#arrow thoughts

I can’t believe it’s that time. It’s one of those things that I was hoping would never happen, but knew logically that everything always has an ending. I had just hoped that we would have more time... Arrow ending is like an arrow to my heart. It hurts so bad-- and honestly it feels like I’m losing a friend, the one constant I’ve had for almost 1/3 of my life. The one thing that I had to look forward to every week-- sometimes it’s the only thing that got me through. So it’s going to be rough, hard -- I’ve been trying to prepare myself since we found out last spring that the show would be ending with a shortened 8th season and I thought I was doing well. That was until the crossover and I’m sure I’ll be a blubbering mess through the two hours of Arrow tonight. I’m having trouble typing this out now as the tears run down my face.

You know that saying about not knowing how important something is until it’s gone... I feel like that’s me and the show, but I’m realizing the impact it’s had on me and what it really truly means to me right before it’s getting snatched away. This show has given me so much -- I’ve made friends that I would have never made if it wasn’t for this show and going to Comic Cons and talking about the show on here. The show ending won’t change that-- those friendships will last forever. We just won’t be able to analyze and debate new content. 

This show got me through some of the hardest times in my life -- it got me through my 20′s. This show had characters from all lifestyles and it gave me so much hope. It gave us Felicity Smoak -- a girl I relate to so much-- the ‘nerd’, smart, intelligent girl -- but she’s not just that she’s so much more. That’s me... You don’t see that in many shows. It gave me hope that eventually I will find someone who will accept all my quirks and  love me completely and unconditionally.

Arrow gave me so many great memories and adventures in the last 8 years -- I’ve met the majority of the cast and in doing so have gotten over some of my fear of talking to those that I admire or rather strive to be like and see has role models -- my anxiety is not nearly as bad as it used to be.

 This show has helped me deal with so many of my personal and mental health issues. I just don’t know what I’m going to do without that -- I know there will always be this Arrow/Olicity fandom community that I can rely on and I’m so thankful that I found this show and that it gave me that. 

I honestly don’t know what tomorrow will bring, or what will happen next Tuesday or the one after that when there won’t be a new episode of Arrow to DVR and watch. I feel like I most likely will have a period of grieving that I’ll go through -- and feel like I’m already in that grief cycle. I know some of my friends that don’t watch the show, and don’t understand it’s importance to me, don’t get why I’m taking this so hard -- but like I said it was that constant in my life, what I could always depend on -- though not real people -- all those characters -- Oliver, Felicity, Diggle, Thea etc. all became my friends and got me through some really hard times.  I’m going to try to focus on all that Arrow brought to me though -- this fandom and it how it healed me in a way that I didn’t know was possible or that I really even needed.  

I understand why the show is ending now and don’t have any ill-will for those behind the decision for ending it now. I do feel like, with any show, there’s a chance of going for too long and I’m so happy that they realized that and didn’t want that to happen to this great show. I’m just going to miss all my fictional friends -- I just don’t want the ‘book’ to end. I thank God for this fandom, fanfiction and invention of TV DVD Box Sets -- it’s really what’s going to get me through... I’ll be ok eventually it’s just going to take some time... 

I want to thank Stephen Amell, Emily Bett Rickards, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Colton Haynes, Paul Blackthorne and the rest of the cast and crew of Arrow for bringing this show to life and making it what it became to be. It’s a legacy and it’s the end of an era. Nothing can ever touch this show and no one can ever bring those characters to life like they did. It was like magic in a bottle. 

Wow-- this post ended up being way longer than I had ever planned -- like I said I’m a lot like Felicity -- you get me started and I’ll keep going until someone interrupts me. LOL  

I know I’m going to cry lots of tears and use up my stock kleenex tonight -- but I hope that I’ll see you all on the other side... and that you all become that constant that the show was for me... when a show ends the fandom never does... 

So,  I haven’t done this in a long time... Forgive me if I’m a bit rusty. Watching 8x03 gave me a lot of feelings and I need to process.

First, let me tell you that I enjoyed this dose of Dyla. They were adorable and badass at the same time. Also, this is a note to the writers so excuse my language, GIVE US BACK BABY SARA, YOU B*TCHES. She wouldn’t have enjoyed pretending to be Slade Wilson and running around putting swords through people!!!!

