The Starling City Times: News and Media about Arrow

[tv echo]

If KA really wanted Diaz to be the baddest Big Bad on Arrow by killing one of OTA, then his goal should have been for Diaz to kill either the assassin archer or the ex-Special Forces guy, not the IT girl. That just makes Diaz appear weak and cowardly.

[tv echo]

Passing praise for SA...

Watch World Of Dance's Ne-Yo Dominate The Warped Wall On American Ninja Warrior
BY LAURA HURLEY  MAY 24, 2018
https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2425562/watch-world-of-dances-ne-yo-dominate-the-warped-wall-on-american-ninja-warrior

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All things considered, the celebrity edition of American Ninja Warrior was incredibly entertaining as well as a way to raise money for charity. Nobody was quite as successful as Arrow star Stephen Amell when he ran the American Ninja Warrior course last year and rocked the salmon ladder, but who are we to complain? You can find Ne-Yo back in primetime on Tuesday, May 29 at 10 p.m. ET with the premiere of World of Dance Season 2. For more of what you can watch in the not-too-distant future, check out our summer TV premiere guide.

WWE SmackDown: 5 Best Possible Superstars to Cross Over to Fox Programming
Bryan Heaton  May 25, 2018
https://dailyddt.com/2018/05/25/wwe-smackdown-5-superstars-fox/

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That’s a perfect recipe for crossovers! We’ve seen celebrities appear on WWE programming for years, with the appearances ranging from good (Stephen Amell) to godawful (Lonzo Ball). However, I’m looking at the other direction — what WWE superstars could appear on Fox network shows to hype SmackDown?

Edited May 25, 2018 by tv echo

[statsgirl]

1 hour ago, tv echo said:

If KA really wanted Diaz to be the baddest Big Bad on Arrow by killing one of OTA, then his goal should have been for Diaz to kill either the assassin archer or the ex-Special Forces guy, not the IT girl. That just makes Diaz appear weak and cowardly.

But she's the fake! He's just protecting the comics purity. He's a hero!

Forget that John Diggle didn't appear in the original comics,  he's got the fighting cred and he didn't steal Black Canary's role.

[Starfish35]

Since I know everyone here loved season six and can't wait to rewatch it (lol), just a heads-up that it's available on Netflix (US) as of today. :)

[KenyaJ]

I made the mistake of buying a season pass on iTunes. In my defense, I did it the day after 604, which was awesome, back when I had hope that the rest of the season would be good as well. I will never make that mistake again, LOL.

[calliope1975]

8 minutes ago, KenyaJ said:

I made the mistake of buying a season pass on iTunes. In my defense, I did it the day after 604, which was awesome, back when I had hope that the rest of the season would be good as well. I will never make that mistake again, LOL.

Heh. I have bought enough episodes that towards the end it might have made sense to buy the season pass. But then the finale happened so I saved about $8 or so. :D

[tv echo]

Arrow’s Kirk Acevedo Discusses How He Developed The Ricardo Diaz Character
By Eric Joseph  May 25, 2018
http://wegotthiscovered.com/tv/arrows-kirk-acevedo-discusses-developing-ricardo-diaz-character/

Quote

When I had a chance to speak with Acevedo at Motor City Comic Con last weekend, he recalled when he was first approached for the gig:

“Before I even shot anything, [executive producers] Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle called me when they were telling me about the project. They said, ‘alright we don’t want the typical Arrow bad man, loud and over-the-top.’ I would never play it like that anyway.”
*  *  *
That said, the actor then detailed how they went about establishing a more subtle, methodical threat:

“They didn’t tell me what I’m gonna tell you right now, that ‘we want Michael Corleone, Godfather, we want Scarface. Think like the TV show The Liar. Just brooding, simmering.’ That’s my wheelhouse. So, even if they didn’t tell me that, I would’ve played it like that anyway.”

As our conversation proceeded, we discussed what’s likelier to get into the heads of average folk, to which he offered:

“If you’re in a bar, what’s scary? The guy that looks at you and doesn’t say anything, or the guy who ‘he doth protest too much’ and is yelling? The guy who doesn’t say anything and just stares at you is scary.”

Edited May 25, 2018 by tv echo

[tv echo]

I couldn't disagree more with his Diaz comments, although I do agree that Season 6 overall was "frustrating"...

ARROW: SEASON 6 REVIEW
BY JESSE SCHEEDEN    25 MAY 2018
http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/05/25/arrow-season-6-review

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It's not always easy being a fan of Arrow, as the show's sixth season frequently proved. The show was at its most uneven and frustrating this year. For a while it seemed as though Season 6 was doomed to go down in history as the show's worst to date. And while it did finally turn things around in the last couple months, it may have been too little, too late for many viewers.
*  *  *
The only truly compelling addition to the formula to arise in the premiere involved the increased focus on Oliver's son William (Jack Moore), now mourning the loss of his mother and living with a father he barely knows. The resulting family drama often resulted in some of the strongest material in the first half of Season 6, with William both lashing out against and needing his father and Ollie struggling to figure out how to care for a boy whose existence he only discovered a couple years ago. That played into one of the larger themes of the season - Ollie's struggle to figure out how to balance his job as mayor, his crusade as the Green Arrow and his responsibilities as a parent. That dovetailed with Felicity's (Emily Bett Rickards) own struggles as she found herself being drawn deeper into the lives of both Queen men.

