The Starling City Times: News and Media about Arrow

[Serena]

I think they expected Oliver to get all hate, because they viewd Felicity as 'untouchable' for the audience. They made sure they audience knew that Oliver loves Felicity, that this is hurting him and so on. I don't think they felt they needed to tell her side. I mean how many critics and fans where so sure she was pining for him for two seasons.

But... wasn't she? I feel like this is more a case of the writers changing their minds and deciding they'd rather do "guy pines for girl" instead of "girl pines for guy", than of the audience and critics misreading the situation.

[SonofaBiscuit]

I think they expected Oliver to get all hate, because they viewd Felicity as 'untouchable' for the audience. They made sure they audience knew that Oliver loves Felicity, that this is hurting him and so on. I don't think they felt they needed to tell her side. I mean how many critics and fans where so sure she was pining for him for two seasons.

If they had actually taken the time to give Felicity a POV I don't think we would be seeing this kind of reaction.

 

Taking response to Relationships thread.

[Chaser]

There is a big difference in liking someone, even loving someone, and pining for them.

I think while Felicity certainly had feels for Oliver, she wasn't pining over him. Season 3 Oliver? I'd call that pining.

Mileage varies of course.

[Morrigan2575]

taking response to relationship thread

Edited February 16, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[looptab]

Just to confirm I was right in thinking that the wrong reviewer left Greenarrowtv, Matt Tucker linked to that article  "How Arrow failed Felicity Smoak" in his last review. SMH

[tv echo]

Keep dreaming...

 

10 Extremely Satisfying TV Couple Kisses
By Jen Abidor February 10, 2015
https://us.beamly.com/exclusives///2015/02/10/10-extremely-satisfying-kisses/?sid=14241229934733376&utm_source=web&utm_medium=external_share&utm_campaign=article_page_share&utm_content=a:w:b20968a9def0f404f7f54a1df2600199

8. Oliver and Felicity — Arrow

We’ve since seen a deleted kiss from episode 2×23, but this season of Arrow we got our first real Olicity kiss. It’s safe to say these two are end game by now — it’s just a matter of how long it will take before they can actually get together. Still, that kiss was enough to sustain us for a lifetime.

Edited February 17, 2015 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Moved to Mind Your Surroundings thread.

Edited February 17, 2015 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Heck, yes...

 

Is Arrow Missing Its Target?
By Philip Schweier  Feb 17, 2015 - 9:30
http://www.comicbookbin.com/Arrow_001.html

One such show I caught up on was CW’s Arrow, and I must say I find it dangerously close to jumping the shark....
*  *  *
The first season of Arrow featured a number of Easter eggs that were treats for comic book fans, but meant very little to the general audience. My fear is that the producers have painted themselves into a corner by allowing those Easter eggs to drive the storytelling, They have evolved from subtle winks into ambitious story arcs for which they not have a suitable resolution....

Edited February 17, 2015 by tv echo

[Velocity23]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/iramadison/thea-queen-of-the-throne?utm_term=.cd7O5qKRx#.iwDxGMQaw

 

Willa Holland (Thea Queen from Arrow) writes the first thing that came to her mind when she heard iconic ladies’ names.

 

Willa on Felicity Smoak

 

[Chaser]

Not a bad list. Had some of my favorites and my ultimate was hers too. Yeah

Edited February 18, 2015 by 10Eleven12

[statsgirl]

Robert Dougherty, on Arrow's Season 3 Big Bad problem:

 

 

Through 14 episodes, this version of Ra’s is less of a Big Bad and more of a plot device. In fact, if Ra’s actually turns out to get killed off next week by Malcolm, so that he can take over the League of Assassins and serve as the Big Bad once again, it would probably make more storytelling sense. For that matter, it would actually make as much sense if Amanda Waller showed up in the present day for the first time this season and was the actual puppet master behind it all, given her role in shaping Oliver in the Hong Kong flashbacks – and that could also apply to Maseo as well.