Moreover, I’m so glad Thea is doing okay and I laughed so hard at her sarcastic comments. I don’t see why she and Roy can’t be together though, but I don’t think the writers know the answer to this question either. Anyway, I digress. Seriously, the girl deserves an award for “Best and Sassiest Little Sister”.

I didn’t mind the flashfowards this season but I’m so happy the FTA moved to the present. Things are about to get interesting. As long as we don’t get an overwhelming (and honestly, hard to swallow) dose of NTA and assorted birds. Unless... we can magically have Sara Lance back for a few episodes. I wouldn’t mind that.

And finally, the last 30 seconds of the show destroyed me. Killed me. Left me for dead. 

From Oliver’s face, his momentary confusion at seeing his old bunker, the team and then 3 new beaten up faces to Mia’s tearful “Dad?” the whole scene was so perfect I cannot believe they allowed us to have it. (Yes, I’m still bitter about things and no, I won’t get over it.) Oliver is seeing his kids after thinking, no, basically after being told that he would die really soon, and if that doesn’t break your heart a little, then you and I are not friends. Sorry, not sorry. 

This episode reminded me that this show might have been created out of ambition but its success was ultimately because of love. The love Oliver and Felicity share, the love they showed their children and the love we’ll always feel for them. And that’s definitely bigger than the friggin’ universe.

PS. Congratulations to Katie Cassidy for directing this episode. She did an amazing job.

Seeing interactions between characters we care about individually? whose scenes conjure up memories of everything they have done for each other, everything they have been for each other? It was like a revelation. I didn’t realize just how little I have cared about interactions involving NTA until I felt my heart start beating again when Roy showed up.

No member of NTA (or Emiko, or any character added after season 4, if we’re honest) has been given any sort of character foundation, nor any emotional connection to any of the characters we already cared about. When they deliver their lines, they honestly could be anybody. So it’s no accident that when Oliver and Rene interact, or Dinah, Curtis, or any of them - I simply don’t care. Because I’m only watching with my head, and not my heart. 

EPISODE 7x14 SPOILERS AHEAD...

Our badass since always is not only surviving (without wine, no less) but thriving and she made a huge breakthrough in facing her fears.  Ever since Diaz found them in witness protection, Felicity has existed in some sort of limbo, trapped by her fear that she can’t protect her family.  Oliver and Felicity have had similar nightmares of her being in the woods and trying to outrun Diaz to protect their children.  In Oliver’s nightmare, she stood in front of William and Diaz shot her.  

Oliver woke up gasping and alone in the bed of his prison cell.  In Felicity’s nightmare, she is frantically searching for her crying infant but Diaz shoots her before she can get to the baby.  Felicity wakes up gasping and alone in the bed she shares with Oliver.  Could they really not give us a 15 second scene of Oliver being there to comfort her?  Or maybe even 30 seconds for some good old-fashioned Oliver distracting her with shirtlessness and heart eyes? 

A scene like that would have actually tied in nicely with the Olicity conversation. And they need actions to back up the words. Olicity sitting on opposite ends of the couch and not touching takes away from the emotional weight of the scene. I’m here all day every day for Oliver letting Felicity know that he will support her decisions and have her back no matter what.  (TBH, it should go without saying but since they made it a huge issue in season 5 and onward, I’m glad they are addressing it).  I also appreciated that Oliver acknowledged he didn’t understand the depth of Felicity’s feelings when he got out of prison.  Is that why Oliver has seemed distant?  Couple that with having Oliver say he’s noticed she has been acting strange but not bothering to find out why just makes him seem uncaring and/or out-of-touch.  And we know that is not consistent with Oliver’s character. 

That is why actually having conversations with your spouse is extremely helpful but for reasons I will never understand, Arrow would rather show Felicity have longer chats with BS than she does with her husband.  Meanwhile, Oliver is busy trying to ‘bond’ with someone who despises him (and is more than likely betraying him because we haven’t seen enough of that apparently SMH) rather than spend time with his wife, who he knows has been going through a hard time.  Why TF does Arrow keep insisting on limiting the interactions between Olicity and why does Oliver have to be a doormat for every-damn-body while seemingly never communicating with the person he claims to love the most?!?

