#re: green arrow. but you probably guessed that because i complain about it every month

[roseworth]

what the fuck was that. i literally looked back through the issue and counted the pages because that story ended so fast i couldnt believe there were actually 22 pages

[onceuponarrow]

Arrow Season 5 finale and overall season thoughts

I have not enjoyed this season or the finale, sure there were some moments that I liked but overall this entire season was forgettable. Since I’ve got a few minutes free this morning I thought I’d list some thoughts.

To start I guess I feel like I might have missed something because the entertainment journalists and most people on my twitter and tumblr time lines were really enjoying last night. And I, well I’m left feeling empty, unsatisfied, and underwhelmed.

I guess Oliver and Felicity are back together. So 5x20 was there to wrap up their break-up and move them forward. And that one little line from Felicity during the birthday party showed they are back together. But I guess even though earlier this year I thought the little bits I figured the show would throw to us would be enough for me, it wasn’t, AT ALL. I can’t even articulate what I’m not satisfied with I just feel unhappy with how that whole storyline wrapped up. But like with so many things on this show I’ll make my peace with it and move on. But I guess at least we got a season finale kiss in the suit in good lighting, so that’s something.

There were too many people in this episode so no one really did anything. All this OTA being front and center and important was such bullshit. Seriously Felicity was there to have a crammed in “meaningful” convo with Thea and Samantha and ????? She announced that the whole island was rigged to blow for the audience but did nothing else. Diggle, oh my god. He did nothing, he was just there. If he had a meaningful purpose it was such a quick scene that I forgot it already.

I was really irritated with the whole Oliver telling Thea that she and Curtis (of all people) and Malcolm (who has betrayed them all so many times) needed to protect and get Felicity and Samantha to safety. That made me so mad, like lets reduce Oliver’s love and baby mama to damsels that need protecting well f&ck that.

That Nyssa and Talia fight was anti-climatic and over too fast. I was expecting a lot more out of Talia since they introduced her this season. Now that was a sister conflict storyline that had potential but as usual with Arrow, they introduced way more story than they could adequately tell.

Slade....sigh. I don’t like Slade, I’ve never liked Slade. Slade killed Moira in front of Oliver and Thea. I don’t give a single shit that the miracuru is out of his system and he is no longer mentally unstable and under the influence of drugs. HE KILLED OLIVER AND THEA’S MOTHER IN FRONT OF THEM. HE STABBED HER THROUGH THE HEART WITH A SWORD! UGH! I also see how the show just slid Slade in to give the words of wisdom to Oliver about survivors guilt and forgiving himself that in any other episode would have been Diggle’s to give. Just another way to sideline Diggle so we can get a comic book character moment.

Rene and Curtis did nothing, couple line of exposition and that’s it. Lance was there to call Dinah Bl@ck C@nary. Dinah was there to have a scream fight with Bl@ck Siren. I get it story-wise, everyone Oliver cares for needed to be on that island so Chase could continue to taunt Oliver with everyone you love will always suffer because of you, blah, blah, blah. And for that “emotional” cliffhanger of they are all dead when the island explodes.

Why was Digger Harkness in this episode? Evelyn was so pointless. I don’t get why Bl@ck Siren was there at all. Sure help Chase out as a thank you by capturing everyone in Star City, but why continue on to Lian Yu?

Malcolm, sigh, I guess I’m glad he’s finally dead, but what a way to go. So let me get this straight, he sacrificed himself for Thea. The same Thea he drugged and had her kill Sara so Ra’s wouldn’t go after him and led to Thea being stabbed and almost dying. Then he wouldn’t give up the league to get the cure for the bloodlust. But that death was off screen, so while I think he might actually be dead for real, I also would not be surprised if he were to pop back up alive in season 8 or 9 if Arrow goes that long.

Now the kid, William. Look I’m a mother, I have 2 kids who are 10 and 8. I’m also the child of divorced parents whose dad popped in and out her life throughout her childhood. This whole finale revolved around Oliver trying to find and save his son. Intellectually I get it, but emotionally I was not connected to this story at all. Look I know Oliver supposedly bonded with the kid in season 4 when he was leaving his paralyzed fiance to visit his son, who didn’t know he was his son. But dammit, if the writers knew that they were going to base the entire finale on fathers and sons (hell the whole season really) then it would have been way more emotionally satisfying for me if I had seen Oliver and William interacting and bonding this season. I’m also mildly irked that we never got to see William’s reaction to finding out that Oliver (his mom’s friend who visited with him a few times last year) is his father and his father is the Green Arrow. Sighing again. Once again this whole child story is just used for plot and has no emotional resonance.

Overall season thoughts.

It’s utterly forgettable. There are maybe 2 episodes I would rewatch entirely and maybe 3 or so more I’d watch parts of.

Sometimes I wonder why I’m still watching this show. I haven’t really enjoyed it since season 4a. I guess because every time I think I’m done the writers manage a moment of brilliance and I’m sucked back in.

Billy had no purpose to Felicity’s story. He was there for Oliver’s manpain not for Felicity.

Susan, I’m sighing again. That storyline went no where and was just unceremoniously dropped.

I know some people are happy with Felicity’s arc this season. But it was too little for me. She was sidelined too much this season. While I know she got a lot of screen time a lot of it was about other people’s emotional journeys, technical expertise, and exposition. I’ve given up thinking that she will ever get an in-depth story. I can hope for Smoak Tech next season but I’m not holding my breath.

Oliver, is this no killing thing going to actually stick for real this time? Because I thought it had previously, he spared Slade, but then he killed Ra’s and Damien and was back to killing again at the beginning of this season. I just feel like we constantly retread the same stories over and over with Oliver and I’m just tired of it. Find something new writers. But I don’t think they are capable of finding new emotional arcs for Oliver because once again it sounds like season 6 is a retread of a story already told. But I know it’s early and something had to be announced at upfronts.

I was not really satisfied with the wrap up of the flashbacks. I figured Kovar would have fought with and delayed Oliver just enough to have him miss the boat and he’d be stuck on the island for a couple of months. They really screwed up cutting flashback Oliver’s hair in season 4. If he’d never cut his hair over 5 years and missed the boat Anatoli sent for him that would explain the hair and beard. A wig and fake beard was so ridiculous. But whatever at least the flashbacks (my least favorite part of the show) are finally over.

Sighing once again. I just  re-read this post and I feel like I’ve done nothing but complain. But I wasn’t satisfied with this episode or this season and I needed a way to get my feelings out. So thanks anyone who made it all the way through this post. I’ll probably still follow along with summer hiatus speculations and be back in the fall. But nothing in the finale made me excited to watch next season.

I’m rarely invested in more than 1-3 shows at a time and Arrow has been the only show I watch consistently for the the past 2 years. So I really hope something comes out over the summer or at SDCC to make me want to return, otherwise I might be searching for a new show to watch.

Tagging some friends (by the way thanks for the good thoughts and wishes sent my way) @almondblossomme @marytagus @laurabelle2930 @hope-for-olicity @nalla-madness @green-arrows-of-karamel @wildirish23 @olicity-i-believe-in-you