Arrow - Season 3

[Marc]

I am a little disappointed that they appear to be using Thea's resurrection as a way to wipe her memory of Ollie being the Arrow, I'm really hoping she gets all of her memories back, including that.

I think her memories were coming back going by the scene in her apartment with Merlyn - she was remembers being stabbed by Ra's and say anything about being blank on events before that.

Think her confusion was more about why Oliver hadn't returned from Nadar Parvat with them and that she's still foggy on events between being stabbed and returning to Starling City.

 

[Christopher]

I have to admit, since Sarah died I have been expecting them to get Oliver and Laurel together, since Green Arrow and Black Canary are a couple in the comics. Honestly, at this point the only reason they would get together is just to match the comics, so I'm glad they've resisted that.

Adaptations need to chart their own paths, even when it diverges from the source. Clearly they started out intending Ollie and Laurel to be a couple, but actor chemistry and lack thereof sent things in a different direction. Nobody expected Emily Bett Rickards to be the breakout star of the show or for "Ollicity" to become the favored "ship." But Rickards/Felicity is just so awesome that she totally changed the paradigm.

By the way, I can't be the only person who thinks Felicity is hotter with her glasses on, can I? I wish they wouldn't keep having her take her glasses off when she gets dressed up for a date or whatever, because they're just such an integral part of her look. The way she looked here, with hair down and glasses on, was probably her best look yet.

Have we ever seen the woman who was with Ra's and was leading the ressurection ceremony for Thea? I didn't recognize her.

No; that's Vancouver stalwart Francoise Yip, who hasn't been in this show before (though she's been in Smallville and countless other shows). She was just the League's resident priestess, apparently.

 

[Corran Horn]

There were some shots where I was really glad I was watching in widescreen on Hulu rather than on my TV where the sides of the image would be cut off.

How is Hulu showing you more of the picture than your TV is?

 

[Christopher]

How is Hulu showing you more of the picture than your TV is?

My TV is over a decade old and not widescreen, and my cable provider doesn't offer The CW as an HD channel. So I can't see it letterboxed on my TV -- just a full-screen 4:3 image that cuts off the right and left sides.

These days I watch all my CW and ABC shows on Hulu Plus -- The CW because of the widescreen thing, ABC because the local channel's sound settings are screwed up and the voices tend to be swamped by the music and sound effects. I sacrifice a bit of picture clarity and fluidity, but at least I can see and hear everything.

 

[Corran Horn]

My TV is over a decade old and not widescreen, and my cable provider doesn't offer The CW as an HD channel.

ah, I just figured if that were the case over-the-air HD would be preferred.

 

[The Old Mixer]

And there are some shows that do change their "regular" credits every week depending on who's in a particular episode; examples include Heroes and Daredevil.

Hell on Wheels does that. Last season there was an episode that only had two of the regulars in it. There was a lot of empty space in the opening credits where name usually appear.

 

[Kelthaz]

I loved her character in the first two seasons of Arrow (and her guest appearances on Flash) when she was quirky and fun, but I'm really fed up with her constantly crying and pining over Oliver.

Where was the crying and pining? Pining means passively longing for something you can't have.

In this episode not so much, but I was talking about their relationship this season. So much time wasted on the idiotic "I love you, but we can never be together" forced relationship drama and love triangle with Ray. Felicity spends all of her time crying about something or yelling at Oliver for something stupid he did or is about to do. She was so much fun over on the Flash and the first two seasons of Arrow. I want that Felicity back.

And now we get to this episode that should have been about Oliver, Thea, and Malcolm, but of course not. It's all about Felicity and her relationship with Oliver. The whole episode felt like badly written fan fiction.

 

[.:: TSN ::.]

I'm just not seeing any chemistry between Oliver and Felicity. Never have. She was so much more fun with Ray.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Try sitting on your TV when you think about them.

 

[Beagleman]

I'm just not seeing any chemistry between Oliver and Felicity. Never have. She was so much more fun with Ray.

I actually do see some chemistry between them but Raylicity was awesome (and I'm normaly not much of a shipper).

 

[Reverend]

Yeah, I have to say I never really bought the Ollie/Felicity match up. That is to say I bought her crushing on him, but I never bought him reciprocating. And yes, she's much more interesting with Ray.

It may have something to do with Ollie having a few to many romantic interests--some of which were concurrent thanks to the flashback scenes--to really take it seriously.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I'm just not seeing any chemistry between Oliver and Felicity. Never have. She was so much more fun with Ray.

I mostly agree with this. I like Felicity as a character but their relationship makes little sense to me. I am not at all a shipper. So its not that I have a favorite over the two of them. Truth is I do not think any of Oliver's relationships have been believable. He is a really messed up guy! They all have been the obligatory
love interests for the action hero.

I think she just feels sorry for him. But can never understand what he has gone through or why he does what he has over the years. My first thought when they had sex was, "Ok, they have got it out of their system now. Eventually this will fall apart and they will move on to just be friends".

 

[Kelthaz]

I'm just not seeing any chemistry between Oliver and Felicity. Never have. She was so much more fun with Ray.

I loved her with Ray. The two of them had common interests and personalities that played so well off of each other. They were fun to watch together. It doesn't make sense that she'd dump him for the angry jerk.

 

[Servo]

I thought Ray and Cisco had better chemistry.

