Loved It? Hated It? What did you think of "Canaries?"

[superhippie2000]

What did you think?

[Halberdier17]

I loved it. I liked that Laurel had to fight Sara twice. Thea knows Ollie's secret and Lance knows Sara is dead and that Laurel is the woman in black.

Chase is dead and Ollie & Thea arrived on Lian Yu while Ollie went home in the flashbacks.

I liked the reference to Roland Daggett in the form of Daggett Pharmaceutical.

[SVfan26]

I won't post my absolutely true feelings about this episode in fear of being labeled a "hater", but the only two things I found to be 'ok' were the Laurel/Felicity 'bonding' moments and the writers/tptb finally allowing Laurel to come clean to Q Lance about Sara.

Just some of my reasons for not really 'feeling' this hour;

- Felicity is acting like the scorned lover, who acts out just to be spiteful. Not a way to make a character look good, imo.

- Thea being more than OK with Oliver coming clean about being Arrow. Ummm, writers and whoever, have you met Thea??

- Just a couple short eps ago, Roy was not only fine with working w/ MM; he was defending him! And now, MM is the devil and should never be worked with. I'm getting whiplash here, writers.

- How many times must that guy use a simple maneuver of flicking his wrist to throw Vertigo darts at them before they'll finally be smart & quick enough to either dodge or block it? Oliver was victim to it at least twice in the same ep, back when, and now Laurel was.

- I don't know GA lore from the comic books, and maybe Vertigo is a huge ongoing storyline there, but must we have to deal with the same thing each time a drug-related problem comes up?

[JSnaples]

I loved this episode but I wish they would give Diggle something to do

[Arrowaddict22]

Can we rate this as a 12?

[choiceofluthien]

I loved this episode but I wish they would give Diggle something to do

Yes! That was one of the few things I didn't like. For the third episode in a row we see Diggle staying in the Foundry while a less experienced Laurel goes into the field. Although I can see 'why' the writers wanted this, it's getting ridiculous. Surely tonight they could have added a few more bad guys so Diggle could go too?

I loved Thea's reaction to learning the secret. I didn't find it out of character. She's grown up a lot and it was a wonderful moment between the two of them. And she's remembering why she hated Malcolm initially...although she has no idea of the level of manipulation it's a start.

Felicity doesn't have to be so sarcastic, etc... about Malcolm.

As much as I loved Thea in that scene with her and Oliver, she seemed to regress when she immediately went off with Chase later. Although that apartment fight scene was not what I expected it was awesome. Roy arriving to save her life but then he was getting his ass kicked and then being happy to see Malcolm again (why cannot I just completely hate him?).

Loved having Sara back even though it was short.I loved seeing Laurel get her ass kicked as it keeps her 'hero' storyline a bit more realistic.
And yay for her finally telling Lance the truth. Paul Blackthorne completely broke my heart in that scene as he broke down. "My baby girl...not again". I felt so bad for him...When is something good going to happen to him??

Not sure I completely get why Oliver and Thea are back on the Island but it's going to make next week epic.

I think the best part of this episode was the emotional rollercoaster I was on the entire time.

[JSnaples]

Yes! That was one of the few things I didn't like. For the third episode in a row we see Diggle staying in the Foundry while a less experienced Laurel goes into the field. Although I can see 'why' the writers wanted this, it's getting ridiculous. Surely tonight they could have added a few more bad guys so Diggle could go too?

I loved Thea's reaction to learning the secret. I didn't find it out of character. She's grown up a lot and it was a wonderful moment between the two of them. And she's remembering why she hated Malcolm initially...although she has no idea of the level of manipulation it's a start.

Felicity doesn't have to be so sarcastic, etc... about Malcolm.

As much as I loved Thea in that scene with her and Oliver, she seemed to regress when she immediately went off with Chase later. Although that apartment fight scene was not what I expected it was awesome. Roy arriving to save her life but then he was getting his ass kicked and then being happy to see Malcolm again (why cannot I just completely hate him?).

Loved having Sara back even though it was short.I loved seeing Laurel get her ass kicked as it keeps her 'hero' storyline a bit more realistic.
And yay for her finally telling Lance the truth. Paul Blackthorne completely broke my heart in that scene as he broke down. "My baby girl...not again". I felt so bad for him...When is something good going to happen to him??

Not sure I completely get why Oliver and Thea are back on the Island but it's going to make next week epic.

I think the best part of this episode was the emotional rollercoaster I was on the entire time.

I'm wondering why Malcolm or Roy showed up to Thea's apartment really to fight though..like they knew who that guy was

Diggle has been with Oliver on this thing since Episode 4, Season 1, so why is a women who has barely had any training besides beating up a punching bag out fighting Vertigo and Brick? If anything, DIGGLE SHOULD BE FIGHTING!!!!!! stop leaving him with felicity not doing anything. Send Diggle to fight instead of someone who just distracts the bad guy by letting them beat her down to the ground..

