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The Starling City Times: News and Media about Arrow


Grammaeryn
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Imo, there were so many problems in S3 about the core of the show (almost no TA, O/F artificially turned into an angst fest, lackluster Big Bad, the nonsense around Malcolm Merlyn etc.) that Laurel became a secondary one for commentators and viewers who see her as the weak link. Imo she didn't work better for them, but again nothing or almost worked, which was more shocking since unlike Laurel, it used to in the previous seasons.
But if S4 actually improves what didn't work in S4 and particularly Team Arrow and O/F, I'm afraid it will be a whole other story. I also think of Thea, who is a new addition to TA and imo has chemistry with Diggle (and Felicity). I'm not sure that the comparison with Laurel's integration will be in the latter's favor. 

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At first I thought the EPs would view S3 as a success for Laurel, but now I'm not so sure. Apathy is bad and I'm just seeing a lot of apathy in the media. That can be made up if the fans were passionate about the character, but I'm not seeing much of a change. Not a whole lot of increased traction on measurable data i.e. Twitter. People point to FB as the 'voice', but when they posted the imagine of Laurel for 3x10 it just got a lot of hate. Same when the image was put of Twitter. Plus the responses to Hero FanFest. So overall what has really changed? The media doesn't hate her anymore, but now they hardly talk about her.

 

Indifference is worse than hatred. With hatred she was at least being talked about, now reviewers barely mention Laurel and pretty much pretend she doesn't exist (unless they have to mention her in regards to another character). That is not a success in my eyes. That was her big BC origin arc and barely anyone was talking about it. She didn't even get the grand entrances that Sara had, first when she rescued Roy when he was in over his head during his rescue of a woman, then when she crashed through a window with her sonic device to help Oliver, then later spinning down from a silk ribbon to face the DollMaker (whom she later killed by throwing one of her batons through his chest). Those are entrances worth talking about. 

 

People talk more about the millions of buckles on Laurel's outfit then her actual contribution as a hero. 

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Imo, there were so many problems in S3 about the core of the show (almost no TA, O/F artificially turned into an angst fest, lackluster Big Bad, the nonsense around Malcolm Merlyn etc.) that Laurel became a secondary one for commentators and viewers who see her as the weak link. Imo she didn't work better for them, but again nothing or almost worked, which was more shocking since unlike Laurel, it used to in the previous seasons.

But if S4 actually improves what didn't work in S4 and particularly Team Arrow and O/F, I'm afraid it will be a whole other story. I also think of Thea, who is a new addition to TA and imo has chemistry with Diggle (and Felicity). I'm not sure that the comparison with Laurel's integration will be in the latter's favor. 

I totally agree.  She was really the only aspect of the show I actively disliked in seasons 1 and 2.  Everything about Laurel is dumb and makes no sense...but for me, nearly everything about S3 was dumb and made no sense.  She moved down my hate list because so many new things moved on, but importantly, she's still on my hate list.  So if S4 is good again, she may well go back to being at the top of that list, if not the sole item. 

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Imo, the fact that they're bringing Sara back, and that this was received with pretty much universal praise by the media, speaks a lot about what the pros think of Laurel as BC: they like the other one better.

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People talk more about the millions of buckles on Laurel's outfit then her actual contribution as a hero. 

From what I saw on the finale, i.e the big episode where the whole season comes together, her contribution doesn't amount to enough to be talked about.

Which is better, since imo they changed the packaging but the character's issues are still exactly the same (Laurel doesn't fit in the show and less in the capacity that the writers want for her).

I think that mainstream TV media and especially on the internet have, to a certain extent, to hype what the producers want to hype in order to keep good relations with them, then they add stuff about other aspects that they're personally very enthusiastic about. Laurel was part of the former in S3, whereas there was very little to be enthusiastic about in general, which could give the impression that the reception to Laurel's BC was more positive than it actually was. Again, just my opinion.

