S07.E07: The Slabside Redemption

[apinknightmare]

1 minute ago, calliope1975 said:

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. 

Right? That he would've just been through a prison riot where this very guy managed to walk in and impersonate a guard with no one the wiser, and didn't kill him is amazingly stupid. I would not have trusted the system and would've just ended his stupid monologuing ass once and for all. 

[mtlchick]

Talk about suffering for your art.

 

 

I hope this is the end of Diaz but we can't be so lucky.

[BkWurm1]

Not a perfect parallel but I love how much a touch can mean.  

[apinknightmare]

The kiss is lovely, the kiss is perfect I want to see all the stills and gifs and clips of it, they are wonderful but omg Felicity's ponytail bumps hurt me. I always hate when I see them after I've left the house, like in my rear-view mirror or something.

[TrueMyth]

What's an occult fracture? Was he wrestling witches?

I will never understand Diaz. I mean, I just don't see how he's supposedly so badass, but we never really saw any super strength from him, except for his pummeling of Oliver, which I honestly didn't buy after Oliver being so wonderfully awesome for the whole rest of the episode. And the turn in the fight, when Oliver gets the upper hand... aside for the touching nature of Felicity and William as a driving force, I really don't see how or why the tables turned so quickly. Their fight is such pure PLOT; it hurts my head so much.

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

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

Ditto! I was like GTFO my screen! And I agree, it was guilt. What was that you said about moving on? But nothing will happen because Oliver will never learn that Diggle, his friend, his brother, told Felicity to forget about Oliver, let him rot in prison basically, and move on with her life.

2 hours ago, KenyaJ said:

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. 

I know, right? As for Mumblemushmouth, all I heard was WAHWAHWAHWAH like in the Charlie Brown cartoons. He has such a Hardon for Oliver-obsessed with him, can’t move on, but has to make him suffer and blah, blah, blah...

And I still don’t see why he still has so many in his pocket, willing to kill for him and become murderers themselves. He’s the lamest whiniest “villain” ever! So pathetic that I was wishing for Barrowman’s Malcolm Merlyn to come back!

I never liked Stan and knew he’d developed an obsessive and delusional attachment, for the lack of a better word, toward Oliver. And it was confirmed when that creepy sociopathic killer told Oliver that they were “best friends.” 

I certainly don’t want to see him anytime soon, but I know we will. And so much for the super blood or whatever mumblemushmouth injected himself with-cuz Oliver still whupped his lame ass.

That all said, I’m glad Arrow: Prison Break Edition is DONE.

That KISS was EVERYTHING! Like I said a few weeks ago-Both Stephen and Emily commit 1000% to that relationship.

And SOOOOOOOO GLAD Oliver has his season two look starting next week! And for good measure: SHUTUP, DINAH!!

[Guest]

Just now, apinknightmare said:

The kiss is lovely, the kiss is perfect I want to see all the stills and gifs and clips of it, they are wonderful but omg Felicity's ponytail bumps hurt me. I always hate when I see them after I've left the house, like in my rear-view mirror or something.

The ponytail needs to die already!

[insomniadreams88]

Just noticed people in official looking jackets in the yard as Oliver leaves. Can anyone read the letters on the backs of those jackets? I think I saw ones with 3 letters and ones with 4 letters. 

[KenyaJ]

9 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

The ponytail needs to die already!

Yeah, once Emily cut her hair, that should have been the death of it.

[apinknightmare]

30 minutes ago, TrueMyth said:

What's an occult fracture? Was he wrestling witches?

LOL

Occult in this context means that it’s hidden - they don’t show up very well on an x-ray, so you have to get an MRI. I had an occult fracture in my foot a few years ago that made me want to cry every morning when I got out of bed. Fake fighting with one must’ve been miserable.

[bijoux]

If you ignore Diaz, which I managed to do pretty well, this is an excellent episode. I'm glad it's over, but I do think this prison arc was well executed. I love Turner, he's just so damn efficient, and I really do want him working with Lyla at ARGUS or at an independent organization she sets up. And I actually hope someone finds Brick before he bleeds out, not because I care for him as a person, but because I actually enjoyed his appearances this season and wouldn't mind him popping up in the future. Man, Samson really was a tool. Couldn't just lay low in med bay, had to go and get burnt to a crisp.

