The Starling City Times: News and Media about Arrow

[tv echo]

Access Hollywood interview with KL (warning: a little spoilery)...

 

'Arrow': Katrina Law Previews 'Epic' Fight, 'Beautiful' Nyssa/Laurel Scene
February 10, 2016 10:14 AM PST
http://www.accesshollywood.com/articles/arrow-katrina-law-previews-epic-fight-beautiful-nyssalaurel-scene/

While she couldn't dish on exactly why the fights in "Sins of the Father" will be "surprising," Katrina said "Arrow" fans should check out her social media account after the episode.

"John Barrowman and I are going to have a surprise for everyone after 'Arrow' airs," she said, adding she will be posting a video on her Instagram.

Edited February 10, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

This article highlighted 7 pics from EBR's instagram (including the 2 posted below)...

 

Emily Bett Rickards, ‘Arrow’: The Pictures You Need to See
Published 3:30 pm EST, February 10, 2016 Updated 3:30 pm EST, February 10, 2016
http://heavy.com/entertainment/2016/02/emily-bett-rickards-arrow-photos-pictures-instagram-hot-twitter-boyfriend-married-relationship-cw-tv/

Emily Bett Rickards is facing some serious drama on TV. The actress, currently starring as Felicity Smoak, in The CW hit Arrow, is dealing with the after-effects of her the series' mid-season attack and coming to terms with her life in a wheelchair. Luckily for Rickards, life isn't quite as dramatic away from the cameras. In fact, life is pretty darn good. After all, Arrow is Rickards, 24, first major acting role and the chance to play Felicity has turned her into one of the most important faces on The CW's entire acting roster. The future is bright for Rickards, who joined the regular cast of the show after impressing so much as a guest-star, and the actress is anxious to see what's next. Click through the gallery to read up on her road to Starling City, Rickard's future plans and what life is like away from the cameras. (Instagram)

 

 

[tv echo]

More grave speculation - this time from The Hollywood Reporter...

 

'Arrow': Who's In the Flash-Forward Grave? Seven Likely Suspects
FEBRUARY 10, 2016 9:51am PT by Sydney Bucksbaum
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/arrow-whos-flash-forward-grave-863664

1. Donna Smoak (Charlotte Ross)
Oliver's future mother-in-law and Felicity's mother is the most likely candidate for who is in the grave. Her death would cause so much grief and anger between the two of them as well as inspire Barry to run all the way from Central City for his best friend's mother's funeral. Additionally, it would also affect Team Arrow the most. Their actions would presumably cause Dahrk (or whoever the mysterious "he" is who killed the person in the grave) to kill someone close to the team. If Dahrk discovers Lance's betrayal, who better to kill than the woman he loves? Since Laurel can defend herself against an attack, Donna is just a civilian and an easier target. Her death would be a debilitating hit for everyone on Team Arrow.

 

7. Laurel
6. Thea
5. Diggle
4. Oliver's son
3. Lyla
2. Quentin
1. Donna

[tarotx]

The Diggle reason for being a higher chance then Laurel and Thea is annoying....

[lemotomato]

Ah, because Not!Comics. I guess they had to change it up.

[catrox14]

 

Today. 6:43 am

I found this quite enjoyable - Laura Hurley explains (using pics) the facial expression used by SA whenever Oliver "gazes moonily at Felicity"...

anonymous asks:

What's Stephen Amell's "dumb face"?

Feb 9, 2016 10:05 pm

http://laurawritesab...mells-dumb-face

 

 

WTF? That damn post made me all weepy.  JFC. Olicity is going to be the death of me, if Dean Winchester doesn't kill me first.

Edited February 10, 2016 by catrox14

[statsgirl]

 

While Laurel's death would be quite the blow for Team Arrow, it's doubtful that her death would make Felicity so angry at Oliver.

-

Plus, now that Team Arrow knows Lance is dating Felicity's mom, his death would have even more of an impact on the team. Felicity doesn't agree with putting Lance in such a dangerous role, and so his death as a result of Oliver's idea wouldn't make her all that happy.

So the writer thinks that Felicity would be more upset at losing Quentin than Laurel dying?  They really have failed at showing how Laurel and Felicity are BFFs now.

[apinknightmare]

Plus, I didn't really get that Felicity was angry at Oliver in the limo. I think the general state of things between them is frosty because they're obviously broken up, but she just seemed generally vengeful toward the "son of a bitch" that she wants Oliver to kill, not Oliver himself.

[Ann Mack]

I like this review and I generally don't like their stuff:

 

Arrow Season 4 Episode 13 Review: Sins of the Father
Modwild Carissa Pavlica at February 10, 2016 10:30 pm

 

http://www.tvfanatic.com/2016/02/arrow-season-4-episode-13-review-sins-of-the-father/

Edited February 11, 2016 by Ann Mack

[Ann Mack]

Arrow: How Pissing Off The Wrong Person Could Ruin Oliver's Life
BY LAURA HURLEY

10 Feb 16

 

http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Arrow-How-Pissing-Off-Wrong-Person-Could-Ruin-Oliver-Life-117477.html

[Ann Mack]

ARROW: "SINS OF THE FATHER"

JESSE SCHEDEEN
10 FEB 2016

 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/02/11/arrow-sins-of-the-father-review

[looptab]

Reading the A.V.Club review for Sins of the Father - which I suggest reading because the author points out pretty much everything wrong with the LoA storyline - I had to pause at this paragraph:

 

Oliver refuses to kill, yet he accepts there is no way to satisfy Nyssa and Malcolm without the use of force. So he splits the difference by literally removing the ring from Malcolm. It’s a brutal final step to take, but his leaving Malcolm alive implicitly rebuts the argument Malcolm made—and more than backed up—during their battles in the show’s first season. Back then, Oliver couldn’t defeat Malcolm because he wasn’t willing to go all the way, because he didn’t have a clear enough sense of what it was he fought for. Unless Oliver was willing to kill Malcolm, he couldn’t hope to defeat him, and even then his victory over Malcolm was at best a technical one.

