S07.E07: The Slabside Redemption

[Lady Calypso]

Quote

JAMES BAMFORD DIRECTS AN EPIC EPISODE — Oliver (Stephen Amell) makes a choice that will affect his entire life, as well as the lives of everyone he cares about. James Bamford directed the episode written by Jill Blankenship & Rebecca Bellotto (#707). Original airdate 11/26/2018.

[insomniadreams88]

OLICITY REUNION!

That is all.

[Soulfire]

'nough said.

(GIFs to come.)

Edited November 27, 2018 by Soulfire

[BkWurm1]

I HATE that in seeing Diggle, my first reaction was, why is he here?

[cambridgeguy]

Was Diggle a figment of Oliver's imagination?  Because he disappeared when they zoomed out from the big kiss.

[insomniadreams88]

Just now, BkWurm1 said:

I HATE that in seeing Diggle, my first reaction was, why is he here?

It's okay, he disappeared while Oliver and Felicity were kissing. (No, really, I didn't see him when the camera pulled back.) 

[BkWurm1]

1 minute ago, Soulfire said:

'nough said.

(GIFs to come.)

When he leaned into her hand...ahhh, worth sitting through the rest of the episode.  

Just now, insomniadreams88 said:

It's okay, he disappeared while Oliver and Felicity were kissing. (No, really, I didn't see him when the camera pulled back.) 

Hahahaahaaaahh!  You're right!  

[Primal Slayer]

Lets just put it this way....if I ever rewatch this season I may just skip this episode. It was ok but it just didnt do that much for me. 

I am tired of Diaz having someone in his magic pocket, wasnt Dinah supposed to clean up the police force? It would've been better if Diaz got put in and we still could've had the same.exact.thing go down except it would make much more sense. 

The entire episode, the prison is about to blow up and Oliver just walks out and outside everything looks fine and dandy, no one is worrying about anything. We dont see a bunch of cops surrounding the place. Felicity and Diggle are waiting for Oliver, Olicity kiss is SO STRONG that it makes Diggle fade from existence! 

[mxc90]

Good to see the police or Laurel made it a priority to secure Diaz's transfer to prison. 

Biggest laugh moment tonight was the Guard to Oliver: "Slabside is a Level 4 Super max facility. We have 50 officers on duty. Each one of them is a trained professional. Trust me .. we have it covered". Minutes later, about 50+ guards are getting their asses kicked by Oliver or tortured/killed by Diaz and prisoners.

The camera shots and coordinated fight scenes were well done.

Diaz! You had plenty of chances to kill Oliver since last season and when you were finally ready to carry out your threat you blew your moment and you did die (?) in prison. Please be done with him!

It was comical to hear some of the guards ran to a panic room.

Pepper spray didn't last long on Oliver. The man is beyond magical!

Stanley's pouting or the actors's bad acting was tough to take! 

[insomniadreams88]

Other thoughts about the episode:

Like Turner. Let's keep him. Let's send one of NTA to prison in his place and recruit him for the team.

I'm still not very impressed by Diaz. 

And now Stan is free and I feel like Oliver should be worried that he knows about and has met Felicity. 

1 minute ago, Primal Slayer said:

Olicity kiss is SO STRONG that it makes Diggle fade from existence! 

Can they kiss in front of NTA next? 

[apinknightmare]

5 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I HATE that in seeing Diggle, my first reaction was, why is he here?

And then he disappeared, just like he did when Oliver went into prison. 

[tennisgurl]

Was Diggle a ghost the whole time? Why did he just disappear? 

Oh whatever I dont even care. OLICITY REUNION!!!

[ladylaw99]

Olicity kiss great

Oliver bad ass -writers lest not forget this

Fights good

Turner nice

Diggle disappointed 

Diaz still sucks and I swear  will never  go away

Stanley is creepy enough to be the big bad?

