The Starling City Times: News and Media about Arrow

[Morrigan2575]

That was acute video they imbedded in the article. I didn't recognize the scenes with Felicity and Roy wher he'd come to talk to Oliver. Does anyone know what episode those were in?

It's from the Bose Blood Rush Commerical that aired in the US during S2 (6 parts, one part per week).  Hopefully this link works it should have all 6 webisodes listed, if not just search YouTube for Arrow Bose Blood Rush

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=arrow+bose+blood+rush+

Edited October 10, 2014 by Morrigan2575

[bethy]

Awesome - thank you! I had no idea there were webisodes!

[Velocity23]

http://awesomefriday.ca/2014/10/scene-stealers-12-television-actors-you-need-to-know/

 

 

 

I’m not sure if the writers of Arrow always intended for Emily Bett Rickards a.k.a. Felicity Smoak to be a major part of the show, but I’m thankful that she is.  Every time Rickards is in a scene I’m happy to see her.  Felicity is by far the smartest and funniest character on the show, and never once is her tech expertise lacquered over with nerd stereotypes.  In stories filled with vigilantes, assassins, heroes and cops Rickards isn’t playing the token human.  Nor is she sexy tech support.  Or the love interest (even if everyone wants her to be… seriously writers, come on!).  Felicity is a feminist, a genius who doesn’t have all the answers, a light in the dark and someone who vocalizes all the things we’re thinking when Oliver Queen takes off his shirt.  And no one could balance all those things as well as Emily Bett Rickards does.

[tv echo]

From Grantland: Shot Through the Heart: What ‘Arrow’ Gets Right About Comics on TV

 

I love Grantland, so I join SA in his excitement that they wrote about Arrow.

Oliver (played by Stephen Amell) seemed to have more “will they or won’t they?” chemistry with his sister Thea than with his ex-girlfriend and Season 1 love interest Laurel.

Too true.

[Chaser]

I've watched a couple Arrow after shows and one of the things I found interesting was what was said about Felicity. One panel shipped Olicity and one didn't, but BOTH praised Felicity.

[statsgirl]

I think the guy doesn't want Oliver and Felicity to get together because he thinks it will ruin the the dynamic they have now.  And given these writers, maybe he's right.  But that's always the excuse producers give for not putting a couple together.

 

The woman who is really excited that Laurel is going to become the Black Canary now.... strange. But then, one of her favourite characters is Roy.

[Velocity23]

Audio interview with EBR

https://soundcloud.com/changtiki/felicity-from-arrow?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=mshare&utm_medium=twitter&utm_content=http://soundcloud.com/changtiki/felicity-from-arrow

[tv echo]

Felicity Smoak on another list...

 

10 TV characters that made a 'lasting' impression
BY MUMTAJ BEGUM Thursday October 9, 2014
http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Entertainment/TV/News/2014/10/09/10-TV-characters-that-made-a-lasting-impression/

[Morrigan2575]

She's in really good company on that list. Of e shows I've watched those characters ended up being great and very entertaining.

[Orion]

Interview with Guggenheim at NYCC. Talks a little about 2.5 comics and a little about the show.

 

 

The Olicity kiss

We talked a lot about whether or not Felicity and Ollie should kiss at all in that episode. And then we talked abou when. There are two places where it felt narratively right. I'll admit I was in the writer's room stumping for the kiss coming essentially after they went through the "break up" just because I felt it would be far more tragic.

 

 

 

Werner Zytle, who appeared in the season premiere will make his comic book appearence in Season 2.5, so chronologically he'll make his first appearence in the comic. I also wanna dig backwards as well, and bring back characters like the Huntress and Sara Lance and Slade Wilson so that the comic book feels populated with all the characters that people love from the show.

 

There is more but a little spoiler-y. 

 

http://www.blastr.com/2014-10-12/marc-guggenheim-talks-arrow-season-25-3-ras-olicity-kiss-and-more

[TanyaKay]

Interview with Guggenheim at NYCC. Talks a little about 2.5 comics and a little about the show.

