Arrow: The Problem with Ray Palmer

Arrow comes back in a little over a month, and though the last time we saw Ray Palmer the top floor of Palmer Technologies was going up in flames leaving everyone to fear the worst, we’re pretty sure we’re going to see Palmer again. He is, after all, headlining a team of heroes in Legends of Tomorrow, which premieres next year.

It’s safe to say that Palmer is alive (and quite possibly very, very small), and it’s not a stretch to assume that we’ll be seeing him “come back” this year on Arrow, presumably with Felicity’s help. So, with the possibility of a lot of Ray Palmer in our future, I thought it was the perfect time to discuss his character, and what we (as viewers) need, or don’t need to fall in love with him, once and for all.

Being introduced as a love interest for one half of the show’s titular OTP is the best way to get people to hate you, so Ray Palmer was facing an uphill battle from day one. Even so, my (and, from what I gather, most of the Arrow fandom’s) main problem with him was never that he was Felicity’s LI, no. I mean, it’s not that we liked him as a potential love interest, but I think we could all recognize the transient nature of their love affair. It wasn’t going to last. It couldn’t.

No, our problems with Palmer had more to do with the way he was written than with the role he played in Felicity’s life.

Because, look, pinging someone’s cell phone is not cute. It’s not oh, look, he cares so much about me that he’s willing to invade my privacy just to figure out where I am, that’s so dreamy. NO. Pinging someone’s cell phone is wrong. Especially when that person has made it clear that she doesn’t want to talk to you, doesn’t want to see you and really, really doesn’t want to work for you.

And on that note, BUYING THE COMPANY where she works just so she ends up working for you anyway is just creepy, okay? I get that you probably thought it was romantic, and all that, but it wasn’t. It was borderline stalkerish. You’re a billionaire; don’t you have like advisers to tell you when you’re crossing the line? Because you should.

You weren’t even a bad boyfriend, Ray. You are not a bad person. You didn’t give off villain vibes from the start. You were introduced, we knew there was the possibility of a spinoff, and we wanted to like you. At least, I did. I tried very hard. I just couldn’t get over the Ray Palmerness of you.

The relationship with Felicity angle wasn’t working. Not only because we didn’t like you together (because, duh. Even if Oliver was being his typical oblivious self, we still wanted him for Felicity), but because the two of you together were just – wrong. There wasn’t as much of a spark as there was with Oliver (or even with Barry), and also, there was the fact that both of you were clearing rebounding.  You, from your dead wife, she from Oliver. And, so it was simple, convenient. Nice, even.

But it wasn’t the kind of love a superhero journey needs.

Mostly, because Felicity wasn’t being herself. Sure, she might not have torn Ray a new one about the things I mentioned earlier, and she might have accepted all the gifts, but we have to understand that Felicity was in mourning. Ray was there, he was interested, and Felicity needed a distraction. Can you imagine her letting Oliver get away with that kind of behavior? No. And that’s why their relationship works, and her relationship with Ray was doomed to fail from the start.

But, if you want to get even more meta, the relationship issues weren’t the only problem the Ray Palmer character had to face, no. In fact, the relationship failings were to be expected. The character could have still been successful despite them. Except that he never got the one thing he needed to leave a mark on the show – a straight man (or woman) to bounce lines off.

Part of the charm of Felicity is seeing her interact with Oliver, Diggle, Sara, Laurel, Roy, and this whole assortment of characters who are, at best, serious, and at worst, broody. Felicity’s best moments come when she’s shining a light on those people, making them come out of the darkness, so to speak.

Ray Palmer needed something like that.

I’m not saying I don’t understand him as Felicity’s love interest, I’m just saying that, since he was her love interest, they were stuck playing two funny people together, a sort of perverted comedy sketch where there were too many jokes and no one to react to them. It was cute at times, yes, but it never quite had any depth.

What Ray Palmer needed was more interactions with the rest of Team Arrow. More stand-offs with Laurel, more chances for Diggle to give him one of those looks he seems to have perfected, more exchanges to contrast the differences between him and Oliver. Hell, even Captain Lance would have done the trick.

So, let’s say he comes back now. The tail-end of the season gave me enough of those things mentioned above that I’m willing to give Ray a chance. I don’t love him, not even a little bit, but I could be convinced. Brandon Routh plays him with a certain easy charisma that, with any other backstory, would have made him an easy fan favorite, so if the writers can remember that stalkerish behavior is not okay, and two funny people in a room are not as entertaining as one funny person and a grumpy type, then we should be fine.

Especially if Legends of Tomorrow can provide him with what the character most needs to be charming, his very own relationship to mirror Oliver and Felicity’s.

It’s not that he needs a romance, no. The show seems to contain enough somber characters that Ray Palmer will probably be a breath of fresh air in the middle of all that serious talk. But considering the fact that, whether on purpose or by mistake, his character ended up borrowing so much from Felicity’s, then it’s not that far-fetched to think there’s another person who spent five(six) years in hell who could use a bit of light in her life.

That’s one romance I can get behind. That’s one way to get me to love Ray Palmer. Either way, I’m giving him a second chance. He won’t get a third. So, this time, you better make it right, writers. This time, you better make it stick.

Agree? Disagree? Have any feelings on Ray Palmer that you need to get off your chest? Share with us in the comments below.

Arrow returns to the CW on Wednesday, October 7^th.

Legends of Tomorrow premieres in 2016.