[apinknightmare]

I love Oliver so much, especially when he's not being an idiot. I love his McGuyver'ed shaving cream bomb, love his strategy, love him fighting and flying through the air and would've loved to cap this off with an ARROW TO THE MOON, but we can't have everything. Loved the Bronze Tiger team up. I hope we see more of that somehow. Loved the kiss with Felicity at the end - it wasn't what I had imagined, but it was perfect.

 

The rest is trash, throw it right in the dumpster. Diaz is the worst and not even in the fun way, put him out on the corner for the garbage truck pick up tomorrow and incinerate him completely. Never come back.

[Primal Slayer]

It is funny that Diaz is captured, sent to prison, doesnt really go to prison because he is let go by his pal, breaks into the prison, and ends locked up in prison. And the FBI/SCPD/Argus never even know. It all went down smoothly to them.

[KenyaJ]

I have other thoughts, but right now, all I can concentrate on is the fact that my babies are reunited. Finally! Hallelujah! Praise Jesus!

That said, their reunion was somewhat tainted for me by Diggle's presence. I can't believe I even typed that sentence. But all during the kiss, I kept remembering Diggle tell Felicity to accept Oliver's incarceration and move on. And now, he wants to stand at her side and play the supportive friend? Naw, son. I'm not here for it.

What I am here for, however, is Oliver looking hot again in the promo for next week. Yes gawd! But I think it's hilarious that his bruises are almost invisible, when Felicity was sporting her bruises up through last week.

I'll save all my prison thoughts for another post, but for now, hahahahahahahaha. I love the Slander Entertainment guys. 

[JJ928]

I want Bronze Tiger to join Team Arrow. Give me OTA with Lyla, Turner, and Silencer (that's the dream).

The camera work was really bad. At the beginning when Oliver is running away, and the guards are running toward the cameras made me dizzy. I am glad Oliver beat Diaz but unfortunately we know he'll be escaping. So how long before Stan tries to go after Felicity? His sidekick dreams have been  dashed and he's met Felicity. I'm worried for her, I want her to save those bullets for Diaz.

I am so happy Oliver is out, and I was pleasantly surprised we got an Olicity reunion.

[apinknightmare]

1 minute ago, Primal Slayer said:

It is funny that Diaz is captured, sent to prison, doesnt really go to prison because he is let go by his pal, breaks into the prison, and ends locked up in prison. And the FBI/SCPD/Argus never even know. It all went down smoothly to them.

Everyone has to be made into a complete and utter idiot for him to succeed. He is the saddest of them all.

[BkWurm1]

Of this episode, Stanley was a 100 times scarier than Diaz.  I'll be waiting and looking over Felicity's shoulder for Oliver's fan to come see him again.  He's not a big bad since he doesn't have an agenda but they could write a great episode with him later this season.   

[way2interested]

Lbr, SA took that final pic with his beard and makeup because it was finally a scene he got to do with EBR again

[KillahBee007]

Bronze Tiger, Crazy Stan and the 2 second Olicity reunion were the best. Diaz SUCKS.

[BkWurm1]

5 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

It is funny that Diaz is captured, sent to prison, doesnt really go to prison because he is let go by his pal, breaks into the prison, and ends locked up in prison. And the FBI/SCPD/Argus never even know. It all went down smoothly to them.

At least that meant Oliver got released on schedule, lol.  

Quote

 

Oh....I get it. Mumbletwat has a LISP. 

"I want to thee you thuffer!"

 

Quoting this from the live thread. I actually heard him say "I want to feed you supper!"  So maybe there's a food fetish going on?  

[Alice Mudgarden]

16 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

And then he disappeared, just like he did when Oliver went into prison. 

 

It burns because it's true.

[scarynikki12]

4 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Of this episode, Stanley was a 100 times scarier than Diaz.  I'll be waiting and looking over Felicity's shoulder for Oliver's fan to come see him again.  He's not a big bad since he doesn't have an agenda but they could write a great episode with him later this season.   

If they did Onomatopoeia Stanley would be a great reveal. 

[BkWurm1]

Diggle being gone when they pulled back the camera must mean Oliver and Felicity just stood there kissing so long he got bored and wandered off.  

