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Felicity Smoak: Bitch With Wifi

Lisin

By Lisin
in Characters of Arrow

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fantique
fantique

Ok peeps, this is a long one and full of meandering thoughts. Sorry about it, but only just a little. I have a good example of a really good actress that could not live on the audience's good will a

Ceylon5
Ceylon5

From Wikipedia (on characterisation):     Just because we're not directly told what to think about someone, it doesn't mean that we're not being given any characterisation.  In real life, we get t

KenyaJ
KenyaJ

I agree that it's bad pacing, but it's not that difficult for me to connect the dots and see how Felicity got from point A to point B. For almost two years, she's pretty much devoted her life to Olive

BkWurm1

BkWurm1

No, their faces don't really resemble each other but that's ok, kids don't always look like their parents and  I can believe that this is the woman Felicity picked up bleaching her hair from and is probably the woman that Felicity always felt a bit like an ugly duckling around.  The actress is fully capable of the hard brittle Vegas waitress but she also can handle depth and nuance like I expect will be needed between a mother and a daughter that want to love each other but are so very different creatures. 

 

I can imagine her tisking about the dull, staid life Felicity is living, wasting her youth on work and destined to be alone.  Yeah, I'm looking forward to this.   

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Sunshine

Sunshine

(edited)

I wonder if they will ever introduce Felicity's dad.  The showrunners always say he's out of the picture. Fans seem to assume it means he is someone probably villainous.   EBR said she was promised a parent in S3.  If they decide he is a DC character, they could introduce him in S4 or S5 (assuming that it gets renewed for both seasons).

 

Personally speaking, I am okay with Felicity not having DC connected parents.  I like her just the way she is.

Edited by Sunshine
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foreverevolving

foreverevolving

Eh, I don't think they really look anything like.  Different noses, eye shape is different. I'm disappointed with this casting choice . Oh well.

Sometimes a kid will resemble one parent more than the other. for example, i look more like our mom and her side of the family, while my sister looks more like our dad and his side. funny thing is we still look alike enough that people can tell we're sisters.

my point is.. they don't have to look 100% alike, Felicity is only 50% her mom genetically wise, the other 50% is her dad. so it stands to reason that there will be some things that are different.

i wonder if that is part of the reason for their rocky relationship Felicity looking more like her father look wise and that made it harder on her mom.

 

if we're talking about casting, for example its hard for me to buy KC as PB daughter she really doesn't look anything like either him or Kingston.

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catrox14

catrox14

(edited)

I would far prefer Felicity's parents to not have any DC connections.  My greatest fear is that we will find out that Felicity's mom had a fling with Oliver back in the day when he was ultimate party boy wreaking havoc in Vegas :(.

 

I'm aware that children do not always look like their parents 100%.   I can readily accept Alex Kingston and Paul Blackthorne as parents of Lance sisters because Alex Kingston and Paul Blackthorne are proven excellent actors and can sell any nonsense.:)  My primary beef is because I don't like the actress and have never enjoyed her in anything I've seen her in :) .

Edited by catrox14
Sunshine

Sunshine

I would far prefer Felicity's parents to not have any DC connections.  My greatest fear is that we will find out that Felicity's mom had a fling with Oliver back in the day when he was ultimate party boy wreaking havoc in Vegas :(.

For me that is the perfect argument for having mom in flashbacks only.  The EPs might resist the urge to go there.  I now need a line where Oliver says he's never actually been to Vegas! :)

TanyaKay

TanyaKay

oh please no, can we not have parents having flings with potential romantic partners please. The show has already grossed me out to no end on account of sister swapping and Daddy Queen and Ollie both doing it with Isabel Rochev. Can we please not go there with Felicity Smoak who seems like a normal person? I can live with her mom flirting outrageously with everyone - including Diggle and Oliver - in the present day but no romantic entanglements with Ollie in the past. It would be just TOO MUCH!

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HighHopes

HighHopes

Poor girl has to repeat her clothes last season all the time, looks like they have upped the budget hence Jimmy Choos, or the studio got them through some kind of promotion or something.

