Arrow Season 3 finale (and some other thoughts)

So, I know I’m a bit late with this… the season finale was already a while ago – and I had Arrow up to date – but I’ve been mulling over about what to say about it.

• First off, it’s not exactly news about now, but this 3^rd season was definitely not up to par with the previous ones. After giving it a bit of thought I figured out some stuff that did not work for me, which not to say that I didn’t enjoy this season – I did – but not as much, and here’s why: too much Olicity angst!

• I feel I should clarify that I’m a totally Olicity fan, I ship those 2 hard! But the episodes were way too much about them, whether together or apart, and it just didn’t work. Stephen and Emily have amazingly undeniable chemistry, so it’s always fun to watch them together… however it’s not great fun that they kept angsting about not being together for most of the season. After Oliver’s decision on the first episode, I wished that they had talked about it – while obviously still loving each other – but not actively mentioning the problem at almost every single episode. It got tiring.

• Other things that’s been largely talked about was the Hong Kong flashbacks. Here, I have to be honest, I liked the storyline. I wished it had taken less time, because the story was not that complex, but still I liked it, mostly because it introduced my favorite character from this season: Tatsu! I really liked Tatsu and Maseo, and I cried hard when she killed him… oh, the tears! I wished their story had ended differently, but I’m kind of glad that it didn’t. I also enjoyed immensely when Tatsu joined “Team Arrow” in Nanda Parbat and I wished that she had stayed with them, her skills would come in handy.

• Speaking of Nanda Parbat, we spent quite a few episodes with people flying in and out of there, but where the hell is it?! Because my first instinct would be to say that it’s somewhere in Asia, where you can get to and from in about a couple of hours flying?!

• Laurel… until the middle of the season my dislike for her was at a high, as always, but then, I don’t know, she became cool… I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m really liking Laurel right now. She stood up to Oliver and her father, she learned a lot from Roy and the team, she bonded with Felicity and she actually started to have a purpose on the series… well done! And, I really like her with Nyssa (and I wanted Nyssa to stay…).

• Other character that I didn’t care about before and now I do, is Thea. She grew up a lot – and I’m not only talking about her fighting skills. I’m just sorry that now that she’s ready, she doesn’t have Roy with her… oh, I’m really gonna miss Roy – by the way, he was amazing this season.

• Quentin Lance… WTF man?! The last third of the season I just wanted to throw him out of the window. I mean, I get it, what Laurel and Oliver did was wrong, they should have let him know about Sara’s death, but his behavior?! No excuse for that! He kind of redeemed himself in the last episode, only for them to let us know that he was drinking again?! Oh man… this sucks!

• About Ray, I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about him in the beginning, I mean, he liked Felicity and Felicity belongs with Oliver. Still, he grew on me. He’s funny, smart and a damn good person…

• … which leads me to one of my biggest problems with the last couple of scenes from the last episode, in which, in front of everyone – including Ray – Oliver declares himself to Felicity and asks her to go away with him. I’m OK with the content of the scene – though I might argue that Oliver goes from 80 to 8 in less than no time. What I’m not OK with was the lack of respect it showed towards Ray, from Oliver and Felicity, because PDA with your new boyfriend while your ex watching is not cool… especially considering that the man just gave you his company (not that you know, but still…).

• Also, I felt that Oliver just spent the whole season repeating the same mistakes on a loop. After 3 years, I would expect him to trust his friends more and not go around doing things by himself and trusting the wrong people.

• Which, by the way, what the hell Oliver?! You let Malcolm take control of the League of Assassins?! That smells like bad news already.

I think thinks of anything more to say, except that I really hope that next season is slightly better and that they do the Olicity thing right!

Arrow: Sacrifice Look Ahead

In case you were somewhere hidden under a rock yesterday and did not come across the new Arrow promo for the next 5 and final episodes of this season, well, here it is:

So… it looks insane!!! First things first (for all Olicity fans out there): IT APPEARS IT IS FINALLY GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!