[insomniadreams88]

I just rewatched the Olicity reunion a few times (such a hardship, I know) to try to find Diggle, and he's really nowhere to be found. And there's a cliff. There was nowhere for him to go! 

[ladylaw99]

I'm not happy with Diggle but, seriously where did he go

[apinknightmare]

7 minutes ago, KenyaJ said:

I'll save all my prison thoughts for another post, but for now, hahahahahahahaha. I love the Slander Entertainment guys. 

The more I watch the show, the more I understand why #KidVicious is so pressed about Felicity, and it's because anytime she shows up or her name is mentioned in a scene of his 3D's in for an ass whoopin'. 

[JamieLynn832002]

Olicity are finally reunited and their love is so powerful it apparently makes people disappear. All things considered I'm okay with this episode.

Edited November 27, 2018 by JamieLynn832002

[tennisgurl]

On the plus side, we get Oliver kicking TONS of ass, using his brains to make his little explosive things, and having an awesome buddy cop/convict dynamic with Bronze Tiger. We get Stanley showing his true psycho side, and being a creepier more intimidating villain than Derp Dragon has in just a few scenes. The start of a redemption arc for BT seems really promising, and you can tell that he is a trained fighter, he is just great to watch in his element. And, of course, Oliver and Felicity finally get to kiss to a soaring score and a pull out shot!

The rest of the episode however? Boring boring boring! How am I supposed to be scared of a bad guy when I literally have no idea what he is saying at any given time?!? I know we make jokes about his mumbling, but this time I seriously had no clue what he was saying at any point. At least this seems to be his last huzzah. What a sorry excuse for a villain he was. Its a joke to think that this moron could have this much power, let alone that he could almost beat Oliver in a fight. Bullshit! All of his rambling, and all of the prisoners just running around torturing the corrupt guards was just an exercise in not giving a crap. 

Its sad that I was like "wow, Oliver gets a new best friend! He needs someone!" when he was teaming up with BT. Diggle might have disappeared in that last shot, but he really disappeared a long time ago from the Queens. Oliver was so desperate for a new friend, he now will probably have a psychotic stalker who will pop up again!

Just focusing on Olicity...

[Angel12d]

I liked Oliver being smart and teaming up with Bronze Tiger. Their fight scenes were good, too. I also like when they show just how impressive Oliver's fight scenes can be when it's just him. All too often this show diminishes his skills so the rest of the team have a reason to exist. It's never more apparent than it was in this episode. 

Diaz is a loser and I'm still not sure what he even said. Mumble mumble, Felicity, mumble? I kinda love that he only has to mention Felicity and William though and tear up their picture and Oliver is like NOT TODAY, FOOL! 

Stan was legitimately creepy. Kudos to that actor. I'm actually intrigued to see when and how he'll reappear later on (because clearly he will).

I kinda wish Diggle hadn't been at the end there because I'm mad at him but at the same time I'm glad NTA weren't there, too. And the Olicity kiss was just what I wanted. The way Oliver closed his eyes and leaned into her hand, I HAVE FEELINGS OKAY. 

[Soulfire]

 

 

 

'

 

(From here and here.)

Edited November 27, 2018 by Soulfire

[Mellowyellow]

I normally bitch about Bamford but that was a really good Olicity kiss. The camera staying on several smooches and the shot of Olicity kissing panning out to the cliffs. That was awesome and a good one to add to the Olicity archives. 

[BkWurm1]

I wish the camera had stayed tight on them just a little longer since as it pans out you see Oliver lay his head down on her shoulder/chest and just hug her tight.  

But I'm not complaining about what we got.  

Edited November 27, 2018 by BkWurm1

[apinknightmare]

I love that Felicity does not even care whose blood that is. 

[tennisgurl]

This episodes does automatically go up a letter grade for no NTA the entire time. Not a single Shut Up Curtis to be had!

The actor playing Stan was great, and I like that Stan wasn't a Diaz plant like I imagined. He was a random serial killer who just happened to latch onto Oliver. I am actually looking forward to seeing him again, as we know he will show up! Misery the sequel anyone?!