Is that what happened? I seem to remember Oliver was very much willing to kill him then.

[bijoux]

Reading the A.V.Club review for Sins of the Father - which I suggest reading because the author points out pretty much everything wrong with the LoA storyline - I had to pause at this paragraph:

 

Is that what happened? I seem to remember Oliver was very much willing to kill him then.

 

Not as far as I recall. According to Malcolm, and the show, Malcolm had a clear cut goal and motivation and that gave him a psychological advantage over Oliver. Not the fact that Oliver was hesitant to kill him.

[tv echo]

Vulture's mixed review of 413 (I enjoyed reading this)...

 

Arrow Recap: Out of Hand
By Jenny Raftery February 11, 2016 2:29 a.m.
http://www.vulture.com/2016/02/arrow-recap-season-4-episode-13.html

After Malcolm scoffs at the idea of a "lotus" cure, Oliver decides to get a sample of the lotus from Nyssa to test it on Thea. (Instead, I wish Oliver had gone to a sample sale and purchased anything other than the tan puffy jacket he wears in this episode.)...
*  *  *
... Charlotte Ross' and Emily Bett Rickard's scenes are always a delight. Here, Ross's Mama Smoak seethes with just the right mix of anger and vulnerability, as she warns Felicity not to trust her father... Felicity wisely takes her mom's advice and sets out to test Noah by inviting him to visit Palmer Technology's research lab. While inside, Noah can't resist leaving a surreptitious device that's meant to steal all of the lab's data. Felicity finds the device and, crushed, opens up to Oliver about her discovery. Oliver sort of cares, I guess? It's painful to watch how little Oliver and Felicity interact about these huge life issues. I know he's distracted with Nyssa and Malcolm, but his fiancée's father abruptly came back into her life after 18 years, announced he was the Calculator, and just tried to steal all of her intellectual property. What's a girl gotta do to get a sympathetic hug?
*  *  *
... Standing amid body bags, Oliver tells Dig that he's never hated anyone the way he hates Malcolm. (Wait, wasn't Oliver just shaking his hand the last episode? Whiplash!)...
*  *  *
Malcolm knows about William! This will not end well. As for how he knew Oliver's secret, Malcolm simply says, "I am Ra's Al Ghul." (From now on, I'm using that phrase to get myself out of tricky questions. "Honey, how were you able to log into my email?" "…I am Ra's Al Ghul!") ...
*  *  *
... There are many reasons why Felicity is one of the strongest female characters on television, but now I have a new favorite: She turned her own father over to the cops....  Oliver remembers that he is her fiancé and finally talks to her about what's going on with her dad. (Thankfully, he also switched coats.) During their chat, Oliver gets dreamy-eyed and tells Felicity he wants to get married sooner than later. She agrees, and suggests a small ceremony with close friends.
*  *  *
Taiana plays nurse to Oliver in the Lian Yu prison. I try to keep my dinner down.

Edited February 11, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Collider review of 413 (thought it was a "marginal" episode and gave it a 3-star rating)...

 

'Arrow’ Recap: “Sins of the Father” – Let’s Give Malcolm Merlyn a Hand
BY DAVE TRUMBORE      10 HOURS AGO
http://collider.com/arrow-recap-sins-of-the-father/

The Daddy Issues were on full display on tonight’s episode of The CW’s Arrow. To be fair, the fathers on this show are some of the worst, most-twisted individuals in the story, and even if they’re not always on screen, their sins have already done their share of damage to our well-meaning heroes. “Sins of the Father” served to expose just how much the show’s female characters’ arcs are built around daddy issues, but even Oliver himself got caught up in the drama this time around.
*  *  *
... This was a strange little B plot that served only to keep The Calculator squarely on the villainous side of things and to give Felicity a sense of closure. The real surprise here was Charlotte Ross’ portrayal of a more serious and concerned Mama Smoak, which was fantastic.
*  *  *
Despite the somewhat repetitive plot elements in this episode (the League waging war in Star City, a power struggle for control of it, Oliver vs Merlyn/Ra’s al Ghul), “Sins of the Father” freshened things up a bit with the fight sequences. Unfortunately, those weren’t enough to offset the rather rushed, uneven, and uninteresting story that factored into the hour. Arrow continues to move its main plots incrementally forward each week in entertaining fashion, but it’s more marginal episodes like this that suggest that the show is fast becoming a victim of its own success … even when a major character loses a hand.

[looptab]

Not as far as I recall. According to Malcolm, and the show, Malcolm had a clear cut goal and motivation and that gave him a psychological advantage over Oliver. Not the fact that Oliver was hesitant to kill him.

Yeah, that's how I remembered it as well. Thank you :)

[tv echo]

Den of Geek reviewer thought that 413 was one of the best episodes of the season because it finally addressed the Malcolm problem (rated it 4/5 stars)...

