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Loved It? Hated It? What did you think of "Blood Debts?"

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  • #16
    Oliver has always shut down when someone he loves is hurt. With Tommy, he ran away for five months and Diggle and Felicity had to drag him back to save QC. When Slade killed Moira, he passed out. When Sara "died", he turned off his humanity and started making idiotic decisions. When Thea was stabbed, he was willing to give up everything to save her. Turning back into the Hood but without the clever ideas now that Felicity has been hurt is SOP for him.

    Originally posted by Haggard01
    Um, it still might be a different section of the ARGUS Supermax because I noticed a latter in the far back when they were entering the facility. So, I'd say it's underground. I think the whole thing why so many people are not enjoying the flashbacks anymore is because season 1 and 2 flashbacks were progressing Oliver along to being The Hood and then season 3 they slowed to a standstill. Now they are trying to pick up speed but I think the only way the flashbacks are going to kick up again is if they turn Oliver fully into The Hood.
    I thought there was light shining in through the windows of the prison, which means it must be above ground at least at the window level.

    Season 1 and 2 flashbacks gave us important backstory on what happened when he was away and why Slade became who he was in season 2. Season 3 didn't have much in the way of story other than the virus and Oliver becoming a killer in torturing Shreive but I enjoyed Msseo and Tatsu as characters, especially when Tatsu made him do his own laundry.

    There are many problems for me with the season 4 flashbacks. Oliver is back on Lian Yu again in a terrible plot contrivance but this time suddenly there are a whole new group of people who apparently weren't there in Fyers day and they're already harvesting a mysterious plant that has a shocking quick growth. There are also a whole group of slaves that weren't there before either. And I don't find any other the characters interesting. I've liked Ryan Robbins through two previous series but his character here is completely two-dimensional, Reiter is badly written and there's no chemistry between Oliver and Tatiana especially since she's supposed to be a love interest. It's episode 11 and I still can't see what the point of this season's flashbacks are.

    But the biggest problem is that instead of Oliver going further down the dark path to becoming the Hood, he's basically present day Oliver, trying to save innocent people, killing only when someone tries to kill him. They went completely off the path to Dark Oliver. The haircut, making him look exactly like present day Oliver, just emphasizes what a mess it is.

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Amarice
      I bolded the last sentence, because this is probably what they wanted to show BUT, I guess more by accident than anything else, in this one episode Ollie acts exactly like a person who suffers from PTSD. Since being the Hood was his way to deal with his trauma after the sland, he slipped back in that mode instantly. Avoiding/drifting from the person, who is right now the closest to him, Felicity, also fits, as well as pushing away friends/family and lashing out at them. Since Ollie had never had any actual treatment, it's quite probable that his Hood-mode can reappear so suddenly, and he can suffer all the symptoms.
      I'd be on the same page as this, as there's no question he hasn't been clinically treated for PTSD and his track record by which he "deals with" sudden or traumatic personal crises over the seasons is largely spotty and ineffective. That he could so easily slip back into Hood mode without support (with Felicity indisposed and his intentional sidelining of those closest to him) isn't much of a surprise. And many fans could understand that they want to frame it as Felicity representing that support he needs to keep the darkness (aka his PTSD issues) at bay.

      It's unfortunate the series hasn't done enough to identify the elephant in the room and spell out that he is most likely suffering from a PTSD condition in need of professional treatment, or show that he's even willing to consider he may need the sort of help he won't find in the Arrowcave. Felicity and the team may be intelligent, supportive, and even understanding that he can and will slip back into some of his S1 self-destructive behaviours -- but none are equipped in a clinically professional sense to address and, for lack of a better term, "cure" what ails him. In a roundabout way, they showed this without actually stating it.

      I can only speculate that Diggle and Lyla with their military background and to a lesser extent Quentin with his police background would be most likely to recognize that Ollie's got PTSD or at least exhibit symptoms of it.

      With his much-needed support either indisposed (Felicity) or intentionally or accidentally shunned (Team Arrow), we could be seeing a S1 Hood who is largely unchecked.

      It'll generate drama and tension, story and plot-wise. He will seem "edgier" and more willing to bend the scruples he's struggled to retain, occupying the greyer areas of the moral spectrum is a part of him -- it was before Felicity, it will be by series' end. And it will be how (or if) he can cope with it that will be his personal struggle for the rest of the season.

      On this front, it's a continuation of his S3 identity crisis story arc. Is GA still more Hood, less Arrow, an amalgam of both -- or will his persona evolve into something more balanced?

      But for Ollie in the medical sense, he and his mind will be in a dangerous and potentially self-harming situation ... never mind what he may do to others in such a condition.

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