See, even season 2 Oliver knew enough to ask Felicity that question and that guy was the piniest of pine trees lol.  Speaking of season 2, a bright spot in the episode was the return of the real John Diggle and the rekindling of Deliciity! :)

I could not be happier about this.  An actual apology would have been lovely but the fact that Diggle had her back this time was awesome.  He let Felicity know she is more important than the mission because she is family.  And he trusted her to do the right thing because in his heart of hearts, he knows she’s a hero.

AMEN!  So we got a Diggle/Felicity team-up with Diaz and a Lyla/Oliver team-up with Dante and it was glorious.  Please for the love of all that is holy, free OTA from their NTA propping hell and give us the OGs (+Lyla) kicking all the ass and having double dates and being the family that they are to each other.  

I need this trio back together as the focus of this show.  Speaking of things that Arrow should focus on, how about letting the emotional moments breathe just a little more?  We waited three weeks (or years, depending on your perspective lol) and there was pretty good build-up with Felicity’s speech but then we barely got to see Oliver react to Felicity telling him she’s pregnant.  Olicity shared sweet happy smiles and a hug before it abruptly cut away to another scene.  You know Oliver Jonas Queen, the man who had this expression just imagining babies.....

...that man wept some serious tears of joy as he lifted Felicity up in his arms and swung her around the kitchen until she told him if he didn’t want regurgitated mint chip on his coat, he needed to put her down.  

Ooohhh, fam, did we just discover a way to get rid of the ugly coat?   Or BS could have enhanced her redemption arc by throwing it in the cell with Diaz before she set him on fire.  Either way is fine by me. ;)

The flash forwards are still kind of a hot mess but the more of a hot mess they become, the more I’m convinced the writers are eventually going to change the timeline in some way, shape, or form in a way that will alter the future events.  In the meantime, I’m just gonna sit back and enjoy Mia shading tf out of NTA/BC. 

Sass personified.  She truly is her mother’s daughter. 

Last thoughts before I head to bed:   Felicity sitting on the counter in her cute comfy pajamas eating ice cream out of the carton is a forever MOOD and my aesthetic.  Felicity out in the field being her capable, intelligent, and brave self while pregnant is a forever MOOD and my aesthetic. Our Queen can do it all! :)

First off, the flashforwards being set and not changeable. Showrunners lie. Just because Beth said that is our future I'm not going to believe that till the final episode airs.

Second opinion, they've spent so much time on the flashforwards, why would they erase them? Have none of you seen Fringe? Spoiler alert, one episode of season 4 and the entire 13 episode 5th and final season take place in a future that no longer exists. Additionally the season 3 final changed the past as well and seasons 1-3 happened in a different manner. So in essence only season 4 on Fringe really existed in the timeline after the show's finale. Arrow hasn't been a grounded in reality show for quite a while now. Magic exists, time travel exists, people from other Earth's exist on the show, people have been brought back from near death by magic herbs, people have actually been brought back by a magic pit of water. They absolutely could have spent time on a future that gets changed through some timey-whimey magic.

Somewhat related to that I've also seen discussion on a possible legacy spin off and why spend so much time setting up characters. If their childhoods are changed wouldn't they be different as well? Maybe? You can keep major personality traits and tweek them slightly but still have a very similar character.

In season 3 when Sara dies and Laurel tells everyone not to tell Captain Lance. I dont get why everyone blames Oliver/The Arrow. I find that it was all Laurel’s fault she said not to tell him about Sara and then when she did tell him she never told Oliver that Lance knew. Laurel made the decision that Captain Lance was to weak(health wise) to hear that Sara died. Oliver felt soooo much guilt over that and it should have been her guilt not his.

English is not my first language, so be kind. If you think a word, or a sentence doesn’t make sense, please let me know, just as I said before, be kind.

In general, I thought it was a good episode. It has action, little of DD in the present time, and a lot of great Olicity moments to enjoy. I even enjoy the FF, and that says a LOT.

Let me put my thought in somewhat order:

Emiko Queen:

Unlike many others, I have no problem with Emiko. I think what it has been shown until now about her, is interesting and has the potential of being much more. What I do not like is that the writers are basically replacing a sister with another. There was no need for Thea to suffer just so Emiko could exist. I’m basing this opinion in the fact that Roy is alone in the future, implying that Thea and him didn’t get their happy ending...once again, as they did with Quentin, they are using the easiest solution to develop a new character/plotline. I don’t like it.

The mystery of her mom’s death is, well, intriguing. I’m wondering why she was killed, the reasons behind can be more tied to the general plot of the season than I imagine..and I like that.