 

There are two .places where it felt narratively right. I'll admit I was in the writer's room stumping for the kiss coming essentially after they went through the "break up" just because I felt it would be far more tragic.

 

 

 

 

Two places? The way they were flirting in their first scene together with Oliver literally all heart eyes, they could've kissed anywhere.

 

PS: I liked the emotional tragic tone of the kiss though.

[KenyaJ]

Ryan McGee is one of my favorite critics, and I love his podcast with Maureen Ryan, so I was really excited to see this in his Monday Morning Critic:

 

I’m not one to generally ‘ship characters on TV shows, but ‘Arrow’ is probably going to kill me this year in terms of its Oliver/Felicity doomed romance storyline. There’s a lot I like about that show above and beyond just this pairing. But this duo bypasses all the analytical parts of my brain and leads me straight to, “OH JUST GET TOGETHER!” faster than you can say “Ra’s Al Ghul.” And you have to feel bad for Brandon Routh: Not only was he introduced into the third season of “Chuck” and instantly anger those rooting for Chuck and Sarah to get romantically involved. Now he’s here in the third season of ‘Arrow’ as Ray Palmer (The Atom), a professional and romantic wedge between another fan-fave couple on a cult TV show. Some guys can’t win for trying.

 

[NumberCruncher]

He's not wrong regarding Brandon Routh. How many times are TV shows going to trot him out as the obstruction for the main couple relationship? What makes it even worse is that Arrow is already ripping off the Chuck love triangle only this time Oliver is Sarah Walker, the deadly assassin with emotional issues, and Felicity is Chuck, the IT geek. She's even working at Buy More...err I mean Tech Village.

[statsgirl]

I’m not one to generally ‘ship characters on TV shows, but ‘Arrow’ is probably going to kill me this year in terms of its Oliver/Felicity doomed romance storyline.

"Doomed romance?"  What does he mean, doomed  You take that back!

 

He also reviewed The Affair in that column, although he didn't mention Colin Donnell.

[JayKay]

Hilariously (to me, at least) I loved Chuck and Sarah as individuals but didn't particularly ship them either.

Well, these EPs admitted to "borrowing" things from action-oriented shows like Buffy and Angel so it's not much of a stretch that they'd go after Chuck, too. Though they'll probably never admit to it being straight up copying and not "homage." Brandon Routh is likely the only thing they'll confess to stealing from Chuck.

[KenyaJ]

He also reviewed The Affair in that column, although he didn't mention Colin Donnell.

 

It's probably because

he's only in one episode, and not until Episode 3. I assumed his role was bigger, for some reason, until I checked IMDB a few minutes ago.

[TanyaKay]

Hilariously (to me, at least) I loved Chuck and Sarah as individuals but didn't particularly ship them either.

 

 

I finally found another person who did not ship Sarah and Chuck. Honestly, I thought Chuck was a little too clingy to be a fully functioning adult but that's my opinion.

 

Oliver and Felicity bear no resemblance to Sarah and Chuck. Oliver, on his worst days exudes more warmth than Sara did even when she admitted that she was in love and Felicity - even during her worst rambles - was more composed than Chuck. In addition, she never appeared clingy or head over heels like Chuck did. She always has this a quiet dignity about herself. Chuck was more physically awkward and had this sitcom-y feel about him. Felicity is more snarky and bantery.

 

PS: I did not hate Brandon Routh in Chuck (though his good guy turned bad guy turned good guy turned bad guy gave me a serious case of whiplash) and I don't hate him in Arrow - so far - either. Let's see what they do with him from here onwards.

[wonderwall]

Season 2 Review of Arrow which I thought was HILARIOUS. Especially with what he said about Felicity (4:18)

 

http://youtu.be/lZrGrzlxKx8?list=UU7v3-2K1N84V67IF-WTRG-Q

[BkWurm1]

Season 2 Review of Arrow which I thought was HILARIOUS. Especially with what he said about Felicity (4:18)

 

http://youtu.be/lZrGrzlxKx8?list=UU7v3-2K1N84V67IF-WTRG-Q

Ha!  I loved how he was all invested.  :D

[ban1o]

I remember reading in an article that Nyssa will have a bigger role this season. Can anyone provide a link to the article? 

