Arrow: The Assassination of Felicity Smoak
I started watching Arrow because of Stephen Amell’s abs. I don’t deny it.
That Season 1 promotional poster? The standard in how to get someone to click on a show on Netflix, I swear. I had a vague idea of what the show was about before clicking, even if the Green Arrow had never been a superhero I truly cared about, but that wasn’t why I was clicking, no. It was purely the abs.
My story with superheroes was long and storied before Arrow, though.
I spent my childhood with X-Men comics as bedtime stories, and by the time the abs drew me into giving another superhero a chance, I’d already alternatively fallen in love with about 3 versions of Clark Kent, two of Captain America, and at least one Oracle.
Not that I expected to fall in love with anyone on Arrow (other than the abs).
Because, well, Oliver Queen is – was – grumpy. I did my research before I started the show, and after browsing through a few comic books, I decided I’d rather go into the show without expectations, aka I didn’t like Oliver enough to continue reading and I hoped the show would provide me with a reason to care.
And boy, did they.
It just so happens that the reason to care was 5’5, blonde and wearing glasses.
When Felicity Smoak made her debut, on Arrow Season 1 Episode 3, I was about ready to throw the towel. I didn’t like Oliver, didn’t like his family, didn’t care about the city, and had frankly sat through episode two hoping that Diggle would teach him a lesson or two.
Preferably two.
What drew me to her then? What made what was clearly meant to be a secondary character shine so brightly that I was willing to sit through a few more episodes because of the possibility of more? I’ve always wondered about this.
Maybe it was because she babbled at the sight of Stephen Amell – I could barely utter a word the first time I stood in front of him. Maybe it was that she was smart – smarter than anyone else on the show.
Or maybe it was just that I had known and loved many superheroes in my life, and I was ready for a new type of role model.
Either way, I pressed play on the next episode, and the next one, because of Felicity Smoak. Because she kept on being there, first, sporadically, and then, as a full-fledged member of the team. And yes, because Diggle was more of a well-rounded character than a sidekick, but that’s a story for another article.
I’m here to talk Felicity.
The woman who went from babbling mess/comic relief to integral part of the Arrow Team. The one who showed me not all superheroes wear a mask and not all bad-ass women can throw a punch. The one who made us relate to Oliver Queen, made us understand him, made us care.
The one who’s been conspicuously missing in action in Season 5.
Has anyone seen Felicity Smoak? I don’t mean the shell of a person we’ve been treated to this year, no, I mean the real one. The one we’d gotten to know and love the past four years.
Does anyone know where she is? It’s been a while since I’ve seen her light shine. The show needed Oliver to be the light, so, of course, they went the sexist, trope-ridden route of diminishing her light to make his seem brighter.
It’s been a while since I’ve been treated to her intelligence – these days she’s an unemployed “genius” who, eh …spent time with her now-dead boyfriend and took care of Arrow business? I don’t even know.
It’s been a while since I’ve been treated to her compassion, these days she makes quips about Oliver/the new recruits and attempts to bond with no one – not even the people she’d already bonded with.
It’s been a while since I’ve been treated to her courage, her kindness, her strength. In fact, it’s been a while since I’ve seen any of her good/bad qualities, because it’s been a while since I’ve really seen the Felicity Smoak I fell in love with, the one little girls could look up to.
All that we get these days is the comedic relief/IT girl.
She has no real story-line, she’s only used to prop up male characters and react to their issues/decisions/fears/concerns. She stands there, looks pretty in a ponytail and glasses and makes a few quips an episode, and that’s that.
I mean, unless they kill her boyfriend and then she gets to cry, there’s that.
But she doesn’t get to really feel anything else – not love, not real anger, not confusion, not jealousy, no. That would mean devoting actual screen time to the feelings of something other than the Green Arrow, and we can’t have that. Check the name of the show.
It’s not Felicity and Friends.
(Sadly.)
Not that it ever was. This show was always about Oliver Queen first and foremost, but before season 5 came around it also used to be about his relationships with the people he loved, about the lives those people had built, and about how they’d inspired Oliver to become a better person.
Those were the days.
What happened? What went wrong with Felicity? Why has her character been completely and utterly assassinated? Because what’s happened to her this season is not a retcon, it’s not pushing her to the side. It’s straight up character assassination.
She’s not Oliver’s girlfriend, his fiancé, his friend, or his confidante anymore – she’s just his IT girl/human compass. She points him towards the bad guys. That’s it.
She’s not Diggle’s friend either, or Lyla’s, or heck, Thea’s. Has she even had more than one conversation with either of those characters this year? I’m pretty sure the only people she’s had multiple chats with this year are Rory and Curtis, and hey, those two are only really here for the Green Arrow. Felicity’s just the side piece.
Don’t believe me? Go check who they consoled after Billy Malone died. I’ll be here.
So I ask again – what happened? Was she getting too much attention? Were people focusing too much on Olicity and not enough on the endless parade of comic book Easter eggs? Was the Green Arrow no longer the most beloved thing about Arrow? Was it an ego thing?