As a backbone for the season, that's not bad. The problem is more the scattershot approach the writers took to crafting the story. It worked well early on as Ollie contemplated giving up his hood and focusing on being a better mayor and father. After five years of getting nowhere in his mission, that seemed to represent a positive step forward for the character. But it wasn't long before that approach took a backseat to more traditional vigilante adventures. Only in the final third of the season did Ollie's need to achieve balance in his life become paramount again.
*  *  *
Two long-running story threads proved especially disappointing this season. The first involved the dynamic between Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) and Vigilante (Johann Urb). The latter's identity was finally revealed early in Season 6, though the answer to that long-running mystery proved thoroughly unsatisfying. Nor did the ensuing drama between the two characters redeem Vigilante as a character. Instead, he felt like just one more unnecessary addition to an overcrowded cast.

The other involved the relationship between Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) and the Earth-2 version of Laurel (Katie Cassidy). After so many years of seeing Quentin grapple with the death of one daughter or the other, more Lance family drama is not what the series needed. It didn't help that Laurel's redemption arc proved so repetitive. You can only see a character make apparent progress, only to pivot and back-stab everyone around her, so many times before the formula gets old.

Perhaps nothing weighed down the season more than its uninspired choice of main villain, hacker extraordinaire Cayden James (Michael Emerson). Emerson is a talented actor, but he frequently felt wasted in the role. James proved to be a bland, redundant villain whose motivations failed to set him apart from the crowd. Even at the series lowest points in Seasons 3 and 4, villains like Ra's al Ghul and Damien Darhk elevated their respective conflicts. James merely dragged the series further down.
*  *  *
The season's saving grace came with the sudden death of Cayden James and the elevation of formerly minor villain Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) to the season's primary antagonist. Diaz proved to be everything James wasn't - a compelling villain whose motivations and actions set him apart from the shows previous big baddies. He cared little for the sort of theatrics preferred by Deathstroke or Damien Darhk. His goal was money and control, not making a grand statement or destroying the city. Acevedo's performance helped further elevate the character, with various episodes highlighting Diaz's dark past and the inferiority complex that fuels his present actions.

Diaz's rise to power coincided with a breaking point in Team Arrow's tenuous dynamic. After suffering through a destructive civil war and seeing his political career crumble, Ollie finally decided to abandon everything but the mission. That shift in gears helped the series find the focus it had been struggling to achieve for months. It suggested that maybe the best thing Arrow can do is to abandon the ensemble format and become centered around Oliver Queen once again. On the other hand, the season managed to maintain that sense of focus even as Team Arrow grudgingly reformed and built a united front against Diaz. It seems the problem is less the amount of characters than how the writers choose to balance them.

Edited May 25, 2018 by tv echo

[doesntworkonwood]

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alright we don’t want the typical Arrow bad man, loud and over-the-top.

Someone didn't watch Arrow before he got the job. I'm trying to think of a loud and over the top villain, and I don't think any of them were that. The only example is maybe Merlyn, but he certainly wasn't loud or OTT in the first season. More importantly, the last Arrow big bad before Avocado got cast was Prometheus and he certainly wasn't loud. In fact, he was quiet, creepy and he knew how to get into Oliver's head. AKA he was the Chanel to Avocado's poundland. 

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“If you’re in a bar, what’s scary? The guy that looks at you and doesn’t say anything, or the guy who ‘he doth protest too much’ and is yelling? The guy who doesn’t say anything and just stares at you is scary.”

Not when he looks like you mate. 

[Mary0360]

12 minutes ago, tv echo said:

I couldn't disagree more with his Diaz comments, although I do agree that Season 6 overall was "frustrating"...

ARROW: SEASON 6 REVIEW
BY JESSE SCHEEDEN    25 MAY 2018
http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/05/25/arrow-season-6-review

Aside from Thea when does the show EVER refer to Oliver as 'Ollie'? So why do reviewers insist on it? 

[statsgirl]

Quote

“Before I even shot anything, [executive producers] Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle called me when they were telling me about the project. They said, ‘alright we don’t want the typical Arrow bad man, loud and over-the-top.’ I would never play it like that anyway.”
*  *  *

“If you’re in a bar, what’s scary? The guy that looks at you and doesn’t say anything, or the guy who ‘he doth protest too much’ and is yelling? The guy who doesn’t say anything and just stares at you is scary.”

This is exactly what Diaz is like.  And trying to hide a huge inferiority complex.

18 minutes ago, Mary0360 said:

Aside from Thea when does the show EVER refer to Oliver as 'Ollie'? So why do reviewers insist on it? 

Because that's the true Green Arrow, not this Oliver guy who is married to Felicity.

Why does it not surprise me that Jesse Schedeen thought that Michael Emerson's understated and creepy performance lowered the material but he loves KA's loud and bombastic Diaz?

Edited May 25, 2018 by statsgirl

[EmilyBettFan]

Ahaha I just laugh at these people who review like that. Did you actually watch the show?

