The Starling City Times: News and Media about Arrow

[bijoux]

Heads up if somebody wants to tweet a question.

[tv echo]

TV Fanatic's round table discussion of 421...

Arrow Round Table: Diversions
Lisa Babick at May 16, 2016 4:30 pm
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2016/05/arrow-round-table-diversions/

Quote

What did you think of the fight scenes this hour and which one was your favorite?
Kelly: My favorite fight scene was Ollie in the stairwell in a leather jacket and black hat. It was a nice change of pace from always seeing him in his Arrow outfit.
Jim: Agreed, Kelly, that was a lot of fun to watch. I also liked Thea in street clothes, again it was a nice change of pace.
Meg: They always do the fight scenes really well. Even when the story is a little blah, the fights are always good. I always liked Laurel's fights the best. With that said, I don't actually think there was a fight that stood out to me in this hour.
Kathleen: I'm with Meg; even when the writing is off, the fight scenes are always great. I've been a fan of Arrow's fight coordinator, James Bamford, since his work on Stargate: Atlantis. My favorite was definitely Oliver taking out those poor security guards in the stairwell.

What did you think of Donna butting into Lance's business?
Kelly: She's his girlfriend so it made sense that she would be in his business. Plus she kept him honest and honor Laurel by saying he knew she was the Black Canary and she helped the city.
Jim: As a married man, I didn't see it as butting all that much. If they are going to build a life together, these are the things they can't keep from each other.
Meg: It was a little nosy but felt in character. They are so darn cute. Out of all of the couples on the show, these two feel the most like a legit couple.
Kathleen: If Lance had submitted the affidavit in its original form, he would probably have hated himself afterwards. How could he respect himself after lying about his daughter and her efforts to protect the city, despite her actions being outside the law? Donna's interference was loving and well-meaning, and she was there to hold his hand and nudge him in the right direction.
*  *  *
How will Felicity deal with the fact that while the missile diversion saved millions, it still killed thousands?
Kelly: It's Felicity so she won't handle it well but in the grand scheme of things, she did all that she could do.
Jim: I'm hoping she uses the guilt she is feeling to help her retake Palmer Tech. Then she could hopefully find a little peace in offering the implant for free.
Meg: That was such a tough call. I think the guilt of her playing God (if God was a hacker) will be really hard for her.
Kathleen: It's a heavy burden for anyone to carry, let alone Felicity. I'm reminded of a conversation from one of my favorite series, Babylon 5, when G'kar confronted Delenn about her silence in regards to the return of an ancient enemy, and Delenn explained with deep emotion about the choice she had faced between the death of millions, and the death of billions, of whole planets.
Felicity might have saved the world, but that's cold comfort as you lay awake in the middle of the night. They still have to have a final showdown with Darhk, so I suspect she may be able to put aside her immediate feelings of guilt. Later, after everything is said and done, however, she's going to have a lot of soul-searching to do.
*  *  *
What was your favorite part of the hour? Any other thoughts you'd like to share?
Kelly: I don't have a favorite part of the hour. This wasn't the best episode of Arrow so I kind of only half watched it.
Jim: Only thing that really stood out for me was Donna and Lance. Him changing his statement to keep it honest and not loose Donna or what Laurel was doing was nice to see.
Meg: I would say anything with Donna. She is the bright spot right now. The rest of plot is dragging for me. I reallllllly want to be done with island flashbacks now. Please?
Kathleen: Like Jim and Meg, I really enjoyed Donna and Lance together, especially her calling him out on his lie on the affidavit. On another note, I have a big problem with the whole "nuke the world" plan. The countdown left our heroes with many hours to figure out a solution. My problem is with all those ninnies from the various militaries around the world who were apparently sitting on their hands while someone was hijacking their nukes.
For HOURS. And didn't even, I don't know, find a way to manually disable their missiles? Remove the payload from the missiles? Smash a tail fin to prevent them from flying straight? Disconnect the power to kill the network intrusion? SOMETHING? And did the United States forget about any possible countermeasures when the nuke went flying toward Monument Point? Why were our heroes the only people doing a gosh-darn thing to prevent the end of the world?!

Edited May 17, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Does anyone even remember this character on Arrow? According to his IMDB page, he played Walsh in 402-The Candidate, 403-Restoration and 404-Beyond Redemption ...

Q & A with Canadian Actor Nigel Vonas from the TV Series “Arrow”!
LAFilmBeat  May 16, 2016
http://www.groundreport.com/q-canadian-actor-nigel-vonas-tv-series-arrow/

Quote

As The CW’s multi-award winning superhero drama “Arrow” continues to draw large crowds, many viewers have watched Canadian actor Nigel Vonas in the riveting recurring role of Walsh, a tough mercenary that exudes strength and intimidates those who cross him. What makes Vonas’ portrayal of Walsh so astonishing though is the way the actor has managed to weave in a sense of vulnerability revealing that Walsh actually does have a heart despite his hardened demeanor.

As “Arrow” prepares to wrap up its fourth season later this month, many of us are wondering if Vonas will reprise his role as Walsh in the show’s fifth season, but will just have to wait until the new season airs in the latter half of 2016.
*  *  *
How about television projects?

NV: I have just booked a great role on the new “Prison Break” series. I can’t give out any information about it, because the episodes haven’t aired yet, but I am quite proud of my work on this character. It is one of my most challenging roles ever.  

I was also recently given the opportunity to play the character of Walsh, on the TV series “Arrow.” I got the chance to work with some very strong directors who allowed me so much freedom to take risks and try different unique choices for a scene. I feel that the importance of my character was that his relationship with Oliver Queen showed a different side of Stephen Amell’s character. I have mixed feelings about this character. I felt that he is a tough guy with a strong heart. I wanted to show his desire to help Oliver Queen, while still maintaining his strength.

Edited May 17, 2016 by tv echo

[looptab]

It's clear that the folks at TVFanatic don't watch for the same things most of this board do. Seriously, I've never disagreed more with what they had to say. Or I've never been more perplexed with it.

[NumberCruncher]

WTF?  So Donna confronting Lance about lying is perfectly okay because they are building a life but Felicity gets endless crap about not getting lied to about Oliver's mystery kid? Jeez.

[tv echo]

It's always a double standard argument when it comes to criticizing Felicity - like saying that there's too much romance on Arrow, while simultaneously saying that Green Arrow has to hook up with Black Canary.  Or saying that Felicity cries too much, while it's okay that Barry cries all the time.