Why did the show take such an outstanding character and leave us with a shell of what she used to be in Season 1? Because, even then, she had more depth than she does now. She had promise.
Now we have memories. And Netflix. And the DVDs.
Was it because the network was scared that a female character was going to take over the show? Was it because of comic book canon?
Does anyone even know why it was?
I hope the answer is yes. I hope there’s a plan. Though maybe hope is a strong word. At this point I don’t really care if there is.
The only way to get through Arrow Season 5 has been to detach emotionally, and I’ve achieved inner peace by not caring. But there are still people around who do, so for their sake, I hope the show can turn it around.
I hope Arrow can win me back. It doesn’t seem likely, but it’s possible. I think.
Stranger things have happened. Like Felicity Smoak going from one of the most well-written characters on TV to a prop for every male in her vicinity.
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
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Lissete Lanuza Sáenz
Lawyer. Writer. Columnist. Geek. Falls in madly in love with fictional characters. Hates the color yellow, misogyny, and people who are late. Can always be found with a book. Watches an absurd amount of TV every week, often, while eating coffee ice cream. She has no regrets. You can check out her blog here: Absurday. Lissete is a senior writer for Tell-Tale TV. Follow @lizziethat
12 comments
You’re right, Felicity’s being off, a shell of a person, but it seems it was intended. The weird remarks, the way to upbeat attitude? All a facade she put up, a coping mechanism after losing Oliver and what happened at HR. Billy was just another piece of that illusion, and now with him gone she’s fallen apart. There are some hints coming from the writers (see here: https://twitter.com/briforsul/status/808428347436847104) that her s/l in 5B will be different, she’ll stop pretending everything is fine and will start to move forward, which is amazing news 😀 So keep the faith up, there are things coming our way!
I couldn’t agree with this article more – they lost me as a viewer this season. I don’t care about Oliver Queen If i’m not invested in his relationships. What relationships? Please bring back Felicity and the arrow I used to love!!!!!!!
While I agree with most of your points I don’t think it’s character Assassination. She’s been sidelined so that others can shine. Especially the newer characters. At least that’s how I see it.
Also the writers and EPs, even the lead give explanations online as to what happened, why it happened, (And sometimes they don’t even match up) But to me if something isn’t shown or told on the show itself, those explanations are meaningless. Not everyone come online or follow the writers or actors. Most interpret the show as it is shown. In my opinion the show should be able to stand on its own and not depend on twitter threads to fill in gaps in the story or things they say to do damage control when fans criticize their writing. Also one of the writers alluded that Felicity’s Haven Rock story line will be discussed in S5A, but it ended up being a small scene which was mostly (once again in my opinion) was to prop up the new character from Haven Rock. So I don’t trust anything anyone concerned with the show say through twitter or on any other social media platform.
I also noticed the same attitudes, now she seems to be more comical than deep. And I also missed the approach with Diggle, even with Oliver without the romantic theme, or with Thea. But I also read that she was acting like this (empty) precisely because of all the events she had been experiencing, and the last straw that broke the glass is Malone’s death, and from that she reacts and we can see her heart and Feelings again. So I also expect that from Arrow 5.
We need to waite. Hope they fix it. But i miss the S1 when the 3 of them use ro do their job together. Like the Merlyn elevator. Like the playing çards for save Waltwe. Like the Dodger andthe Conde. They were a good trio, OTA. They dont want to loose the original line of the hero. I started watchingo arrow for Oliver, the parkour scenes that he used to do, and he is so hansome, and i love tje archers. But its was like magic when she stared with thwm even for Digle. They stared to smile for jere.
LMAO
Gotta love the over exaggerated perception and over inflated importance of Fefe.
Complaining about a Green Arrow being about Green Arrow and not Fefe show, RICH.
I think the writers are trying to make us think that this was all part of their plan (just days after the underwhelming mid-season finale there was the TV Line article about how Billy’s death would be her tipping point into morally questionable behavior, followed by the writer’s tweet expanding on that). But frankly, that feels like a reactionary defense to all the criticism that she’s been a shell of a person this season so far. I’m sure she’ll get her “dark” storyline — that will last about two episodes (just like her supposed Havenrock storyline) and then she’ll fade in the background again as they make way for this new Tina character. I wish I were more hopeful, but nothing about her this season has made a lot of sense or felt like it’s been laying the groundwork for a big turn.
I hope I’m wrong and this was all part of a plan to pivot towards her in the second half of the season. But even if that’s the case, that’s a dangerous game to play: de-emphasize a fan favourite and hope the audience sticks around to be rewarded later.
I just agree with everything you say here. At this point I can’t even bring myself to read about the show much less watch it. From what I understand the story of the season seems interesting enough but I cannot actually bring myself to care about any of these characters, even the ones I loved before this season. And that pretty much kills it for me. As for hope, I don’t think there is any place for it now. The show runners will only try to fix this if they think something is broken and from everything they have said so far this year they don’t think that is the case. It pains me to say but the first half of this season was the end for me. I don’t think I will be watching the show anymore. For me arrow ended with season 4.