Oh yeah, Felicity and Oliver, finally.

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On other news, someone will try to kill Roy – I’ll be very mad if they succeed…

Oliver will team up with Ray to protect the city.

Oliver will try to break Roy out of prison – lets all hope he’s alive until then.

Oliver will say yes to the offer and join the league – not really a big surprise given that in The Flash promo photos he’s wearing the league uniform.

Thea vs. Ra’s Al Ghul… not a chance in hell, but very cool anyway!

Again… Felicity and Oliver! I can’t stress enough how happy I am about this, I do hope they don’t screw it up, and that it’s not a dream or fantasy or something of the sorts… Also, Ray does look so disappointed…

Arrow: The Climb

This Arrow winter finale was heartbreaking and totally unexpected… there will be a lot of spoilers…

Ra’s al Ghul and The League of Assassins give Oliver 48 hours to deliver Sara’s killer to them, otherwise they will kill 50 people a day. This puts a rush on team Arrow to find the killer, which they do. The DNA from the arrow matches Oliver’s and this leads him to think that Malcom Merlin set him put. They’re able to find out that Malcom was indeed in town when Sara was killed, but more, he wasn’t alone, Thea was with him. So Oliver asks her about Merlin and she plain out lies to him. So he returns as the Arrow to ask some questions and she fights him and gets away (while defending Merlin). Soon after Merlin seeks out Oliver and shows him a video of Thea murdering Sara, while under the influence of a powerful drug that made her susceptible to suggestion and then she forgot everything. Knowing that the League will hold her guilty (even with the knowledge that Malcolm drugged her), Oliver has no other choice than to take his sister place and reveal himself as Sara’s killer to Ra’s al Ghul, Nyssa and the others and demand a trial by combat, which leaves him with 13 hours to set his affairs in order.

Oliver then says his goodbyes, warning Thea that Malcolm is not to be trusted (which she ignores completely), saying goodbye to Roy and urging him to protect Thea, declining John’s offer to accompanying him and saying goodbye to Felicity, where she asks him to kill Ra’s al Ghul and he tells her that he loves her. He then proceeds to the CLIMB, ultimately arriving to the neutral ground that Ra’s has set for their match… obviously he loses, ending up with a blade through his chest and falling from the top of the mountain…

Everywhere else, Dinah Lance arrives to town and notices right away that something isn’t right, Laurel crumbles and tell her that Sara is dead, promising to make whoever did it pay, to which Dinah is all for. Meanwhile, Ray shows Felicity his plans for the ATOM suit and asks her help to protect the people in the city.

• How could Thea defend Malcolm? No, seriously, she knows what he is and still, when Oliver is warning her she tells him not to make her choose?! WTF Thea?! Between a brother who would die for her or a father that uses her, she would have a problem choosing?!

• Thea is bad for Ollie, right? I mean, here is this guy literally dying for his sister and she, who complained so much about all the lies last year, is lying to his face? This dynamic needs to change.

• Nice tie-in with The Flash.

• Did Ra’s al Ghul just said that no one has challenged him in 67 years? How fu**ing old is he?

• How could Nyssa believe Oliver? Nissa knows him and she knew Sara, how could she ever, for a moment, believe that he would kill her… I wouldn’t find weird that she would ask, he would never do it.

• Laurel is just plain weird, so she keeps secret from dad for months, then in a matter of two days blabs about it to Thea (ironic much) and then to her mother, whom she hardly sees?!

• Oliver and Roy’s hug drove me to tears. This guy is the true Speedy!

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• However, that simple and curt handshake with John Diggle said more than hours of words would.

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• My heart literally broke when Oliver said his last “I love you” to Felicity. It was all calm and certainty and heartbreak… damn you!

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• Why is everyone so convinced that Oliver can win in his match with Ra’s is beyond me, first Malcolm Merlyn and then Felicity seem sure that he can win… fools! To Malcolm is good either way, still, it would have been better for Oliver to win.