Edited by Happy Harpy
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Three parts to the Echo Kellum (Curtis Holt aka Mr. Terrific) interview.  Part 4 is coming on Sunday:

 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

 

He's such a geek too and is so pumped to be on the show.  Pretty great to listen to him talk about it.

Here's part 4...

 

Echo Kellum Interview, Part 4: Gaming & Olicity

02 Aug 2015/TheGeeko

http://thegeeko.com/echo-kellum-interview-part-4-gaming-olicity/

Nice.  I have one last very important question and this may make or break your future on Arrow.  It’s very serious.

ECHO KELLUM:  Oh boy.

 

Ready for this?

ECHO KELLUM:  Yup.

 

Echo Kellum, do you ship Olicity?

ECHO KELLUM:  Absolutely.  100% man, I ship Olicity!  Let’s go Olicity!  Heck yeah!

Edited by tv echo
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MTV ‏@MTV

These #Olicity fan-videos will help ease the pain as we wait for season four of @CW_Arrow http://on.mtv.com/1DncAjx

proxy.jpg?t=HBhpaHR0cDovL210di5tdHZuaW1h

12:21 PM - 3 Aug 2015

https://twitter.com/MTV/status/628284615724281856

 

Arrow writers' response to MTV's article...

ArrowWritersRoom ‏@ARROWwriters  17h17 hours ago

Ease it, ease it... @MTV @CW_Arrow #OctoberIsComing

https://twitter.com/ARROWwriters/status/628299610381877248

 

Can you imagine the MTV staffers (interns?) watching hundreds of Olicity fan vids in order to narrow it down to these 17 vids - and then writing this article?

Edited by tv echo
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I know they asked for recommendations so they probably at least didn't have to go in blind. 

 

Edited to add:

 

Wow, the detailed descriptions setting up each video...somebody over there really did do their homework.  I love the emphasis on both the message and the music.  How cool must it be to be one of the video makers that made the list. 

Edited by BkWurm1
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I was having a day off work and watched every video they posted!  I'd seen several of them before, but watched them again anyway. Mrs. Eclipse had several videos on that list!  I liked that they included a variety of themes, but I think one video was listed twice.

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I think - though I'm not sure - that this Melty interview was previously posted as a French video (with the questions in French), so I believe this is the English version?...

 

Arrow Season 4's Emily Bett Rickards: "Stephen and I didn't want the sex scene to be cheap" (EXCLUSIVE)
Published 16 minutes ago by Hellen K.
http://www.melty.com/arrow-season-4-emily-bett-rickards-exclu-a1399.html

Edited by tv echo
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tv echo, you're right. That video was originally posted as a French one as it was done during the Paris con. 

 

Laura Hurley now turned her attention to hair on Arrow and it's really funny.

 

Arrow Roundup: What Worked and What Didn't with Hair in Season 3

 

I have to admit I never really paid attention to guys' hair. I mean, the flashback wigs are horrible but present-day coiffs, I never really noticed. Until my mom said she liked Stephen's hair in 3x05. She said it was the right length and he looks really good (I was like, how can you tell?!?!).

 

Also agree with the Canaries' hair. Always found the blonde wigs, even Sara's, ridiculous. First of all, having long, easy-to-grab hair is never good in a fight (trust me on this) and second, it's a damn wig. I'm honestly surprised no one's pulled it off (this is why I can't take the Starling City criminals and LOA minions seriously. I'm kidding. Mostly) or that it hasn't gotten snagged. I've always had this problem with women on cop/spy shows (like Beckett on Castle, or the chick in Intelligence).  

Edited by SmallScreenDiva
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I hated Oliver's LOA hair, but I also didn't understand it. It's not like he had long hair and they shaved it. How did it affect his identity that he went from short spiky hair to really short hair? If unrelated to brainwashing, why only him? Maseo had long hair, RAG had longish hair, I think Al-Owal had shorter hair, various minions had different lengths. Do not understand. Did he develop a raging case of lice in Nanda?

