Arrow Arrow General Discussion Thread - - - Part 17

[coluanprime]

You guys realize there is still half a season left right? If everything made sense now that would take away the point to later episodes.

Things aren't supposed to make sense, the city and the lives of the people on the show are in chaos. These people arent perfect, they are going to make mistakes. They also are playing the long game when it comes to many of their issues/motivations.

We will know the real reason Ras is attacking Starling later on. We arent supposed to know yet why we just need to know he is. My guess is Oliver isnt just training with Merlyn just to beat Ras but also to keep him at close range. This is episodic television its long form storytelling...you wont have all the answers until the end of the story.

We aren't complaining that nothing makes sense because of plot. The writers have given us no evidence that there is an endgame to this shakiness nor any reason to trust them to make it make sense. They've played fast and loose with character arcs. Felicity, Diggle, and Laurel are the only characters who have seemed consistenly on point this season.This isn't being played as a mystery, its just not well written. It really reminds me of season 3 of Scandal where they tried to imitate season 2's thrills and it didn't work. They learned from that though and gave us a good season 4.

 

[Lencho01]

It's actually really ****ing egregious at this point. This man's daughter was killed. Everyone close to Sara knows this besides her own father, who, by the way, actually even knew she was the Canary. Instead of somehow letting him know of her death, they've crafted a lie that she is still alive...a lie that seems to have gone on for months now.

It'd be one thing if one of them had simply lied to Lance, saying "Yeah she's around but can't talk". However, they're gone thru much greater lengths than that to lie to this man, even going as far as using magic voice-imitation technology to pass Laurel off as Sara on more than occasion. Lance sees the "Canary" on TV, furthering his believe that she's around, so does the team come clean? Nah, they go deeper with the lie. Also, it seems multiple members of Team Arrow have kept up the lie when talking to Lance.

It's something that should have been such a non-issue, but they've made it an issue (a very creepy, ****ed up one) so that Lance can have some conflict with the team and Laurel, as we're about to see. It's just stupid in every way, though.

It's why I think Lance should die the moment he learners truth. If he doesn't, the whole plot would be even more useless to me.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Yeah, Lance needs to find out. It looks like he will soon though.

It also is pretty silly that he hasn't figured out that Oliver is the Arrow yet.

 

[Boy Scout]

If the purpose of keeping the truth from Quentin for so long is to kill him off in the finale, then I'll consider it to be yet another instance of horrendous writing. Not only would I prefer to see him go out like the hero he is if he absolutely has to die, but dragging it out for so long has made almost the entire cast look like emotionally manipulative *****ebags.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Yeah, it really has.

 

[luis4u]

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...isode-since-the-flash-crossover-event/359969/

via press note:
Last night's Arrow had its highest rated episode since the huge FLASH-Arrow crossover episode (12/3/14) in both A18-49 (1.2/4) and in M18-34 (1.4/6).
Arrow was up +9% week to week in A18-49, up +8% in M18-34, and steady in both A18-34 (1.0/4) and total viewers (2.89M) from last week.
Arrow ranked #3 for the hour in both A18-34 and A18-49 (tie).

 

[The Shape]

If the purpose of keeping the truth from Quentin for so long is to kill him off in the finale, then I'll consider it to be yet another instance of horrendous writing. Not only would I prefer to see him go out like the hero he is if he absolutely has to die, but dragging it out for so long has made almost the entire cast look like emotionally manipulative *****ebags.

It's pretty much the total and utter opposite of what heroes should do.

 

[Loki882]

At least with GA, they're giving him the Commissioner Gordon excuse. He COULD know if he really wanted to, but is choosing not to. Heck I think that he does know on some level, but is just looking the other way. With this BC thing, the writers just seem to have forgotten that they've shows Lance to be pretty smart/perceptive in the past. Heck they did it THIS EPISODE with him figuring out Roy's identity.

 

[Boy Scout]

The explanation for him not knowing didn't make sense to me last season and it doesn't make sense to me now, especially in light of him knowing that Roy is Arsenal. I'd rather he know, but not be inclined to do anything with the information.

 

[Paradox1]

Now I get why Lance doesn't want to know. Seeing the Arrow as a person and not some attack dog you can just unleash on somebody. Allows you to be more objective with your use.

 

[The Shape]

Lance definitely knows Oliver is the Arrow. I think it'll be revealed this season, especially now with how pissed Lance will be that a massive lie was crafted to prevent him from knowing his daughter died.