Eh, one of the reasons I like Felicity so much is that she does repeat outfits/shoes. It makes her more real. (The Jimmy Choos and BCBG dresses are a different story tho).

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SmallScreenDiva

SmallScreenDiva

LOL! Yes, she does kinda clomp, doesn't she? She has a purposeful stride, with arms freely swinging, and I really like that about her. I also like that she repeats clothes. I appreciate it when a show does that with its characters, they feel more like real people, I guess.

 

As for seeing her in Elie Saab or Zuhair Murad, that would be a dream, wouldn't it? Maybe a fancy QC event and she wears a green gown? ;) 

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TanyaKay

TanyaKay

Felicity is a shoe person because even when she was in IT, she was wearing 'interesting' shoes like those panda flats. They were not high fashion but they were funky and fun.

Oliver's parties usually suck - either people do not come or assassins come or police come or everyone goes because crime and shit. So this season, Ray Palmer will host something and Felicity will wear something fabulous - could be any colour except for pink (she wears far too much pink for a girl NOT named candy or pinky) I am not too finicky about that.

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Ceylon5

Ceylon5

aren't every woman a shoe person, to some degree?

 

Definitely not.  I've been independently nick-named 'barefoot countess' by several different people over the years because of my preference for going barefoot.  When I'm forced to wear shoes (which is not as often as you'd think), I wear one of the couple of pairs that I own until they literally fall apart and I'm forced to buy another pair (shoe shopping is the seventh circle of hell for me).  I wear them for practical purposes only and have & will never wear high heels (a form of attire I find completely baffling).  I don't usually notice other people's shoes either, except in the occasional WTF? kind of way (e.g. women cops on TV running in super high heels).

 

I've been wondering about Felicity's hair.  Admittedly such things generally pass me by, so I could be wrong, but wasn't her hair mainly curly in the first season and mainly straight in the second?  I rather liked the curls and I miss them.  So the question is - is her hair naturally straight, and she was curling it in season 1, or is it naturally curly and she's been straightening it in season 2?  And why would she bother to do either, when it looks really pretty both ways?

HighHopes

HighHopes

I believe that EBR's hair is naturally curly so Felicity's would be too. Why they decided to start to straighten her hair for season two I'm not sure. 

But the short clip in the season three promo has Felicity's hair down and curly so they might bring the curls back?

. Maybe straight hair is easier for continuity issues? Curls would have to be placed in the same spot for re-shoots/different takes (even in a ponytail) but straight hair would be easier to work with? 

SmallScreenDiva

SmallScreenDiva

The show started straightening Felicity's hair in the second season as part of the wardrobe upgrade, I think. Her hair is mostly down and straight in the first couple of episodes (can't recall if that's true for the third), but EBR had said in an interview that she fought to keep Felicity's ponytail and glasses. After that, Felicity's hair was mostly back in the ponytail, although it was still straighter than it was in the first season. Also, the ponytail became a bit more playful with the higher position.

statsgirl

statsgirl

(edited)

Good for EBR -- Felicity wouldn't be Felicity without the ponytail and glassess. When I see her without them, I keep wondering Who is this character?  She's gorgeous and all but she's not Felicity.

 

I both love and hate shoes.  I love how they look but I can walk in those high heels for only about five minutes before my feet start hurting.  (On House, the women doctors wore  high heels all the time.  They did a BTS interview year 3  during a dress rehearsal and everyone was wearing their TV close but when you looked at Jennifer Morrison's feet, she had on pink fuzzy slippers so it's good to know I'm not the only one.  I noticed that now on Once Upon A Time she spends her time in boots with flat heels.)

Edited by statsgirl
NumberCruncher

NumberCruncher

The show started straightening Felicity's hair in the second season as part of the wardrobe upgrade, I think. Her hair is mostly down and straight in the first couple of episodes (can't recall if that's true for the third), but EBR had said in an interview that she fought to keep Felicity's ponytail and glasses. After that, Felicity's hair was mostly back in the ponytail, although it was still straighter than it was in the first season. Also, the ponytail became a bit more playful with the higher position.