[BkWurm1]

10 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

This episodes does automatically go up a letter grade for no NTA the entire time. Not a single Shut Up Curtis to be had!

The actor playing Stan was great, and I like that Stan wasn't a Diaz plant like I imagined. He was a random serial killer who just happened to latch onto Oliver. I am actually looking forward to seeing him again, as we know he will show up! Misery the sequel anyone?!

Which will be great because he's so wack-a-doodle I sincerely will be worrying about what he might do.  I love that Stanley was always a little creepy even when we sort of liked him.  I LOVE that his final line was Brick should have been nicer to him.  I half wonder if Stanley will take his GA fixation out on the street and go after anyone he thinks deserves it and that he's being a hero.  

 

I keep going back and rewatching the ending.  Maybe it's projection or wishful thinking but when Diggle was standing there looking at a bloodied and beat up Oliver, he looked guilty to me, like he wished he'd done more or taken Felicity's worries more seriously.  

Edited November 27, 2018 by BkWurm1

[way2interested]

15 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I keep going back and rewatching the ending.

For science, of course.

15 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Maybe it's projection or wishful thinking but when Diggle was standing there looking at a bloodied and beat up Oliver, he looked guilty to me, like he wished he'd done more or taken Felicity's worries more seriously.  

Yeah, I'm wondering if that was in the script or if that was DR interjecting some real Diggle in there.

[Angel12d]

19 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I keep going back and rewatching the ending.  Maybe it's projection or wishful thinking but when Diggle was standing there looking at a bloodied and beat up Oliver, he looked guilty to me, like he wished he'd done more or taken Felicity's worries more seriously.  

No, I agree. Diggle looked partly shocked by Oliver's appearance and partly guilty, IMO. I hope it means something going forward.

[KenyaJ]

39 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Of this episode, Stanley was a 100 times scarier than Diaz.  I'll be waiting and looking over Felicity's shoulder for Oliver's fan to come see him again.  He's not a big bad since he doesn't have an agenda but they could write a great episode with him later this season.   

I really hope Stanley escapes and tries to Single White Female Oliver. He was so much more terrifying and menacing than Diaz could ever dream of being. And it's doubtful Oliver is going to mention what happened to Felicity, so can't you just imagine Stan showing up at their door and an unsuspecting Felicity inviting "Oliver's prison friend" in? OMG, I need it.

16 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I wish the camera had stayed tight on them just a little longer since as it pans out you see Oliver lay his head down on her shoulder/chest and just hug her tight.  

The entire kiss was epic, but Oliver laying his head on her shoulder was my favorite part. I love the way Stephen and Emily managed to pack 7 months of emotion into 30 seconds. Amazing. They are both so great at conveying the depth of Oliver and Felicity's love for each other. Speaking of which, I'm not sure Stephen has ever been more terrifying than when he started beating the window in the visitation room. He fucking snapped! I loved it.

Also, after seeing the glorious return of Oliver's fighting skills and intelligence during the prison arc, I simply won't accept any further dumbing down of his abilities to justify the presence of the newbies. They've always been superfluous, but these episodes made it more clear than ever that Oliver has never needed them to fight crime. (And I always felt that way about Thea and Laurel too. Sorry.)

Finally, I'd love for Turner to eventually get a pardon for his heroics during the riot and for him to end up working for ARGUS. He's suffered actual consequences for his actions and true selflessness in saving the guards when he could have escaped or resorted to some payback. That's a redemption I can get behind.

21 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I keep going back and rewatching the ending.  Maybe it's projection or wishful thinking but when Diggle was standing there looking at a bloodied and beat up Oliver, he looked guilty to me, like he wished he'd done more or taken Felicity's worries more seriously.  

Yeah, he did. Next week, if he tells Oliver that Felicity never gave up on him, even when people told her to, I'll forgive him. He doesn't even have to acknowledge he was among those "people." I just need to see his acknowledgement that Felicity was ride or die when no one else was.

