Spoiler Discussion Thread: The Sequel

[insomniadreams88]

5 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Felicity is the villain with William and everyone else putting her down

Every time I remember this part, I get so annoyed. Even if Felicity did change and become evil, why is everyone acting like she was never their friend (because the show wants us to think they are all friends, even though they're really not in the present) before that? She supposedly changed a few years ago, right? I'm going to need someone (even Rene, that's how desperate I am, and I wouldn't totally hate having to deal with him in the FFs) to say something nice about her in the FFs ASAP. Instead, it's "Felicity's evil, she's dead, these are definitely her plans, remember these plans, her plans, let's bring up these plans yet again and take up time in these FFs reminding everyone these plans mean she was evil, evil, Felicity bad."

[way2interested]

12 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Every time I remember this part, I get so annoyed. Even if Felicity did change and become evil, why is everyone acting like she was never their friend (because the show wants us to think they are all friends, even though they're really not in the present) before that? She supposedly changed a few years ago, right? I'm going to need someone (even Rene, that's how desperate I am, and I wouldn't totally hate having to deal with him in the FFs) to say something nice about her in the FFs ASAP. Instead, it's "Felicity's evil, she's dead, these are definitely her plans, remember these plans, her plans, let's bring up these plans yet again and take up time in these FFs reminding everyone these plans mean she was evil, evil, Felicity bad."

William did do that, in 706, start at 1:36, rationalizing that Felicity (after saying she wouldn't do something like this), even if she did turn evil because he was gone for some time and didn't know, reasoned with Roy that she must have had a change of heart to get William to help save the city, and that it's worth investigating because she was their friend. That's why in 708 they reason Blackstar killed Felicity because she still had the same plans Felicity did and knew what was going on but seems to be continuing with them while Felicity wanted William and Roy to stop it.

It's no big emotional supporting speech we all probably want, but it's not nothing.

[insomniadreams88]

1 minute ago, way2interested said:

William did do that, in 706,

Huh. I think I’ve blocked out more of the FFs than I thought I did. I’ll just blame how bleak they are (and Dinah) just because. 

[way2interested]

1 hour ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Huh. I think I’ve blocked out more of the FFs than I thought I did. I’ll just blame how bleak they are (and Dinah) just because. 

Ha, at least it's an honest reason.

[jay741982]

2 hours ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Every time I remember this part, I get so annoyed. Even if Felicity did change and become evil, why is everyone acting like she was never their friend (because the show wants us to think they are all friends, even though they're really not in the present) before that? She supposedly changed a few years ago, right? I'm going to need someone (even Rene, that's how desperate I am, and I wouldn't totally hate having to deal with him in the FFs) to say something nice about her in the FFs ASAP. Instead, it's "Felicity's evil, she's dead, these are definitely her plans, remember these plans, her plans, let's bring up these plans yet again and take up time in these FFs reminding everyone these plans mean she was evil, evil, Felicity bad."

I wanna believe Blackstar has those plans cause Felicity wanted her daughter to carry out whatever plan it was in case of her death or Dissaperance. And of course Beth is so out of touch that she thinks the masses care about Rene having a good life in FF 

[tv echo]

With DC's Birds of Prey movie scheduled for a Feb. 2020 release, I wonder if TPTB are under orders from DC to promote Black Canary as much as possible this year... in whatever iteration. Therefore, we've got tons of Dinah screentime and a Laurel's continued existence on Arrow.

Edited January 20, 2019 by tv echo

[Morrigan2575]

20 minutes ago, tv echo said:

With DC's Birds of Prey movie scheduled for a Feb. 2020 release, I wonder if TPTB are under orders from DC to promote Black Canary as much as possible this year... in whatever iteration. Therefore, we've got tons of Dinah screentime and a Laurel's continued existence on Arrow.

 

It's certainly a possibility. We know in S2 that the mid-season episodes (12-18) were pretty much used to setup potential spinoffs or movies (Young Justice/Titans, Suicide Squad, BoP). They could have said promote Black Canary or put out a BoP episode to elevate the names/characters/title so it's not just the Harley Queen flick.

Edited January 20, 2019 by Morrigan2575

[Velocity23]

Tv Line changed their title of the article where they announced the BOP episode. It used to say Laurel would lead the team up, now its basically she will be in the episode.

https://tvline.com/2019/01/18/arrow-season-7-laurel-birds-of-prey-inspired-episode/?fbclid=IwAR3RUVjcB1r2MASEbCKFRsk5Rz1u_8o9jlQdsGHr7NpFZSYhTIwf4WEyly4

[Morrigan2575]

Guess he got all the hits he could have out of the article and now the title is more accurate.

