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The Starling City Times: News and Media about Arrow


Grammaeryn
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Shipper wars are one thing (totally dumb and annoying I agree). But I feel its becoming an actress v. actress thing and that is just ugly.

 

Exactly. It actually makes me feel very uncomfortable. To be honest, the whole point about KC didn't need to be bought into it at all. 

I took the LL as suggested, but I actually had posted as was article's title

 

Sorry, what do you mean? 

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Re that Tumblr piece. Why was the fridge pic having a dig at Emily? If anything that's having a dig at the writers or that trope in general.

 

I don't think the person who wrote that piece was implying it was a dig at Emily, more that it was a dig at Caity, if anything, I guess. Depending on when that pic was posted (I don't know), someone might've pointed out that women in fridges is an actual, not-good thing, so she took it down. 

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I don't disagree with Robert Dougherty because the rush of the final 3 episodes has been bizarre. But I'm withholding judgment for now until I see episode 23 whether or not they've completely screwed Oliver's arc.

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(edited)

I don't think the person who wrote that piece was implying it was a dig at Emily, more that it was a dig at Caity, if anything, I guess. Depending on when that pic was posted (I don't know), someone might've pointed out that women in fridges is an actual, not-good thing, so she took it down.

Yeah, I don't know when it was posted either - I didn't know anything about it before now - but my impression was that the person who wrote that tumblr believed it was a dig at the fans who were complaining about female characters being fridged (specifically Sara), not at the actresses.

For instance, while you were distributing petitions over the fridging of a female character to propel another female character’s storyline, and tweeting the EPs your disgust, you may have missed Katie Cassidy’s tweet mocking you via this picture of herself inside an actual fridge.

Edited by Starfish35
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Yeah, I don't know when it was posted either - I didn't know anything about it before now - but my impression was that the person who wrote that tumblr believed it was a dig at the fans who were complaining about female characters being fridged (specifically Sara), not at the actresses.

 

Oh, good point with your quoted text there. I missed that part in my skimming.

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I don't think the person who wrote that piece was implying it was a dig at Emily, more that it was a dig at Caity, if anything, I guess. Depending on when that pic was posted (I don't know), someone might've pointed out that women in fridges is an actual, not-good thing, so she took it down. 

 

Maybe. Or maybe KC was drunk out of her mind when she took and posted the pic (the pic was taken at a party with friends), and decided to take it down after she sobered up. IMO, people are reading way too much into each and every one of her actions. If KC was so concerned with entertaining/mocking her haters, well, she wouldn't find the time to do much of anything else anymore...

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You know I actually agree with a lot of Stiletto Royalty's post. I do think that some fans took advantage of this bubble Olicity shippers put themselves under and used it to attack Felicity/EBR at any given opportunity. The same way some fans took advantage of this movement to protect LL/KC and used it to turn on Felicity/EBR. It's gotten ugly out there. I'm glad someone finally said it.

 

However, bringing KC into it personally (and trust me, I have my own unflattering opinions of KC) is a step over the line. Regardless if she is correct or not until you have it on camera, it's best to keep your theories private. Tumblr has been even uglier the past couple days because of this and its really killing my excitement for the finale. This hiatus is so needed. Everyone needs to find some chill.

 

Just because I generally enjoy this tumblr. Stiletto Royalty did put a disclaimer on the post and did a follow up post that no one should tag the cast and crew of Arrow. No one should go after KC. The post was to wake up the Olicity fandom. And if you follow her on tumblr or twitter, you know she has never tagged KC. She doesn't even refer to LL or KC by name because she doesn't want to give her any type of traction on twitter. Her tumblr is 95% support Team Arrow/Olicity, she normally just ignores whatever she doesn't like. As is what always happens with tumblr, users ignored that and let it spread outside the intended audience. 