 

At this stage of the game, there is no real coherent vision for who the true master villain of Arrow is this season – which is just one of the reasons why this season is so disjointed, wobbly and without much of a concrete vision. By comparison, things were so much clearer and better at this exact point of the last two seasons, thanks to their separate master villains.

[Hook75]

At this stage of the game, there is no real coherent vision for who the true master villain of Arrow is this season –

 

 

It's Laurel....she kills everything.

[tv echo]

This EW article is more of a recap than a review...

 

'The Return'  Arrow  Ep. 14 | Aired Feb 18
BY CHANCELLOR AGARD  Posted February 18 2015 — 8:09 AM EST
http://www.ew.com/recap/arrow-season-3-episode-14

 

From now on, I'm going to be more selective about what reviews and articles I post.  I'm only going to post stuff that I like or that I find interesting for some reason.  I might also post stuff that is published by major media sites or linked by cast/producers.  No more trying to be representative or comprehensive.

[tv echo]

Here's the Vulture review of "The Return" (great review with a few snarky bits)...

 

Arrow Recap: Home on the Strange
By Jenny Raftery  February 19, 2015  9:50 a.m.
http://www.vulture.com/2015/02/arrow-recap-season-3-episode-14-olicity.html

(It’s always lovely to see the charming Colin Donnell as Tommy, even when his 1920s undercut hairstyle seems a bit out of place in 2010. The flashback is not that far back.)...
*  *  *
In the cemetery, [Oliver] and his Wayne’s World–esque hat/hair combo are laughably out in the open... With his Unabomber hood up the whole time at the party, Ollie would only attract more attention...
*  *  *
As Oliver hides out of sight and overhears Felicity talk to two-dimensional Ollie, his face breaks out into a smile that only Felicity can charm out of him.
*  *  *
As Oliver leaves Slade to rot, Slade points out that Oliver has already lost his mother and father, and now appears to be losing his sister to a “darkness.” Oliver shrugs off Slade’s attempt to get into Oliver’s head, until Slade, in a creepy, deliberate voice, asks simply, “How’s the girl with the glasses?” With one quick flinch and a cold stare, Oliver reveals that he has one more weakness Slade could exploit: Felicity.
*  *  *
“You knew my life was always headed toward the mask.” Huh? This made no sense and was a blemish on what was otherwise an effective scene between Laurel and her dad.

Edited February 19, 2015 by tv echo

[Artsda]

Robert Dougherty, on Arrow's Season 3 Big Bad problem

It's just a disjointed mess, there's no vision at all other than prop Laurel as BC.

Edited February 19, 2015 by Artsda

[tv echo]

I found this review funny for some reason (the bromance refers to Oliver & Maseo)...

 

'Arrow' Recap: 10 Bromantic Moments From 'The Return'
Adam Bellotto  February 19th, 2015 9:36am EST
http://www.starpulse.com/news/Adam_Bellotto/2015/02/19/arrow-recap-10-bromantic-moments-from-

Finally, we know. This tiny, one-room A.R.G.U.S. prison has two very lonely A.R.G.U.S. guards, and probably a toilet. The guards are dead now, but at least they've solved that mystery.
*   *   *
But seriously? "The Flash" ended on a psychic gorilla attack this week. You've got to throw us some kind of bone.

Edited February 19, 2015 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Another "pointed commentary" in a series from this reviewer...

 

‘Arrow’ Season 3 Recap, Episode 14: ‘The Return’
by Matt D. Wilson  February 19, 2015 10:00 AM
http://comicsalliance.com/arrow-season-3-recap-episode-14-the-return/

Maseo puts a tracker on Kang's car (it doesn't really lead to anything; it's just something to do) and meets up with Ollie, who has decided to disguise himself with the same super-identity-obscuring baseball cap that a woman who turned out not to be Sara wore back in season one. And somehow no one immediately recognizes him. One of the most famous, richest people in the city. Outside his own family's company.
*  *  *
First: Why wouldn't security take someone who was dead out of the system? It's another name to have to scroll through in employee logs. Second: How did no one notice that a dead man logged into the QC network?
*  *  *
That leads Ollie to remember that the prison was built to house "men...full grown men!" instead of petite little women, and that maybe they can break out because Thea has small arms. That's what really happens. On Arrow, there is no such thing as a short, thin man. These facts go into prison design.
*  *  *
One thing that makes Thea's final speech a little less compelling is that she pronounces "Ra's" as "Ross," like she, Ollie and Malcolm are preparing to go fight David Schwimmer or a grossly unkempt discount clothing store.