Edited May 17, 2016 by tv echo

[tarotx]

Someone liked Laurel's fights best? Um-Ok. Let me back out of this thread so I don't go off on a person's opinion....

The Nigel actor must be a Flashback character because I don't know the character's name.

[Starfish35]

Who the heck is Walsh? No seriously.

[apinknightmare]

That actor has a YouTube channel where he posted clips of his stint on Arrow. He's in the flashbacks, which makes him forgettable, and he was one of the Shadowspire soldiers who was around when Poppy was present/talked about, so that makes him doubly forgettable, poor dude. 

[Morrigan2575]

Looking at the picture, I'd say Flashback guy from Reiter's operation

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1508419/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

[Starfish35]

Thanks.

*looks at picture*

No, still not registering.  Sorry.  I barely remember the three-four main players in the flashbacks, much less this guy.

Edited May 17, 2016 by Starfish35

[dtissagirl]

This is called the #Poppy Narcolepsy Effect. Makes audiences fall asleep during the FBs.

[apinknightmare]

Here he is. Longest two minutes of your lives, probably: 

 

http://youtu.be/ubgLBlTQGL0

[quarks]

Well, I can't remember him, but that also means he didn't come off as shockingly bad, either, so here's hoping he goes on to bigger and better and more memorable things.

[Password]

16 hours ago, NumberCruncher said:

Donna confronting Lance about lying is perfectly okay because they are building a life but Felicity gets endless crap about not getting lied to about Oliver's mystery kid? Jeez.

My thoughts exactly. 

[BkWurm1]

17 hours ago, Starfish35 said:

Who the heck is Walsh? No seriously.

No kidding.  HIs interview is hilarious.

 I have mixed feelings about this character. I felt that he is a tough guy with a strong heart. I wanted to show his desire to help Oliver Queen, while still maintaining his strength.

Does this sound remotely like anything we saw in the flashbacks? 

[bijoux]

14 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

No kidding.  HIs interview is hilarious.

 I have mixed feelings about this character. I felt that he is a tough guy with a strong heart. I wanted to show his desire to help Oliver Queen, while still maintaining his strength.

Does this sound remotely like anything we saw in the flashbacks? 

Wow, that's some deep thinking that went into that. Think he and Oliver became blood brothers? Is he even still alive or did his buddy off him as he was shooting the guards?

[tv echo]

I only quoted Arrow-relevant portions...

Brandon Routh on the DC Universe, ‘Legends of Tomorrow’, and His Love of Gamer Culture
BY CHRISTINA RADISH      48 MINS AGO
http://collider.com/brandon-routh-legends-of-tomorrow-interview/

Quote

People really loved your work as Superman, and we all know that didn’t get to go on as long as people expected and only lasted for one movie. Did you ever feel like you might not want to jump into a superhero role, if the opportunity came up, or were you always open to the possibility, before you knew about Ray Palmer?
ROUTH: I think I was always open, I just never thought the opportunity would present itself. having played the pinnacle of all superheroes, I just didn’t think that would be an option. So, when the producers came to me with the opportunity to play Ray Palmer, I had to stop and think about it. The biggest thing for me was that they wanted Ray to be comedic and to be the light in Season 3 of Arrow. That’s what truly inspired me to take on the role. I wanted to be able to work on my comedy chops. It’s something that I love to do, and that was the best part about the opportunity, for me.

When you signed on to play Ray Palmer, you must have done so without knowing when The Atom might come about. What did you think the journey might be, when you started out? Did you just sign on for Arrow, or did you know that you’d also have the opportunity to be on The Flash and that there could be another show, in the future?
ROUTH: No, it was only about Arrow. But I knew that because of the success and the way that The Flash happened, that it was a possibility that, if people responded to Ray Palmer and I did a decent job, it might be something that could happen, beyond Arrow and beyond a couple episodes of The Flash. The Atom aspect of Ray was teased, but that was part and parcel of the audience responding to Ray. Thankfully, they did, so that he could exist and The Atom could be a bigger part of the DC Universe, and also influence things like this game and inspire other people to come in and make their Atom inspired character to play with in the game.
*  *  *
Because the DC Universe has been around for so many years, and there have been so many incarnations of these characters and stories, how much do you feel like you know Ray Palmer and The Atom? Do you feel like you’re an expert on the character, or do you feel like you still have so much to learn about him?
ROUTH: I feel like I’m an expert on my Ray Palmer. I’m not the definitive version of Ray Palmer. That’s in the eye of the beholder. What I present in the performance that I give in front of the camera is interpreted differently by the viewers. Not everybody sees the same scene, the same way. I just work to do my best and to put the emotion into it. But, I definitely feel like there’s tons more to learn. I’ve lived 36 years as Brandon Routh and I’m still learning, every day. I’ve been playing Ray Palmer for a year and a half, so there’s a lot more to learn.

It was very cool to learn about Ray Palmer’s brother, Sydney, who also looks a whole lot like Ray. Are you hoping that is something that will come up again, at some point?
ROUTH: Yeah, that’s actually one thing where, in the midst of filming, I didn’t even really think too much of the possibility of meeting up with Sydney. It will be interesting to see even more, as our show progresses, how much we influence the world of this game, as well. There’s already Legends of Tomorrow inspired content available, so it will be interesting to see what other things might come of that. We appreciate what the audience wants, and it will be interesting to see if it pops up in different mediums.

Edited May 18, 2016 by tv echo

[bijoux]

I have no use for Ray and don't really have a formed opinion on BR, but from the snippet @tv echo posted, he gives a nice interview.

[kismet]

From interviews BR seems like the nicest guy, I have no idea why he excels at coming off as such an ass in a lot of his onscreen work. It's really fascinating. It's why I've liked that LoT has toned down his arrogance & ass tendencies because there have been more than a few genuine moments where I have actually liked and rooted for RP. Although that being said, please stay far from Arrow - there really is no room on Arrow for RP and the Arrow writers vision/writing of RP is horrible.

[calliope1975]

This has been said before but in that Hallmark movie with BR, he was charming and adorable, and I wanted him to get the girl. Why he didn't manage to bring that energy to RP I will never understand. 

[EmilyBettFan]

Sometimes it's his facial expressions and hmphs that get me thinking he was arrogant in Season 3.

