Oliver Queen: The Arrow

[AyChihuahua]

The problem with Oliver being written as stupid for [stupid] plot purposes is that at some point he's just stupid.  Full stop.  Telling Nyssa about Thea is a great example of his utter season-long stupidity.  For me, I'm past the point of blaming the writing, because I can do that a few times, but he was stupid ALL SEASON LONG.  It genuinely kills me because I just loved him before S3, but I can't with dumb superheroes.  I fully and truly understand that all the reasons for his stupidity were out-of-show, but right around 21/22 I was just done excusing it.  He's basically canonically a moron at this point.

[wingster55]

What did he tell her (Nyssa) about Thea?

[Starfish35]

That she was Malcolm's daughter.

[wingster55]

Oh yea.

[statsgirl]

Ironically, or maybe not, it's the work/life balance (hero/family man) that Oliver needs to deal with.  The same one most adults are grappling with.

 

 

I think they need to stop making the villains so personal to Oliver, so that he can have a less self-interested hero's journey for awhile. And giving him a life outside of heroing would also help with giving him people to save that aren't part of Team Arrow.

The EPs are always so contemptuous of the Villain of the Week idea but I really wish they would get back to more of that.  Oliver became a hero thanks to Tommy/Malcolm; he realized he needed to count on his team thanks to Slade (and promptly forgot it again in s3), and he realized he can't be all Arrow thanks to Ra's.    He can't learn a great life lesson each season, at some point he's learned enough, and the VofW is a chance for the show to breathe and settle down a bit.

[dtissagirl]

Yeah, I wish the show would go a little bit more villain of the week too. Have Team Arrow interact with civilians, save innocents, etc. They can have mytharc episodes scattered around Sweeps, and they can always have a couple of scenes in the VotW episodes building up to the Big Bad. Make saving the city personal to Oliver because he loves the city, not because people are trying to destroy him by exploding the city.

They did that pretty well from 114 to 209, they can do it again.

Edited June 18, 2015 by dancingnancy

[kismet]

Im not sure if its a work/life balance problem that OQ has in s1-3. It might be in future seasons. Which would be a realistic point to bring his character & relationships to.

 

But I think for most of s2-3, he seemed to think that he was not worthy of life outside of the Arrow persona. Even when he had relationships, he was keeping part of him isolated from his loved ones. He shut himself off a lot emotionally. I still think a lot of it had to do with his guilt and residual issues from whatever he did during his "Island Years". So for him, I feel like his identity issues were more am I worthy enough? Is it ok or right for me to have relationships?

 

He tended to be bad at relationships pre-island. He also had a track record of directly or indirectly ruining/destroying lives (Shado, Tommy, Moira, Slade, Sara, Laurel), so he probably was hesitant to have a relationship with Felicity because he felt he would hurt/ruin/destroy her as well. Its one thing for her to be his friend & partner, its a whole other story to be in an actual romantic relationship. Perhaps, because SL was already broken or had gone through similar experience he felt that being with her would not put her at risk for further harm. I also wonder how much of it he actually belived was a relationship, or if he thought it was just 2 people finding comfort & not a relationship at all in his perspective.

 

His whole "guys like us" don't get the girl was kinda bullocks, because Barry & him are really nothing alike once they are out of the masks. They are both heroic in what they choose to do, but how they got to that place is radically different. Barry had 1 freak accident that gave him special powers. Oliver had 1 freak accident that lead to 5 years of torture/killing/loss/isolation and gosh knows what else that then whetted him into a weapon. In s1, Barry had to learn to run fast. In s1, Oliver had to learn to be human again and not just a weapon. Oliver spent 5+ years where the only goal was survival. Barry spent 5 months in coma & woke up with superpowers. Its completely different.