Edited February 19, 2015 by tv echo

[Morrigan2575]

minor humor.

 

so now we can add Ross to the fight over the correct pronunciation, Rass vs Raesh vs Ross?

[tv echo]

‘Arrow’ Review/Recap: “The Return”
Posted on February 19, 2015 Nora Dominick ‘17 r
http://emertainmentmonthly.com/2015/02/19/arrow-reviewrecap-the-return/

Willa Holland dominates this episode of Arrow and it was pure bliss.
*  *  *
While lurking outside of his father’s office, Oliver hides and spies a young, fresh-faced Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) patrolling the halls and checking out his Dad’s office. In a small scene, fans watch as Felicity looks down on a photo of Oliver and mutters the shortest but most adorable line of the night, “You’re cute.” An onlooking Oliver smiles and looks at the woman he will later grow to love. This limited scene was perfect for the couple and shows the spark of attraction between the two characters. Rickards and Amell have grown tremendously as actors and their ability to make these small moments memorable is extremely impressive.

Edited February 19, 2015 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Here's Dougherty's review of "The Return" (he liked it)...

 

Arrow S3: E14 -- 'The Return'
By Robert Dougherty February 19, 2015 08:38AM EST
http://www.themovienetwork.com/review/arrow-s3-e14-return

When it comes to flashbacks like this, shows like to tease how the main characters came so close to meeting their future best friends years earlier. Arrow is no different, as we find out that the first time Oliver saw Felicity wasn’t when she was chewing a red pen – but his reaction to hearing her babbling for the first time is exactly the same as it was in episode 103. This serves as both a relief to the misery of Olicty in modern times, and another reminder of how Arrow merely thinks throwing bones will do instead of actual progress and course correction.
*  *  *
As Robert learned all too late, and as Moira learned too late to stop the Undertaking years later, justifying doing awful things for one’s family means nothing without a soul. And if the Oliver of 2015 could remember those words, it might give him even more reason to doubt everything he’s doing to stop Ra’s al Ghul, by justifying that it is to protect Thea and everyone else he loves. This includes working with Malcolm, still lying to Thea about what Malcolm used her for, and a bunch of other issues both Oliver and the writers never should have let get this far.
*  *  *
Myself and other fans should enjoy that Return to form now, before Guggenheim most likely slams harsher and more aggravating reality in our faces a week later – if not for weeks after that as well – one more time.

Edited February 19, 2015 by tv echo

[SonofaBiscuit]

KC interview where she mentions that Tommy took advantage of Laurel (from July 2012):

 

http://collider.com/comic-con-stephen-amell-and-katie-cassidy-talk-arrow-playing-a-superhero-and-the-possibility-of-black-canary/

[poetgirl925]

I remember reading that one as well, but I think the one I read last year was more current -either late season 1 or some time that following summer or early season 2? I don't know. There was a question about how Laurel/Tommy affected Laurel's feelings for Oliver or something like that, and she essentially dismissed the relationship with Tommy as being the real deal.

[pigs-in-space]

KC interview where she mentions that Tommy took advantage of Laurel (from July 2012):

 

http://collider.com/comic-con-stephen-amell-and-katie-cassidy-talk-arrow-playing-a-superhero-and-the-possibility-of-black-canary/

 

To be fair, that interview does seem to be before the first season even premiered (IMDB says 1x01 aired October 2012), and she didn't even know at that point that Laurel's mother is/was still alive and only left after Sara "died."  So I give her a definite pass for that one.