[Guest]

Look what was listed first in the #Arrow tag on twitter tonight:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/arrow-the-rise-and-fall-of-felicity-smoak-090055760.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=fb

Felicity is universally hated guys!

[NumberCruncher]

Someone should probably have told that to the people in the lines snaking down hallways and into the hotel lobby waiting for EBR at that con this past weekend.

[lemotomato]

And all the people that bought EBR's charity shirt, successfully lobbied for the early release of the Felicity Funko Pop that keeps selling out, and voted for her in the the zap2it social media contest.

Edited May 19, 2016 by lemotomato

[Guest]

I mean, people legit flew across the world just to see EBR at a con but everyone hates Felicity! The WHOLE UNIVERSE! 

I had to post it. Made me LOL.

[lemotomato]

Who knew a person could get paid to write an article entirely based on what's in comments sections/reddit? I picked the wrong line of work.

Edited May 19, 2016 by lemotomato

[Chaser]

It's the "universally hated" part that kills me. You could write an entire article about why you don't like Felicity and it would be perfectly valid because ITS AN OPINION, but you can't toss out blanket statements like that. One person saying they like Felicity, throws the entire argument out the door.

Forget the Cons, merchandise, fan polls….The Network put Emily in the category as Stephen and Grant. 

[NumberCruncher]

Of course the irony in all this is that the more they keep writing articles like this, the more publicity they give a character they hate.  Same with all of the bitching on social media.  I'm sure the network doesn't mind seeing Felicity mentioned everywhere so I say carry on.  

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, Chaser said:

It's the "universally hated" part that kills me. You could write an entire article about why you don't like Felicity and it would be perfectly valid because ITS AN OPINION, but you can't toss out blanket statements like that. One person saying they like Felicity, throws the entire argument out the door.

Forget the Cons, merchandise, fan polls….The Network put Emily in the category as Stephen and Grant. 

This. I couldn't care less if people don't like Felicity. But don't make out that everyone does because no.

[wonderwall]

21 minutes ago, Chaser said:

It's the "universally hated" part that kills me. You could write an entire article about why you don't like Felicity and it would be perfectly valid because ITS AN OPINION, but you can't toss out blanket statements like that. One person saying they like Felicity, throws the entire argument out the door.

Forget the Cons, merchandise, fan polls….The Network put Emily in the category as Stephen and Grant. 

And they still did this even after her worst season by assuring Emily that Felicity was safe this season...

[Thundercatmary]

2 hours ago, Angel12d said:

Look what was listed first in the #Arrow tag on twitter tonight:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/arrow-the-rise-and-fall-of-felicity-smoak-090055760.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=fb

Felicity is universally hated guys!

This kind of article makes me so mad, and if you dare to disagree your reduced to a "crazy Olicity shipper." Sigh.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Thundercatmary said:

This kind of article makes me so mad, and if you dare to disagree your reduced to a "crazy Olicity shipper." Sigh.

Sadly, that's everywhere. As soon as they find out you ship Olicity your opinion is suddenly invalid. It's so frustrating. 

[Thundercatmary]

1 minute ago, Angel12d said:

Sadly, that's everywhere. As soon as they find out you ship Olicity your opinion is suddenly invalid. It's so frustrating. 

Exactly, I mean do the people on Reddit not realize there is a reason most people there agree with each other? It's like a Greek chorus lol. It's why at a certain point I stopped trying to engage with certain people, lots of great people here to talk to though. :)

[kismet]

I don't agree with him that Felicity is universally hated, that just seems completely inaccurate.

However, I do agree with a lot of his points on the writing of FS & Olicity. A good majority of our criticism here on this forum is about how the writing has failed certain characters (esp in s3/4). I do believe that Olicity is a badly written couple. It is a beautiful acted couple, which is a credit to EBR, SA & natural chemistry. And when they are allowed to just exist as a couple & partnership, they flourish. However, when the writers intentionally write for the couple we get RP triangle, BMD & forced fake weddings. I can't think of one Olicity SL since they have become a couple that I have liked what the writers chose to write. The over done melodramatic angst of s3 and then the forced break-up s4 were all bad.

As for the writing of FS as a character, I think is more hit or miss. Some writers write her well. Some are brutal to her. I will say her propping of RP did her no favors and the spinal cord paralysis could have been far better written (or not written at all) in my opinion. EBR always manages to elevate whatever material she is given. For me, most of the time what saves me from becoming disenchanted with her character is EBR's performance and her chemistry with OTA. Remove those two elements and I might be wondering how the writers could fix the character. Luckily, I don't have to worry too much about that because of EBR.

So while a lot of the article was just a summary of comments sections or written with an agenda - I do agree that in many ways the writers have failed FS. Then again their writing has failed s3 and parts of s4, so its more a trend and not just a FS thing.

[Ceylon5]

Given that the writing for most of the other characters has been a lot worse than the writing for Felicity, and given that it's Oliver rather than Felicity who is the problematic half of the struggling Oliver/Felicity romance (and he has been/will be the problematic half of ANY romantic relationship he has been/will be in), anyone who claims that the not-at-all-general dislike of Felicity is due to bad writing/storylines/romance, rather than simply being the result of part of the audience being mad that she's the love interest, is sorely mistaken, IMO.  

If it were just the bad writing, she would by no means be the person singled out for vilification.  Oliver is the cause of all of their romantic problems, but the hatred for that storyline from those who don't like them as a couple gets directed mostly at Felicity, the innocent party.  Thea and Diggle have been twisted out of character for plot at times, without garnering any significant long-lasting criticism from the audience.  They've also had plenty of storylines of their own, often repetitive or nonsensical (looking at you, Thea), but no-one's calling it the Diggle and Family Show or the Thea and Father Show.  Diggle has had numerous episodes that focussed on him over the seasons (he's had the most screentime in 5 episodes - 216, 310, 317, 411 & 420; and 206 was also a Diggle episode, though he had slightly less screentime than Oliver in that one; Felicity has had most screentime in one lone episode - 305), but people aren't fussing about the fact that he's getting story even though he wasn't in the comics.  Incidentally, no-one seemed bothered about the fact that Felicity wasn't in the GA comics in seasons 1 or 2 either.  The main difference between Felicity S1-2 and Felicity S3-4, and the main difference between Felicity in S3-4 and the other supporting characters in S3-4 is that she's Oliver's official love interest.  That's the sticking point.  It isn't really about Felicity at all; just that she has the gall to have the wrong name to be loved by Oliver.  Because apparently a rose by any other name does not smell as sweet.  Shakespeare, you hack!