 

 

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The moviepilot piece was biased, but it brought up some good points. It was more Op/Ed post than unbiased reporting, although it bring up some basic facts of the show. 1. Bad Chemistry & 2. Poor writing. Many of the points in the piece, people here have brought up. The majority of the problems with LL lie in the writers' hand not in anyone elses. I do think that bringing in KC specifically was a little over the line. It was unnecessary. It is sad when things get personal. Its a sad sign of the times that personal & professional lines get blurred so easily for celebrities. I will agree though from what I've seen posted for some of KC's appearances, a little more PR training for public professional appearances would not be the worst thing ever. She does make some verbal gaffes that could be prevented.

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 It is sad when things get personal. Its a sad sign of the times that personal & professional lines get blurred so easily for celebrities. 

 

It is sad. Celebrities themselves blur those lines by being so present on social media and sharing personal information in addition to professional through those platforms. They get sloppy and fans get sloppy. I'm not saying personal attacks are ever appropriate, but when you've essentially invited people in, the consequences are that your guests sometimes make themselves at home in uncomfortable ways. 

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Social media wars over a damn fictional TV show make me tired.  Fans on all sides have their less-than-flattering moments and any attempt to paint one as somehow being worse than the other is naive and pointless.  I wish people would let people focus on what they enjoy rather than dwell on what a small subset of usually very vocal fans might hate post.  It gets especially ridiculous when they tag actors and showrunners in the drama like they expect them to do something about it.  Anyway...moving on...

 

 

You know, it's interesting that even the showrunners seem to recognize that Team Arrow is significant since they end up reverting back to the core trio in the last handful of episodes each season.  What I can't understand is why it takes them so long to do so.  For all of the lip service that the EPs pay talking about how the team has to evolve I do find it funny that it's almost as if they spend the entire season trying to grow the team, realize that it's not working as planned after the critics and viewers express how much they miss the old dynamic, then end up shoving as much of said dynamic in the final 3 or 4 episodes.  I wish they would make up their mind because the current approach only adds to the disjointedness of the storytelling.

 

I personally think that the show would be much richer if they would recognize how great that chemistry between Oliver, Digg & Felicity is and weave it throughout the whole season.  S3 suffered quite a lot because that dynamic was messed with as Diggle was sidelined from the team in order to focus on Merlin's "redemption" and the BC origin story and Felicity was shoved off to (what seemed like) a different show in order to launch Ray's new spinoff.

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(edited)

As I read Stiletto Royalty's post, it felt like she was expressing a lot of feelings that I hadn't verbalized but had been bothering me.  It's become very nasty out there.  On general sites like TV Guide, if you want to be read, you have to hide your liking for Felicity and Olicity.  Thank goodness for Robert Dougherty, who isn't afraid to say what he wants.

 

KC's picture in the fridge I ascribe to her not knowing the comic book term "fridging" but she really needs to have a ten minute delay on some of her tweets.  The cast seems to like her so I guess it's that she's not aware of the great implications of what she says.  I think she also listens to her fans too much, which I can understand because it can't be pleasant being on the Most Hated Character lists when you're playing a hero, but that's not the greater Arrow viewership.

 

I completely understand why the EPs wanted to move beyond the O/D/F trio this season.  Too much focus on them and the show would be as repetitive as NCIS or L&O. The problem is that what they replaced it with wasn't nearly as interesting and many fans ended up desperate to have their favorite, be it Diggle, Felicity or O/D/F back.  And so, just like at the end of season 2, we get a group of episodes focusing on them.

 

I don't think the Arrow EPs have changed their minds though.  Season 4 will start with Team Arrow in some form or another, even if Diggle is still angry, then move on to other characters, put in a bunch of annoying episodes after Christmas (the "Laurel episodes" the last two seasons), and end back on O/D/F to people will watch again s5.