 

[Christopher]

I loved her with Ray. The two of them had common interests and personalities that played so well off of each other. They were fun to watch together. It doesn't make sense that she'd dump him for the angry jerk.

But from a story perspective, Felicity and Ray are too similar to be a good couple. There's not enough contrast or conflict there. It works better for Felicity to be the fun character in an otherwise solemn and intense team, to be a contrast to them.

Plus, with Ray getting his own spinoff, they kinda had to break them up regardless. Which is the same reason Felicity and Barry didn't work out. Hard to have an ongoing romance with a character who's part of a different show, even with all the crossovers they keep having.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Damn it Felicity. Arrow is ruining your character. You were so much better on The Flash.

I'd agree...i mean, her stepping up in the face of danger is natural character growth, but choosing Ollie over Barry or even Ray is just silly....

Felelcity's sex life was pretty much this season, right? From her college boyfriend, to Ray to Ollie....i hate the writers did that. I would've preferred that Felicity's version of child rebellion would be to remain a virgin until marriage (a contrast to Mom's flaunting sexiness) .

I'm just not seeing any chemistry between Oliver and Felicity. Never have. She was so much more fun with Ray.

The only thing i can think of is that they're only allowed a certain number of geeks/nerds/socially awkward on a show, and the "logical" romances throw that balance off (especially with Legends coming online).

During the intro to Flash on Arrow, i was really hoping it would be revealed that her name would be revealed as Iris Felicity Smoak. Would've worked great for Flash (other than NOT getting Jesse Martin as Joe West)

I have to admit, since Sarah died I have been expecting them to get Oliver and Laurel together, since Green Arrow and Black Canary are a couple in the comics. Honestly, at this point the only reason they would get together is just to match the comics, so I'm glad they've resisted that.

Adaptations need to chart their own paths, even when it diverges from the source. Clearly they started out intending Ollie and Laurel to be a couple, but actor chemistry and lack thereof sent things in a different direction. Nobody expected Emily Bett Rickards to be the breakout star of the show or for "Ollicity" to become the favored "ship." But Rickards/Felicity is just so awesome that she totally changed the paradigm.

The thing is...Ollie did have chemistry with Caity Lotz/Sara. It's too bad they had everything plotted so much in advance...had they seen it, they could've had Laurel die in some way... Sara takes over her identity, in a quiet way (with Felicity's help in "fixing" records)... she uses Laurel's ID for getting stuff, and setting up a florist shop, where she makes a living by day.

I loved her with Ray. The two of them had common interests and personalities that played so well off of each other. They were fun to watch together. It doesn't make sense that she'd dump him for the angry jerk.

But from a story perspective, Felicity and Ray are too similar to be a good couple. There's not enough contrast or conflict there. It works better for Felicity to be the fun character in an otherwise solemn and intense team, to be a contrast to them.

Plus, with Ray getting his own spinoff, they kinda had to break them up regardless. Which is the same reason Felicity and Barry didn't work out. Hard to have an ongoing romance with a character who's part of a different show, even with all the crossovers they keep having.

I totally agree that Felicity is an integral part of the team, and providing the heart & hope that it would otherwise miss out. the show for sure would suffer without her, most certainly without a character like her.

But that still doesn't mean she has to hook up with Ollie. i don't know if the writers see it this way...but it looks like part of her "love" is trying to "fix" Ollie...in the real world, that rarely works out well.

 

[Christopher]

^I don't see Felicity as trying to "fix" Oliver. Rather, I think they've both inspired new things in each other. If anything, I'd say Oliver has damaged Felicity, making her a lot more tolerant of violence than she was to start. But at the same time, she's helped inspire him to become better. Not as some kind of "project," but just by being who she is and recognizing the better side of him.

 

[DWF]

^I don't see Felicity as trying to "fix" Oliver. Rather, I think they've both inspired new things in each other. If anything, I'd say Oliver has damaged Felicity, making her a lot more tolerant of violence than she was to start. But at the same time, she's helped inspire him to become better. Not as some kind of "project," but just by being who she is and recognizing the better side of him.

Many women fall for the "bad boy" under th hope that they can save them and compared to Ray and Barry, Ollie is the "bad boy" of the bunch. But her feelings for Ollie means she won't be leaving the show for the spinoff.

 

[Morpheus 02]

^I don't see Felicity as trying to "fix" Oliver. Rather, I think they've both inspired new things in each other. If anything, I'd say Oliver has damaged Felicity, making her a lot more tolerant of violence than she was to start. But at the same time, she's helped inspire him to become better. Not as some kind of "project," but just by being who she is and recognizing the better side of him.

Many women fall for the "bad boy" under th hope that they can save them and compared to Ray and Barry, Ollie is the "bad boy" of the bunch. But her feelings for Ollie means she won't be leaving the show for the spinoff.

i think we all agree she's a great part of Team Arrow...i just wish the reason to keep her wasn't a forced, unhealthy romance.

I mean with Ray...they couldn't excuse his absence with business dealings around the world & his Brave & Bold (i know, it's Legends) team?

 

[Christopher]

I don't think the Felicity-Oliver relationship is forced. On the contary -- the producers no doubt intended Laurel as Oliver's love interest initially, but then Felicity became this breakout character and the producers discovered how much audiences liked her and how much chemistry Rickards had with Amell.