Stanly was also a great addition to this part of the season and kudos to the actor so believingly switching moods. That was some scary shit. I loved it.

3 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

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

Nah, that's probably just the Uber driver who looks like him.

1 hour 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?

I think they were chosen to parallel the prison in The Count of Monte Cristo. There's one thing to be said for prison, Oliver finally managed to read a book apart from They Odyssey. And look, he left it to his new sort of friend.

[catrox14]

I liked it minus Diaz droning on.  And I feel pretty stupid but I still don't get what Diaz's beef was with Oliver all along.  Can someone enlighten me?

[bijoux]

From his bitch fest with Brick (and boy, was that hard to comprehend), I think it's that Oliver didn't hand him over the keys to the city. 

[AnimeMania]

What was the name of he book that Oliver left Bronze Tiger?

[lemotomato]

9 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

What was the name of he book that Oliver left Bronze Tiger?

It was his copy of The Count of Monte Cristo

[JamieLynn832002]

7 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

What was the name of he book that Oliver left Bronze Tiger?

The Count of Monte Cristo which Oliver had been reading since the premiere (where he also used it to throat-punch Brick)

[SmallScreenDiva]

This GIF just made me angry at Digg all over again because it looks like Felicity is reaching for his hand (I don’t think he gave it) and I’m remembering him being an ass the past few episodes

Edited November 27, 2018 by SmallScreenDiva

[TwistedandBored]

The only parts I liked about this episode was Turner and Oliver effing shit up and the Olicity reunion. Oliver leaning into Felicity's hand seeking reassurance and a sense of peace was everything. You can tell the guy went through hell. 

 

The writers gave Diaz every advantage they could think of when it comes to being Oliver's equal and he still ended up in Oliver's cell. Like Stanley was more menacing then him and his mumbling long ass speeches. 

[DeadZeus]

Wait… So Oliver is getting Destroyed by Diaz (which doesn't make much sense, Oliver deserves to be able to put up way more of a fight).
But then he just totally casually and very slowly gets up and stabs in him in the chest… Is this an editing error? That literally made 0 sense...

[thuganomics85]

Seriously, I know that no show is perfect and technical/continuity issues are abound to arise in even the best of them, but having Diggle (undeservingly) being there at the end with Oliver and Felicity and then just suddenly flat-out vanishing during the final pullback, has gotten to be one of the dumbest blunders I've seen.  How did no one catch that in post-production?  Do they really not care about stuff like that, anymore?

Anyway, I'm glad Oliver is finally out of prison, even though it was mainly a bumpy road to get there, mainly since I just find Diaz to be such an underwhelming villain, that it didn't feel earned to see him get all of these big, dramatic speeches and moments.  And, again, I've actually enjoyed Kirk Acevedo's work in the past, but there was honestly moments where I was cringing at his over-the-top work, that failed to even qualify as campy fun.  Even when I got bored with the likes of Malcolm or Damien, at least John Barrowman and Neal McDonough were fun to watch.  But Diaz is a bust and I sadly suspect this won't be the last of him, although I hope at the various least we finally get a break from his bellowing.

Looks like Samson and Brick might be no more though.  Indifferent about the former, but I will miss Brick a bit if this is truly the end.  But I guess that's one way to show that Stan is truly a danger.  Curious to see where things are heading with him.

Glad Turner stepped up and helped Oliver out, and I wouldn't mind to him returning in some form.  Hmm... a former villain seeking possible redemption?  Sounds like he'd fit in with the Legends!

"Classic" James Bamford episode, with overlong action sequences and scenes that are so incoherent that any so-called "epic-ness" is null and voided.  He even somehow ruined Oliver stabbing Diaz. 

No Noobs is always a plus!

I worry that Diaz telling Oliver about Felicity almost pulling the trouble is going to cause problems for them.  Can't those two have just a few moments of happiness, show?  Please?!

[Writing Wrongs]

All I can think about during the Diaz scenes is that he really wants to be an Al Pacino movie character. I'm surprised he didn't start yelling, "Attica! Attica!" during the riot scenes.