I'll LMAO if the BoP episode is Felicity/Dinah/Emiko teaming up to stop BS from doing something horrible because she had a backslide.

[insomniadreams88]

That makes more sense. Beth’s quote didn’t suggest at all that she would lead it, so I was wondering where TVLine got that idea. 

1 minute ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Guess he got all the hits he could have out of the article and now the title is more accurate.

I'll LMAO if the BoP episode is Felicity/Dinah/Emiko teaming up to stop BS from doing something horrible because she had a backslide.

I was thinking the same thing. All I know is if Laurel does end up going the evil route again, even just temporarily, she better not be working for a male villain again. Let her be the boss. 

[Featherhat]

I think it's a possibility that a "more Dinah" mandate has come down from on high. However we discussed that a lot in S5 and it hasn't materialised (maybe until now). She also doesn't (yet I guess) have her own storyline, she's just mainly exposition. Even in the SPs where there could be a connection with Oliver, he isn't giving her anything, either from the writing or SA. Another possibility is that there was no danger of anyone giving a shit DD was alive in the FFs so they could "safely" use her and have other, more popular characters used to tease and for twists. And yeah both the writers and JH know she's not well liked even by BC!forever! fans. 

They've lost Thea and Quentin so NTA are the last ones apart from OTA standing (enter Emiko) to do non Big Bad eps with. With KC I'll always think there were some backstage shenanigans but since she's there she might as well be in a BOP. It also fits in with giving Slade his two eps last year and Suicide Squad's new name - they need episodes to pad out the season. I guess we'll see. JH didn't exactly carry her Vince heavy arc last year very well IMO. The last BOP ep wasn't great and "Girls Night Out" on the Flash was appalling for me so unless it's LOT I don't get my hopes up. Supergirl you *should* be doing better than in the past.  

Edited January 20, 2019 by Featherhat

[statsgirl]

1 hour ago, Featherhat said:

She also doesn't (yet I guess) have her own storyline, she's just mainly exposition.

But she is in a lot of scenes, giving orders to Oliver in the present and directing everyone in the future. I don't think comics stans care if she runs her own storylines as long as she's in the show a lot. They may not see her as the true Black Canary but they'd rather watch her than that usurper, Felicity.

[bijoux]

8 minutes ago, AveMaria30 said:

 https://tvline.com/2019/01/20/arrow-season-7-episode-10-emiko-queen-video/

So the new Green Arrow shows up at Rene's place injured and needing surgery. Who does this remind me of? They are so going to try to get them together. On a different note, I really hope Zoe is sleeping at a friend's house. Yes, Rene was a vigilante too and not being a hypocrite here for once. But this is still a woman he doesn't know, so I'm not that sure having her stay the night in the same apartment as his kid would be the best idea.

[insomniadreams88]

Each sneak peek we’re getting for 710 is worse than the previous one. 

[Morrigan2575]

Surprised they dropped that on a Sunday. Weird

[way2interested]

7 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Each sneak peek we’re getting for 710 is worse than the previous one. 

I can't imagine how this clip is in any way worse than Diaz, c'mon now.

[apinknightmare]

LOL, she even got shot in the same place Oliver did before he dragged ass into the back seat of Felicity's car.

[kes0704]

Quite a lot of what’s been teased for 7B sound like plots they’ve done in previous seasons with a minor twist in some way. The Ghost Initiative is a rebadged Suicide Squad, the Birds of Prey inspired episode is a do over for the one they did in S2, just with a different team up, and the new Green Arrow plot could be a cutdown version of Oliver’s origin story, now with Emiko taking his place and Rene as her partner in place of Felicity and Diggle. 

Hopefully they’ll starting giving out some clues and connective threads about how all of this is supposed to fit together because at the moment it feels like they’re treading water without any real direction. 

[Trisha]

I’m hoping this is the interview where she said she talks about Felicity’s storyline:

[way2interested]

41 minutes ago, kes0704 said:

Hopefully they’ll starting giving out some clues and connective threads about how all of this is supposed to fit together because at the moment it feels like they’re treading water without any real direction. 