The show overall is not really any worse in S4 than it was in S2.  S2 was poorly plotted, melodramatic and nonsensical some of the time too; and had a bad run of episodes in the latter part of the season.  It's just that now the show isn't as fresh as it was and people are getting bored and are consequently more critical.  Those who don't like Felicity being the love interest have chosen to focus the bulk of their criticism specifically on her; those who are neutral or like Felicity are more generally critical of the show.

I think someone who is on social media (i.e. not me) needs to start a tag #ObsessedWithFelicity.  Anyone who insists that all the show's faults are to be laid at Felicity's door is even more #ObsessedWithFelicity than the people who love her.  Perhaps if people point this out to them it'll make them chill a bit? 

[looptab]

Tv.com's review:

Quote

[...]here I am, looking at "Lost in the Flood" and thinking to myself that at least the show finally got to do something it always wanted to do: destroy a chunk of Star City! I'm also thinking that after nuking a city in the previous episode, leaving a big hole in the hero's home city ended up feeling a touch anticlimactic. Obviously Darhk isn't done playing with his nuclear toys—if the hacker you hire gets beaten by another hacker, you kidnap that other hacker, naturally—so the threat of more nuclear annihilation continues to looms over Arrow as it heads into the Season 4 finale. Of course, Arrow won't nuke Star City. It's why the show already obliterated some other city and put a big hole in Star City.

When this season premiered, I was half-lured into thinking that Arrow was going to start taking Star City seriously. It was dying, its population was fleeing, and Damien Darhk was slowly pulling it under his control. Oliver went on a pirated broadcast and promised hope as the Green Arrow and then ran for mayor promising to fight in the light. Both actions were intended to bring Star City back from the brink. Then the show pretty much forgot all about the hope aspect of things. The Green Arrow never seemed to do much as a hope-giving vigilante figure, and Oliver's campaign floundered as a storyline before it ended up shut down in the actual narrative.

I rehash all this because Arrow has decided to care about all this again after not caring about it since "Dark Waters" at the earliest or "Code of Silence" at the latest, depending on how charitable you're feeling. It started trickling back in after Laurel's death and the show's attempt to establish a legacy for her that largely existed off-screen, but it really came to the forefront again in "Lost in the Flood" when Oliver and Diggle encountered folks who willingly went into Tevat Noah (H.I.V.E's dome bunker). It was ham-fisted to be sure, but, basically, Oliver wondered why Darhk's message of hope through destruction (and rebirth) was resonating with people who have not only been the innocent victims of various attacks on the city but were never helped by the city afterwards, either. That such people are on this path of being totally cool with the impending nuclear apocalypse is a little hard to swallow—they're happy to let the world burn so they can get theirs!—since it's such an extreme stance. But what were the alternatives? None, is the answer, because the show never provided any despite apparently being interested in doing so. Oliver's campaign looked promising, but it broke down before it could do much good, and the Green Arrow was never depicted as a bringer of hope to those who needed it most.

[...]"Lost in the Flood" remained a weird sort of transitional episode. It didn't feel like the show was reaching the peak of rising action here as it headed into the finale, which doesn't bode well for the finale. It didn't help matters that Darhk decided not to kill Oliver because he's feeling so omnipotent that he wants Oliver alive so he can fry in a nuclear blast instead. Classic super villain blunder, Damien. Just a gun instead of sharks with laser beams, or dark magic choking powers instead of a nuclear holocaust. Whichever. I get that it's a genre trope, but it's sort of ridiculous in a situation when the show veers toward the self-reflexive, like when Curtis acknowledged that people in the show's universe don't understand why anyone lives in Star City.

After that, it was pretty much routine. Thea got mind-controlled again, but this time managed to fight it off. Ruvé was killed so Darhk could get very serious about destroying the world and Oliver now, or, you know, Arrow killed off a lady character so a man character could be angry and work through his feelings using violence. Again. There was some good stuff in this. I really enjoyed what the change in location brought to the episode, not to mention having it be set during "the day." The suburban feel enlivened the chase sequence a lot, and the houses were a real step up from empty warehouses with lots of tarps.

Also routine, and in more ways than one, was all the Smoak family drama. First, though, thank goodness for Curtis because I'm not sure I would've gotten through this otherwise. His running commentary on everything basically kept these scenes afloat, while everyone else in the scenes had to find something to do with playing the same damn beats over and over again. "Noah's a criminal! And a liar!" "You all know I'm right here! And that I'm also not denying any of that?" was the extent of what those scenes were about so Curtis could make the observation that Felicity is to Oliver as Donna is to Noah. Which was a decent insight, and I'm glad Curtis, as an outsider, was around to deliver these epiphanies.

The other way this was also routine was that Felicity was written in ways that serviced an endgame instead of being consistent. She found out Donna lied this whole time about Noah abandoning the two of them (Donna actually kicked him to the curb) and was totally cool with it. After being very angry about being lied to this season (and justifiably so), Felicity was basically, "Aw, mom, I get it. It's fine. Can I help fold some more clothes?" There'd been no real sign of change in Felicity's position about lying about big things regarding family, but I presumed this moment, in conjunction with Curtis explaining it all to her, was intended to lay the groundwork for her and Oliver's eventual reconciliation. Not a particularly elegant way to do that. [...]

 

[Morrigan2575]

CW Fall Schedule

Monday - Supergirl/ Jane The Virgin

Tuesday  - Flash /No Tomorrow 

Wednesday  - Arrow/Frequency 

Thursday - LoT/ Supernatural 

Friday  - Vampire Diaries/ Crazy Ex

Reign, Originals, The 100, iZombie relegated to Mid-Season and Riverdale

Quote

8:00-9:00 P.M. “ARROW”
After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the North China Sea. He returned home to Star City, bent on righting the wrongs done by his family and fighting injustice. As the Green Arrow, he protects his city with the help of former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), computer-science expert Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), his vigilante-trained sister Thea Queen (Willa Holland), former police captain Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne), and brilliant inventor Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum). But sinister players with a connection to Oliver's past will push the team to its breaking point, threatening everything Oliver's worked for and his legacy as the Green Arrow.