I wondered about that!!! It was REALLY noticeable in 2x06--her hair was down for virtually the entire episode but even more obvious was the absence of her glasses in that episode. After that we rarely saw her without them and aside from Moira's out-of-prison party, Felicity's hair was back in the ponytail. Interesting that it was EBR's choice but I can totally see where she's coming from.

foreverevolving

foreverevolving

(edited)

I wondered about that!!! It was REALLY noticeable in 2x06--her hair was down for virtually the entire episode but even more obvious was the absence of her glasses in that episode. After that we rarely saw her without them and aside from Moira's out-of-prison party, Felicity's hair was back in the ponytail. Interesting that it was EBR's choice but I can totally see where she's coming from.

Personally for me it takes me out of character when i see Felicity without the glasses. in the season 1 episode where she wears the golden dress i had to literally pause for a moment cause it felt so odd seeing her without the glasses and hair pulled back... and, than she opened her mouth and i was all okay :-P same with the casino scene. now when i look back having seen EBR dressed up in pictures and heard her talk in interviews, compering her to the scenes where Felicity is all dressed up with hair down and all i can see a major difference, her entire posture and even her voice literally changes when she's in "Felicity mode" it's beautiful to watch and compare, that's the marking of a good actor in my opinion.

Edited by foreverevolving
JenMD

JenMD

(edited)

I love Felicity in heels all day long. She rocks the heels for real, but they're super impractical. Definitely considering the 3 part finale, she had heels on the whole time. Through her head injury.

I just kind of ignore the impracticality of shoes on tv and figure it's all about the fashion (and probably a height thing, with your smaller actresses).  As long as Felicity is fine with them and they aren't tripping her up while she's running from a bad guy (although, those Jimmy Choos would make fantastic weapons, those heels!), I don't really think about them other than, "Oh cute!" and I figure that's all I'm supposed to think.  I suspect they're good with putting Felicity in heels a lot partially because Emily seems to live in heels, so she's clearly comfortable in them.  Also, I can't help but remember Sydney Bristow saving the day in heels week after week, so the issue really doesn't bother me. :-)

 

Re: Felicity's hair and glasses - I swear seeing Emily as herself totally makes me think of Clark Kent/Superman because there are times she looks so totally different from Felicity and really, it's just glasses and a hairstyle, but the difference can be startling.  It really is wild.

Edited by JenMD
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Password

Password

I just kind of ignore the impracticality of shoes on tv and figure it's all about the fashion (and probably a height thing, with your smaller actresses).

 

Re: Felicity's hair and glasses - I swear seeing Emily as herself totally makes me think of Clark Kent/Superman because there are times she looks so totally different from Felicity and really, it's just glasses and a hairstyle, but the difference can be startling.  It really is wild.

 

I definitely think it's a height thing, but still super impractical when running around town.

 

The difference between EBR and Felicity is kind of amazing. Not just looks, but the way she sounds, body posture.

HighHopes

HighHopes

(edited)
I swear seeing Emily as herself totally makes me think of Clark Kent/Superman because there are times she looks so totally different from Felicity and really, it's just glasses and a hairstyle, but the difference can be startling.  It really is wild.

 

It really is crazy isn't it? I mean I can wear my hair down but I can also pull it back in a ponytail and wear my glasses, but I still look like me. 

Edited by HighHopes
VCRTracking

VCRTracking

(edited)

I suddenly realized that Felicity's first appearance in S1E3 is like this clip from The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart as private eye Phillip Marlowe and Dorothy Malone, only appearing in one scene as the hottest bookstore clerk ever:

 

 

Felicity wasn't as overtly flirtatious as Malone when she met Ollie and she didn't take off her glasses yet but she still left viewers going "Who was that?"

Edited by VCRTracking
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BkWurm1

BkWurm1

I suddenly realized that Felicity's first appearance in S1E3 is like this clip from The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart as private eye Phillip Marlowe and Dorothy Malone, only appearing in one scene as the hottest bookstore clerk ever:

 

 

Felicity wasn't as overtly flirtatious as Malone when she met Ollie and she didn't take off her glasses yet but she still left viewers going "Who was that?"

