#arrowmeta

[prixmiumarchive]

The thing about Black Canary

I’m a couple weeks behind on Season 6, but I’ve been watching. However, I’m also a recently-returned fan who stopped watching Arrow (and lots of things at the same time) mid-S3. I have absorbed a lot of things through osmosis and gifs and reading wikis and so on, because sometimes I need spoilers for fannish activities, and it’s more about the journey it most cases. I’m disclosing this to let you know where I’m coming from, but anyway...

A lot of the time I see some ~discourse~ about how Sara is the true Black Canary because per Arrow she was the first. I also see a lot of posts that complain that Laurel’s becoming a superhero arc was really unconvincing and that they didn’t like it and wanted Sara to stay and so on... There seems to be a lot of “haha, in your face!” kind of victory dance goings-on when Sara gets used as the face of the Black Canary (there was some mobile app; there have also been other promotional materials that are not directly connected to the CW’s DCTV set that seem to use Caity Lotz’s likeness as a model). I think a lot of this is unnecessary, and since I am way more familiar with the front end of Arrow than the current back end of it, even though I’m closing the gap, I just felt like making a post sort of addressing this weird, competitive viewpoint that almost views Laurel as having foisted the Black Canary title upon herself, stealing it from Sara or something, when I just don’t think it’s a fair take on it.

Another disclaimer: this post has fuck-all to do with shipping, so check those counterclaims at the door, thanks.

So here are some things that are true in my view that tend to be used as things to back up the claim that Sara is the proper or true Black Canary and that we don’t need or want another one and that Laurel should’ve been removed because no one liked her or that this was a character development for Laurel that was never meant to happen and... so... on:

Per Arrow, Sara was the first Black Canary.

Laurel began the show as a very slightly more competent than typical in self-defense normal.

Both Oliver and Sara had five years of lived experience combat training while Laurel had none to speak of except becoming increasingly more familiar with needing to defend her immediate self from constant threat of danger over the course of the show. Laurel was often sort of presented as a damsel in distress for both Oliver and Sara.

Laurel’s initial attempts at becoming the Black Canary were extremely ill-advised.

The fact that she was allowed out into the field with the rest of Team Arrow as a fully-participant superhero in her own right when she was is a really questionable in-universe decision even if they were going to allow her to become a part of their superhero team due to her relative lack of experience.

This lack of experience is one of the reasons she died, in-universe, possibly.

However, I think that the conclusions that some people draw from this about narrative direction are simply unfair, and I wanted to point out a couple of things that I think tend to show that Laurel was meant to become the Black Canary all along.

See below for a surprisingly humongous post in sections.

Sara

The first thing has to do with Sara’s journey as the Canary/Yellow Bird/Black Canary. All of this had to do with very brutal survival for her, and when she finally did become a hero, it was a journey similar to Oliver’s only with an even more deep and dark background. I do not know when plans for Legends of Tomorrow to exist came into play, and I know that there are critiques that they whitewashed “White Canary” because the White Canary from the comics was an entirely other character who was an Asian woman, but that critique aside what we have in this canon is that Sara was on her way to becoming White Canary. Laurel actually is given a very beautiful line about this when she and Sara are discussing Rip Hunter’s offer to her. She shows Sara the white uniform/costume and Sara asks where the mask is. Laurel tells her she doesn’t need one because it’s time for her to step out of the shadows and into the light. This seems like a very cogent progression of Sara’s character arc.

Sara ran away from the League of Assassins because she finally got to a point where she couldn’t take being a murderer anymore. She came back to Starling City to see that her family was alive after the Undertaking. She had no intentions of staying or of rejoining normal life because she had already become so dangerous and put herself in so much danger that she saw no way out. Then, through staying, she found friends and family and a support system again. This allowed her to begin to step out of mere survival mode. One of the differences for Sara and Oliver in this respect is that Oliver had the respite of a lot more experiences where people were not behaving toward him with ulterior, cruel, or evil motives. Sure, it was punctuated by trauma and needing to do awful things to survive all the time and every time right up until the end, but Oliver’s humanity was not quite so thoroughly eroded as Sara needed to make hers. It isn’t until she returns to Starling that she even begins to unravel that for herself. So when she ultimately passes on the mantel of Black Canary for good, rather than there being two, rather than anything else, this is an evolution for her character and self-perception and a continuing search for more of that becoming more human-again -- not a necessary scramble for a new moniker for her because someone stole hers. It didn’t come out of nowhere.

Had Legends of Tomorrow never come into existence, I’m not sure what they would have done with Sara’s character, but I still don’t think her end goal ever would have been to remain Black Canary forever. For her, it was intimately connected with her chosen name for the League of Assassins and the terrible things she had done to survive. First, she needed to take her identity as it was and use it for good, but then she needed some new dimension to herself, and so I don’t know why people insist that Sara needed to stay the one, the only Black Canary forever. It wasn’t what she wanted.

Laurel

Then, there’s Laurel. I will agree forever with some meta I read several years ago, around the time when I was still eagerly watching S3 before I just rage-quit-because-of-fandom everything I was keeping up with episode-by-episode at the winter hiatus, about comparing the way The Flash was handling Iris in S1 and comparing it to the way Arrow handled Laurel in S1. I think maybe it was in a post that was still defending the possibility of endgame Laurive/r which I don’t really care one way or the other about -- I’m a multishipper; I always shipped Olicit/y; I never didn’t-ship Laurive/r but I also never OTPed it. Anyway, it said something about how making Laurel an “intrepid normal” or “intrepid civilian” at the beginning of Arrow was a serious mistake for her entire character arc. 

I’ll admit that I still don’t know why they made her a lawyer unless it was simply to give her a job within the legal system that was different from her father’s. I don’t really know if she has ever had a consistent civilian occupation in the comics - the wiki entry I found said “florist” (lol). I know in Young Justice that she shows some skills for counseling that seem to indicate a background in it, but that could even be a getting-things-past-the-radar allusion to her being in AA for a kids’ show. However, it is still beyond me that they went so far as to make her a very normal, typical noncombatant even though they do give her basic self defense class skills from the very beginning. For example, I’ll never understand, now that we have Dinah Drake, why Laurel couldn’t have been a rookie police officer or something except that they wanted to present a contrast between her and Quentin. But also -- her father in the comics is Larry Lance. Her mother is Dinah Drake. There are all kinds of allusions to the comics layered into Arrow and the CW’s DCTV or “Arrowverse,” even in really unexpected places, but they are not meant to be direct ports. Arrow is, in terms of itself, on its own Earth-1 and it is canonically a distinct reality from many others.

Back to my point, I can see why the fact that she was so deeply entrenched as a civilian at the beginning might make people be suspect of the idea that she was ever “meant to be” Black Canary. That doesn’t mean there weren’t signs though. They go to the trouble to establish in the second episode that Laurel has some self defense skills. “Cop dad, remember?” she reminds Oliver when he seems confused.

Furthermore, choosing a profession for her in the legal system shows us that she already has an investment in her own view of justice. When she finally does try becoming Black Canary, she uses the line, “I'm the justice you can’t run from,” representing a resolution of a very long character arc she had grappling with the morality and necessity of vigilantism. She went from being reluctantly enamored by it in Season 1 to violently opposed to it in Season 2 to finally realizing a need for it and being tempted into trying it out in Season 3. That is a progression of character, not wild inconsistency.

Now I want to talk a little bit about Laurel’s characterization and the way it is characterized by the fandom. There is a lot of mental retconning that goes on for a lot of people. I’m not necessarily blaming anyone; I view fandom as an experience to engage in, and if your fanon is what you prefer, go right ahead. But I think that the writing of Laurel’s character suffered from them keeping her in the dark and clueless for as long as she was about what was going on around her. In Season 2, Laurel is really struggling with what she does know about her life. She has abandonment issues. She is grieving very deeply. She feels guilty. She is developing a substance abuse problem and generally freaking out about her own life while trying to keep an adult and professional face on it.

