Arrow Arrow season 4 episode 15 "Taken"

[DeadFan]

I don't think EBR's a bad actress, and I do think it's the writers' fault for Felicity's attitudes, but the point of it is, this is how Felicity's acting in-universe. In-universe, her actions are very much her own and they're unfair and selfish. No one's blaming EBR for it, I don't think–she's not to blame–but when Felicity is the character who's acting like this, yeah, it's okay to dislike a character. Most of the time she's fine, it's just whenever she has to deal with something serious she falls apart because for some reason she wants Oliver to be this perfect angel who'll basically make her the center of his world–including having a say in William's fate.

Well said. She is a fictional character who is given "life" by the writing and acting. It's not like she has an existence apart from that. If she is written in a certain way that invites viewers to find fault with her (for example she lied to Oliver about working with Team Arrow which made her seem hypocritical to many given her emphasis on honesty between the two of them; or she freaks out and jumps down Oliver's throat in the first cross-over timeline before he's even had time to process news about his son, ignores his tearful plea that he needs time and ignores the impact such news must have had on him, and all that after she came by her info after bullying Barry for info that was private) then that's who she is at that point in time b/c that's what was written. And it's very fair to dislike the character for how she is behaving and what those behaviors tell us about her character traits. A viewer is under no obligation to say, "oh that was just bad writing," she's really a great likeable gal. Why should her character be protected from criticism and why should viewers not be justified in their feelings of dislike if they find certain behaviors/traits she displays objectionable because: "bad writing"?

 

[mr. peasant]

I find it telling, and rather annoying, that so many people go with "Felicity sucks" rather than "The writers suck". Because while I totally agree that the end scene was unearned and terrible, I don't put the blame on the character.

Of course, I don't hold a grudge against her for not being the canon comic love interest/an original character/a woman, either.

The reason for that is because if we did, every plot-related complaint is the writers' fault. t:

 

[mikel202]

I've always thought she brought the show down. Just an annoying screen presence imo.

I was hoping with Daredevil 'raising the bar' that the writers would take a look at their show before season 4 and drop the dead weight (Felicity, and several other side characters) to give the show new life, but instead they just double-downed on the tumblr fans. Makes sense I suppose, just not for me.

I'm really hoping the grave scene is a misdirect, and in addition to whoever's in that grave, that limo will blow up with only Oliver making it out alive.

Dude Daredevil is on Netflix. They do not have to worry about target demographics for advertisers. The reason why we get ******** like Lana Lane,Laurel in season 2 or Olicity is because they have to cater 14-25 yr old demographic and teenage girls,because those are the people who buy their products. Netflix and the movies only have to worry about how many people are watching. This is the reason why they can make better shows for older people.

 

[The_Manhunter]

I don't think EBR's a bad actress, and I do think it's the writers' fault for Felicity's attitudes, but the point of it is, this is how Felicity's acting in-universe. In-universe, her actions are very much her own and they're unfair and selfish. No one's blaming EBR for it, I don't think–she's not to blame–but when Felicity is the character who's acting like this, yeah, it's okay to dislike a character. Most of the time she's fine, it's just whenever she has to deal with something serious she falls apart because for some reason she wants Oliver to be this perfect angel who'll basically make her the center of his world–including having a say in William's fate.

EBR has shown that she can do more serious stuff before...in the first couple seasons the serious moments they gave her were fine. Giving Oliver pep talks? Good. Her fear when the earthquake device went off? Good. It's the material she's been given lately that's the problem. It's hard to make a character seem likeable, no matter how good your acting, when that character is being unreasonable and annoying. Again, I don't think anyone blames EBR for Felicity's character; that'd be ridiculous. But the fact is that her character has become very different from who she used to be and...it just isn't good.

Well said

 

[JC00]

I find it telling, and rather annoying, that so many people go with "Felicity sucks" rather than "The writers suck". Because while I totally agree that the end scene was unearned and terrible, I don't put the blame on the character.

Of course, I don't hold a grudge against her for not being the canon comic love interest/an original character/a woman, either.

Oh come on......

Saying Felicity sucks is the same thing as saying the writing for Felicity sucks...

