Arrow (Season 5) (1 Viewer)

[Garysb]

[QUOTE="Rene Ramirez continues to be terrible and wrong all of the time. No acknowledgement of or explanation for Evelyn Sharp's absence, other than that they presumably couldn't fit her in and/or didn't want to pay Madison McLaughlin when the episode was already stuffed with guest actors.[/QUOTE]

There is an article on the EW website that explains why Evelyn Sharp was missing with no explanation.

“It’s funny, to be honest with you, in the break of 508, we talked a lot about Do we have her in there?” executive producer Marc Guggenheim told reporters following a screening of the crossover. “It felt like it was the elephant in the room and we didn’t want it distracting, so we don’t reference it in large part because I’m not a fan of, ‘Oh, it’s too bad that Evelyn’s mom is sick this week.’ I would prefer to just whistle past the graveyard. I will say, you will get a payoff to 507’s cliffhanger with respect to Evelyn big time in 509.”

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/11/30/arrow-artemis-evelyn-betrayal-mole

 

[Matt Hough]

Having dropped Arrow a couple of seasons ago, this was my first encounter with Oliver's new Scooby gang, and I can't say I much liked them.

I did like the episode otherwise, however. Very emotionally satisfying and great to see those familiar faces from the years when I did watch the show.

 

[Garysb]

Having dropped Arrow a couple of seasons ago, this was my first encounter with Oliver's new Scooby gang, and I can't say I much liked them.

I did like the episode otherwise, however. Very emotionally satisfying and great to see those familiar faces from the years when I did watch the show.

To be fair it took me a couple of episodes to enjoy the newbies. Especially since Diggle was not with the group for the first few episodes. As we found out that one of the group, Evelyn Sharp, has apparently betrayed the group it should be getting more interesting.

 

[Garysb]

From an EW article about the Fall finale Dec. 7th

When asked directly whether we’ll find out that other characters on other shows, besides Arrow’s John Diggle (David Ramsey), have been affected by Flashpoint, Kreisberg declines to answer. But executive producer Marc Guggenheim teases that we’ll get a taste of Flashpoint during Arrow’s winter finale. “There’s a fair amount of discussion about Flashpoint, given the fact that essentially the crossover outed Flashpoint to the Arrow characters who weren’t Felicity [Emily Bett Rickards],” Guggenheim says. “And they deal with — I think in some humorous ways, actually — some of the ramifications. For example, I think Curtis [Echo Kellum] is concerned that maybe he was straight originally, as one example.”

 

[Garysb]

It seemed like there was a scene cut after Thea told Ollie she wanted to stay and her then changing her mind and joined the final fight. Maybe something like she is watching the people at the party and she gets more memory flashes or the virtual people say things to her she knows are not real and realizes she won't be happy in this virtual world. Just seemed odd that she and Ollie have this long conversation where she makes a compelling reason to stay and one minute later changes her mind.

 

[Sam Favate]

It seemed like there was a scene cut after Thea told Ollie she wanted to stay and her then changing her mind and joined the final fight. Maybe something like she is watching the people at the party and she gets more memory flashes or the virtual people say things to her she knows are not real and realizes she won't be happy in this virtual world. Just seemed odd that she and Ollie have this long conversation where she makes a compelling reason to stay and one minute later changes her mind.

Deleted scene on the blu-ray, perhaps? We can hope!

 

[David Weicker]

It seemed like there was a scene cut after Thea told Ollie she wanted to stay and her then changing her mind and joined the final fight. Maybe something like she is watching the people at the party and she gets more memory flashes or the virtual people say things to her she knows are not real and realizes she won't be happy in this virtual world. Just seemed odd that she and Ollie have this long conversation where she makes a compelling reason to stay and one minute later changes her mind.

Maybe Tommy was able to get away from those extra shifts at the hospital and traveled from faraway Chicago to talk some sense into her

 

[Garysb]

A short film with some very familiar faces. Well done.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

A really strong midseason finale. Prometheus is proving to be an interesting villain; rather than the fate of the city or the world being at stake, it's a lot more personal which makes it a lot more interesting.

Oliver being duped into killing Felicity's boyfriend is his biggest mistake of the season, and in the top five for the series. Which made what happened next so rewarding as a viewer: Finally, Oliver broke out of his pattern of secrecy and subterfuge. He came back to the Arrowcave and immediately explained what had happened. And because of that, Prometheus failed in his goal: the detective's death was supposed to turn Felicity against Oliver. But because he was uncharacteristically honest, it simply hardened Felicity's determination to stop Prometheus.

I want Prometheus to go down, but I hope the way Oliver defeats Evelyn is by proving her wrong. I think it would be most satisfying to have her experience a moment where she realizes that she is on the wrong side. I get that she feels Oliver's hypocrisy got her family killed. But in trying to take him down, she also put the rest of the team in danger. And there should be consequences for that.

(Also, Oliver's instinct to hide his true identity from the recruits was validated in a big damn way.)

And wow, what a whopper of a final beat to end things on. I hope it's not yet another resurrection.

 

[NeilO]

A really strong midseason finale. Prometheus is proving to be an interesting villain; rather than the fate of the city or the world being at stake, it's a lot more personal which makes it a lot more interesting.

Yes, really strong and dark.

Oliver being duped into killing Felicity's boyfriend is his biggest mistake of the season, and in the top five for the series.

