Felicity Smoak is the reason why I fell in love with Arrow. Stephen Amell’s abs (and face, and pretty much everything) didn’t hurt either, and obviously, Diggle has been fantastic from the start, but it wasn’t until Felicity showed up on the screen that I knew this was going to become one of my favorite shows. As an audience, many of us fell for Felicity Smoak just the same as the cast, creators, and other characters did. But there were a few holdouts. With a more romantic relationship developing between her and Oliver, some of the audience, the majority of whom read the comics, protested. They wanted Oliver to be with Laurel, and they have been very vocal about their dislike of Felicity coming in and ruining that plan.
The fandom is essentially divided into two sides now: those who want Oliver with Laurel and those who want him with Felicity. That doesn’t necessarily mean those who want him with Laurel don’t like Felicity or vise versa, but there’s no way you can say that isn’t a determining factor. It’s been sad to see the fights among the fandom, both sides thinking they’re right and refusing to acknowledge that the other side has the right to their own opinion. At the end of the day. though, these are opinions. By definition, an opinion means that no one is ‘right’ and no one is ‘wrong.’ So before I really get into my argument in defense of Felicity Smoak, I’m going to preface it by saying this is an opinion. You don’t have to agree with me, and I don’t have to agree with you, and that’s okay. We can both still watch and enjoy the show.
To get this part out of the way, I’ll start by saying that I don’t dislike Laurel just because I love Felicity. In fact, I think Laurel had her best season yet this year as she gradually became the Black Canary. By no fault of her own, the character has had to suffer through some sloppy writing, and her arcs haven’t always been my favorite. Her refusal to tell Lance the truth about Sara frustrated me a lot in the first half of the season, but I’ve never inherently disliked her. Because Laurel has been through A LOT, and yeah, sometimes she might not respond in the best ways, but I can’t pretend like I would react any better if half the stuff she’s been through happened to me. In the end though, I just don’t think she’s right for Oliver.
Their history makes it impossible for me to see them happy together in the long run. He cheated on her. A lot. And with her sister. And then ‘died,’ came back, was kind of a jerk about the whole thing, lied about Sara being alive, entered into a relationship with Sara, and then told Laurel she couldn’t be the Black Canary. Doesn’t sound like a great basis for a relationship to me. Again, it’s okay if you see it differently, and I understand your desire to see these iconic characters from the comics together. But for viewers unfamiliar with the comics who are just watching the show, it doesn’t make as much sense.
Enter one Felicity Smoak, ray of sunshine and happiness, a complete contrast to all the other dark, brooding characters that make up Arrow. Felicity has been through some dark times in her past, but she still carries this innate optimism and joy with her everywhere she goes. She was the first in a long time to make Oliver genuinely smile, and he quickly trusted her despite barely knowing her, something that Oliver Queen never does. As she joined the team, and inappropriate innuendo after inappropriate innuendo was uttered, we saw their friendship, and the natural trust between the two of them, grow even stronger.
What’s special about Felicity, and Diggle for that matter, is that they didn’t know Oliver before the island. They didn’t have any kind of rocky history with him, didn’t know that playboy side of him, but instead only got to know this new, more serious and arrowy side of him. There were no grudges to be held or sisters who had been slept with, just a broken man on a mission to right his father’s wrongs. Along the way, Felicity and Diggle helped him become a better, slightly less broken man, one who didn’t need to kill and one who could truly be a hero. At some point during this journey (in the sixth episode of Season 2, if we’re asking Stephen Amell), Oliver fell in love with Felicity. She’s his moral compass, the person who believes in the good in him the most and brings out that light, and he wants to become a better man, not for Laurel, but for her.
This leads us up to the most recent season of Arrow. A lot of the people complaining about Felicity this season are using the argument that her character has been completely defined by romances and that all she’s done is cry all season. I’ll explain later how she’s done more than just date this season, but for now I want to address the rest of that argument. To start, I’ll say that I don’t totally love how the Oliver/Felicity relationship was handled this season. I understand what the writers were trying to do, but the execution wasn’t great. The actors did everything they could with the material, but there’s only so many times you can have the same conversation before it gets repetitive.