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I think the shaved head was just used to hammer home his "change" from Oliver to Al-Sahim from a looks standpoint. I don't think there was an in-show reason for it. Kind of like how flashback Oliver has different hair, when it's not like he didn't have access to scissors.

Edited by apinknightmare
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It seems like SA gets a back-to-school haircut for the first episode each year, except the pilot. His hair was really short for 3x01, making him seem a little younger and sweeter (or maybe that was his bashful bumbling when he asked Felicity on a date).

However, his equally short LOA hair conveyed menace for some inexplicable reason. Maybe it was because he was dressed in the garb of a dangerous assassin.

Personally, I like it a little bit longer than the buzz cut--long enough for Felicity to "card her fingers through it" (so overused fan fic!).

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I get that it made him look menacing, but if that is why the LOA did it, they would make everyone have shaved heads. His hair was not part of his identity, so I don't get why THEY shaved it off. I mean, if they really wanted to screw with him they should have scarred up his face.

As an aside I find it hilarious that he's been wounded and scarred so many times, but all below the collar. How convenient that no bad guy ever marked up his face. Because obviously they want him to continue to look good after the torture/murder attempt. CW!

I liked his hair in the Flarrow crossover.

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Everyone may get shaved heads when they first join the LoA.  (Fan-wanking here).  Both Maseo and Sara have longer hair but we only saw them five and four years after they had joined respectively.  Maybe they had to shave their heads when they first joined.  (Just as a side question, since Maseo said that Sara arrived at the same time he did, I've wondered what she did for the year in-between.)

 

Long hair/head-shaving can be very important symbolically in some cultures.  When Native children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada, their hair was often cut as a way of getting rid of their old Native culture and forcing them into the White one (along with being punished for using their own language).  Some children, when they knew they were going to be taken away, cut their own hair first so they could retain control of at least that.after

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Everyone may get shaved heads when they first join the LoA.  (Fan-wanking here).  Both Maseo and Sara have longer hair but we only saw them five and four years after they had joined respectively.  Maybe they had to shave their heads when they first joined.  (Just as a side question, since Maseo said that Sara arrived at the same time he did, I've wondered what she did for the year in-between.)

 

 

Well, Nyssa said she found Sara on the Island, maybe she spent another year there after the Amazo. That would sort of fit with her saying she died on the island. Nyssa said she was very near death when she found her. 

Edited by Sakura12
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Everyone may get shaved heads when they first join the LoA.  (Fan-wanking here).  Both Maseo and Sara have longer hair but we only saw them five and four years after they had joined respectively.  Maybe they had to shave their heads when they first joined.  (Just as a side question, since Maseo said that Sara arrived at the same time he did, I've wondered what she did for the year in-between.)

 

Long hair/head-shaving can be very important symbolically in some cultures.  When Native children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada, their hair was often cut as a way of getting rid of their old Native culture and forcing them into the White one (along with being punished for using their own language).  Some children, when they knew they were going to be taken away, cut their own hair first so they could retain control of at least that.after

With regard to Native kids, the important part is that long hair was part of their culture/identity.  I would say the same for women a lot of the time, thus, for example, the French shaving the head of women they considered collaborators in WW2.  But it's either a blanket rule and every new LOA person gets it, or it was tied to the brainwashing, which we know for a fact not all newbies get.  In the former case, they should have said so, in the latter case it makes no sense, because Oliver literally went from 2-inch-long (on the top) hair to 1/4-inch-long hair (which is like 1/4-inch longer than it was in the premier).  What's the point, when he has never had ANY identity/self-image issues related to his hair? 

 

It has to be an out-of-show thing, that they just wanted him to look menacing and different.  And I'm exhausted by all the out-of-show reasons for practically ERRYTHING in S3.

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Warning: includes spoilery info if you haven't been keeping up with news & spoilers or aren't familiar with the comics (#6 may raise your blood pressure)...

