#almost grabbed Nick but the box was yucky :(

[junglemax]

i officially have 2/4 of the og elite and new elite now (figure wise)

[jbuffyangel]

Burned: Arrow 5x15 Review (Fighting Fire with Fire)

So sorry my friends! I have slept. I am medicated. Thus I can write.

Oh Episode 15. You have become the season nemesis. The pebble in our proverbial audience shoe. The yucky chocolate filling in the otherwise yummy chocolate box.

Arrow has begun a tradition over the past three seasons. The 15th episode is filled with a whole lot of suck. I'm excluding 1x15 and 2x15 because I happened to really enjoy those episodes, but 5x15 can go sit in the corner with 3x15 and 4x15. Now, is it Felicity banging Palmer level? 

Or Felicity breaking up with Oliver level? 

Eh. Depends on your perspective. Those were very low lows. Maybe I'll just leave 5x15 on par with those episodes.

The good news is, 3x15 and 4x15 were a bottoming out of sorts. We said to ourselves, "Arrow can't get much crappier that this!" and, for the most part, we were right. There was an upswing as Arrow headed into the back half of the season.

Why is it like this? I don't know. Arrow hits this wall around the 11-15 range almost every single season. There's a lull and we run into a series of episodes we could seriously do without. 

I don't think Arrow intends to write a crappy episode. I think they try very hard to make excellent TV every week. The problem is the 23 episode season, and maybe this is why I'm a big "smeh.” I fully expect a third crap, a third good, and a third excellent every season. Typically, that's what I get. So, I toss this episode into my one third crap pile, grab another bag of chips and write the review.

Cause we gots to talk about why "Fighting Fire with Fire" was a whole lotta suck. We shall address the suck with a copious amounts of gifs, because I'm in. I'm not changing the channel. I'm too invested. You jump I jump Arrow. 

So, when eps like these come along, I just have to laugh, vent, and have some fun with it. But never fear! I do see rainbows on the horizon. There's yummy chocolate in this box somewhere. 

Let's dig in...

Prometheus

Prometheus is... (drum roll please) 

Adrian Chase.  

There's bad and good with this reveal.

The Bad

My reaction?

This is the writing equivalent of a deflated balloon. It's foreplay without the... uh... ya know... play. (I'm a lady. Leave me to my pearls.)

I mean... just jump into my waking spec nightmare. This was worst case scenario for me. I made no secret in my 5x09 review that I wasn't a fan of this Claybourne back story and, if it was legit, then Arrow had a Big Bad problem.

Why don't I like the Claybourne back story? It's not because I don't understand it. Trust me, I get it the point thematically. Arrow wanted The Hood 's Season 1 actions to create the Season 5 Big Bad. The hero creating the villain through his own actions works nicely in a season where Arrow is exploring legacy.

I don't have a problem with the concept of this Big Bad thematically. In fact, when you look at all the other ideas for Prometheus most fit into that same theme. I have an issue with how they've executed the theme.

Claybourne feels inserted. After five years, Arrow has a deep bad guy bench. There are plenty of Season 1 villains they could have chosen from that the audience already has a connection with, or we watched some kind of story about, in Season 1. It breeds familiarity. It feels more thought out. It's more daring and complicated.

Instead, Arrow plucks some rando from the list, inserts a heavy handed flashback where Diggle warns Oliver his actions will have unforeseen consequences, and away we go. 

Sorry folks. I wanted more for the Season 5 Big Bad. This just doesn't pack enough punch for me. Flashbacks can be a writing crutch. It can be an easy way to write yourself out of a corner, but not necessarily all that creative. I think Claybourne is a perfect example of that.

Both my mother and Nick asked me if Claybourne was from Season 1 and had we already met this character? When I told them no their reactions were the same.

"Oh. That's it?"

Uh huh. That's it. When you have casual viewers reacting to the back story of the Big Bad like this then it’s a problem. We can argue whether or not romance, like Olicity, is a focus of Arrow. But you know what is a focus of Arrow? The Big Bad. The entire season revolves around this character. Everything happens because of the Big Bad. So, when your Big Bad feels blah then you have a season problem. 

