Arrow (TV Series) The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak (2014) User Reviews

please notice the absence of flashbacks

[A_Different_Drummer · 9/10 · 15 November 2014]

Brilliant episode, more fun than a barrel of hammers, entertaining, emotional, unexpected, moving.

I have been very critical of the dark dreary narratives lately and if there is point of no return for writers who fall in love with flashbacks, this series crossed that line in season 2.

Here is one of the best episodes of the season, no flashbacks, story told using traditional narrative and exposition, great use of the Felicity character ... and it is a treat.

Why can't they all be like this?

Nice to see Charlotte Ross adding her own style of elegance to this episode. Born in 1968, and she looks great.

Much better then I thought it was going to be

[tabraham44 · 9/10 · 6 November 2014]

OK so going into this the episode it focused a lot on Felicity, which I didn't really agree with because as much as I liked the character(and actress) I didn't think there would be enough storyline to fill, but god was I wrong. This episode proved that even if it is not Oliver's back story it can still be proved to be an interesting plot and actually add to the story. Great writing definitely towards the last part, and that last scene. Man in my opinion Arrow is doing everything consistently right so far, they have just the right amount of twists. And for anyone who didn't enjoy this episode as much, have some fun it was a different side to our story that can add so much more to the overall plot.

Family

[ThomasDrufke · 8/10 · 5 November 2014]

I love it when shows change up the format of the episode and bring us a new dynamic. Well this episode did just that when bringing in Felicity's mother Donna. She has been mentioned but we have never seen any of Felicity's family members and her mother was a welcomed addition. I have to say it was a bit strange when the first 5 minutes or so feel like a completely different show tone wise, but the scenes got better and better. After all seeing Felicity working out to open the show was a bit strange.

With that said the flashback scenes were a bit boring and predictable. Also didn't we all know the real hacker was going to be her supposed dead ex boyfriend? What this episode did really well was the overarching theme of family. Whether it was the Thea-Oliver scenes or Felcity-Donna scenes it really had a lighter tone to our typical dose of Arrow.

This episode also gave us some of the most subtly hilarious moments of the season. Watching Diggle walk into Verdant with Sara strapped on him was priceless, as was both Diggle and Oliver's meeting with Felicity's mom. Their facial expressions told all, but let's face it, weren't we all thinking the same thing? This episode also gave us a few clarifications on things I have been questioning for awhile. Like what does Oliver do when Thea is right upstairs working at Verdant when he wants to go fight crime? Take the back exit. Or like Felicity said "Do we know half the things you went through on your 5 years away?". Oliver avoids the question of course because i'm not sure even the writers know exactly what he did those last few years just yet. And of course it was great to see Diggle wearing a mask out in the field considering he's making it pretty obvious The Arrow is Oliver if he's at every scene of the crime without any sort of mask.

Few other moments to mention was Diggle and Roy leaving the conversation between Felicity and Oliver when it got emotional. Or even Felicity kicking some butt at the end was a nice touch (and Oliver's reaction to that was also priceless). So overall this episode was a welcomed change-up to Arrow's normal style. Now will we get to finally find out who killed Sara? I can tell you right now I don't believe it's Roy. My guess is still Talia.

+Welcomed change to Arrow's storytelling style

+Felicity shines (and kicks butt)

+Diggle walks in with the baby

+Family themed

+Arrow's funniest episode

-Predictable flashbacks

-So why again did the villain feel the need to try and kill Felicity?

8.7/10

Season 3 Episode 1

[c-johnson-65162 · 7/10 · 11 October 2015]

I am a big fan of the Arrow; but I am not a fan of Oliver and Felicity! It is has no passion for me. Now Oliver and Laurel... that is hot. I never liked Oliver with Laurel's sister. That was just tacky! Who is writing this? Just because you work with a man of the opposite sex, does not mean that you have to cause them to have the hots for each other. This relationship is not working. Sorry! It is truly a miss for me! I want passion and these two just don't have it. Their relationship feels more like a brother and sister relationship than a man-woman relationship! The other part of the show was good as the Arrow is concern.

So dumb

[brightguard · 1/10 · 14 November 2015]

This episode's writing was schmaltzy and stupid. But what I really found irritating was how every gun on this show seems to have a firing delay of 3 seconds. This was never more apparent than when we were presented with several automated motion-sensing mini-guns being trained on Oliver. A situation he responds to by immediately going into A LOT of motion. The automated gun's counter response? Hesitate for a few seconds while Oliver bows-and-arrows himself up into the rafters, wait for the PA to whisper 'Okay he's clear', and only then to start spraying bullets randomly in all directions.

The show is based on a dumb comic with a dumb premise but it doesn't have to be so dumb. It puts itself in these situations! It really feels like the writers let a lot of things not make sense because they're not really into it.

Disappointing for me. May be interesting to You.

[proudhotkin · 4/10 · 5 November 2014]

When they introduce what could be a naturally morally gray character they make sure to kill anything interesting about that in this episode, and make him just another morally repugnant villain. And in the meantime make the arrow a protector of the status quo without any doubts on his part. How did the Arrow go from going after billionaires to protecting their massive wealth? Maybe I do not know enough about the Arrow character. Felicity is the main focus of this episode. While Felicity is a great character addition to this show, I didn't care to watch a whole episode about the relationship between her and her mother. Arrow has seen better on CW in my opinion, but of course there are those who may enjoy this episode, especially if they are fans of the character Felicity Smoak and want to see a little more about her past and her family. Not much else went on in this episode. We had Oliver Queen look like he might be deciding to move in with Thea (her idea) to stay close to the family he has left, after they had a little standoff about her accepting of Malcom Merilyn's "blood money" she gets from his estate from which she bought a nice new apartment. She promised eventually she would give the rest of the money to charity. Laurel tells her boxing instructor about the death she had in the family that has been eating at her. He believes now he finally knows how to focus her training and gives her advice about where not to focus. Looks from the trailer that next week some things will be picking up on the death of Sara Lance with some focus on Laurel (of course) and on Roy Harper and his suppressed memories? Does that have to do with his nightmares or is that something different?. Did he have something to do with Sara's murder? Those are the questions the trailer brings up. Hopefully I will be more satisfied by next weeks episode, and I hope season 3 lives up to season 1 and 2.