[tv echo]

I swear, are we even watching the same show?! Some of these suggestions are just eye-rollingly awful...

17 Ways to Mend the Broken Arrow
Candice Horde   May 24, 2018 
https://www.tvfanatic.com/slideshows/17-quick-fixes-for-a-better-arrow-season/

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5. Stop Avoiding the History Between Siren and Oliver
...
It's weird to sell that Oliver's still recovering from Laurel's death and then have him devoid any emotion the very few times Siren and Oliver get put into a scene together.

Touching on their history and how it may or may not differ on their separate worlds is not competition for Oliver and Felicity when it's been deeply ingrained that the latter two love each other on E1.

It's exploring complexities in Oliver's personality and his interactions with others that Arrow sorely needs now that none of his friends or family from his prior life are left on the show.

There are certain facets of your personality that only people you've known since childhood can bring out of you.
*  *  *
13. Develop A Friendship Between Felicity and Laurel
...
Developing a relationship between the opposites, Laurel and Felicity, could both explore Siren's character and give Felicity her own arc. Two birds, one stone.

Their banter would be one-of-a-kind because they are so different. And, plus, Felicity needs some girlfriends.

What is she like when she's not surrounded by oppressing masculinity? What is Siren like when she finally lets loose and trusts someone?

These would be interesting ideas to develop over the course of next season.
*  *  *
15. Retire the Black Canary Mantle
...
This is a hard one to say but it's time we retire the suit. It doesn't seem like Arrow plans on making any character worthy enough to wear it, and that's fine.

However, with the damage that has been done to this comic character and her legacy, it would be best for everyone if Black Canary retires until someone with her heart can wear it.

Dinah Drake can easily become Lady Black Hawke and that could prompt a whole new interesting story for Arrow.
*  *  *
16. Cut the Olicity Drama
...
Oliver and Felicity seem to be at odds over something every other month. Should a couple be married if they can't go a few months without a big argument?

This is escpecially [sic] the case when they consistently bring their arguments to the field. It's makes for a melodramatic element that could easily be cut and no one would miss it.

1. Bring Back Robin Hood
2. Cut Down on the Masks
3. Siren Backstory
4. Reclaim Irony and Satire
5. Stop Avoiding the History Between Siren and Oliver
6. Give Felicity a Story
7. Write Off William
8. Develop Supporting Characters
9. No More Revenge Tropes
10. Utilize ARGUS More
11. Build Strong Character Bonds
12. Give Laurel A New Wardrobe
13. Develop A Friendship Between Felicity and Laurel
14. Show More Hands and Fewer Guns
15. Retire the Black Canary Mantle
16. Cut the Olicity Drama
17. No More Villains with Past Vendettas

Edited May 26, 2018 by tv echo

[Primal Slayer]

They arent that bad, at least it isn't "Have Black Siren and Oliver fall in love and kill off Felicity" 

[Guest]

There is no history between Siren and Oliver though. This is the issue. She's from E2 and she's a psycho. 

[insomniadreams88]

Not surprised by an article on TV Fanatic.

Why do I feel like this person would suddenly be all for the BC mantle if BS is suddenly the new BC? 

And dear god no to Felicity and Siren as friends. 

Don’t even get me started on Oliver and Siren. The best thing the show did in S6 was limit their scenes together. 

[apinknightmare]

2 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

There is no history between Siren and Oliver though. This is the issue. She's from E2 and she's a psycho. 

Except for the one where he wanted to find some ~Laurel in her and then she escaped from ARGUS and teamed up with THREE separate men who tried to kill him and his family. 

Quote

There are certain facets of your personality that only people you've known since childhood can bring out of you.

OLIVER. DOESN'T. KNOW. THIS. LAUREL. 

Jesus, this is tiring. Guess that repeated gaslighting worked on some people though. Whew. 

Edited May 26, 2018 by apinknightmare

[Guest]

1 minute ago, apinknightmare said:

Except for the one where he wanted to find some ~Laurel in her and then she escaped from ARGUS and teamed up with THREE separate men who tried to kill him and his family. 

Well, there is that. LMAO. 

I just don't get it. He doesn't know her like he did E1 Laurel and I question whether E1 O/L really knew each other at all but that's another point entirely. The fact is she's not the Laurel he grew up with and they need to quit acting like she is. This is one of the reasons why Quentin was so damn insufferable throughout s6 with his dumbass delusions thinking it's his daughter. IT'S NOT. Please don't drag Oliver into that mess too. 

[JJ928]

That article was written by someone who hates Felicity, so not surprising. I saw the author tweet going around on twitter & refused to open it. I'm surprised it's so neutral on Felicity since she hates her, and thinks she took LL's place.

[Guest]

The majority of the points in the article are basically "how can we force Laurel into the plot more than she already is." ??

[statsgirl]

31 minutes ago, tv echo said:

Developing a relationship between the opposites, Laurel and Felicity, could both explore Siren's character and give Felicity her own arc. Two birds, one stone.

You gotta love the idea that Felicity would get her own arc by exploring more about Black Siren.  Is she even aware of how ridiculous that is?