[Velocity23]

Dont they film pilots in April already. And they start filming a season in July. Before the big SDCC

[wonderwall]

KC still firmly believed that Tommy took advantage of her after season 1 ended though. I remember reading that in an interview on TVLine and being positively pissed that she would essentially crap all over Tommy's affection for her... Am i making this up or something??? Hmm All I know KC did talk about Tommy in an interview on tvline and it made me upset. 

Edited February 19, 2015 by wonderwall

[Morrigan2575]

I thought she said the same thing in an article in May 2013 leading up to the finale but i'm having trouble finding it

[Chaser]

Is it canon that Oliver, Tommy and Laurel grew up together? KC is the only one I remember refering to that history. She also stresses that Oliver and Laurel were best friends.

 

I always got the impression from the show that Oliver and Tommy were best friends and Laurel was the girlfriend. I don't understand the three close friends thing because that would means that Oliver is treating his 'best friend' like crap and the other 'best friend' is okay with it. ???

[poetgirl925]

The more I think about it, the more I'm sure there were further interviews on the topic of Laurel/Tommy where KC dismissed the L/T relationship. I remember that 2012 interview because I read it before the show came on and it diminished my excitement over the inclusion of Laurel/BC. I felt like she had no idea what kind of character Dinah/BC was, and I rolled my eyes at the idea of Green Arrow taking her under his wing to train. Just no.

The other interview I'm thinking of had to follow season 1 because I'm pretty sure they mentioned the end of L/T as 'tragic' and KC went on to make dismissive comments about that relationship and how it grew from grief. That's not the vibe I got from The Return at all. They were flirty, not grieving. That wasn't the vibe I got from season 1 either.

The only way that makes sense is if your head canon is O/L 4ever! and anyone else is a bump in the OTP road. The problem is that didn't fit the narrative, so interviews making such claims are aggravating to say the least and a bit disrespectful to Tommy IMO.

Edited February 19, 2015 by poetgirl925

[statsgirl]

Is it canon that Oliver, Tommy and Laurel grew up together? KC is the only one I remember refering to that history. She also stresses that Oliver and Laurel were best friends.

KC's interview canon is always Oliver/Laurel and that Tommy was the interloper.  No one else has said that, and it makes no sense given young Tommy and young Oliver scenes in Uprising.  Quentin as a young cop and Dinah starting an academic career couldn't have afforded that fancy schmancy prep school, and the Queens and Merlyns were friends from way back, and there's no way the Lance's would have fit into that social group.  Also, the impression from the island flashback about Sara being grounded so Laurel could get Oliver that I got is that Sara didn't meet Oliver until she was old enough to want to go to parties and be with cute guys.  If Oliver and Laurel had been friends from childhood, Sara would have met him much earlier.  So again, KC's interviews don't match up with what's on the show.

 

Re Tommy taking advantage of Laurel -- way to take away Laurel's agency, KC.

[GirlWednesday]

Everything about the interview canon KC has said never matched the show. I was always confused by "I have known forever. I'm your best friend"

The timeline doesn't fit. Sarah wasn't old enough to meet oliver at a party. Meaning LL and OQ only met at earliest 18 yrs old. How old was OQ at gambit sinking time?

[statsgirl]

When the Queen's Gambit sank, Oliver, Tommy and Laurel were 22, Sara was 20.

 

My head canon is that the three met in their prep school in grade 9, which is usually an entrance year for private schools.  The party where Sara first met Oliver could have been a few years later, but that would mean that Oliver wasn't hanging out at Laurel's house in the meantime, which also makes sense to me.

[romantic idiot]

The only way the grew up together works if Laurel was a scholarship kid, and Sara after. Which is not difficult to believe, but they've never really shown that. 

[poetgirl925]

I laugh at the 'best friends' thing whenever KC mentions it. Uh, the Oliver we've seen in FB was not the type of guy to have a female best friend. He was selfish and a troublemaker, not just a playboy. There is nothing in the narrative that supports this, so I don't buy it. It sounds like one of the many things one of the EPs told her at pilot time that she's had a hard time letting go of. No offense to KC at all - I'm not hating here - but her interviews legit confuse the hell out of me

[tv echo]

Laurel Brown's photo recap of "The Return"...

