Arrow: 5 Things That “The Calm” Did Right (And 3 It Didn’t) 

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Arrow: 5 Things That “The Calm” Did Right (And 3 It Didn’t)

…Or maybe it’s because they get their very own entry!

They weren’t supposed to happen. Felicity was meant to be an Easter egg for comic fans, and Emily Bett Rickards a one-off guest star. Oliver was meant to sizzle with star-crossed soulmate Laurel, and Stephen Amell to sell an epic love affair opposite Katie Cassidy.

Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, Plan A backfired as audiences failed to connect with Oliver and Laurel as a couple. Fortunately for the showrunners, Plan B fell into their laps as Rickards created a character out of a cameo and Amell lit up in their scenes together. Purely by accident, Olicity was born. After two seasons of lackluster Lauriver, “The Calm” seemed likely to be the turning point for the series’ main romance.

It was and it wasn’t. There’s shameless flirting. There’s more smiling from Oliver than has ever been seen before, and more touching from Felicity than she’s ever dared before. Oliver asks her out on a date, zip-lines into the restaurant, and pulls a reverse Superman as he reveals a suit underneath his Arrow gear. Felicity is gorgeous and nervous and shy. It’s basically 20 minutes of them being adorable.

Then, of course, the villain follows the signal of a GPS tracker planted on the Arrow and blows up the restaurant. Our intrepid hero blames himself, decides that he can’t live as both the Arrow and Oliver Queen, and breaks things off with Felicity. It was kind of a downer, not least because Oliver needs to take lessons in how to break up with people:

both of your hearts, Oliver. At least she didn’t have to see him gazing longingly at her and a baby.

Despite the heartbreak, the romance between Oliver and Felicity in “The Calm” was handled very well. They were open and adult with one another. Even Oliver’s refusal to tell her “never” came from a place of honesty rather than cruelty, and it matters that she was the one to walk away. Objectively, this felt more like a pause than a conclusion, and getting so many of the huge romantic beats out of the way in the premiere opens the rest of the season up to a greater balance.

Subjectively? Go ahead and watch that video again. There’s no judgment here.

In this post: Arrow • featured • Features • Lists

This article was first posted on October 13, 2014

Fiction buff and writer. If it\'s on Netflix, it\'s probably in my queue. I\'ve bought DVDs for the special features and usually claim that the book is better than the movie or show (and can provide examples). I\'ve never met a TV show that I won\'t marathon. Follow on Twitter @lah9891 .