 

Arrow Season 4: 8 Things You Need To Know About Green Arrow

7 Aug 2015    James Hunt

http://whatculture.com/tv/arrow-season-4-8-things-you-need-to-know-about-green-arrow.php

#6 will always be a possibility until the show goes off the air, someone dies or someone chooses to leave the show. However, I just don't think the odds are really ever in the favor for that pairing even if all the stars align to make it possible. At the end if the day, I just don't see the writers or SA wanting to go there unless they are beyond desperate for storylines.

 

As for the facial hair, I have no idea why I am so fixated on the media coverage of this Green Arrow comic v. show dynamic. Its just bizarre, how I've become so intrigued by facial hair... But back on topic - is it just me or does it look like in SA's FB real time videos his facial hair does look a little longer and not quite as short & stubbly as before? Maybe its just the angle he holds the camera at now... or maybe he just grooms its less before the real time videos. But it does seem to me that his facial hair is getting longer. I never see it getting to a comic book looking goatee, and he basically confirmed he will never allow that. But I wonder if they are doing a little more fuller facial hair this season you know for reasons.

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Warning: includes spoilery info if you haven't been keeping up with news & spoilers or aren't familiar with the comics (and #6 may raise your blood pressure)...

 

Arrow Season 4: 8 Things You Need To Know About Green Arrow

7 Aug 2015    James Hunt

http://whatculture.com/tv/arrow-season-4-8-things-you-need-to-know-about-green-arrow.php

So, LL is his true love, Hal Jordan is his BF, boxing glove arrow. I'm so glad that comic Green Arrow has such a vast history and background that the same "facts" get repeated over and over again. At least he didn't bring up the facial hair.

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So, LL is his true love, Hal Jordan is his BF, boxing glove arrow. I'm so glad that comic Green Arrow has such a vast history and background that the same "facts" get repeated over and over again. At least he didn't bring up the facial hair.

 

He did, in the very first entry about costume: "The character is also known for having a rather easily identifiable goatee, so there’s a chance we might see Amell growing out his facial hair a little bit more this year." I'm laughing because the only comment so far on that points out what Stephen has said about the goatee. Writer dude should have done just a little bit more research.

 

I'm also kinda laughing at the entry about LL. It's similar to a lot of other articles that keep the hope for an Oliver/Laurel endgame alive in that it ignores the very reason why the show itself started moving away from it halfway through the first season: They just don't work. Others on this site have pointed out that it might have even been earlier, like as early as right after the pilot.

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Serious question, but when did this ever happen?

 

 

She was the one who finally convinced him to abandon his womanising ways, and the pair did get married at one point.

 

Do comic book canon purists watch a different show than I do? Because I never saw this happen

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He was talking about comic book Oliver and Dinah/Laurel. Though I am confused because I thought he went back to his womanising ways in the comics. So apparently it didn't stick. And can one of these comic book guys please talk about fluid storytelling and current comic canon.

He does make some interesting acknowledgments in the paragraph. Oliver and Felicity are the shows Love Story, part of the reason Laurel is more likeable is removing her from Oliver's romanctic story and that Felicty would basically have to die for Oliver and Laurel.

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I don't remember comic book canon properly because their married book was terribad, but I don't think he cheated after the actual marriage? Dinah left Oliver for good because he lied about killing someone, not because he cheated on her.

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That's super weird considering he was talking about how it's Laurel from Arrow just a sentence before... Terrible writing on his part


 

Green Arrow’s true love is Dinah Lance, whom Laurel from the TV show is based on. She was the one who finally convinced him to abandon his womanising ways, and the pair did get married at one point.

 

This made it sound like he was talking about Laurel. 

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Warning: includes spoilery info if you haven't been keeping up with news & spoilers or aren't familiar with the comics (and #6 may raise your blood pressure)...

