Ok, I just have to say something about team members “leaving” because I thoroughly disagree with how shallow you’re making the decisions sound. These people (NONE of them) just decide to up and leave on a whim. They don’t just fight crime when it suits them, and they don’t stop fighting whenever they please. One of the things I think this season especially did right was to define why Diggle, Felicity, and Roy were fighting crime.
When Oliver “died” the team had to re-evaluate and look at WHY they were fighting. A large part of why Felicity and Diggle joined the fight was because of Oliver, so if he’s gone, where do they stand? Can they be Team Arrow without the Arrow? Felicity didn’t think they could. She didn’t want to keep doing it without the man who started it all, but over the course of 3.10-3.12, she discovered that it wasn’t just about Oliver anymore. It was her mission, THEIR mission, just as much as his. It’s what they all had to figure out. We’ve always known why Oliver is fighting crime, but we’ve never been offered an in-depth examination as to why everyone ELSE is doing it other than Oliver inspired them to. Removing him allowed that. It required Felicity to quit, and Diggle to doubt his continued involvement, for Roy to be afraid he wasn’t ready to do it on his own, but it was necessary for the three of them to KNOW WHY they kept going. They all needed to CHOOSE this life for THEMSELVES, without Oliver.
Let’s take a look at the times each character has left Team Arrow/the vigilante life, since you seem so keen to say Oliver and Felicity are just leaving on a whim.
Diggle: He left Oliver after he chose Laurel over Deadshot in season 1. He said he was choosing to leave Team Arrow multiple times in season 3 to be with his family. The show dropped the ball in having him never actually leave, but there were multiple occasions in which Diggle intended to leave the vigilante life. Why is Diggle wanting to leave for his family and his happiness any more commendable than Oliver wanting to leave for his own personal happiness? Why does Oliver get condemned for leaving as “whenever it fits him” when he’s essentially doing what Diggle wanted to do all season?
Laurel: She popped in and out of the Arrowcave as she saw fit all season. When Team Arrow could offer her something, she was in the basement. When they couldn’t, she was on her own. She was the definition of “leaving when it suits her.” She had a crisis moment in 3.11 where she questioned if she could be a vigilante. FELICITY talked her into staying. Let’s not even go into season 2, in which Laurel actively hunted the vigilante on a personal vendetta for half the season. Not really embracing the “hero lifestyle” is it?
Thea: She hasn’t been on the team long enough to really leave it, so she’s a non-factor here.
Roy: He left twice. Once in season 2, when he was mad at Oliver for making bad choices, Roy jumped ship. He basically threw a tantrum for not getting his own way (I think it was warranted, but still), and he skipped town. Way to stick the to hero mission, Roy. Then, he left the team in season 3 in… wait for it… pursuit of his own happiness. Finally at peace with himself, Roy took the fall for being the Arrow and LEFT. He left the vigilante lifestyle and handed his mantle on to Thea. Why do Oliver and Felicity get shit on for doing the exact same thing four episodes later?
Sara: She came and went as she pleased, too. I don’t think I need to go into detail.
Ray: Well, Ray wasn’t even really a member of Team Arrow, so I don’t really get why he’s in here. I’m pretty sure he’s the only character who consistently stuck with his mission this season, but he was just starting out. He’s all fresh-faced and eager to hop right in. But really, he wasn’t using the suit to protect people until the finale arc. He used it in 3.17 to try and take down the Arrow and electrocuted Roy. Real heroic. Such protection. Many thanks.
So really, with all these characters leaving and coming back, why are you condemning Oliver and Felicity for doing the same thing? Felicity left in 3.10 because she needed to. For her, the mission was Oliver, and once Oliver was removed, she needed to discover if she could keep going without him. Guess what? She not only realized she could, but she helped to rally the remaining ranks when Digg and Roy were defeated and Laurel was doubting her future as a vigilante. She figured herself out right when everyone else started to doubt.
In the finale, they weren’t leaving just because they felt like it. They were leaving because they wanted to be HAPPY, something this life has consistently proven it doesn’t provide. Oliver wanted to spend some time away from the mask with the woman he loves. After seven years of Hell, I think he’s deserved it. A little happiness and peace in his life has been well-earned at this point. He isn’t leaving just because he can. It’s not some passing whim. He’s leaving because he wants, because he NEEDS, a break. Wouldn’t you?
As for the dynamic changers… For me, it wasn’t about characters interfering in dynamics so much as it was that the OGTA dynamic wasn’t given its proper due because of the additional screen-time spent on other characters that could have been allotted to OGTA scenes. It’s about the twisting and ignoring of the dynamic to prop other hero journeys. It’s about reducing Diggle to the role of cheerleader because there isn’t enough screen-time to do more than TELL us instead of SHOW us. For me, it’s all about the pacing and the timing, and the dynamic-changing characters are the ones that took screen-time away from honouring a dynamic that’s been around since episode 1.14.
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