 

 

 

Season 2 Review of Arrow which I thought was HILARIOUS. Especially with what he said about Felicity (4:18)

 

http://youtu.be/lZrGrzlxKx8?list=UU7v3-2K1N84V67IF-WTRG-Q

Jeremy Jahns is hilarious and super energetic and I don't even understand how. I really like his reviews. 

Edited October 14, 2014 by ban1o

[Velocity23]

http://whatculture.com/tv/arrow-5-things-calm-right-3-didnt.php

 

 

Over the first two seasons of Arrow, no single character has been so widely disliked as Laurel Lance. Despite looking pretty good on paper and being introduced as the future Black Canary to Oliver’s Green Arrow, Laurel has never been somebody with whom many viewers  have connected. The unfortunate chemistry vacuum between Katie Cassidy and Stephen Amell combined with the toxic backstory with which the couple was saddled from the very first episodes of the series made her into an undesirable romantic lead. With the assimilation of Sara as Canary into Team Arrow and Felicity’s emergence as Oliver’s lady love by the end of Season 2, the question arose: what to do with Laurel in Season 3?

There were plenty of potential starting points for her. If freed from the constraints of love interest and vigilante-roles occupied by far more popular characters and actresses-Laurel could become a character finally worth rooting for. So what if her first name is actually Dinah? The show could let Laurel settle into an original plot of her own and perhaps start to win over those viewers who tend to glaze over during her scenes.

Instead, the producers chose to unceremoniously fling Sara’s body onto a dumpster and literally have the Canary mask fall at Laurel’s feet.

Now, it’s not Laurel’s fault that Sara died. In-universe, Sara is dead because she fell off of a roof and smashed every important part of her body not riddled with arrows on the way down. Laurel had nothing to do with the fact that it happened or the obscene way in which it played out on screen. Objectively, we viewers know this. But it’s going to be hard not to blame Laurel as she seizes on Sara’s demise as her excuse to turn vigilante.

There is something seriously wrong in a show when even villains not played by John Barrowman are more popular than the female lead, but swapping one character for another in the ugliest way possible should not have been the way to try to fix it, and Laurel will suffer with audiences for it.

[Morrigan2575]

Ha!  I loved how he was all invested.  :D

I mentioned in the Felicity thread that I subscribe to Jeremy Jahns, I have for awhile now, I generally agree with his reviews (not always).  Anyway I had watched his S1 review right before SDCC, he only reviewed the show because he was going to be interviewing Manu and wanted some background, he liked S1 but it's funny how much more interested he is in S2.  His S1 review is like Island Scenes are awesome, finale was awesome and oh there's a ton of hot chicks on the show.

 

BTW -if you liked him and like Star Wars or Game of Thrones give his Original Trilogy and Red Wedding reviews a look, they're really good.  Oh and if you (like many) hated the original ending for Mass Effect 3, watch his spoiler filled rant about why it sucked...(he reviews games as well as movies and TV Shows).

[SonofaBiscuit]

^Did someone from here write that because all of that sounds awfully familiar :)  Seriously, that's exactly what many of us have been saying!

 

JayKay, on 14 Oct 2014 - 11:38 AM, said:

Isn't whatculture kinda like buzzfeed? It conceivably could have been written by a PTV frequenter.

 

 

Seems possible.  I know that there are a couple of writers on here and the style seems familiar, but I wouldn't be able to guess for sure.  Nice read, anyways. 

Edited October 14, 2014 by SonofaBiscuit

[JayKay]

Isn't whatculture kinda like buzzfeed? It conceivably could have been written by a PTV frequenter.