I think it's there. Emiko's list is obviously going to connect to the Dante guy ARGUS is going after with the new Suicide Squad which will also probably connect to the city in some way, which ties Oliver, Diggle, Dinah, Emiko, Rene, Curtis, and Felicity all together. Then something in it will connect to the FF while meanwhile the drama comes from the characters' relationships with one another.

[Morrigan2575]

I have nothing to add except (again) Beth either really, really likes Symmetry or she's not very creative.

In a way, I can kind of see what she's doing (assuming she's not creatively bankrupt) she's connecting her S1 to Arrow's S1. So we now have Emiko Queen going through Robert Queen's List, dressed/acting as The GA (instead of The Hood) and forming a team with Rene (potential LI) and I don't really know, Curtis maybe?

Meanwhile instead of Flashbacks to Oliver's time on The Island we have Flash Forwards to Star City as a hell scape.

[apinknightmare]

If Emiko's list does have something to do with Dante, I love that Robert Queen was involved in so much shady business with so many awful people and passed lists to his kids with crooked people to take care of and his kids just happened to start working towards this goal right as his shady comrades started making their big moves. The Queen timing is impeccable, LOL.

Edited January 21, 2019 by apinknightmare

[Primal Slayer]

I wonder if they will rework Roy back into the present come the 150th episode. I assume Thea comes back which ends up in her getting interviewed so might as well have Roy come with her and stick around.

[Featherhat]

Isn't there supposed to be a big twist in the 150th? I wonder if that starts to tie everything together. I can see Young!Roy coming back but I'm not sure that would end up being good for Thea or their relationship, especially seeing as how it doesn't seem to have gone well in the future and Willa won't be around longterm. Sigh. 

I think the Arrow writers in general can get creatively lazy (Oliver learning the same lessons over and over again) and they've claimed a "return to S1" several times so I can see Emiko's List and FFs as "full circle symmetry" and having no idea what else to do.

[way2interested]

6 hours ago, Featherhat said:

Isn't there supposed to be a big twist in the 150th?

I haven't heard anything like that, where was it from? The closest I remember was Beth saying that there's a new character in the FF introduced in 712.

[tv echo]

Nothing new, except in her previous interviews, KM referred to her character as Maya, but here she refers to her character as Blackstar - maybe she was told that her character has only been identified as Blackstar on Arrow episodes aired so far...

Katherine McNamara reveals her CELEBRITY CRUSH! | Katherine McNamara Interview
Published on Jan 20, 2019, by Hollywire

-- On whether she's going back to film Arrow again, KM: "Yes! ... I get to play this character who's - her name is Blackstar. She's a boxer. And it's a lot of fun because I get to continue the skills that I learned on Shadowhunters and all of the things that I learned as I - you know, learned how to fight and box and all of these things. But it's a completely different character in the sense that, Clary was this wide-eyed girl who got thrown into this world, who didn't really know what she was doing and had to learn as she went, whereas this character is a product of a world of that nature, a very harsh, brutal world, and she's one who will punch first and ask questions later. She's not one that I'd want to meet in a dark alley, that's for sure."

-- On what it's like working with the Arrow cast, KM: "It's been so lovely, just - even with the crew and everyone involved in the show... Everyone's been so welcoming. And it's another set, very akin to Shadowhunters, in that everyone is genuinely happy to be there, everybody loves working with each other and loves their job. And being the new kid on a set like that, it's, um - it makes it a lot less nerve-wracking. And being so collaborative and having people be excited about your character, it makes it a lot of fun."

Edited January 21, 2019 by tv echo

[tv echo]

7 hours ago, Featherhat said:

Isn't there supposed to be a big twist in the 150th? I wonder if that starts to tie everything together. I can see Young!Roy coming back but I'm not sure that would end up being good for Thea or their relationship, especially seeing as how it doesn't seem to have gone well in the future and Willa won't be around longterm. Sigh. 

Beth Schwartz said that 712 was going to be "special" and unlike anything they'd done before, but she said it before the episode synopsis came out which revealed the documentary format of that episode.

Speaking of Beth...

Edited January 21, 2019 by tv echo

[CabotCove]

On 1/14/2019 at 10:43 PM, Trisha said:

I want to burn Oliver's blazer. Every time I see it now my eye twitches, just like whenever Felicity's Red Coat of Doom appears...

