Tag Archives: Arrow

Oliver, Felicity and the Arrow Season Two Finale (spoilers)

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I have to admit that in the season finale of Arrow when Oliver took Felicity to the mansion and asked her to stay there to be safe, I was into it. When he said Slade took the wrong woman and that he loved her, I was swooning even though somewhere in the back of my mind I thought, that was too fast…really? I instinctively wanted more even though I was getting what I thought I’d been waiting for.

In the scenes after, it started to dawn on me that the scene before this profession of love was Felicity telling Oliver he had to outthink Slade. In my gut I knew I’d been played. That’s when I started feeling manipulated. The producers and writers had played a sick joke on all of us.

And then we got to the end…that was a real Olicity moment. When Felicity confessed she had believed him for just a second the lingering smile, gaze, and silence spoke volumes.

Oliver loves Felicity and he KNOWS he loves Felicity. She on the other hand still doesn’t believe it’s possible that he could think of her in that way. Therein lies the reason that we weren’t given a true Olicity love story last night. He’s there…she still needs to get to the point where she can accept that she deserves it.

Now, for those of you that argue I am being overly optimistic or seeing things that aren’t there, here’s what I hold up as evidence. The producers admitted in numerous interviews that Olicity moments, are real, crafted, and important to the show. If you watch any youtube montage of Olicity moments you see their story unfold and it’s awesome.

Beyond that when Lance told Oliver that Slade had Laurel, Ollie said the city was more important. He wasn’t going for her. He truly didn’t have a plan to save her at that point. He said the words, I know why he took her, but chose the city over her. Even the plan that eventually saves Laurel wasn’t about Laurel. It was about not killing Slade and Felicity’s belief in Oliver that he could find another way. Her belief in him culminated in his belief in himself.

So, if Oliver knew why Slade took Laurel and was going to save the city anyway, he must have known in his own heart that Slade had the wrong woman. It isn’t until Felicity pushes him again and again that he’s able to form it into an actual plan. I believe that Oliver told Felicity the straight up truth when he spoke to her in the mansion. Sure he had another purpose but it was possibly his last chance to say it to her and I think he meant it.

Then let’s look at the fact that he trusted her to understand what he wanted her to do. We’ve been hit over the head with how he wanted Sara safe and away from Slade in the island scenes. He wanted Laurel safe and out of Slade’s grasp in the past few episodes. But with Felicity, he allows her to walk straight into the fire! Is it because he doesn’t care?

On the contrary, just like his work with Sara allowed him to see her as an equal and be in a relationship with her, Oliver’s relationship with Felicity has progressed to one of equality and trust. We know that the flaw in Oliver and Sara’s relationship is her darkness and inability to accept the hero in herself, but that’s the exact opposite with Felicity. She is the light to his dark, she sees no other path but the hero’s journey. By letting them work together to make the hero’s choice, the writers and producers have brought Oliver to the place where he can finally see his love for Felicity. He has put it into words.

I also think it’s obvious from the last scene that he knows she loves him, too. I think his smile was knowing. Knowing of the fact that she is still struggling to put it into words and that giving her that time hurts no one and maybe even protects her.

I think what the producers and writers has done is brilliant. After getting over my initial anger at the manipulation factor, I can see that what they did is the only authentic path they could have taken. The I love you in the mansion may have been real for Ollie but it wasn’t time yet for her to say I love you in return.

(By the way, I hate you Andre Kreisberg for being right about giving me what I need and not what I want, but don’t drag them getting together out much past season three. I see she’s not there yet but by the end of three they should both know who they are and be ready to explore who they are together.)

My Arrow Season Two Finale Theory

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In the submarine in City of Blood  – Oliver is with 3 other people. The scene directly mirrors his being in the lab with Felicity, Dig, and Laurel. On the Submarine Oliver sends Sara away. He says to her that he has to know she’s safe. She goes but we know she ends up on the boat in trouble and he has to help her. He’s left on the submarine with Anatoly and Peter. Peter is the one who tells him, when he says he’s not a hero, “Not yet, but you will be.” Anatoly is his friend forever in his own words. So Anatoly is Dig, Peter is Felicity, and Sara is Laurel.

When they’re in the lair Oliver basically tells Laurel the exact same thing he’s told Sara – once again showing he has some seriously weird sister issues – but whatever.

Now let’s look at something else. The episode before.  “Seeing Red” shares the same name with the Buffy episode where Spike at his lowest point leaves so he can get his soul to make himself worthy of Buffy.  In their series finale he famously sacrifices himself to become the hero he never was. Sara left at the end…she went to get help but she left just like Spike. And we see when she comes back in Streets of fire that she doesn’t see herself as a hero but her actions are proving that she is transitioning into one 

Sadly, if the explanations above hold – we are put in a situation where Sara will sacrifice herself to be the hero (Peter’s words on the ship – does Peter have a Felicity connection?).

We have Laurel story in the two episodes mirroring Sara’s story and we all know that at some point in the island flashbacks Oliver sees Sara “die”. Will we see Laurel almost die and have Sara sacrifice herself to save her? There are lots of signs that point to yes, but we also have to throw in the Felicity factor and the picture of Slade holding Felicity hostage.

What if Sara dies to save Felicity and Laurel “dies” like Sara did. When Sara “dies” she is taken in by Nyssa.  What if Nyssa takes Laurel and they train her. Thereby having her follow the exact same path as her sister in becoming the Canary but saddened forever by the loss of her sister she is “black”?

If Laurel “dies” that gives time for the writers to develop Oliver and Felicity just a little bit more. After watching recaps of all the Olicity stuff from YouTubers it is obvious that the writers have seriously chosen to create Olicity moments. So you have Oliver and Felicity just about to explore a real relationship in season 3 when Laurel comes back from the dead as Black Canary – all of a sudden Oliver’s equal/partner in crime. This throws major conflict into the developing relationship with Felicity which everyone knows you have to have to keep a couple successful.

I don’t know…it’s all just a theory and there are lots of them out there.  I personally don’t want it to work out that was because I am not a “Laurel” fan (character wise – I like Katie Cassidy),but it would keep me interested if that’s how it went down. Sara dies a hero, we get to see some Oliver and Felicity advancement and people who want Laurel as Black Canary get a believable story of how she all of a sudden got mad fighting skills. Hmmmm.