[Mellowyellow]

I keep watching that reunion scene and my head canon says she pops him in a bath and kisses all his booboos away when they get home. 

Cuz he's rather grotty but I don't see them detaching anytime soon. 

[Mary0360]

37 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

I keep watching that reunion scene and my head canon says she pops him in a bath and kisses all his booboos away when they get home. 

Cuz he's rather grotty but I don't see them detaching anytime soon. 

Nah shower comfort sex followed by spooning in bed 😉

[Quark]

Oliver is a compelling character, but an entire episode of him was too much.

Some of the fight scenes were a bit odd as well.

The Oliver/Felicity reunion was nice, but William should have been there instead of Diggle.

[bijoux]

4 hours ago, TwistedandBored said:

The only parts I liked about this episode was Turner and Oliver effing shit up and the Olicity reunion. Oliver leaning into Felicity's hand seeking reassurance and a sense of peace was everything. You can tell the guy went through hell. 

 

I’m caught up in Felicity’s shaking hand and how it parallels Oliver’s in the premiere. Unlike then, they can actually touch now, though.

[Mellowyellow]

I just rairealised the earrings in the reunion look suspiciously like Emily's own peridot earrings (my guess is peridot) that she wears often. 

Hehe I wonder if she did her own messy hair too since I assume she wouldn't have been there to film for long. 

[BunsenBurner]

I thought Felucity’s Hair looked like it had an entire can of hairspray on the top of her head. 

 

I only liked the scenes with Oliver and Turner and of course the Olicity goodness. 

[bijoux]

Last year’s crossover aired on November 27/28. Meaning that Oliver got out in the nick of time before their first anniversary. What better gift could there be? And the paper bit would be his release papers, right?

[KenyaJ]

2 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

I just rairealised the earrings in the reunion look suspiciously like Emily's own peridot earrings (my guess is peridot) that she wears often. 

And she still has all of her real life piercings in her ear.

[BkWurm1]

10 hours ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Just noticed people in official looking jackets in the yard as Oliver leaves. Can anyone read the letters on the backs of those jackets? I think I saw ones with 3 letters and ones with 4 letters. 

I thought I saw FBI but it could have been the letters for SCPD or some fire department.  

8 hours ago, SmallScreenDiva said:

This GIF just made me angry at Digg all over again because it looks like Felicity is reaching for his hand (I don’t think he gave it) and I’m remembering him being an ass the past few episodes

Yeah, that was my impression too as first.  Still not sure it's not the right one but maybe she was getting ready to reach for Oliver??  Whatever the intent, Diggle never unclenched his fists from his sides.  

4 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

I keep watching that reunion scene and my head canon says she pops him in a bath and kisses all his booboos away when they get home. 

Cuz he's rather grotty but I don't see them detaching anytime soon. 

 

4 hours ago, Mary0360 said:

Nah shower comfort sex followed by spooning in bed 😉

He got stabbed a few times so he needs a bit of patching up probably so I assume after she popped him in the shower (I'm going with at some Argus safe house for now until they figure out their living situation) she then joined him to assess his injuries, yes there'd be shower sex but out of consideration for his wounds, I'm giving them a nice bench in the shower, lol.  Then she can stitch him up and they both fall into bed, able to truly sleep for the first time in 6 months.    

2 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

I just rairealised the earrings in the reunion look suspiciously like Emily's own peridot earrings (my guess is peridot) that she wears often. 

Hehe I wonder if she did her own messy hair too since I assume she wouldn't have been there to film for long. 

The messy hair would be because she kept nervously messing with it and the last time she redid it, she was doing it blind in the car.  :D

[tv echo]

13 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

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?!

I was actually thinking of The Incredibles. Stan is like Buddy aka Syndrome, the wannabe sidekick who's rejected by his hero. Stan will probably return in the future, using some new or recognizable supervillain moniker. 

Edited November 27, 2018 by tv echo

[BkWurm1]

So I was thinking about Diaz's plan and the more I think about it, the less it makes sense.  First off, last week I thought it was always Diaz's plan to get sent to Slabside so he could kill Oliver.  But this week we find out he only did a last minute bribe of his guard.  Get the wrong one and he'd be laughed at and that would be it while Oliver leaves the prison.  So now I don't think getting caught was his plan after all. 