 

I think Oliver wanted to feel that he was not alone in his frustration to have healthy relationships, but his issues/reasons are not the same as Barry's. So they were never together in the "guys like us" club. Which is probably why Barry never called him out on it, he knows they are different. Instead, Barry called him out on what the more pressing issue and that is that he has a light inside of him. That despite what Oliver likes to think about himself, he is not just this horrible worthless shell of a man.

[statsgirl]

But I think for most of s2-3, he seemed to think that he was not worthy of life outside of the Arrow persona. Even when he had relationships, he was keeping part of him isolated from his loved ones. He shut himself off a lot emotionally.

I agree that he was shut off from emotional relationships but I don't think it was because he thought he wasn't worthy but more because he thought he couldn't have them and still honor first his father's list.  The minute he thought he could have both, he was knocking on Laurel's door in spite of just having told both her and Tommy to fight for each other.  Then it all went kerplooey, and he picked being the Arrow, first just emotionally ("Because of what I do, it's better than I don't be with someone I could really care about") and later professionally when he said that Ray Palmer would be a better person to run QC.  He did hold himself away from Moira and Thea when he got back but that was probably also because he didn't want to talk about what he had gone through and because they wouldn't understand what he was doing.  Look at how Diggle reacted when he found out about Oliver's night life, and Tommy, and Laurel telling her dad that The Hood is a killer.  Ironically, I think if anyone would have got it, it would have been morally grey Moira.

 

I can understand his "guys like us don't get the girl" because to him it wasn't about what he had suffered but what he was currently giving up to be The Arrow, and he thought Barry would have to be the same.

 

The character who didn't think she was worthy of having a relationship I see as Sara, who thought that she'd done such awful things and was being hounded by the League that she couldn't even make contact with her family.  Oliver knew the worst of her.

[AyChihuahua]

Yeah, I wish the show would go a little bit more villain of the week too. Have Team Arrow interact with civilians, save innocents, etc. They can have mytharc episodes scattered around Sweeps, and they can always have a couple of scenes in the VotW episodes building up to the Big Bad. Make saving the city personal to Oliver because he loves the city, not because people are trying to destroy him by exploding the city.

They did that pretty well from 114 to 209, they can do it again.

To this day I have to skip large chunks of the Dollmaker episode.  He was a great scary VotW.

[BkWurm1]

Because he didn't realize he could balance it out. Live two lives AND have a girlfriend. So basically his identity crisis isn't really solved. (I do expect that he'll address it in s4 though)

 

 

Right. That's the revelation he needs to have - that he can be Oliver and be a hero. He didn't need to have a revelation about being able to be with Felicity, because he removed the obstacle to their relationship: the Arrow. He's just Oliver now, there is no conflict there.

I do feel like they have all but spelled out that his conflict about living by two names is over.  Before he couldn't be both the Arrow and Oliver Queen.  One was the real man and one was the shell he showed the world.  Now the Arrow is gone and then Ra's stripped Oliver Queen from him as well.  In reclaiming Oliver Queen as his identity - but as a new man - he is now truly first and foremost, himself.

 

What he can do as himself opens up a greater range of possibilities.   He doesn't have to be only a hero or only a regular guy.  The conflict he had about a relationship where he was thinking and planning a future being too distracting, that conflict was resolved IMO when he went and faced Ra's the final time and fought for his future rather than just willing to fight to his death. 

 

He still had a lot to learn about himself, but that big conflict IMO was settled.  The Arrow couldn't beat Ra's.  Oliver Queen couldn't beat Ra's but the new guy that let himself incorporate the whole man and let himself dream of a tomorrow, that guy - who just happened also to go by the name of Oliver Queen -  that guy can be a hero and get the girl -  he just didn't at the time want to bear the weight of being the hero. 

 

After eight years who could blame him.   Dude needed a serious break and the chance to come back to the life in a mask under different circumstances, one not out of strictly guilt and obligation but because he WANTS it.   He wanted it before, but IMO for a lot of self destructive reasons.  Coming back and choosing that life without feeling that heavy burden of the past, that is going to make Oliver a much happier man.  Finding balance in his life will be much easier when one side is no longer so unfairly burdened.     

