I've been re-watching season three recently, waiting for my immune system to do it's job. And I found out it was way better than I remembered. There were some really good things in it: Ra's was great, Malcom, Nyssa became one of my favorites, Roy and Thea, Dig and Lyla, Oliver's development in the flashbacks, Slade training Oliver and Thea, Maseo and Tatzu and lot's of the action and character interaction was thoroughly enjoyable. So why did I feel increasingly annoyed the farther I watched the season first time and why did I feel disappointed at it's end?
I guess this has been a topic for a long time but I would like to kind of collect and compare our experiences and opinions again, hoping to understand my own reactions better.
When I watched season three again I felt completely okay with it for the first five episodes. Olicity was enjoyable, predictably Oliver got cold feet about it at the first reminder that life is insecure, Roy was a pure joy, Dig and Lyla got their baby, Sara died (I like her much better now in LoT than I ever did in Arrow so I didn't mind that), Thea coming back home, Ray Palmer for some comic release, Nyssa, the ex-boyfriend of Felicity, Felicities Mom. Nothing to complain about.
But then in episode six Felicity started to change - at least I couldn't find the character who had been one of my favourites in season one and two again. I mean, yes, Oliver told her they wouldn't have sex any time soon (in different words but that was the message) and she did what? Show everybody how hurt she was in a completely immature way. How old was she at that time? 25 I think she said in one episode, but her behaiviour was more like 15, if at all. I mean, she supposedly loved Oliver, and she just gave up and showed everybody how pissed she was? I could only applaud Cupid in episode seven - even though she is insane she is at least persistent. Felicity on the other hand supposedly had a high IQ, was sane, knew Oliver for two years, and she just reacted like a high school girl whose boy group guy said no. And with 25 her biological clock was not yet ticking, either. She knew Oliver, why didn't she at least wait until his paranoia grew weaker again. Instead, immediately she fell for the next handsome billionaire who showed interest. I was not convinced she was really in love with Oliver, just like Iris (Flash) she was just attracted physically, but hardly loving the man, because she neither really knew the man nor was interested in getting to know him.
And it just got worse. Her reaction to Ray's flirting and trying to buy her with dresses and gifts! How shallow that character Felicity actually is! I really felt betrayed, because - as I said - I had build a different picture of Felicity in season one and two. And I think this annoyed me. So I guess it is my problem that the character simply was not as I had imagined it in the previous seasons.
Still, worse it got. Her blaming Oliver for being how he was. When he was supposedly dead by Ra's sword, her telling everybody how Oliver would never ally with Malcom and when later he did, instead of wondering if she really knew Oliver as well as she claimed she blamed him for not being how she had told everybody he was. I felt back at Clana again, her just not getting over Clark being different than she wanted him to be. But while I could accept it this in teenage Lana, it really did irritate me in much older Felicity.
Laurel, another of my favourites of season one and two, also was not as I would have expected her to be. She took the mantle for all the wrong reasons in all the wrong ways. But at least this was a theme and other characters confronted her about it. But not Felicity, she never reflected on herself nor did other characters ever say anything until Tatzu told her not to make the same mistake as she had done with Maseo near the end of the season, at which point I was so disappointed by Felicity I didn't care for her getting together with Oliver again. And Felicity's tries to take command, seriously, she is no natural alpha and she clearly never watched Oliver enough to learn that as a leader one needs to know how to control one's emotions. Her mom needing to tell her she is in love with Oliver (does Felicity not know her own feelings???), and even after she supposedly knew that she loved Oliver she kept flirting with poor Ray. And the farther the season went the less her sense of reality seemed to be, finally reaching it's summit in telling Ra's that she, herself, would thwart his plans regarding Oliver. With what power? Her hacking skills? And even if she had a plan at that time (and she didn't !) should not have more than two years working with Oliver taught her to not tell her enemy about it?
How they milked Sara's death was actually quite enjoyable, Roy having to deal with what he did on Mirakuru, the different possible ways Sara could have been killed - but ultimately it never made sense. Supposedly Malcom drugged Thea to kill Sara so that Oliver would challenge and kill Ra's and Malcom would be free again. But why in all the world did Malcom think that Oliver could beat Ra's in a sword fight? Malcom knew that Oliver was not as good at it as he himself. So why should he be able to beat Ra's? Still makes no sense to me.
So, while I did enjoy watching season three again, I also (again) had a hard time to accept that one of my favourite character of season one and two was actually a shallow power hungry girl who had nothing in mind but how to marry a Disney prince (Felicity saying that Ray looked like a Disney prince I found really enlightening about her mindset and goals in season three) and make herself a Disney princess no matter who gets hurt by it. It is why I do cherish that finally in season five they started to develop Felicity as a character, so that one day maybe I might find the Felicity from season one and two again. The other reason is that I really hate it when there are loose ends or story inconsistencies or not revealed motives and plots at the end of a season. They did the same in season five, I don't think Chase really was making sense in the end ... or the middle ... or the beginning and I hope that we learn more about Chase and his motives and goals in season six.