Let’s recap: Oliver didn’t think he could be with Felicity because he couldn’t be himself and the Arrow at the same time, so Felicity went out and found someone who could be with her while also trying to do good in the city. Oliver ‘died,’ came back, and refused to trust Felicity and the rest of the team with his plan to take down Ra’s, confiding in Malcolm Merlyn instead. Through all of this, it was clear both of them still had feelings for each other but wouldn’t act on it, leading to countless angsty conversations that all came to the same conclusion. It was sad, and even necessary, for them to go through that and for Oliver to accept that he could be himself and could be happy before entering into a real relationship.
I had two major issues with how this was executed though, the first of which is Ray Palmer. If I had to pinpoint my one disappointment in Felicity’s characterization this season on Arrow, it would be her entering into a relationship with him in the first place. I don’t have a problem with her dating but am frustrated that it had to be with Ray. Early in the season, when Ray persistently pursued Felicity to get her to join his company, Felicity herself called him a stalker. He went on to ping her phone and track her, and even if it was just for the purpose to get her to work for him, that behavior is unacceptable. What pains me is that, even after all of that, she still entered into a relationship with him, not even addressing any of the creepy behavior. While I agree Felicity needed to date someone else for this arc to work, that someone didn’t have to be creepy stalker Ray.
My other major concern with the Oliver/Felicity relationship in Arrow Season 3 has to do with Oliver’s behavior in the last handful of episodes. When Oliver left to become Al Sah-Him, putting all his trust in Malcolm Merlyn instead of his team, he in a lot of ways destroyed the trust that the team had built. His reason for doing so was to keep them safe (like it always is), but like Felicity told him at the end of Season 2, she doesn’t want to be safe. She wants to be with him, unsafe. Oliver often takes agency away from other characters, making decisions for them without consulting them at all, and this is exactly what he did at the end of the season.
This time, though, Oliver went even a step further by teaming up with Malcolm, someone he absolutely despises. It seems so out of character for him and really hurt his arc at the end of the season. The fact that Felicity barely even has a discussion with him about this, and his suicide mission where he admitted he was expecting to die, is even more frustrating. Before driving off into the sunset together, they should have at least had some dialogue about him needing to be more open about what he’s thinking. While I ship Oliver/Felicity just as much as the next person and am overjoyed to see them get together, I can’t help but feel that their happy ending was a little undeserved for both of these reasons.
Despite my few issues with how those relationships were handled, I still truly believe that Felicity was a strong, realistically portrayed character this season. For those complaining about Felicity, saying that the whole season was about romance and crying for her, take a step back and realize what she had to go through over the course of the season. Between Oliver refusing to be with her, dying and coming back, Starling City being under attack once again, Sara dying, Roy leaving, and Thea being framed for murder, Felicity had a lot of good reasons to be upset. When people are upset, that usually leads to crying. And while some may not like their shows to represent real life, the fact of the matter is that in life people do cry and fall in love, and to not show that at all would be unrealistic. Felicity reacted to the situations that she was in just the same as any of us would have, and for that, I can’t blame her.
Finally, I want to address those who think Felicity was only defined by her romantic relationships this season. First off, even if that was true, that’s not necessarily an awful thing. A lot of us have times in our lives when we are defined by romantic relationships, and her circumstances certainly seemed to call for that. Outside of those romantic relationships, however, she also helped create the Atom suit, formed real and supportive friendships with Laurel and Caitlin, mourned Sara’s death, tracked down dangerous criminals, took down the Bug-Eyed Bandit, and kicked her ex-boyfriend’s butt. Just to name a few things.
So yes, Felicity did cry quite a bit but she had good reason to (and honestly, she isn’t the only character on the show who has cried). And yes, Felicity did have romantic entanglements with both Ray and Oliver, but it’s life, that happens sometimes. In the end, she also did a lot more, and while it may be easier to blame some of the problems from this season on her and her relationship with Oliver, there was really a lot more at play than just that. Felicity Smoak is still a strong character and an essential part to the show, just like Diggle, Oliver, and yes, even Laurel, are.
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This is the problem with the olicity fan base. They base everything on ships.
ListenListen. isn’t a felicity/laurel divide. The hate she received last season isn’t about people wanting Oliver with Laurel. It has NOTHING to do with Laurel. Laurel had a great arc and development ( despite cut scenes and lack of screentime towards the end) just like Thea. Which is why both received praise last season despite S3 being mostly negative.