 

Arrow Season 4: 8 Things You Need To Know About Green Arrow

7 Aug 2015    James Hunt

http://whatculture.com/tv/arrow-season-4-8-things-you-need-to-know-about-green-arrow.php

Is it actually possible to nearly choke on your own saliva? because that's how funny this is, and i'm not even half way done reading it.

back to reading what is the funniest shit i read today.

Edited by foreverevolving
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I don't remember comic book canon properly because their married book was terribad, but I don't think he cheated after the actual marriage? Dinah left Oliver for good because he lied about killing someone, not because he cheated on her.

As far as I can tell, they dated, he lied and cheated and they broke up. Years later once he'd cleaned up his act, he proposed. Doesn't sound like cheating was the problem later, just that they fought a lot and he killed a guy (that killed 10,000 plus in Star City). When Ollie was on trial she took off her ring. That's as much as I could figure out from the wikis.

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As far as I can tell, they dated, he lied and cheated and they broke up. Years later once he'd cleaned up his act, he proposed. Doesn't sound like cheating was the problem later, just that they fought a lot and he killed a guy (that killed 10,000 plus in Star City). When Ollie was on trial she took off her ring. That's as much as I could figure out from the wikis.

 

That still puzzled me, maybe because S1 Arrow Oliver killed A LOT, but the marriage breakup and trial for the execution of a mass murderer seemed weird. I don't get comics sometime, though I like the movies and the cartoons when I was growing up.

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Someone else said she didn't leave him 'cause he killed someone, but because he didn't tell her and that it seemed he wanted to be alone. Still pretty weak in my book.

In the comics I think all the heroes had a strict no kill rule. Obviously our Oliver does not.

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Wonder Woman has killed, so has Cassandra Caine's Batgirl (technically) and John Stewart/Green Lantern. I'm sure there are more DC heroes that have killed.

I think the no kill rule mostly applies to the Batfamily (because it's Bruce's personal line) and Superman.

Edited by Morrigan2575
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WWE Raw preview (August 10, 2015): Don't fail this city
By Sean Rueter  @s1rude on Aug 10, 2015, 9:00a
http://www.cagesideseats.com/2015/8/10/9122029/wwe-raw-preview-august-10-2015-stephen-amell-john-cena-roman-reigns

In the comics, Oliver Queen has spent some time making Seattle his home base, so hopefully tonight's big guest star didn't have to travel too far to get to Raw in Everett, Washington. That's still a long way from New York City, will SummerSlam will be held in two weeks. How will WWE get there (figuratively, not literally...we're aware of how 21st century transportation works)?

 

We dig into the big angles and try to figure that out...

 

Embrace the strange

 

Tensions have been simmering between Stardust and Stephen Amell since June - which actually might make this one of Cody Rhodes' longest running programs of the last couple of years. The star of The CW's Arrow was in the audience for Raw, he and The Strange One jawed...sixty-or-so Tweets later, and here we are.
 

In the real world, this feud is easy to understand. Amell is a wrestling fan, WWE loves mainstream attention...voila. It's a little hard to discern exactly what the end game will be, in kayfabe. Cody Rhodes has slipped so far into his latest character that his own wife, Eden Stiles, can't drag him back out, so he's determined to prove that everyone who plays a superhero or villain on screen is as "for real" as he is. That sounds good, but does it lead to a match? Does it result in the return of Cody, or at least the disappearance of Stardust?

 

WWE.com is all but saying that Neville, who's been a frequent rival of The Prince of Dark Matter in Amell's absence - and even played up as a comic book-influenced superhero - will be an ally or proxy for Amell. A tag match seems unlikely, with the company's other Hollywood-themed bad guy getting another Intercontinental shot. Are we headed for a Hugh Jackman-esque cornerman role? Will this string out to the pay-per-view (PPV), or be blown off tonight?

 

What they should do: Maybe I've been thinking too much about Lucha Underground (okay, I've definitely been doing that), but I'm not ready for Stardust to go away. Rhodes seems to enjoy playing the character, it stands out in a way that gives him a better chance to connect with the audience...much as I adore the guy - "Cody" has failed to convince the crowd and the bosses he's ready for the next level.

