Arrow Season 4's Death Tease
At the end of Arrow's season 4 premiere, "Green Arrow", Oliver Queen and Barry Allen are seen at the graveside of an unknown character. And, of course, now everyone wants to know "Who died?!".
Everyone from major news outlets to fans on Tumblr are speculating on the next dearly departed which is sketchy on Arrow, but we'll go with "departed" since this interview suggests the writers realized their storytelling problem with Oliver's magic tea, the Lazarus Pit, and whatever it was that resurrected Malcolm Merlyn (it's been so long and I'm too lazy to look it up).
My best guess? RIP, Felicity.
"But...Rebecca! They can't kill Felicity! She's a popular character in a popular coupling!"
To me, that is the DUMBEST reasoning any storyteller would use NOT to kill a character. Why? Because I've seen GREAT TV SHOWS kill beloved characters. Characters that were my personal favorites. Characters that were half of my favorite ships. And you know what? I LOVED THEIR DEATHS. Why? Because they were powerful. Because they were well-written and well-acted. And because they were driven by story and character. I can pretty much go with any of my favorites being offed if they go out in the right way. If done in a sloppy, awful way? Yeah, I quit that show.
The Right Way
Juliet Burke was introduced on LOST in season 3. At first, I did NOT trust her. She was getting in the way of Jack and Kate! She was working with The Others! She lied to people! She was involved in an affair! I did not care for her at all.
But, over time, I understood why Juliet was the way she was. She had been cheated on. All she wanted was to help other women have babies and get off The Island to see her sister and help HER have a baby. Instead, she was trapped. She was victimized by Ben.
By the end of Season 4, I really liked Juliet Burke. And I was looking forward to what might happen between her and Sawyer. Throughout Season 5, the acting and writing sold me on them as a couple (Suliet 4EVAH) and I was happy that they were happy.
DESTINY.
But, because LOST valued character journeys, good drama, and choice foreshadowing of names, Juliet died at the end of Season 5 after having lived a blissful life with her Romeo. She sacrificed herself, saving her "James" and helping send her friends back to the right timeline in the process. As heartbroken as I was to see my favorite character die and my favorite couple torn apart, I loved that Juliet went out hitting on and cursing an atomic bomb. I loved the beautiful tragedy of Juliet and James' hands separating. I loved the agony that James went through in season 6 and the agony I went through when James told Kate he wanted to marry Juliet. And, I smiled like an idiot when they were reunited in the Flash Sideways.
Carlton is me when Juliet died. And also when LOST ended.
"Sure, they were YOUR favorites, but were they even that big of a deal to anyone else in the fandom?", I hear you ask. And it's a fair and great question! Yes, there were many ride or die Kate/Sawyer ("Skate", if you like) shippers, but on the whole, "Suliet' was HUGELY popular. ABC's official website had a "love quadrangle" (Kate/Jack/Juliet/Sawyer) showdown and the Suliet kiss scene in "LaFleur" WON.
EW.com's Adam Carlson wrote an article about how much they won him over, the magazine named them Season 5 MVPs, and they were even featured together in the final season's promotional materials (even after Juliet had died)!
Sawyer and Juliet or James and Juliet (as Suliet shippers would rather refer to them) are a great example of how minds can be changed and hearts won over by good writing, good acting, and a compelling story. Shipper hearts were broken when Juliet died, but we all loved it because Juliet and her romance with James (and his continued character development) were treated as pivotal and important.
The Sloppy, Awful Way
I was already going to watch Once Upon A Time, but I fell in love with it as soon as Henry smiled at the end of the Pilot. It was a show that promised happy endings, family, and hope! I was ON BOARD.
Emma Swan and Henry Mills became my favorite characters and I even started a podcast named after their first operation. So when Henry's father and Emma's ex-boyfriend showed up in season 2, I was intrigued. I loved the way they introduced him in the season premiere and built the slow burn of his return to Emma, Henry, and Rumple. The messed up family tree was fun. The way Emma tackled Neal/Bae down in New York was a great meet-cute (or re-meet-cute?). And their exchange of "I love you" in the finale was emotionally satisfying.
Or don't.