Edited by statsgirl
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(edited)

As I read Stiletto Royalty's post, it felt like she was expressing a lot of feelings that I hadn't verbalized but had been bothering me.  It's become very nasty out there.  On general sites like TV Guide, if you want to be read, you have to hide your liking for Felicity and Olicity.  Thank goodness for Robert Dougherty, who isn't afraid to say what he wants.[/b]

But why hide it? People shouldn't give a damn if people don't like what they do. If people are afraid to express their enjoyment of something then all that does is give the obnoxious fans more power than they deserve. Like what you like and if they don't agree then that's too bad. Not saying I agree or disagree with the main substance of StilettoRoyalty's post (because honestly, I just don't pay that much attention to what KC tweets to really care) but she's right in that the whole M.O. of any hater type is to bully people into silence which is what I've been seeing lately towards anyone who dare promote Olicity. The point is to not give them that much power.

 

 

 

I completely understand why the EPs wanted to move beyond the O/D/F trio this season.  Too much focus on them and the show would be as repetitive as NCIS or L&O. The problem is that what they replaced it with wasn't nearly as interesting and many fans ended up desperate to have their favorite, be it Diggle, Felicity or O/D/F back.  And so, just like at the end of season 2, we get a group of episodes focusing on them.

It doesn't have to be repetitive. Relationships between specific characters can last throughout many TV seasons and still be fresh and interesting. It all comes down to good writing, which we obviously haven't had much of this season. I think a huge problem is that rather than focus on well-written story arcs for the regular characters--not even just the core 3--they've been shoving new characters/superheroes at us without bothering to make the story coherent. It's become about what's flashy and looks cool rather than bothering with real substance.

Edited by NumberCruncher
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But why hide it? People shouldn't give a damn if people don't like what they do. If people are afraid to express their enjoyment of something then all that does is give the obnoxious fans more power than they deserve. Like what you like and if they don't agree then that's too bad. Not saying I agree or disagree with the main substance of StilettoRoyalty's post (because honestly, I just don't pay that much attention to what KC tweets to really care) but she's right in that the whole M.O. of any hater type is to bully people into silence which is what I've been seeing lately towards anyone who dare promote Olicity. The point is to not give them that much power.

 

 

 

It doesn't have to be repetitive. Relationships between specific characters can last throughout many TV seasons and still be fresh and interesting. It all comes down to good writing, which we obviously haven't had much of this season. I think a huge problem is that rather than focus on well-written story arcs for the regular characters--not even just the core 3--they've been shoving new characters/superheroes at us without bothering to make the story coherent. It's become about what's flashy and looks cool rather than bothering with real substance.

I completely agree with this.  At this point, Arrow has become less of its own show and instead has become a shell of its former self as it acts as a launching pad for a growing list of spinoffs.  If they don't dream up yet another spinoff for next season over the summer hiatus, it'll be interesting to see how S4 shakes out when all they have to do write for *this* show and *these* characters.

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I agree about the shipper wars turning personal and this forum is also to blame. Fans need to separate KC/LL and EBR/Felicity. Frankly, it leaves and awful taste in my mouth and it feeds into the whole "shippers are crazy and ruin the show" backlash. Attacking KC is not a good look and that article was basically rife with personal attacks towards her. And I say this as a huge EBR/Felicity and Olicity fan. People need to stop.

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Robert Dougherty tries one more time to warn the EPs

'Arrow' Season 3 Olicity Happy Ending Now All But Implausible

 

 

Diggle already made it clear beforehand that he couldn’t forgive Oliver for his actions as Al Sah-Him, so his forgiveness after this stunt is even less likely. And yet if there is going to be a happy Olicity ending as suggested by that picture, Felicity will have to go against Diggle, forgive Oliver anyway, and drive a wedge between them.

 

So just as Oliver and Diggle’s tearful goodbye in 320 was erased by their newfound rift a week later, so too will Felicity’s “I’m glad to have known you” goodbye to Diggle be erased by a difference of opinion over Oliver – and probably carry into next season. And that’s even before they likely reveal Felicity’s father to be the leader of the organization that killed Diggle’s brother. After spending all year marginalizing the original Team Arrow dynamic, crushing it this one last time as the cost of an Olicity happy ending would be the final insult.

