You Could Hide Beside Me, Maybe For A While
[+] Okay, let's get right into Arrow, because I want to get to my thoughts before they all scatter, and there is going to be A LOT of tv to talk about after tonight.
I guess I'd give it a B+, there are things I'm not totally satisfied with, and some other things I loved, and there's some stuff I'm really confused about (though I don't see anyone on Tumblr freaking out about it, so I'm probably wrong).
Okay, I LOVED the beginning, I loved Oliver just owning that he'd been playing Ra's all along. And then of course it all goes to hell. I'd been so pumped about the title of this episode, and I kind of screamed when he said that.
I'll admit- I couldn't for the life of me remember Damian Dark, and how he came into play, and why he was Ra's enemy. And really, that *does* seem like an awful lot of trouble to go through to carry out a personal vendetta. And also, Hong Kong...does that mean that Al-ghul had only been Ra's for like five years? Or was that Omega 3 mission something else?
THEA AS THE RED ARROW! THEA AS THE RED ARROW! THEA AS THE RED ARROW! THEA AS THE RED ARROW! When I fell in love with her so completely in the pilot and Oliver called her 'Speedy' for the first time, I was bouncing in my seat that she was going to develop into that character. And then we met Roy, and I thought the 'Speedy' thing was just a connection to her boyfriend, and eyeroll, whatever, but I loved Roy too and Thea has never needed anything to be more fascinating to me. But my precious girl, I was screaming again. She looks so amazing in that red suit. And that little parkour-esque, Roy Harper-esque jump she did off the wall? THEA AS THE RED ARROW!
Okay. The rest of this is stuff that I sort of love, sort of REALLY love, but also am kind of confused by and also...:/
As always, Team Arrow is a family effort. I knew it would be, in the end. Barry coming over here made SO much more sense than Oliver going over to The Flash (seriously, when did he find the time), and he was so delightfully Barry-esque in the League of Assassins lair.
I get that John and Oliver coming back together is going to take some time. I appreciate their brotherhood and their loyalty, but it is not blind, and Oliver still has amends to make. (Is he Sara's godfather? Did they ever say, or am I making up a scene in my head?) And also, seriously, John needs some sort of mask. He's been in at least as much hand-to-hand combat as Roy and probably more than Laurel and Nyssa (at least in Starling City).
Okay. And it was GREAT to see a team of Super Ladies coming together. Like, cartwheels around my apartment, singing We Are The Champions at the top of my lungs great. And Nyssa (needs a super hero name), the Black Canary, and the Red Arrow (with Felicity Smoak as the brains behind the operation, of course) are a more than capable, kick ass team. And great that Felicity donned the Atom suit, that was pretty delightful. (But RAY! NO! THAT CAN'T BE FOR REAL!)
But...
This show is Arrow. And this show does not work without Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, the Arrow, or the Green Arrow. (Just like The Vampire Diaries does not/will not work without Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert.) So...the thing I was freaking out over, but I don't see anyone else freaking out about it, so it's probably not true...Was that a sneaky, backdoor exit for Oliver as a character? No, right? Just a hiatus from being the Arrow? Like, he's going to figure out a way to reinvent it next year, at some point, right? There will be a reason? Right?
And I said to someone last week, that I didn't think Felicity and Oliver were going to REALLY 'get together' until we brought Oliver's five years away from home full circle. I guess I was wrong. Like, seriously, was that a sneaky, unannounced series finale?
I know that this and The Flash were setting up that Legends of Tomorrow show, but really at this point, I feel like with three crossover shows (that crossover to each other *this often*) they should just make it one two hour show, using soap opera format. What I mean by that is that soaps usually have large casts of 30-ish characters and they kind of rotate them in and out of lead storylines. Arrow has a little bit of a different format with Oliver's flashbacks, but I think they could work that in, somehow. Both shows are very overcrowded with recurring characters (which I know was the whole point of the third show, but...) In some ways, it could be really, really awesome, but also, Arrow in particular (my personal favorite of this group) has such a special team chemistry...I don't know. We'll have to see where it goes.
And we ARE, at some point, going to get back to Oliver's child? And I'd always been convinced that the child would be a boy, but now I'm feeling girl? And also, I'm feeling like Felicity is definitely pregnant from magical Nanda Parbat sex?
I feel like this needs to be a standard disclaimer for my Arrow posts. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYTHING THAT IS NOT 100% POSITIVE REGARDING FELICITY SMOAK, THAN MY POSTS WILL BE DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO GET THROUGH.
The BIG Olicity scene. Her *We Have To Talk* scene. I kind of hated how it started. Because *We Have To Talk*...in the middle of all that? No. Yes, it was a very important conversation. Yes, this is a tv show and certain beats need to be played out in a certain order. But there's always something just off about Felicity Smoak/the Olicity dynamic that just keeps me from *really* shipping it. I want to, the way everyone else does. I so want to be sitting at the cool kids table. But...But I really did love the way it ended. I loved the way they looked at each other. I did love her speech. Be someone else. Be SOMETHING else.
And...well, I guess not being a huge Olicity shipper, it's less satisfying to me that they rode off into the sunset together. Seriously, was the plan FOREVER? Or just a vacation? Because if so, the Oliver/Thea 'shippper' in me couldn't take what I got as a goodbye. Okay, I'm a child. I said I couldn't really get invested in them, and I guess I did.
Malcolm as Ra's is PERFECT. That's a perfect, perfect ending. And that he actually cared and did not want Starling City to be destroyed in the end. Not a full redemption but an interesting full circle. And I'm curious about whatever 'arrangement' he has with Oliver. I'm assuming it's something about keeping Thea safe, but we'll have to see.