 

[Danielle13]

I feel sad when I think about how much I used to love Felicity, back when she was just the computer genius who made some weird comments once in a while. Those were her good times. Now, I can't stand her. She has become so selfish, so obsessed with her relationship with Oliver, is not even funny. Is like she can't understand that two people in a relationship can still be independent, she just wants Oliver to share every little detail with her, she needs to feel she is the center of Oliver's world, that Ollie can't possibly function without her, and its sickening. I feel like the main reason she dumped Oliver was because she found out Barry and Thea knew about William before her, which is stupid, because Barry figured it out before Oliver had any evidence William was his son, and Thea did her own detective work. But that doesn't matter, what matters is that Felicity wasn't the first person to know. Argh.

I feel like the writers are turning Felicity into an awful character on purpose so that fans will go back to shipping Laurel and Oliver.

 

[Nathan]

No matter how awful they'd make Felicity, I'd never ship Laurel and Oliver. I honestly don't care who he ends up with, as long as it's not Laurel.

 

[Danielle13]

No matter how awful they'd make Felicity, I'd never ship Laurel and Oliver. I honestly don't care who he ends up with, as long as it's not Laurel.

You're right. Laurel improved a lot after she stopped being Oliver's romantic interest, and Felicity was way better before her crush became the lamest, most annoying romantic story ever told... Is almost like the writers have no idea how to write a romantic plot involving the main character, and they destroy any female character in their sad attempts...

Is official, Arrow should stop writing romantic stuff for Oliver. The show is better that way.

 

[Dark Raven]

If Slade Wilson escaped and, instead of getting his own back by shooting something through Oliver's eye, he shoots him down below in his family jewels, then that should end any sex drive he has, and Oliver won't be able to have any romantic entanglements anymore.

 

[Danielle13]

If Slade Wilson escaped and, instead of getting his own back by shooting something through Oliver's eye, he shoots him down below in his family jewels, then that should end any sex drive he has, and Oliver won't be able to have any romantic entanglements anymore.

This is exactly what the show needs.

 

[Omegabat]

You're right. Laurel improved a lot after she stopped being Oliver's romantic interest, and Felicity was way better before her crush became the lamest, most annoying romantic story ever told... Is almost like the writers have no idea how to write a romantic plot involving the main character, and they destroy any female character in their sad attempts...

Is official, Arrow should stop writing romantic stuff for Oliver. The show is better that way.

I liked him a lot with Shado actually,unfortunately she died and became the cause of his conflict with Slade. They really jumped the gun there,so much wasted potential. But yeah every other romance has led to the ruination of the female character,be it Laurel,Sara,Felicity or Helena.

 

[S. Grundy]

You're right. Laurel improved a lot after she stopped being Oliver's romantic interest, and Felicity was way better before her crush became the lamest, most annoying romantic story ever told... Is almost like the writers have no idea how to write a romantic plot involving the main character, and they destroy any female character in their sad attempts...

Is official, Arrow should stop writing romantic stuff for Oliver. The show is better that way.

Felicity really became the worst in season 3, the only thing they could think for her to do that season was cry and complain about everything.

 

[KillerMcQueen]

Felicity really became the worst in season 3, the only thing they could think for her to do that season was cry and complain about everything.

Yeah, they lost sight of what caused the character to catch on in the first place, she should be one of the more fun, lighthearted supporting characters on the show, not a selfish drama queen obsessed with her relationship with Oliver who dominates the show's screentime.

 

[Dark Raven]

Felicity is someone who should have limited screen time. She only really works in short bursts. Trying to push her to the fore front and make her the main actress just makes people tire of her. She's like icing on a cake. But if you have mostly icing and not much cake you get sick pretty quickly.

 

[NiTe_Wolf]

I thought this episode was a little sad because Oliver lost a lot. Oliver fought for his son and in the end he lost him and Felicity. he made a video telling his son that he is his dad and that he is the green arrow and I think its sad that he wont see it until he is all grown up. because if he saw it then and now he would always look up to Oliver. and now Oliver wont see him again and William doesn't know a thing about Oliver. And Felicity is gone but I have a feeling she will be back. I hope so. I also hope we see William in the future but I feel like it would be different if we see William like a couple years older than know because he might act different and its nice seeing a little kid on the show and the kid of Oliver. But the episode was good though.