What about you? What did you like, what did you hate, what annoyed you in season three?
I guess this has been a topic for a long time but I would like to kind of collect and compare our experiences and opinions again, hoping to understand my own reactions better.
When I watched season three again I felt completely okay with it for the first five episodes. Olicity was enjoyable, predictably Oliver got cold feet about it at the first reminder that life is insecure, Roy was a pure joy, Dig and Lyla got their baby, Sara died (I like her much better now in LoT than I ever did in Arrow so I didn't mind that), Thea coming back home, Ray Palmer for some comic release, Nyssa, the ex-boyfriend of Felicity, Felicities Mom. Nothing to complain about.
But then in episode six Felicity started to change - at least I couldn't find the character who had been one of my favourites in season one and two again. I mean, yes, Oliver told her they wouldn't have sex any time soon (in different words but that was the message) and she did what? Show everybody how hurt she was in a completely immature way. How old was she at that time? 25 I think she said in one episode, but her behaiviour was more like 15, if at all. I mean, she supposedly loved Oliver, and she just gave up and showed everybody how pissed she was? I could only applaud Cupid in episode seven - even though she is insane she is at least persistent. Felicity on the other hand supposedly had a high IQ, was sane, knew Oliver for two years, and she just reacted like a high school girl whose boy group guy said no. And with 25 her biological clock was not yet ticking, either. She knew Oliver, why didn't she at least wait until his paranoia grew weaker again. Instead, immediately she fell for the next handsome billionaire who showed interest. I was not convinced she was really in love with Oliver, just like Iris (Flash) she was just attracted physically, but hardly loving the man, because she neither really knew the man nor was interested in getting to know him.
And it just got worse. Her reaction to Ray's flirting and trying to buy her with dresses and gifts! How shallow that character Felicity actually is! I really felt betrayed, because - as I said - I had build a different picture of Felicity in season one and two. And I think this annoyed me. So I guess it is my problem that the character simply was not as I had imagined it in the previous seasons.
Still, worse it got. Her blaming Oliver for being how he was. When he was supposedly dead by Ra's sword, her telling everybody how Oliver would never ally with Malcom and when later he did, instead of wondering if she really knew Oliver as well as she claimed she blamed him for not being how she had told everybody he was. I felt back at Clana again, her just not getting over Clark being different than she wanted him to be. But while I could accept it this in teenage Lana, it really did irritate me in much older Felicity.
Laurel, another of my favourites of season one and two, also was not as I would have expected her to be. She took the mantle for all the wrong reasons in all the wrong ways. But at least this was a theme and other characters confronted her about it. But not Felicity, she never reflected on herself nor did other characters ever say anything until Tatzu told her not to make the same mistake as she had done with Maseo near the end of the season, at which point I was so disappointed by Felicity I didn't care for her getting together with Oliver again. And Felicity's tries to take command, seriously, she is no natural alpha and she clearly never watched Oliver enough to learn that as a leader one needs to know how to control one's emotions. Her mom needing to tell her she is in love with Oliver (does Felicity not know her own feelings???), and even after she supposedly knew that she loved Oliver she kept flirting with poor Ray. And the farther the season went the less her sense of reality seemed to be, finally reaching it's summit in telling Ra's that she, herself, would thwart his plans regarding Oliver. With what power? Her hacking skills? And even if she had a plan at that time (and she didn't !) should not have more than two years working with Oliver taught her to not tell her enemy about it?
How they milked Sara's death was actually quite enjoyable, Roy having to deal with what he did on Mirakuru, the different possible ways Sara could have been killed - but ultimately it never made sense. Supposedly Malcom drugged Thea to kill Sara so that Oliver would challenge and kill Ra's and Malcom would be free again. But why in all the world did Malcom think that Oliver could beat Ra's in a sword fight? Malcom knew that Oliver was not as good at it as he himself. So why should he be able to beat Ra's? Still makes no sense to me.
So, while I did enjoy watching season three again, I also (again) had a hard time to accept that one of my favourite character of season one and two was actually a shallow power hungry girl who had nothing in mind but how to marry a Disney prince (Felicity saying that Ray looked like a Disney prince I found really enlightening about her mindset and goals in season three) and make herself a Disney princess no matter who gets hurt by it. It is why I do cherish that finally in season five they started to develop Felicity as a character, so that one day maybe I might find the Felicity from season one and two again. The other reason is that I really hate it when there are loose ends or story inconsistencies or not revealed motives and plots at the end of a season. They did the same in season five, I don't think Chase really was making sense in the end ... or the middle ... or the beginning and I hope that we learn more about Chase and his motives and goals in season six.
What about you? What did you like, what did you hate, what annoyed you in season three?
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