 

[DrCosmic]

The excuse, that 'finding out would kill him' seems so incredibly hokey to me. Since when do people with heart problems become incapable of handling bad news? Sit them down, give them some tea, break it to them easy. Have a crash cart on hand if it's that serious. Plus, if he can't handle stress... um... police work?

What might be interesting is if we deal with the idea that Laurel just didn't want to tell because she couldn't stand to see her father hurt emotionally any more. Quentin being in denial would be a nice touch too.

On Barry:
Did he actually travel between cities in minutes on The Brave and the Bold? It seemed like in the pilot it took him quite a while, knowing his top speed was less than 600 (to say nothing of his cruising speed), and comparing Kansas City to Detroit or Chicago in distance, it looks like more an hour or so travel time.

I think there's a really elegant way to deal with this sort of crossover-capability when the characters have lives and the issues that the heroes face aren't always huge events of national importance. Yes, if the world's about to get taken over, you call all the Avengers you can. SHIELD cares about certain things, y'know? But if you need help taking down a crime boss, do you wait for Barry to get here, or rally the people of the glades? Do you send Barry to stop all the crime bosses in the country? Does Barry feel comfortable leaving Central City unprotected when he could be needed at a moment's notice?

I would love to see an episode that dealt with those ideas.

 

[Primal Slayer]

The Lances and TA have had trouble with secrets for a while. Oliver lied about Sara drowning and her being dead overall then everyone lies to Laurel about Sara being alive and in town, and now Laurel/TA are lying to Quinton about Sara being alive. It's a never ending cycle with that girl.

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

I think all the secrets and lies comes out next episode....it will resolve some story arc and set up new ones

 

[godisawesome]

I'm guessing Oliver's somewhat illogical recovery can be pinned on the believe that a TV audience would want a return to status quo sooner than their comicbook counterparts. It's clear the main purpose of Ollie's defeat this midseason was to show how dangerous Ra's was and give the creators an excuse to focus much more on Laurel, Malcolm, and Roy. What is a shame is that the potential of his defeat was largely swept under the rug afterwards.

For instance, a better method of bringing Ollie back to fighting shape and the show's center stage would be to have him brought back through unnatural means (Lazarus Pits, Mirakuru, etc.) and then have Merlyn the Magician have a manipulative grip on a skilled warrior like him to redeploy against Ra's, and have Amell get to play a compromised Arrow who's all Arrow and no Ollie, backing up their theme for the season. They gave Merlyn that brainwashing explanation for Thea as his murderer; it becomes less hackneyed if we see that he uses it more than once.

Imagine watching two or so episodes where we see a returned Arrow interact with the team, but we know he's not in control. Maybe throw in some trippy hallucinations and other signs of his brainwashing, and make the Malcolm vs Ra's chess-match a bit more even (still favoring the Demon heavily), so that Ollie's breaking free gives him a chance to target both unsuspecting villains. And maybe have some fun reversing the dynamic from last season during Slade and Ollie's reunion; now, Slade is the overwhelmed and outmatched yet still moderately sane one, while Ollie's the disoriented and disconnected one.

 

[JJmelo]

The excuse, that 'finding out would kill him' seems so incredibly hokey to me. Since when do people with heart problems become incapable of handling bad news? Sit them down, give them some tea, break it to them easy. Have a crash cart on hand if it's that serious. Plus, if he can't handle stress... um... police work?

What might be interesting is if we deal with the idea that Laurel just didn't want to tell because she couldn't stand to see her father hurt emotionally any more. Quentin being in denial would be a nice touch too.

On Barry:
Did he actually travel between cities in minutes on The Brave and the Bold? It seemed like in the pilot it took him quite a while, knowing his top speed was less than 600 (to say nothing of his cruising speed), and comparing Kansas City to Detroit or Chicago in distance, it looks like more an hour or so travel time.

I think there's a really elegant way to deal with this sort of crossover-capability when the characters have lives and the issues that the heroes face aren't always huge events of national importance. Yes, if the world's about to get taken over, you call all the Avengers you can. SHIELD cares about certain things, y'know? But if you need help taking down a crime boss, do you wait for Barry to get here, or rally the people of the glades? Do you send Barry to stop all the crime bosses in the country? Does Barry feel comfortable leaving Central City unprotected when he could be needed at a moment's notice?

I would love to see an episode that dealt with those ideas.

