#arrow 150

[emilybettsource]

glenwinter   Back in October I was thrilled to be home to direct episode 712 which was number 150 of @cw_arrow . Congrats to the incredible cast and crew of this amazing show I have been so grateful to be a part of. Airs tomorrow feb 4. it’s a really fun one and a highlight of my year, reunited with my beloved camera crew JD, RONNIE BIGS, and GLEN. Thanks also to @stephenamell @emilybett @davidpaulramsey @julianaharkavy @schwartzapproved @marcguggenheim

(X)

[smoakmonster]

Arrow’s 150th Episode “Emerald Archer”

[cogentranting]

Reasons Why Arrow’s 150th was Fantastic

William was back! And William and Zoe are friends like I’ve always wanted them to be

The intro sequence to the documentary is amazing and I want to play it on repeat

Quentin and Thea and Sin and Roy and Rory and Helena and Barry and Sara!

Also Barry’s interview was hilarious, and reminded me of why I love him (not that I need reminding) and also featured some great Oliver admiration

The number of people talking about why Oliver is a hero was amazing

Team! Arrow! Back! in Action! 

Captain Drake getting to show off her scream

Laurel directing unnecessary pettiness at Oliver

The soft documentary lighting is a good look for both Rory and Rene

Oliver being concerned for Emiko

Not one. Not two. But three conversations about Oliver’s surprise sister. Giving us both the “My sister” “Thea?” “No a different one” and the “are you sure you and Oliver aren’t related?” “actually we are” routes both of which were gold

“How do you know about those?” “You’ve met my wife.” 

Diggle and Oliver’s interrogation room scene plus Diggle and Curtis and Rene all standing up and saying ‘you went to jail for us and you didn’t deserve that so now we’re gonna do whatever it takes for you’ 

Flashback to when Diggle thought Oliver was just an obnoxious rich playboy. 

Public acknowledgement that Oliver was the Hood

the LAIR is back!

William and Felicity being geniuses together

Thea referring to her “brother Tommy”

Connor.... Hawke??!?

And also now I just want the full fake documentary. 

[igotnothingclever]

I fell asleep on the fence...and tipped over the don’t care side.

So, 7x12 went about as well as I expected.

The opening sequence was very cool.

Oliver Queen being referred to as a hero = always awesome.

Pod-Diggle and shitty NTA recognising that they remained free and got on with their lives because Oliver went to prison for them. 

Felicity Smoak as Overwatch and as herself is always a delight. Intense scene with William who had a hissy fit with the one parent who is actually available and engaged. 

Oliver throwing shade on Curtis was hilarious. Please, can we have have some more of that.

Introducing Emiko Queen to various characters will never not be funny. 

Barry!!!!!  

Post mayoral debate action sequences were cool although the big bad felt a bit flat. 

The Mayor is stone cold but she appreciates results. You have to appreciate her grip on the bottomline. Hahaha. 

How hard was it for Oliver to speak to his family before turning himself in to the Mayor. Would you look at that? Thy name is personal growth. [PS: let’s see if this personal growth is completely ignored when he fails (?) to disclose his deal with the Monitor.]

Things I was unsurprised/unmoved by: 

Arrow kids & the new generation of Arrow. 

TPTB via Pod-Diggle hand waving away the apology due to Felicity for abandoning her. 

No recognition of Felicity Smoak as a BIG DAMN HERO in her own right. 

Leaving all the parenting to Felicity. Because now that there’s a child involved, Felicity as the ‘romantic interest’ in Oliver’s life w/ no apparent life outside the apartment, takes responsibility & Oliver is nowhere to be found. 

NTA. Emiko Queen.  

The flash forwards.

Lack of eye contact & poor sartorial choices by SA. 

Everyone’s dead faces when they aren’t speaking. 

In short, a meh episode. Another instance of Arrow producers/writers doing more telling than showing. Advance previews hyping things that are unimportant (to me). Colour me unimpressed by the show’s insistence on doing things differently/doing things better. Maybe try do justice to the characters you have first? 

[hope-for-olicity]

My Thoughts Arrow 7x12

Is she holding up her fingers to show the number of times she’s shown in the episode?

I’m shocked to say that overall I found the episode entertaining - but of course, I had my issues this was written by MG after all.

What I LOVED

- William Clayton - I’m shocked to say it but it so true. Like his Aunt Thea he brought the truth tea to tonight’s episode. Loved him being a teenager, having an opinion, calling out Felicity for leaving him at boarding school, understand tech, having a friend, being expelled - BEING A FULLY ROUNDED TEEN. YES. 

- Overwatch is BACK.

- The cameos - I loved them all except Diaz. So nice to see some people from the past - after the disaster of the 100th episode I honestly thought Arrow would never do that. Shocked to see Thea.

What I Liked

- Team Arrow reuniting! I would have LOVED if it were OTA but I’ll take this rather than nothing

- Apparently Oliver talked to his family before turning himself in to the Mayor - what I would have given to see THAT conversation. 

- John Diggle being John Diggle

- John and Oliver being friends even if I have to have amnesia to be cool with that

What I Can Do Without

- As I expected nobody remembers Diggle refusing to help Felicity when Oliver was in prison

- BS, Emiko, Dinah

- The Mayor being so awful - too over the top

- So they FBI isn’t going to throw them in jail for breaking the deal? Why not I don’t understand?