[wingster55]

I can't fully disagree with that...but we haven't seen him really attempt to live the two sides...I think that'll be a test for Oliver and Felicity

at least I hope. 

[wonderwall]

I can't fully disagree with that...but we haven't seen him really attempt to live the two sides...I think that'll be a test for Oliver and Felicity

at least I hope. 

 

I think that will be the point of season 4? I don't think S3 had any room to have Oliver attempt to live the two sides. 

[wingster55]

I think that will be the point of season 4? I don't think S3 had any room to have Oliver attempt to live the two sides. 

 

I mean I hope so...but I think they'll just ignore it and have him all of a sudden be an expert at it. 

[wonderwall]

I mean I hope so...but I think they'll just ignore it and have him all of a sudden be an expert at it. 

 

I hope so too? I mean I don't want them to go through life all easy breezy. This is an issue Oliver still has to deal with and of course it will affect Felicity. But what I DON'T want is stupid angst. I want them to solve issues as a mature couple. Like Ben/Leslie or Tammi/Eric. Those two couples are ones that Oliver/Felicity should aspire to be. 

[BkWurm1]

I hope so too? I mean I don't want them to go through life all easy breezy. This is an issue Oliver still has to deal with and of course it will affect Felicity. But what I DON'T want is stupid angst. I want them to solve issues as a mature couple. Like Ben/Leslie or Tammi/Eric. Those two couples are ones that Oliver/Felicity should aspire to be. 

Exactly.  Yes, Oliver needs to finally live the balance in season 4 but I want any issues dealt with and resolved as growing pains or normal adjustments, not as make or break moments to the couple.  In season 3 the biggest obstacle was Oliver's basic philosophical belief and that at least has been conquered.  Any make or break stuff to the relationship should come outside of who Oliver is or at the very least, come up with new issues, not just a rehash of everything that has come before.     

[wingster55]

I hope so too? I mean I don't want them to go through life all easy breezy. This is an issue Oliver still has to deal with and of course it will affect Felicity. But what I DON'T want is stupid angst. I want them to solve issues as a mature couple. Like Ben/Leslie or Tammi/Eric. Those two couples are ones that Oliver/Felicity should aspire to be. 

Dude. There's only one M in Tami. 

[wonderwall]

Dude. There's only one M in Tami. 

Oh I didn't notice. I'm on my phone and I have a Tammi on my contact list so it auto corrected. whoops

[TrueMyth]

I'm curious, and please forgive me if this has been discussed at length already: why do you think Oliver doesn't dance?  It's been mentioned enough that it's definitely a character thing (I know Amell likes to bring it up at cons as well).  Obviously, someone of his social class and partyboy past life should be able to dance.  He's obviously athletic enough.

 

Does anyone know of any fics that focus on this or explore the reasons?  Any in show meta or behind the scenes explanations?

[AyChihuahua]

Lots of people seem to think he can, probably very well (dancing lessons for her baby boobums seems like a very Moira thing to do), but doesn't like to for whatever reason.  However, in one of the episodes with McKenna he tells the waiter who brings him a note (I think it's the episode in which Helena returns) that he "can't" dance.   So, rhythm-less white boy, maybe? 

[lemotomato]

I always thought that the behind-the-scenes reason was that Amell didn't like to dance. I've never heard of a reason for why Oliver doesn't.

[quarks]

My guess is that at some point Arrow wanted to have Oliver bad/incompetent at something besides personal relationships and Shakespeare. So they picked dancing - something physical that Oliver can't do, and that Amell might or might not want to do. 