Oliver has a rich history in his legacy storyline with Robert Queen. I felt Arrow needed to match that in order to elevate Prometheus to Oliver’s level... or at least try.

Sure, Tommy was a long shot. I recognize that. I'm always cool with a little crazy in my spec cause the fun! Any theory where Colin Donnell comes back to Arrow is one I'll blog about every day and twice on Sunday. No regrets.

I'm not upset it's not Tommy. I'm upset Tommy makes more sense than this hot mess. Some people tweeted me on Wednesday night to say they knew all along it was Adrian Chase. He was the only one left! It was so obvious!

Yeah, that's the problem. It was too obvious. I didn't think Arrow would actually go with the obvious pick. Surely, Prometheus would be a more inventive creation after all this trouble of hiding his face? 

Umm... nope. Guess not! They are going with the only other new, 30 something, male character who's inserted himself into Oliver's life. (It was never going to be Wild Dog. We aren't that lucky.)

Obvious storytelling doesn't mean good storytelling. In fact, more often than not, it's the hallmark of BAD storytelling. We all thought Adrian Chase was Vigilante. Turns out, Arrow used the comic book character as a fake out. It's "Gotch ya!" storytelling without the payoff. Hiding the obvious answer just to give us the obvious answer in the end isn't interesting or exciting or shocking. It's just obvious.

Case in point. Behold a conversation my mother and I had a few weeks ago.

Mom: Well, obviously Prometheus is Adrian Chase.

Me: Yeah, I hear what you're saying, but he can't be. He's Vigilante.

Mom: Oh. Well then who's Prometheus?

Me: Hopefully someone less obvious.

Hand to God. Word for word. So, all Arrow really accomplished was to fool the engaged/obsessed fans, the ones who read the articles and comic books, into thinking Adrian Chase was his comic book character Vigilante. But the casual fan, who doesn't read the internet articles or have any comic book knowledge like my mother and husband, correctly chose Adrian because OBVIOUSLY. So, what are we left with? Nobody is all that surprised. Your knowledgeable viewing audience feels duped and your casual viewing audience is bored.

I certainly don't mind being duped if the payoff is good, but Adrian Chase is not that pay off. I think Arrow significantly over estimated how much we care about this guy, which for me, is very little. 

First, we thought he was Vigilante, so I viewed Adrian through a shady lens. I never saw him as the righteous, kind and law abiding DA Arrow wanted us to, because, if he was Vigilante, then he was pulling a gun on Oliver every other episode.

Apparently, Adrian and Oliver are friends. 

Oh really? They are? When did that happen? I viewed them as friendly co workers, but not like... bros. Maybe they sit together at lunch, but Oliver isn't having play dates with the guy. I have a 9 year old, this is how the hierarchy of friendship is sorted out in my brain. Roll with it.

If Arrow intended a deeper friendship between the two characters then they needed to start a hell of a lot sooner than Episode 10. Yes, Episode 10. That's when Adrian became a slightly more important character in Arrow because he was defending Diggle. That's when any friend-like bonds developed between Oliver and Adrian. As for Episodes 1-9, Adrian was a superfluous character Oliver barely spent any time with, save for the occasional mayoral scene. I'm just not all that invested in this friendship, so any betrayal  feels more like a paper cut versus an arrow to the heart. 

Then, the reveal is so anti climatic. Prometheus casually pulls off the hood and makes a phone call. Uhh... okay? Instead of fireworks, I felt ho hum, which is an unfortunate way to feel about the season long mystery. 

Say what you will about LL's death, but there were plenty of people who did not see that coming. AT ALL. Trust me, I have the yearlong hate emails to prove it. In fact, many people said it couldn't be LL because it was too big. We were given subtle hints about LL's death, and when it finally did happen, it packed a punch that fulfilled the season long build up. There was pay off. I was hoping for the same with Prometheus. Damn.

The Good

It leaves me to wonder, perhaps the Prometheus reveal isn't the pay off. Maybe his identity isn't the big surprise. Perhaps, there's still another shoe waiting to drop. The pay off may not be in who Prometheus is, but rather in what he does. Since they dropped the "Who is Prometheus?" reveal in the middle of Episode 15, there's a high probability that's the case.