 

Arrow Recap: Photos and Sarcasm Go Well with The Return
FEB 19 2015  Laurel Brown
http://www.docbrowntv.com/arrow-recap-photos-sarcasm-go-well-return/

Because Arrow is contractually obligated to use its actors, Felicity shows up in the next flashback.

 

This is the second review I've read (I did not post the other one) in which the reviewer snarks about Felicity's appearance being contractually obligated now that she's a regular cast member, yet does not snark about Diggle's appearance also being contractually obligated.  Nor do these reviewers mention that Laurel was completely absent from at least two entire episodes in the past, despite being a regular cast member. 

Edited February 20, 2015 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Another in-depth analysis from jbuffyangel (agree or disagree, Jen certainly seems to put more thought into this show than the EPs)...

 

There’s No Place Like Home: The Return Arrow 3x14 Review
February 19, 2015
http://jbuffyangel.tumblr.com/post/111473343318/theres-no-place-like-home-the-return-arrow-3x14

However, Robert Queen’s words to Oliver in that video have a haunting warning in them as well…a warning that is frightfully pertinent to Oliver’s current identity crisis. Why? Because Oliver is tipping the pendulum too far the other direction. In the flashback he was overly focused on Oliver Queen…in present day…he’s not focused enough on Oliver Queen.
*  *  *
It’s why Felicity is so angry with him. Oliver may not care what happens to him, but Felicity does. Sacrificing Oliver Queen, sacrificing his soul, is never an option to her. Awakening the darkness again is never an option to the woman who harnesses his light.
*   *   *
What are Oliver’s other options? I have no idea. Neither does Felicity. But that’s exactly the point.  A superhero is called to be more…to be better. To find another way even when another way is inconceivable. To live by a code even when justified by necessity to abandon it.

Edited February 20, 2015 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Short but somewhat lackluster review by Girl-On-Comic-Book-World, but I liked her wishful thinking about Tommy...

 

Arrow S03E14 Discussion: Slade Wilson, we miss you.
Posted on February 20, 2015
https://girloncomicbookworld.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/arrow-s03e14-discussion-slade-wilson-we-miss-you/

The flashbacks of Arrow season 3 episode 14 were a little odd. With the Starling City flashbacks focusing a lot on Tommy. I don’t know if this is just wishful thinking, but I still have this weird feeling that Tommy will somehow return from the dead. Whether that is through the Lazarus Pit or something else, I just feel like Tommy’s character was set up to be this great Arrow villain. His father is a psychopath and his best friend didn’t save him, I mean it could be a pretty cool villain origin story.

[Sunshine]

Laurel Brown's photo recap of "The Return"...

 

Arrow Recap: Photos and Sarcasm Go Well with The Return

FEB 19 2015  Laurel Brown

http://www.docbrowntv.com/arrow-recap-photos-sarcasm-go-well-return/

 

This is the second review I've read (I did not post the other one) in which the reviewer snarks about Felicity's appearance being contractually obligated now that she's a regular cast member, yet does not snark about Diggle's appearance also being contractually obligated.  Nor do these reviewers mention that Laurel was completely absent from at least two entire episodes in the past, despite being a regular cast member. 

Contractually obligated....did I miss Roy in this episode?

[tv echo]

Arrow 3x14 Olicity Heart-to-Heart: No Man Is an Island
MARILYN_PORTER  THU FEB 19 2015 12:00PM
http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/blogs/2015/02/arrow-season-3-episode-14-olicity-heart-to-heart-no-man-is-an-island