[Lantern7]

This is it with Diaz, right? I mean, for the forseeable future. I need that hope because he suuuuuuuucked. Once again, I respect Kirk Acevedo, but he basically played Diaz like Dinner Theater Pacino . . . and the fact that he hung around longer than most of Oliver's nemesis made it so much worse. I'd put Malcolm underneath him but Malcolm was played by John Barrowman, who is a damn geek culture treasure.

Awwwwww, Stan's over Ollie! Man, he's gonna be trouble to deal with. On the bright side, I think Felicity could beat him just by sneezing in his direction.

Lovely final scene. Did not notice Diggle vanishing. My theory?

[Olicity embraces]

Barry Allen: [zipping in] I am really, really, REALLY sorry for butting in on a tender moment, but I need the big guy. [grabbing Diggle's shoulder]

Diggle: Oh, you motherf- [gets rushed out]

Edited November 27, 2018 by Lantern7

[Angel12d]

I didn't really pay attention because I was too focused on Olicity kissing but Diggle really did just disappear into thin air at the end there. LMAO.

[way2interested]

Just now, Angel12d said:

I didn't really pay attention because I was too focused on Olicity kissing but Diggle really did just disappear into thin air at the end there. LMAO.

Not only Diggle, but THE ENTIRE BUILDING behind Diggle and Felicity

[Angel12d]

2 minutes ago, way2interested said:

Not only Diggle, but THE ENTIRE BUILDING behind Diggle and Felicity

MAGIC!

Or just Bamford not checking continuity. Haha.

[KenyaJ]

7 minutes ago, way2interested said:

Not only Diggle, but THE ENTIRE BUILDING behind Diggle and Felicity

I wish that Felicity's pink jacket would have disappeared with them. I hate that jacket so much, and having her wear it episode after episode feels like having my nose rubbed in it.

Speaking of having your nose rubbed in it, the exterior shots of Slabside were gorgeous. I wonder if the people who built it purposely located it in such a picturesque setting to fuck with all the prisoners?

[Mellowyellow]

SA and EBR have an excellent repertoire of kisses in their kissing vault.

This one was perfect for the situation. I don't have the words to describe it so may as well just watch the kiss for study purposes but this one is different to the hot ones, cute ones, chaste ones or even the soft and hesitant Lian Yu one. 

Damn they're really good. 

[Chaser]

That final shot reminded me of the last scene of The Count of Monte Cristo (Jim Cavizel version). I’m assuming it was intentional. 

I cant watch the episode till tomorrow but I’ve watched the kiss over and over. Tender and aching. I like the way they played it.

[lemotomato]

8 minutes ago, KenyaJ said:

Speaking of having your nose rubbed in it, the exterior shots of Slabside were gorgeous. I wonder if the people who built it purposely located it in such a picturesque setting to fuck with all the prisoners?

This reminds me of something I remember from the audio tour of Alcatraz, which included interview clips from former inmates. One of them said that the worst part about being incarcerated there was that it it was so close to San Francisco they could see the lights in the city and sometimes hear the noises of people partying and going about their business. Talk about a mindfuck.

[Chaser]

I think they intertwined the Olicity theme with the Arrow theme during the kiss. Which is perfect.

[calliope1975]

Our long national nightmare of Oliver in prison is now over and my babies have been reunited. Praise be. 

Stanley and his butter knife were a more credible, creepy threat in one episode than Diaz has ever been across 2 seasons. I can see him popping up again. Sadly, since Diaz didn't get his head cut off, I'm guessing we're not done with him yet. But I'm glad he's off the board for now. I have no idea why Oliver, after seeing how the FBI and Slabside treated him, could ever think these people could keep Diaz locked up is beyond me. Since everyone but what's her name survived the island, maybe that underground prison still exists. Throw him there, Oliver. Without anyone to check on him. Let him rot. 

Bronze Tiger managed to redeem himself in an easy 40 minutes. Add him to the frenemy list. Replace all of NTA with him. Plus, MJW can work some dialogue.