Felicity Refuses To Back Down, Arrow “The Fallen” 

Thea may be back from the dead and Oliver may be the new Demon’s Head, but as far as I’m concerned, this episode was all about Miss Felicity Smoak. Don’t get me wrong, I always think she’s all kinds of awesome and love when she goes out on missions, but this week she seriously stepped up (in the name of love?) and I was blown away. So let’s get down to why she far and away deserves the MVP award for this episode.

First off, she’s funny and clever and from the very beginning, she refused to back down. When it comes to someone or something she loves, she goes in full steam ahead and will do whatever it takes to succeed, even if it requires a little ego boosting.

Felicity: Thanks for letting me be here for you.

Oliver: You’re welcome. I didn’t have much of a choice though, did I?

Felicity: No, I wanted to make you think you had grown a little as a person.

I love this conversation she has with Oliver on the plane. She may be petite and polite, but even Oliver knows that he can’t fight her. Plus, let’s be honest, he knows she’s right about someone needing to bring Thea back and he probably wants to spend every last minute he can with her, just as she does with him. And the fact that it leads him to open up about returning to Starling City and seeing a drugged-out Thea, well, that was icing on the cake. It was almost like he was on his deathbed and revealing the things that have long haunted him, which made the moment kind of sad, but also somewhat touching.

Then, once they arrived at Nanda Parbat and Thea was dipped in the pit of Lazarus and brought back to life, Oliver was resigned to his fate; however, Felicity still wasn’t ready to give up the fight. Her bold march into Ra’s presence was beyond amazing. She normally stumbles and fumbles and makes awkward slips of the tongue, but this time, she was strong and powerful and had no doubts about what she wanted to say. And I loved it.

Felicity: I need to talk to you. What is happening here is perverse. What you are doing to Oliver, what you are making him do, I am not going to let it happen.

Ra’s: You have a great fire within you. I can see now why Oliver loves you.

Felicity: If you knew the first thing about love, you would not be ripping Oliver away from him family.

Ra’s: I’m merely helping him fulfill his destiny.

Felicity: Yea, I know all about the survive-my-sword prophecy and I am here to tell you that I could really give a crap. Me and John and, god help me, Malcolm are not going to let this happen and we have friends and we have resources and we will go to war to get Oliver back.

Ra’s: Many lifetimes ago, I loved a woman immeasurably. And she loved me. We had a son and then a daughter and for many years, I felt I was the most fortunate man in the world. My life was bliss. Then one night a man came to my door and he gave me a horrible choice, to leave without saying a word to them or to stand and watch them tortured and killed. I left without a farewell. To spare them pain, I endured an agony worse than death.

Felicity: Sounds like you gave up too easily.

Ra’s: If there is one unbeautiful truth about life, it is more often cruel than it is fair and rarely provides an opportunity for any of us to find closure. In all your posturing and all your threats of war, you merely delayed the inevitable, causing you to forfeit the opportunity to have what was denied to me. You need to tell Oliver goodbye. Tell him how much you love him. Tell him whatever it is that your heart needs to express and do it now. Before he is lost to you forever.

Gaah, Felicity is so badass, right?! I love that she stands up to him without a hint of fear. I mean, who calls out a Demon’s Head on his weakness?! Definitely a bold move.

I’m not going to lie, when this conversation ended, I thought Felicity might have been beginning to cave. I didn’t think she would give up so easily, but the things that Ra’s said were not only gut-wrenching but also rang true. I’ll be honest, I really liked him in this scene as well. He didn’t choose to be evil because he wanted to be, he chose evil because he had no other choice, which is much the same predicament as Oliver is in. I think Felicity saw this too, which is what likely gave her a moment of hesitation, but luckily, the fire inside her burns stronger and that hesitation was quickly extinguished and used to fuel another plan, which we’ll get to in a minute.

But first, back to Felicity and Oliver. After facing down Ra’s, she appears to take his advice and go tell Oliver her feelings. Honestly, knowing Felicity, I don’t necessarily think Ra’s deserves all the credit for this. She’s pretty open and honest when it comes to her feelings and to being Oliver’s cheerleader, so in a situation such as this, reminding him of all the good he’s done doesn’t exactly seem out of the blue. Nevertheless, it was still an amazing scene, even before it led to the moment that Olicity ‘shippers have been waiting for.

Felicity: You okay? Sorry, stupid question. You just saw your sister come back from being mostly dead and you’re about to give up everything you know and love so you’re probably not.

Oliver: I remember the first time that I thought I’d never see Thea again, when my father’s boat went down.

Felicity: But you did see her again. And you’ll see her again. And again.