Since Adrian Chase is Prometheus, then I am very glad they unmasked him. Prometheus' mask created this wall between him and the audience. He became more like a caricature rather than a real threat. Now we can connect to who this guy is. We can connect to the actor's performance like we did with Malcolm Merlyn, Slade, Ra's Al Ghul and Damien Darhk.

Josh Seguara's take on Adrian Chase could go a long way to smooth my ruffled feathers, especially if he goes more Hannibal Lector, psychological tormentor, bat-shit-crazy-unhinged. The fun may be in the havoc Adrian is about to unleash on Oliver and that is something I can get behind regardless of who is the Big Bad. It could also make Adrian Chase a far more interesting and dynamic character than we've seen thus far.

The other good is the theme. It still stands. This is a son versus son duel. Is it on the scale of Tommy versus Oliver or even Slade's son versus Oliver? No, but I'll get over it.  Prometheus is the opposite coin to Oliver. He's the flip. It's the reason we couldn't tell Prometheus and Green Arrow apart when they were fighting - we aren't suppose to. 

There's something Prometheus is driving at with Oliver, some truth he wants him to understand. Prometheus believes Oliver is a villain and he wants Oliver to not only understand it, but believe it too. But isn't that what Oliver has been asking himself all along? Am I really a hero? Am I really a good man? Am I really worthy of love?

One could argue Oliver has always been his worst enemy. The internal struggle he fights has always been as important as an enemy he faces. The darkness battles the light. Survival battles living. Lawlessness battles justice. Doubt battles belief. Distrust battles trust. Isolation battles need. Numb battles love. Man battles monster. Prometheus is created from Oliver's killing. He's the physical manifestation of Oliver's darkness. Prometheus is the internal struggle and the enemy combined into one, in a way no other Big Bad has been before. Maybe it doesn't matter who plays it. It only matters that Oliver is facing it, finally, after five years.

Olicity

Oliver asks Felicity for help. This is nothing unusual. That's how they began. Oliver asking Felicity for help. Asking Felicity for help is normal. It's no big thing. It's fine. It's allllll fiiiiiine.

Except when Oliver asks Felicity for help with SUSAN. Boy... have you lost your damn mind? WHAT EVEN?

I'm willing to concede from Oliver's perspective he was solving a problem. A hacker ruined Susan's career. A hacker needs to fix it. Since Felicity is that hacker, Oliver wants to give her a chance to fix it. On the surface it seems like reasonable a request. 1+1 = 2. Right?

WRONG. Let's put aside Oliver is dating the Mistress of Satan. (Yes, I dislike her that much.)

The request comes off like Oliver wants Felicity's help getting his girlfriend to call him back. 

Oliver, this is not Felicity's problem. This will never be Felicity's problem. Figure out how to get your piece of ass back into bed on your own.

When Felicity is saying, "Hey this is wildly inappropriate," Oliver then IT IS WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE. 

Also, writers, when you are writing dialogue where one character comments on how wildly inappropriate something is maybe the scene isn't such a hot idea. Just my two cents. Kick it around. Do what you will with it.

Felicity pretty much tells Oliver to fix his own relationships, God bless her. I also love how she has extreme difficulty forming the words "girlfriend." The mere mention of Susan as Oliver's girlfriend makes Felicity look like she wants to vomit. Girl, same. 

Oliver, however, ignores Felicity's red flag waving him off and instead barrels ahead because Susan is not calling him back and it's all Felicity's fault (and Thea's). I mean there's obtuse and then there's THIS.

Oliver, did you forget that you dropped Felicity's boyfriend like a two ton stone?

How many arrows were in Billy's body again? How many times has she come to you demanding you fix it? None!

(No, one passive aggressive mention does not stack up against the balls you had to ask her something like THIS.)

Not that killing Billy is really a fixable problem, but taking down Prometheus is Felicity's priority. What is your priority? Saving Black Siren, dating Susan, playing Mayor, dating Susan.  Has Prometheus even hit your nifty top fifty on your "Things To Do" list Oliver? Methinks not.

