While I feel the 'will they-won't they' melodrama around Oliver has never been the hook for me to stay invested in Arrow - at this point who Oliver ends up with romantically ranks low on my checklist - I do get that this is a hook for other viewers.
The scenes with Ollie and Felicity in S5 haven't really bothered me and up to the point where they decided they were going to make a new Canary I largely agree with this season's back to basics direction. I think part of the difference is the manufactured drama part - its volume, its place in the pecking order of story priorities, etc.
Some fans want Olicity to be the show's driving force, with everything else including Oliver's heroic journey subservient to it. Others feel romance of any kind has no place in a superhero show and Oliver should be Batman-like in a lone crusade and reject all relationships that may distract him. I feel that either view for Arrow and Oliver in particular is excessive.
Arrow isn't supposed to be a teen soap opera, nor should it be a televised retelling of Bruce Wayne's story using Oliver as the proxy (though there is no denying Bat influences on the show, even after 5 seasons). It's at its best when it is ... something else ... a workable balance of the two.
For the show that Arrow is, on the network that it airs, it works best when these elements are balanced and one doesn't smother the other. I feel S5 has tried to strike this balance better than previous seasons. Oliver and Felicity have had tension in S5 and now even conflict but I don't feel it was as unwarranted this season. There was some sense to it.
I actually think other team members in S5 have picked up the angst-for-angst's sake torch that Olicity brandished shamelessly in past seasons.(Looking at you Curtis and your classic secrets and lies snafu with 'I'm here this season for the angst' Paul). Felicity's own secret keeping with 'I'm here for plot reasons' Billy, while irksome, was hardly the stuff we'd used to see at the peak of last year's baby mama drama.
The Olicity carousel should not have consumed the degree of attention it did, from showrunners, fans, or in past seasons' stories. But it also doesn't mean Oliver can go back to being the Hood without ties, attachments or limits either. The show needs balance and I think this season seems to be making the attempt. If they do default to manufactured drama with Olicity, that would be a setback ... but I've yet to see it, speaking as a moderate viewer who is neither an absolutist on Arrow obeying all things canon nor is someone who rejects Felicity's place on the team, in Oliver's life or the show.
Each has its place, and where the show has slipped it's when they lost sight of it. Not sure where they're going with Tina or why (my alpha concern right now), but for the moment I don't have issue with what they've done with Felicity so far this season. One could even argue that she needs this Dark Felicity phase to add more meat to her rather thin, non-relationship driven character development. I'm of the view that the team vets are becoming stale and need some form of shake up, no exceptions.
I want balance on Arrow and as of right now, it looks like I'm getting it. (Hope it sticks around.)
I have a feeling we'll be having similar discussions about The Flash a year or two from now when it too shows its age.
The scenes with Ollie and Felicity in S5 haven't really bothered me and up to the point where they decided they were going to make a new Canary I largely agree with this season's back to basics direction. I think part of the difference is the manufactured drama part - its volume, its place in the pecking order of story priorities, etc.
Some fans want Olicity to be the show's driving force, with everything else including Oliver's heroic journey subservient to it. Others feel romance of any kind has no place in a superhero show and Oliver should be Batman-like in a lone crusade and reject all relationships that may distract him. I feel that either view for Arrow and Oliver in particular is excessive.
Arrow isn't supposed to be a teen soap opera, nor should it be a televised retelling of Bruce Wayne's story using Oliver as the proxy (though there is no denying Bat influences on the show, even after 5 seasons). It's at its best when it is ... something else ... a workable balance of the two.
For the show that Arrow is, on the network that it airs, it works best when these elements are balanced and one doesn't smother the other. I feel S5 has tried to strike this balance better than previous seasons. Oliver and Felicity have had tension in S5 and now even conflict but I don't feel it was as unwarranted this season. There was some sense to it.
I actually think other team members in S5 have picked up the angst-for-angst's sake torch that Olicity brandished shamelessly in past seasons.(Looking at you Curtis and your classic secrets and lies snafu with 'I'm here this season for the angst' Paul). Felicity's own secret keeping with 'I'm here for plot reasons' Billy, while irksome, was hardly the stuff we'd used to see at the peak of last year's baby mama drama.
The Olicity carousel should not have consumed the degree of attention it did, from showrunners, fans, or in past seasons' stories. But it also doesn't mean Oliver can go back to being the Hood without ties, attachments or limits either. The show needs balance and I think this season seems to be making the attempt. If they do default to manufactured drama with Olicity, that would be a setback ... but I've yet to see it, speaking as a moderate viewer who is neither an absolutist on Arrow obeying all things canon nor is someone who rejects Felicity's place on the team, in Oliver's life or the show.
Each has its place, and where the show has slipped it's when they lost sight of it. Not sure where they're going with Tina or why (my alpha concern right now), but for the moment I don't have issue with what they've done with Felicity so far this season. One could even argue that she needs this Dark Felicity phase to add more meat to her rather thin, non-relationship driven character development. I'm of the view that the team vets are becoming stale and need some form of shake up, no exceptions.
I want balance on Arrow and as of right now, it looks like I'm getting it. (Hope it sticks around.)
I have a feeling we'll be having similar discussions about The Flash a year or two from now when it too shows its age.
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