I love the blazer on him, it has convinced me to tune it🤣🤣🤣. Kinda now looking foward to this Detective Queen storyline.  Different strokes i guess. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by WonderArtist

[insomniadreams88]

Well, this rules out that Maya is Roy and Thea's kid: https://tvline.com/2019/01/21/arrow-season-7-winter-preview-oliver-scpd-felicity-smoak-tech-robert-queen/

Quote

TVLINE | Speaking of Blackstar, should we read anything into the fact that Roy wasn’t present when we first met her? I was wondering if it’s because he would recognize her.
Oh, no — he doesn’t know her.

I will continue to think that she's Olicity's daughter until they tell me otherwise definitively. 

[way2interested]

These round of interviews would have been the time to debunk the theories (like they did with the "Darhk is Felicity's dad" theories early s4), so it's weird they would basically debunk one (she's Roy and Thea's kid) and not another (she's Olicity's kid/related to anyone). 

[tv echo]

Some other comments by Beth in today's TVLine interview - 716 title is "Star City 2040"...

Quote

TVLINE | Get me excited about “Oliver Queen, SCPD-sanctioned fighter of crime.”
Having our entire series based off the vigilantes not being in partnership with the SCPD, we found it super-exciting in the writers room to make this happen. But it’s not going to be without conflict. And the rest of the team is going to have to find their way as well, to figure out how this is all going to work.
*  *  *
TVLINE | Will Oliver get to deal with any Villains of the Week, or will be be frying bigger fish?
A combination. Definitely some Villains of the Week.

TVLINE | The “Elseworlds” crossover seemed to do some damage control with regards to Oliver and Felicity. Would you say they’re back to 100 percent? 90 percent? 80…?
I would say 100 percent.

TVLINE | But will we still see Felicity on edge, getting darker?
She definitely has a lot going on in the second half — specifically figuring out what she’s going to do now that Oliver’s back, and how she’s going to fit into his new role working for the SCPD, while also doing her own thing. She’s going to start getting back to creating tech and doing things to help the world.

TVLINE | Because there is a dilapidated Smoak Tech in the future….
Yes, yes. We’re going to see the origin story of that.

TVLINE | I find it a little convenient that the half-sister Oliver doesn’t know he has is a trained vigilante, just like him — if only because he was only outed a few months ago. Will that make more sense once we get into her backstory?
It will. We’re going to find out a lot more about her in [Monday’s Episode] 10 — where she came from, who her mother is, why Robert [Queen] kept her a secret, what her mission is…. We’ll keep unraveling that as the season goes on.

TVLINE | Are you able to do that without Jamey Sheridan, or will he come back for flashbacks as Robert?
Well… we have him coming back, but not necessarily on-camera. There will be a fun surprise with him in 10.

TVLINE | But it’s definitely new material that Jamey did, not recycled stuff?
Yes, yes.

TVLINE | I have to say, you’ve got me puzzling over the flash-forwards; I even wrote a whole think piece about them. Is this the future or a future?
This is a future as we know it, but we haven’t even scratched the surface of it yet. We’re going to be revealing what’s behind the wall at The Glades, and in 10 we’re going to see out first glimpse of how the other, better half are living. We’re actually going to have an all-future episode, [Episode] 16, which will answer all the questions, including the backstory of Blackstar (Shadowhunters‘ Katherine McNamara), how she came to be in this group…. There are more surprises ahead as we fill in the blanks about what has been going on. That episode is titled “Star City 2040.”
*  *  *
TVLINE | The “Ghost Initiative” that Diggle and Lyla put together in Episode 11 (airing Jan. 28), comprised of Diaz, China White (played by Kelly Hu), Cupid (Amy Gumenick) and Slade’s son (Liam Hall) — is this your workaround to not being able to use the Suicide Squad?
It’s a new group but with the same kind of M.O. as the Suicide Squad. Diaz is going to be our leader of that, which is really fun. We’re going to get to see a lot of that in 11, which is [cast member] David Ramsey’s directorial debut. He did such an amazing job; I just had the mix this week and it’s so much fun seeing China White back, and Cupid and Kane Wolfman, with Diaz leading the charge. It’s a really, really cool episode.

TVLINE | Is whatever Diggle and Lyla are up to with the Dante painting going to dovetail with the bigger picture?
It will, yep. It will all come to a head. You’ll see, we’ve been playing the long game with that one.

TVLINE | The synopsis for 11 also says, “Oliver and Laurel are haunted by the past.” What more can you say about that?
We are going to find out more about Laurel’s backstory on Earth-Two, which is really cool. And Oliver is sort of going to be haunted by the consequences of him being outed. The episode looks at the consequences of him being unmasked and everyone knowing who he is.