He quickly explains the predicament with Slade and thanks to a well-timed SAT phone call, learns that Malcolm let Slade out as an “object lesson” for the both of them.  He wants them to become killers again, so he can use them to do his bidding, clearly.   Once again, I wonder how Oliver doesn’t see the true evil in this guy.
*  *  *
Oliver hides himself and watches while she putters around the office, and hears her speak aloud to herself including pronouncing the picture of Oliver “cute.”  Is she blind?  It must be love, honestly.  In all seriousness, this moment is small but shows that Oliver has some hope left for his own humanity.  He’s at a dark time in his life and here’s this ray of sunshine, making him smile with her babbling.  He may or may not remember her after he’s back home but it’s clear that at this moment, she gives him a boost that he needs.  If that doesn’t spell endgame, I don’t know what does.
*  *  *
[Quentin and Laurel] exchange some truth tea and apparently this is enough to convince Laurel to come home from the fancy job she has in San Francisco.  THANKS, QUENTIN.  We could have been rid of her!
*  *  *
At the end of the ep, we had Slade threatening Felicity in a rather oblique manner and reminding Oliver that he could still lose her.  I have a good feeling that will be important here before the end of the season.

Edited February 20, 2015 by tv echo

[poetgirl925]

Laurel Brown's photo recap of "The Return"...

 

Arrow Recap: Photos and Sarcasm Go Well with The Return

FEB 19 2015  Laurel Brownhttp://www.docbrowntv.com/arrow-recap-photos-sarcasm-go-well-return/

 

This is the second review I've read (I did not post the other one) in which the reviewer snarks about Felicity's appearance being contractually obligated now that she's a regular cast member, yet does not snark about Diggle's appearance also being contractually obligated.  Nor do these reviewers mention that Laurel was completely absent from at least two entire episodes in the past, despite being a regular cast member.

Contractual obligation never entered into it for me - silly when Diggle was also there with Andy and we didn't see Roy. Plus, there was a lot of Tommy that was also not strictly necessary except that it provided Laurel/Tommy time. It just seemed like they wanted to give specific character moments to the fans.

[tv echo]

Short but pointed review by SoundOnSight, plus an Interesting perspective on "The Return"...

 

Arrow Ep. 3.14 “The Return” brings us back to a painfully familiar place
Posted on February 19, 2015   By Randy Dankievitch
http://www.soundonsight.org/arrow-season-3-episode-14-the-return/

Since when was Tommy so outwardly noble and caring? To play up audience sympathy for the dead character, “The Return” transforms Tommy into some kind of hero that he never actually was, which makes a scene like drunk Quentin throwing shade his way stick out like a sore thumb (Q’s behavior fits season one Tommy behavior; but this is not season one Tommy helping out Thea and confidentially flirting with Laurel)...
*  *  *
Merlyn frees Deathstroke, thinking they would kill him? Did he forget the part where Arrow barely defeated him, and Thea knows nothing?
*  *  *
How many times will we have to hear Oliver justify working with [Malcolm] before Diggle (who, along with Felicity and Roy, are absent this week) stabs him in the throat and wipes his hands of the whole thing?
*  *  *
And as Team Arrow once again begins to grow smaller and smaller while Oliver deals with his latest identity crisis, it’s important for the show to frame that growth in meaningful ways, something “The Return” just isn’t consistently up to the task for.

Edited February 20, 2015 by tv echo

[poetgirl925]

Laurel and Tommy both seemed like a retcon of their pilot personas tbh. The only ones who seemed consistent from s1 were Thea and Quentin, and Diggle and Felicity I guess, though there wasn't much to judge from their brief appearances.

[Chaser]

It also makes Laurel's anger at Sara in S2 even more crazy. Laurel's big thing was she never moved on from Sara's "death", that she drowned with her. This Laurel seems to be perfectly healthy and adjusted. 

[tv echo]

This entire review by WeMinoredInFilm is worth reading...

 

ARROW’S “THE RETURN” (S3,EP14) & THE DANGER OF REWRITING YOUR OWN HISTORY
Posted on February 19, 2015 by Kelly Konda
http://weminoredinfilm.com/2015/02/19/arrows-the-return-s3ep14-the-danger-of-rewriting-your-own-history/