... And people hated her for it. This was the time when I was most-active in an Arrow fandom that hadn’t splintered off into this faction and that faction at that point. Olicit/y headcanoning and campaigning and wishing was alive and well but hadn’t created its own whole side-fandom. People still watched it weekly and regularly and blogged about it on tumblr without it being justification to judge the viewer. What halcyon tumblr times those were. But anyway. So many people despised Laurel back then. I don’t know if newer fans (uh, are there newer fans?) would even remember.

Most recently, Laurel has been a justification for people to hate Arrow because she’s gone. #NoLaurelNoArrow was a tag protesting her death. Again, I think as with Olicit/y, there’s probably a chicken and egg argument about whether or not the writers responded to fandom outcry to keep Laurel’s character on in some form or if they were already planning to do that. If you know I wouldn’t mind being enlightened. But back in, like, early 2014, “no one” liked Laurel. (’Cept me~)

The main reason they didn’t like Laurel was because she “whined” all the time or was a “bitch” for prioritizing her own emotional angst over the plethora of other problems that were actually far more immediate, pressing, deadly, and overall traumatic. But the thing that people don’t get is that she doesn’t have a bird’s eye view (pun?) on everything going on around her, and the narrative deliberately kept her in the dark for a year longer than it should have.

Wouldn’t it have been more interesting if she’d realized that Oliver was the Hood in the Season 1 finale and then her drinking and vendetta and upset over Tommy and the Hood and everything had an even more personal, complicated edge to it? That’s one retcon/AU headcanon suggestion, but don’t mind me.

Anyway, all of these acknowledged critiques doesn’t mean that there wasn’t always a general direction they were headed with all of this. Laurel and Sara’s gradual reconciliation over the course of the season, culminating in Sara giving Laurel her black leather jacket was character development. The passing of the jacket was foreshadowing. And everyone knew it and made an outcry about how they-could-not-possibly-be-considering-doing-this-this-sucks-so-much because, again, no one liked Laurel. Fast forward two years and many of those same people were quitting the show because Laurel died, but I digress. It was foreshadowing at the end of S2, even when the audience didn’t want it to be.

The Crucible(s)

There’s also the matter of a theme that Arrow has carried around with it literally since the very beginning: the Crucible.

Lian Yu literally means “purgatory.” Oliver constantly describes it and his experiences on “the island” as hellish. We know that he was not always on Lian Yu during those five years, but he was always on “the island” in a metaphorical sense and going through hell. The same was true for Sara. She faced her own trial of fire which made her into a henchmen, a murderer, an antihero-at-best, and finally a hero who operates in the light.

One of the first times we hear Oliver get to talk about his Crucible and the nature of personal crucibles such as they are, the first time that word ‘crucible’ is used, is when he meets and befriends/catches-feelings-for Helena Bertinelli. Helena is convinced that her experience of losing her fiance is the same as whatever crucible Oliver has faced. She has hurt so much that there is no way anyone can outdo her suffering after all. I don’t think Oliver ever thought it was a contest per se, but he tries to convince her that even after all he went through that there has to be another way than being a cold-blooded serial killer, y’know.

Helena refuses to learn that lesson. Nevertheless, she plays a role in showing that many people go through crucibles but not all of them come out changed for the better. We’re not meant to especially like Helena on a narrative level, but she isn’t a filler character necessarily. She’s a minor character, sure, but that’s not the same as filler. She had this purpose -- to tell us about the nature of this kind of suffering and what it can do to people. That is literally the entire Symbol of her character. She recurs because she is that theme recurring.

One of the time she recurs is in the Season 2 episode “Birds of Prey” -- another comic book allusion to the group for which Dinah Laurel Lance is best known. There is no new superhero team formed in that episode, but it is an episode that is making that titular illusion for a reason no less. This episode has Laurel and Helena having several conversations while she is holding Laurel hostage. The actual plot of the episode is, you know, an episode plot, but it shows us how Laurel has grown in her survival skills and in her view of her own survival. Laurel uses her words to communicate with Helena about Tommy’s death and her descent into addiction. Helena tells her “Once you let the darkness inside, it never comes out.”

Laurel adopts and thinks about these words even after this ordeal. She is in a very dark place, and she has been trying to deal with it. Her story actually parallels Helena’s in many ways. Tommy was not her fiance, but there is a sense in which Tommy died in Laurel’s place when she was the person who was at “fault” doing what she believed to be the right thing at the time... just like Helena. I don’t think that this parallel is a totally accidental coincidence. Laurel is being given the opportunity to go through something similar and to use that darkness, that ordeal in a different way than Helena did.

As mentioned above with Sara, it seems that this story uses the mantel of the Black Canary as a sort of place where women who have been through something very dark, very terrible go to make peace and amends. This has been true for Sara, it was why Laurel became the Black Canary, and it remains true through Dinah Drake of Arrow acting as the Black Canary. When Laurel had this thought put in her head by Helena, that was a step closer to doing something like becoming the Black Canary. Sara giving Laurel that jacket was also a symbolic signal and a step closer. Sara’s death was yet another part of that crucible Laurel was being put through. Just because her Crucible didn’t happen somewhere remote and primal doesn’t mean it isn’t a crucible, and I think that is one of the things they were always trying to do with her and it may be why she was still “normal” when the show began. Laurel was meant to go through her own Crucible and to come out the other side as the Black Canary.

Felicity (and Serendipity)

I would be remiss not to at least address Felicity here. I know that I’ve seen photo manipulations and speculation in the past that maybe someday Felicity would become the next Black Canary. Even back when it was being foreshadowed that Laurel one day would take up the mantel (maybe especially then?), people would suggest that Felicity would be a better and more logical choice. I mean, sure 2/3 Black Canaries have been blonde when they were running around in the leather, but other than that, this was a nonsense kind of suggestion. Honestly, too, I think many fans’ desire to see Felicity promoted rather than Laurel was a shipping competition as much as it was anything else.

Felicity is also a good person to bring up here because of her character arc always being one of ascendancy to something no one ever expected her to become on meta and in-universe levels. From my understanding, Felicity was originally intended to be a minor, supporting, comic relief character to give a face to the employees of Queen Consolidated and to have her subplot with Walter and the Hamlet-esque Queen family drama. However, with whomever they Test things with to get reaction, Felicity Tested very well. She was well-received and well-liked and people wanted more of her, and so she kept staying on.

It’s hard to even imagine now because Felicity and the Original Team Arrow feel so deep and integral to the show and its developed mythos at this point. However, I want to point out that Felicity did not actually learn the truth about Oliver and join the original Team Arrow until after the midseason finale of Season 1. Now, again, I don’t actually have my finger on the pulse of the writing staff because I’m just not that kind of fan -- that stuff wears me out -- but that midseason finale thing might be important because it might indicate renegotiation and rewriting of a sort in order to make sure Felicity slotted into the space they’d sort of made for her through experimentation with her interaction with Oliver and John. Before that, “Team Arrow” was literally just Oliver and his “bodyguard.”

Anyway, Felicity was a new cog in the machine. She is and was an original character, as John is and was, and she was not originally intended to stick around. You know, cue the started-from-the-bottom-now-we-here meme. Given that Olicit/y might be a serendipitous thing, but it was completely and totally unplanned until it just started happening and they rolled with it -- if you write fic you know that feeling where your characters just start telling you what to do? I imagine professional writers are a little more shrewd and resistant to their own impulses when they think they could make more money by doing it another way, but Olicit/y is literally one of those “oops my hand slipped and now I have what is (arguably) a masterpiece!” things and people seem to forget that or make it into a point for arrogance when really you should just take the win if you like it.