The hate Felicity received is due to making her a crying, whiny, complaining mess. 99% for Oliver. It was cry over Oliver for this. Cry over Oliver for that. Her entire arc went from working at a new company to going from Ray to Oliver in a matter of seconds. That’s not the unique lovable Felicity from last seasons. She was simply defined as a love interest! And I hate it. The romance took over the later half of the season! It became to much and a big part of why the finale is bashed.
And don’t get me started on her being able to control that suit so fast.
That is why Felicity and Olicity received the hate. You guys need to stop thinking its all about ships and bringing Laurel into this. Doing so just causes more arguments.
This is the problem with haters. You guys never really read articles regarding ships thoroughly. If you actually read the entire article the author defended why Felicity crying made sense and how it’s realistic why she would. It wasn’t that she was whiny, it was that she was reacting to terrible situations in a very human way.
First of all I read it. Second of all I was stating WHY she was getting hate in generalgeneral from watchers. All of which had nothing to do with Laurel
Ah I misinterpreted your first comment. Apologies! But I do have to disagree with your first sentence where you try to call out the shippers. Olicity shippers don’t base everything on ships, and neither did this author. She talked about the divide between the ships as well as the divide regarding Laurel’s character and the divide regarding Felicity’s character. No where did the author state that Felicity getting hate had to do with Laurel.
I think that the writer was trying to indicate that there is still a divide between the L/O and F/O ships and this season made it stronger. She talked about the weaknesses of both but justified why she liked one over the other.
Letting go of the romantic aspect she also indicated that there was a divide for Laurel’s characterization, some people love her now but because of 2 seasons of shoddy characterization, there are some people who still aren’t on the Laurel train. But that wasn’t the focus of this article.
Then there’s the divide for Felicity’s character. The author defended Felicity’s reasons for crying, she defended that Felicity acted in a human way.
At least, that’s what I thought about the article. The structuring could’ve been better, but that’s what I got from it. A division between 2 ships, a division regarding Laurel’s character, and a division regarding Felicity’s character.
I agree with so many things on this article. I think what people dont realise is that its not Felicity’s reaction to all these situations that was written poorly. It was the situations that were written poorly. I mean ,you can only write Oliver not trust the people close to him many times untill it becomes repetitive and annoying. Of course in each time Felicity will react. I dont know how others think,but i dont believe that, because Laurel,Dig and Roy didnt cry when Oliver “died”, they were stronger than Felicity. Indeed in real life when you lose someone you love,you cry. It doesnt matter if that someone is your sibling or your love interest. It matters if you love him/her. Felicity is the one character in this show that reacts normaly/realistically to the things that are happening. Its true to her character.
So the writers filled the season with so many twists and conflicts to hype the fans instead of building towards one or two of them. By doing that,they wrote many pointless soapy scenes, to have the characters go back and forth instead of let them naturally interact.
I dont believe that Olicity was the worst part of this season like some claim. I believe it was one of the main parts of it that was affected by the overall weak writing. If it wasnt Olicity it would be something else. It was clear from the start they didnt have a compelling story to tell and everything felt inconsistent.
I love Felicity and O/F together, but have to agree that the happy ending did feel somewhat rushed for the reasons you mentioned. I was also disappointed that she just quit her amazing job to go with him, the whole drugging thing in Nanda Parbat, and her in the ATOM suit.
Otherwise, I feel her actions and emotions were justified this season, but the reality is is that very often people do not want to see women as three-dimensional characters who have a function beyond comic relief.
I’ve also found it interesting that it appears that every season there’s a certain female character who is hated. Certainly Laurel has had her fair share!
I like to think of myself as a reasonable Olicity shipper (lol), and a feel that on this show, L/O just make no sense. Their history is so toxic, Felicity has clearly been set up to be his major love interest , and most people who like the Laurel and Oliver pairing like it because of the comics . I think the producers have a major issue on their hands because if Black Canary and green arrow are as iconic as comic readers tell us, then I don’t see how you can end it without them together.
Yes it’s your opinion, and just because you write an article doesn’t validate your arguments nor does my response validate mine either, they are all just opinions. However, when fans start to state they are going to stop watching then there is a problem that needs to be addressed before season 4 commences writing and filming.
While there are plenty of problems associated with season 3, one of the main ones is the focus on Felicity and Olicity. It seemed that there was no end to the pimping at the expense of other important scenes and character development. Both Diggle and Laurel were sidelined for much of season 3, these two characters are 2nd and 3rd listed characters and one being lead actress. So tell me why this should happen.