That would be a really cool episode. That whole issue will be compounded once the likes of Atom and Firestorm become legit hero options. I think its best if you just forget about the other heroes in most cases, it tends to ruin the individual story because in every situation you can ask the same thing; why didn't they just call so and so?

As for the Laurel/Quentin thing. I do feel she is keeping it from him to help her father avoid stress. I don't think he would actually keel over if he heard the news but it would add that much more of a burden on a man that has to deal with a heck of a lot.

Ep.12 (Uprising) Review:
http://otlnews.net/2015/02/05/arrow-review-s3-ep-12-uprising/

 

[SpideyVille]

One of the theories I heard about the Laurel/Quentin thing is now Laurel has more reason to hide it because if her father finds out Sara is dead, that's bad enough, but if he finds out she's running around mimicking her, he's going to be so pissed and even more worried.

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

I expecting Lance to expect Laurel to fight crime at night eventually......he probably will ask The Arrow and Roy to watch her back

 

[fire117]

It's pretty much the total and utter opposite of what heroes should do.

Agreed.

 

[Mikelus]

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...isode-since-the-flash-crossover-event/359969/

via press note:
Last night's Arrow had its highest rated episode since the huge FLASH-Arrow crossover episode (12/3/14) in both A18-49 (1.2/4) and in M18-34 (1.4/6).
Arrow was up +9% week to week in A18-49, up +8% in M18-34, and steady in both A18-34 (1.0/4) and total viewers (2.89M) from last week.
Arrow ranked #3 for the hour in both A18-34 and A18-49 (tie).

Impossible!! Haters said the show was done after Sara's death and then, with Laurel becoming Black Canary, the real final nail on the coffin!!

As usual, they were wrong, why? Because they're too biased to be objective, the same thing could happen with the Fantastic Four reboot, most people like the trailer, so if the movie is really good and a success, it will just be another example of how shallow some fans can be for not being reasonable enough.

 

[fire117]

Impossible!! Haters said the show was done after Sara's death and then, with Laurel becoming Black Canary, the real final nail on the coffin!!

As usual, they were wrong, why? Because they're too biased to be objective, the same thing could happen with the Fantastic Four reboot, most people like the trailer, so if the movie is really good and a success, it will just be another example of how shallow some fans can be for not being reasonable enough.

You shouldn't go insulting people for what they don't like about the show, people like and dislike many different things. That's life. Accept it.

 

[Boy Scout]

Now I get why Lance doesn't want to know. Seeing the Arrow as a person and not some attack dog you can just unleash on somebody. Allows you to be more objective with your use.

He's (more or less) comfortable with Sara and Roy and Felicity putting themselves out there. What difference does it make if he knows who their leader is?

Lance definitely knows Oliver is the Arrow. I think it'll be revealed this season, especially now with how pissed Lance will be that a massive lie was crafted to prevent him from knowing his daughter died.

See, but that's the thing: he legitimately doesn't know who The Arrow is and he doesn't want to. The latter makes sense to me, but the former doesn't, because the evidence is so overwhelming that it should be impossible for him to be as clueless as he is. He should know, but just not care.

 

[luis4u]

I always wonder what would've happened if the Flash pilot hadn't been picked up considering Arrow had already introduced Barry, Caitlin and Cisco.

Would they have written in Barry as a member of team Arrow or just forgotten about it all?

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

Will the rating go up or down since next episode features Laurel/sara a lot? This is her episode we going to see flashback of her death......I mean it been said "there will be a big payoff" so I expecting it is a big important episode for the season

 

[luis4u]

http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2015/02/04/the-dctv-secrets-of-arrow-episode-312-uprising

With a namedrop and a solid punch, another DC Comics superhero jumped into the fray! Ever since fighter Ted Grant appeared in Episode 3.3, we’ve been hoping he’d don the mantle of the great Wildcat. Believe it or not, this character made his debut back in 1942 in the same issue of Sensation Comics #1 which introduced another legendary character—Wonder Woman.







Through the years he’s mainly been associated with the Justice Society. He’s usually the one who trains the members in hand to hand combat. One thing’s for sure—the hero we saw fight for justice in The Glades remains true to his pugilistic origins.









Believe it or not, the battle for The Glades we saw tonight has some inspiration in the comic books. However that rumble, as written by Judd Winick, saw Green Arrow and Brick fighting side by side. Weird, right? Just like tonight's episode, sometimes Oliver needs some bad friends.