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as he turns control of the League of Assassins over to twisted father figure Malcolm Merlyn (and let’s face it, I don’t think Malcolm being Thea’s father was the sole reason he couldn’t kill Merlyn
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Meant to bring this up too. There really was a big lost opportunity here for the show to express Oliver's reluctance to kill Malcolm and not so much IMO that he saw him as a father figure but because as Tommy laid dying, he asked Oliver if his father was still alive and though OLiver thought he had killed Malcolm, he lied to Tommy and said, yes, his dad was alive. In keeping with his vow to honor Tommy's memory, it would have been so easy to include Oliver flashing back to this moment and basically being unable to now make what he told Tommy a lie again. -
If I could, I would marry this post! It gives a perfect explanation as to why I thought that season two Oliver actually mistreated those he professed to love (as when he told Sara that "he loves Laurel, too"). Although his hallway speech was undoubtedly an important and necessary turning point for Laurel, it also exposed Oliver as a hypocrite. First of all, I don't think he "stood by Laurel through everything" as he claimed. All he did was to ask her if she was alright a couple of times, without even trying to break down her defenses or really engaging himself in her troubles. I know that she pushed him away, but if we consider that she is the woman who "he has loved for half his life", I don't really think he tried as hard to help her as he himself claimed in that hallway scene.But back to Oliver; here's another thing (in addition to cheating on Laurel with Sara) about Oliver that I just find appalling: in S2 Sara had returned and the family was attempting to have a get together (Laurel had rebuffed a previous attempt), and finally Laurel agreed (the whole thing was very painful for her). Sara and Oliver were sleeping together, and Laurel of course had no idea. Poor Sara
is worried about the get-together being unpleasant. So WHAT does she do? Asks Oliver OF ALL PEOPLE to come with her for support!! And Oliver AGREES!! Of course we all know how that worked out...
I won't comment on what I thought about Sara at this point, b/c I'd rather focus on disparaging Oliver. But I thought that was totally asinine and insensitive on his part. Incredibly poor judgment. I don't care if he felt concern for Sara. Laurel is over there, struggling with substance abuse and he thinks this would be appropriate???? Even if she weren't struggling with substance abuse, he thinks this would be appropriate??
I was never a big fan of Oliver and Sara getting back together. I felt their initial tryst had already been hurtful enough. And I felt that his getting back with Sara was a form of laziness. It was just easier to take the lazy way out (Sara's right there in front of him, willing) than it was to exert any effort at control over himself in an attempt to show that he could be a better person (that he would avoid going right back to the thing that he had done before that had been so cruel to Laurel and that supposedly? he felt some remorse and regret for).
Yes, Sara was one of the few women that he could be himself with (secret identity and all that), but I didn't feel like the two of them had some kind of big all-encompassing love that would make it worth going back down that road, at Laurel's expense. Especially considering that he had been trying to rebuild a friendship with Laurel. In the highly unlikely event that Sara was his one-and-only-true-love and they just had to be together b/c there would never be anyone else on earth for each of them, then he could have at least: 1. stayed away from the dinner; (Sara's a big-girl-vigilante, she can take care of herself even if she is afraid of Laurel's fussing at her at dinner), then 2. had a talk with Laurel in which he apologized and acknowledged the harm he did and then told Laurel that he and Sara were now together.
As I said, I just found this yet another instance of appalling behavior on his part!
In fact, with Laurel's depression/substance abuse arc being relegated to the D-story, and with the increasing emphasis on Sara and her storyline (both in the present-day action and in the flashbacks), as well as the rather heavy-handed Olicity "ship tease", there frankly wasn't enough screen time for Oliver to show how much he cared for Laurel. Furthermore, he flat out lied when he said that Laurel tried to get Moira the death penalty, and he seemed to have forgotten about the Dollmaker scene where Laurel confesses her own sense of guilt when it comes to Tommy's death. I could go on and on about everything that was wrong about Oliver's hallway speech, but I think these examples are enough to show that Oliver's perception of both his own and Laurel's actions were flawed.
The after-dinner hallway scene is one of the most intense and beautifully acted scenes on "Arrow", but Ollie's behavior still makes my blood boil when I think about it!Comment
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According to the season 4 spoilers [SPOILER]Oliver and Felicity are going to live together next season and were living together during the season break. [/SPOILER]
So, Oliver has never actually lived alone once in his life, right ? I'm not really counting the island because he was always with someone there.
After the island, he had lived at the Mansion, with his sister and [SPOILER]now with Felicity[/SPOILER]
I know, Oliver suffers from trauma but I think it does make him feel a little too dependent, imo.