For example, I think we saw far too much of Felicity’s being upset over Sara, when it was Laurel’s sister and the very beginning of her transitioning to Black Canary. But no we have to see Felicity crying and being emotional, for me it just didn’t make sense. This is just one example, there are many others. For me Felicity Smoak has become the most overused character, that many fans are getting sick of seeing. A return to season one is what is needed.
And let’s remember this show is much but redemption as it is about hero journey’s. So I don’t have a problem with Oliver and Laurel getting back together, in fact I think it would be strange if they didn’t, as it’s been shown that these two people obviously loved each other very strongly and we know loves like that never dies. For them to be still close and want to be in each other lives proves this over and over again.
BTW did you not think it interesting that Oliver Queen ran away from his problems and Starling City in both present day and in Flashbacks.
I hope they turn around this show in Season 4, but I doubt the writers will have the courage to do so.
And when exactly Oliver loved Laurel very strongly? When he left that girl pregnant or when he was sleeping with other girls? Tommy knows!!! Remember when they went to a guy’s club and Oliver had slept with his fiance in the past? If he loved strongly he wouldn’t planning a romantic trip with her sister he would plan it with her or he would gladly accept to move in with her. IMO Tommy was the best guy for her who loved her strongly and he loved him too. Oliver just knew her for his half life and cared for her but he didn’t want to spend his life exclusively with her
Did you watch season 1?
I think some people need to go back and carefully watch all the episode. I love laurel, sara, felicity ,oliver etc. the good characters not the bad. I never watch the cartoon and read a lot about it. love and enjoy a movie but watch to learn. the cartoon and the real arrow same name of people but story line some what different. everyone knows rich boy lost at see think dead ok. I think that if oliver had loved laurel he would not be sleeping with her sis and other girls.i think that he has more feeling for sara than his girlfriend laurel. yes he had her pic on the island that she gave him last minute before he left on the boat. yes it gave him motivate because is some one he knows . it does not mean is love. love meaning some one he wants to married and grow old with I don’t see it with her, her sis or the other girls. coming down in the series I saw him and felicity .I watch they movements with one another. she believe in him, she encourage him, angry at him at time . I see real love between them and passion that some people are saying they don’t see. some saying they relationship is rush I don’t think so. season 3 is what 20 something part of asking her out ,telling her he loved her, cant be with her but have a hard time seeing her with someone else. did u all watch oliver face his reaction seeing felicity with ray. take a closer look with oliver and all the women u all saw him with forget the mad woman that took over his company that was just something. and his child there was nothing really of them but during the talk of pregnancy I could see that he have some respect for the young lady even if he was not ready to be a father.
it’s when he was carrying laurel’s picture in the island over 5 years. even in all the the hard time , suffering he did not lost it. he stated only reason he has to survive just to see her another day. he said seeing her picture gave him hope. that’s strong enough for me
We haven’t seen it since season 2 though – are we sure he’s still carrying it? Serious question.
I was going to address your points but then I saw your name and realised you’re a Laurel Lance/Lauriver stan. Which is totally fine and good but just as you rightly said, opinions are opinion. So, with my definite Felicity bias I wanted to address a few points.
First – Laurel isn’t the leading lady. There isn’t a leading lady in Arrow. The show is *Arrow* and Stephen Amell is the lead. *All* the other actors are support – Katie and Emily included.
Second – I don’t have an issue with season 3 anymore than I have an issue with season 2 or season 1. That’s a personal opinion but don’t presume that everyone a) hated season 3 and b) hated Felicity and Oliver. How can you talk about Felicity dominating plots when Oliver was removed from the plot for three episodes so Laurel could have her time to shine. Every character gets plotine focus (Thea 3×03, Felicity 3×05, Laurel 3×10-3×12, Diggle 3×17) and that’s just fair.
Third – I do agree that Laurel should have been shown more in 3×02 – but that’s shouldn’t be at the detriment of Felicity mourning as well. Why should one female character be minimised to support another? And don’t say many fans are getting sick of her – some may be, but then again some are sick of Oliver, or Thea, or Laurel, or Roy or .. well you get the idea. And why should we go back to season 1 – because there’s limited Felicity or because you get your Lauriver? Season 2 is the most widely praised by the mainstream media – if you cared most about characteristic Felicity was the same in season 2 as in 1 – except there was no Lauriver then.