- No Olicity

What NEEDS to Stop

- Whoever is in charge of Oliver Queen’s look - wardrobe/hair - needs to be fired. He looks so awful it is distracting

- Felicity being trapped - mainly in the apartment for the third episode in a row. Really she was just not in the episode NEARLY ENOUGH. Sure William was home but she can do more than one thing. As I have said repeatedly most mother’s I know are multitaskers, have jobs and interests - you think Felicity can’t do that?

- Team Arrow working for the SCPD

- Oliver forgetting his son - the kid was supposed to be visiting for a few days, first time you’ve seen him since prison you say hi once???

- Oliver’s self-doubt, not a good leader - PLEASE. 

- The flash forwards - do not care AT ALL 

@memcjo @wherethereissmoak @green-arrows-of-karamel @laurabelle2930 @blondeeoneexox @tdgal1 @onceuponarrow @olicityandklaroline @cruzrogue @it-was-a-red-heeler @allimariexf @babblingblondegenius @msbeccieboo @tangled23works @igotnothingclever

[arosyautumn]

William: how's the weather down there?

Felicity: idk, how's your WiFi connection?

[faegal04]

Upcoming Arrow fic

I know we can all agree that there was one team member missing from last nights documentary and it is bothering me - badly! So I'm gonna rewatch "Emerald Archer" and then get crack - a -lacking on it. Be prepared

Overwatch.....coming soon

[austencello]

Emerald Archer - Arrow Music Notes 7x12

Arrow’s 150th episode celebrated this anniversary by having a documentary crew follow Oliver and his team around to continue the discussion regarding Vigilantes that has been present since the very beginning of the show: hero or not.  Why do they became vigilantes? Should they be regarded as criminals or heroes?

The Documentary

Unlike the 100th episode which had returning themes left and right (partly due it to being a crossover), this episode had very few returning themes. Instead, they decided to write new “Documentary style” music to fit along with the footage.  Guitarist George Doering performed much of the new music heard in the first five minutes and then later on when the interviews returned. Co-composer Nathaniel Blume posted a video about this on his Twitter last week. Electric bass, guitar, electric guitar, a bit of drum kit brushes, and some synthesizers provided the new soundscape that matches many serious documentaries or similar type of movies and TV shows. Friday Night Lights (the show) comes to mind in a similar guitar accompaniment. The best part of this music is in the beginning right after Quentin’s interview leading into the title.  It takes the title music of Arrow and reimagines it, putting the string patterns into pizzicato (plucking on string instruments), a little hammered dulcimer and electric bass to change the feeling and then putting the horn theme into the male voice with a grittier sound.  (I think that may be Blake Neely singing or someone on his team.  I mentioned this on Twitter and he half-jokingly said he would never tell who has singing.). It’s a great meta use of the theme for a movie about Arrow and made me grin.

Most of the music went back and forth between the new documentary style music (which matched the footage quite well) and then the regular Arrow instruments and color range that is used when it is just the characters without the cameras.  For example, Diggle and Oliver exploring Chimera’s lair without cameras included typical Arrow string patterns and horns while the fight with Chimera captured by the camera guy (which was insane!) had more electric guitar slides which is used less frequently for the Arrow soundtrack. This episode was much more about soundscapes to differentiate the style of show. It was really cool matching the lighting and camera style and fit well together.  It also means I have a lot less to write about.

John and Oliver reconnected with Oliver asking for help to find and save his new half-sister. In the process, they both work together to find out who is targeting vigilantes, bringing them to work on a common cause.  This leads John to talk to Oliver, suggesting they use him as a trap for Chimera.  As they talk, Diggle recognizes that working as a vigilante is against the law but he is willing to do it to save Oliver and keep the people of Star City safe, especially since Oliver took the fall for all of them in going to prison earlier in the year. As Oliver first pushes back against this, the horn plays the first three notes of “Home of the Brave” (5x13) music for Oliver as a hero and mayor trying to keep his city safe without a mask. Diggle admits that they had their issues and mistakes but at the end of the day they are a team and that this is the right things to do as guitar harmonics play over strings.

Team Arrow fights together for the first time this season to keep the people of Star City safe during the debate regarding vigilantes between Oliver and the mayor while Chimera attacks, after Oliver’s hood/mask. As they fought together, parts of music from Season 4 were used, music for the team working together: “Oliver Abducted” and “Code Names.”  At that point, the team was probably the most harmonious in working together of all the seasons and it seemed fitting to harken back to that in the return of the whole team.  Oliver’s horn theme plays as he shoots the arrow to stop the battery in the suit bringing Chimera down.

William

William is finally able to come home and is frustrated and angry with Felicity for sending him away and Oliver shooting a documentary, making it seem like he was less important. After yelling at Felicity to take off the firewall off his tablet, she asks/demands that he start talking about what was really bothering him. Strings play minor chords as he lets out his feelings about beings shipped off and then used again as she finds out later he was expelled.

In contrast, when William visits Zoe, the music is major.  This in itself feels a little unusual in Arrow music as the majority of it is in minor.  Using piano (Oliver’s instrument) and harp (Felicity’s) feels appropriate to use for their son but also setting up the close friendship that William and Zoe have.  William trusts and can open up to Zoe in a way that he can’t with his parents right now. The music overall has a sweetness and almost innocence in their friendship and pinky swear (despite Rene’s concerns and freaking out).

Extra Notes:

- While I would have loved more themes returning, the way the music handled the documentary in the episode was quite good and different, yet still feeling part of Arrow. I loved seeing all the returning characters.

@smoakmonster @ah-maa-zing @herskirtsarentthatshort @jorahandal @almondblossomme @academyofshipping @dmichellewrites @green-arrows-of-karamel @mel-loves-all @scu11y22