By the by, how many times did you whine to Diggle about Felicity not calling you back after she broke up with you? 

How many times did you go to Curtis for some hacking help to fix LYING TO YOUR FIANCE? 

Or were these things that happened off screen? 

Somehow I don't think so. Am I bitter? YOU BET I AM. Maybe if you put half the energy into running after Felicity as you are in running after Susan YOU WOULDN'T NEED SUSAN IN THE FIRST PLACE AND I'D BE THREE MONTHS AWAY FROM MY FREAKING TRIPLETS. 

***Yes, I know Oliver apologized. I know Felicity said no. I know she walked away. No need to school me on the Olicity Break Up of 2016. I am aware of all party's actions, but when I am yelling at Oliver about other things I get to yell at him about the things he did wrong in the break up. Those are the rules. If Felicity ever does something like this then I'll yell at her about what she did wrong in the break up too. Except, Felicity would never do something like this because she is not a goober.

It's like Oliver is an oak tree. A big, dumb, oak tree. Sturdy, strong, can provide protective cover when necessary, pretty to look at... you get where I'm going. But brain activity? None to speak of. BIG. DUMB. OAK. TREE.

Oliver, while you were too busy worrying about the next time you're going to get laid, Thea and Felicity were protecting your secret and the team. Can you stop acting like this is the worst thing Felicity has ever done? It's not like she committed murder to protect your secret. I'm trying to remember... who committed murder to protect your secret.... hmmm... oh that's right, YOU!

Didn't see you twisting yourself into a pretzel to fix that shit Oliver, so let's cool the condemnation pretty boy.

It's not like Felicity forgot what happened to Susan Oliver. She is a genius and it's been all of a week the worst reporter in the history of the world had to write on a blog. If Felicity wanted to fix it she would have.

Pause.

Anyone notice how Susan is really snotty about blogging? It pisses me off. SHE'S THE WORST. Uppity little... grrr....argh.

Unpause.

If anyone should do the asking, it's Thea. Last time I checked, both women are grown so let them do their own fixing. I'd have less of an issue with Oliver asking Felicity to do better if he didn't sound so patronizing. Why is it when Felicity challenges Oliver to do better it sounds inspiring, but when Oliver does it he sounds like a jerk?

It's not always. Oliver can be inspiring with Felicity. I'm sure it's just this particular subject matter. Defending Susan William's honor doesn't feel like the noblest of high ground pursuits (re: see Mistress of Satan). 

Susan Williams doesn't inspire my inner Mother Theresa, so I have no qualms with Thea and Felicity having the same reaction to her. Also, Thea and Felicity can recognize Susan is shady and Oliver is incapable of that. Here’s the kicker.

Oliver is right. 

It's not okay what they did to Susan, but that position would go down a lot better with me if Oliver also acknowledged that what Susan did to him was not okay either. Let's spread the moral condemnation around fella.

Of course, because she is Felicity, she agrees to help get Susan's job back. 

Before Oliver leaves, Felicity gives him some words of encouragement. She calls Mayor Oliver Queen a hero and it's a much needed boost to Oliver's heart and confidence. SHE IS A UNICORN TOO PRECIOUS FOR THIS EARTH. Ya know what Queen? Sometimes you don't deserve her. ACTUAL ANGEL.

And this fool is so freaking in love with her he can barely see straight. REMOVE HEAD FROM ASS OLIVER. SHE IS YOUR LOBSTER.

Let’s just vent this out, shall we?