Forth – this is absolutely a hero’s journey. And it’s clear that they’re going down the Olicity route. I appreciate that it’s not your favourite ship but it’s sailed. Literally (I mean there are photos of them near the sea so I’d hope they’ve been on a boat. Maybe docked cause Oliver and boats …. ehhhh). But it’s clear how they’re going. Maybe she will die or they will split up (unlikely, considering the big romantic gestures that the show’s had them do with the choosing and the wooing etc.) but not anytime soon. And it’s been shown that Felicity and Oliver love each other a lot, whereas the last I say of Laurel and Oliver was Laurel saying ‘It’s hard to remember a time when I was in love with you.’ So show me where they’ve shown that they are close and still strongly love each other romantically.
And how did Oliver run away from his problems? Do you mean the road trip? Cause that wasn’t running away …
TL;DR – you are welcome to your opinion but don’t make it sound like ‘the fans’ have a problem and ‘the fans’ are going to stop watching. You do and that’s cool. But you don’t speak for everyone – neither do I. Instead of focusing on how you hate Felicity, focus on how much you love Laurel. It’ll make you much happier. :)
I could tolerate Olicity if the fanbase wasn’t nuts about sacrificing every other aspect of the show and if they wrote the couple good. History has shown that when a character OR couple starts getting propped by other characters relentlessly, it usually is failing.
Laurel got propped by other characters many times this season for her BC arc will she fail?
Not even close. Let me give you an example.
Ra’s Al Ghul to Felicity: Go be with him.
Katana to Felicity: The love you two share is strong
Diggle: You and Felicity…
That’s 3 characters going OUT OF CHARACTER to prop Oliver/Felicity. Ra’s Al Ghul has NEVER EVER talked about someone’s love life in the history of ever!
Katana barely knows Oliver from the time they hung out for like a few months.
Diggle never ever spoke to Oliver about any of his other love interests in the past…why start now?
That is propping. Laurel was never propped. In fact, majority of the time they were telling her to not be the Black Canary and she was wrongfully pushed to the backburner when there were thousnads of story opportunities for her (especially the training with Nyssa).
Dig was always supportive of their relationship thats not out of character. He talked about Felicity to Oliver in season 2 too. Maybe you need to rewatch some episodes. Katana and Ra’s were only introduced this season and appeared few times so you cant really know their characters to judge if they are out of character. Ra’ s in the comics is way different than Ra’s in the show. I’ll give you a clue. Ra’s in the comcis doesnt die because of Green Arrow in the history of ever. So you cant claim that Ra’s would never say something like this to anyone since he is way different than the comics.
“Laurel was never propped”
Oliver almost died for her to get the trilogy arc. If killing your main character to deal with your supporting character’s storyline is not propping i dont know what is. Also, Dig stayed many times behind for her to go out in the field. Felicity became best friends with her out of nowhere and claimed that Sara never had a light inside her only to highlight Laurel’s “light” and strength. So im sorry to break it to you,but Laurel got propped way too much this season too. The only reason some people dont see it is because
1) She got less screentime so people didnt care or bothered.
2)The comic book fanboys ignore it because they wanted to satisfy their comic book thirst even though that means getting an unbelievable transformation.
Truth be told, i felt that Olicity was propped this season. Mainly because the melodrama was brought in the foreground. Unfortunately thats what i felt about most things. Laurel is on the top of that list.
Okay you clearly are an Olicity fan or Laurel hater so let me explain to you the number one rule of screenwriting.
“Show Not Tell”
The
writers never out right told us “Laurel is a hero now cheer for her”.
They continuously showed her getting her butt kicked and trying and
falling down. She was beat up and got back up again. She didn’t get
propped too much at all…she got literally 3 episodes of main
screentime. You’d have to be the biggest Laurel hater in the world to
hate on that.
I can absolutely claim that Ra’s would never say
that because he never has. Ra’s only has one serving interest; himself.
He always wanted an heir so that made sense. It was out of nowhere for
Katana to say that based on what we have seen from her and Diggle has
only wanted what’s best for Oliver without actually telling him what to
do. Again, show not tell.
The writers did however continue to tell
us that Felicity was all that. That’s breaking the only rule of
screenwriting that there is. This is not a fanboy/fangirl thing. I like
Felicity and loved her character in Seasons 1/2 but the overpropping of
her and the making this into the Felicity Show hurt her character. When
other characters continue to tell us that
Felicity should be with
Oliver instead of showing why they should be together, maybe something
is wrong with the writing or when the writers tell us that Felicity
cannot be wrong or held accountable for her own actions, that’s when you
know something is wrong.