TVLINE | What else is coming up for Laurel in the second half of the season?
Well, we are doing a Birds of Prey-inspired episode, that she will be involved with. And we’ll get to see what happens in her overall arc, in her redemption story — whether she is really redeemed as Black Siren and did she really turn over a new leaf, or is she still the same evil Black Siren that we saw last season.

TVLINE | Birds of Prey is of course a group of people. I suppose you’re leaving us to guess who the other team members might be…?
Yep.

Edited January 21, 2019 by tv echo

[Velocity23]

4 minutes ago, way2interested said:

These round of interviews would have been the time to debunk the theories (like they did with the "Darhk is Felicity's dad" theories early s4), so it's weird they would basically debunk one (she's Roy and Thea's kid) and not another (she's Olicity's kid/related to anyone). 

Especially since episode 16 will be told from the POV of Maya.

[Morrigan2575]

Oh Matt, LOL 🙄

You read that whole answer from Beth and it's so not the story he tried to sell initially

1 minute ago, Velocity23 said:

Especially since episode 16 will be told from the POV of Maya.

Oh wow. I heard it was all FF, didn't know it was Maya's POV...yeah I'm sticking with my initial take.

[lemotomato]

Matt trying to push the villain Felicity angle with that “will we see more dark Felicity” question and then getting completely denied by Beth 😂

[Velocity23]

[apinknightmare]

8 minutes ago, Velocity23 said:

Especially since episode 16 will be told from the POV of Maya.

NVM - posted at the same time as the answer!

Edited January 21, 2019 by apinknightmare

[tv echo]

Once again, Beth manages to dim my enthusiasm for the rest of the season...

Arrow Will Explain Everything By the End of Season 7
by LAUREN PIESTER | Mon., Jan. 21, 2019
https://www.eonline.com/news/1006733/arrow-will-explain-everything-by-the-end-of-season-7

Quote

Big secrets are about to be revealed on Arrow!

In fact, one is coming just this week as Oliver learns the identity of that mysterious other Green Arrow, who viewers learned in the last new non-crossover episode is none other than his secret half-sister, Emiko (Sea Shimooka), the daughter of Oliver's (Stephen Amell) late father Robert and a still unknown mother. She gets her chance to shine in tonight's episode, which was only recently revealed to be titled "My Name Is Emiko Queen." 

"It focuses on her and we have a cool, fun, opening montage of her kicking ass, and it's really told from her perspective," showrunner Beth Schwartz tells E! News. "We get to find out what her mission is and sort of why she's around and what happened to her family, and more about Robert kind of not doing right by her."

No one on Team Arrow knows her identity yet, but they will tonight, and you can bet Oliver's going to be surprised to find out he's got another sister. 

"He is not expecting that," Schwartz says. "It is hard. We're going to see him dealing with what that actually means to him." 

As Schwartz reminded us, Oliver's been through a lot this season with his months in prison and worries about his wife and son, all as a result of what she describes as a cycle that Robert created for him. 

"Now to find out that he has this secret half-sister, that his father had a different family is heartbreaking to him, and he can't even confront him, you know, because he's not alive," she says. "So he deals with that, and that's a great story with him and Felicity who's there supporting him as his wife." 
*  *  *
Schwartz says Emiko is similar to Oliver in more ways than just skill with a bow and a salmon ladder.

"She is very similar to Oliver in her sort of hot-headedness and stubbornness and also determination and even skills," she tells us. "We'll find out she's highly skilled and has been trained really well." 

The reveal of Emiko and her whole deal isn't the only thing at play as we head into the back half of the season, so we got Schwartz to spill on a few other things to expect over the next few months and episodes. 
*  *  *
Now that Oliver's out of prison and back with his family and his team, it's all about figuring out how life goes on. 

"We're sort of finding our new normal in this midsection—Oliver working with the SCPD, how does the rest of Team Arrow fit into that, is there going to be a Team Arrow going forward, all of those answers we'll get to pretty fast," Schwartz says. And of course, that applies particularly to Oliver and Felicity. 

The understanding the couple came to during the crossover, after Oliver had his Oliver-is-Barry-is-Oliver experience, will stick, and the pair is now here to fully support one another. 

"Oliver's growth in prison and sort of accepting what Felicity for who she is and sort of understanding what she's been through, because you know, he was in his own kind of hell in prison and she was also in her own kind of hell outside of prison without him, and once that clicked for him, the two are back in a great place. They will have a lot of obstacles headed their way, but they will be together as a team to face them." 

