Arrow, 3x07 Draw Back Your Bow

[oyceter]

Oh Arrow, please please please stop writing romance. Especially for Oliver. Though to be honest, I didn't like any of the ones in this episode. (Except Diggle and Lyla, and obviously that wasn't the focus on the ep.)

I am probably the only non-Oliver/Felicity shipper out there, but I just found that awkward and annoying. I liked it much better in S1 when Oliver had minor angst over Laurel and Tommy but it wasn't too terrible and he was generally nice. And I actually liked Felicity and Ray Palmer, because the actor is incredibly charming, but they keep making him creepy! Stop being creepy with your employee!!! Finding out someone's dress size to get them an outfit to the dinner you assume they'll go to is creepy!!! As is trying the Pretty Woman necklace thing.

Sigh. I kind of wish they went with Felicity and Barry, though obviously that would have been impractical in terms of logistics.

Also, can we not introduce another love interest for Thea and give her more plot instead? I wanted to shake DJ Dude and his obnoxiousness.

I will not even go into the main plot, which was awful and embarrassing to watch any time Carrie Cutter was on screen.

On the plus side, at least they didn't spend too much time on Roy's angst and Diggle actually got some lines. Diggle! Get a mask or something, seriously. And possibly some body armor.

That said, I liked where the episode ended, with Oliver bringing Roy over to Diggle and Lyla's. I miss the focus on family that the show had before they killed off Moira, and that was a nice note.

Comments

[shewhohashope]

i've stopped watching arrow, but i'm not a big oliver/felicity fan either! i support you!

[oyceter]

Haha, thanks! I feel less alone!

[vonniek]

I miss the focus on family that the show had before they killed off Moira, and that was a nice note.

Yeah, these writers are good at family dynamics, both given and found, but wow, do they ever suck at romance. That entire Ray/Felicity thing just came across sketchy as hell, and even Routh's considerable charm couldn't overcome the clichéd writing. I ship Oliver/Felicity, but I was totally cool with them remaining subtextual forever. At this point, I honestly wish they'd just drop it and let them go back to crime-fighting partners. *sigh*

[oyceter]

OMG their romance is so terrible!! And I LIKE Routh and really wanted to like Ray, except they are making it so hard! Stop making it so hard!

[heresluck]

Yes, this. The writers do so much better when they focus on people working together than when they try to focus on people having feelings about each other. I'm in the same camp as Vonnie: I ship Oliver/Felicity in the sense that I have really enjoyed their dynamic and I think it's entirely plausible that they'd fall for each other, but I have no particular need to see them get together onscreen, and in fact at this point I would actively prefer that the show go back to subtext because the ~romance~ is rapidly squashing a good deal of what I enjoyed about the characters (individually and separately) and the show. Alas.

That said, I was amused by Diggle being all "please stop being idiots" at both of them.

[oyceter]

I think I am allergic to almost any romance with Oliver, just because it sucks the life out of whoever he's paired with, and it leads to awful Oliver angst that just makes me want to whap him. Aiiieeee show! And I completely agree with Diggle! (Also, more Diggle episodes! Also, more Oliver and Thea!)