39 minutes ago, tv echo said:

There are certain facets of your personality that only people you've known since childhood can bring out of you.

As others have said, but it can't be said enough THESE TWO CHARACTERS DON'T KNOW EACH OTHER AND HAVE NO HISTORY!

34 minutes ago, tv echo said:

15. Retire the Black Canary Mantle

Because no one should be allowed to have it if Laurel doesn't.

35 minutes ago, tv echo said:

12. Give Laurel A New Wardrobe

This one is a WTF?  What's wrong with Laurel's wardrobe (which seems very KC), and how is a Fashion Police intervention going to improve the show?

[apinknightmare]

5 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

This one is a WTF?  What's wrong with Laurel's wardrobe (which seems very KC), and how is a Fashion Police intervention going to improve the show?

It's because she dresses too much like E-1 Laurel, and she wants to differentiate her from that character (while, inexplicably, wanting her to have the same relationship with Oliver that E-1 Laurel had, LOL). 

[Mrs. de Winter]

23 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

It's because she dresses too much like E-1 Laurel, and she wants to differentiate her from that character (while, inexplicably, wanting her to have the same relationship with Oliver that E-1 Laurel had, LOL). 

Wait - you're kidding, right?  I mean it is stupid no matter what -- but wow.  

This list should be titled "Things That Would Make Me Happy" not things that would mend arrow.  And the person that wrote it?  Should head back to school because her arguments (and writing) could use some work.  I liked it better when the LL fans didn't want her anywhere near Felicity.  It was the one thing I agreed with them on (for different reasons - but still). 

[statsgirl]

49 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

It's because she dresses too much like E-1 Laurel, and she wants to differentiate her from that character (while, inexplicably, wanting her to have the same relationship with Oliver that E-1 Laurel had, LOL). 

And a friendship with Felicity like Laurel had. Probably wants her to have a sisterly relationship with Thea as well as that daddy one with Quentin.

But yeah, so different from E1LL.

Edited May 26, 2018 by statsgirl

[lemotomato]

1 hour ago, tv echo said:

17 Ways to Mend the Broken Arrow
Candice Horde   May 24, 2018 

It's weird to sell that Oliver's still recovering from Laurel's death and then have him devoid any emotion the very few times Siren and Oliver get put into a scene together.

Oliver got over Laurel's death in 510. He spent all of 511 looking for someone to replace her to honor her legacy and hasn't spoken of her since. But then I wouldn't expect anyone that writes for TV Fanatic to have actually watched the show.

[KenyaJ]

It's hilarious to me how many Laurel fans don't like Felicity but want to capitalize on her popularity by contriving some reason for them to be "friends." Felicity hasn't trusted or liked Black Siren from the moment she first showed up in Star City. And she holds grudges better than most characters on this show (she's still giving Oliver shit about Helena five seasons after the fact).

The writers could conceivably create a friendship between Siren and one of the newbies, because the newbies' personalities aren't fully formed and we don't really know much about their moral codes. A Siren/Oliver friendship would be a stretch given their interactions in the last two seasons, but given his need to believe in redemption for his own actions, it wouldn't strike me as OOC for him to try to peacefully coexist with her out of a sense of loyalty to Quentin. But Felicity and Diggle? Nope. We've had six seasons of seeing that the two of them aren't the "forgive and forget" type when it comes to villains who have previously burned them. They might work with Siren on a transactional basis out of necessity, like they did with Malcolm, but neither of them would ever let their guard down around her out of some belief that she's trying to change and be "good." The one time Diggle did that (with Andy in S4), it bit him in the ass. And Felicity is too smart to trust someone who's already proved themselves untrustworthy. This is a woman who set a trap for own father to make sure she didn't get played. She would require a lobotomy or a personality transplant to make a friendship with "Pumpkin" happen.

It was painful watching Quentin's character be sacrificed for Siren when he, more than anyone, should have been appalled by her. I have zero patience for more unearned, forced relationships in S7.

[Primal Slayer]

10 minutes ago, KenyaJ said:

It's hilarious to me how many Laurel fans don't like Felicity but want to capitalize on her popularity by contriving some reason for them to be "friends." Felicity hasn't trusted or liked Black Siren from the moment she first showed up in Star City. And she holds grudges better than most characters on this show (she's still giving Oliver shit about Helena five seasons after the fact).

I'm going to go out on the limb and say if they don't like Felicity then they probably don't want those two to have anything to do with one another.

 

4 hours ago, Angel12d said:

The majority of the points in the article are basically "how can we force Laurel into the plot more than she already is." ??

5 points out of 17 aren't the majority

 

4 hours ago, JJ928 said:

That article was written by someone who hates Felicity, so not surprising. I saw the author tweet going around on twitter & refused to open it. I'm surprised it's so neutral on Felicity since she hates her, and thinks she took LL's place.

Does this person  hate Felicity? She only has 7 credits to her name on the site and only 2 deal with Arrow. 

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

5 points out of 17 aren't the majority

It is when she's the only character mentioned that many times. ?

[Primal Slayer]

3 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

It is when she's the only character mentioned that many times. ?

