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Tonight's episode was very impressive, though I liked "The Flash" better overall. I'd never heard of Vixen before; she was interesting to say the least. I did like it took multiple tries to destroy Damien's idol, even for her...and his reaction to his powers missing was priceless.
Oliver's message to William was heart-wrenching, but the scene after with Felicity felt rather selfish on her part. I understand lovers need to trust each other, but if she really understood his reasons (as she herself claimed), then Felicity should've swallowed her own pride. Oliver's sacrifice of sending William away had nothing to do with her, so why did she deserve any input on that decision? If anything, her love for Oliver should've caused her to comfort him, not (literally) walk away over it. -
I am going to have to reconsider my stance on Marc Guggenheim. He wrote the story for this, and I honestly expected a heavy focus on Olicity melodrama. I was pleasantly surprised to see this NOT happen. I am very, very happy that they stuck with who Felicity was and have her wait until afterward to speak to Oliver. The way they handled the break-up was what I expected, though I honestly would have liked (with all the other 'parent' things coming up) if Felicity had said something like, "You really are Moira's son, aren't you?"
Samantha has shown her own strength here, handling the revelation of who Oliver really is with a degree of calmness I didn't expect. It is also clear that William is very much the child of both of his parents, especially with how he told Darhk to not hurt them when he was choking Speedy, Black Canary, and Green Arrow. As soon as that came out, I'm like, "Oh, boy, looks like William is definitely his father's son. Let's hope he didn't get the womanizing thing...." Of course, we won't have to worry about any of that since William and Samantha won't be appearing again.
Thea and Malcolm's relationship has been deteriorating fast since her initial decision to train under him, and tonight was the final bridge burning session. I always wondered why they haven't used Merlyn's other name from the comics (the Dark Archer), but now I realize why. He wasn't the Dark Archer yet. He still felt something other than contempt for Oliver. But now, with Oliver having stripped him of his power as Ra's Al Ghul and with his own spite having driven his daughter away and firmly into Oliver's camp, he is becoming the Dark Archer who will see Oliver Queen/Green Arrow only as a mortal nemesis and will stop at nothing to bring him down, ala Slade Wilson (a feud that previews for tomorrow's episode of Legends show will continue to the next generation). I felt chills going up my spine as Malcolm and Thea fought with one another in the apartment.
I'll be honest: I had a smirk on my face when the break-up scene happened. What's more, the revelation she only needed time with the bio implant to walk again didn't lead to instant reconciliation.
Oh, and just because I feel the need to dig the knife a little deeper so to speak: I think Laurel's reaction when she was talking to her father, about how much it hurts to find out about Samantha and William, shows that she still loves Oliver. Though I don't expect them to do anything about that this season. Next season is when they'd do anything about it, if at all.
Darhk's powerless and now imprisoned awaiting trial. But his wife is now the sole mayoral candidate. Hmm.... this is going to be interesting...
Sadly, we'll have to wait a few weeks to find out more.
Oh, almost forgot: Oliver's message to William stirred up echo's of Robert's message to Oliver. I'll give Marc Guggenheim this much: he knows how to write a feels episode. Now, if he can stick with this level of storytelling, I wouldn't feel the need to harangue him all the time.
A very rare 10/10.Comment
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A very well done episode. It's an Arrow episode.
First, on the Olicty break up I was watching it with a smile because it happened.
Moving on everyone had great performances in this episode.
That scene with Oliver at the end recording the video message reminded me very of the one Robert recorded for Oliver.
With Samantha her level of calmness on handling Oliver revealing himself as the Green Arrow was surprising to say the least. For William he is his father's son like when at the last moment of standing up to Darhk. For the both of them through I'm glad this plot line has finally ended though and we can move on to other things.
Malcolm Merlyn is on the path of hating both Oliver and Thea, that's for sure. I'd say he's probably going to end up becoming the season 5 villain.
Damien Darhk is now powerless and imprisoned well that was a surprise. Looks like his wife is running operations now, hmm. I'm betting she says sorry husband but you are staying in jail.
For the flashbacks, well they were interesting... a bit.
So I guess we now have the answer for what those Chinese letters are for of allowing Oliver safe passage into that cave. I really just don't have all that much to say about them this week.
Which I will say on that scene Laurel had with her father, I think she might still be in love with Oliver. I'm surprised they shown that in this episode but I guess if they have broken up Olicty they are going to want to be plotting the seeds for the eventually Oliver/Laurel next season.
Also on Vixen, I think she as a character is a fine addition to the universe. I liked the line by Diggle of just how much as changed of the world they now live in.
Which if they were able to produce this quality of an Arrow episode more often I would probably back off of Guggenheim, a bit.
Now my only real complaint is we have to wait a few weeks for the show to come back on.Comment
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Okay, I only caught this after looking at some of the discussions in other forums. The bit where Felicity's leg moved and she was able to stand and walk away eclipsed something very big: she somehow thought she should be involved in the decision to send William away. Uh, what are you smoking, Ms. IT Girl? The decision is for the parents of the child, aka Samantha and Oliver. You have had no role in William's life. And clearly Samantha agrees with Oliver.