• Maseo is in the League because something bad happened, right? He would never have join if his wife and son were not dead, so will we be seeing them murdered during the rest of the season? Tatsu can have a swordfight in every episode from now on… I approve!

• Ray is cute and all, but this episode should have been all about Oliver, Felicity and Ray just took up to much time 😦 …

• This… 😥

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• What I think will happen next: Maseo will find Oliver still alive and lie to Ra’s al Ghul, saying that he is in fact dead (because let’s not forget that Maseo clearly told him that he wanted him alive and all); the fall wasn’t as high as I originally though (as seen in the preview for the next episode), so this will mean that Ollie is alive (duh!) and he’ll probably be out of commission for a bit, but alive. No I’m gonna go and cry in the corner… January can’t come fast enough…

The Flash & Arrow epic crossover!

Let me start by saying that it’s pretty cool that we have two superheroes who live in the same universe… that means we can have more moments like these!!! The crossover event was pretty amazing, very cool scenes, witty dialog, a bit of stabbing at each world and methods, but most of all a realization that these two guys are really friends and that’s just super!

The Flash – Flash vs. Arrow:

• “Bad Barry” is kind of cool, at least he tells what he’s thinking, which is something real Barry could do a little more often.

• Felicity’s clothes on fire – PRICELESS!!!

• Why Oliver would win? Because he looked at Wells and thought that something was wrong with him!!!

• Diggle’s reaction to Barry’s speed was fantastic: “Does he does everything really fast?”. I just love Diggle so much!

 

• I’m glad Iris “broke up” with The Flash, that was sounding way too much like the Lois/Superman dynamic, with Iris being too annoying for that.

• That said, her crush on Ollie was cute, too bad she said it to Barry (poor guy), who already has her boyfriend to worry about.

• Felicity reiterating how she and Barry will never happen… we all got it =/…

• The way that Felicity and Ollie acted throughout the whole episode… they looked like a couple, she can even manage to get the reactions she wants on cue. And his smile… ohhhh…

• At least now we know why Eddie Thawne will go against the Flash…

• The big surprise of the episode was the reaparence of Ollie’s baby mamma, right? I can only assume that she’ll be back sometime in the second half of the season…

Arrow – The Brave and the Bold:

• Bart Allen!!! Well, Captain Lance, are you foreshadowing the Impulse, Flash nr 4, or was it just a really cool reference to make?! I go with the third ;-).

• Wasn’t that the best possible way to introduce Flash in this episode?!

• Lyla and Oliver bonding is just the best! Even if it’s how if you’re fighting some kind of extreme people, you have to able to go to extremes yourself – ARGUS and Amanda Waller in every single word.

• Cisco is the ultimate fanboy. And extremely helpful, he and Felicity make one hell of a team.

• Doesn’t Thea think it’s kind of weird that her ex-boyfriend hangs out all the time with her brother and her brother’s ex-secretary and bodyguard? Shouldn’t she know a little better? Because there’s no way that the Roy from when she met him would be friends with those people.

• I love the lingering and meaningful looks between Ollie and Felicity and I was so glad that Ray was not on this week’s episode.

• One can hope that after the big lesson Barry taught Ollie that he might relax and put Oliver Queen in first place sometime, even if it’s only for a bit.

• Pretty cool gesture of the “Arrow Team”, to have a place for Barry to hang up his suit when he’s in town… we hope that’s sooner rather than later.

• Cisco is also kind of amazing, tweaking up Ollie’s suit like that, but keeping the hood because of sentimental value… Oliver thanks you so much Felicity!

• Diggle and Lyla are going to get married again!!!! After 3 previous references of them not being married, that was kind of predictable, but awesome all the same.

• Laurel who? For a character that was supposed to be the female lead, she’s irrelevant nowadays.

