Team GATV Roundtable: Looking Back At Arrow Season 5

What did you think of the return of “Olicity” in “Underneath?”

CRAIG: Here’s the part that will be screengrabbed and shared as “proof of GATV’s bias!” Yay! Although… I actually thought “Underneath” was well-timed in the overall narrative of Arrow. Oliver and Felicity had avoided really talking about things for far too long, and bringing them closer again raised the emotional stakes for whatever tragedy could happen in the season finale. It was also a very successful “bottle episode” if I ever saw one, though it looked a lot more expensive than a “bottle episode.”

I did think the flashback sex was gratuitous, but it is what it is. It still was an important story to be told, whether you’re a “shipper” or not.

STEPHANIE: It was bound to happen at some point, and the emotions worked with this particular narrative.

MELISSA: I welcomed it back with open arms and a shout of, finally! For me though, only the return of romantic Olicity started with this episode. Olicity doesn’t have to mean them in a romantic sense, but in order for it to exist, the writing had to honor their connection and history. For a long while in season five, that connection was ignored. Oddly enough, I found 510, “Who Are You?” the episode with Black Siren impersonating Laurel, the one that first marked Olicity’s return. They were at odds most of the episode, but they were back to having the kind of conversations I would expect these two people to have rather than the shallow surface interactions that belonged to pleasant strangers working together.

“Dangerous Liaisons” brought to head all that had been building since “Who Are You” and “Underneath” finally let them address the underlying issues in their relationship since the break-up. I didn’t see the flashback sex as gratuitous since they needed it as a catalyst to show how deep a divide remained. The affection and attraction between them hadn’t gone anywhere, but nothing else had changed either. It allowed for us to know what Felicity needed from Oliver and what she had to work through herself before they could move forward in their relationship.

(That said, if the show is ever interested in pandering to me through the use of gratuitous Olicity sexy times, I’m fully open to the offer.)

I guess you could say Chase did Olicity a favor. By breaking Oliver down and forcing him to face his worst fears about himself, he could finally understand the true root of his trust issues and in understanding what drove his fears and subsequent choices, Felicity then was able to understand what had happened between them and put her trust in Oliver once again in a romantic sense.

MATT: Eh. I’ll forever be bored of talking about Olicity. I like when they connect as characters and it was nice to see that. Otherwise, I just accept Olicity as-is and move on.