[JJ928]

Interview with Colin Donnell & sneak peak of Tommy in episode 2. I know someone was talking about contracts in another thread, here he says he was signed on for 7 years, even though they killed him off in the first season. It's always nice to see Tommy again.

 

I have no idea how to take the video from that site & embed it here.

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jarettwieselman/what-it-feels-like-to-be-killed-off-a-popular-tv-show#3xtalyj

Edited October 14, 2014 by JJ928

[ban1o]

Interview with Colin Donnell & sneak peak of Tommy in episode 2. I know someone was talking about contracts in another thread, here he says he was signed on for 7 years, even though they killed him off in the first season. It's always nice to see Tommy again.

 

Mm that's weird. I thought remembered  in an interview EBR and CH said they were only contracted for 5 years and that everyone had 5 year contracts. I'm probably remembering wrong haha. 

 

So I guess this show could last 7 seasons? 

Edited October 14, 2014 by ban1o

[JJ928]

7 years sounds long to me too. I thought the CW standard was 6 years, but who knows. Either way, still bitter over his demise as well. LOL

[Orion]

Hasn't SA said in a few places he was signed to a 6 year deal? I'm almost positive he has. Would they have signed a non-lead to a longer contract than the star of the show?  That's really strange.

 

But nice to hear that he enjoyed Arrow and is still on good terms with the people on the show.

[JJ928]

Yeah, I think SA said he was signed for 6 years at a convention. It's possible Colin misspoke. I love seeing Tommy, I hope we'll get more flashbacks with him this season since Malcolm is around.

[Morrigan2575]

I'm going to have to assume he misspoke, SA said 6 and I know the Js and TVD trio were signed for 6 as well (no idea about the rest of the cast).

[ban1o]

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/10/14/arrow-katie-cassidy-black-canary-spoilers/

 

Here are Katie Cassidy's comments on Sara's death and Laurel's journey. Just from briefly skimming it I can tell a lot you here won't like some of the things said :P But she does seem to have some insight on her role this season.  Light spoilers I guess. 

Edited October 15, 2014 by ban1o

[wonderwall]

I just posted that on the behind the scenes thing. ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME. 

 

The most interesting scoop: 

• Laurel and Oliver's bond is so deep that she could separate Oliver and Felicity (IDK that's how I read it but maybe I read it wrong)
• Laurel is a warrior now
• Laurel is going to butt heads with everyone
• She's talking about the comics and how GA needs BC. I don't read the comics and I KNOW that's not true

 

SMH. This makes me angry though :p I have problems

Edited October 15, 2014 by wonderwall

[JJ928]

Eh, I think she excels at answering questions without answering them, which has always been my issue with her. Otherwise, there is nothing there I didn't expect.

[JJ928]

I just posted that on the behind the scenes thing. ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME. 

 

The most interesting scoop: 

• Laurel and Oliver's bond is so deep that she could separate Oliver and Felicity (IDK that's how I read it but maybe I read it wrong)
• Laurel is a warrior now
• Laurel is going to butt heads with everyone
• She's talking about the comics and how GA needs BC. I don't read the comics and I KNOW that's not true

 

SMH. This makes me angry though :p I have problems

I would just like to read one of her interviews and understand what she's saying. At least get a sense that she connects with her character somehow, and for god-sake actually answer a question. LOL I know they have to be misleading and talk around things, but I just want to feel like there is an actual plan for her. Anything to make me feel better. LOL I just don't get that from her ever. Her answer of 'the comics' irks me because she has said several times that he hasn't read them.

 

Also, while Green Arrow & Black Canary are important - in the comics- they also had their version of Bat-family. She just gives terrible interviews. She answered two questions out of all of those, the rest were comic fans will be happy, If I were Laurel... um, you kinda are Laurel.

Edited October 15, 2014 by JJ928

[KenyaJ]

The most interesting scoop: 

• Laurel and Oliver's bond is so deep that she could separate Oliver and Felicity (IDK that's how I read it but maybe I read it wrong)

 

The way she worded it was confusing, but I hope she meant their bond is deep enough that she could separate her friendship with Oliver from his relationship with Felicity. IDK. I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, which is a fruitless endeavor.