 

Win or lose, and it will probably be lose, since he's a heel and there's a celebrity involved, would love to see him pull an AeroStar and blast off into the cosmos. All of WWE's supernatural and science fiction characters are played as crazy people. And this would probably still end up that way. But it could be a fun diversion, a bigger story, to wonder if Stardust isn't on to something when he talks of cosmic keys. Maybe he is more a piece of a DC or Marvel universe than the WWE one.

 

Hey, it can't be any worse than Bray Wyatt's unexplained holographic sisters and demon choir children.

 

What we're afraid they'll do: Probably just what we all expect, which still could be fun, but Neville winning with an assist from Green Arrow when Stardust does something too heel-ish will just leave both wrestlers pretty much where they started...adrift in space.

Edited by tv echo
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Laura Hurley defends S3 Oliver...

 

anonymous asks:
S3 caused me pretty much to hate Oliver's guts. Not only did he unilaterally decide everything for everyone, he put them in danger (the a/o inoculation was not 100%...Akio died) without their consent or knowledge, and there is no reasonable argument that he should not have told DIGGLE about his plan to infiltrate and destroy the LOA. He was dumb as a doorknob all season, telling Nyssa that Thea was Malcolm's daughter for no reason and not handing over Malcolm's head on a platter. (More)

Aug 10, 2015 2:14 am
http://laurawritesabout.tumblr.com/post/126320326086/s3-caused-me-pretty-much-to-hate-olivers-guts

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I want to see what the "more" is - too bad that's not on there. 

 

I'm always so fascinated by people who take the time to write diatribes like that, because if I ever get to the point where I start hating the main character of a show, I just stop watching it. Seems counterintuitive to spend any kind of time on something that you no longer enjoy. 

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Most of the time the main character is not my favorite character, so I wouldn't stop watching because I didn't like them. Providing I had other characters that I do like or love. It's when those characters are gone and I still don't like the main do I give up on the show. 

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It's a Van Dyke! If someone insist on still beating that dead horse they should be required to get the name of his facial hair right.

I can't decide if my message is finally getting through or I'm being mocked for beating my dead horse about the facial hair naming conventions. Either way as long as the message gets out.

It's not a goatee!!

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I don't see a problem with ranting about a character you don't like. You have to put up with them on the show and it's especially frustrating when they are shoved down your throat by the EP's that think that is the way to make people like that character. I've only really hated two characters in my tv watching life, Lana Lang from Smallville and Laurel Lance. I just have an irrational hatred towards those two characters. I can't explain it, but it does help to complain about how awful they are and how much better the show would be without them.

 

The hatred only comes about when I read something about them (articles, interviews, spoilers, etc...). I only rant on forums and I try to keep it about the character only. I don't hate the actresses and I would never go troll them on social media (that I find a waste of time). I don't remember having a problem with Kristen Kruek and my only issue with KC is she seems to have no idea what she's talking about when she gives interviews. 

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I was reading Laura Hurley's answer, and it's not even that I'm an Oliver apologist, but I realized something: it's more that I'm perfectly okay with Oliver making super dumb decisions [regardless of plot/external reasons]. Because I truly believe it's 100% in character for him to make harsh stupid ill-thought-out choices under pressure. Especially if someone he loves is threatened.

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This topic is Media.  Please keep to the topic at hand.

 

I understand it's easy to spiral out to non-media discussions based on the articles, but we have so many places to discuss those things.   I have moved some posts and hidden others while I decide what to do with them.  

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I can't decide if my message is finally getting through or I'm being mocked for beating my dead horse about the facial hair naming conventions. Either way as long as the message gets out.

It's not a goatee!!

 

 

No mocking intended!  Now that I know, it bugs me too and enough people have said it that I can't help feel it's willful ignorance. 

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