I actively enjoyed watching “The Return,” and not just because those flashbacks let us see Quentin Lance with hair again, although that didn’t hurt. However, despite my enjoyment I couldn’t fully escape the nagging feeling that most of what went down in “The Return” was ultimately a waste of time, another example this season of a flashback-heavy episode that needlessly fills us in on stuff we pretty much already knew....
*  *  *
To me, the danger that Arrow sometimes falls into when it tries to re-write its own history is that it inherently cheapens instead of informing what came before....
*  *  *
In general, the less this show reminds me of how stupid it is that Oliver and Thea are uniting with Malcolm the better.
*  *  *
In general, I didn’t want to know that Oliver already knew how messed up everyone’s lives had become after his apparent death because so much of the early drama in the first season was about him coming to terms with that... So, it was an episode I enjoyed watching but kind of intellectually rejected...
* *  *
1. Didn’t that picture of Oliver Felicity talked to kind of make him seem less handsome and more menacing in a Dexter Morgan kind of way?
2. Spin-off Pitch: An Agent Carter-esque limited series featuring Oliver and Maseo in a buddy comedy covering their time working together in the past.  You’re welcome, CW.
*  *  *
4. Thea’s drug dealer in the past looked exactly like her DJ boyfriend/League of Assassins baddie. I can’t be the only one who thought that.
*  *  *
9. Please, Arrow, stop saying that Oliver didn’t beat Ra’s al Guhl because he hesitated to kill him. Your actual fight scene did a piss-poor drop of depicting that.
*  *  *
10. The flashbacks in this episode kind of reminded me of a weaker version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s “Becoming, Part 1″ where found out Angel had actually observed Buffy from afar long before they officially met.

Edited February 20, 2015 by tv echo

[jay741982]

This entire review by WeMinoredInFilm is worth reading...

 

ARROW’S “THE RETURN” (S3,EP14) & THE DANGER OF REWRITING YOUR OWN HISTORY

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Kelly Kondahttp://weminoredinfilm.com/2015/02/19/arrows-the-return-s3ep14-the-danger-of-rewriting-your-own-history/

Number 10 Is spot on!

[tv echo]

This reviewer compares "The Return" to Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan...

 

We All Know Which Movie Last Night's Arrow Was Referencing, Right?
Esther Inglis-Arkell  Yesterday 8:20am
http://io9.com/we-all-know-which-movie-last-nights-arrow-was-referenci-1686704309

Ollie is Kirk. Slade is Khan. Shado is the dear, departed Marla McGivers. Malcolm Merlyn is the ear worm that forces people to kill. The ARGUS prison that Slade temporarily locks Thea and Ollie up in is Ceti Alpha V. And Thea is the damaged warp drive, because when she finds out that Merlyn made her kill Sara, she pretty much melts his face off. (No! Not his face, Thea! Not his beautiful face!)

 

The only difference here is that "Khan" survives. I hope that he'll be played by Benedict Cumberbatch next season.

 

The real fun of this episode was the flashback full of bafflingly bad hair...

Edited February 20, 2015 by tv echo

[Velocity23]

I just read Laurel Browns review and i am confused as hell about the part about Felicity.

 

 

Because Arrow is contractually obligated to use its actors, Felicity shows up in the next flashback. She’s all Felicity-like and flirting with Oliver’s photo because he’s a cute dead guy. Felicity does not, of course, notice the still-alive Oliver hiding in the corner. Because if she did, he’d have to kill her. That would not be OK.

http://www.docbrowntv.com/arrow-recap-photos-sarcasm-go-well-return/

Since we already had KC missing 3x07 why would Emily need to be in every episode? I thought that they do mostly with the leads of the show? But even in S2 KC wasnt in all episodes. Can someone help out?

[Chaser]

They aren't contractually obligated. The show wanted to use all the favorites so it wrote them in. I saw the same thing thrown around when Laurel had the brief cameo in the Crossover. They just wanted to use all their players...except Roy apparently. I didn't even notice he wasn't there.

[Velocity23]

It just seems similar to 3x04. With Felicity having that 30 sec appearance. Someone mentioned that Laurel Brown works inside the CW offices and might have more insight.

[Chaser]

I got the impression that Felicity was included in 3.04 because it was the 50th episode, not because of a contract. It would seem backwards to me that supporting players must be included but leads can disappear.

[Velocity23]

Well we dont know what goes on behind the scenes lol xD