Are we really living in a world right now where Oliver cares more about his relationship with shady reporter lady than he does about what's going on with Felicity? Are we really living in a world right now where Oliver is more concerned about fixing his relationship with Susan than he ever was about fixing his relationship with Felicity, the woman he wanted to marry? I mean... we've gone to, "I'm going to die alone if I can't have Felicity" to "I have zero standards left because I don't want to die alone." That's not growth Oliver. That's ignoring huge red flags, which is a Dating 101 no-no. Obviously, trying to find happiness is optimistic and wonderful.  I'm very proud of Oliver, but holy sweet Moses dude. SUSAN IS THE WORST. You aren't in love with that... that... lying, conniving, fire breathing, opportunistic, only-cares-about-herself... PLOT DEVICE. Could you PRETEND to care that she invaded your privacy and was investigating you? Could we attempt to address that? I mean... WHAT PLANET AM I ON? No. Just NO. Susan is not your epic love. Your epic love, and future mother of your children, is wearing the perfect pink dress and walking her cute little butt into a dark spiral. GET IN THE GAME OLIVER. IT'S TIME TO PLUG IN. This is MADNESS I tell you. MADNESS.

***The purpose of a vent is to express frustration emotionally. Are all these statements irrevocably true? Probably not. Have I written near anthologies about how Oliver fought for Felicity? YES. Have I written near anthologies on why Felicity needed to walk away? YES. Each party has things they were right and wrong about. Should they have broken up? YES. Could both of them have done more? YES, but then they wouldn’t have broken up. And around we go. Being angry at Oliver right now doesn’t eradicate the 15 million times I’ve defended him, so I am asking everyone for a little patience in my venting. Sometimes I just get pissed off at this guy. I don’t love everything he does, but it doesn’t mean I love the character any less. 

So, no. I refuse to believe this is all just coincidental. 

I refuse to believe Oliver is acting like a supreme jackass because he is a supreme jackass. I'd prefer if the hero of the story didn't become unbearable to watch. I've watched Elena Gilbert once already and once was enough, thank you very much. (Sorry honey).

So... what is going on with Oliver? 

The benefit of writing a review a few days late is we get spoilers post episode viewing.  Stephen said in a FB live chat Oliver's behavior is, in part, because of Prometheus' manipulation. 

So... what is it? Prometheus offered Oliver's body as host to one of the Dominators? Is he Puppet Oliver? Pod Oliver? Whatever it is it needs to be something because this obtuse, insensitive, tunnel vision Oliver is not MY Oliver. It's not Felicity's Oliver. This is Laurel's Oliver and I want no part of that mess. 

I have to believe Prometheus is involved SOMEHOW because Oliver's request to help Susan has an interesting outcome. 

Felicity officially joins Helix. It's not a direct result of her conversation with Oliver, but I don't think it helped matters. If Prometheus is trying to get Oliver to create further wedges in his relationships, then he's doing a good job.

There comes a moment where Oliver must choose between Green Arrow and Oliver Queen. He chooses Oliver Queen and throws Green Arrow under the bus, blames him for Billy's murder, so he's not impeached as Mayor. I should be happier Oliver chose the man, and not the mask, but I'm not. Certainly, Felicity's words bolstered Oliver. Gave him the strength to do what he believes is necessary. Maybe even helps Oliver believe he was saving the side of himself that Star City needs most.

Except, Felicity never said Star City didn't need the Green Arrow. Felicity never said the Green Arrow wasn't a hero. We've been down this road before with Oliver. He's chosen one side of himself before. He's chosen the mask 

and he's chosen the man. 

It's not about choosing one or the other. It's about balancing both.

Simply because we want Oliver to understand the best part of himself is the man, that Oliver Queen is who makes the Green Arrow a hero, doesn't mean the mask is without value.  Oliver Queen may be driving the bus, as mayor and Green Arrow, but the Green Arrow can do good Mayor Queen cannot and vice versus. If Oliver is going to save Star City, if he's going to beat Prometheus, if he's going to find his way back to Felicity... he needs both sides unified.

I think part of Oliver knows this because as he was accusing the Green Arrow of murder, making the vigilante a wanted man just like The Hood and The Arrow were, he seems uncertain. Like there's a part of Oliver that knows this isn't the way to beat Prometheus, but he feels like he doesn't have any other choice. Or does he?

It's almost like Prometheus wants Oliver to burn his house to the ground while Oliver is still inside. Prometheus hands Oliver the match and then just stands back as Oliver lights his on fire and watches it crumble. The question is... what is the match? I don't know, but I am curious to find out, which makes episodes like 15 easier to bear. Hopefully, we've bottomed out and Arrow is shifting to another, more interesting, gear.