Oh, and there is a certain irony here that Felicity is talking about how marriage is about leaning on one another, being open... yet now, both times she's discovered about William she has steamrolled over Oliver and not even given him a chance to explain. How about asking Oliver the how and where that Barry, Malcolm, and Thea found out? I think this is a good example of why she and Oliver are not a good fit....Comment
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What's really bad is that I was just beginning to like her a bit again.... but then they do this. Honestly, I feel like I'm watching Moira 2.0, except this one I can't see any way to like. Moira, at least, had her whole twisted, "I'm doing this for my kids" thing and so we could understand her choices even if we hated her for it. Felicity also has the strike against her that she did this exact thing, kept a secret from Oliver for several months (a big one) and all Oliver did was have a discussion with her. So for her to do this TWICE in one season (even if technically the first time got wiped out), its just like, "why are they still thinking people like her as an option for Oliver as a romantic interest?" Oh, wait, I know its because of the whole, "all girls marry their dads, and all boys marry their moms" trope...Comment
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Much better than last week's crapfest, but still a mixed bag at best. Arrow just can't seem to get it right anymore. Its weaknesses run too deep and only a complete change in trajectory can fix that. And it doesn't look like happening any time soon. Despite of that final scene.
- William's abduction was the main storyline and on that end, the show did well. And while there were too many people for my liking in the Arrowcave, Vixen's inclusion was fun and harmless. Won't mind seeing her again down the line.
- William's parentage was finally addressed in this episode and as weird as it sounds, the only character who I ended up relating with was Oliver. Amell did a masterful job of displaying how torn Oliver was in the entire episode: About lying to Felicity, about suspending his campaign and about letting go of William. Definitely one of Stephen's best episodes.
- One of Arrow's weaknesses that can't be fixed anymore is Felicity. The character is too far gone, imo. While her initial reaction to finding out Oliver's secret was fine, it all deteriorated again by the end of the episode. It's understandable that she feels upset about the lie, but Oliver and even Samantha made it clear to her what kind of an impossible predicament he was in. Maybe she should be a bit more understanding about lying to protect someone. Isn't this what she preached to Donna just last week??? On top of that, Oliver suffers 2 big blows in this episode: He gives up the mayoral campaign and he decides to cut ties with his son. And what does she do? She decides that this is the time to call off the engagement. Great timing. And why the hell should she be consulted about what Oliver and Samantha do with William anyway?
- I know that some people think this might have been the end of Olicity, but I'm afraid we are not done yet. Not by a long shot.
- There was a very interesting moment in this episode where Laurel seemed particulary hurt by the news about William. Maybe she isn't over Oliver as much as she thought...
- The paralysis storyline was (typically) resolved in a copout fashion. As was the case with Oliver's fall from the cliff last year: They just came up with a convenient plot device to have her walk again within a few weeks. Ugh. How is this show supposed to be taken seriously if there are no long term consequences for even the more severe circumstances? The execution was poor as well. I mean, Felicity makes the first step and then she's up and out of Oliver's house in a flash. What about muscle atrophy? Oh well, I guess they needed her to make a dramatic exit to close the episode and the wheelchair wouldn't cut it.
- The action scenes once again were poorly shot. Especially the one in the corridor with Laurel and Thea fighting the Ghosts.
- I love how much fun Neal McDonough has with his role.
5/10.Comment
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Okay, I only caught this after looking at some of the discussions in other forums. The bit where Felicity's leg moved and she was able to stand and walk away eclipsed something very big: she somehow thought she should be involved in the decision to send William away. Uh, what are you smoking, Ms. IT Girl? The decision is for the parents of the child, aka Samantha and Oliver. You have had no role in William's life. And clearly Samantha agrees with Oliver.
Oh, and there is a certain irony here that Felicity is talking about how marriage is about leaning on one another, being open... yet now, both times she's discovered about William she has steamrolled over Oliver and not even given him a chance to explain. How about asking Oliver the how and where that Barry, Malcolm, and Thea found out? I think this is a good example of why she and Oliver are not a good fit....
Dude lied to her about the existence of a child, something earth shaking in his life. He kept her in the dark while not flinching as Barry, MALCOLM MERLYN, Thea and then DD knew about his kid. But to keep William safe Felicity had to be lied to? As she pointed out, that didn't work out so well, did it.
He then at the end of this whole mess still hasn't talked to the person he's supposed to be depending on and sharing his burdens but instead once again he kept everything a secret. Oliver absolutely wasn't ready for marriage.
Felicity dumped him as she should have. What pisses me off is the show let everyone else talk about their feelings on the matter at length but Felicity got like two sentences. We were promised her POV. That was almost worse than nothing.
Yeah so dead that MG was out trolling pictures from 4-16 that might as well have been made for Olicity fan art before the episode ever aired to fight the immediate backlash.Comment
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Felicity specifically said that marriage is about inclusion. She also said she understood Oliver's reasoning for sending William away, what she did not understand is why if they were supposed to be married and partners that he wouldn't even have a conversation about the choices he was facing.
God bless you! God bless everyone!Comment
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Good episode, even if it was rather predictable. I knew that the idol/altar thing, would be destroyed and would result in Damien losing his powers. Puts him and Oliver on much more equal footing now. And I thought that, at some point this season, Oliver would realise that William was better off without him. Props to Stephen Amell for his video message. That is, until Felicity, came in.
Vixen is awesome. If only the basis of Arrow had been more magic related, it would be great to see more of her. It was odd though that in her last scene with Oliver, it was raining but neither of them were getting wet.
Loved Laurel this episode although I'm confused how she knew Vixen and no one else on the team did, considering Oliver only met her last year.
Please let this season be the last season of Malcolm. He has become rather unbearable. Surely Oliver wants to rip him apart now...Comment
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Laurel and Mari probably met off camera or possibly in Season 2 of Vixen they are probably writing that and if it is like Season 1 it wouldn't take place in real time. Maybe it takes place earlier in Season 4 of Arrow than last season which took place around episode 16 of Arrow Season 3.Comment
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