Team GATV Midseason Roundtable: Arrow Season 5 So Far

What do you think of Susan Williams?

MATT: I like her, and I like her as a potential romantic interest in a way we haven’t seen since McKenna Hall in the first season. I like the idea of Oliver having a relationship outside of his vigilantism. Allows him to experience life out of the rabbit hole, which presents great opportunity for the audience as well. Obviously, she’s trying to dig into Oliver’s past, but I do think they’ll reveal that she’s developing a genuine connection with him and not just using him for the story. I enjoy the chemistry between Stephen Amell and Carly Pope, so I hope they take the chance to really develop their relationship. It’ll pay off in the end when everything comes to light.

CRAIG: There is definitely more to Carly Pope’s character than meets the eye. I’m curious about her not so much as a love interest on the show, which I think would doom her in the future, but what ties her character has to everything else. I almost hope she’s NOT an evil spy or something. And the notion that she knows about Oliver’s past in Russia is very interesting, indeed.

STEPHANIE: I’m not sure what to think about Susan Williams because I can’t really get a read on her. It doesn’t seem like she has malicious intentions by getting close to Oliver, but it’s not just the job or romance that’s motivating her either. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone were pulling her strings by appealing to her journalistic need to uncover a story, all the while using her for their own gain. She can’t make that much money as a full-time reporter and part-time bar game champion. How did she acquire that wad of cash to pay off her associate in “Human Target?”

MELISSA: I’ve liked Carly Pope on other shows, but I don’t think she’s been well used on Arrow. Susan Williams is only a few steps up from stereotype, but still, she could have been a great adversary for Thea in the Mayor’s office, something to actually give Thea a storyline, but in moving her to the position of Oliver’s confidant and comforter (and love interest) all it does is make Oliver look really dumb and give me bad flashbacks to Isabel from season two.

The biggest frustration is that no matter how this ends, there’s no winning for Oliver’s character. Either she betrays Oliver or she doesn’t, but either way (unless he already has blackmail material on her) he looks like a fool to get close to a woman his sister hates, both Lance and Thea warn him off, and who as a journalist was already trying to dig up dirt on his administration. And that’s before we factor in her ties to Russia and getting close to his secret.