I love that movie.  I read some commentary on it that says basically her closing the shop early was code the audience accepted for them getting down and dirty. Yeah, I didn't need a commentary to tell me that, lol. 

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apinknightmare

apinknightmare

The fact that they haven't released any info about Felicity's mom (Not even a name!!!) means that she's probably a well known DC character. Any ideas on who she could possibly be?

Crack theory: her name is Felicity Raymond, and they're going to use the Felicity S. and Ronnie link as another tie between the Arrow and Flash universes.

Morrigan2575

Morrigan2575

The fact that they haven't released any info about Felicity's mom (Not even a name!!!) means that she's probably a well known DC character. Any ideas on who she could possibly be? 

Huh that's interesting.  I never gave it much thought because I figured she was just Felicity's mom nothing more but you're right it is a bit odd that they're refusing to give out a name.  They actually did the same thing last year with Sara...they announced that she was Black Canary but refused to give out her name even after Mark Pedowitz slipped at the TCAs and said it was Laurel's sister.

apinknightmare

apinknightmare

that is actually a very interesting theory!

If done right this can totally work. isn't episode 4 of flash is the one where Firestorm first shows up?

 

The only problem with this theory is that

Ronnie (allegedly) died in the particle accelerator accident, so I would think she'd mention something like that, unless she's estranged with her mother and didn't know that she and Eddie Raymond were married.

foreverevolving

foreverevolving

The only problem with this theory is that

Ronnie (allegedly) died in the particle accelerator accident, so I would think she'd mention something like that, unless she's estranged with her mother and didn't know that she and Eddie Raymond were married.

Well we do know her dad left when she was very young, but we don't know why. maybe Ed is her birth/step/adoptive father? and when he left Mama Smoak changed their last name to her maiden one "smoak" (it has been known to happen in real life too). maybe Ed had Ronnie through a previous relationship and the kid lived with his mom, or maybe we'll find out that Felicity is actually adopted and had a twin/younger/older brother and that brother is Ronnie- doubtful. 

there are multiply ways this can go.

 

Right now my guess is: Ed raymond is Felicity's dad and her mom's (middle) name is felicity (I mean they did that with Dinah and Laurel). this makes the most sense to me. than again, this is a show based on comic books so...

 

I have to say, i have been trying to locate DC comics characters who are called megan, cause for some reason i have a feeling it's an important detail- or maybe it is because we don't have much about her history to work with so everything is important. and yet when you say someone full name is usually means something!.

Anyway, so far i only found three characters (i did a quick lazy googling): Megan AKA miss martian, a genetically engineered character named Megan who worked for Dr. Peter Cross in the Wildstorm Universe, both are also an enemy of Gen 13 (isn't there a character with a similar name, Dr. Cross, slated to appear on arrow or flash?); and last, some one off character named Megan O'Dell who was a reporter on the "new earth" universe.

 

None of these option can actually work in my opinion, especially the first one. From what i know miss martian is a semi known character and far too loved that i can't see DC allowing her human form to be lowered down to a character who will only get a handful of on screen time. but, maybe the second one? but I didn't know about the "wildstorm universe" and "Gen 13" i doubt many other who like me don't read the comics (and even those who do) Will understand such a reference.

so i'm sticking with one of my first theories: Ed and Ronnie are somehow related to Felicity.

BkWurm1

BkWurm1

(edited)

From the spoilers thread

Yes, I get why Felicity joined the team. I think they've shown us her motivations well enough. The mystery (for me anyway) is more that she took the news of Oliver being the vigilante so calmly. She didn't appear to have a moment where she considered telling anyone - even Laurel considered telling her father when she thought that information could be used as leverage in his situation, and she's known Oliver far longer. And yet Felicity trusted him when she had no reason to do so and she protected his identity by ordering the blood sample destroyed without even being asked. I

 

There is that scene in the episode before she finds Oliver in her backseat, she goes to the Big Belly Burger to meet Oliver. She asks him, "Can I trust you?" She goes on to point out that he's laid down some pretty obvious lies and yet she still feels like she can trust him.  She even asks him (and probably herself) "Why's that?"  Oliver answers with a flippant Oh, I've just got that kind of face which really disappoints Felicity and Olive immediately apologizes and says seriously, yes, she could trust him.