The Interruption of Laurel’s Destiny

Now, the fact that Felicity was never a planned-on character meant that prior to knowing that Felicity was gonna be there for the long-haul, the writers... did.. have a plan. I am not sure when the various parts of the Arrowverse went into production conceptually, but Arrow was the cornerstone. Whether or not it had been successful enough to spawn its universe of shows, I heard somewhere once that the writers had a plan for six years of the show. (I’m wondering if this will end up voluntarily being the last season, but who knows at this point. More recently I read this sort of platitude-like statement that was like they know how Arrow is gonna end but they can take as long as they want to get there which scares me a lot because i can imagine what I bet it’s gonna be but that is a different and terrible point for another day.) And yeah, the six years thing makes sense. They wanted to do the parallel plots of the present and the “island” flashbacks for five seasons, and then they wanted at least a season for epilogue -- fair enough. And for so long, I’d thought that maybe they’d abandoned that plan altogether, but whatever this was I was told my best friend had read included allusions to a lot of the things such as William’s current role and so on. So basically, I don’t think they ever abandoned or changed their plan; they adapted it.

They adapted it to include Felicity, yes. However, they also didn’t adapt it to include Laurel in a new way but still chose not to get rid of her. Now, I’m glad they didn’t do that. I liked-Laurel-before-it-was-cool and everything. But the issue was not that they never had a plan for Laurel or that they changed it in terms of her becoming Black Canary. What happened was that she was clearly originally intended to be Oliver’s endgame love interest. But they fumbled it. Even before they decided to do anything with Felicity that we know of, they fumbled it.

They fumbled it by giving them such a big thing as what happened to Sara to be their big obstacle to overcome. It’s too big. They fumbled it by going to the trouble of almost bypassing the typical love triangle bullshit until right at the end of Season 1 to keep you guessing. They fumbled it by making Tommy ultimately still extremely-admirable. They fumbled it by writing the fact that Tommy, Laurel, and Oliver all cared really deeply about each other actually really well. They fumbled it by giving us the one really actually-moving and not just sentimental, confused soup of nostalgia (which was fine but like y’know not convincing romantic development) moment between Oliver and Laurel happen right before Oliver was about to go tank it forever by “getting Tommy killed” backlit by that stupid sunlight framing thing they do. I say that moment is the Moment because before that we were literally given nothing but the most oblique allusions for what on earth Laurel and Oliver saw in each other apart from “bad boy I can fix because he’s not an irredeemable monster” and “pretty girl who never stops giving me chances.” They did a very good job of early and often letting us know why Tommy and Laurel liked each other and did nothing to give us a convincing love triangle (thank God, but also, it make this thing Not Work). They fumbled it by making Tommy and Laurel’s relationship so precious that Laurive/r looked pale and sad and like people trying to cling desperately to something lost and miserable in comparison. I’ve heard people say that Green Arrow/Black Canary is kind of supposed to be two human disasters who keep staying together or ending up back together over and over again even though it’s a mess, but they got... almost there... but never had the stomach for it, and the obstacles and comparisons they gave us were just too much for them to ever move past it unless they’d gone a far grittier place with it than they were ever willing to go. They gave it the old college try, but they backpedaled because they knew they fucked up.

(Side note: I would remind current fans that the Arrow school of writing romance seems to have a steep learning curve in this regard because when they canonized Olicit/y it became such a soup of crying and high romance there for a little while that it broke the fandom in half or more pieces and that they literally broke Olicit/y up for a while so as to get the show back on track before they touched it again. I’m happy with Olicit/y now, but this is not a Laurel-problem it’s a what-do-you-think-romance-IS thing @ the Writers. I bring this up as a defense of her but also because it’s also unclear if the beginning of Season 2 Oliver and Laurel interaction was a backpedal from which they intended to consider recovering from or if they had already decided against it but were keeping Laurel on as an important character anyway. Either might be true, but a part of me is scared that it was the former.)

When the dust settled and by the time Laurel was finally ready to begin taking her place in the narrative as Black Canary, Olicit/y had already started taking root. It was not to spite Laurel, but it also kind of didn’t help her. I still think you need to see Olicit/y as an independent development for the most part. The problem was and still is that they failed to figure out what they were going to do with Laurel instead. Laurel had one of the most richly developed background lives and jobs of any of the characters. She had friends who were minor supporting characters off and on. Her job impacted plots on the show. Her relationship to her job drove some of her own philosophical self-searching. Overall, she had a lot to work with, but they... didn’t work with it.

Anytime she had a love interest, he died (Tommy), was fundamentally too broken and misaligned with her to make it work whatever he wanted (Oliver), was evil (Sebastian Blood), and so on. Within the show, they never gave her anything that would work for her. A girl doesn’t need a love interest to be on a show, as we should all know, but this is a branch of a root problem with how they handled Laurel after Olicit/y started to develop. There was nothing wrong with Laurel no longer being Oliver’s planned endgame love interest. In fact, I find their dynamic as people who cared about each other and stayed-friends-anyway in the end interesting (which is why I hate her last words even though they could have so easily acknowledged that dynamic without Laurel throwing herself under the bus while praising Olicit/y when no one thought she had a problem with them in the first place but yeah).

The writers followed through on what appears to be their whole plan with her becoming Black Canary. Right down to her also responding to domestic violence suffered by another to initially motivate her the way Sara protected women down in the Glades. Laurel being intended to be the Black Canary was never the failure; it was the fact that Laurel was no longer intended to be the love interest and they didn’t know what to do with her on a personal level. I can think of suggestions that would have made me happy, but that’s for fic and another time and place. Laurel died for the in-universe reasons they give us, but on a meta level she didn’t die because she was a shitty superhero or because she wasn’t meant to be one. She died because we’re still living with her ghost today in the ways in which that six-year plan didn’t conform and adjust to make room for a personal life for Laurel Lance after Felicity joined the cast. I wouldn’t trade Felicity for anything, but I’d trade a lot of unnecessary subplots to give Laurel her life back.

(Final note: You want to come at us with the Laurel had no training and should never have been out in the field and blahblahblah but I just point you to Roy Harper and Thea Queen. Laurel is not the only offender.)

[bindy417]

In arrow some people think when Oliver dies in the crossover next year he will be brought back from the dead but I don’t think he will because it feels like it’s perement and Stephen wants to leave during season 8 and I’m okay for Oliver to die only ok what’s your thoughts about everything?

Hi anon,

Not gonna lie, if Oliver dies at the end of the series, I will be PISSED! Maybe these writers think it’s the only way for him to be “redeemed” but in my opinion, it would be a cop-out. Not just to the fans who have invested seven plus years in this show but also to Oliver as a character. A few weeks ago I did a Twitter thread explaining why:

I was addressing Oliver’s unmasking, but this also applies to his life and the end of the show. Oliver has never had a problem with sacrificing himself for the greater good. His entire journey as GA has been about that. Where he’s struggled is learning how to live again. Learning to give and accept love.

If Oliver were to die before he’s an old man who’s lived a full life, I feel like the entire message of the show will have been muddied. It feels wrong that death is the only way for him to atone for his sins, as was implied in the crossover. And since Oliver is like a soldier, I think it sends a horrible message to others who struggle with PTSD and trauma. Oliver’s life matters and none of these other so-called “heroes” who constantly get free passes to screw with the timelines would be where they are if Oliver didn’t decide to become The Arrow. They might not even have survived the crossover if Oliver hadn’t made some ominous deal with The Monitor. That has yet to be revealed, but I think the writers are trying to copy Marvel’s Infinity Wars just like they copied the Civil War last season.

I’m curious to see how this all plays out, but Arrow hasn’t felt like Arrow to me since 4A. While I’ve enjoyed certain Olicity scenes, none of the plotlines these writers have carried out feel true the show or the characters. If Stephen wants to leave after S8, that’s fine. I don’t think Arrow should continue without him, since it’s his journey. He is The Arrow, and Felicity and Dig are the key members of his team. There’s no reason to drag this show out unless they decide to do a show with their children; but even then I think these writers have lost the spark that made this show so great in the beginning.

My main thought is this:

While I hate the changes in the timeline because it feels like every single thing that happens on the show can so easily disappear, I’d be okay with this dark future being erased (and certain OOC events in seasons 5-7). I’d like for Oliver to be brought back and hailed as the hero that he is. This man and his family have suffered enough. This show needs to restore hope, and killing Oliver off is not going to make people want to rewatch this series after it’s over. It’s just going to disappoint them.