Part of that "new normal" involves Oliver now being more clearly on the side of the law by working with the SCPD, which Schwartz particularly enjoyed as a longtime writer on the show.

"It's fun as someone who's been here from the very beginning, because the whole series was based on vigilantes vs. the SCPD, so now this new partnership just had a lot of rich story to it," she says. "There's obviously going to be some conflict to how the Green Arrow would do things and how the SCPD would do things, and how is this really gonna work?" 

Have no fear though: Oliver suiting up and wielding a bow and arrow will still be pretty normal, and Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) is still not totally defeated, which at this point is very normal. 
*  *  *
Bits and pieces of this season so far have taken place 20 years in the future, and have mostly just posed a whole bunch of questions we couldn't even begin to answer, most of which are about Felicity. Is Felicity really dead? Why would Felicity and Oliver abandon William? Why was Felicity planning to blow up the city? How many secrets is Blackstar keeping about her relationship with Felicity? We're going to get all of those answers this season. 

"The second half of the season will be all about answering the questions that we've sort of posed and set up in the first half, so we'll be paralleling a lot more of the present day story to the future storyline, as well as having an all-future episode coming up," Schwartz promises. "We'll be able to open up our world that we've started and get a better sense of the characters and who they are and what sort of has really been happening, and what did we miss over the past 20 years, which is a lot." 

Felicity in particular has been a cause for concern for fans, since the future scenes have promised us she turned into a villain and also died. Viewers were quick to not believe either thing for one second because they've been fooled before, but Schwartz says everything is "not so black and white." 

"I think it's just interesting because we have such a long, long...again, 20 years is a long time to fill in, and I think throughout our series we've always talked about people's characters and whether you're good or bad, and this season is all about how everyone has a little bit of both inside them, whether it's our villains or heroes, and it's not so black and white. So I think that's the interesting part of dealing with our future storyline and our future characters, because a lot can change in that time." 

"You're going to find out everything this season," she says. 

Not only will we be getting that all-future episode, but we'll also see future Renee (Rick Gonzalez) for the first time, we'll visit the Glades, which Schwartz says is the "complete opposite" of the "depressing" Star City, and we'll learn about everything Blackstar/Maya (Katherine McNamara) is hiding. 

"We're going to find out a lot more about her and how she fits into the whole group in just a few more episodes, and then in our all-flash forward episode, we're going to find out a lot. She's basically going to be featured in that episode from her point of view." 

For everyone who's been worrying about how un-saved Star City still is after 20 years, Schwartz says she's "very excited" for fans to finally see what's going on. 

"The fun part of reading people's reaction is that I know what the answer is, obviously, so I'm just like oh, everyone just wait, just wait. You'll know all the answers, you'll get all the answers," she says. "I'll be very excited once everyone sees what's really going on." 

Edited January 21, 2019 by tv echo

[KenyaJ]

I'm very excited that we're going to get to see the origins of Smoak Tech and I'm happy that it appears that any drama Olicity face in the back half of the season will be external rather than internal. But I hate how little focus there's been on Oliver in all of these interviews. Maybe at the end of the season I'll look back and marvel at how much I enjoyed the future storyline, Emiko, and the ARGUS/Dante stuff. But right now, I just don't care about any of that.

What I really wish Matt would have asked Beth what the hell is going on with Diggle, if what they've done to Diggle for the past 20ish episodes is intentional, and if there's any hope that the Diggle we all knew and loved might return at some point in the future?

[way2interested]

29 minutes ago, Velocity23 said:

Especially since episode 16 will be told from the POV of Maya.

Yeah, with that I wonder if in 716 they'll do flashbacks in the FF to their last interaction to get some Felicity explanations out of the way, get EBR her scene for the episode, while still keeping focus on the FF crew

[Velocity23]

18 minutes ago, way2interested said:

Yeah, with that I wonder if in 716 they'll do flashbacks in the FF to their last interaction to get some Felicity explanations out of the way, get EBR her scene for the episode, while still keeping focus on the FF crew

They said everything will be wrapped up by season end so if they gonna be revealing stuff I think its gonna be in 16

[tv echo]

'Arrow' EP Teases Oliver's Family Drama, the Ghost Initiative & Blackstar's Backstory
Damian Holbrook January 21, 2019
https://www.tvinsider.com/746103/arrow-season-7-oliver-emiko-ghost-intitiative-blackstar/

Quote

So Oliver is free, working for the SCPD and now we know who the new Green Arrow in town is. What are you coming back with?
Beth Schwartz: Well, we're in for a lot of more character development for Emiko, starting with episode 710. We'll be finding out more about her and what her mission's about, as well as all trying to figure out how the rest of our team fits in with Oliver back.