 

So for Felicity, she trusted Oliver even when it made no sense to her, but she still did and I think it's safe to say that her trust in him proved justified.  Still it's fascinating that their connection was written as if on some unexplainable innate level even only half way into season one. 

 

Why did she trust him?  Why did he trust her? 

 

He wasn't even trying it seems to make up believable cover stories.  It comes across almost like he's making up reasons to go see her. 

 

So why did she trust him?  Maybe because he was trusting her. 

 

Or the smile.  It might have been the rare sighting of the real smile of Oliver Queen. 

Edited by BkWurm1
  • Love 4
tv echo

tv echo

(edited)

Great analysis.  It's the Melanie Hamilton versus Scarlett O'Hara type of strong woman contrast.

 

About Felicity's motivation for being on Team Arrow, I think it's also about family.  She started out wanting to find Walter.  I think he was like her mentor/father figure.  We know she has no family other than her mother - likely estranged.  We've seen no close friends that she could've confided in.  Once she starting working with Oliver and Diggle, they became like her surrogate family and she also stayed to help them.  Thus, her conversation with Oliver when she tells him Moira's secret - she starts with a disclosure about her parents and segues to not wanting to lose someone else she cares about.  Of course, I think she also likes being part of something that helps other people.

Edited by tv echo
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Ceylon5

Ceylon5

(edited)

From the "Heartaches..." thread:

Felicity kinda tiptoed around it when Oliver apologized in 2x10 ("Does this mean I have a shot.......at employee-of-the-month?" Real subtle, Felicity). But she doesn't push it other than that because it's unthinkable to her. Which makes sense because Oliver is cagey as hell about it. Plus she still kinda sees herself as his employee/subordinate, which fits with her interactions with other "important people" (Moira/Walter/Laurel/OIiver before the Undertaking). Even in s02 when she interacts with Moira/Walter/Laurel, she's very aware of the boundaries and tries (failing at times because of her social quirks) to be very appropriate and somewhat deferential with them. It's not that she's insecure or thinks these people are out of her league or better. It's just her default. Obviously, she's not like that with Oliver because she gets to know him and regularly interacts with him after joining Team Arrow. But, that underlying default still colors some of their interactions (2x10, 2x12, 2x14) when she's unsure of her place or how she should react. Plus, as the Arrow, Oliver's even more *in charge* than he was as the boss's stepson/attractive weirdo who had her doing research under flimsy premises.

 

[snip]   Then the finale was about both of them fully realizing their 2x10 exchange with Oliver actually putting his money where his mouth is and Felicity actually moving past her *underling* mentality to see herself as partner/equal. It all worked very well in my view and built nicely on their relationship in s01. Hopefully, it will continue in s03 *fingers crossed*.

 

I find this interpretation of Felicity interesting, because I've never seen Felicity as having an "underling" mentality, but I can see how her actions could be interpreted that way.  When she unexpectedly got called to the CEO's office early in season 1, her response was something along the lines of he shouldn't fire her because she was his most valuable employee.  This is an interesting mix of security (she knows her own value) and insecurity (she assumed he'd only asked to see her in order to fire her).  She was pretty cross about it too.  Based on her rather uncomplimentary assessment of her fellow tech employees (and her 'so-called "supervisor"', with air-quotes included), perhaps her supervisor had led her to believe that she was going to be fired when he sent her up there (clearly there's no love lost between them).  Regardless of what was going on in her head, though, there wasn't really anything in her behaviour towards Walter that seemed in any way deferential to me.  He was actually quite startled by her bursting in there in a rage.  Throughout her dealings with him I never got the impression that she was in the least awed by the fact that he was CEO and thought she treated him the same way she treats anyone, even though he held a position of power over her job and despite the fact that she still made her usual social gaffes with him.