[EmeraldArcher]

I think I recall SA claiming that his wife and daughter are the only ladies he'll ever dance with. I remember him saying it within the last year--maybe a tweet cross-posted on FB or in one of his FB videos? Anyway, at the time it struck me as a little goofy, considering he's done sex scenes since his wedding on Christmas Day 2012. However, I believe his stance has less to do with dancing than with wanting to keep just one thing special for him and his wife. I would find it hard to be married to an actor who was engaged in overtly intimate onscreen relationships. I used to watch One Tree Hill with my teen daughter and marvel at the natural, seemingly authentic intimacy between Nathan and Haley (looks, touches, kisses of all varieties, sex), especially because Bethany Joy was married.

I think SA recently posted a picture of him and his wife dancing in the street in Italy and someone posted it in Behind the Mask (my tablet doesn't allow me to easily check).

Anyway, Digg's wedding would have been an obvious place to pair Oliver with a dance partner--imagine the angsty tension if it had been Felicity or the outcry if it had even been just a platonic dance with Laurel! Now I really want to see Oliver cutting in on Felicity and Ray dancing at Digg's wedding! Who will write that fan fic?!?

[dtissagirl]

I think it comes from Stephen as well. Maybe this is like his stance that Oliver doesn't drink? [Except in Russia. Or if it's Vodka from Russia. IN SOVIET RUSSIA, VODKA DRINKS YOU.] He obviously has his own headcanon on Oliver, but contrary to fandom headcanons, he's someone who CAN influence canon to match his ideas about the character.

[AyChihuahua]

It makes perfect sense to me that Oliver doesn't drink much, and doesn't pretty much ever get drunk.  He values control far too much for that.  The dancing thing makes less sense.  There's no way a young Oliver wouldn't have had at least basic dancing lessons (rich person dancing, not club dancing).

 

I feel like if you marry an actor, especially a youngish/hot actor, you go into it knowing they're going to do love scenes with other actors, so having an issue with that is really unfair.  KC's stance seems so nonsensical to me...performing realistic/sexy love scenes is part of your job.  Kind of an important part, honestly, because when the love scenes are all stiff and awkward it really kills the fantasy, which is the whole point of acting.  Also, I can admit when my relatives are attractive, but she can't say that SA, CH, and DR are hot?  Silliness.

[apinknightmare]

I think it's just a character quirk that SA's come up with for Oliver. Maybe he was forced to take lessons as a kid and hated it and is at the age now where he doesn't have to do it so he chooses not to. I doubt it has anything to do with SA's personal life - it seems silly to me to draw the line at dancing when he's out kissing and doing love scenes with other people, haha. 

[Chaser]

There was a fanfic inspired by SA's guest appearance on New Girl, the one where he is shirtless and dancing with a boa. In the fic, that video was from Oliver's college days and it made it online. So that's my head canon as to why Oliver doesn't dance. To him it was worst then the sex tape you know he has floating around out there. 

Edited July 1, 2015 by 10Eleven12

[TrueMyth]

... worst then the sex tape you know he has floating around out there. 

Oh god, that combined with Felicity's "If it's online, I can find it" makes my head spin.  Exactly what has Felicity uncovered about the man/boy?

 

Thanks for all the info about Oliver Queen/Dancing.  I think it is my new crack!ship.

[apinknightmare]

There was a fanfic inspired by SA's guest appearance on New Girl, the one where he is shirtless and dancing with a boa. In the fic, that video was from Oliver's college days and it made it online. So that's my head canon as to why Oliver doesn't dance. To him it was worst then the sex tape you know he has floating around out there. 

 

That wasn't from New Girl, was it? I think that was him dancing with his friends IRL, haha. 

Edited July 1, 2015 by apinknightmare

[dtissagirl]

Also -- maybe Oliver doesn't dance BECAUSE Moira forced him to take ballroom lessons and he hated it? There was that thing about Oliver and Thea hating swimming, and I just imagine Moira hiring a professional Olympics coach for the poor kids.

[AyChihuahua]

In the one episode, he said he "can't" dance, not that he doesn't. 