[bindy417]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Felicity and “darkness”

I have been trying off and on to write a 7x06 post all day but I’m just so overwhelmed. But one topic that I need to talk about is Felicity and her supposed “darkness,” because these thoughts have been SCREAMING FROM THE DEPTHS OF MY SOUL since last night (well maybe since 7x01) and I just need to write it down.

I don’t believe Felicity is capable of going to “the dark side.” 

There, I said it. 

I know that this is meant to be her main emotional arc in 7a, but every time we see Felicity flirting with “darkness,” all I see is her pain. I see her being pushed beyond her control, lost, trying everything she can to see what sticks. I mean, we’ve seen her haphazard attempts to work with John/Argus/Curtis, Rene, the FBI, Dinah, and ultimately Black Siren, but I don’t read that as a journey into darkness…I read it as desperation. 

It took Oliver years and years to go “dark” by degrees. And he didn’t have Felicity’s hope and optimism to start out with. So I’m sorry, Felicity’s not going to go dark in her soul in 6 months.

But I do think that, in a sense, she has lost her light. It’s just that her light has always been HOPE and BELIEF. She told Oliver in 2x23: “I don’t know (how to beat Slade) either. But I do know two things. You are not alone and I believe in you.” She wasn’t his light because she specifically pointed out the correct path; she was his light because she believed that there existed a solution (one that didn’t involve killing Slade).

And that belief, that faith that everything will work out, is what’s missing for her in season 7. (And we know why - it’s because, as much as her faith has always shown Oliver a better way, his belief in her is the thing that has enabled her to shine brighter and brighter).

She’s being let down and abandoned from all sides, and nothing’s working. And the thing is, no one is ever going to be her strength the way Oliver is. As much as we can blame everyone else (and we should) for not supporting her enough, none of them is ever going to be truly enough. SHE NEEDS OLIVER. So she asks Anatoly: “What would Oliver have done?” Not because she wants to go dark. But because she has always believed in Oliver, in his ability to get results. And she wonders if his way isn’t, after all, the correct path now. (And we need to pause for a moment of respect here. That one moment was singularly heart-wrenching. Because THIS GIRL KNEW OLIVER IN SEASON ONE. SHE KNEW WHAT HE HAD BECOME. SHE KNEW WHAT IT TOOK TO UNDO IT. And here she is asking Anatoly how she, in this moment, can be like Oliver was then.) 

So I don’t think Felicity is truly going “dark.” I think she’s just lost without Oliver. And if the show seriously tries to tell me otherwise, I’m not going to believe it. :D

(I have other 7x06 thoughts but I decided this needed its own post).

[faithfully-olicity]

I am curious, when do you think Felicity fell in love with Oliver? And visa versa?

Why, helloNonnie! (sorry for the late reply)  You ask a very loaded question, and about something that I haveprobably spent more time than I should thinking about. I mayor may not have just accidentallyre-watched all of Olicity’s scenes from Season 1 & 2...This got so much longer than I expected. Apparently I have feelings about this. Just a little.

There are manyschools of thought on this particular topic. There have been countless metas, behindthe scenes info and speculation on behalf of the fandom. I think thatthe greatest part of this is that Trollenheim et al. have never answered thisquestion. This is very deliberate on their part, initially not cause unwanted cough*Lauriver*cough drama, and eventually because such thinks are up for interpretation by eachindividual viewer – I also don’t think that it happened all at once, it was anaccumulation of lots of little moments. I will attempt to explain that general thoughts and ultimately when I think it happened.

1.   The first schoolof thought is that it happened instantaneously for both of them. I would highlyrecommend that you guys go back and watch this entire scene, thinking aboutwhat Oliver said to Felicity in 3x01. “The first person that I could see as aperson.” Sounds like soul mates meeting to me. The significance of this firstmeeting has never been lost for anyone – and forever changed the course oftheir lives. *Bonus: It has been said about one billion times by this point,but Stephen Amell’s Oliver fell for Emily Bett’s Felicity in this moment (evenif both of them didn’t know it for years) – and I honestly believe that Arrowmight now even still be around if it wasn’t for this scene. Sounds like destinyto me.

2.   This scene hasrecently become more significant because of what Felicity articulated to Barryin The Flash 1x18. “I helped him anyway, because I knew that Oliver was a goodperson with a good heart.” This is why Felicity is so important to Oliver, notmany people before or after the Island saw that light inside of him as soon asFelicity did. She was a complete stranger that saw through all of his lies,disguises and half-truths and saw his soul before he even knew that he stillhad one. Did someone say endgame?

3.   No-one fell inlove here (except me) I just wanted to include this scene because this is when – for me asa shipper – knew that these two were the real deal.

4.   This scene is myfavourite scene from the whole of Season 1 – because it is the for real ‘til-death-do-us-part’forming of the OG Team Arrow that I have become to love and adore so intensely.I think that this is the moment that Oliver knew that his loyalty and need toprotect Felicity was something more than friendship. Just look at his face, itsays it all. He truly cares for this girl and her bravery and dedication to thegreater good is a light in his dark and dreary world. Get used to it buddy.

5.   This is it. Overthe course of 2x08/2x09 Felicity Smoak fell in love with/ realised she was inlove with Oliver Queen. I think it was the combined circumstances of havingsomeone else (Barry) show an interest in her, Oliver being in some intensemortal peril and having to make a decision to save his life. Felicity never hidthe fact that she found Oliver attractive, but she never really had to confronther feelings for him until this time in Season 2. The wifey game is strong inthese episodes – and they also mark the time that everyone else startednoticing how she ‘looked at him’. By this time, it is widely considered thatthe writers were 100% on the Olicity train and really committed to the romanticstory between them, it certainly seems that way. All aboard.

6.   For Oliver, Ihave never really decided when it happened for reals – I think it is a toss-upbetween 2x22 and 2x23. First, 2x22. (Side note: You should all read jbuffyangel’s a-ma-zing meta about when she thinks Oliver fell in love withFelicity. Spoiler alert: It was this scene in 2x22). Her absolute andunwavering belief in him as a man and a hero floods in the light and hope that henever thought he could have again.

7.   Sometimes it takesOliver Queen some extreme circumstances to realise things or personallyreflect. We (the fandom) spent months afterthis finale analysing and analysing whether or not Oliver meant this ‘I loveyou’. Perhaps, he already knew. Perhaps saying it out loud was a relief despitethe circumstances. Perhaps saying the words out loud stirred a level of truthinside of him that he could no longer ignore. Perhaps he always knew, on somelevel. Perhaps he has spent his entire life trying to find her, so that theycan save the word. Together. Perhaps she was the one he always needed. I don’tknow, maybe I am biased...

8.   Regardless,which of these it was for Oliver:

There

Is

No

Doubt

That

This 

Man

Is

In

Love

I am now completely overwhelmed with how far we have come, how it was never supposed to happen and how beautiful and important it has became.

Sunsets & Porches, here we come...

[prixmiumarchive]

So a thing I like about early Arrow is that it had this fairly nuanced take on how Oliver viewed his father. Like, he loved his father. He missed his father and blamed himself for his death/suicide. However, he also fully recognized that Robert was a Lizard Capitalist and exactly the nature of what he was ostensibly going back to fix. Oliver knows his family’s money is ill-gotten, but he is using what he has learned and those resources to systematically terrify his dad’s greedy Lizard friends out of their ill-gotten gain. But he loved his dad, and he loves his mom too, even though she is also a Lizard Capitalist.

Granted this got derailed pretty quickly in favor of more typical superhero shenanigans. I still appreciate the effort the story made to cling to its Robin Hood-y roots at least up into Season 2. Terrorizing 1%ers is my aesthetic.

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A lot of Olicity fans are begging for Felicity to divorce Oliver. Good. He's piece of shit husband and she deserves better. He has continually mistreated her with lies and manipulation.