 

I just love that she's gonna butt heads with everyone, but ultimately they're all gonna respect her so much because she's such a warrior. Ugh. Go away already, Laurel.

Edited October 15, 2014 by KenyaJ

[catrox14]

Oh jeebus. She's actually wearing Sara's jacket and trying to look a badass.  I'm gonna barf.  Sigh.

[catrox14]

Oh jeebus. She's actually wearing Sara's jacket and trying to look a badass.  I'm gonna barf.  Sigh.

[ban1o]

The way she worded it was confusing, but I hope she meant their bond is deep enough that she could separate her friendship with Oliver from his relationship with Felicity. IDK. I'm trying to geve her the benefit of the doubt, which is a fruitless endeavor.

Yeah that's what I assumed she meant as well. 

[apinknightmare]

I want to watch her butt heads with everyone even less than I want to watch her be instant friends with everyone. I think the butting heads is more realistic, but I was really hoping I'd find her less insufferable and annoying than usual. I'm also tired of hearing about her and Oliver's bond. It's like the kind of bond that Duck Tape has after it's been sitting in hot sun and humidity for 20 years. Sticky, difficult to shake.

Edited October 15, 2014 by apinknightmare

[wonderwall]

The way she worded it was confusing, but I hope she meant their bond is deep enough that she could separate her friendship with Oliver from his relationship with Felicity. IDK. I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, which is a fruitless endeavor.

Ahhhhhh see that makes more sense :p 

[JJ928]

I want to watch her butt heads with everyone even less than I want to watch her be instant friends with everyone. I think the butting heads is more realistic, but I was really hoping I'd find her less insufferable and annoying than usual. I'm also tired of hearing about her and Oliver's bond. It's like the kind of bond that Duck Tape has after it's been sitting in hot sun and humidity for 20 years. Sticky, difficult to shake.

 

I think we'll see her butt heads more than anything else. The whole bond thing they're selling they've never delivered on before, and I doubt they will now. However, this interview makes it sound like she'll be mostly separate from the A story & Team Arrow, so I'd be cool with that. They need to sell that bond to keep her relevant to Oliver, because everything revolves around him. Oh, watching this go down & fail will be fun, I'll have my wine and popcorn. Sorry, still bitter over Sara & it's all projected on her.

Edited October 15, 2014 by JJ928

[apinknightmare]

I think we'll see her butt heads more than anything else. The whole bond thing they're selling they've never delivered on before, and I doubt they will now. However, this interview makes it sound like she'll be mostly separate from the A story & Team Arrow, so I'd be cool with that. They need to sell that bond to keep her relevant to Oliver, because everything revolves around him. Oh, watching this go down will be fun, I'll have my wine and popcorn.

 

I didn't explain myself correctly - when spoilers first started coming out and we all thought she was going to be insta-friends with everyone, I didn't really want to watch it. I want to watch her butt heads with them even less, since that seems like it's going to be the reality.

[catrox14]

I hope her butting heads leads to her becoming full on villain. That is about the only way I can tolerate Laurel.

[JJ928]

I didn't explain myself correctly - when spoilers first started coming out and we all thought she was going to be insta-friends with everyone, I didn't really want to watch it. I want to watch her butt heads with them even less, since that seems like it's going to be the reality.

 

No you explained yourself right, I misread your post. I'm watching Flash & typing LOL. Sorry, my mistake.

[ban1o]

No you explained yourself right, I misread your post. I'm watching Flash & typing LOL. Sorry, my mistake.

lol me too. 

[SmallScreenDiva]

Is Sara’s death the catalyst that drives her to follow in her sister’s footsteps?
The Green Arrow needs Black Canary. It’s always been the two of them. I think comic book fans will be happy. Season 3 is a great journey for Laurel. If it was me, personally, it would drive me towards that direction, absolutely.