There was a fanfic inspired by SA's guest appearance on New Girl, the one where he is shirtless and dancing with a boa. In the fic, that video was from Oliver's college days and it made it online. So that's my head canon as to why Oliver doesn't dance. To him it was worst then the sex tape you know he has floating around out there. 

LINK!!!

[Chaser]

The fanfic or the video?

 

I don't remember the title of the fic or the author and I have been looking for the dancing clip on youtube. I know there has to be a gif set somewhere, that may be easier to find.

[apinknightmare]

In the one episode, he said he "can't" dance, not that he doesn't. 

LINK!!!

 

In an ep this season (I think it was 3x16), he told Felicity, "You know I don't dance." 

 

Link:

 

Edited July 1, 2015 by apinknightmare

[AyChihuahua]

Hilarious!  Link to the fic would be awesome, too.

 

In the episode in which the Huntress first returns he tells the waiter he "can't" dance.  I guess we'll never really know whether he can't or doesn't, because God forbid the writers be at all consistent.

[bethy]

In the one episode, he said he "can't" dance, not that he doesn't. 

 

 

I didn't take the "can't" literally there. A lot of people say they can't dance as a way to avoid dancing because they don't like to. And wasn't that comment made at the club? That's a different kind of dancing than what a society kid like Oliver would have learned in a class. Maybe he is a rhythm-less white boy when he's at a club. I also wonder if for Oliver there would be a certain lack of control to be gyrating on the dance floor that makes him uncomfortable. But then maybe I'm projecting. :)

 

ETA: I'm also imagining that Oliver's dancing is like some version of Wesley and Angel dancing:

 

Edited July 1, 2015 by bethy

[AyChihuahua]

He seemed like he was about to dance with McKenna, though, if not for the interruption. 

 

I think if we were going to get a dancing scene from him, Digg's wedding would have been the place.  I'd say his own wedding, but I'm pretty sure Nyssa and the LOA will interrupt their formal wedding and they'll end married at a courthouse half a season later. 

[kismet]

My thought is that it is a weird character quirk that SA came up with for OQ. Honestly, it disappoints me that he doesn't dance, because in my head canon he would be an awesome dancer. He can at least manage the typical sway back & forth in rhythm that is popular at weddings & school dances. But for whatever reason, SA has chosen in his head canon (which seems to carry more weight than mine) that OQ does not dance.

 

There are so many ways to cross analyze why he came up with this quirk. My strongest theory this morning is that because of who Ollie was when he was younger he wouldn't need to know how to dance to get a girl. The girls were just throwing themselves at him because of his looks, money, connections, etc. So he never had to hit the dance floor to get lucky. As much as I think Moira putting him in dance classes is cute, it doesn't seem as realistic to me. The Queens have been shown to have money, but they never really showed them having those money traditions like cotillions or anything, so perhaps he never did have to learn to formally dance. Even the galas seemed dance light. I do find it interesting that he did ask FS for a dance in 2x09. But I think that was an outlier for the script, or maybe OQ was just feeling out FS's mood.

 

As for the whole theory regarding the actor wanting to keep something for his wife. I think its admirable. But I also think its a little ridiculous. When you marry an actor you have to accept that for their job they might have to do certain things that might be considered crossing the line outside of the job. In my mind though dancing would never be one of those things, especially the type of dancing you would be doing on a show like Arrow, its not Magic Mike or anything. I'm not an actor, but I am sure there are ways to keep things special for your loved ones. Its fine if he wants to keep somethings special, but choosing dancing as the one thing is a little random. Didn't he also say something like that grabbing faces while kissing people is his thing, "just ask my wife" in one of the con interviews? To me that would be more irritating to watch my husband use similar moves in kissing scenes with his acting partners and then highlight it during an interview than to watch him dance in a scene. But to each their own I guess.

[AyChihuahua]

"As for the whole theory regarding the actor wanting to keep something for his wife. I think its admirable. But I also think its a little ridiculous."

 

It's honestly totally ridiculous.  But hey, everyone's allowed to be ridiculous sometimes.