Once he was inside, he seemed to be making up his plan as he went.  Right away he went and make threats to Oliver right in front of the guards.  Once again he lucked out that there were innocents around to keep Oliver from initially making a stink otherwise, oops, Diaz would have to run away and abandon his attack on Oliver.  But all the guards are blind so he got to tell Oliver he was going to kill him and then Felicity and William.  I know I missed a lot during this section so if he said anything that later makes his plan make more sense, I'd love to know, but his threat to first kill Oliver and then his family seems really at odds with Diaz using that bomb thing on the electric wires and saying he'd go down with Oliver. 

So change in plans or was that he plan the whole time?  Which would mean he'd not be able to kill Felicity and William.  So an empty threat??  Or was dying in prison with Oliver all hyperbole?  I mean, apart for some very contained flames, the concrete prison wasn't burning much.  Or maybe Diaz didn't think about the fact that prisons aren't made of many flammable materials?  But that also goes back to the question of where did the electric fires bomb starter thing come from?  He can offer bribes but where is the guard going to get it?  Or are we supposed to think Diaz made it?  Or smuggled it in earlier?  But if he smuggled it in earlier, wouldn't he have already had a man in place and not have to wing bribing a random guard? 

Also, if all Oliver had to do was close a cell and it locked, it's too bad no one made use of the cells earlier.  Just toss the prisoners back in and Brick and Sampson wouldn't have been a reoccurring issue. 

Edited November 27, 2018 by BkWurm1

[KenyaJ]

5 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Once he was inside, he seemed to be making up his plan as he went. 

He probably thought he could just mumble everyone into submission.

[Guest]

You know, I really appreciate the amount of effort that went into making this episode, just for the stunts alone. Definitely impressive. I still don't think this is their best episode ever though. So it's interesting to see how different I feel to all the critics who went crazy over it, haha.

[bijoux]

I guess Diaz's superpower is shifting the force around him so that absolutely nothing makes sense. Right off the bat, do guards at supermax prisons usually indulge extra little men and allow them to walk into the visitation room completely covered up just to do an impression of a turtle sticking its head out of its shell? Somehow, I alwayss assumed that wasn't the case. And it's all just more layers of ridiculous from there.

[GHScorpiosRule]

43 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

but his threat to first kill Oliver and then his family seems really at odds with Diaz using that bomb thing on the electric wires and saying he'd go down with Oliver. 

So change in plans or was that he plan the whole time?  Which would mean he'd not be able to kill Felicity and William.  So an empty threat??  Or was dying in prison with Oliver all hyperbole?

That stuff he injected himself with and whatever else he did, that allowed him to survive after "everrrryyyyy bone $%&(*$^(&$^ body mumble#&%(*$@% was broken" and him supposedly being indestructible, has made him into Logan--heal thyself and not be affected by blowing himself up? Otherwise, I got nuthin' except that this show, like Supergirl, is making shit up as they go along.

38 minutes ago, KenyaJ said:

He probably thought he could just mumble everyone into submission.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[BkWurm1]

I guess Diaz got his money's worth from that guard.  I wonder if he actually paid him or if he was killed. 

25 minutes ago, bijoux said:

I guess Diaz's superpower is shifting the force around him so that absolutely nothing makes sense. Right off the bat, do guards at supermax prisons usually indulge extra little men and allow them to walk into the visitation room completely covered up just to do an impression of a turtle sticking its head out of its shell? Somehow, I alwayss assumed that wasn't the case. And it's all just more layers of ridiculous from there.

[Kymmi]

I really loved this episode.  Somehow they kept the tension up, even though I knew it would result in Oliver getting out.  I loved the scenes with Turner, and Stanley is such an adorable psycho-fan.  I loved Oliver losing his shit and pounding the phone receiver on the window after he’d taken too much.  I hated that I had to rewind that scene 4 times to understand what MumblesDiaz was saying.  I liked the real time (ish) focus and the lack of a B or C story.  I loved the shaving cream bomb, the action didn’t even bore me like it usually does.  And the Olicity kiss was everything (although I too hated Diggle there, I can’t believe how mad at him I am, and of course the pan out where he was gone was stupid).