I've been looking forward to next week for a long time..I hope Slade breaks out his cell or else it will be disappointing, I am ready for Slade to return to the show and give this Season the boost it need because tonight was the first episode in a long time when it felt like I was watching Arrow for why I loved this show in the first place, but I wish they would give us some more about Ray or Diggle soon because Diggle is a very useless character right now...he just stands in the room with his arms crossed leaning on a table listening

[SVfan26]

I won't post my absolutely true feelings about this episode in fear of being labeled a "hater", but the only two things I found to be 'ok' were the Laurel/Felicity 'bonding' moments and the writers/tptb finally allowing Laurel to come clean to Q Lance about Sara.

Just some of my reasons for not really 'feeling' this hour;

- Felicity is acting like the scorned lover, who acts out just to be spiteful. Not a way to make a character look good, imo.

- Thea being more than OK with Oliver coming clean about being Arrow. Ummm, writers and whoever, have you met Thea??

- Just a couple short eps ago, Roy was not only fine with working w/ MM; he was defending him! And now, MM is the devil and should never be worked with. I'm getting whiplash here, writers.

- How many times must that guy use a simple maneuver of flicking his wrist to throw Vertigo darts at them before they'll finally be smart & quick enough to either dodge or block it? Oliver was victim to it at least twice in the same ep, back when, and now Laurel was.

- I don't know GA lore from the comic books, and maybe Vertigo is a huge ongoing storyline there, but must we have to deal with the same thing each time a drug-related problem comes up?

I might be a bit unnecessarily harsh, as the ep. did, if not resolved, then moved along quite a few storylines. So good on that.

But how am I supposed to get a good feel for these characters if you have them flip-flopping on either/both an emotional level or their belief systems? Kind of like with the whole new dynamic of 'Team Arrow'. Diggle handled it pretty well with Oliver, but Felicity's strong input came off a bit too much like "accept it or get lost".

[Halberdier17]

- I don't know GA lore from the comic books, and maybe Vertigo is a huge ongoing storyline there, but must we have to deal with the same thing each time a drug-related problem comes up?

In the comics Count Vertigo didn't deal drugs this was created for the show because they didn't want powers at first.

In the comics Count Vertigo was just a count with vertigo so he designed a suit that cures his vertigo but causes people around him to suffer from vertigo.

[Haggard01]

Ok this episode is very 10 out 10 for me. Probably the most I've enjoyed watching Arrow this year period. I could find tiny faults but I really don't feel like nit picking what is a amazing episode.

First the stuff with Sara being dead and lying to daddy ends and second Thea is brought in. Also DJ is dead. Even better Thea takes it very well and was enjoyable character for this entire episode.

The action was great as always and as well as the flashbacks. Also I don't really care if Felicity did a 180 and is now back on track to being much more enjoyable than what ever that mess of a character was for these past three episodes. So not only has Oliver's returned helped but we have also brought back a much better show with it YES!!!

Only if they can keep it this level of being good and for the first time this season I didn't feel like I was watching CW drama. it's amazing how mostly everything out in the open for the characters and the show can do.

[JDBentz]

While Felicity wasn't quite as loud with her holier than thou approach (and that is a term used by someone else prior to this and it does fit), she still had some moments. In particular when she said "This needs to happen" and went on to once more give Oliver her opinion about joining Malcolm.

Roy, I think, sees the reason for joining forces with Merlyn, but he doesn't have to like or trust him. That's the attitude Thea and Oliver both have now.

I went "FINALLY!" when Laurel told Lance. Paul Blackthorne did an excellent job showing a father who has just lost his baby girl for a third time, this time for good. (The first time was the Gambit, second time when she left to draw the League away, and then when she was killed.)

Regarding why Oliver and Thea are on Lian Yu. Recall what Malcolm said, that they must conquer fear in order to face Ra's and the League. For Oliver, the island holds the fear of five years of hell, of surviving. His time with ARGUS was simply an extension of the Island. As for Thea, well, what would be more frightening than being on the same island as the man who killed her mother, who had a gun to the base of her skull?

One thing I find amusing: a constant refrain I've seen is that the show needs to get more in touch with its comic origins and that is something the showrunners have said they're aiming to do (if I recall correctly). Well, the funny thing is, people don't realize that means Team Arrow will eventually be Oliver/Green Arrow, Roy/Arsenal, Thea/Speedy, and Laurel/Black Canary. No Diggle, no Felicity, if we're going with comic book origins (since Diggle only recently became part of the history and Felicity Smoak's origins are in FIRESTORM).

I think Thea's reaction once more shows she is much more like her mother than she is like her father.

