicity usually goes in on a mission like a bull in a china shop (like last year with Helix, Felicity drugging Oliver, etc.). 

Last week we got a Diggle centric episode. This week it was Felicity's turn and I don't know why it's a problem with Felicity when it wasn't with Diggle. Also Felicity's screentime for the first 2 episodes of this season - she was trailing behind Dinah. So this episode more than makes up for that. 

I for one am grateful they are giving a woman a great arc for this season. Not only does it make her character more nuanced and give her more depth, but in a testosterone filled show full of action and fighting it's refreshing to see that they're giving so much to a woman who isn't a fighter but uses her intelligence as a weapon. It really does emphasize how you don't need to kick ass to be strong.

Edited November 3, 2017 by WindofChange

[Racj82]

21 minutes ago, WindofChange said:

Just as Westallen is a couple and deserve their own development/Screentime in The Flash, Olicity is the same for Arrow and deserves to be developed as well.

But what's great in this episode and in their interactions (which apparently you missed) are the individual characters' growth for Oliver/Felicity:

We saw Oliver grow to be more supportive from the sidelines, saw him go out of his comfort zone in order to help the woman he loves most, and we saw him be level headed and see the benefits of working as a team and imparting that knowledge onto others. 

On the other hand we saw Felicity deal with the ramifications of her actions with Cayden and learning from Oliver that it's OK to lean on your team members even though you feel like you're the one who messed up. We saw Felicity listen to Oliver's advice when Felicity usually goes in on a mission like a bull in a china shop (ILY Felicity but yeah you need to plan better). 

Last week we got a Diggle centric episode. This week it was Felicity's turn and I don't know why it's a problem with Felicity when it wasn't with Diggle. Also Felicity's screentime for the first 2 episodes of this season - she was trailing behind Dinah. So this episode more than makes up for that. 

I for one am grateful they are giving a woman a great arc for this season. Not only does it make her character more nuanced and give her more depth, but in a testosterone filled show full of action and fighting it's refreshing they're giving so much to a woman who isn't a fighter but uses her intelligence as a weapon. 

I said absolutely nothing about Felicity having her own episode or Felicity in general. I don't care about Oliver and Felicity as a couple. Not sure where you read everything else from.

I don't have a problem with romance in my shows, a female taking the lead or any of of that. I'm literally just talking about them as a couple. Everything else surrounding Felicity was great this week. I want everyone to be front and center at some point. Have their own arcs and motivations.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Racj82