The best way to write a story is to show
the audience, not cram it down our throats. Laurel didn’t become a
superhero in one episode. But coincidentally Oliver-Felicity became this
great love in one episode. If it was written as “early feelings” and
they built it better….it would have worked. But the way they wrote it
was horrible.
I am hoping next season if they choose to keep
Oliver/Felicity together, they show us and not tell us. Propping
characters/couples always hurts a show and it’s the number one mistake a
lot of shows do.
The writers showed many times why Oliver and Felicity should be together. They showed many times in season three too.
“Laurel didn’t become a superhero in one episode.”
She put on a suit and got out in the streets like a small kid who wanted to play vigilante even though she didnt have the proper training to do so(she failed many times which shows she wasnt ready). She risked the city and a man died because of her actions. She wasnt called out for that.
Dig always wanted Oliver’s best without telling him. He does tell him what he thinks though many times like he always had. Like i said,watch again season 2.
Ra’s didnt tell Felicity to go to Oliver to prop Olicity. He told her that because he really wanted her and Oliver to say goodbye so it will be over and he could later move on with his plan. He married Oliver to his daughter i see the axact opposite of propping Olicity.
As for Katana. I agree that it was pointless to have her point out that Oliver and Felicity should be together. You cant tell though if its out of character especially considering that Tatsu and her husband have similarities with Oliver and Felicity since Maseo also left her behind to go Nanda Parbat BUT she didnt looked for him and she regretted it so her actions makes sense. But she doesnt know Felicity.
Propping characters and arcs has always been a problem of the show. Laurel and Oliver in season 1 are the perfect example. At least Oliver and Felicity have 3 years of building their dynamic and interactions that support why they should be together. Its not just characters claiming their great love.
Also im not a Laurel hater,i just really didnt like her transformation because it was unbelievable. Just like Thea’s was. I also belive that many comic book fans dont care for good storytelling as long as the comic book named characters get on a suit. I mean people got excited about the boxing glove(a comic book tease) and loved it. I didnt because it was kinda stupid.
And I didn’t like Laurel Season 2….I’m telling you it’s not about Laurel vs Felicity. I like well written stories because I myself am a writer.
Did you miss the many parts where all the characters yelled at Laurel several times throughout the season? The Oliver-Nyssa marriage was already addressed.
The focus next season needs to be back on their individual characters.
The Boxing Glove was cool because it’s one of Green Arrow’s weapons of choice. I can tell you firsthand that majority of the fanbase want a lighter Green Arrow. I love Batman as much as anyone but do not want him on this show as Arrow in name. He needs to be the joke cracking Green Arrow that hums his own theme song as he comes gliding in.
Laurel was trained by 3 people…if you see months going by, it is believable in comic world. Thea was trained by Merlyn, the Magician.
Thea/Laurel needed more screentime to show their training, the season would have been better had they done that. Thea was always meant to be Arrow’s sidekick as her name Speedy is a comic character. The Black Canary has always been with Green Arrow either as friends/partners or lovers. But what I liked about Black Canary is she always had her own story; we didn’t get to see that and I hope we do next season. A Birds of Prey story needs to be done.
“The Boxing Glove was cool because it’s one of Green Arrow’s weapons of choice.”
Yes thats my point. It was cool for the 20.000 Green Arrow fans. How about the rest? It was also kinda ridiculous.
“Laurel was trained by 3 people…if you see months going by, it is
believable in comic world. Thea was trained by Merlyn, the Magician.”
And now, im gonna use your own words here. Arrow should be about showing,not telling. Just like every show. They showed like what? Once a scene of Thea getting trained? Thats it. Are we supposed to believe that Thea turned into ninja in months only because the shows tells us that she was trained by the magician? By that thinking, Felicity could be gone missing for 5 months and then come back all ninja and the show could just go like “she got trained by a very dangerous and skilled man”. That doesnt mean the story would be believable. Its not good storytelling. How ridiculous would that be? Its exactly the same with Thea. Only ,she is supposed to be speedy so comic fans ignore how unbelievable the story was handled.
Laurel was trained by 3 people(i thought two?). Yet we only saw her do a little boxing with Ted and then when she was supposed to be trained by Nyssa we never show anything. Im not gonna comment on how bad it looked that one week Laurel could not beat a street thug and then one week later she beat up two asassins. Thats unbelievable. That weakens the assassins.