[tv echo]

I like it whenever Oliver shows that he has brains as well as brawn...

What plans?...

Edited November 27, 2018 by tv echo

[DeadZeus]

Oliver got his ass kicked badly by Sampson and Brick which is hilarious… Dude was helpless on the floor... Who is this Oliver i mean come on... I am super bothered by this and the hilariously dumb continuity error with the kiss...

[Guest]

Quote

Oliver (Stephen Amell) makes a choice that will affect his entire life, as well as the lives of everyone he cares about.

This was the episode description. What exactly was his choice? Was it the decision not to kill Diaz?

[KenyaJ]

24 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

This was the episode description. What exactly was his choice? Was it the decision not to kill Diaz?

That's my guess, but what a dumb description. I can't believe Chico gets paid money to do her job.

[Morrigan2575]

27 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

This was the episode description. What exactly was his choice? Was it the decision not to kill Diaz?

Probably. 

[catrox14]

About the Olicity kiss and the flubbed pan out excluding Diggle. I have two headcanons.  One that he just ran off somewhere to leave them alone...or 2) Barry Allen did something in his timeline that erased Diggle.  This isn't a jab at Diggle but it's all I've got.  LOL

[BkWurm1]

3 hours ago, tv echo said:

I like it whenever Oliver shows that he has brains as well as brawn...

What plans?...

I seriously don’t see how Diaz could expect to have alone time with a guard willing to murder 3 fellow guards right in front of the prison. I mean, they should have cameras at that spot too.  And wouldn’t people notice when the guys that went to get Diaz don’t come back with him?

[calliope1975]

29 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I seriously don’t see how Diaz could expect to have alone time with a guard willing to murder 3 fellow guards right in front of the prison. I mean, they should have cameras at that spot too.  And wouldn’t people notice when the guys that went to get Diaz don’t come back with him?

I enjoy that presumably, this guy was just doing his job transpo-ing a criminal and then said criminal said hey, I'll pay you a lot of money if you help me escape and kill some people, and that guy was all - okay. The citizens of Star City aren't helping their case that their town shouldn't be razed to the ground. 

I bet the Starling City Doors and Windows guy already moved to Ivy Town on the sweet cash he made in seasons 1 - 6. 

[apinknightmare]

4 minutes ago, calliope1975 said:

I enjoy that presumably, this guy was just doing his job transpo-ing a criminal and then said criminal said hey, I'll pay you a lot of money if you help me escape and kill some people, and that guy was all - okay. The citizens of Star City aren't helping their case that their town shouldn't be razed to the ground. 

I just hope he was smart enough to make Diaz PayPal/Venmo/Cash app him immediately and make sure the funds were deposited before he actually did it. 

[Primal Slayer]

3 hours ago, DeadZeus said:

Oliver got his ass kicked badly by Sampson and Brick which is hilarious… Dude was helpless on the floor... Who is this Oliver i mean come on... I am super bothered by this and the hilariously dumb continuity error with the kiss...

I was happy that he did! There is nothing more boring to have him in fights where he just kicks everyone ass with ease plus they had him drugged or something so he wasnt even at 100%.

7 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

Also, if all Oliver had to do was close a cell and it locked, it's too bad no one made use of the cells earlier.  Just toss the prisoners back in and Brick and Sampson wouldn't have been a reoccurring issue. 

The cell part didnt make sense to me because didnt Oliver blow the lock on his door? Or was he put in a different cell after his outburst?

1 hour ago, catrox14 said:

About the Olicity kiss and the flubbed pan out excluding Diggle. I have two headcanons.  One that he just ran off somewhere to leave them alone...

But in 5 seconds though? lol. 

[Primal Slayer]

With the Prison arc done and out of the way...while it was better then I expected, I really think that they did a poor job leading up to this episode when it came to building up anyone who wasnt a prisoner. All we got were cliche guards. If we were going to have all of them in jeopardy of dying then we needed 1 or 2 that we could connect to and see that not all of them were power hungry douche bags.

[apinknightmare]

10 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

The cell part didnt make sense to me because didnt Oliver blow the lock on his door? Or was he put in a different cell after his outburst?

No, they were in Oliver's cell - you can see the blown lock in the scene when he closes the door, LOL.