 

Katie Cassidy really does not know how to answer questions, does she? Why drag the Green Arrow into the conversation when the question was about Sara's death. She made it about Laurel and Oliver again. Also, again, why make it personal? God, I just want her to talk about her character in a way that makes sense. Actually, no. I don't want to read anything she says, but damn Twitter was on fire and I HAD to read and make sure she wasn't getting misquoted (specifically with the Oliver/Felicity answer).

[Angel12d]

Is Sara’s death the catalyst that drives her to follow in her sister’s footsteps?

The Green Arrow needs Black Canary. It’s always been the two of them. I think comic book fans will be happy. Season 3 is a great journey for Laurel. If it was me, personally, it would drive me towards that direction, absolutely.

 

Katie Cassidy really does not know how to answer questions, does she? Why drag the Green Arrow into the conversation when the question was about Sara's death. She made it about Laurel and Oliver again. Also, again, why make it personal? God, I just want her to talk about her character in a way that makes sense. Actually, no. I don't want to read anything she says, but damn Twitter was on fire and I HAD to read and make sure she wasn't getting misquoted (specifically with the Oliver/Felicity answer).

 

The last two seasons have proved to me that Oliver/Arrow does not need BC at all. What is she talking about? Seriously. And saying that O/L are best friends? I would like her to show me one scene which backs up this statement. She won't find one. Sorry.

 

As for this quote from the interview:

 

'Their bond is so strong that if he romantically gets involved with Felicity, she’s going to be able to separate the two.'

 

I think it's worded badly. At least I hope it is. Because at first glance it sounds like 'Laurel's bond with Oliver is so strong that it can come between O/F' but I'm hoping she means that even if Oliver does become romantically involved with Felicity, that won't have any bearing on his 'bond' with Laurel. They are two separate things. That I'd be ok with. If she means anything else, then I really don't understand anything. 

Edited October 15, 2014 by Angel12d

[JayKay]

Okay, I have typed three separate posts trying to articulate my feelings about the direction of BC after reading this interview and each time it turns ranty. So I'll just say, this comic book fan lost all chance of being happy with the Black Canary on Arrow when Arrow killed the Black Canary.

[Sakura12]

KC never answers questions about Sara. Every single time she starts talking about other people, her sisters or how Oliver and Laurel are meant for each other. Probably because she feels Sara/CL stole the role from her so she refuses to acknowledge Sara's existence and importance to her characters story. 

 

However since she never adds any insight to her character, I only see someone that doesn't know what they are talking about or someone that talks about their character on a superficial level. Nothing she says in interviews are convincing me that they can turn Laurel around. If the actor doesn't understand their character they are never going to bring that character to life.

 

And I'll say it again Oliver needs Laurel like Tatiana Maslany needs acting lessons. 

Edited October 15, 2014 by Sakura12

[BkWurm1]

 

What’s her relationship like with Oliver now? Is there any jealousy toward Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards)?

They’re best friends and have been best friends for life, even though there’s been hard times and good times. Their bond is so strong that if he romantically gets involved with Felicity, she’s going to be able to separate the two. I’m not sure that Oliver is going to be on board with Laurel taking on this role of wanting to get revenge, find out who did this to her sister, fight back and be training. I have a feeling he’ll probably be against that at first. At the end of the day, he’ll look at her and think, “Wow, she has what it takes. She is a warrior.” I think he’ll end up having respect for that.

 

Here's the direct quote in case anyone wants to see it. 

 

I really hope KC just misspoke, I know I took it (hopefully) wrong the first time I read through it but even if she did word that wrong the line about having always been best friends comes off delusional and I'm certain KC meant every word of that. 

 

I guess to be fair, Laurel acts like she considers Oliver her best friend, he just doesn't treat her like that. 

 

Reading the later half of the quote tells me that KC actually doesn't know what happens next.  Notice the "I have a feeling" part. 

Edited October 15, 2014 by BkWurm1