 

Arrow: Sins of the Father Review
Kayti Burt 2/10/2016 at 10:00PM
http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/arrow/252821/arrow-sins-of-the-father-review

Season 3 had a lot of narrative difficulties, but arguably its biggest one was that it asked the viewers to believe that, given everything Malcolm had done, Oliver would go so far to save his life. Oliver gave his life to R'as rather than let Thea lose her father, putting Starling City (and, therefore, Thea's life) in danger in the process. As far as character motivation goes, it didn't stand up to scrutiny, which made this episode — and, specifically, the moment when Oliver stops making excuses for Malcolm — not only long overdue, but incredibly cathartic.
*  *  *
With all of the Big Happenings revolving around Thea, Malcolm, and Nyssa, it might have been easy to lose interest in the B Plot: Felicity trying to reconnect with her father. But, beause of some solid writing and some great performances from both Emily Bett Rickards and Tom Amandes, this lower-stakes storyline still compelled. (And I probably shouldn't have been surprised that Felicity "Bitch With Wifi" Smoak would have the mettle to have her own father arrested with a bold: "You were wrong: I am nothing like you.")
*  *  *
This was no doubt helped by the understated grace of the Olicity relationship. Even when it isn't at the center of an episode, it grounds a lot of the shenanigans that are taking place in important ways. Best of all, it gives us some all-important insight into Oliver's character motivations and thoughts. These moments have always been gloriously spare — because Oliver wouldn't be Oliver if he weren't at least 85 percent laconic. But that what makes these rare moments of insight so much more powerful. That's what makes the relationships in which Oliver chooses to share himself — i.e. with Felicity, Digg, even Laurel — mean so much more.

"You don't have to be funny for me. You now that, right?" "Some people don't [change]. I'd like to think there's hope for the rest of us." "I can tell you from experince that closure does not come that easily." Remember when Oliver Queen only communicated his inner-most thoughts via voiceover? People can change.

[tv echo]

'Arrow’ 4×13 Recap: ‘Sins of the Father’
fangirlish   FEBRUARY 11, 2016
http://fangirlish.com/arrow-4x13-recap-sins-of-the-father/

 

PENANCE: SINS OF THE FATHER 4X13 REVIEW
jbuffyangel   FEBRUARY 11, 2016 @ 04:28
http://jbuffyangel.tumblr.com/post/139105170248/penance-sins-of-the-father-4x13-review

 

Arrow 4x13 "Sins of the Father" (Daddy Issues)
Just About Write   7:06 PM
http://www.itsjustaboutwrite.com/2016/02/arrow-4x13-sins-of-father-daddy-issues.html

Edited February 11, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

ScreenCrush's negative review of 413...

 

‘Arrow’ Review: ‘Sins of the Father’ Still Can’t Solve its Malcolm Merlyn Problem
Kevin Fitzpatrick | 11 hours ago
http://screencrush.com/arrow-sins-of-the-father-review/

Season 3 isn’t the kind of callback fans are likely anxious for, and one would imagine if “Sins of the Father” were to dive back into Malcolm’s place in the League, it might end with some kind of sacrifice to redeem his character. If we’re honest, Arrow has never quite held Malcolm accountable for the hundreds of deaths in Season 1 alone, and near everyone in the lair agrees that killing him to save Thea* is perfectly reasonable, yet Arrow seems unwilling to commit to that.
 

*Weirdest of all, any decision made between the lives of Malcolm or Nyssa completely steamrolls Thea’s wish to avoid further bloodshed on her account, alternately known as “the entire point of last week.”
 

The call signs are all there as well, to give Barrowman such meaty material in trading blows with Stephen Amell, both physical and verbal, almost even rationalizing the decision to sacrifice Thea by comparing it to Oliver’s own battle with Damien Darhk. The moment might even have worked, if the League’s role in this world wasn’t so frustratingly opaque, relying more on exposition than action. In earnest, Arrow could spend the entire hour on Barrowman’s explanation that Nyssa’s rule would adversely affect human history, but for all the centuries-long blood feuds, and Nyssa’s strangely uncharacteristic determination to use Thea as a bargaining chip, she simply shrugs and disbands the thing within minutes of her victory anyway. This was the organization fueling all of Season 3?
*  *  *
“Sins of the Father” definitely had more organization than last week’s chaotic hour, but the high drama of nameless extras banging on swords by firelight isn’t any more exciting than it was last year, and still didn’t quite resolve any of Malcolm’s troubled past, nor tempt Oliver to kill any further than we’ve seen this season. I’m not willing to throw Season 4 in the same scrap heap with 3 just yet, but boy, if evil fathers and the willingness to kill aren’t played-out tunes at this point.
*  *  *
Was Diggle talking to Oliver from behind a pillar as he came down the stairs, while Laurel was waiting behind another pillar deeper in the lair? That is some impressively psychotic staging, folks.
*  *  *
Yes, let’s release hundreds of trained fanatic assassins into the world with no prospects. Problem solved!

Edited February 11, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

TV.com's mostly negative review of 413...

 

Arrow "Sins of the Father" Review: Different but Dumb
By Noel Kirkpatrick 9 hours ago
http://www.tv.com/shows/arrow/community/post/arrrow-season-4-episode-13-sins-of-the-father-review-145489481582/