Okay, I guess that's it for now.
*from last year, but still poignant for me
<<<333
I guess I'd give it a B+, there are things I'm not totally satisfied with, and some other things I loved, and there's some stuff I'm really confused about (though I don't see anyone on Tumblr freaking out about it, so I'm probably wrong).
Okay, I LOVED the beginning, I loved Oliver just owning that he'd been playing Ra's all along. And then of course it all goes to hell. I'd been so pumped about the title of this episode, and I kind of screamed when he said that.
I'll admit- I couldn't for the life of me remember Damian Dark, and how he came into play, and why he was Ra's enemy. And really, that *does* seem like an awful lot of trouble to go through to carry out a personal vendetta. And also, Hong Kong...does that mean that Al-ghul had only been Ra's for like five years? Or was that Omega 3 mission something else?
THEA AS THE RED ARROW! THEA AS THE RED ARROW! THEA AS THE RED ARROW! THEA AS THE RED ARROW! When I fell in love with her so completely in the pilot and Oliver called her 'Speedy' for the first time, I was bouncing in my seat that she was going to develop into that character. And then we met Roy, and I thought the 'Speedy' thing was just a connection to her boyfriend, and eyeroll, whatever, but I loved Roy too and Thea has never needed anything to be more fascinating to me. But my precious girl, I was screaming again. She looks so amazing in that red suit. And that little parkour-esque, Roy Harper-esque jump she did off the wall? THEA AS THE RED ARROW!
Okay. The rest of this is stuff that I sort of love, sort of REALLY love, but also am kind of confused by and also...:/
As always, Team Arrow is a family effort. I knew it would be, in the end. Barry coming over here made SO much more sense than Oliver going over to The Flash (seriously, when did he find the time), and he was so delightfully Barry-esque in the League of Assassins lair.
I get that John and Oliver coming back together is going to take some time. I appreciate their brotherhood and their loyalty, but it is not blind, and Oliver still has amends to make. (Is he Sara's godfather? Did they ever say, or am I making up a scene in my head?) And also, seriously, John needs some sort of mask. He's been in at least as much hand-to-hand combat as Roy and probably more than Laurel and Nyssa (at least in Starling City).
Okay. And it was GREAT to see a team of Super Ladies coming together. Like, cartwheels around my apartment, singing We Are The Champions at the top of my lungs great. And Nyssa (needs a super hero name), the Black Canary, and the Red Arrow (with Felicity Smoak as the brains behind the operation, of course) are a more than capable, kick ass team. And great that Felicity donned the Atom suit, that was pretty delightful. (But RAY! NO! THAT CAN'T BE FOR REAL!)
But...
This show is Arrow. And this show does not work without Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, the Arrow, or the Green Arrow. (Just like The Vampire Diaries does not/will not work without Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert.) So...the thing I was freaking out over, but I don't see anyone else freaking out about it, so it's probably not true...Was that a sneaky, backdoor exit for Oliver as a character? No, right? Just a hiatus from being the Arrow? Like, he's going to figure out a way to reinvent it next year, at some point, right? There will be a reason? Right?
And I said to someone last week, that I didn't think Felicity and Oliver were going to REALLY 'get together' until we brought Oliver's five years away from home full circle. I guess I was wrong. Like, seriously, was that a sneaky, unannounced series finale?
I know that this and The Flash were setting up that Legends of Tomorrow show, but really at this point, I feel like with three crossover shows (that crossover to each other *this often*) they should just make it one two hour show, using soap opera format. What I mean by that is that soaps usually have large casts of 30-ish characters and they kind of rotate them in and out of lead storylines. Arrow has a little bit of a different format with Oliver's flashbacks, but I think they could work that in, somehow. Both shows are very overcrowded with recurring characters (which I know was the whole point of the third show, but...) In some ways, it could be really, really awesome, but also, Arrow in particular (my personal favorite of this group) has such a special team chemistry...I don't know. We'll have to see where it goes.
And we ARE, at some point, going to get back to Oliver's child? And I'd always been convinced that the child would be a boy, but now I'm feeling girl? And also, I'm feeling like Felicity is definitely pregnant from magical Nanda Parbat sex?
I feel like this needs to be a standard disclaimer for my Arrow posts. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYTHING THAT IS NOT 100% POSITIVE REGARDING FELICITY SMOAK, THAN MY POSTS WILL BE DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO GET THROUGH.
The BIG Olicity scene. Her *We Have To Talk* scene. I kind of hated how it started. Because *We Have To Talk*...in the middle of all that? No. Yes, it was a very important conversation. Yes, this is a tv show and certain beats need to be played out in a certain order. But there's always something just off about Felicity Smoak/the Olicity dynamic that just keeps me from *really* shipping it. I want to, the way everyone else does. I so want to be sitting at the cool kids table. But...But I really did love the way it ended. I loved the way they looked at each other. I did love her speech. Be someone else. Be SOMETHING else.
And...well, I guess not being a huge Olicity shipper, it's less satisfying to me that they rode off into the sunset together. Seriously, was the plan FOREVER? Or just a vacation? Because if so, the Oliver/Thea 'shippper' in me couldn't take what I got as a goodbye. Okay, I'm a child. I said I couldn't really get invested in them, and I guess I did.
Malcolm as Ra's is PERFECT. That's a perfect, perfect ending. And that he actually cared and did not want Starling City to be destroyed in the end. Not a full redemption but an interesting full circle. And I'm curious about whatever 'arrangement' he has with Oliver. I'm assuming it's something about keeping Thea safe, but we'll have to see.
Okay, I guess that's it for now.
Click to view*from last year, but still poignant for me
<<<333