When season 3 of Once rolled around, I was excited to see how Neal was going to get his second chance with Emma and Henry. They thought he was dead, but the audience knew better. He had been rescued by Mulan, Aurora, and Phillip! He even had a fun adventure with Robin Hood! I knew it would be hard for Emma to accept what Neal did to her was actually something he did for her so I sat through the dismal Peter Pan arc. Despite being difficult to watch, there were glimmers of hope. Emma admitted to her parents that she never stopped loving Neal! Everything up to that point had been romantic and wonderful. I was still on board. This was a fairy tale! And an original one at that! One day, I was sure they were going to have their "Tallahassee". Didn't have to be in season 3. I was willing to wait until the end of the show. In fact, I was prepared to do that.
And then for some stupid reason, the Once writers decided to reset the show. In order to break a curse, Emma and Henry had to leave the fairy tale life behind and Regina figured it would be best if she erased their memories (it's still the dumbest thing I have watched in all my life of watching television). Before the mother and son drive away from Storybrooke, Neal tells Emma "It's not over. I'll see both of you again".
At this point, I was willing to go with the reset. Was I pissed at a ridiculous storytelling device? YES. Was I tired of people getting split up again? YES. Was I already wanting to punch someone for erasing a characters's mind...again? YES.
But, I'd hang in there because Neal was going to fight for his son and the woman he loved. That was romantic as all get out. I was IN.
What I hadn't signed up for is what happened when the show returned. Neal had to sacrifice himself to save his father, got referred to as a "villain" (which even surprised Neal, a character who had done nothing his WHOLE LIFE but put other people first) by the guy who cracked rapey jokes to Emma, got two minutes of closure with Emma (who, all of a sudden, no longer had an epic love for Neal that had been building at the end of season 2 and first half of season 3) and didn't get to see his son (who, by the way, didn't remember he was a good dad) like he promised.
I have watched a LOT of TV and never in my life have I seen such a shoddy storyline. A great show would have given Neal a chance to make things right with Emma. A great show would have explored their relationship. A great show would have honored Neal's heroism. A great show would have utilized all of Neal/Bae's connections between different worlds and characters. And a great show would have capitalized on their chance to create a completely new fairy tale, one in which Emma, Neal, and Henry achieved their Happily Ever After together. But, instead, Once Upon A Time killed Neal off with no set up, turned him into a villain, didn't give him a second chance, and most mind-boggling, had him make a promise that was never fulfilled in the writing. I mean, he never got to see his son before his death? And he died knowing his son thought he was a terrible human being. GOOD LORD.
I was SO MAD about the crappy writing on Once that I shut down my podcast and quit watching the show. I have better things to do with my time. And to put things into historical context, I was going through Chemotherapy for Stage 3 Breast Cancer at the time and letting go of a show that had been depressing me was one of the best decisions I could have made during treatment.
What does any of this have to do with Arrow Season 4?
As 30 Rock's Jenna Maroney would say, "Let. Me. Get. There".
In the flash forward from "Green Arrow", Oliver faces The Tomb of The Unknown Character and says "There was a time when I thought this was my fault. That I brought this darkness upon us. But, now I know it's not my fault. It's my responsibility [to end it]. I'm gonna kill him". Then, he tells Barry he wants to be left alone, kneels down, touches the tombstone, and cries.
I think we can rule out Sara, Thea, Ray, and even Malcolm from being the deceased because they've already been there, done that. When we cross them off the list, we're left with John Diggle, Quentin Lance, Laurel Lance, and Felicity Smoak.
I could see John Diggle causing Oliver to react the way he does in the cemetery. This season, they're basically brothers, trying to reconcile their relationship. But, why off Dig when he's got connections to the Suicide Squad, A.R.G.U.S., and H.I.V.E.? He has lots more story to pursue and on top of all that, he's got a new costume giving him a new identity as his own superhero. The character has potential to develop in the future by pushing new storylines forward that wouldn't otherwise be achieved without him.
Quentin and Oliver go way back. Ollie's had relationships with both of Quentin's daughters and he's even been friends with Laurel since they were children. There's a long history there so Oliver could possibly be upset if he perished. After all, Damien Darhk does suggest to Quentin Lance (and the members of city leadership, who later get killed) that he "say goodbye" to his loved ones. Even without the Big Bad, Quentin is infamous for being an alcoholic with a heart condition. But, would Oliver threaten to seek vengeance against his killer? Would he cry at Quentin's grave? Would he need Barry by his side? Would he visit the graveside without Laurel and/or Sara? And, would the Arrow writers kill ANOTHER one of Laurel's family members?