I reached a place pretty quickly with Arrow where I accepted, on some level, the whole "I'll like it this week but not like it next week" relationship I had with the show. I found myself in a similar position this week within the episode itself: "I liked that last scene, but this scene isn't great."...
*  *  *
The other side of the equation, however, was that the episode kept undermining Nyssa and Malcolm's motivations and actions. Sometimes it was really just flagrant contradictions of things that had happened in the episode while some of it was just reducing Nyssa and Malcolm to dummies to keep the episode moving along so that it could, inevitably, get to Malcolm selling out William (and by extension, Samantha) to Damien Darhk. Of course, who the hell knows if this isn't a con. Maybe Oliver promised Malcolm that he could take over H.I.V.E. if they set a trap for Darhk. Dumber things have happened on this show.
*  *  *
All this held up until the episode decided to just chuck all of it out the window. Some of it just called a massive amount of attention to itself, like Nyssa, just before the rooftop duel, claiming she had never allowed anyone fight her battles for her. Except, you know, that time 47 minutes ago when she asked Oliver to kill Malcolm for her. Sure, she framed it as a quid pro quo arrangement, but, c'mon. C'mon. It was the entire impetus for the episode, Arrow! I didn't forget about it just because the episode was almost over...
*  *  *
So while the superhero stuff was alternating between novel and contradictory, it was just frustrating to watch....
*  *  *
No, what was frustrating was that Felicity was talking about people changing, parental abandonment, and how much all of that meant to her, and Oliver just sat there like a dolt and didn't come clean about William and Samantha. I mean, sure, with all that stuff going on during the episode, maybe telling Felicity right then and there wasn't the best idea, but, man, oh man, he could've said something in the loft at the end of the episode instead of saying, "Let's get married right now." Arrrrgh.
 

Look, I'm the first to want a show to really lay the groundwork for big character moments, but this is ridiculous. This isn't groundwork or building; it's just delaying for storyline momentum reasons and not for character reasons (I mean, apart from Felicity being reeeeeeaaaaaally pissed when she finds out that Oliver's a bad dad). So when Felicity was talking about all of this and Oliver barely made a face about it, barely offered an acknowledgement that, hey, all of this is hitting close to home, it made me a little ragey. But, hey, at least we seem to be getting closer to finding out who's in that grave! Which means the teasing and red herrings can really begin now!
*  *  *
– Better performance note: Charlotte Ross, folks. She turned Donna on a dime in that scene with Felicity. On a dime. And it was very good.

[tv echo]

This Yahoo guy's reviews are pretty entertaining...

 

'Arrow' Recap: Felicity Loses a Dad, and Someone Loses a Hand
Robert Chan  February 11, 2016
https://www.yahoo.com/tv/arrow-recap-felicity-father-malcolm-merlyn-hand-052124560.html

Tonight’s episode of Deadbeat Dads — er, Arrow — features awful choices made by Thea and Felicity’s dad, consequences of awful choices made by Nyssa’s dad, and foreshadows tragedy for the wishy-washy choices of William’s dad. Wait, who? Oh, right: Oliver’s been much too busy to remember he’s got a secret family in another city — and now his enemies know, too.
*  *  *
The Flash has brilliantly explored the idea of the absentee dad with Henry Allen in prison, but there’s plenty of room to find out what a deadbeat dad means to a driven, brilliant personality like Felicity. Emily Bett Rickards shines in that last scene with Tom Amandes as her father, but that explanation she’s been waiting her whole life for isn’t nearly satisfying enough, and both actors have a lot more to give before this is resolved.
*  *  *
... In disbanding the League, she’s left a bunch of out-of-work ninjas wandering around who will almost certainly be picked up by H.I.V.E. to basically do exactly what they were doing anyway. So how is that better, Nyssa?
*  *  *
Everybody thinks Oliver should just kill Malcolm, but he doesn’t want to deprive Thea of a father, even if he is a murdering bastard. That’s sweet. That’s also about a thousand percent more thought he’s put into her life than that of his son, William — who’s now in the crosshairs of H.I.V.E. Trying to be his secret dad seems like more of an ego thing than a thing that’s actually right for the boy. Maybe the reason he has a soft spot for Merlyn is they have more in common than either would like to believe.
*  *  *
* Seriously, where did all those assassins go? Do they get unemployment? Can they be retrained to build websites or something? Which presidential candidate has the best pro-ninja platform? (Probably Sanders — these guys already “feel the Bern.”)

[Starfish35]

Better performance note: Charlotte Ross, folks. She turned Donna on a dime in that scene with Felicity. On a dime. And it was very good.

Yes, that was very good.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Starfish35

[tv echo]

'Arrow' Recap: Who Survives the Civil War Between the League of Assassins?
Wednesday, February 10, 2016   Derek Stauffer
http://www.buddytv.com/articles/arrow/arrow-recap-who-survives-the-c-58829.aspx

"Sins of the Father" sadly fell a bit short of what it could have been, but it was still a fine episode. The end has a shocking twist and is an event that will likely have major repercussions in the weeks and maybe even years to come on Arrow.
*  *  *
Malcolm tells Oliver that he doesn't believe Nyssa and John Barrowman does a lot of angry acting with his teeth...
*  *  *
There's a lot of talk about if people can change and if Malcolm or Felicity's father can be redeemed. It's just a lot more interesting than the stuff that came before it. No one is quite sure on either front except for Donna. She believes that Noah is rotten to the core and will lie to get what he wants from Felicity.
*  *  *
Malcolm has a surprisingly heartfelt speech about the first time he met Thea. After that tale is done, Malcolm ruins it by being a power hungry jerk....

Edited February 11, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Six Important Moments From Arrow – Sins Of The Father
Posted February 11, 2016 by Dan Wickline
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/02/11/six-important-moments-from-arrow-sins-of-the-father/

4 – The sub-story going on here is Felicity Smoak’s father, Noah Kuttler, tries to get to know his daughter after he realizes that she is Overwatch as well as the head of Palmer Technologies. But her father is The Calculator and has an angle on everything it seems as she catches him trying to steal information from the company. She has him arrested. So the question is, was he genuinely trying to connect with his daughter and just stole because it’s what he does… or was he truly working an angle. And has Felicity created an enemy for herself now?
 