 

I think she found Moira a bit scary because Moira was a bit scary, not because of her social position.  And she was never deferential to Laurel - she was charming on their first meeting (because of Oliver's obsession with her), but having to lie about who she was in relation to Oliver made that a bit awkward and Laurel was less than impressed.  The second meeting was the hilarious "You can have him back in a minute" interaction, and the third time Laurel was drunk, and Felicity just seemed embarrassed for her.  In the Arrowcave she definitely didn't seem deferential to Laurel IMO.

 

As for the early Felicity/Oliver interactions, I think those were more coloured by the fact that she was very attracted to him than anything else.  I certainly haven't ever felt she was in the least bit impressed by him on a social level.  Emily mentioned in an interview that it was Oliver who went and got her the gold dress and shoes that she wore in S1E15, and she believed it was the first time Felicity had ever dressed up like that.  Yet despite that, Felicity didn't seem particularly out of her element because she was busy concentrating on the task at hand.  She is very young and inexperienced in many social situations, so there is a certain learning curve there, but she seems to hold her own.  And she knows Oliver well enough to only be impressed by the things about him that are actually impressive (mainly Arrow things, especially the Admirable Abs), and not by irrelevant stuff like his money and social status.  That she said they were 'unthinkable' in romantic terms wasn't IMO anything to do with social status.  That was more a 'friends to lovers' type of unthinkable (along with the whole 'because of the life I lead' and Laurel complications).

 

So, having thought it through, I definitely don't feel like Felicity thinks in terms of social standing or in superior/subordinate terms, other than to think they're pretty pointless and irrelevant (as per her assessment of her supervisor at work).  I'd even go so far as to say she's somewhat oblivious to them.  She just gets flustered a lot because of her bad habit of putting her foot in her mouth, but that's a whole different thing.

 

On a side-note, I am amazed by her ability to recover from her terrible slips of the tongue so quickly and just keep forging ahead.  It must actually take a very healthy sense of self to be able to do that without dying of mortification and just never speaking again.  She hears what she's said, has a brief "Aarg" moment, then shakes it off and moves on.

 

He wasn't even trying it seems to make up believable cover stories.  It comes across almost like he's making up reasons to go see her.

 

I know, right?  I can't even begin to fathom what was going on in his head that first time.  Maybe he realised there was just no way to believably explain bullet holes in a laptop, so he didn't even try.  And then once he'd met her, I think he instinctively trusted her and was drawn to her.  Plus, having taken her a bullet-riddled laptop, and knowing that she has a scary-high IQ, he probably figured she wasn't going to be buying any of his rubbish stories going forward, so he didn't put too much effort into them.  I do think Oliver suffers from tunnel-vision, though, and when he needed help that only she could give, he went to her, even if it meant that she was going to figure him out sooner or later.  

 

I think she trusted him because, despite her social failings, she's actually a pretty good judge of character.

Edited by Ceylon5
  • Love 4
willpwr

willpwr

I thought their first meeting was hilarious and showed an interesting dynamic. Oliver went in seeming to think he's her boss and she's an employee so she has to do what he tells her. He was thrown off and charmed by her babbling so he gave an explanation which she questioned. When he realized she wasn't buying his lame story, he switched back to boss mode but not before smiling at her head tilt and told her that whatever she could salvage would be appreciated. My view on it is that Oliver tends to compartmentalize and her babbling humanized her to him, he couldn't keep her in the just resources category which is why he kept going to her even though he realized she was too smart to buy his lies. He still kept trying though, which to me shows he enjoyed interacting with her. It's very different from when he went to others for information, he didn't offer explanations as to why he wanted their assistance and just told them what he needed. 

 

It's the same thing with Diggle, both of them knew he was full of shit, yet they both helped him.

  • Love 2
KirkB

KirkB

He may well have been charmed with her but I think he also kept going back to Felicity because she got things done, and quickly. She may not have been the first person in the IT department he came to. I mean, what are the odds Walter and Oliver would randomly pick the same employee to help them with their off the books investigations? Maybe he went to Walter and asked who he could use to get something checked out.

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