Diggle and Felicity

Not a lot of things shake John Diggle. He's a soldier, been to war a couple times, married TWICE, two children (one erased (thanks a lot Barry), shot his own brother and put up with Oliver Queen's shenanigans for years. Not a lot of things get underneath Diggle's skin.

But Felicity messing with the dark side? Diggle is shook.

Diggle decides it's high time Yoda returns to offer some sage advice. His first youngling isn't Oliver, but Felicity.  (Although you could tell him to snap out of his Susan trance when you have a minute Dig). 

Diggle pushes back on Felicity and her use of Pandora. Felicity is reasonably unconcerned with the danger of Pandora. She feels like that much power is in the right hands... her hands. Each member of Team Arrow has rolled around in the muck to fight the bad guy. They've each faced a darker side of themselves in the nightly war they are waging. Felicity argues she's no different and she's tired of standing on the sidelines, watching everyone she loves get hurt or die. She's ready to fight fire with fire.

Diggle warns Felicity fighting fire with fire inevitably leads to being burned. He tells Felicity her real superpower isn't her brain... it's her heart. She has an limitless amount of empathy and it's her goodness, compassion and love that makes Felicity who she is. It's what helps make Team Arrow what it is too. Diggle doesn't want Felicity to become cold and hardened just to beat the bad guy at his own game. Diggle wants Felicity to beat the bad guy by being better than him.

Felicity may feel this is hypocritical of John, who just a few episodes ago, beat a man to a bloody pulp. It's the "do what I say, not what I do" argument, but it's also one Diggle believes. It's one he's experienced. He's slowly, but surely, coming out of his fire and has the burns to prove it. He doesn't want Felicity to experience that pain. It's nothing Diggle hasn't done with Oliver a hundred times before. He's been in that dark hole Felicity is in and he knows the way out. He's offering Felicity a hand, but she doesn't reach back.

You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved and Felicity Smoak doesn't want to be saved. Felicity doesn't heed Diggle's warning. Instead, she barrels headfirst into the ring of fire. She dives deeper into the hole. 

I kind of love that about her. Nobody can tell her what to do. Nobody can control her. Certainly not the men who've done far worse than she has. Felicity is her own woman, with her own mind, and she's in the driver's seat. She views Helix as a No Holds Barred team and that's what she wants right now. The gloves are coming off. Felicity isn't afraid of being burned, because she's almost numb to everything.

It reminds me, so very much, of Oliver Queen in Season 1. Eventually, Oliver's "fighting fire with fire" led him into flames that burned too hot. 

The pain was almost more than he could bear. 

My one hope is, Felicity escapes her fire before she loses something precious to her and that includes herself.

Thea

Honestly, I'm surprised Oliver is surprised when Thea quits and leaves. That's what happens when you spend the better part of two episodes blaming Thea for everything that's gone wrong in Susan William's life and hold your new girlfriend accountable for nothing Oliver. How is Thea supposed to react when it feels like you are choosing some chick you're dating a few weeks over your family?

I admire Thea for refusing to fix anything with Susan. She's holding her ground with Oliver. She was protecting Oliver against someone who is a serious threat, even if Oliver is too blind to see it. If Thea has to pick between Susan losing her job and protecting her brother that's an easy choice. It's also an easy between darkening herself or protecting her brother.

That's the Moira Queen in her. That's the side of Moira I always understood. Moira was immoral, but she willingly darkened her soul if it meant protecting her children. It doesn't make anything Moira did right, but she'd walk into hell if it meant keeping her children safe.

The problem is, once you cross that line it's difficult not to cross it again. Thea is more than prepared to blackmail a man on the impeachment panel. She even suggests offering Billy Malone up as the sacrificial lamb. Anything is okay in the name of protecting Oliver.

This is why it's important to have some kind of moral code, because if we don't, we can justify just about anything. Thea realizes she's headed down a slippery slope. She realizes maybe the darkness from the bloodlust hasn't left her... it's just become something else. So, she leaves... and that's the Prometheus in all of this.