Edited May 19, 2016 by Morrigan2575

[tv echo]

A.V. Club's positive review of 422...

Arrow is nothing but solid as it prepares for season’s end
By Alasdair Wilkins  May 18, 2016  9:15 PM
http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/arrow-nothing-solid-it-prepares-seasons-end-237020

Quote

“Lost In The Flood” is a really good episode, even if it’s possible to imagine the story working even better if preceding episodes had built more directly to the conflicts explored here. Indeed, the episode makes the climax of last week’s “Monument Point” look not just rushed, as it already appeared last week, but damn near superfluous. Take away Curtis’ excited ramblings about Havenrock and that one newscast and you’d never know a nuke dropped last week, and it’s not as though the powered-up Dahrk does anything this episode that the previous, only moderately powerful version of him couldn’t plausibly do. And, as is too often the case, there’s some wonky storytelling going on here: I believe the reason Dahrk doesn’t intercede on Ruvé and their daughter’s behalf is because he can’t contact the Ahrk and thus doesn’t know what’s going on, but that’s not really made clear. But these are mostly problems on the margins. Tonight’s episode sets itself the task of challenging all its heroes before the big finale, and it manages to give them all moments to shine while finding room for smaller-scale character arcs for Felicity and Thea. Hell, Oliver even gets a moment to reflect on the ways Dahrk has offered people hope in ways he could not....
*  *  *
Similarly successful is the story with Felicity and her parents. We could spend a whole lot of time ruminating on just how Arrow so spectacularly transformed Felicity from fan favorite to target of ire, but the short version is probably just this: With some stories, the payoff is the anticipation, not the payoff itself. The romance between Oliver and Felicity was fun as a theoretical because it felt like a happy accident, an inadvertent defiance of the comics-mandated pairing. Fans who wanted to see it could enjoy the feints and teases, and fans who were ambivalent or against it could at least enjoy Felicity’s one-liners from the sidelines with relatively little distraction. Actually putting Oliver and Felicity together made all that we previously ephemeral and up to viewer interpretation into concrete terms, and there were only a handful of good ways to write an ongoing romance between the two—and Arrow didn’t go with any of them, instead having Oliver and especially Felicity get increasingly insular in a way that was never going to be much fun for anyone.

So, if you’re just completely burned out on Felicity at this point, I get it. Hell, if you’re pretty much burned out on Arrow at this point, I get that too, though I’ll argue to my last breath that Neal McDonough’s scenery-chewing has been worth the price of admission all on its own. Still, credit where it’s due: Tonight’s Felicity subplot, with her finally witnessing and dealing with the confrontation between her long-estranged parents, is some solid storytelling. As Curtis points out, we’re essentially seeing the two sides of Felicity face off, and “Lost In The Flood” is smart enough not to let the family drama trump the more immediate concerns of saving the world; Donna even tells Felicity that they can talk about things later, once nuclear annihilation has been averted. Donna and Noah’s story is a bit of a comedy subplot, as all Donna stories kind of are, but Arrow respects their history enough not to suggest some pat reconciliation. Felicity can connect with both her parents, and each can have a moment where he or she sees some new complexity in the other, but mostly the damage has been done. And, again, outside Curtis’ attempt to connect Donna and Noah’s story to Felicity and Oliver’s, the whole thing is allowed to exist separately from the episode’s main story, which is where Felicity works best at this point.
*  *  *
Does anyone get anything out of the flashbacks? I don’t just mean in the comments, I mean anyone on the planet. I’ll still say these are better than last season’s, in that they at least relate to the main plot in an obvious way, but that’s just it: There’s not a single thing going on there that we can’t already predict.

Edited May 19, 2016 by tv echo

[looptab]

Quote

the whole thing is allowed to exist separately from the episode’s main story, which is where Felicity works best at this point.

Uh...no sir.

[tv echo]

Collider's very negative review of 422  - gave it 1 star Poor (um, the clothes folding happened after they knocked Rubicon offline)...

‘Arrow’ Recap: “Lost in the Flood” – Do Not Resuscitate
BY DAVE TRUMBORE      May 18, 2016
http://collider.com/arrow-recap-lost-in-the-flood/

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I lack the imagination to picture a world in which a nuclear missile decimating an American city and extinguishing tens of thousands of lives would be answered with attempts at witty humor and much folding of clothes. Even more unfathomable is that this behavior would be exhibited by the very people who were unable to stop the attack from happening. Surely there should be some guilt, some urgency, some emotion on the part of these otherwise well-meaning heroes, but no. Any semblance of reality has waved bye-bye to Arrow.

And yet this is a show that spent an entire hour allowing the cast to mourn the loss of one of their regular crime-fighters, so there’s clearly an intent to establish emotional attachments. The worst part is that the writers could have used this horrific and tragic event as the impetus to put a stop to Darhk’s machinations once and for all. Instead, we got more daddy issues from Felicity and Thea, a continuation of the useless flashback sequence, and an example of what is quite possibly the crappiest fictional end-of-the-world cult scam ever.
*  *  *
Meanwhile, following the recent nuclear strike on an American city, Curtis Holt paid Felicity and her father Noah a visit just to chat and occasionally do some light hacking. This was complicated by the return of Felicity’s former boyfriend Cooper Seldon, now (briefly) in the employ of Darhk. While the super-hackers attempted to keep Darhk from accessing the remaining nukes using Rubicon, Donna Smoak inexplicably showed up to cause havoc during what should have been a tense, do-or-die, life-or-death situation. Instead, they took time to literally fold clothes, pass a beer around, and reveal that it was Donna who kicked Noah out all those years ago. This was done simply to draw a parallel between Donna/Noah’s relationship and that of the tumultuous romance of Felicity and Oliver. Not the time, guys. Not even close to the time. I actually hoped that Darhk would wipe out Felicity and Donna when he showed up at their abode by episode’s end. The fact that he did not was just another of this hour’s disappointments.

Edited May 19, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Blastr's mostly positive review of 422...