 

I don't think Oliver was asking her to dance with him, he was asking her for Barry. 

[apinknightmare]

Didn't he also say something like that grabbing faces while kissing people is his thing, "just ask my wife" in one of the con interviews? To me that would be more irritating to watch my husband use similar moves in kissing scenes with his acting partners and then highlight it during an interview than to watch him dance in a scene. 

 

Haha, seriously.

[dcinmb]

Given the number of times SA's flat-out said, "I don't dance," I think he may just be insecure about his skills, or lack thereof, on the dance floor. He may be athletic but maybe he's a rhythmless white boy like bethy said. And Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova are perfect examples of world-class athletes who absolutely can. not. dance. The two times I've seen him dancing IRL (in the above video and in a recent F*ck Cancer event video), he was drunk and his moves did not impress. There's also the brief video of him dancing with his daughter but he was pretty much just swinging her around.

I'm kind of hoping he gets cast in his dream role only to find out that his character has to dance. He's been chomping at the bit to do his first feature film for quite some time so I wonder what he would've done if Channing Tatum had hit him up for Magic Mike XXL. I think he would've gotten over his aversion to dancing pdq.

[AyChihuahua]

I'm fine with the out-of-show reason being that SA can't or just plain doesn't want to.  But I'm someone who really needs in-show reasons for things.  For example, why the hell did Oliver tell Nyssa that Thea is Malcolm's biological child?  Out-of-show it was for DRAMA and PLOT, but in-show it made Oliver seem like a moron. 

[BkWurm1]

I'm curious, and please forgive me if this has been discussed at length already: why do you think Oliver doesn't dance?  It's been mentioned enough that it's definitely a character thing (I know Amell likes to bring it up at cons as well).  Obviously, someone of his social class and partyboy past life should be able to dance.  He's obviously athletic enough.

 

Does anyone know of any fics that focus on this or explore the reasons?  Any in show meta or behind the scenes explanations?

Every time I hear it brought up this is immediately the explanation that I think of.  . 

 

https://youtu.be/izGwDsrQ1eQ?t=52

 

Guilty feet ain't got no rhythm.

Edited July 2, 2015 by BkWurm1

[EmeraldArcher]

I looked it up, and Stephen posted a video on Facebook of him dancing with his daughter with the comment "I only dance with two girls." Dated January 25, 2015.

I couldn't embed the post from my iPad, so I'll try later on my laptop.

Edited July 2, 2015 by EmeraldArcher

[apinknightmare]

I remember that post - the vid was cute. I still don't think that he insisted on making Oliver a non-dancer so he could preserve something special with his wife. If he did, well, as kismet pointed out, he killed all the romance of that when he admitted that the moves he used when he kissed Felicity for the first time were ones he uses in his personal life, and to ask his wife about it, haha.

[AyChihuahua]

So as we're getting a little closer to S4, I'm finding myself angrier and angrier at Oliver.  He made these totally unilateral (and terribly stupid) decisions for other people all season, and then he made his team think he'd gone evil and that he'd betrayed them and was letting them all die.  I don't want to argue about whether that was all justified (IMO it was absolutely not), however, I would like to be able to like him again.  So, do people generally think he's learned his lesson this time?  Like it's all well and good for him to apologize, but if he'd do it again then he hasn't learned anything, and for God's sake how did he not learn teams are yay! after the whole Slade situation?  

 

For the record, I usually dislike characters because of a combo of writing and acting issues (Ray, Laurel, Ra's were all done in by both for me), but I have zero problems with SA's acting.  It's all in the writing, but I am pretty close to not being able to stand Oliver anymore, which obviously makes it difficult to watch his show, so I'm hoping some of the brilliant posters here can talk me off that particular Arrow ledge.