Oliver: This is different. I’ve just been thinking about the person I was, the brother I was, and how he probably died when that boat went down. All this time I’ve been struggling with who I am.

Felicity: And you think you’re suppose to be the next Ra’s al Ghul?

Oliver: Honestly, I don’t know. The only thing that I can know for sure is that everything I’ve done, everything that happened, it led me right here to this moment. And Felicity, if that’s true, then I don’t know what it was all for.

Felicity: I do. I wish that I could change your mind about staying here, but I know I can’t. Just like I know how leaving you here is going to destroy me. But I don’t regret a single moment. And you shouldn’t either. You have done so much, you have saved so many people’s lives and you’ve changed so many for the better, including mine. Knowing you has change my life, you’ve opened up my heart in a way I didn’t even know was possible. And I love you.

Yes, Oliver is confused. He doesn’t know who he is. He doesn’t know if it’s all been worth it, etc., etc. We’ve seen him battle this inner turmoil all season, but the fact that Felicity continues to stand by his side and support him, shows that she not only truly believes in him but that she also gets him. Let’s be honest, if it were me, I’d be getting a little frustrated by this point and there may be some yelling involved. Don’t get me wrong, I understand his frustration, but just because he’s in a crappy situation now, does that mean EVERYTHING has been for nothing? That all those lives saved aren’t worth it? Doesn’t that feel a little selfish? Can’t he still choose to do good and make the most of this situation? He doesn’t HAVE to kill. But nope, Felicity doesn’t point that out, instead she says it much more tactfully and thus, is a far better person than I am. Not to mention, it’s easy to talk about other people and how you assume they feel or are impacted, but the fact that she adds the personal element as well, no assumptions necessary, makes it a well rounded and non-negotiable argument. Obviously, we all know where this leads and due to last week’s promos, it wasn’t much of a surprise.

However, what was a surprise was what came next. The I-love-you/sex scene almost felt like Felicity accepting the fact that this was goodbye, so when she drugged Oliver (!!!), I’ll admit, I was beyond thrilled. No, I don’t think she just slept with him to trick him — obviously she loves him, but it did make for an awfully convenient setup. And she smartly realized that Oliver wasn’t going to go along with the plan and agree to escape when he was conscious, so she did what she had to do — act now and ask for forgiveness later. That being said, I so LOVE that she is totally in charge here. After slipping the mysterious sedative powder in his “hopefully alcoholic” drink, she’s back to refusing to give up and while she may not have an actual plan, she’s still the mastermind and steps up to make this escape happen.

Felicity: I stole some of that powder that that creepy person used on Thea, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do with it when I got it, but…

Diggle: Right, how did you know you were going to completely lose your mind…

Merlyn: Or commit suicide. What’s your plan to sneak Ra’s prize out completely unconscious without getting us all killed?

Felicity: I know, it’s an insane idea but I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t leave him. We have to get him out of here.

Diggle: Felicity, this place is like a fortress, there’s no way we’re getting Oliver out of here without Ra’s knowing.

Felicity: We can’t, but you can.

Merlyn: If we get caught, he’ll kill all of us.

Felicity: Then we can’t get caught. Look I have seen enough movies to know that the scary fortress always has a secret exit. You were Ra’s righthand stooge for years, but if there’s anyone who knows a way out of this hell hole, it’s you. So don’t even TRY to play games with me!!

Merlyn: The catacombs. It’s rough terrain, it is not going to be easy.

Felicity: How do we get there?

Merlyn: Through the temple.

Felicity: Go get Thea and meet us back here in 5 minutes. GO!!

Her standing up to Merlyn may have been one of my favorite things in this episode. Sure, she stood up to Ra’s, but she really stuck it to Merlyn and went all drill-sergeant without any hesitation. Plus, who said movies weren’t educational?! Ha! Obviously the escape started out a bit clunky, but once Maseo jumped on board, it seemed to be going in the right direction. Until, of course, it wasn’t. Thea stumbled, assassins surrounded them and Oliver woke up — the final nail in the attempted-escape coffin. So Oliver claimed his name as heir to the Demon’s Head and commanded his lackeys to disperse while he said goodbye to Team Arrow. Honestly though, despite the fact that the escape failed, I was still uber impressed with Felicity for having the balls to try, just as I think Oliver was. And yes, she said her non-goodbye and appeared to accept Oliver’s fate, but after seeing how amazing and unrelenting she was this episode, I still can’t believe that this is the end for her. Mostly because I know that Oliver has to come back at some point, but also because for a tech-girl who mostly sits behind a computer in heels and a dress, Felicity has fight in her and I can’t imagine her ever giving up on someone she loves.

Be sure to catch next week’s Arrow at 8/7c on The CW.