I understand that Olicity was not handled well this season in some ways,mainly because the writers instead of letting the characters interact naturally they focused on keeping them apart and creating pointless angst. I also believe that the way people become so easily “heros” by putting on mask has hurt the show and Arrow lost a lot of credibility because its getting ridiculous. It may be a comic world but its also a tv show. Tv works way different than comics. I just want them to focus on Oliver’s journey instead of propping all the superheros, the new spin off included. I have friends who stopped watching because of that. They told me whats the point when everyone is a superhero?
I already criticized the show for not showing Laurel’s training. Same for Thea.
Laurel was initially taught by her father in self defense, Ted Grant in combat and Nyssa in (I assume) weapons training.
The show would have worked if they focused on the heroes journey by showing more of the actual journey. Part of what made THE FLASH so good was they avoided the propping of characters and just focused on the narrative. They also embraced their comic lore and it worked.
Green Arrow is like Batman in that he takes in many strays (Roy Harper, Speedy and in comics Artemis).
I will agree that propping the new spinoff hurt this show a lot. Focus on your own show.
Flash also worked good because they focused on one mans journey. Just like they did with Arrow last year. They should go back to that.
Thank God The Flash doesn’t have any sidekicks.
Speaking of the flash,im pretty sure some members of the Arrow writing team went over there because the writing reminds me a lot of Arrow’s season 2 writing. Also,the flash has time travel, thats what makes it so good(it picked up after 1×15).
Correct. They did. I fear for Season 2 because of a third show but am optimistic.
“Diggle never ever spoke to Oliver about any of his other love interests in the past…why start now?”
Season 1: (Diggle to Oliver) – “Then let’s talk about Helena. Oliver, if you didn’t still have feelings for this girl you would have thought of a different solution than letting her extort you into killing someone.”
Season 1: (Diggle to Oliver) – “I don’t think love is about changing or saving a person, I think it’s about finding the person who’s already the right fit.”
I’m sorry, you were saying?
Wow…did someone go all the way back to Season 1 just to protect Felicity from criticism?
Your first example- he didn’t want Oliver to kill someone. That whole season was about stopping Oliver from being a killer.
Second I’ll give you that.
Most of their talks about “doing the right thing” and usually not about Oliver’s love life. Diggle never spoke about Laurel/Sara. Hence that was my point.
And once again, this isn’t about Laurel vs Felicity…I like (d) both characters but Felciity was super propped this season and there needs to be balance next year.
Look, I appreciate your article and respect your point of view. But I think reviews or opinion pieces like this are a part of the problem. You just did a Felicity piece and made it also about Laurel. That’s you robbing her of her agency as well. Unlike you, I don’t like Laurel. I haven’t like since the first episode. The harder the show tries to change that, at the detriment of the show, the more unlikely I am to change my mind about her. Felicity can’t and shouldn’t be used in an argument as to why it’s OK to like Laurel and Laurel can’t be used as excuse to like Felicity.
Because at the end of the day, Felicity keeps me watching when no one else can.
I’ll always feel that Felicity is the stronger character simply because the actor, the character, the charisma, the talent, the humor, is all there. All in one package that engages viewers. People like what they like, but on a TV show, characters need more justification to exist than, well she was big in the comics. That’s simply not good enough.
Also, you’re another person that feels the need to grant credibility to Felicity critics of season 3, but few people have bothered to admit that Laurel had just as much criticism for her portrayal all season. That’s a mistake right there. Would you like to know why no one is talking about it? Because people just don’t care about Laurel enough. Like it/love it/or hate it, all people ever talk about are Oliver and Felicity. Because at least they inspire a reaction.
Because at the end of the day, apathy and boredom will never replace compelling TV that gets fans and viewers talking. If Arrow ever forgets that, it’ll be fairly easy to forget Arrow. I’m not here for a comic book with selective canon. I’m here to watch a TV show with choices that make sense for the show, not because they have to make choices because comic book fans are complaining about this mythical canon that never existed on Arrow.
Guggenheim has one huge weakness and it has been exposed across the movie and television medium. He cannot write for Leading female love interests to save his life. Laurel, Iris, Felicity and even Carol Ferris in the Green Lantern movie all have looked bad. I don’t understand it. He’s married too so it should be easy to write for a strong woman, just model her after your wife with the same character traits that define them.