When he gave the DA the authority to shoot to kill I just knew that someone innocent was going to be dressed up as Prometheus and killed. I thought it might have been Vigilante doing it, though, and not Oliver. I was surprised Oliver completely fell for it I was hoping that he would try to explain to Prometheus how evil his father was and try to just disable him.

I hope the way Oliver defeats Evelyn is by proving her wrong. I think it would be most satisfying to have her experience a moment where she realizes that she is on the wrong side. I get that she feels Oliver's hypocrisy got her family killed. But in trying to take him down, she also put the rest of the team in danger. And there should be consequences for that.

(Also, Oliver's instinct to hide his true identity from the recruits was validated in a big damn way.)

And wow, what a whopper of a final beat to end things on. I hope it's not yet another resurrection.

I hope Evelyn gets some real clarity. Everyone sharing their identities really backfired. I have no idea what they are doing with Laurel there at the end. I hope there is a good explanation.

Now, what I didn't get was the trap for Diggle. He and Lyla had set up this Argus safe house after everyone knew that Evelyn was a traitor. So, what happened to Lyla and his son and why so much firepower there just for Diggle?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Now, what I didn't get was the trap for Diggle. He and Lyla had set up this Argus safe house after everyone knew that Evelyn was a traitor. So, what happened to Lyla and his son and why so much firepower there just for Diggle?

Much like the A*Team, Diggle "was sent to prison by a military court for a crime [he] didn't commit [and] promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade." So my guess is that the firepower is the United States Army; Evelyn probably ratted Diggle out to the authorities and then the Army faked Lyla's voice to draw him into the trap.

 

[NeilO]

Much like the A*Team, Diggle "was sent to prison by a military court for a crime [he] didn't commit [and] promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade." So my guess is that the firepower is the United States Army; Evelyn probably ratted Diggle out to the authorities and then the Army faked Lyla's voice to draw him into the trap.

The call definitely didn't sound right especially with it being cut off. The question is how did they knew which safe house it was he going to? There just didn't seem to be all that much time and Argus should have had enough secrecy for it to be hard for them to lay the trap.

 

[David Weicker]

Much like the A*Team, Diggle "was sent to prison by a military court for a crime [he] didn't commit [and] promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade." So my guess is that the firepower is the United States Army; Evelyn probably ratted Diggle out to the authorities and then the Army faked Lyla's voice to draw him into the trap.

Part of the crossover story had the President honor them as heroes. I would have thought/hoped that a Presidential Pardon would have followed.

 

[David Weicker]

I have no idea what they are doing with Laurel there at the end. I hope there is a good explanation.

Well, you know, people who you thought were dead show up every Wednesday around here

 

[Garysb]

The simplest explanation is that she is the Earth 2 Laurel and that she escaped from Central City. I believe on the Flash they decided not to tell the Arrow people about her because it would be too painful. Therefore Ollie and company don't know there is an Earth 2 Laurel on their Earth. Another possibility is that the Legends brought her from the past for some reason and that she eventually has to go back. Another Lazarus Pit is possible, I suppose, but the show made such a big deal about destroying the pit, it would be odd for them to suddenly say "Oh by the way there is another one." How about the Laurel from the fantasy world in the crossover followed them back to the real world. Seems the least likely since she wasn't real. Another possibility, what Ollie saw was a figment of his imagination brought on by the guilty he feels killing Felicity's boyfriend. Speaking of which, who knew they were telling the truth when they joked at Comic Com, when they mentioned Felicity was getting a new boyfriend, that he would be killed by some mysterious arrows implying Ollie would kill him for dating Felicity.

 

[Sam Favate]

Spoiler for tonight's Legends episode:

Spoiler

Did we know that Malcolm was the one who blew up the Queens Gambit, setting in motion the events of the entire show? Or was that a new revelation tonight?

That underscores one of the biggest mistakes Arrow ever made, which was to have Oliver and Team Arrow work with Malcolm in previous seasons. The made him into such an irredeemable character that there should have been no going back.

Also, regarding tonight's Legends: I thought Malcolm and Darhk hated each other? Now they're working together? Huh?
These shows need greater continuity.

 

[NeilO]

Also, regarding tonight's Legends: I thought Malcolm and Darhk hated each other? Now they're working together? Huh?
These shows need greater continuity.

Malcolm and Darhk were working together last season on Arrow. Also at this time for Darhk's timeline he doesn't know much about Malcolm. We don't know from when Malcom has been taken but I think his hand is not real on Legends.

 

[DavidJ]

My initial reaction to the episode: grrr.

Hated seeing the deceive go down by Oliver's arrows, but I did appreciate the honesty at the end. Hated seeing Diggle get caught again. Seriously, we have to deal with that again? And, Laurel?! Come on.

 

[ponset]

After all that Ollie has been through, he will need to spend a few months in a Monastery to regain his peace of mind.

Which I believe was a comic book at some point .

 

[Patrick Sun]

I guess Flashpoint repurcussion made for the return of you-know-who at the end of this week's episode.

So, how many people has Oliver killed over the years?

I would be so drunk if I had to take a shot of alcohol every time someone refers to "save this city" in a line of dialogue. It's beyond ludicrous as a motivational impetus to drive characters' actions on this show nowadays.