Minor complain: Is the parallels they are trying to make between Oliver and her. It’s not necessary, at least I don’t think they are. Let her become her own person, without showing us how much like Oliver she is (or how she got a new partner thanks to a bullet wound).

The FF:

I found them incredibly interesting. A lot of information was given by Dinah; not only about the people who made the pact (Does that means that Curtis is no longer in the picture, or that he will abandon the heroic path at one point?), but it did too about the relationship between Rene and Zoe. It made a nice contrast with present time, where they are an united front, while in the future they are at odds.

Rene being a fracking traitor is no surprise. What a crap. They could had redeemed him, but I guess  is not in the cards.

The mystery about Felicity keeps creating more questions. Is she dead? at this point I’m inclined to think that yes, she is. But she isn’t the one who created the plan to level Star City, but the one who was trying to prevented it. Maybe she infiltrated the organization that Rene clearly belongs to, but she was discovered. I don’t want her to be dead, but with the information we have, It wouldn’t surprise me if she is.

Minor complain: In the episode before the crossovers, when Dinah told Zoe she needed to visit Rene, it gave me the impression she was at odds with him, and that she didn’t saw him often...but here suddenly she works for him? I don’t know, it confused me.

Also, bad wigs are Arrow’s trademark. But man Rene’s was the worst! 🤣🤣🤣🤣. It was a disgrace!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

A.R.G.U.S.: Ok, Lizard boy continues to be annoying af and I don’t care about him.

What I did like to watch, was some development in Digg’s arch for this season. His conversation with Lyla in the hallway was an eye opener for him, if his reaction is anything to go by. Maybe this is the starting point for Digg to realised he FUCK UP. If the spoilers are true, it should. I do not like the last part of the Argus scenes. I swear to god if something happens to Lyla...

Minor Complain: As stated before, if the FUCKING LIZARD DOES SOMETHING TO LYLA.

And Finally:

OLICITY: Their scenes were the best of the episode, no doubt about it. They were working as a team, having quiet moments when they were just two people in love.

I read some people  wanting Oliver to be more demonstrative in his affection, and I agree. I want to see him in episodes to come, be affectionate with Felicity as much as she is with him. But I understand that maybe is not in Oliver’s nature to be so demonstrative...and in my opinion, that’s ok. Not all of us show our love through touches. We do it with little actions, or in Oliver’s case, with smiles and looks. Felicity is the one who needs to touch the person she loves, to show him she is there for him, and that he can trust and lean on her.

She does it in this episode, in every scene they got. Not only she gave him support, but she did what she does best: she gave one of her pep talks and once again, remind Oliver he is better than his father ever was. From the moment Robert shot himself in the head, it’s been a recurrent theme how much Oliver think he owes his father something, and feels like he was not worth it of the sacrifice Robert did. And that is so far off the truth...luckily for him, Felicity will always be there to remind him he doesn’t owe his father anything, and that he is a better human being than Robert.

Beth said they where a force to be reckoned. Thank you, for started to prove it with facts.

Minor Complain: NONE, BECAUSE IT’S OLICITY AND I LOVE THEM.

Now, I do have a problem with the plot about Robert abandoning Emiko and her mother:

WHY ON EARTH MOIRA WAS INVOLVED?

WHY ON EARTH WAS SHE BLAMED FOR HIS HUSBAND’S COWARDICE AND LACK OF MORAL?

I was talking with @allimariexf  about this, because I don’t understand why it was necessary to involve her? it’s like the writers are always trying to justify Robert’s actions and equate them with Moira’s. Allie told me they were retrofitting her character, and it was obvious. She is right of course. Robert’s actions didn’t need Moira hiding that letter from Walter, or Felicity telling Oliver “Moira didn’t let him much choice”. HOW ABOUT NO. Let Robert own his mistakes without trying to justify how he abandoned a woman he supossedly loved and their daughter? how about we acknowledge that if he had wanted, Moira wouldn’t have stopped him for taking care of them?

Please writers, stop demonizing Moira just so Robert doesn’t look as terrible as he was.

Ok.

Random Thoughts:

-No Will. I miss my boy, in present and future. As I miss Roy.

-No much Curtis, thanks google.

-I liked to watch a team working together. Although it wasn’t the one I would like to watch combating crime.