5 – In a move I don’t think anyone saw coming, Nyssa disbands the League and melts the ring. There is no more Ra’s al Ghul. Which I find a bit hard to believe. If the writers of the series just want to take that set of characters off the board, fine. But disbanding the League just means that a whole lot of highly trained killers were just made unemployed. Other organizations will suddenly get stronger or someone else will step up to lead. Maybe Ra’s al Ghul himself… if he could come back from the dead.
*  *  *
By the time this season is done, we will probably end up with a very different show for season five. A lot of the things built up over the first three seasons are being done away with. Amanda Waller, The Suicide Squad, League of Assassins and I doubt Damien Darhk is going to make it out of this season alive. Which will only leave the Dark Archer and whatever if anything remains of HIVE.

Edited February 11, 2016 by tv echo

[BunsenBurner]

I loved Kelly Konda's review this week

 

http://weminoredinfilm.com/2016/02/11/arrows-sins-of-the-father-s4ep13-oliver-queens-version-of-a-campaign-fundraiser/

 

"Let’s ponder, for a moment, the lives of anyone who happened to be working late in the various high rise corporate buildings of downtown Star City last night. The town is under attack by random ninjas yet again. Innocent bystanders are dying in the streets, shot down in a hail of arrows. However, your boss won’t let you leave because those quarterly reports are due to corporate headquarters in Gotham/Metropolis by the end of the week. You can’t afford any kind of delay. So you toil away, crunching the numbers, convening for emergency meetings in the office board room. Just as Jim from Accounting is going through his latest slide about dividends you notice this on a neighboring rooftop:"

 

"You look across the way and see various other dumbfounded on-lookers crowding the windows in the other well-lit buildings facing the rooftop. Bob from Marketing, zooming in with his smart phone, cries out, “Holy crap! That’s Malcolm Merlyn!”

Suddenly anyone who had been trying to ignore all of this and keep working flocks to the windows to get a look for themselves. Malcolm Merlyn, the Butcher of The Glades? How could this be? Didn’t he die, killed by the vigilante Roy Harper? Susan from Human Resources claims she has a cousin who saw Malcolm standing in the middle of the town square talking to Oliver Queen just last year, and Becky from Sales swears she personally bumped into him on the street just last week. Various others chime in with their own “brushes with Malcolm Merlyn” stories, leaving you to wonder if you’re the only one who had no idea he might still be alive.

Everyone’s zooming in with their smart phones. “Hey, is that Oliver Queen?” someone cries out. “And that’s definitely Felicity Smoak!” another person excitedly proclaims. Jerry from Production has the great idea to take a close-up photo of the rooftop ceremony and posts it to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with the caption “Oliver Queen’s version of a campaign fundraiser #He’sGotMyVote.” Everyone follows suit, enjoying the insanity of it all. “Maybe this is how they settle disputes at Palmer Tech!” someone jokes."

 

It just gets better.

[Starfish35]

I liked this part.

hastily put together press conference, Oliver will dismiss the video as being too grainy and blurry to be reliable, and Chief of Police Quentin Lance will publicly exonerate him of all wrong-doing, leading the entire city to conclude, “So, he’s pretty clearly the Green Arrow, but we’re all cool with that. Who wouldn’t want to cut off Malcolm Merlyn’s hand?”

Just another day in Star City. Now, back to those quarterly reports.

[wonderwall]

I remember there was a debate on this board a few weeks back about Felicity and how she dresses and how women in STEM don't usually dress like that... I found this article to be apropos. I don't know if it's been posted yet, I apologize if it already has.

 

‘Arrow’ Shoots Down the Geek-Ditz Complex

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/21/felicity-smoak-busts-the-geek-ditz-complex.html

 

A brief excerpt (because this article is much longer)

 

When we first meet Felicity, she is awkward, a trait she keeps throughout the series. However, she is confident in one thing—her brain—and it is what earned her a place on the Arrow’s team. Felicity’s role is anything but that of a sidekick. She is the Arrow’s partner. There are many moments when only she has the knowledge to save the world. In the Season 1 finale, she alone knows how to dismantle a bomb that will kill thousands of people. In nearly every episode, Felicity helps the Arrow hack and track the villains of Starling City...

 

Yet, pop-culture doesn’t often grant someone with Felicity’s glamazonian outward appearance equal billing with a superhero. If a woman likes so-called girly clothing and has genius abilities, those abilities are fleeting. She shifts between the geek/genius mode and the ditzy feminine mode. Societal convention tells us that being both a genius and feminine at the same time is abnormal, so much so that when a woman blends both attributes (and becomes a whole person), every character must remark on how she defies the very laws of nature.

Edited February 11, 2016 by wonderwall

[tv echo]

Robert Dougherty's critical review of 413 (scored it 5 out of 10)...

 

Arrow 'Sins of the Father' Review
By Robert Dougherty February 11, 2016 03:22PM EST
http://www.themovienetwork.com/review/arrow-sins-father-review