Hi Anon,

I don’t want Olicity to get divorced, but you’re right that Felicity Smoakdeserves better. The only way they can “fix” this next season is by allowingFelicity to be furious with Oliver and confront him when he’s released fromprison. They need to have a serious talk about him not including her indecisions. Oliver needs to apologize with an actual “I’m sorry,” and then heneeds to put words into action by opening up to his wife and respecting herinput. I love Oliver and believe his intentions are good; he’d do anything forhis family, but the writers need to work on how he goes about doingthings. Good intentions are no excuse for poor decisions, and he has to beallowed to evolve as a character and maintain his progress.

Although I’m hella pissed at Oliver right now, I can’t really put all theblame on him because he was done dirty this season just like every othercharacter on the show. My anger is directed at the writers, because this is100% on them. This season was one big careless, incoherent, sloppy mess! Here’sa brief rundown of how every character was mistreated:

Oliver Queen: betrayed by his team (excluding Felicity) and made outto be the bad guy when he did nothing wrong. Then is forced to apologize andsacrifice his life and family for the others’ sins and betrayal. He andFelicity were finally in a good place with trusting each other andcommunicating. By the end of the season, they regress him yet again by havinghim push Felicity away and making a decision without her. Then he paints atarget on his family’s back by outing himself. William already lost his mother,and it’s just wrong that Oliver would willingly sacrifice himself and let hisson lose yet another parent. As much as I love Felicity and William’s bond,they were abandoned and it’s not okay.

Felicity: starts off the season kicking ass as Overwatch, creatingher company, and making her own decisions about what she wants out of life.Then she’s forced out as Overwatch, her company storyline is hijacked by Curtisbefore being ignored completely, and she’s left to pick up the pieces ofOliver’s awful decision without any input. Her agency was obliterated, and it’sutterly unacceptable.

Thea: completely sidelined for almost two seasons and unable to fightas Speedy. For some reason, everyone else can still fight after the traumathey’ve faced but Thea is too “messed up” or “fragile” to continue wearing hermask. She’s made to uncharacteristically defend Oliver’s choice to lie toFelicity about William and defend newbies’ actions when her character has neverbeen okay with lying. When she does leave the show, she’s guilt-tripped intothinking it’s her responsibility to right Malcolm’s sins after he lied andmanipulated her for years. So, basically, she played into his hands again.

Dig: has no job outside of Team Arrow and no family backstory.Suddenly, being Spartan isn’t enough for him and he wants to be Green Arrow(even though he’s never expressed interest before and archery isn’t his skillset). He also gets mad at Oliver when he finally does show growth and maturity,and throws it all back in his face. It’s totally unfair considering that Digwas the one lying about taking drugs early on in the season and was willing togo out into the field without telling everyone he was injured and compromised.

Lance: behaves totally illogically and puts the city and his team indanger all to redeem a murderous doppelganger who isn’t his real daughter. It’sactually an insult to the real LL, who shouldn’t be so easily replaced by aclone in her father’s eyes. Also, he dies at the hands of a D-list villain bysacrificing himself for that undeserving dodo bird.

The newbies:  I never liked them to begin with. I barelytolerated them, because they seemed like entitled liabilities who never earnedtheir place or viewers’ respect. Rene betrays Oliver and creates this entiremess, and somehow Oliver and OTA are all to blame. They completely turn onOliver and bash him every chance they get, without any regard for their ownfaults. They also physically attack OTA and almost kill them. If you want toread a more detailed breakdown of why they can never be redeemed in my eyes,check out this prior post: “3Reasons Why the Newbies Will NEVER Be My Team Arrow.”

Star City: I used to admire Oliver’s mission to protect his home andits citizens. Yet, whether as GA or mayor, Oliver is constantly vilified andhunted down. He’s never acknowledged for the good he’s done or the sacrificeshe’s made. Star City is an ungrateful, undeserving burden around his neck atthis point. Viewers no longer have sympathy for the city or why Oliver should riskso much to save it. The writers completely destroyed the intent and audience’scompassion for Oliver’s mission. Many fans don’t care if it burns to the groundnow.

The list goes on (Diaz was an awful villain that had no clearmotivation or set of skills that would allow him to believably wreak so muchhavoc), but I’ll leave it here. Season 5 was awful, and I never thought Season6 could sink just as low. These writers failed this story, their characters,and the viewers. The new writers have a lot to fix, and I won’t give them thebenefit of the doubt. I have hope they will do a better job, but this show isat a breaking point. It’s do or die now, because too many mistakes have beenmade for too long. There needs to be a drastic change in how these charactersare portrayed and what message the writers want to send to viewers. The showneeds to rediscover its roots and show their characters and the audience therespect they deserve. No more plot over character, or else they’ll havesucceeded in completely destroying a once great show.

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Honestly, I feel like Felicity made no sense during the breakup like she made Oliver had a kid which he didn't know about all about her and in either timelines when he told and didn't she reacted bad it made no sense

Honestly, anon, the entire Olicity breakup made absolutely no sense. Ireceived your ask a little while ago, but I wanted to wait and see how thefinale played out before actually answering. I’m going to have to disagree withyou because 1. I don’t think Felicity was mad at the fact that Oliverhad a kid and 2. Oliver having a kid does without a doubt affect her.

Be warned, this post is going to be long. I won’t go into the entire Olicitybreakup dynamics because it’s been debated to death already, but I will sharemy stance and what I think is relevant to this discussion. Personally, I tendto side with Felicity in the breakup but by no means do I think she was perfectin the situation either.

Plain and simple, Oliver screwed up by lying to Felicity. There are two(okay, maybe more than two but for now this is the focus) major flaws with thisstoryline: The first is that Oliver feeling the need to lie stemmed from Barry(I am still livid with him!) saying that Felicity was angry and leftbecause of William. Barry totally screwed up the message and put it in Oliver’shead that the kid and not the lie would cause the breakup. The second issue is thatOliver himself (his lifestyle) was the danger to William that Samantha fearedand not necessarily everyone else.

Where this storyline got even more ridiculous was that Barry, Thea, andfreaking Malcolm Merlyn all knew about William before Felicity! Samanthatold Oliver not to tell anyone but if the cat is out of the bag withsomeone as dangerous as Merlyn, then it completely obliterates the need to lieto Felicity. It was actually dangerous that she didn’t know, because Felicityhad the skills to help Oliver protect William. So, that’s where I think it gotscrewed up on Oliver’s end.

Felicity was not wrong to walk away. Oliver lied to her and shook the veryfoundation of trust they’d established in their relationship. Without thattrust, she did not feel comfortable moving forward with him. Not only did herfather abandon her at a young age, but her mother also recently confessed thatshe lied about why her father actually left. Felicity internalized thoseinsecurities, and Oliver lying brought all that pain back in full force. Themistake Felicity (and the writers) made was not to talk out her issues withOliver.

She just left and even after the fake wedding ceremony, the two stilldid not get into why they were both so hurt. As a viewer, I don’t need to seeOlicity being “polite” to each other. Not yelling doesn’t automatically make aconversation “adult.” I would’ve preferred a knock-down, drag-out fight full ofemotion. Let them get it all out! But we had to wait until 5x20 for it to beaddressed, and even then I think the writers did a piss poor job of explainingit.

I still can’t stand the flashback or present-day conversations at the end of5x20 (if you want to read my thoughts on that mess, check out thispost). I felt like the apology in regard to William was totally one-sidedand that Felicity was once again positioned as the bad guy in all of this.

Shewas forced to understand Oliver’s side, which is fine and necessary, but he wasn’t held accountable for howhis actions played into her own issues. He only really apologized for how hehandled Helix, and we needed/deserved to see more than that. 

Also, I think the “I don’t trust myself” explanation was weak and onlyhalf the problem. I believe the root of Oliver’s trauma and darkness stems froma deep fear of loss. We saw him dealing with the emotional effects of hisfather’s suicide in the finale, and it only got worse for Oliver those fivesyears on the island from that point. He’s seen so many people he loves die,which is why he’s Green Arrow.