Oliver goes Under the Dome, and Felicity has a family reunion in the latest Arrow
Trent Moore  Thu, May 19, 2016 12:18am
http://www.blastr.com/2016-5-18/oliver-goes-under-dome-and-felicity-has-family-reunion-latest-arrow

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It’s tough to build a compelling narrative around people sitting at computers and typing furiously, but putting a big focus on Felicity and her father’s efforts to retake control of the nuclear launch system was handled well. As the world hangs in the balance, we get a chance to see Felicity’s mother and father bicker and butt heads, filling in backstory gaps that actually proved to be fairly compelling. Plus, seeing those two go at one another was actually a lot of fun (and Felicity stealing a chug from Curtis’ beer was a great touch). 
*  *  *
But, it turns out Lonnie Machin, aka Anarky, is also still kicking around Under the Dome, and manages to sneak in and manages to single-handedly take control of the base’s command center. This guy is almost too formidable, right? Or is he just that much smarter than our central heroes, that he can sneak in and pull this off while Oliver and Diggle are stuck having some (surprisingly great) gun fights and brawls in the broad daylight of this freaky underground suburb. Oh, and for all the Angel fans out there, it finally hit me: This underground lair totally feels like that Wolfram & Hart mystical suburb prison, right? Or is that just me? Okay, moving on…

... How is Dhark so dumb as to leave this seemingly critical design flaw? So, all someone had to do was accidentally knock over one of those pressurized canisters, and the entire facility would’ve been destroyed? Not a smart design when you’re building the only place that will survive a nuclear holocaust

... Sure, you want to save the big face off for next week’s finale, but it never really made sense why Dhark didn’t just pop down with his super magic and kill Oliver and Diggle once they became a problem (or, you know, when he literally had them dead to rights to open the episode). It was pushing the supervillain bravado to its most extreme.

Having the underground residents be there of their own accord was actually an interesting piece of story, and helped push Oliver to try and be more of an inspiration to the city (but it begs the question, why didn’t that family just move out of Star City by this point since the place is pretty insane?). Would’ve actually liked to see that explored even more. Interesting angle....

Edited May 19, 2016 by tv echo

[Chaser]

Personally instead of them focusing on Noah and Donnas relationship to draw sometype of parallel with Olicity, I wish the show focused on Felicitys relationship with Noah and her working thru Havensrock. 

[tv echo]

TV Fanatic's mixed review of 422 (actually, I think that if Felicity had spent this episode crying and moping, she would've been criticized for crying again - also noticed that no other character was criticized for not moping about the nuke strike)...

Arrow Season 4 Episode 22 Review: Lost in the Flood
Lisa Babick  May 19, 2016
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2016/05/arrow-season-4-episode-22-review-lost-in-the-flood/

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It would have been a lot easier for Darhk had he just killed Oliver and Diggle when he had the chance in the secret basement room of city hall.
*  *  *
I liked how they really didn't try to hide themselves when they first entered the ark. It was a little strange seeing them in their costumes in the bright sunlight, but I liked the juxtaposition it created with light versus dark.

Plus, it really fit in with the theme of hope that kept cropping up throughout the hour.
*  *  *
... The best scene of the hour was Diggle and Oliver engaging in a shootout with the ghosts while running through the neighborhood. It was ridiculous though that the ghosts didn't bother to check the stairwell where the two hid. The ghosts just barreled past it like it didn't even exist.
*  *  *
It's too bad Anarky is a bad guy, because he'd make a good ally for Team Arrow. The guy kicks butt. Look at all the havoc he's created in two short hours. He killed Ruve (which was sad, but not really) and pretty much single-handedly destroyed the ark. 
*  *  *
And how is it that this little boy basically beat the crap out of Team Arrow? Three of them versus one of him, and they couldn't take him down? That's why he should be the one to take down Darhk next hour. But I get the feeling that next week is going to be more of a mental challenge than a physical one.

While all this fun was happening in Darhk's ark, all kinds of crazy was happening at Felicity's loft. I was expecting more emotion from Felicity after the Havenrock destruction. There was too much cheer going on. Too much of a light mood considering the circumstances. Thousands of people just lost their lives, yet she couldn't knock down that witty, perky self of hers for just one episode to reflect on what had happened?

Oh, boo hoo, she shed a few tears before Noah showed up. Big deal. As soon as Curtis arrived it was party time.
*  *  *
And when Donna got there, things really picked up, because we need to have family arguments about past mistakes being at the forefront when nuclear annihilation is nipping at your heels.

It's not that I didn't enjoy the drama, I just thought it was really out of place considering the circumstances. I was enjoying Felicity working together with Noah. Donna sticking her nose in it all was sort of disappointing, but not unexpected. I don't understand why there can't be a relationship between Noah and Felicity. People change. 

Edited May 19, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

BuddyTV's mixed review of 422...

'Arrow' Recap: Team Arrow Reunites as Darhk Grows Dangerous 
Wednesday, May 18, 2016   Derek Stauffer
http://www.buddytv.com/articles/arrow/arrow-recap-oliver-tries-to-sa-60056.aspx

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In "Lost in the Flood," Arrow continued its trend of just making everything suck in the worst way possible. For once on Arrow, Oliver is about the only character who is still hoping that everything will turn out alright. Damien Darhk is growing in power each week and it is impossible to imagine how Oliver will be able to stop him. Not to mention how Arrow will possibly be able to create a villain more menacing or entertaining that the Aryan-looking wizard in the suave suits in seasons to come.
*  *  *
Back on the ground, Curtis finally makes his much needed reappearance to help Noah and Felicity try to take Rubicon offline forever. Donna also shows up for no other reason than to argue with Noah and just be generally awesome. The three hackers work together and decide that their best course of action is to blow up Rubicon; digitally of course.

They run into a bit of a problem though when Darhk recruits another reject baddie of seasons' past. Darhk brings in Felicity's ex-boyfriend, Cooper, the awful "hackivisit" who is grandiose and melodramatic as he is gross. Cooper thinks he can take on Felicity, Curtis and Noah, but they quickly defeat him. Making this whole plot line pointless; much like Cooper himself.
*  *  *
In any case, this little bit of self-pitying is cut off by another attack by Darhk's ghosts, Thea and Malcolm. Oliver manages to have Thea break through her brainwashing together and together they manage to defeat Malcolm. Thea then reminds us all that is this not the first time, by a long shot, that Malcolm has drugged his daughter against her will. (At what point does Malcolm just become a caricature of awfulness or are we already way past that point?)

The battle with Anarky quickly goes awry. During the midst of the fight, a stray arrow hits some doohickey and this causes the entire town to start to explode. This is worst designed evil secret facility since the Death Star. In fact, it's worse than all the Death Stars combined. 