1 point is about Siren and Oliver

1 is about Siren and Felicity

1 point is about Oliver

1 point is about Felicity

1 point is about Siren. 2 if you want to count the writer just stating their pet peeve about wardrobe.

1 point is about Olicity

So they seem pretty tied in mentions.

[JJ928]

28 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

I'm going to go out on the limb and say if they don't like Felicity then they probably don't want those two to have anything to do with one another.

 

5 points out of 17 aren't the majority

 

Does this person  hate Felicity? She only has 7 credits to her name on the site and only 2 deal with Arrow. 

Yep. Someone on twitter (it was rt'd I don't follow her) found her tweet where she put the link to her article, and followed it up w/screenshots of her trashing Felicity & EBR... she did it so people wouldn't give it clicks.

[tv echo]

Arrow Season 6: Cayden James, the Best New Character of the Season
Posted by Dan Wickline May 26, 2018
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/05/26/arrow-season-6-cayden-james-best-character/

Quote

This is a tough one in that there weren’t that many new characters introduced in this season of Arrow. They brought back a lot of them taking time with Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Anatoly Knyazev, and giving all of the team their moment to shine. The two new characters to the series were Cayden James, played by Michael Emerson, and Ricardo “the Dragon” Diaz, played by Kirk Acevedo. And while Diaz pulled James’s strings, they each had their time as the big bad and each had strong character moments.

Diaz is scary and lethal, like a force of nature that is going to devastate anything in his path. He tore apart Oliver Queen’s life and took over Star City. But I never connected with the character. The best villains are the ones who are the hero of their own story. I think Diaz likes and wants to be the villain. And for that I found him lacking when compared to James.
*  *  *
James was essentially a good man who did bad things to try to help people. His motivation was revenge on the man who killed his son. You can disagree with his actions and the extent to which he was willing to go, but you can relate to the pain he was going through. You can empathize with him, just as Oliver did in the end once it was clear that Oliver didn’t kill James’s son. Emerson is such a good actor that he could sit there holding the trigger to a bomb that would wipe out the city, and you still felt for him and his loss. That’s a difficult thing to pull off.

Edited May 27, 2018 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Lucifer's Kevin Alejandro Talks 'Bonus' Directing Gig, Revisits True Blood, 24, SouthLAnd, Arrow, Y&R and Other Roles
By Matt Webb Mitovich / May 27 2018, 11:10 AM PDT
http://tvline.com/2018/05/27/lucifer-season-3-bonus-episode-kevin-alejandro-interview-director/

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Capping our conversation with Alejandro, TVLine invited the steadily working actor to take a trip down memory lane and revisit his first TV gig and several that followed. Click here for his Memories From the Set.
*  *  *
ARROW
Because Greg Berlanti produced Golden Boy, Alejandro soon after received a call to play Sebastian Blood, a Starling City mayor who as “Brother Blood” covertly led a cult of mirakuru-juiced super-soldiers. “When Greg called me up, I researched the character and was like, ‘Ooh, of course I want to be a part of this world!'” Alejandro remembers. “What was great about that character was that, like [Lucifer‘s] Dan, everything came from the heart. He really loved the city and everything he did was to make it a better place — even though he did all the wrong things! It was a cool chance to play a villain but not play the villain.”

Edited May 27, 2018 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Arrow Season 6: the Most Surprising Moment of the Season
Posted by Dan Wickline May 27, 2018
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/05/27/arrow-season-6-the-most-surprising-moment-of-the-season/

Quote

The longest running of the series I cover, the show has used a lot of surprises so to do something big, it needs to be really good. And while the biggest surprise of the season to me comes from the episode that you might expect, Docket No. 11-19-41-73, it may not be the exact moment you think. This is the episode that Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) is on trial for being the Green Arrow. We saw in the trailer for the episode that Colin Donnell would be returning as Tommy Merlyn. So it wasn’t a big surprise when he came crashing through the roof of the court house. And it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise as we had the Tommy unmasking of the Earth-X Prometheus, so we’d already seen him back earlier in the season. This was a surprise for a lot of people because they brought back Christopher Chance (Wil Traval) aka the Human Target as the reason why Tommy was in the courtroom. And while the opening Diggle pulling a guy out of a hostage situation immediately told me it was Chance, what I didn’t see coming was Oliver being convicted by the jury at the end only to have the judge set the verdict aside and later reveal that Chance had replaced him as well.

I know the end result is that Oliver is still in jail, but the not guilty verdict pushed Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) past the point of being cautious and eventually lead to his downfall. Making the return of Christopher Chance the biggest surprise of the season for Arrow.

Edited May 28, 2018 by tv echo

[JJ928]

Katie Cassidy interview. Haven't had a chance to read it yet, just saw it on twitter.

https://www.geek.com/television/katie-cassidy-talks-arrow-her-love-of-catwoman-and-shethority-1741298/

[tv echo]

^^^ Here are some interesting portions from the above Geek interview with KC (which was conducted during the April 27th CapitolOne launch event for its Financial Superhero Program) - interviewer conflates E1 Laurel/BC and E2 Laurel/BS - also, KC does not mention EBR when talking about SheThority, yet look who's participating in and who's missing from this Nov. 10, 2017 "Who We Are, Why We’re Here | SHETHORITY" video...