Are you positioning Emiko and Oliver as opponents?
They definitely will have different views on things  as siblings do. [Laughs]. We'll get deeper into knowing about who her mother is, what happened with Robert Queen and why her family was kept a secret.
*  *  *
She knows that Oliver is her brother and she knows that he's been doing this whole thing. What is their relationship like?
He's not her favorite person. And we'll see in this last half that Oliver is going to try to redeem himself to her, redeem his family, because he really feels like she was wronged. By their father.

Man, Robert really screwed this whole family up.
I know! He really did and Oliver's just trying to do the best job to pick up the pieces.

And he will be suiting back up, correct?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. You'll see him as Green Arrow, the majority of the back half of this season. And there's definitely a few villains that are lurking in the shadows. But they will make themselves more clear as the episodes go on.
*  *  *
And what about Diaz (Kirk Acevedo)?
He's still there, he's still there being Diaz. We're going to see him in the Ghost Initiative and he will be working with Dig (David Ramsey) and Lyla (Audrey Marie Anderson) in A.R.G.U.S. and with our other Ghost Initiative characters, which is really fun.

I feel like he's the first villain that we've really gotten that's not super redeemable.
No, he's really not. He's pretty broken. [Laughs]
*  *  *
What else can you tell us about the Ghost Initiative?
Well they're basically [showcased] in David Ramsey's episode, his directorial debut, which is next week. And it is such a great episode, the fans are going to love it. He did such an amazing job. Yeah. It's a really cool episode. We actually get in some deeper backstory with Laurel, with Black Siren and what happened to her on Earth 2.  We get a little insight there and then we get to see the Ghost Initiative kicking butt with China White (Kelly Hu), Slade Wilson's son Kane Wolfson (Liam Hall), our favorite...
*  *  *
The formulation of this new team, this new Suicide Squad, what is that going to do to Dig and Oliver?
Oliver's going to find out pretty soon about it. But Oliver and Dig are not going to have much friction, but they're definitely going to catch up in the terms of them being kind of separate this season, this far. We're going to see them come back together as a unit and be there for each other.

Oh good. I was worried that it was going to post more of a tension thing.
No, it won't. Oliver has evolved and Dig is going through his journey this season, and they come to an understanding and they have each others back. There'll be a resolution between Dig and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards), as well, for everything that went on in the beginning of the season.

Speaking of Felicity, you've got the flash-forward mystery going on. How are we billing that out? Because let me tell you, Kat McNamara is fantastic.
She's amazing.
*  *  *
She's so good, she's so different, she's so different from her work on Shadowhunters. It's a totally different kind of performance. It's really cool.
Oh, great. Awesome. Yeah, she's amazing. And I'm very excited to tell you and everyone that we're having an all flash-forward episode coming up. So we're going to get all the answers, all the backstory of what really has been happening these past 20 years. We go more in-depth on Blackstar, her backstory and how she got involved with everyone. And so it's a really, really fun episode.

Do we find out that Blackstar might be related to maybe some people already on the Arrow canvas?
I don't know. [Laughs] We will definitely find out who...how she became part of this group and what her connection is. We're also going to find out sort of what happened to Roy (Colton Haynes), why he was banished on Lian-Yu and what his baggage is as well.

Edited January 21, 2019 by tv echo

[jay741982]

1 hour ago, Velocity23 said:

Especially since episode 16 will be told from the POV of Maya.

This has to be a sign Right?

[insomniadreams88]

11 minutes ago, tv echo said:

'Arrow' EP Teases Oliver's Family Drama, the Ghost Initiative & Blackstar's Backstory
Damian Holbrook January 21, 2019
https://www.tvinsider.com/746103/arrow-season-7-oliver-emiko-ghost-intitiative-blackstar/

Quote

The formulation of this new team, this new Suicide Squad, what is that going to do to Dig and Oliver?
Oliver's going to find out pretty soon about it. But Oliver and Dig are not going to have much friction, but they're definitely going to catch up in the terms of them being kind of separate this season, this far. We're going to see them come back together as a unit and be there for each other.