• I like that Oliver points out to Barry that Starling is very different from Central city. Later Caitlin and Cisco ponder over why the methods are different – because they deal with metahumans, which makes it less real, while in Starling City, they deal with “normal” people, who are just bad.

• Barry, to do the Salmon Ladder right, you have to be shirtless… Flash costume doesn’t count…

Arrow: Draw Back Your Bow

This week’s Arrow, Draw Back your Bow was all about relationships.

Just a quick recap:

• A crazy fangirl named Cupid is dropping bodies to get the attention of Arrow, her one true love… she’s cray-cray and ends up on the right place for her;

• Thea is opening the club and has a new douche DJ/love interest (I like Austin Butler, but did like him as Chase);

• Ray Palmer asks Felicity out on a platonic non-date diner, that ends up being not platonic at all – it starts with him on the salmon ladder and ends up with a steamy kiss. Ray, the salmon ladder is not yours… and Felicity, don’t get blinded by diamonds worth 10M$ or couture dresses… you love Ollie, don’t ever forget that!!!

• Oliver is not happy about Felicity’s love life, I fell for the guy. After Diggle tells him that if he doesn’t move, he’ll lose her, he goes there to tell her and finds Felicity kissing the other dude… not cool!!!

• Diggle suddenly is everyone’s counsel, he tries to tell Felicity how Ollie fells, and then manages to get Ollie talking – good for him. The last scene was particularly nice, with Roy and Oliver showing up at Lyla and Diggle’s house for a late diner, showing how much they are now the family that the 2 guys don’t have… also to illustrate the gap that’s going on with Felicity and Ollive right now, she wasn’t there… instead, she was craving for more kisses from Mister Ray Palmer.

• Meanwhile in the island, sorry, Hong Kong, Maseo goes out for an assignment and fails to deliver news for over 9 hours. Worried about him, Tatsu wants to go after him and so does Oliver. So they both go, leaving their differences aside for a moment and providing a good moment of bonding between the two, which I guess was the whole point of the flashback… When Oliver asks her: “Why did you leave Japan?”, my first thought was: “Well, she went after Logan (Wolverine), didn’t she?!!” =P

• Katana is a fitting name for Tatsu in deed!

• On a happier note: no Laurel this week!!! =D

Now I’m up to date on Arrow!

I’m finally up to date with Arrow. Season 3 has been strong so far, here are some thoughts on the episodes until now:

• It’s great to see them as a team – a real team!

• Serious Oliver?! You have a problem with baby Sara being in the secret lair? Diggle is right: “who is she gonna tell?”??? Are you really uncomfortable around babies?

• BTW, Ollie, I like you better with a bow and arrow, though I must admit that you DO know how to use a gun 😉

• I like kickass Thea a lot, but for one who game her brother and mother such backlash because they were keeping secrets from her, shouldn’t she be behaviouring kind of different? I know Malcom is her dad n’all, but flat out lying like that? That’s not good!

• Can someone take Laurel away ASAP?! What’s she doing in the show anyway? She’s angry all the time and does nothing more than mess up all the time. She’s lying to her dad!!!! She’s just not a good character… Can we trade her for grown-up Sara?

• Felicity, I love you girl, but you have to stop crying. Since the season begun, I think you cried in every single episode… come on…

• Still on you Felicity: so, Ollie basically tells you (AGAIN) that he loves you, and you go “oh, look at the time… better dash!” ?!?!?!?! Seriously?! No talk or anything? The boy was trying…

• By the way, I want an apartment just like Felicity’s… or Thea’s, I would be OK either way…

• Ray Palmer… I wasn’t expecting to like him, but I do, a lot. A lot a lot. To the point where I wouldn’t mind if he and Felicity got together… but not for long, ok?! Ollie is still number one in her (and mine) heart!

• No way Roy is involved in Sara’s death, right? He can’t be. Not now, that he’s so in sync with the Arrow and everything – seriously, how many hours a day does the guy trains, because he’s kicking ass!

• How cute is Diggle with that baby, right?!