[lemotomato]

I don't have any brilliant insight, but personally, what kept me from hating Oliver for his idiocy in season 3 was SA's very effective "kicked puppy" expression. I never got the impression he made those unilateral decisions out of arrogance (unlike, say, Malcom), but out of desperation and fear because he always looked like he was dying inside when he did whatever stupid thing of the week the plot required from him. I felt exasperated and sympathetic for the character rather than anger. That I reserved for the writers, who twisted many characters into pretzels-- Oliver, Felicity, Det. Lance-- just to make their storylines work or to promote other characters. I don't know if that will change in season 4, but here's hoping. 

Edited July 3, 2015 by lemotomato

[AyChihuahua]

I need something in-show.  I understand and appreciate out-of-show reasons for things, but they don't affect my tv-viewing experience.  Kills the fantasy.  And while I'm glad he feels bad while he's doing shitty things to people he claims to love, in a way that's worse, because he knows he's doing shitty things and does them anyway.  A lot.  From big things like making them think they were all about to die, to smaller things like inviting Malcolm the Mindraping Mass Murderer to chill out on his mindrape victim's couch, against her express wishes.  

[apinknightmare]

Since MG just recently spoke about how much mileage they (the writers) get out of Oliver having his head up his ass, I'm not sure that's anything that's going to change anytime soon. 

[Ceylon5]

He got a few things right (despite getting terrible advice from Diggle, which he - fortunately in these instances - ignored).  One was finally telling Thea he was the Arrow.  Another was not cutting Roy loose when they thought he might have killed Sara, but instead, realising that Roy was probably remembering the cop-killing, he helped him to remember the truth.  There were probably other things, but I'm pretending most of the season didn't happen, so that makes analysing it a little tricky - as evidenced above, whenever one character had a good moment, they felt the need to balance things out by writing another character as behaving stupidly (in these instances, it was Diggle being thrown under the stupid bus), which made it a tiresome season to watch.

[lemotomato]

I don't think we'll ever get an in-show reason for his bad decisions aside from "Oliver is really emotionally fucked up by all the terrible things that have happened to him in the last 8 years". The guy buried his ex-girlfriend/childhood friend, held his best friend as he died, and watched his mother get murdered. His house burned down and his family's company got taken away. Then later on in season 3 his sister gets stabbed too and his vigilante identity is destroyed. That Oliver was still functioning and not catatonic in a corner somewhere required suspension of disbelief from me. I can't think of any other tv show character that had it as bad as he did in 3 seasons.

 

I'd love to see the show mention or even show that he's getting professional therapy, or at least give him a respite from all non-stop personal trauma. That's what I'm hoping will happen in the "lighter" season 4. 

 

On an different note, after listing all the shit Oliver has been through in 3 seasons, I can't believe that there are so many people pissed at him for taking a break from hero duties and taking a well-deserved vacation. Everyone knows he'll be back, but I keep seeing complaints about him being selfish and "abandoning" the city and it just really bugs me. 

Edited July 3, 2015 by lemotomato

[dtissagirl]

I think my in-show reason to be [mostly] okay with Oliver's dumbass ideas is that he really thought he was doing the best he could with all of the decisions he made. I disagreed with most of them, but I believed [mostly] that he thought he had to do these things.

 

And I'm with @lemotomato: Oliver's kicked puppy face helps me buy that he's being a dumbass for the love and protection of his friends and family.

 

On an different note, after listing all the shit Oliver has been through in 3 seasons, I can't believe that there are so many people pissed at him for taking a break from hero duties and taking a well-deserved vacation. Everyone knows he'll be back, but I keep seeing complaints about him being selfish and "abandoning" the city and it just really bugs me. 

 

The guy defeated the big threat to the city, then made sure there were people in place to keep the city safe while he was away, AND THEN he went on a vacation with his girlfriend. Super selfish, gosh, Oliver!

 

But the part about people being angry at a vacation that's happening off screen is my favorite part. You're not even seeing it and you're angry about it? O-KAY THEN.

Edited July 3, 2015 by dancingnancy