Quote

So I’m going to start out with a question I’m sure you’ve been asked before: Were you into superheroes when you were a kid?
I was a fan of Catwoman. But Michelle Pfieffer Catwoman especially. Phenomenal.

Who did you look up to as a hero when you were growing up?
In terms of like, providing financial guidance it was actually my grandmother. She was very encouraging towards saving and big on saving up for buying a home which I appreciate. She kind of showed me, guided me through because at 17, 18 my parents were like, ‘Great, if you wanna pursue acting you’re on your own. Good luck with that.’ I think there’s a misinterpretation of where I come from and what family I come from and actually what my upbringing was. It’s very different than what people think. So I moved out when I was 18. I had a couple of thousand dollars to my name. It was a lot of trial and error, and I definitely learned the hard way and went through a short period where I had to ask my mom for groceries. That was about all they were willing to help with. A lot of Top Ramen.
*  *  *
You’ve been playing Laurel for six, seven years now? In that time I’d imagine you’ve met a lot of people that are really touched by Black Canary both as a character and by your performance. As someone who was into Catwoman but not necessarily all-in on superheroes, has it shifted your perspective on what they mean to people and on what you do means to people?
To be honest with you, I can’t necessarily say it’s shifted my perspective on superheroes. I think I’ve grown to appreciate them more and also appreciate the response that our show has been getting over the years. I’ve always considered myself a pretty positive person. I’m ambitious, driven, and I try to be a really good role model to young kids in general. So if anything I think of it more as an opportunity to be more of a superhero and a role model to kids in my personal life. But I also just appreciate comics more, and I appreciate fans. The fanbase is the best in the world. It’s so loyal!
*  *  *
Yeah, I think that you have this iconic character that’s been looked up to in so many ways. Those are big shoes to fill and I knew what I was stepping into. But I knew I could do it and that I was well-equipped for the job. I knew I’ve always wanted to be a leader and a positive influence and a really good role model to people and kids especially. It’s interesting because it really is like being the switchboard between the fans and Canary.
*  *  *
That’s super cool to hear you say and the thing that I really appreciate about what you’ve done with your platform is create SheThority with your fellow female Arrowverse castmates. What are your goals for that platform and how did it come together?
The thing that’s so cool about SheThority is that it came together organically just because us women on the show are all really good friends. It started out with myself on Arrow and then Caity Lotz came on and she and I just clicked. I was like, ‘This girl is my homie.’ She’s the shit. And then I knew Danielle Pannabaker for years and I loved her so it was a very warm group of people for new actors coming in. We’re all very good friends and the SheThority came from the fact that we all have the same beliefs, especially regarding women. They and I believe that right now is a time for women and we need to support each other and lift one another up. It makes us stronger and these girls do that. I’ve also been on the other side of it, you know? I think everyone has. I’ve had insecurities. Everyone struggles with that, especially girls when it comes to things like growing up and body image. And unfortunately, there’s this love/hate relationship I have with social media because it can be such a great, positive platform but it also can be really bullish. There’s a lot of cyberbullying and I hate that. It, unfortunately, keeps me from keeping up with my fan base as much as I would like because I don’t want to read that. So if I don’t read it, it can’t hurt me.

Edited May 29, 2018 by tv echo

[tv echo]

While I agree that Dinah became more annoying during S6, I disagree that she was unconvincing as BC. She was more convincing than Laurel as BC (imo), though neither Dinah nor Laurel was as convincing as Sara. It's clear that this writer is just looking for a way for BS to become BC. Also, I totally disagree that Diggle needs to be written off. For me, Oliver, Felicity and Diggle are the three indispensable and irreplaceable characters on Arrow...

ARROW: Characters That Need To Be Written Off In Season 7!
Ali Harris   5/28/2018
https://www.comicbookmovie.com/tv/dc/arrow/arrow-characters-that-need-to-be-written-off-in-season-7-a160941

Quote

New Team Arrow
*  *  *
The same goes for Dinah Lance who basically joined midway into season 5 as a replacement for Laurel's Black Canary role. Unfortunately, Dinah Lance never felt convincing as Black Canary and while she does have a handful of cool scenes as Black Canary, she just isn't interesting as a character. Her loss of Vincent/Vigilante at no point made me feel sorry for her and rather made me roll my eyes as the loss of a loved one type of storyline is a massive cliche, especially if that loss leads to a revenge storyline. However, despite lacking any real quality that made her likeable, Dinah Lance reached a new level of annoying during the sixth season. As I mentioned, she suffers the loss of her boyfriend due to E-2 Laurel Lance/Black Siren and oh boy... Dinah became the least likeable character for me during the sixth season as her constant bitching about needing to get revenge was just pure moronic. As someone who was involved in the police force for years, you'd think Dinah had been taught some restraint or something. Overall, her character just isn't needed as she can easily be replaced with E-2 Laurel Lance who has since gone through a redemption story arc.
*  *  *
John Diggle

This is hard for me to admit because John Diggle is a character I really like... despite being an idiot late into the sixth season. Diggle is a character that has been on the show since the start and he has been one of the best characters on Arrow. Like any other character, Diggle has had some idiotic moments or stories but overall, Diggle is a really great character due to his close friendship to Oliver. However, if season 6 proved anything, it's that the writers don't know how to write anymore stories involving Diggle. They pretty much screwed up his entire character and done a whole 360, making him go from being absolutely loved to unbelievably out of character. Unfortunately, Arrow also saw Diggle being put onto the sidelines for most of season 5 as well which really shows that for the past two seasons, the writers haven't been able to come up with a solid story for him. It's better to just write him off for a little while so that if he comes back, he could come back with a good storyline as he is someone that deserves a strong story dedicated to him.