 

Under this scenario, they would give us Olicity at the expense of splitting apart Team Arrow – destroying one OTP at the expense of another. That is not the way to make a canon couple happen, and that is the kind of collateral damage which is truly unforgivable. This wouldn't change even when they reunite in Season 4 anyway, especially if repairing the team bond drags out through the entire season. After they dragged out so many other unpleasant things through Season 3, this all too slow process can’t be ruled out for Season 4.

 

Not only would this be unfair to the old Team Arrow, it would be unfair to Felicity as well. Even if she learns Oliver and Malcolm faked their ‘deaths’ it shouldn’t be enough for Felicity to just forgive him for everything else – certainly not enough to make her and him smile at each other again at the once and future Queen Consolidated in promo pics, anyway. Yet they’ll probably explain that Felicity will quickly forgive him because she loves and understands him that much, or cave in after just one apology from Oliver where he finally admits he was wrong all this time, or admit that there really was no other way.

 

And all of those scenarios would be wrong. Or at least go against much of the Felicity we know and love.

Just letting him off the hook because she loves and knows him that much might play as romantic to some. But after an entire season where Oliver has regressed over and over, not shown one single sign that he has changed any of his ways of thinking -- even after sex -- and never rethought one bit to stop pushing Felicity away when it really counted, it really shouldn’t be that easy. Yet because they’ve been saving this stuff for the finale, they are gonna have to force Felicity to forgive and forget just for the sake of hurrying along the final battles and happy ending, when it really shouldn’t be that way.

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It seems weird and creepy to me that people have to make it so personal. While I loathe the character of Laurel, I really don't care about KC as a person. She's a stranger to me and I honestly don't need to know anything about her life. Same for EBR or any of the other actors. 

I used to live in NYC and my husband and I would see famous people fairly often. And after I humiliated myself and my sister in front of Cynthia Nixon, I learned to follow my husband's approach to celebrities, which was to not give a shit who they were. Which resulted in him bellowing "Lady, get your fucking dog away from me!" to Gwyneth Paltrow. It was kind of awesome.

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I've done my share of complaining about the problems with this season.  But we haven't even seen the finale yet, so we don't know for sure what's going to happen.  Quite frankly, I'm getting tired of Dougherty's anticipatory negativity based on what he assumes is going to happen.  Even if he's correct, I'm just hoping for some happiness somewhere before this season ends.

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Actors who promote their own characters and storyline to the detriment of the show overall is a particular peeve of mine.  (Lisa Edelstein, I'm looking at you.)

 

I encountered Glenn Close once when she was taking her daughter to the museum at the same time I was taking mine and the girls started playing together. She was pretty awesome playing in the Bat Cave.  (Real bat cave, not comics one.)  I regret I was too tongue-tied to actually talk to her.

 

 

But why hide it? People shouldn't give a damn if people don't like what they do. If people are afraid to express their enjoyment of something then all that does is give the obnoxious fans more power than they deserve.

But it also seems to lead to fights. That's been the problem this season, that a pro-Felicity comment brings down angry hordes.  Better to not engage in the first place, and then that just leads to more of what that blog was complaining about.

 

I'm afraid it's going to get even worse over the hiatus.

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(edited)

I've done my share of complaining about the problems with this season.  But we haven't even seen the finale yet, so we don't know for sure what's going to happen.  Quite frankly, I'm getting tired of Dougherty's anticipatory negativity based on what he assumes is going to happen.  Even if he's correct, I'm just hoping for some happiness somewhere before this season ends.

I swear Dougherty has this paint by numbers plan for Olicity and he is just shattered they didn't follow it. LOL

Edited by 10Eleven12
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I disagree with Robert Dougherty's assertion that Felicity forgiving Oliver is going against Diggle.  To forgive or not forgive Oliver is an individual choice not a group or "team" choice.  Diggle holding that against Felicity or vice versa is juvenile.  It doesn't have to negatively affect their relationship.  Isn't that like saying you can't like Felicity if you like Laurel or vice versa? 