There's a way of demanding better from people without patronizing them or alienating them in the process. It's a skill both Thea and Felicity have, because they've demanded better from Oliver without making him feel like he needs to remove himself from their sight. Oliver's general obtuseness about Susan, holding her accountable for nothing, helped drive Thea away. Again, if Prometheus is trying to drive a wedge between Oliver and his most important relationships, he's doing a fine job.

I can't help but feel that Arrow isn't making Oliver a better man. Instead they are making everyone around him worse, so Oliver looks better in comparison. That's not character growth. That's not being "the light." Oliver has to demand more of himself before he can demand it of others. He cannot do that if he's being hypocritical. Thea is the first casualty of this mistake. Instead of trying to be some image he has in his head of the man he wants to be, Oliver needs to actually be that man. Oliver needs to turn inward, instead of looking outward. Then, and only then, will he be the kind of man who can ask more of his sister without driving her away.

Susan "The Absolute Worst" Williams

Let's just run down Susan's greatest hits

- Plays Thea into giving up information on Quentin's alcoholism, then writes an article on Lance in an attempt to burn Oliver, Thea, Quentin and their administration

- Investigates Oliver Queen while they are dating and doesn't tell him.

- Admonishes Oliver's lack of honesty about his secret identity when she's been lying to him for weeks and weeks.

- Subtle threatens to expose Oliver's secret by asking him for a comment ON THE RECORD

- When people around Oliver protect him from Susan's threat, she pitches a hissy fit over losing her job and credibility, without recognizing the role she played.

- Blames Oliver for losing her job and credibility. Even though Oliver swears he had nothing to do with it, Susan doesn't believe him. Susan expects Oliver to trust her enough, a reporter who's been investigating him, with his deepest darkest secret, but doesn't trust Oliver enough to believe when he's telling the truth.

- Is vengeful over losing her job that she actually wishes Oliver harm. She wants him to be impeached.

- After Oliver is in well publicized car crash, where he experiences severe injuries and is taken to the local hospital, Susan refuses to answer Oliver's call. Doesn't care enough about him to see if he's okay.

- Only wants to continue dating Oliver when her job is secured.

- Only decides to keep Oliver's secret after securing her job. Keep in mind she made no promises of that any time she interrogated him about his identity.

I’m sure I forgot a bunch but that’s my list. This woman makes me miss Laurel. Laurel y’all.

So... where is all of Susan William's "feelings" for Oliver? It seems to me the only thing she cares about is her career and getting ahead. That's Susan's priority and I wouldn't have an issue about it if she simply stopped acting so holier than thou and above it all. You're not above it all Susan. You're down in the dirt just like everyone else. Own it.

If this is a comparison and contrast to Felicity Smoak, it should come as no surprise, that Oliver Queen's epic love comes out ahead. Oliver has hurt Felicity in ways far worse than Susan, but she never stopped caring about him.

Felicity never wished Oliver harm. 

She always had his back. 

She believes in him.

Felicity often put Oliver's needs ahead of her own, 

even when they weren't together. 

That's what selfless love looks like. That's what real partnership is.

While I admire Oliver's attempt to move on, it needs to be for someone worth it. Susan Williams is not, but Felicity Smoak is. Oliver needs to take his Susan Williams blinders off and realize moving on isn't the answer. He needs to go back and address what went wrong in the first place with Felicity because the only way he'll ever be able to truly move forward is with her. 

The upside? I think we just bottomed out. So, that time is approaching much faster than we think.

Stray Thoughts

Paul... that was cold man. You could have let Curtis order a drink. At least allow him copious amounts of alcohol before serving him with divorce papers.

Curtis, you poor bastard, but you should have seen it coming. We all did.

The ball jokes about the T spheres never get old.

I want Felicity's pink dress so bad. I do not want to spend $300 however.

Dinah continues to be awesome.

Thea can't take out one henchman? Since when?

Am I supposed to care who Vigilante is? Cause I don't.

Am I supposed to care Susan is in danger? Cause I don't.

Thea leaving town is a lot about Willa’s contract. Just an FYI.