Arrow's big tease of a character's death in season 4 could go one of two ways. It could go the way of LOST or it could go the way of Once Upon A Time. Will they go for the romantic tragedy or could Arrow kill Laurel Lance, the Black Canary destined by comic book lore to romantically end up with Green Arrow? Anything is possible. The better question is: is it reasonable?
By all accounts, Arrow started off season 4 by becoming The Green Arrow Show. Oliver has a new comic book-esque costume. He's calling himself The Green Arrow. Starling City is now Star City. And, there are even rumors he may run for mayor (which is something comic book Ollie has done). What's left for Oliver Queen to do to fulfill his Green Arrow destiny? I'd argue it's to rekindle his love for [Dinah] Laurel Lance and end up with Black Canary. So my question would then be "Why would you kill Black Canary right when Arrow is having Oliver Queen embracing all things Green Arrow?"
And it's not just all about Oliver. Laurel Lance still has much to do. She needs to figure out what the heck is going on with her father. She's going to resurrect her sister. She could (and I hope) form the Birds of Prey. Heck. She could even open up a flower shop. And yes...she could fall in love with Oliver Queen all over again. This time, as their legendary counterparts.
But, what about Felicity Smoak? What does she have going on? She's captured Oliver's heart after seasons of sexual innuendos. They literally drove off into the sunset together. They moved in together. They made neighborly friends who asked them about having kids and when he was going to propose. Felicity is running his company. And...?
Seems like Felicity's kind of got it all, doesn't it? It's been my experience that a great writer and story will kill a character off when he or she has gotten everything they've wanted, are at their happiest, and when their story has been wrapped. Sounds a lot like Felicity in season 4. If Oliver does get a chance to pop the question to Felicity and say, they get married (as foreshadowed by last season's catching of Lyla's bouquet), I wouldn't expect Felicity Smoak to be long for this world. Not to mention that Barry speeding into the cemetery to grieve with Oliver would make perfect sense given Barry's relationship/friendship/history with Felicity.
Side Note: I suppose the death could be Oliver's baby mama or his son, but a) the audience isn't invested with them as of yet so if you want one of their deaths to have an impact, the writers need to get on that and b) if it was going to be people we don't really care about at this point, why include it in the PREMIERE? Why make it into such a big deal? At the end of the season 2 premiere, we see Oliver and Laurel visiting Tommy's grave. His death would impact them both in positive and negative ways throughout season 2. At the end of the season 3 premiere, Sara was murdered. That was a BIG deal. It fed into Laurel, Thea, and Nyssa's journeys, as well as feeding into Oliver and Malcolm's story arcs. If the pattern holds, the death teased at the beginning of season 4 would be a major character we've gotten to know and their demise would push Oliver forward.
Even though the showrunners claim they don't know who they will kill yet (which is pretty hard to believe, given that it would be necessary to know in order to write to it, but I have to remind myself that these ARE the Arrow showrunners we're talking about), I do think they've set up the theme of death making things new. In the season 4 premiere, Damien Darhk says, "Death is a beautiful thing. We die. We go into the ground. Our remains grow into flowers. It's only in the interval after dying that new things can sprout". Wouldn't that be extra fitting for this series if Felicity is killed this season? If Arrow is to going to continue pursuing Oliver's Green Arrow-ness, wouldn't that involve a relationship with Black Canary? He can't do that if he's still wanting to marry Felicity Smoak. Sure, maybe Oliver and Laurel could reconnect with Felicity still alive and well, but wouldn't the [vocal] audience who is invested in them always want them together? Unfortunately, sometimes, a writer has to make the call to end something so something else can begin. Felicity's death would cause "new things to sprout".
If I was writing this show, I would kill Felicity. Most people, including myself, probably don't think the writers have the guts to do it so it would be a shocking twist. And it would breathe fresh air into a sometimes, stale show. This season, if you're gonna go Green Arrow, go GREEN ARROW.