He’s a “monster” (in his own mind), because hebelieves in doing whatever it takes to keep his loved ones safe.  As hetold Barry once before, what he does takes conviction and the willingness to dowhat is ugly. That’s why he doesn’t trust himself. There is no limit to what hewill sacrifice to protect his loved ones, including the pieces of his own soul.I don’t think the writers communicated that effectively.

The reason Oliver shields Felicity, for better or for worse, is because her loss would utterly destroy him. As we’ve seen in the last couple of episodes, Oliver can’t focus when he knows Felicity is in danger. Her safety is always a priority.

The newest conflict I’ve seen, especially on Twitter, is some fansfeeling resentful of William and the entire situation. It’s not necessarilydirected at him, because he’s just a kid. The problem is that the storyline washandled so poorly that it’s difficult to feel emotionally invested in himwithout remembering all the crap we had to wade through to get to thatemotional father-son moment in the finale. I’ll repeat a little of what I saidon Twitter here, which is that the writers keep hammering away at this dynamic: choosing William vs. choosing Felicity/everyone else. Byforcing Oliver to choose, it’s also making fans feel torn or uncomfortableabout prioritizing their faves over a child they don’t really know.

Should Oliver have prioritized his son? Yes! William is an innocent, and it’snot difficult to understand Oliver taking on that protective role as a parent. The real inconsistency would be him not feeling anything. 

But the writing, in my opinion, has told us that and not shown us as viewers.We’ve barely seen Oliver interact with William, and he was only mentionedtoward the latter part of the season. The love interests were a waste on somany levels (they were nothing more than plot points with no positive payoff),but I think the finale with William being taken would’ve had more of a punch for viewers ifthe focus this season was on Olicity communicating/working on their issues allalong and having William introduced sooner. Once again, the timing and pacingof plots on Arrow is all over the place. Too little too late.

I really enjoyed the finale. It wasn’t perfect, but it was solid and veryemotional with some outstanding moments. Although, I actually think it would’ve beenbetter if Prometheus held both Felicity and William hostage together. We haveyet to see the two interact or see how Felicity will feel about being a mom. Itwould’ve been a great way to break the tension and also raised the stakes onthe boat. We need to see that connection and the ability for them to coexist toput the sour taste in our mouths from this storyline behind us. Way too many ofmy OTPs on various shows have faced BMD, and it’s just annoying and overdone atthis point. I hope next season the writers let go of this “one or the other”crap. It’s not a competition, and everyone Oliver loves has a place in hislife.

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Arrow 5x20: I liked it BUT...

I’d like to preface this post by saying that I re-watched 5x20 today, because I had a lot of feelings about it last night. I loved most of the episode and interactions between Olicity, Dyla, and Team Arrow. The dire circumstances,

sexy aesthetics,

and emotional issues

that arose were all on point. So, kudos to the actors, writers, and crew for an overall job well done.

However, despite all of that, I find that on my second viewing I am still very frustrated by the final conversations between Olicity in both timelines. I want to be clear that I’m not writing this post to burst anyone’s bubble or change anyone’s mind about the episode. If you were satisfied with the end, then great. I’m glad. I wish I felt the same way, but I honestly just don’t. So, if you loved it and don’t want to hear any criticism about it, then I strongly suggest you stop reading right now. I may be in the minority on this, but I’ve noticed some other fans expressing similar concerns and this is just me working out what actually bothered me personally as a viewer.

I responded to a couple of posts last night in which I expressed my dismay but have since been trying to pinpoint the actual root of my disappointment. It was seriously niggling at me, and I acknowledged that it doesn’t stem from Felicity understanding where Oliver is coming from or being sympathetic. My favorite scene in the present was Oliver’s confession to Felicity about the kind of man he truly believes he is. It was so raw and heartbreaking. My eyes actually started watering, and I loved Felicity trying to communicate to Oliver why she loved him and was willing to marry him.

I think it’s important Felicity comprehends the depth of Oliver’s trauma and believe that her forgiving him is a sign of strength and compassion on her part. What bothered me, though, was that the confession and understanding of what went wrong between them seemed wholly one-sided. Oliver got to share his burdens, but Felicity did not get to do the same.

With any couple that I ship, I always want to see both characters’ perspectives fairly portrayed and explored. We know Oliver has suffered unimaginable pain and devastation over the course of five seasons. But so has Felicity. She was abandoned by her father during childhood, who later returned and lied to her yet again. She has lost and mourned every single one of her past boyfriends, who were either killed or at one point faked their deaths. She was shot and almost paralyzed for life. She was forced to make a difficult decision and redirect a nuclear bomb that would result in casualties no matter where she sent it. She was fired from her job for trying to do what was right and make her spinal chip available to others suffering from paralysis. Finally, and worst of all, she was betrayed by the man she trusted and loved more than anyone because he thought it was acceptable to marry her while keeping a part of himself hidden as long as the circumstances necessitated it.

In both final Olicity scenes, the topic of trust and Oliver’s lies about William were prevalent. This was an issue that absolutely needed to be discussed, but I do not feel that the execution was done well. My impression upon my first and later second viewing was that it sounded like Felicity was absolving Oliver of any wrongdoing and apologizing for how she reacted and interpreted his choice to lie. I do think the intention was to show Felicity finally seeing the deepest, darkest part of Oliver and empathizing with him. In turn, Oliver was finally seeing and regretting how his lack of honesty and support deeply wounded Felicity.

It just didn’t come across effectively to me, and I honestly don’t place the blame on either Stephen or Emily’s interpretations in those scenes. It was the writing itself that did not add up. Too frequently the Arrow writers make the mistake of leaving too many of our questions unanswered and the details not adequately explained. I was trying so hard to follow the thought process in both conversations, but so much of the dialogue and intention behind it seemed very muddled, nonsensical, and contradictory at times.

The flashback went downhill and did not make sense after Olicity had sex. It was Felicity who initiated the moment between them, but it didn’t seem to amount to anything. Oliver said they never talked about their issues, and she agreed with that. But then Felicity said nothing had changed, without really giving him a chance to speak, and Oliver closed up as a result. After sexy times on those mats, I think she could’ve gotten anything she wanted out of him--including the truth (or what he believed to be true about himself at the time). He seemed open to it.

The next day, Oliver admitted that Felicity was right about his trust issues. Felicity said she was wrong to walk away and not talk to him. She also had expressed to Curtis before that she was hurt that Oliver never shared certain aspects of his life with her. In that final moment, Oliver seems ready to delve into their issues. But what does Felicity do? She pulls a 180 and suddenly decides she doesn’t want to talk and needs more time.

Okay...? Maybe Felicity was shook after that mind-blowing sex with the love of her life, and it all got too real too fast. So the pair comes to an understanding that Oliver will wait to discuss it until she’s ready. Their words and heart eyes imply that there is still so much love there, and that they aren’t completely done but are in their own version of purgatory. At no point does it seem like moving on with other people is an option. But the talk never comes and moving on is exactly what happens! We know Felicity ends up seriously dating Billy and that Oliver is totally blindsided when he finds out. Seriously, how in the hell did we get from A to Z?!

And why do I have to twist myself into a damn pretzel to find the reason in this? Creating multiple perspectives in a situation can be intriguing and endearing but utter confusion on the part of the viewer is an indication of just plain lazy and bad writing.

Yes, the flashback was hot! I swooned at all of the amazing Olicity moments that seemed to come straight from fanfic. But unlike most fanfics I’ve read, these writers do not connect the dots of their own plot points. I didn’t expect the flashback to get too deep into why Olicity never reconciled, but I did expect to gain a better perspective of the catalyst. The problem was there was no actual catalyst shown, and the flashback did the opposite of what was intended. We were left with even more questions and confusion as to what went down during hiatus and how Olicity let themselves drift apart. And quite frankly, I thought Felicity was portrayed as rather callous and selfish for leading Oliver on. It pains me to say that, because I love her character. She’s not perfect, but she’s also never purposely given Oliver hope when there was none. Which makes me wonder, was she vilified to please the comic stans and so Oliver turning to that snake Susan still made sense in the overall narrative?