But in this one last respite before that disaster fully unfolds, two far more sinister fathers cause another round of chaos -- although they probably each should have had their own episode to themselves rather than get crammed together. Then again, it is all too clear what the prefered plotline is, and how wrong the choice is.
*  *  *
Evil dad plotline No. 1 comes courtesy of Malcolm, or rather from Nyssa's demand for Oliver to kill him in exchange for curing Thea. What follows is an endless circle of Oliver trying vainly to avoid killing Malcolm, Malcolm betraying that faith, Oliver still clinging against all logic that Malcolm needs to stay alive for Thea to have a father, and so on and so on. ... And therein lies the really big problem with this whole moral dillemma, other than how repetative it has become well before now. It really isn't Oliver's to have. ... By putting Thea in a coma and at death's door, Arrow robs her of any actual agency and say in how her own life is saved -- and whether she actually wants a father as badly as Oliver wants it for her. ... What if this was a show where Thea actually had a say in whether Malcolm should have a chance to be that father? ...
*  *  *
... Instead, Sins of the Father goes around the same circle with Malcolm that the show and fandom have gotten dizzy over time and time again, has nothing new to say about it, and goes out of its way to take away any chances and different perspectives that could. ... And what's more, this is the evil father plot line they choose to obsess over instead of the one that is actually new.
*  *  *
Evil father plot line No. 2 is one a lot of us have actually been waiting for with anticipation -- the one with Felicity's... This week was supposed to be a real payoff to that, as Noah Kuttler had his first father/daughter outing for coffee with Felicity and revealed he knows who 'Overwatch' really is. ... That may be true, yet it is all the more reason why Felicity's evil dad plotline shouldn't have been in this episode. In fact, it should have had this entire episode to itself so it could be treated with the depth and drama it deserved -- or at least gotten a future episode to itself once Malcolm was out of the way,
*  *  *
Felicity fans have really been waiting two years for her father issues, and the scars his absence left on her, to get a fully in-depth focus. Sins of the Father believes it can cram all those issues into a B-plot, or rather really a C-plot, while it goes on its latest Malcolm bender. If it had gotten to breathe in an episode like The Secret Origins of Felicity Smoak instead, I can guarantee that countless fans would have been much more invested and on the edge of their seat with that than with what they got with Malcolm here.
*  *  *
As for Felicity and Noah, they try to make up for sidelining that drama with a big finish, with Felicity finally sharing what her father's absence did to her. At long last, both regarding this episode and much longer, Emily Bett Rickards gets to tear into that original scar, as the woman that so many people love shares how she grew up thinking no one could love her.
 

That is the drama of a pretty good episode -- so again, we have to ask why we didn't get that episode in the other 42 minutes. And for that matter, why we waited two years for this just to have it reduced to a C-plot behind much more worn out fatherly drama....

Edited February 11, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Another reviewer has moved Donna to the top of the grave list...

 

'Arrow': Is Oliver's Son Going to Die?
Derek Stauffer   Thursday, February 11, 2016
http://www.buddytv.com/articles/arrow/arrow-is-olivers-son-going-to-58841.aspx

The problem is that killing William off would be far too easy for the show. Yes, it would be the death of a child -- Oliver's child -- but there's very little reason to care about William as a character. William has appeared in a grand total of one episode. He's not that important or a beloved character to the audience. Oliver's relationship with William has existed mainly off-screen. It seems like a cop-out to kill off a character when they've really just been introduced on the show. Arrow can be a dark show but child murder is a whole other level of depravity.
*  *  *
It seems equally unlikely that William's mother, Samantha, will meet her end. This would effectively mean that Oliver would become a single parent in Arrow season 5. This might be an interesting new dynamic but seems too jarring for the show. Dig's own fatherhood has been pushed mostly to the background. Arrow is more about the professional lives of the characters than it is their personal lives. Oliver juggling being a single father and superhero would feel like a very different show.
*  *  *
Donna Smoak, Felicity's mother, has been appearing more and more in Arrow season 4. While Charlotte Ross is great in the role and Donna is fantastic, the more she appears the more it seems likely she will be the one who dies.

[tv echo]

Forbes reviewer thought that 413 was a "strong" episode, despite some "weird decision-making on Oliver's part"  (also, he's leaning towards William being in the grave)...

 

'Arrow' Season 4, Episode 13 Review: Sins Of The Father
Erik Kain  FEB 11, 2016
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2016/02/11/arrow-season-4-episode-13-review-sins-of-the-father/#4e3474671306

In Wednesday night’s episode of Arrow, Oliver had three choices: 1) Let Malcolm and Nyssa fight it out, ensuring the death of Nyssa and the continuance of the status quo; 2) kill Malcolm at the end of their duel, thereby removing one evil bastard from the equation; or 3) lop off Malcolm’s hand and take his ring, ending his brief rule as R’as al Ghul and ensuring that Malcolm would go into full revenge mode against Oliver and co. ... Given that Oliver had previously discovered that Malcolm knew about his son, I’m a little surprised he chose number three.
*  *  *
Options 1 and 2 made far more sense. Honestly, option 1 seems like the best. Nyssa isn’t a good person. Oliver owes her nothing. She brought the fight to Malcolm of her own volition and she’s been holding out on Thea’s cure for purely her own reasons. Why not let her and Malcolm fight, even if that lead to Nyssa’s death? With Malcolm as R’as al Ghul, Oliver didn’t really have anything to worry about from the League of Assassins. They had an uneasy alliance, which is better than Malcolm out for blood.
 

Option 2 makes sense, also, especially in retrospect. Once we learn that Nyssa’s true ambition was to disband the League, we become much more sympathetic to her. She was going about doing the right thing in the wrong way—but make no mistake, disbanding the League is a victory for the good guys. Though it means we won’t have any more massive bow-and-arrow fights, I suppose. And fewer mooks in masks. Oh well.
*  *  *

It’s all I can do sometimes to suspend my disbelief when there’s a huge bow-and-arrow fight being waged in the streets of Star City. It just looks a little goofy. It’s one thing when Oliver is the one with the bow, or in Season 1 when Oliver and Malcolm were going toe-to-toe. But something about a dozen masked dudes, plus Oliver, plus Nyssa, etc. etc. all shooting it out in the streets…it’s just a little goofy to be honest. Also, why are the civilians just walking out into the mayhem? And why are the Assassins such poor shots? They’re basically the Storm Troopers of Arrow.