If Oliver wants to discover himself, some independence and "alone time" would certainly not be a wrong thing.Last edited by Neverending Story; 08-16-2015, 08:47 AM.Comment
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It is kind of funny that Oliver didn't live any kind of Robinson Crusoe life on Lian Yu, rather the opposite! He was surrounded by people almost from day one, and that continued in the Hongkong flashbacks, where he lived with the Yamashiros. I'm sure that is a much better solution from a dramaturgical POV...after all, it is more interesting to watch the hero interact with other people than watching him all by his lonesome. However, I do agree that Oliver should spend some time alone, and gain some true independence.Comment
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Even Crusoe had his man Friday. Oliver has his gal Wednesday.It is kind of funny that Oliver didn't live any kind of Robinson Crusoe life on Lian Yu
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SA told a story about growing a goatee (technically what the Green Arrow had in the comics was a Van Dyke but to keep things simple, we'll call it a goatee) and it looking terrible so in the interests of everyone's ascetic pleasure, we get the stubble instead.
A very good trade in my book.
I'm trying to remain open minded about the new costume. I'm having issues with the look of the shoulder pads and also the misuse of arm guards. They are on backwards for an archer. Maybe we are supposed to believe Oliver is so good with the bow and arrow he only needs the guards for street fighting. Still just the sleeveless factor is highly impractical both in the real life of shooting scenes in Vancouver in the winter and for protection during fights. What advantage could they sell the no sleeves as bringing to the costume other than fan service for the comics and bicep service to the viewers?Last edited by BkWurm1; 09-07-2015, 03:28 PM.Comment
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This is a very good point, especially in light of the fact that the costume design department went out of their way to design an outfit for Sara, and then Laurel, which had fishnet patterns on leather instead of having them wear fishnet stockings. Of course, now I have this horrible image that next season they'll have Laurel trade-in the outfit they designed for the 'original look' outfit.... Of course, there'd probably have to be a demand on that since there has been a demand for Oliver's outfit to be closer to the GA of comic lore, while only a handful across the Internet have demanded Sara, then Laurel, begin wearing fishnet stockings instead of their current design....Comment
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If you are going to come in and pretend to be a fan posting something rather than a rep for the company, could you at least post Arsenal's outfit in Roy's thread and not Oliver's, you know, the GREEN Arrow, not the red one?Comment
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*sighs* Its not even on the topic of this thread. As I recall, you made a thread about the costumes of Arrow. This belongs THERE, and NOWHERE ELSE but a thread for Roy Harper/Arsenal.Originally posted by James@AngeljacketsSweets!! As much as i adore Green Arrow, I'm in for all character including the Red Arrow. It's just Random. Plus, even if i open a topic, there are lots who talk out of topic. It's just not fair when i do that. But it's cool i don't mind. I'll make sure of that. I just posted that, maybe it might help you guys. That's all.
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I'm kind of tiered of seeing your posts James@Angeljackets of trying to sell stuff and using being a fan in order to do it. If you really are interested in the show besides selling stuff then make more posts that have nothing to do with cloths.
You have 5 posts and most of them are about cloths. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this.Comment
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Came across this quote which gave me a different way to think about Oliver during his journey from dark to light. The quote is from George Garrett, amateur boxer and novelist, and found in Resilience by Eric Greitens (2015; p 44-45) who in turn pulled the quote from Joyce Carol Oates, On Boxing (1987, p.28):
"Most of the fighters I knew were wounded people who felt a deep, powerful urge to wound others at real risk to themselves. In the beginning. What happened was that in almost every case, there was so much self-discipline required and craft involved, so much else besides one's original motivations to concentrate on, that these motivations became at least cloudy and vague and were often forgotten, lost completely. Many good and experienced fighters (as has often been noted) become gentle and kind people."
I am definitely reminded of Oliver's decision to move past seeking vengeance for his father and pursuing the names on that list. Also, one could consider that his move towards lightness has not really so much to do with Felicity's influence (here's my anti-Felicity/Olicity bias speaking!) but more so to do with the satisfaction and fulfillment to be found in exercising self-discipline and focusing on mastering a craft. The pursuit of such excellence, which is one way that people find fulfillment, happiness and possibly meaning (depending on the point of the pursuit) in their lives, replaces the empty, shallow, brief sensation of satisfaction to be found for some in vengeance and inflicting pain on others....Comment
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It's just occurred to me that the only female outside of Oliver's Mother and sister that he hasn't slept with is his "wife"
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