You have to be more positive, it seems in your frustration, that she gets less stories this season, you miss actually, that she gets stories. First episode was all about her and Oliver’s partnership. They are not a romantic couple anymore, but a fighting crime couple. Remember she was the one that chose the recruits – so still hard working, and smart. Episode two was how she thought Green Arrow to trust people – so there you go – her kindness. She had a nice story and relationship with Rory/Ragman. I also loved her dynamic with Billy Malone. In episode 5 we got a glimpse of her feelings towards Oliver and her relationship. In episode 4 we saw her morality shaken by the choices Oliver wanted to make for Diggle – so still a notion to her friendship to him.
I know that when someone is your favorite and you watch mainly for that character, it is frustrating when she/he is not more there.
But even when you started to watch Arrow and fell in love with Felicity she had the same amount of screen time and development like now. So nothing changed.
Season 4 was the season for the team – we got more Felicity, more Diggle, more Thea, more Lances, so I guess this spoiled you, but this show has always been primary – Oliver and how the others influence his journey and life. It was never meant to be about equal main female and main male character, unfortunately.
And besides Felicity’s primary goal in life is to be a vigilante and a hero without a mask and that’s exactly what she is doing. Working with the team is the life she chose and that is why we got to see her do this things more than doing other things.
You’re right, you know- Arrow has assassinated the character of Felicity Smoak.
Just…not when you think they did.
“She has no real story-line, she’s only used to prop up male characters and react to their issues/decisions/fears/concerns.”
Do you mean…the entirety of Seasons 3 and 4?
In Seasons 1 and 2, Felicity was nothing more than a contributing member of Team Arrow. She was cool, made witty remarks here and there, carried her weight as a provider of intel and tech expertise, and had a fun dynamic with Oliver, a dorky IT girl working seriously alongside a hardened vigilante. And this is the part of the show where everyone loved her. Hell, I shipped Olicity not too long after their first meeting, because they were fun to watch together.
Season 3 took Felicity, a previously independent character, and used her to- as you said- prop up male characters and react to their issues/decisions/fears/concerns. In this case, Oliver and Ray Palmer pining over her throughout the season and all the drama that came with it. Along with the fall of Felicity as a character, Season 3 is where Arrow started to plummet in critical ratings- people can watch a soap opera anywhere. Arrow was billed as a superhero show, first and foremost, and did it better than anyone else in its first 2 seasons.
Season 3 ended with a drive off into the sunset. An unexpectedly happy ending for Oliver Queen, but one that most people were willing to deal with. Season 4 dawned with that idyllic home life, but quickly returned to Star City for the worst critically-received season Arrow has ever had. And its biggest problem?
Olicity. Oliver regressed through whatever progress he’d made over the duration of season 3, and Felicity was no longer the character she was in the first two seasons, even though her relationship with Oliver had now become the main focus of the show. At this time, Olicity had long lost its appeal on me- the characters did not carry over the chemistry they had as friends and partners in the first two seasons. Instead, they were constantly at odds with each other, which usually meant Oliver closing his eyes and passively taking whatever verbal beating Felicity had in store for him.
Olicity was a disaster, and is the one to blame for the perceived death of Felicity Smoak’s character. She had a lot of potential to explore in the first two seasons, but that just turned into a toxic, soap-opera relationship fuel for the last two.
Felicity in Season 5 is finally starting to become a bearable character again. I loved her originally, and I’d love to love her again and not have the problems with the show that I do.
(For what it’s worth- Laurel had the same problem in Seasons 1 and 2 with her relationships to Oliver, Tommy, “The Hood”, and Sebastian Blood. I didn’t warm to her until later in Season 3, though early Season 4 also had her make a blindingly stupid, selfish decision in reviving Sara for the sake of Legends, which only worked out due to a contrived appearance by Constantine.)
The real problem goes deeper than Felicity, or Laurel, or Olicity. It stems in the fact that Arrow writers just plain and simple don’t know how to write a romance plot without it veering the entire show off course. They don’t know how to manage female characters that aren’t completely defined by their relationship to male characters- sans a few interesting exceptions like Sara, Nyssa, Moira, and latter-half Thea/Laurel.
I agree with you, abs and all. It was nice to see a character like Felicity and the friendship, bonds that form with friendship. The love the three of the original had for one another. I do think she has been sideline and the bringing back the dead has to stop, goodness is like a daytime soap story.
I have stopped watching this season, I keep up by reading a few things, it seems as Oliver Diggle and Felicity were never close, just co- workers.
I agree so much. It’s been a very bad season for Felicity, as well as for Thea who has been doing nothing but helping Oliver and Lance do their jobs.
i hope it will be fixed in the second part of the season, but I’m not holding my breath. The writers don’t seem to realize that not all of us watch for Oliver, fights, and the new team.
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