 

[Jedi Arrow]

Speaking of which, the acting in that video scene was seriously on point. Well done, Stephen!

 

[KillerMcQueen]

Speaking of which, the acting in that video scene was seriously on point. Well done, Stephen!

Yeah, that video message at the end was very well done and impactful, would've been perfect as the actual end of the episode.

 

[Fincher]

Not a great episode. I didn't like Vixen. I mean, I wasn't too keen on the idea of her powers going in, but I thought maybe her character would make up for it, but instead the actress was pretty annoying. The Merlyn and William stuff was good, though.

I still like Felicity, but I never cared about her relationship with Oliver, and this has done nothing to sell me on it. I agree with Thea that Oliver made the right decision, but even if I agreed with Felicity that he was in the wrong...if this is all it takes for her to call off the engagement, then their relationship isn't that strong. Yes, she has the right to break up with him. She could break up with him because he burned her breakfast burrito, it's her life. However, the life they lead has always come with its fair share of problems, and there's no reason to expect that to change.

For a relationship to work given what they do, there either needs to be a powerful love (like they keep expecting us to believe Oliver and Felicity have) that compels them to weather the storm instead of breaking up whenever things get bad, or it needs to be between two people who know what they signed up for and can roll with the punches. Felicity is simply too sensitive for this to be a manageable thing. There's no reason to think Oliver can live up to her expectations. She should have stuck with Ray because he's a boy scout, and they were a more compelling couple, anyway.

So...if the point of this scene was just that Felicity realized they weren't a good couple and would never work, then fine, get up out of that wheelchair and walk away. Bye bye, Olicity. I didn't enjoy the scene, but at least it's done and we can get on with things. But it's going to be even lamer when they get back together and get married, because why am I supposed to care? Their relationship sucks. It's the worst thing about both of their characters.

 

[SuperBatman]

Finally was able to catch up on the season. Im actually surprised they pretty much finished off Darke and now it looks the real Villain this season is Malcolm Merlin.

 

[Slade W]

Finally was able to catch up on the season. Im actually surprised they pretty much finished off Darke and now it looks the real Villain this season is Malcolm Merlin.

Darhk is not finished yet. The actor has said that the character will get crazier towards the end of the season. This is the beginning.

 

[regnak]

Found this on Reddit and apparently they got it from a TV tropes section called your mileage may vary:

Narm: Oliver and Felicity break up, and during this Felicity realizes that she can move her legs, meaning she can now walk. Despite spending weeks in a wheelchair with this being the first time her legs have moved since then, she gets up and practically struts out of the room with little to no issue with Oliver just gaping after her like a fish and doing nothing else. What makes this more Narm-y is that this is the final scene of the episode with Arrow now going into a one-month break before the next episode airs. Compare this to Flash and it seems like the writers thought fans would think their break up and Felicity's regain of her legs to be as shocking as the reveal of the Big Bad as the sister show did.


I found it quite amusing.

 

[Verick808]

I'm sure, to Olicity shipper, it was just as big. Which goes to show who the show is catering towards the most, unfortunately not us.

 

[Fincher]

Found this on Reddit and apparently they got it from a TV tropes section called your mileage may vary:

Narm: Despite spending weeks in a wheelchair with this being the first time her legs have moved since then

Disregarding issues of atrophy and even saying for the sake of argument that her ability to control them would go straight from 0% to 100%, I'd have been wary of just walking off like that if I were her. What if the bio-chip cut out while she was walking down the street and she just dropped like a ton of bricks?

Really, that whole scenario was melodramatic. "I have the ability to walk now just so I can walk away from you."

 

[DeadFan]

Really, that whole scenario was melodramatic. "I have the ability to walk now just so I can walk away from you."

And the emotional reactions, or lack thereof, were just totally off. What you really would have seen, most likely, the minute she twitched her foot and started standing, would have been both of them forgetting what they had been preoccupied with seconds before and then both of them showing some combination of astonishment, joy, gratitude -- should have seen wide-eyed surprise, relief, smiles, tears of joy in eyes... stuff along those lines.

 

[voyzovrezon]

Loved this episode! Just the right blend of drama and action.