New Team Arrow (Rene, Dinah, Curtis)
John Diggle
William Clayton
Ricardo Diaz (the Dragon)

Edited May 29, 2018 by tv echo

[tv echo]

I only quoted the Arrow comments...

SpoilerTV's Weekly Round Table: Fall Season Post Mortem
Posted by Samantha Benjamin at May 28, 2018
https://www.spoilertv.com/2018/05/spoilertvs-weekly-round-table-fall.html

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Welcome to another weekly round table. This week it's a post mortem on fall TV and I'm (Yon) joined by SpoilerTV writers: Milo (MJ), Marko Pekic (MK), Andrea, Donna Cromeans (DR), Claire (CS), Jennise Hall (JH), Laura Markus (LS), Zandarl (DC), Beth (BW), AD (AO), Bex (BX), Jamie (JC), Lisa Macklem (LM) and Angela Niles (AN). Sit back enjoy the read and feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
*  *  *
1. Which Broadcast season finale was the best in your opinion?

MK: Arrow had an exceptional finale, the season was average at best but the finale brought all the feels. Also Killing Eve killed it, what a jaw dropping finale. Perfect way to end a phenomenal season. 
*  *  *
Yon: ... I'm not Arrow's biggest fan at all these days, but the scene in the finale between Sara and Black Siren brought a tear to my eye and I was extremely sad to see the show lose let another Lance. 
*  *  *
2. Which storylines did you enjoy the most this season and which were the most disappointing?
*  *  *
Andrea: Arrow was really painful to watch, didn't like the storyline this season! Normally with DC TV I watch it live but with Arrow I could go for few weeks without watching it and i didn't miss it! For the one i enjoy the most, well Shadowhunters obviously! Except that big twist of a cliffhanger! That change a lot! As for Fall to Spring shows, Supernatural, it had it's down but when it was in it's ups it was really good!
*  *  *
JH: Most disappointing is easy. Arrow. One of the shows I had to watch when I got home from work the night it aired, had slipped to stacking up on my DVR. The season’s arc story was so disjointed and the character work so disappointing that the show began to lose me as a fan. The writing in Irreconcilable Differences was so bad that stopped watching the show all together. Hopefully, new showrunners can reinvigorate the show but if they think stunt casting is all they need to do then that’s a done deal.
*  *  *
LM: Most disappointing storyline? Arrow. Hands down. If it weren't changing showrunners, I'd be done with the show.

Edited May 29, 2018 by tv echo

[insomniadreams88]

That writer calling Dinah Drake Dinah Lance just reminds me of two things: 1) when I wanted Dinah/Lance to be a thing and 2) how much Arrow failed Alex Kingston. 

[Primal Slayer]

11 hours ago, tv echo said:

^^^ Here are some interesting portions from the above Geek interview with KC (which was conducted during the April 27th CapitolOne launch event for its Financial Superhero Program) - interviewer conflates E1 Laurel/BC and E2 Laurel/BS - also, KC does not mention EBR when talking about SheThority, yet look who's participating in and who's missing from this Nov. 10, 2017 "Who We Are, Why We’re Here | SHETHORITY" video...

 

There are a lot of actresses part of SheThority that she didn't mention, it isn't some competition. 

I do feel like Diggle has outgrown the show/Oliver. Realistically he'd be primed for a spin off though maybe keeping him with Argus will bring him back to his glory days.

[statsgirl]

The horrible "I want the suit, you promised me the suit!: arc aside, I think of Diggle as someone like Gambi on Black Lightning, an older, more experienced person who is there to help ground the her. And goodness knows, Oliver still needs help being grounded.

1 hour ago, tv echo said:

Yon: ... I'm not Arrow's biggest fan at all these days, but the scene in the finale between Sara and Black Siren brought a tear to my eye and I was extremely sad to see the show lose let another Lance. 

This really seems like code for "I want Katie Cassidy back, I don't care how".  Lose another Lance?  The only Lance who had been lost was Laurel and she's essentially still there, hugging Sara.  If the writer really cared about the Lances as opposed to caring about Laurel,, he would have been complaining that Sara didn't get a chance to have a scene with her real father instead of her fake sister and raging at what Quentin has fallen to this season.

Sometimes creative challenges (like bts stuff or an actor deciding to leave) can make a show more interesting.  But in this case, writing off Laurel and then not getting rid of her, teasing that she will be redeemed instead of making her a full villain, making her a meta and then h having her afraid of Diaz, bending the storylines to write her in any way they can, has really weakened the season as @BkWurm1 wrote earlier.