Iris is not written by Guggenheim.
The show’s intro says “My Name is Oliver Queen”….I want Season 4 to remember that and focus on that. That’s what made Arrow popular in the first place.
The only problem I’ve ever had with Oliver+Felicity is that their relationship seems to go from 0 to 60 instantly. He seems to not have any romantic interest in her during season 2 (maybe I just wasn’t looking for it) but then by first episode of season 3 he loves her? Then they’re apart all season but right at the end they come together and ride off into the sunset. It just feels so fast and unearned. There’s a lot of drama in the Olicity relationship and it’s hard for me to see them as a normal couple. I don’t think Oliver and Laurel should be together after all they have been through but it was easier for me to see them as a normal couple.
I dont understand how Laurel and Oliver appear as a normal couple considering he cheated on her multiple times before the island(including with her sister), came back from the island and slept with girls while being “in love with her”, slept with her days after she broke up with his best friend and then after months slept with her sister again. And thats only about their sexual life,dont even get me started on how many times he lied to her, even after she entered the team(him knowing who Malcom had Thea kill Sara)!
I mean,Laurel did say to him “you should have rotten on the island for more years” when he came back and he did say to her “im done running after you” when she had an addiction problem but i guess that’s what people who love and respect someone usually say!
When I say easier to see as a normal couple I’m just talking about the scenes I’ve seen in the show. Oliver and Laurel had non-work scenes (ice-cream, diner w/friends) and I was able to see Oliver repair the relationship he screwed up. I agree Oliver and Laurel probably messed up (or the writers did) too much for them to get back together but I just wish we saw more than just one date from Oliver and Felicity to go from work friends (at least for Oliver) to lovers. Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see enough build up in season 2 for the relationship. All I really remember from Olicity are really high and low points (along with a long break) in the relationship.
Honestly,if they focused more on Oliver and Felicity in season two, people would whine(just like this season). Because this is an action show and there are many action lovers who really dont care about the characters. IMO season two had a nice slow built up,there were teases about a future romance but were subtle just like it sould be in these kind of shows. The writers kinda rushed the date in season 3 though and implied that those five months that we missed Oliver and Felicity kept growing closer.
I believe the kind of dynamics(like Olicity) that shift from friends to partners to lovers are the best but thats just me watching tv.
I get what your saying. I personally didn’t love the execution but it’s going to be impossible to please everyone I guess.
Don’t really understand the argument people put out that Black Canary has to end up with Green Arrow…Arrow hasn’t exactly followed the comics….besides the GA/BC romance was only one incarnation of the comics…BC married Larry Lance in the earlier ones if I’m not mistaken. And I know that was Dinah Drake not Lance but it’s still the BC.
The romance part of it never really interested me the first couple of seasons…Seriously Oliver didn’t really come across as a catch. Damaged goods with infidelity problems. To me Laurel and Tommy had the most chemistry as far as couples were concerned. And I could buy Sara and Oliver as a couple because of the fact they had so much in common.,,but still it never felt like they were meant to be together forever.
The Felicity thing kind of caught me off guard.. Kind of obvious the two actors have great onscreen chemistry but I was really taken a back at how believable Oliver’s confession of love for her was the first time he said it. Like I said I wasn’t into any of the romance the first season except I liked Laurel and Tommy as a couple. And Oliver’s relationships never felt like real love to me…just a drowning man trying to find his way back to some kind of normalcy.
Laurel felt like he was trying to find his old self again…Helena felt like he was trying to save himself (as in if he could save her then maybe there was hope for him as well) and Sara was a relationship of common ground. Felicity is the only one that up till now I’ve been convinced that Oliver really loved the other person involved.
As for this season…the relationship did feel rushed. And bringing it to the forefront this early may mean that by the end of the series it will be over or worse Felicity will follow the fate of Tommy and Moira. They do have a tendency to kill off main characters to affect Oliver to make some dramatic change in his life.
I enjoy the moments Felicity with Oliver, Ray or Barry. However I don’t see her ends up with any one of them. I think she deserves them all however she doesn’t really need a serious long term one to one romantic relationship which can produce a baby.
There is no Laurel/Felicity divide. People’s negative feelings about Felicity have not led to an increase in support for Laurel, and certainly not Laurel/Oliver. Support for that ship never changes in any way, and never will.