The present scene at A.R.G.U.S. was just as frustrating and took the flashback apology a step further. Felicity says:

“I got the tiniest taste of what you’ve been through. The tiniest. I get it now. I understand why you lied to me about William. Why you had to. I get it.”

She could be saying that she understands from Oliver’s perspective why he has the tendency to not trust himself, but the wording doesn’t support that in my opinion. Let’s assume Oliver’s lack of trust isn’t just about his internal struggle but rooted in his fear that he’ll negatively influence those around him. His tendency to lie and be stubborn about shouldering the risk and blame is seen as destructive by Felicity and the others. If that behavior is wrong, then Felicity would be right to call him out on it. She can sympathize and feel badly for not at least hearing him out when he was struggling while still not actually approving of what he did. However, Felicity saying “Why you had to [lie about William]” implies that Oliver’s behavior was a necessary evil. That she accepts it, because she’s gotten a taste of his hardship. And yet, Felicity also says that she shouldn’t have followed in his footsteps in that way. So what exactly is she saying? That Oliver on occasion can make the tough calls at all costs, but she won’t allow herself to take on the same burdens as she sees fit?

Despite that the writers implied Billy was the source of Felicity’s grief, I don’t think he’s the main reason why she joined Helix. It wasn’t just about Oliver either. She is a grown woman who suffered unspeakable traumas and wanted to find a way to take control over her own life. She had valid reasons, too, and what was missing in this scene was Oliver understanding where she was coming from. That’s what bothered me most. It was the imbalance in the dialogue. It was the lack of one half of our OTP not getting the same understanding and recognition for her past struggles and what that led her to do this season. Felicity told Oliver how she sees him, and I desperately wanted Oliver to do the same for her in return (similar to 3x01, 4x09, and 4x16). The issue was isolated to William and Helix without exposing the roots of Felicity’s grief. I didn’t need Oliver to apologize until he was blue in the face (although I wouldn’t have been opposed to it either since we still didn’t get a direct William apology onscreen), but I did need him to recognize her years of struggle and right to agency. Felicity has her own darkness, too, but tends to be better at overcoming it. The truth is she’s evolved, and neither Oliver nor Diggle (nor hateful comic stans) can force her back into her previous box.  

Overall, everything Felicity was saying to Oliver in those final scenes sounded canned and straight from the Wendy Mericle and Marc Guggenheim interviews I hate so much. Because we’ve heard these excuses so many times, I’m not surprised this is the direction the writers chose to go. I was desperately hoping it wouldn’t happen. The lack of coherency and balance just irked the hell out of me, and I’m at the point where I’ve, unfortunately, accepted that certain details either don’t matter or will be purposefully overlooked by these writers. I’m still excited about the end of the season and seeing if there are more developments that put Olicity on equal ground, but I won’t hold my breath. All I can say is thank God for fanfic and the wonderful writers who fill in the gaps so eloquently. They keep me sane!

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To Torment the King, Threaten the Queen

I decided to rewatch Arrow 5x17, and it’s even more amazing (and heartbreaking) to watch the second time. My first viewing was just pure emotional response to what was playing out onscreen. I caught some details here and there, but mostly I was trying to process while hanging on the edge of my seat anticipating what was coming next. Watching the scene again in which Adrian Chase, a.k.a. Prometheus, taunts Oliver about Felicity was fascinating, because I could more easily see how Chase segued into each particular jab and the intent behind it. Like the sick, twisted psycho he is, Prometheus slowly escalates the stakes both physically and mentally for Oliver by threatening his love.

You murdered your own wife

After Chase drowns Oliver for the same amount of time it took his father Justin Claybourn to die, he starts to taunt Oliver about his numerous victims. He tries to humanize them by saying they had families of their own: husbands, wives, daughters, sons, etc. Oliver, however, isn’t swayed because he believes these people committed terrible crimes and had victims of their own. He then points out that Chase is sick and a hypocrite, especially since he murdered his own wife.

It’s that exact moment that Chase makes a very interesting transition. Of all the victims on the wall, he chooses to specifically single out The Count. Why The Count?

I believe the trigger was the word “wife.” No, Oliver isn’t married. But any villain that does his homework, and Prometheus definitely has, knows that Felicity Smoak is the love of Oliver’s life. Despite their broken engagement, and Prometheus’s years of creepy/stalker-ish research on him, his suspicions had to be confirmed that Felicity was still Oliver’s ultimate priority when he gave Oliver a choice in 5x10. Either Oliver could go after him or he could stop Black Siren from killing Felicity. I’m sure Prometheus already knew Oliver would go to Felicity without a moment’s hesitation, which probably fueled his twisted plan for revenge and resolve to target her (looking suspiciously at you Helix).

Knowing Felicity is both Oliver’s greatest strength and weakness is why I think Chase focused so much on her while torturing Oliver. Hence, Chase singling out The Count. That was yet another situation in which Oliver made a choice. He broke his vow in honor of Tommy to stop killing to save Felicity’s life.

Although Oliver may have felt remorse for breaking the vow, to this day I don’t think he will ever regret killing The Count to save Felicity. When it comes to her, there is no choice to make. Oliver says this to Chase, though in a very understated way. This is the difference between Oliver and Prometheus. Prometheus would sacrifice his wife for his own selfish gains. Oliver, however, would rather take the pain on himself than ever hurt Felicity or let her suffer for his own sins. Because of this, Oliver naturally downplays Felicity’s significance in this incident and doesn’t mention her by name. Instead, he calls her “a friend.” It’s not technically a lie. Felicity was just a friend at the time, but Oliver’s guttural and brutal reaction in using three arrows was a result of him already subconsciously being in love with her.  The circumstances may be different now, but Oliver is still trying to downplay the depth of his feelings. He doesn’t want to give Chase any more ammunition against him or paint a larger target on Felicity’s back.

Chase, of course, will not let such an opportunity pass. He lets Oliver know that he’s aware it was Felicity that he saved from The Count, and then proceeds to shoot Oliver with the same number of arrows.

Why do the same to Oliver? Perhaps it was a way to taint the satisfaction Oliver may have felt in putting down The Count, so he now associates it with his own pain. Prometheus is savage like that.

Felicity’s Glasses

After shooting Oliver, Chase takes his torture a step further. He switches from inflicting physical pain on Oliver to mental/emotional pain. Chase reiterates Oliver’s declaration that his friends are his strength and seeks to show him that it’s, in fact, the opposite. They are Oliver’s weakness, and Chase has no qualms about exploiting that. Mentioning Felicity was just a warm-up.

He ups his game by taunting Oliver with a direct threat to her safety.

Chase pulls out Felicity’s glasses and states that he was in Felicity’s apartment. It’s creepy on so many levels. Assuming those glasses aren’t a replica or one of her spares, there are probably only two times Chase could’ve gotten away with swiping them. Either Felicity was asleep or she was in the shower. In both instances, she was at her most vulnerable and Oliver wasn’t there to protect her. Oliver can’t hide his reaction this time.

Fear and rage overwhelm him as he struggles against his restraints. He’d snap Chase’s neck in a second if he could get his hands on him. Oliver’s reaction to Felicity’s glasses, I’d like to point out, was way more emotional than the one he had to a tape of a certain snake who shall not be named when she was kidnapped. Oliver starts to make a threat of his own until Chase, once again, reminds him of his weakness.

Oliver is a prisoner and is trapped. He has no way of getting to Felicity even if Chase did make a move against her. Being unable to protect the woman he loves is the ultimate hell for Oliver.    

Everyone you love is at play

Sensing that he’s broken Oliver a little bit more, Chase reminds him that all the pain can stop once he confesses his secret. The comment that follows is what really hit home for me that Felicity is Prometheus’s endgame. He tells Oliver “everyone that you love is at play.” Chase just assumes that Oliver is still in love with Felicity and rightly so. It’s a subtle transition that leads into the mention William, but it’s important. It’s everything.

Chase mentions Felicity twice more in the time that he’s tormenting Oliver. Both times he’s trying to convince Oliver that he’s been hiding his true, darkest self from the people he loves and that their lives are worse because of his influence.