Edited May 19, 2016 by tv echo

[apinknightmare]

10 minutes ago, tv echo said:

TV Fanatic's mixed review of 422 (actually, I think that if Felicity had spent this episode crying and moping, she would've been criticized for crying again - also noticed that no other character was criticized for not moping about the nuke strike)...

I do think it's fair to single out Felicity for her reaction since she had a hand in redirecting the nuke - no one else did. I also agree that she would've been criticized for having too much of a reaction to it. Over on the AV Club there was commentary that Felicity was too cold, and then in the next paragraph, "Not to say I wanted yet another episode of Felicity crying and being self-absorbed" So, no winning there. 

[tv echo]

Laura Hurley's CinemaBlend article on 422...

Arrow Just Put Felicity In An Impossible Situation
BY LAURA HURLEY  May 18, 2016
http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Arrow-Just-Put-Felicity-An-Impossible-Situation-139107.html

Quote

The end is nigh for Season 4 of Arrow, and the stakes are higher than ever before for Oliver and Co. The nuclear explosion last week was possibly only a sample platter of what is yet to come from the devious mind of Damien Darhk. Despite massive setbacks in this week’s “Lost in the Flood," Darhk is more determined than ever to destroy the world. Unfortunately for Felicity Smoak, he knows she is just the person with the skills to help him to do it, so she’s now stuck in an impossible situation that will force her to make a big sacrifice no matter what path she chooses.
*  *  *
Normally, it would be easy to say that nothing that Damien Darhk could do would be enough to convince Felicity to give him access to Rubicon. In an regrettable twist of fate, Darhk happened to drop by when Felicity had guests. Now, he has Donna, Curtis, and probably even Noah to use as leverage in persuading Felicity to unlock Rubicon. Considering there’s still one whole episode left in the season, we can probably count on Felicity helping Darhk in order to save her family, as Star City hasn’t even had its annual city-wide crisis yet, and things are going to get worse before they get better. That will likely involve Felicity being forced into choosing which impossible option she will be able to live with. 
*  *  *
Whichever choice Felicity makes next week, we can bet that she probably won’t have a happily-ever-after sort of ending in Season 4. She was already shellshocked by the role that she played in the nuclear devastation of Havenrock; whatever she does to resolve her current problem in the finale presumably won’t make her feel any better. Season 4 has been a hell of a crucible for Felicity Smoak, and we have to hope that she won’t lose herself before the end.

Edited May 19, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Den of Geek's very mixed review of 422 (gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars)...

Arrow: Lost in the Flood Review
Kayti Burt 5/18/2016 at 10:28PM
http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/arrow/255533/arrow-lost-in-the-flood-review

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... Guys, can I say that I am so over the Thea Gets Brainwashed subplot? In fact, I have never been under it. Using the brainwashing card to create character motivation is, with a few exceptions, a lazy storytelling choice. It's a boring way to have two characters who would normally never turn against one another, become suddenly at odds. It's much more interesting when characters clash for completely organic, well-developed reasons. #NarrativeGoals

Despite my lack of interest in the Thea Gets Brainwashed (Again) subplot, it did lead to one of my favorite Arrow fight sequences in recent memory, which saw Diggle and Oliver racing through the well-manicured lawns of suburbia, jumping and twisting and aiming and firing as they went. This is the second episode in a row that has brought an Arrow stunt sequence out of the shadows and into the light, and it is so goddamn refreshing. I think the Arrow production team might feel the same way, as the direction on said sequence was innovative, energizing, and filled with unexpected, but not confusing shots. Well done, show.
*  *  *
Um, what? There's a lot of room between thinking Star City is a crap place to live and being cool with blowing up the world to start over. Like, have you thought about possibly relocating? I hear Coast City has good pizza. And, yeah, Central City might currently be suffering a metapocalypse, but at least they get sunlight there. If none of those options appeal to you, go to a city council meeting or build a community center. Global extermination is not the answer, friend.
*  *  *
Starling City with its Queen Consolidated and its Glades and its Queen mansion looming august on the outskirts felt like a city we could visit. It operated using much of the same logic of the real world, albeit heightened in the way that TV melodrama so often is. Star City is a different story. It is dark and its only inhabitants are superheroes or supervillains and it has zero chain coffee places, as far as I can tell. A city without a coffee chain? Completely unrelatable.
*  *  *
To destroy the world, Darhk is going to need a hacker. You see, his previous hacker (Felicity's ex-boyfriend, Cooper, who randomly returned for this episode) failed, so Dahrk goes to the best hacker in town: Felicity. This is a more effective cliffhanger for the more effective storyline that was Felicity's family drama, but I'm not sure what Darhk's coercion is going to look like here: Destroy humanity or I will kill your loved ones? Fulfilling his evil plan will end in the same result.

Felicity's family drama in the last few episodes has been a welcome surprise for this show. It has felt fresh in a way that much of the interpersonal drama on this show hasn't for a long time — reminiscent of the complicated family dynamics of the Queens back in season 1 and 2. We learn a bit more about the circumstances involving Noah's supposed abandonment of Donna and Felicity when Felicity was young. Apparently, it wasn't Noah who left so much as Donna who forced him to lead.

Though this fills in a bit of the mystery of Noah, it still seems like Felicity's parents are keeping something big from her (and us). Donna convinces Noah to leave, insisting that he knows she'll be safer without him there. This seems a silly argument to be making only minutes after Noah and Felicity saved the world together. What is the piece of the Smoak family puzzle we're missing? 
*  *  *
"Thanks for not being dead." Oliver and Felicity's hug in the beginning of the episode was adorable because you could tell that Oliver totally didn't expect it. This gave me Olicity circa season 2 nostalgia.

"They made a mistake letting you go, they'll see it." Diggle is Felicity's #1 supporter.
*  *  *
"I am not pregnant! Is that the only news that someone can have?" I love Felicity.

Edited May 19, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Vulture's very positive review of 422...