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We'll see what the episode brings but if Diggle is that angry at Oliver, as I think he has every right to be, and Felicity doesn't support him in his feelings then it does feel like she's being a passive love interest.  Oliver not trusting Diggle and Felicity is IMO much worse than this marriage to Nyssa.

 

The code is you don't dump your friends for your guy (or girl).

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Nor really but sometimes I wish they would just kill Felicity off. She has to be this or that And do this and that or it's betrayal of someone or her agency has been taken away So she has to do this or that to get it Back. She isn't an interesting character to read articles about nor really discuss even though she is to watch.

Edited by tarotx
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I disagree with Robert Dougherty's assertion that Felicity forgiving Oliver is going against Diggle.  To forgive or not forgive Oliver is an individual choice not a group or "team" choice.  Diggle holding that against Felicity or vice versa is juvenile.  It doesn't have to negatively affect their relationship.  Isn't that like saying you can't like Felicity if you like Laurel or vice versa? 

 

I agree, especially now that there's a romantic relationship to consider. Even in season one, when there were no "feelings" between Oliver and Felicity, she was an anger liaison between Digg and Oliver when Oliver left him alone to deal with Deadshot so he could help Laurel.

 

And I have no problem believing she'd forgive him for this, because in the past she's been able to put aside her hurt feelings when it comes to the mission. I mean, he used her as bait last year without her knowledge and let a crazy man come and threaten her so they could beat him. I think that in the end, for her, it's "we got the bad guy, awesome," and whatever they have to do to make that happen, they do to make that happen. Not that she wouldn't care about Diggle's anger, but I don't think she'll let it define her relationship with Oliver. I wouldn't expect that of Diggle or Oliver if the situations were reversed, either. A simple, "you really fucked up and need to make it right" suffices for me. 

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Meh. Robert Dougherty is a shipper first and foremost. I recognize his name from when he used to write articles on Community and he'd expect the whole show to focus on one of the ships when the show was never about that in the first place. I don't really trust anything he says tbh. Sorry. (I should probably clarify that I'm not saying him being a shipper is a bad thing because duh, I'm a shipper too, but I think it colors a lot of what he says and how he interpret things.)

Edited by Angel12d
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Which couple did he ship on Community?

Re. KC. I think here acting ability (or lack thereof) should be fair game and her choices that impact Laurel the character (eg the Canary suit) but I can't be bothered to find out more about actors I actually like so really, who gives a damn.

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There is nothing in that first answer I like. Felicity had been quietly pining for Oliver in the lair for S1/S2, but now she is going toe to toe with him? What about Dodger when she locked the cave doors and then walked out? Or when she brought Barry in to save his life and then told him to get his head out of his ass? Or when she took Diggle side in the Oliver/Diggle conflict in Blindspot? Or let's just ignore her contribution to the Team, because she enjoyed watching him do the salmon ladder. It's nice to know MG is one of those people that saw Felicity as one dimensional comic relief pining after a boy. 

 

And for Laurel growth. Let's be real, you ignored any established realism to make her a 'superhero' in half a season. You didn't even try.

 

Killing Oliver was a late discovery in the writing process? I call BS on this bring the most planned season. 

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The code is you don't dump your friends for your guy (or girl).

 

 

IMO the code is you let grown adults act like grown adults.  It is not Felicity's job to mediate between Oliver and Diggle. O/D's relationship is their business and they can and should conduct it without interference from other people.  Forgiveness or lack thereof is personal thing. If Diggle chooses not to forgive Oliver that is his business.  It has nothing to do with Felicity.

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There is nothing in that first answer I like. Felicity had been quietly pining for Oliver in the lair for S1/S2, but now she is going toe to toe with him? What about Dodger when she locked the cave doors and then walked out? Or when she brought Barry in to save his life and then told him to get his head out of his ass? Or when she took Diggle side in the Oliver/Diggle conflict in Blindspot? Or let's just ignore her contribution to the Team, because she enjoyed watching him do the salmon ladder. It's nice to know MG is one of those people that saw Felicity as one dimensional comic relief pining after a boy.