By the end, after Oliver has finally confessed his “secret,” he’s physically and emotionally drained. He’s been beaten down to his lowest point. When he finally returns to the lair, he can barely look anyone in the eye--least of all Felicity.

It’s a gut-wrenching moment to see him stagger up onto the platform. I think we were all Felicity in that scene, surveying the damage while wanting so badly to go to Oliver and comfort him. Felicity, however, holds back. Aside from the fact that a hug would probably cause him more pain, I think she could sense that Oliver was skittish, in shock, and might not want to be touched.

We didn’t get to see Oliver being treated for his wounds, but I’d like to think that Felicity eventually eased him into letting her help him. It would’ve been an extremely emotional and intimate moment, and Felicity patching Oliver up when he’s hurt is something that has been sorely missed and lacking this season.

This isn’t the end of Prometheus’s big plan. Unfortunately, it’s only the beginning. We don’t know much about what’s to come, but three conclusions stand out to me:

1. Oliver and the team’s situation is only going to get darker, because Chase loves his mind games and is always ten steps ahead.

2. Oliver is no saint, but he’s nowhere near the monster that Prometheus is. He may have a dark side, but he’s never lost his heart.

3. Prometheus is coming for the king through the queen. Seriously, who the hell controls Helix?!

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When I say Oliver should fight for Felicity...

There has been a lot of debate in the fandom for over a year now about whether Oliver should’ve fought harder to make things right with Felicity after the breakup. Everyone has their own definition of what “fighting for Felicity” means, and I won’t speak for everyone. I can only speak for myself and relay my own hopes and frustrations.

Today @emilytbett was nice enough to share with us the autographed script she received of 4x16 in which Olicity recite their vows.

It was actually so beautiful and amazing to see how the actors contributed to the script and really made the characters come to life in that scene. I think we all needed to see this and be reminded of why we’ve been staying with the show even when we want to scream and throw things at the TV.

There are many reasons why I’ve been upset this season and why I felt like I was pushed to my limit with 5x15. And it’s seeing this beautiful script and what we could’ve had that has made it hit home. I am one of those fans that strongly believes Oliver should’ve fought for Felicity, especially after he said these vows. With lines like “You will always be the best thing about me for the rest of my life” and “I will never lie to you again. Ever, ever again,” how could we not believe Oliver would’ve done everything in his power to make things right with the love of his life?

Some fans argue that Felicity firmly closed the door on a reconciliation, and it wouldn’t have been right for Oliver to pursue her. But fighting for Felicity, to me, was never about Oliver coming on too strong or pressuring her to give him another chance romantically. I actually think the two did need to take a break and be apart for a while during hiatus. They both had a lot of heartache and issues to process and work through individually.

But where I think the writers truly did the characters and fans a disservice in Season 5 is by not having Oliver become a living embodiment of these vows. Flirting with Felicity and asking her out was not how Oliver needed to fight for Felicity. To truly make things right, he first needed to apologize for lying. A simple, heartfelt “I’m sorry” to show that he was genuinely remorseful and understood how he hurt her. Nothing is more powerful than actually hearing the one you love say the words.  

Then, every day after that, Oliver needed to show he’d changed through his actions. That meant being a good friend and partner by making sure Felicity had support after her paralysis, job loss, and Havenrock. If anyone understands the effects of trauma, it’s Oliver. They didn’t have to be big scenes because, let’s be honest, Arrow more often than not has issues with pacing and giving sufficient time to hit the emotional beats. These moments are usually small but powerful blips that we either re-watch or gif the heck out of to catch all of the subtle nuances. But small, consistent moments of Oliver asking about Felicity’s day or if she’s okay when she seems off would’ve gone a long way. Heck, even something as simple as bringing her a coffee or Big Belly Burger (I know he’s a food snob but Felicity loves the salt and grease) after a long day would’ve meant a lot.

In turn, we needed to see Oliver being more open and honest with Felicity about his past and how he felt going forward facing various challenges (both as the mayor and Green Arrow). We saw a promising glimpse of that in 5x02 when he mentioned the Bratva to her.

However, he reverted to old habits in 5x04 when he lied about rescuing Dig. Maybe Felicity does need to be the one to make the first move and give Oliver a sign that she’d be open to giving him a second chance, but it’s a total Catch-22. Oliver can’t make a move until Felicity is ready, but Felicity probably won’t be ready until she sees an actual positive change in Oliver.

Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ve seen that positive change yet. If anything, it seems to me like the writers have regressed Oliver yet again (maybe even more than in the past). Having him apologize and doggedly pursue another woman who isn’t even worthy of the effort sends the wrong message. Watching Oliver do this for another woman (one that Felicity knows is shady and has hurt people she’s cared about) does not communicate to Felicity that he’s thinking clearly or learned from past mistakes. I won’t even get into Oliver asking her to help him fix things with EWR, because there aren’t enough words to describe my utter disgust with that move. I think it hurt Felicity way more than she let on to see Oliver fighting for someone else but not even attempting to apologize to her for his lies or obliviousness to her pain after he “killed” Billy. In seeing Oliver put his own needs above hers yet again, I think it became the deciding factor (or last straw) in Felicity seeking support elsewhere and joining Helix. And until we see Oliver man up and stop being so self-absorbed, the “rebuild” just isn’t going to be effective.

Oliver and Felicity do love each other. They’re soulmates. No one can convince me otherwise. Seeing the 4x16 script reaffirmed the deep love they shared, and I’m not saying they can’t get back to that. But it’s going to take time and effort. I think a single conversation won’t be enough to fix them this time. The reason Season 2 and, yes, Season 3 (despite the angst) were so great for Olicity was because the subtle moments (though they tortured us at times) slowly added up and fit perfectly into the big picture of their relationship. The rebuild has to be the same way and, personally, too much bad drama in Season 5 has happened for me to feel good about a reunion just yet. Oliver still has to be a better man so that he can realistically pull Felicity out of the darkness that’s consuming her. Blind optimism (blatantly trusting the wrong people) is not living in the light, and his actions have to start reflecting the change he’s claiming to make. It’s the only way he can even deserve the possibility of a second chance with Felicity. Right now, I’m hoping that by the finale Olicity have grown individually and we get an ending similar to Season 2 where there’s a strong indication of a reunion coming in Season 6.

Will the writers actually do this? Who knows?! The Olicity love is definitely there and if the writers know what’s good for them (and their ratings), they’ll quit their failed experiment and actually embrace the elements that made this show so successful in the first place. How this plays out will be a mystery until the finale but what’s an absolute necessity for me as a viewer is seeing Oliver get out of his own way and fight for the woman he loves. Felicity deserves it. Oliver deserves it. We deserve it. And it’s totally okay to not accept anything less...

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@casually-shipped replied to your post “So I am behind on Arrow right now, but I am really surprised by the...”

They can see Black Siren and Oliver getting some vibes happening. Olicity has always been an issue as to why they hated laurel, now black siren. Bring it Arrow I'm ready. I don't ship Olicity so I'm loving this.But I've always loved Laurel regardless. And I'm a fan of Felicity single. She deserves her own agency, I've always felt this way.

I do ship Olicity, but it’s not my end-all, be-all for why I like Arrow. I always loved Laurel, but I shipped her with Tommy far more than I ever shipped her with Oliver even before Olicity was canon. Personally, I don’t want anything to happen to Oliver and Felicity, their marriage or relationship, and just as you’re saying about Felicity I want Laurel to be allowed to exist with her own agency outside her alignment to a particular relationship. Honestly, even married Felicity gets plenty of that in my opinion; I just saw a quote the other day about the diversity and complexity of her relationships within the Arrowverse and how unexpected and good it has always been. I tend to agree. Anyway, you’re certainly entitled to your shipping and feelings and whatever else. I don’t care for Earth 1!Oliver/Laurel at all, certainly not anymore, but I really want Laurel to have some kind of vindication. If you are interested, in my #arrowmeta and #mine tags you can find a post I made about Laurel and her role as Black Canary and how frustrated I was with its handling on meta and fandom levels.