Pick a position an stick to it.

[apinknightmare]

Everyone's sleeping on the biggest news revealed in that interview with Katie - that her cat is coming out with a children's book. 

[Chaser]

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

The thing that’s so cool about SheThority is that it came together organically just because us women on the show are all really good friends. It started out with myself on Arrow and then Caity Lotz came on and she and I just clicked. I was like, ‘This girl is my homie.’ She’s the shit. And then I knew Danielle Pannabaker for years and I loved her so it was a very warm group of people for new actors coming in.

This part is LOL. She makes it sounds like she was the only female character on Arrow until S2 when CL joined. Didn't she say at one point that she was in a dark place with Laurel in S2 so she wasn't very welcoming? I feel like that was in regards to EBR.

28 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

Everyone's sleeping on the biggest news revealed in that interview with Katie - that her cat is coming out with a children's book. 

I missed this. Wow,

[Sakura12]

Wasn't KC all mad when she found out CL was coming on to be the first Black Canary? Then she pretty much kicked her off the show so she could unrealistically just take the name and be a hero? 

[statsgirl]

6 minutes ago, Chaser said:

This part is LOL. She makes it sounds like she was the only female character on Arrow until S2 when CL joined. Didn't she say at one point that she was in a dark place with Laurel in S2 so she wasn't very welcoming? I feel like that was in regards to EBR.

Even if she ignores Susanna Thompson and Celine Jade, Willa Holland was on from the beginning and Laurel had a storyline with her, as well as the actress who played her friend Joanna.

[Primal Slayer]

5 minutes ago, Sakura12 said:

Wasn't KC all mad when she found out CL was coming on to be the first Black Canary? Then she pretty much kicked her off the show so she could unrealistically just take the name and be a hero? 

KC had power to make them off Caity? 

[Chaser]

I don't know what the relationship was between KC and CL in S2, but I don't buy they clicked right away.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Chaser

[Sakura12]

I think she did, because they did nothing to set up Laurel taking the mantle from Sara. They barely spoke and when they did it was mostly about Oliver and not about being a hero. They gave Sara a similar journey to Oliver where it took blood, sweat and tears to get to level she was at. Then they just tossed her on a garbage dumpster and threw Laurel into a suit with very little training.

The fact that they brought Sara back not an alternate one, they resurrected the Sara they stupidly killed to sell a new show, tells me they knew they made a mistake. 

I didn't buy they were always like sisters in the beginning. KC is probably fine with her now that she's on a different show. 

Edited May 29, 2018 by Sakura12

[lemotomato]

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

It started out with myself on Arrow and then Caity Lotz came on and she and I just clicked. I was like, ‘This girl is my homie.’ She’s the shit.

Nice bit of revisionist history here by KC. The absolute lack of interaction between them in season 2 was so glaring (they didn’t even follow each other on social media) fans thought that it was PR stunt when they showed up to pre-season 3 SDCC together. Pretty sure they ignored each other until CL got announced as the lead for Legends. Then suddenly they were all “I love my TV sister!1!”

[Sakura12]

Candice and CL seem much closer than CL and KC. CP and CL hang out when they are not filming, they posted vids and pics of them around Mother's Day week. Caity only talks about KC when she's asked about her. I'm sure they are friendly, but I don't buy they are close. You don't have to be besties with a roommate, most of the time it's to share the rent. 

Edited May 29, 2018 by Sakura12

[KenyaJ]

3 hours ago, tv echo said:

New Team Arrow
*  *  *
The same goes for Dinah Lance who basically joined midway into season 5 as a replacement for Laurel's Black Canary role. Unfortunately, Dinah Lance never felt convincing as Black Canary and while she does have a handful of cool scenes as Black Canary, she just isn't interesting as a character. Her loss of Vincent/Vigilante at no point made me feel sorry for her and rather made me roll my eyes as the loss of a loved one type of storyline is a massive cliche, especially if that loss leads to a revenge storyline. However, despite lacking any real quality that made her likeable, Dinah Lance reached a new level of annoying during the sixth season. As I mentioned, she suffers the loss of her boyfriend due to E-2 Laurel Lance/Black Siren and oh boy... Dinah became the least likeable character for me during the sixth season as her constant bitching about needing to get revenge was just pure moronic. As someone who was involved in the police force for years, you'd think Dinah had been taught some restraint or something. Overall, her character just isn't needed as she can easily be replaced with E-2 Laurel Lance who has since gone through a redemption story arc.

 

He's not wrong about Dinah. But "she can easily be replaced" demonstrates why this show doesn't need Black Canary at all. If she can easily be replaced by the fourth incarnation of Black Canary, what is even the point of having a Black Canary? She's just there to be another body in the field and scream at people. Beyond that, she serves literally no purpose on this show, and her lack of importance is demonstrated in the way that both the show and the fans are all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about the revolving door of Canaries. Sara's Canary was the only one who was interesting enough to be an independent, autonomous entity outside of the Green Arrow. If BC is going to continue to be a presence on this show, the producers should lean into it by having a new BC every week to see if anyone even notices the difference.

Edited May 29, 2018 by KenyaJ