[tv echo]

LAST NIGHT ON TV: ARROW WORKED OUT SOME DADDY ISSUES
By Neil Miller  @rejects   February 11, 2016
http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/last-night-on-tv-february-11.php

There are a number of things that the writers of Arrow love above all other things. Just as Oliver loves Felicity and his son, their love is strong for the following things: big late episode fake outs, big last minute twists, toying with the audience about a larger mystery and the beating home of a single theme. “Sins of the Father” ticks off all of these boxes.
*  *  *
The final beloved element at play here is the firm drubbing of a theme. This is where “Sins of the Father” fails to elevate. In an episode that featured a huge moment — a League of Assassins civil war that ends with the League itself being both literally and metaphorically dissolved — the show also worked out a bunch of daddy issues. In trying to answer the eternal absentee father question (“Can people really change over time?”), they got their message convoluted. People don’t really change, we’re led to believe. Unless you’re Oliver Queen, I guess. Or Nyssa, the Queen of Crazytown. Perhaps the message is that only the children of absentee fathers are capable of change. The fathers themselves are too far gone. Then again, Oliver’s actions are putting William in the line of fire, so he won’t win any Father of the Year awards, either. Like Oliver, we’re all just trying to overcome the sins of our fathers, and we’re mostly failing.

[tv echo]

Arrow Season 4: 13 Big Questions After ‘Sins Of The Father’
James Hunt  11 Feb 2016
http://whatculture.com/tv/arrow-season-4-13-big-questions-after-sins-of-the-father.php

Season 3 of Arrow was a mess. The League of Assassins storyline didn’t really grip audiences, Matt Nable’s Ra’s al Ghul was a disappointment following on from Deathstroke, Diggle was sidelined, Felicity was reduced to a love interest, and the whole thing was really miserable.

Given all that, it’s not necessarily the wisest move to have en episode of Season 4 – which has been very strong so far – so rooted in the events of last year. That’s what we get with Sins of the Father, and the results are unsurprisingly mixed.
*  *  *
Malcolm Merlyn is that rare thing on Arrow: a villain who has recurred for multiple seasons. He’s had various guises on the show, from being the main villain in Season 1, to his surprising return and reveal of being Thea’s father in Season 2, using her to kill Sara and manipulating his way to the top of the League in Season 3, and being something of a doting father this year, all the while flip-flopping between being hero and villain depending on which best serves his interests.

He’s done an awful lot in his time on the show, but what else is there for him to do? He’s never going to become a full-time hero, and based on this episode, there’s really no going back between him and Oliver, which means he’s probably ruined any chance of a relationship with Thea as well. John Barrowman’s generally been a lot of fun in the role, but there’s not much left for him to explore with the character. Is this setup for one last run of Merlyn as the villain, or is it nearing the time time for Arrow and Merlyn to part ways?

[Ann Mack]

@tv echo thanks again. You make the after show reviews so accessible and I really appreciate it!

[wonderwall]

So I decided to try an aftershow again, and I found this one. I actually really liked what they had to say about the episode as well as the season as a whole and point out some really crucial mistakes the writers are making this season. I don't agree with everything they said, but I enjoyed how they analyzed episode 413. Hint: they enjoyed last week but didn't like this week. Ann Campea is in this, not a fan of her PoVs but the rest are kind of great.

 

Edited February 11, 2016 by wonderwall

[strikera0]

I have found this new Forbes article. it's critical of Arrow, but IMO, the writer makes some good points about some of the show's weaknesses:

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2016/02/11/why-is-arrow-just-plain-worse-than-the-flash/#6c2a775a5b01

[Ann Mack]

So I decided to try an aftershow again, and I found this one. I actually really liked what they had to say about the episode as well as the season as a whole and point out some really crucial mistakes the writers are making this season. I don't agree with everything they said, but I enjoyed how they analyzed episode 413. Hint: they enjoyed last week but didn't like this week. Ann Campea is in this, not a fan of her PoVs but the rest are kind of great.

 

Not a fan of her's either I wonder if she even realized that what she is saying isn't okay at all IMO about Diggle. So she thinks its okay for Diggle to be in the grave because Andy is there. Like POC on the show has a quota or something or are interchangeable. Worse only one major POC character can exist at a time oh oh look at that 2 POC of course now we have to kill one off (sarcasm). I SMH at the stupidity of her letting that reason even be spoken out into the universe. Such a dumb ass comment IMO!

[NumberCruncher]

I have found this new Forbes article. it's critical of Arrow, but IMO, the writer makes some good points about some of the show's weaknesses:

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2016/02/11/why-is-arrow-just-plain-worse-than-the-flash/#6c2a775a5b01

I think he does raise some very valid points. The main problem he cites is that Arrow has become too grim (thanks S3!) and TPTB don't seem to be doing enough to overcome in S4 just how far they pushed it towards the dark side in S3. It's better than it was, but it's still plagued by its insistence on giving Oliver the guilty stupids whenever they need an excuse for [insert contrived plot point here]. I also agree with him on the fight scenes that they aren't as good as they used to be but it's been discussed here plenty that it's not because the team lacks superpowers but that there are too many masked heroes that they try to shove into them.

As far as the relationships are concerned, he's right and he's wrong. S3 also began the shift of focus away from solid character/relationship development and towards a whole lotta random action-driven chaos and disjointed character interaction. But I don't agree that O/F's relationship is overwhelming the narrative--it's just that they don't allow Oliver to have many relationship moments outside of O/F because they're too damn concerned with making sure that they get to their next crowded, overblown action scene. Without the O/F moments, I highly doubt we'd get much meaningful character development at all. Know why Jessica Jones can be a darker show than Arrow and yet still be compelling? Because we're allowed to see Jessica have real, human moments and relationships rather than just watch her brood and punch bad guys.