Oh good. I was worried that it was going to post more of a tension thing.
No, it won't. Oliver has evolved and Dig is going through his journey this season, and they come to an understanding and they have each others back. There'll be a resolution between Dig and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards), as well, for everything that went on in the beginning of the season.

The thing is, there should be friction between Oliver and Diggle about Diaz and this Suicide Squad. But I feel like because they had that stupid fight over being GA last season, they don't want to have them at odds again.

But gee, it's nice to hear that Oliver and Diggle have each other's backs while Diggle didn't have Felicity's in 7A and I highly doubt I'm going to like how they resolve the Felicity/Diggle problems. (Please surprise me there, Arrow.) 

[KenyaJ]

17 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

The thing is, there should be friction between Oliver and Diggle about Diaz and this Suicide Squad. But I feel like because they had that stupid fight over being GA last season, they don't want to have them at odds again.

But gee, it's nice to hear that Oliver and Diggle have each other's backs while Diggle didn't have Felicity's in 7A and I highly doubt I'm going to like how they resolve the Felicity/Diggle problems. (Please surprise me there, Arrow.) 

This show, man. IDEK what to say anymore.

[Guest]

So basically Diggle was a terrible friend to Oliver and Felicity, mainly Felicity, but won't suffer any consequences for that. It's all fine? What. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Guest

[apinknightmare]

31 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

The thing is, there should be friction between Oliver and Diggle about Diaz and this Suicide Squad. But I feel like because they had that stupid fight over being GA last season, they don't want to have them at odds again.

But gee, it's nice to hear that Oliver and Diggle have each other's backs while Diggle didn't have Felicity's in 7A and I highly doubt I'm going to like how they resolve the Felicity/Diggle problems. (Please surprise me there, Arrow.) 

It makes sense—in a way—that Oliver would blow it off. He's always been willing to do exactly what Diggle's doing and work with unsavory characters if he thought that's what he needed to do in order to make a plan work. I can see why he wouldn't hold it against Diggle considering he was willing to work with Slade and Malcolm. 

I'd like to see them blow up over it if only because I think Digg's been a garbage friend to both Oliver and Felicity for a long time and to just move forward like all that is nothing is angry making.

Edited January 21, 2019 by apinknightmare

[Trisha]

29 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

But gee, it's nice to hear that Oliver and Diggle have each other's backs while Diggle didn't have Felicity's in 7A and I highly doubt I'm going to like how they resolve the Felicity/Diggle problems. (Please surprise me there, Arrow.) 

I'm actually a little surprised that they're even addressing the Dig/Felicity tension because I assumed they would just brush it under the rug. But yes, I'm bracing for it still being a weak resolution. 

[insomniadreams88]

Just now, Trisha said:

I'm actually a little surprised that they're even addressing the Dig/Felicity tension because I assumed they would just brush it under the rug. But yes, I'm bracing for it still being a weak resolution. 

Same. I'm honestly prepared to see Felicity apologize to Diggle and that to be the "resolution." 

[Guest]

This is where the writers always lose me. The Oliver/Diggle friction in s6 was so contrived and made no sense but they did it anyway. But now they have an actual justified plot and character reason to show some tension (because Diggle has been a shit), they're just gonna skip over it?! This is so frustrating. 

I'm not expecting episode after episode of tension but honestly, Diggle deserves a dressing down. I needed Oliver to let him have it and I wanted Diggle to apologize for not being there for Felicity. She turned to BS, of all people, because she had no one else. DICK MOVE, DIGGLE!

Ugh, Beth. WYD?!

15 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Same. I'm honestly prepared to see Felicity apologize to Diggle and that to be the "resolution." 

This better not happen. I get rage-y thinking about it. NO. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Guest

[Morrigan2575]

51 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

This is where the writers always lose me. The Oliver/Diggle friction in s6 was so contrived and made no sense but they did it anyway. But now they have an actual justified plot and character reason to show some tension (because Diggle has been a shit), they're just gonna skip over it?! This is so frustrating. 

It might not be fair to judge Beth and what is a mostly new Writers Room to what happened under Mercle's watch. I hesitate to say give her a chance but, people spent months complaining endlessly about Prison storyline going too long and it was going to be awful and yet the response after actually watching was very positive.

And yes people hated how Diggle treated Felicity and that she turned to BS but, people here also reacted positively and commented several times on how much they enjoyed Felicity/BS.

Maybe, just see what happens? You (plural you) might end up liking it.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Morrigan2575