Tune in with Turner

        Happy New Year to all my loyal readers.  I hope you all have a blessed New Year.  Things are quite busy here, so I haven't been able to write. I have been thinking about Arrow and wondering how 5b will play itself out.  Have you ever wondered  what's not working well with Arrow?  I have thought about it during the hiatus.   Here are some areas were I have see where Arrow lost it's way: Felicity hasn't been given a good story. The OTA has been missing The Felicity boyfriend thing seemed to fast for Felicity who took her time in waiting for Oliver Diggle has had no story Thea has lost her way Oliver has lost all he gained in the first 4  seasons I don't know how you all feel about it.  I hope 5b will find it's direction again.  I hope. I am in in for the long haul, but Arrow seems to have lost some direction.  People think it's about the loss of the Laurel, but I don't think it is.  I ...

    I am old fashioned.  I found my Oliver Queen 45 years ago, and everyday since then we've only grown closer.   Today, you don't see that so much.  Maybe I have my head stuck in another century, but I believe that love can survive just about anything life throws at it. I learned that from my parents who had so many trials in their lives, yet their love only grew stronger.  I am strong on hope and have lots of hope the writers will write Oliver and Felicity in such a way.   Much has been thrown at Oliver and Felicity.  We had Oliver being in the dark and not thinking he's worthy of having love, because he will just destroy it somehow. We had baby mama, and keeping truth from Felicity.  We had Felicity rebound to Billy and Billy being killed by Oliver, and we can't forget the shooting or Havenrock.  The question becomes can they survive and will they?  I think they can and they will.   Since season 1 Oliver pretty much...

So, I've been thinking about 509, What We Leave Behind.  When Oliver went to see Susan Williams the camera focused long and hard on the bottle of vodka; it was Russian.  I thought it might have been the same as Oliver brought out in season 2, but it wasn't. From Season 2 From 509 But this does tell me that Susan has a Russian connection.  I don't think it's from a strictly reporters angle either.  She knows something or is it..dun, dun dun, ... someone?   Here is Konstantin Kovar, and look at the swords behind him.  Do they look familiar to you?  They seem to resemble the ones Prometheus uses.   Wasn't Kovar also trained by the League of Assassins?  What if during Barry's stupid Flashpoint, the Lazarus pit was never destroyed and Kovar took a dip in it and stayed young.  I remember Oliver saying that the kind of movements Prometheus used in fighting was familiar to him. Could Susan know Prometheus?  Could she be aid...

  I never thought that the writers fully handled the PTSD side of Felicity's story line.  I am familiar with PTSD because someone close to me lives with it, and overcomes it,  and I have family members who work with people who suffer from it.  If you aren't familiar with it, some of the symptoms are emotional numbness and avoidance of places, people, and activities that are reminders of the trauma; Re-experiencing the trauma through recollections of the event, flashbacks, difficulty sleeping, feeling jumpy, exaggerated negative beliefs, such as "I am bad," "No one can be trusted," or "the world is  too dangerous." There is persistent guilt, diminished interest or participation in significant activities, problems concentrating, or exaggerated startle responses, there is are sleep problems.  Sounds like a lot of what Oliver experienced in season one, doesn't it? I never felt that Felicity showed any of these symptoms after Havenrock, and I didn...

  I saw in Twitter that our beloved Felicity Smoak has been nominated by the Hollywood Reporter among the 50 best female characters.  Let's support her and vote! http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/50-best-female-characters-entertainment-industry-survey-results-951483

    I read that Wendy Mericle said to look for Laurel to appear in the episode, so I wasn't surprised.  However, I found myself feeling frustrated at the first image of her.  There she was staring at the uniforms of the "fighters" much like Felicity was at the end of season 4 and then Oliver walked in.  It was too reminiscent of that see for me. So now the question becomes, how did she come back?  Do you remember what Felicity said when one of the team members asked how Clayborne could be back when he had died?  Felicity said something like, "Around here they die on Monday  and come on Wednesday?"  Ha Ha,their show is on Wednesday, and of course it could have foreshadowed Laurel coming back to  life.  If she did, then in my humble opinion for what it's worth, is that it happened in Flashpoint.  But, I don't think that fits.  Because if she came in Flashpoint, then everyone would know she didn't die.  Right?  Th...

  Look closely at Oliver's words, and then where the camera pans to next. "...No matter how much I love them.  Oliver loves Felicity.  The writers of the  show are giving us hope.  Let's hang onto it.  I have another blog post coming on Laura and one on why the writers  chose not to have anyone comfort Felicity.  It all makes sense. Have hope, people. :)

               I don't know about you, but I have mixed emotions about this episode.  There were moments that I loved, and moments that left me feeling disconnected.  I had so many questions, frankly, that I had trouble sleeping.  This might be a very long blog, or a perhaps in two parts. Argh. Christmas again on Arrow.  I like the fact that Arrow isn't afraid to bring in Christmas, or as Felicity would call it, "holiday".  I don't know about you, but did the Christmas party bring back the memories of last year?  It did for me.  There was Susan in a red dress and not Felicity, and frankly that was annoying, but done on purpose by the writers.  Felicity was in a bland dress, pretty but bland, yet her hair reminded me of her hair at last season's party.  This planned move on the writers part forces us draw the parallels. I loved when Felicity and Susan both complimented Oliver on his speech, but Felicit...

                    I read recently that Marc Guggenheim became upset over the the shippers that gave him a difficult time and wrote him some pretty bad tweets.  Many came from the Lauriver fans, but sadly many have come from Olicity fans.  In my opinion, and this blog,  of  course, is all about my opinion, both fans are equally wrong. There is something all fans should know and  that fans do not dictate  the story.  The writers write the story they are compelled to write because of the  way the story takes them.  Unless you write, even for yourself, you know may not believe this is true. I love to  write, and I have written all kinds of stories mostly  for my children when they were  young, and I can tell you that you may  begin a story one way, but as you progress, you find the  story taking a different path than the one you originally intended.  I sympat...

One of the things that I like best about Arrow is how you can relate to it. A good story has compelling characters that are  not one dimensional.  I never thought I  would watch a superhero show, but this one is different.  Oliver's journey towards being a hero has not been easy.  He has known disappointment, betrayal by those he  loved most, and he has lost those whom he has loved most.  He has a a piece of himself, yet in the losing, he has found the better part of himself.  Oliver  admits he  would have been happy, but not full.  A happy life cannot take the place of a full, rich life. To appreciate the light, you have to know the darkness.  Oliver has known that darkness, and he found  a different way.  The heartaches in his  life taught him what it means to have a full life.  A full life means to know  the joys as well as the sorrows, to embrace the good, meaningful times, so that in the dar...

              This was not the 100th episode that I expected, but it was one I totally enjoyed. Arrow, for me has always been about trust, family, love, and choices.  Each of the 4 main characters of all 5 seasons has had to learn lessons on trust, family, love, and the choices they make and how to live with the consequences of those choices.  In some respects Barry and Oliver parallel each other.  Barry is younger and an optimist while Oliver is the older pessimist.   Barry loved his parents and didn't want them die, so he does what he knows he should not do, break time, and save them.  Oliver, in a small way, has a chance to stay with his parents, but he chooses not to.  He knows that it isn't real, and having something real even though he has to live with pain, is better than something is not real.  Barry has learned that too, we hope, but he learned too late.  The 100th episode paid tribute to all that w...