Arrow Recap: Hope Floats
By Jenny Raftery  May 19, 2016
http://www.vulture.com/2016/05/arrow-recap-season-4-episode-22.html

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“Lost in the Flood” perfectly encapsulates everything that drew me into Arrow in the first place: great performances, stellar stunts, witty dialogue, weighty themes, and a surprise death — or two, if you count Alex. (But, really, do you?)
*  *  *
At the Arrow bunker, Felicity meets up with Oliver and Diggle. In a sweet moment that is almost ruined by the world’s ugliest jacket, Felicity gives Oliver an unexpected hug and thanks him for “not being dead.” But there’s nothing more said between the two, and it’s back to business. Felicity traces Thea’s text to a location in the Glades. Green Arrow and Spartan check out the spot, where they find a mysterious sewer entrance. Through this entrance, the duo uncover H.I.V.E.’s ark – a.k.a. Tevat Noah.
*  *  *
This all leads to a fun chase sequence through the suburbs. It’s quite a visual shock to see the Green Arrow in broad daylight jumping over shrubbery and running through flowerbeds. And thanks to the direction and stunt team, a sunny chase through the suburbs is as intense as one in the dark alleys of Star City. Eventually, the Green Arrow and Spartan break into one of the homes and find a “volunteer” family there. Ruvé then appears on the family’s television in some kind of news broadcast to the entire dome. She seemingly pulls a Kilgrave and urges the volunteers to locate the “dangerous” vigilantes and kill them.
*  *  *
As Felicity and her dad work together to stop Rubicon, there’s an obvious bond growing between the two. (He even admits that he’s kept tabs on her algorithms, which is probably the closest the Calculator will ever get to saying “I love you.”). Donna retreats from the scene, and Felicity follows her. A tearful Donna admits that Kuttler wasn’t the one who left, but that it was her choice to take Felicity away from him. Felicity takes this news surprisingly well, considering what a bombshell this should be. Eventually, Felicity re-joins her dad and Curtis and, together, they manage to lock H.I.V.E. and Cooper out of Rubicon.
*  *  *
The father’s speech leads Oliver to wonder if Darhk’s plan is that off-base. Before he reaches a conclusion, H.I.V.E. ghosts arrive, and a gunfight breaks out in the house, which causes a virtual blizzard of pillow feathers to fill the air. Did this house have down ceilings or something? Feathers were everywhere! ...

Suddenly, a video feed comes through the family television: It’s Lonnie “How you say … An-ar-ky?” Machin, who’s captured Ruvé and her daughter. Alexander Calvert brings such a fun energy to Anarky. It could have easily been a one-note character, but Calvert continuously makes interesting choices in his scenes, whether it’s a movement or an inflection in his voice. ...
*  *  *
Okay, it definitely needs a little more saving. A grieving Darhk wants to trigger the nuclear missiles, even without an “ark” to save people. And he knows just who is going to help him get Rubicon working again: Felicity Smoak!
*  *  *
BULL’S-EYE
-A “thanks for not being dead” hug should be mandatory after every mission!
-“My God, this really is the end of the world.” —Felicity, to herself, when she sees her parents together.
-Curtis, to Felicity: “I helped you save the world. The least you can do is give me a little gossip.”
*  *  *
-Curtis trying to save Olicity.
-Is Kovar going to be related to this guy?
-RIP, Alex. P.S.: That was so not your hair in this episode.

Edited May 19, 2016 by tv echo

[tv echo]

IGN's mixed review of 422...

ARROW: "LOST IN THE FLOOD" REVIEW
BY JESSE SCHEEDEN   18 MAY 2016
http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/05/19/arrow-lost-in-the-flood-review

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If the threat of HIVE and Project Genesis wasn’t already clear, last week’s episode raised the stakes considerably by wiping out an entire town in a nuclear blast. It really says something about this enemy that their opening salvo claimed more lives than all three previous main villains combined. That disaster and all the other battles leading up to it nicely set the stage for this week’s conflict. Following a brief skirmish with a turbo-charged Darhk, Ollie and Diggle continued their hunt for Thea while Felicity and the rest of the gang worked furiously to stop HIVE from renewing their nuclear onslaught. It’s just a shame that one of these storylines didn’t live up to the other. I probably don’t even need to point out which was which.

Ollie and Diggle’s raid on didn’t disappoint. This season has had a very high standard when it comes to action sequences, and “Lost in the Flood” did nothing to break that trend. The frantic chase scene through the streets of Tevat Noah was easily the highlight this week. Seeing the two heroes jump over edges and fire round after round and arrow after arrow offered quite a thrill. Plus, the suburban setting offered a wonderfully surreal touch to the whole conflict. The continued presence of Anarky also allowed for some great fight scenes. I have my issues with Lonnie’s portrayal, but every time he stops chattering and busts out the triple-section-staff, a memorable fight scene is never far behind.
*  *  *
This episode also touched on something that will be crucial next week - the theme of hope. One of Ollie’s main struggles this year has been his desire to become “something else” - a hero who can inspire hope in others rather than merely frighten criminals. It’s very clear now that the final battle is going to come down whether the Green Arrow’s message of hope is strong enough to beat out Darhk’s wave of nuclear terror.
*  *  *
The one sore point in the whole Tevat Noah storyline involved Thea. It was bizarre to see her so easily shake off the hypnotic power of the yellow pill when the show has gone out of its way to establish how unbreakable Darhk’s hold is on his followers. We’re to believe that Diggle couldn’t get through to his brother after months of talking and inviting him into his home, yet Thea easily reverted to normal after one 10-second conversation with her brother? Sorry, monsignor, that dog won’t hunt.

That aside, the Tevat Noah material served as a good, solid lead-in to the finale. It’s a shame the same couldn’t be said for the Felicity storyline. It was baffling how little this episode acknowledged the fallout of Felicity’s decision from the previous episode. Even if Felicity is compartmentalizing her grief in the face of another overwhelming task, she has to be burdened by the knowledge that she had a hand in the deaths of thousands of innocent people. You wouldn’t know anything was amiss from the way she was bantering with her parents and Curtis the entire evening. Generally it’s good to have a little humor to balance out the darker moments on this show, but this was one case where the quippy dialogue felt completely out of place.

Nor did it feel like the proper time to explore this Smoak family drama. Who cares what went on between Donna and Noah at a time like this? Donna has really suffered a bad run lately. Last week she came across as a jerk for pressuring Quentin into giving up his career. This week it became clear just how hypocritical she is. She chastises the men in her life for being dishonest and keeping secrets, yet she never told Felicity the truth about why Noah disappeared. I liked the character better when she was just the ditzy comic relief. It felt like there was a much better and more emotional Felicity storyline waiting to be told this week, and the writers simply refused to acknowledge it.

Edited May 19, 2016 by tv echo