Yep, MG never fails to deliver on coming off sounding like a total ass in his interviews. Clearly we were not watching the same show. I'm going to be curious to see how Wendy Mericle taking a greater role is going to play out in terms of the female characters because it's painfully obvious that MG is a feminist's worst nightmare.

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I really want to know how killing Oliver came about. Were they going for shock value, did they reread old issues of Batmen for inspiration, did they need to get Oliver out of the way for Laurel's arc?

 

It should be a huge thing and it felt like an afterthought on the show. 

Edited by 10Eleven12
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Wow, I should not have read those interviews. I seriously can't stand that guy.

 

I can't understand why he's the one and only go to guy for press for this show.  It's like they lock up the cast and everyone else involved and it's all Guggs, all the time.  He's out there every week in countless interviews explaining how the audience should perceive what has and will occur on the show.  I like to form my own perceptions, thanks, and they rarely concur with his.

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I think he's out there because he loves it.

 

I can see that it would also be more problematic at this time of the year when the cast has presumably dispersed and could be harder to corral for interviews.

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I think he's out there because he loves it.

 

I can see that it would also be more problematic at this time of the year when the cast has presumably dispersed and could be harder to corral for interviews.

Oh, it's perfectly obvious he loves it...lol. I'm talking about all season long.  Most of the press is him.  Any interviews with cast members are few and far between, and the press for The Flash seems to be more evenly dispersed between showrunners and cast alike.

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(edited)

Every interview with MG reveals how much he underestimates how the audience will react and it surprises me how he sees his own show because it's definitely not how I see it.

Felicity found her voice after pining for Oliver - uh what? I thought she always had a voice in standing up to Oliver, right from 1x14 when she joined Oliver's mission on her own terms.

The LL/BC arc was horribly handled and illogical. For me, their risky move did not pay off because I don't consider her to be a superhero. The character is still inconsistent from episode to episode and I still don't find her a likeable.

And finally, I think it was extremely naive to think that the audience would all routinely accept the marriage from hell and not voice any distaste for the concept.

The one takeaway from that interview I can get on board with is more shirtless Oliver in season 4 - as long as it's not scenes of him lounging In the NP magic hot tub :)

I must stop reading MG's interviews - they make me cranky.

Edited by kes0704
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MG's interview with Variety: http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/arrow-finale-season-4-hive-damien-darhk-1201495050/

 

 

Looking back at the season as a whole, what are you most proud of?

I think for better or for worse, I read the internet and I understand people are getting plot-twist fatigue, but personally I think we end the season with a run of episodes that were so twisty and turny and each one seemed to be more surprising than the next. I’m really proud of that. One of my litmus tests is, do we feel like we won’t be able to top it next season? And I certainly feel like we basically blew up the show and that continues on through the finale, so I’m really proud of that, because it’s something you can’t repeat — obviously you can’t blow up the show every year, so it’s exciting to me. The finale, when we finished writing it, I jokingly said I want to call it “Sticking the Landing” because there’s so many plot twists — and the thing about all the plot twists is, it’s all well and good but you’ve got to be able to explain it on the B-side, and all those questions have got to get answered, and at the same time you want it to be an entertaining episode on its own. It can’t just be 42 minutes of us reading Twitter and answering everyone’s questions, and knock on wood, I kind of feel like it’s satisfying in that regard. It answers the questions you have; it sets up new ones that hopefully people will carry into season four; it’s a very definitive ending…

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Hmm, interested to note from the Variety interview the comment about "needing to explain all the plot twists on the B side". This must be a new thing, because how DID Malcolm survive an arrow through the heart at the end of season 1?

If I recall correctly the EPs answered the question with something along the lines of "we're not going to tell you".

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I'm kind of impressed that he acknowledges plot twist fatigue and then immediately states that, just wait, there's more. I wish I had his confidence/delusion in my own abilities.

 

IKR?  It's like "I HEAR the criticism...I just choose to IGNORE it". LOL

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