So, all in all, I give this episode an 8. I docked it some for Felicity's continuing antics, and the slight regression of Thea to her Season 1 & 2 persona before Chase tried to poison her.

[Christ2010Grad]

Wow, oh my gosh, oh my gosh all the feels!!!!!!!! This episode revolved around Laurel and her worst fear ever: Her sister. Also it revolves Oliver realizing that his associates are not people who will not question him anymore.

What I liked:

-OLIVER TELLS THEA HE IS THE ARROW!!!!! I am so happy to know that she is aware of his secret! This leads to the second thing I liked about this episode.....

-Thea responded in a way I hoped she would respond: Gratitude. I expect that when Thea found out Oliver's secret she would be like, "Ollie, you saved my life twice!" That is exactly what happened!!!! I'm so happy that she did not react to Ollie the same way she did to him upon finding out she hid her true parentage from her. The hug was awesome too. Another Thea-related thing that I liked about this episode:

-She starts to resent Malcolm Merlyn for lying to her and trying to drive a wedge between her and Oliver. That made me SO very happy. Imagine her reaction when she finds out Malcolm had her brainwashed into killing Sara.............

-The fight between Thea, Chase, Roy and Malcolm Merlyn!!!!! That was priceless. Shows how good at fighting Thea has become. Excellent fight scene all around.

-Non-Thea related thing I liked: The Flashbacks. They were good this week. They have been good since we got back from mid-season hiatus.

-LAUREL FINALLY TELLS HER FATHER THAT SARA IS DEAD!!!!!! Oh my gosh, the reaction and the crying was so emotional and saddening (I think I almost cried too).

-Oliver is finally back on Lian Yu in the present day and Starling City in the flashbacks. This is going to be good.

-Fight scenes with Oliver as the Arrow. All of them were excellent.

What I did not like:

-I don't know how I feel about the fight scenes between Laurel and her Vertigo-induced hallucination of Sara. They just did not sit right with me.

This was a very emotional episode of Arrow. The scenes between Laurel and her Vertigo-induced hallucination of Sara were a little iffy, but the emotional scenes between Oliver and Thea as well as Laurel and Quentin, not to mention that fight scene between Malcolm, Roy, Thea and Chase were ENOUGH to make up for it. I have to give this a 9.4 out of 10. It was an excellent episode! I can't wait for the upcoming episode (especially since Slade will be back next week)!!!!

[President_Luthor]

I am more than relieved that two of the big secrets that have been gnawing at me as a viewer -- the Hood/Arrow's identity re: Thea and Sara's death re: Quentin -- have finally been uncovered. Overall they were handled well.

I'm glad in either case it didn't descend into a petulant "how could you lie to me?" melodrama-fest. I would have actually expected Thea to pull some of her S1 tantrums, but this is a new and changed Thea and I can't exactly slam her on handling knowledge of Ollie's secret too well. It's also a good sign that she sees issues with the Ollie-Malcolm alliance and the inevitable trust issues. She held her own with the DJ League mole but still needed a save, which I found believable. I'm glad DJ guy's story arc is done, his being an LoA mole made him only marginally tolerable.

Laurel and Felicity reach yet another understanding and I think we can move past the idea that Laurel is trying to "be" Sara. She will be a hero in her own right now. It was Ollie that seemed to be stoking the melodrama this ep. with at first resisting Laurel's new vigilante role and then dredging up the tired old "you were an addict" drama. No one was going to sip from that angst well and he was rightfully put in his place. I think the scene with Felicity and team was a necessary reminder that Ollie was absent, they had moved on and Ollie needed to adapt to the new situation. It could never go back the way things were, with Ollie calling the shots and everyone obediently following -- not after his duel and "death".

Diggle being stuck in the cave doing tech support just shouldn't be his role. He is a field operative. If he's not in the field I could even accept him keeping the Arrow van engine running, but he should be out there.

[DLT-theBlackBlueBlur]

Felicity and Roy made me mad this episode. Oliver was gone for a month and all of a sudden they think they know all the answers. I can see things from Laurel's point of view, but from them they should all see how idiotic it is to send someone with as little training as her to go out and fight. And Roy overreacted way to much to Oliver sending Thea out of the "Cave." And Felicity's acting like a high school ex-girlfriend...

Other than that, awesome episode! Team Arrow just isn't Team Arrow anymore.

[coluanprime]

This episode was refreshingly on point. Despite a couple 180s (cough-Roy-cough), I actually like where everyone is at. Thea has been enjoyable for the first time since the end of season 2. Felicity and Laurel have continued their perfect streaks. Colton Haynes is finally given a chance to act, and does well though he struggles with some of the Malcom material.
I enjoyed the Count more this time and liked the Laurel/Sara scenes. The jury is still out until we see how Quentin responded to Laurel lying. Right now, they are both caught up in the moment of grief so I will refrain from passing judgement on the writers.