And finally, everyone hates the damn flashbacks. I cannot figure out why TPTB still insist on inserting them into every episode when they clearly aren't working. If they feel like they absolutely must keep them then why don't they use them only when they could be pivotal to the current plot? I'm not even sure I can tell you what has happened in any of the flashbacks this season because my mind goes numb every time I see one pop up on the TV screen. Seriously.

Edited February 12, 2016 by NumberCruncher

[SmallScreenDiva]

Not a fan of her's either I wonder if she even realized that what she is saying isn't okay at all IMO about Diggle. So she thinks its okay for Diggle to be in the grave because Andy is there. Like POC on the show has a quota or something or are interchangeable. Worse only one major POC character can exist at a time oh oh look at that 2 POC of course now we have to kill one off (sarcasm). I SMH at the stupidity of her letting that reason even be spoken out into the universe. Such a dumb ass comment IMO!

 

Such observation from anyone is already headache-inducing, but coming from a POC herself makes me want to scream.

[wonderwall]

Such observation from anyone is already headache-inducing, but coming from a POC herself makes me want to scream.

 

I liked everyone else but I'm not a fan of Ann at all. Wish she was off this show tbh. It's gotten so bad to the point where I fast forward her bits. 

[lemotomato]

Aren't the Collider guys the ones who are sure Oliver and Laurel are going to end up together after the Olicity breakup?

[wonderwall]

Aren't the Collider guys the ones who are sure Oliver and Laurel are going to end up together after the Olicity breakup?

 

Yep. Here's a few things that annoy me about this group:

• Ann Campea
• Oliver/Laurel will get back together because comics, but to be fair they really don't care about Laurel. It's just what they believe. The guy on the very right actually does all the DC Insider stuff too so I sort of understand why he'd think so
• They never really talk about Laurel when it comes to who's going to die. They talk about every other possibility but her. And just watching these videos made me a little more confident that it IS Laurel who dies because literally no one is thinking about it 'because comics
• They tend to have trouble digging deeper in terms of character motivations which explains why they tend to like the action stuff a little more

It's not a perfect show, but it's entertaining nonetheless. 

[looptab]

^The guy on the right doesn't let anyone finish a thought.

Sorry, just adding to your list :p

(It drives me crazy)

[EmilyBettFan]

See I was right. I said they are going to praise Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) more and her story. It's true. They need to promote her more. Lord knows what the hell the cw_arrow Twitter is doing.

[looptab]

TvInsider's Damian Holbrook: Why Arrow's Malcolm Merlyn had to lose a hand
 

[...]"we put Oliver in a situation where someone should die," continues Guggenheim. "It was either going to be Nyssa, Malcolm or Thea. So for us, it was about how Oliver could work out a solution where no one dies, yet there are still consequences."
In addition, he says that there was also a logistical challenge of actually getting the ring Nyssa so desperately needed off of Merlyn's finger, in order to become Ra's al Ghul. Sure, Oliver could have beaten Malcolm without killing him and then swiped the ring, but "that would have been awkward," laughs Guggenheim. "Like, ‘Oh hey, stay still while I take this from you!’ Then it occurred to us in a moment of inspiration that, you know, if Oliver took the whole hand off, that would solve that problem...so that is what we did!"

He could have very well beaten him unconscious, IMO, but that's another of MG's moments of inspiration for you. (Or, how he justifies it, at least).

Edited February 12, 2016 by looptab

[bijoux]

He just can't leave well enough alone. The hand chopping played well on screen and made sense. And then Guggenheim goes and overexplains it and robs it of its impact.

Edited February 12, 2016 by bijoux

[Morrigan2575]

His "logic" seems so illogical to me.

[apinknightmare]

I thought Oliver took his hand to hobble him a bit in the future, too. Like, I thought there was some foresight there, yay Oliver! And now...not so much, haha.

[Carrie Ann]

Cute round-up on The AV Club where their writers discuss one couple they ship, and one guy picked Oliver/Felicity:

 

Like any good Arrow viewer who still believes in love, I’ve been pulling for Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak for years. In the beginning, he was the mayor of mopey mountain, constantly putting arrows in criminals and acting as much like Batman as he could without getting The CW in trouble, while she was the one character who really seemed to be enjoying the fact that she was on a superhero show. The comic book version of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow is usually romantically linked to Dinah Laurel Lance/Black Canary, and while Arrow tried to establish that as a possibility early on, the fact that Laurel was consistently terrible quickly squashed that idea. Thankfully, every scene featuring Oliver and Felicity—even before she joined Team Arrow—was simply delightful, and it was hard not to love the way her awkward enthusiasm always worked its way through the cracks in his angsty armor. Felicity and Oliver finally got together at the end of season three, and Ollie even proposed to her before a supervillain attack almost got her killed in season four’s winter finale. It looks like the next few episodes are going to be pretty grim, but I’ll be happy as long as they don’t break up Olicity.

 

Shhhhh, no one tell him about the flash-forward.

 

His tweet about it was pretty cute too:

Edited February 12, 2016 by Carrie Ann

[bijoux]

Mayor of Mopey Mountain! Ha!

[Ann Mack]

There is nothing in this world that will make me believe Marc isn't a certifiable hack of a stupid ass writer. That was suppose to be inspirational okay Marc. I honestly don't think for most of their viewing audience it had as much of an impact as he might have thought. I'm sure most like me were going "oh so this is the reason they're giving Malcolm to betray Oliver" especially after he let it be known he knew who Oliver's child was. So it lost its impact for me right then, and now this crap really doesn't help it much more. Can they please just put a muzzle on Marc.