How the Arrow writers have done right by Olicity

We here at The TV Junkies are big ‘shippers and one of our favourite ships is Olicity from Arrow. If you’re a fan of Arrow then you know there is something special between Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), and for a lot of us that special relationship is what keeps us coming back week after week.

Mixed in between the great stories and impressive action sequences, the Arrow writers have unsuspectingly snuck in an incredibly sweet, endearing and addictive love story. They haven’t thrown it in our faces or teased it out over for 4 long seasons, but rather they’ve eased us into it in the most perfect of ways. Here’s a review of just how they’ve done it.

A slow build that’s not too slow

We first saw signs of Oliver and Felicity’s chemistry back in Season 1 (remember that scene with the red pen?) but instead of throwing them together right away the writers let their chemistry build and simmer over a few seasons. The fans jumped on the Olicity bandwagon early on in Season 2 and with that fan support, the writers knew they were heading in the right direction.

With many other shows out there who plan to eventually get their two leads together it tends to be a long, drawn out process that feels like it takes forevers. Many have taken four or five seasons before their characters ever even admit that they have feeling for each other. This can be frustrating as a viewer and even cause some to stop tuning in. The Arrow writers have thankfully taken a different route in their slow build. We’ve known since early Season 2 that both Oliver and Felicity had feelings for each other and we knew that eventually it would become something serious.

They have stepped away from the original comics

Moving away from the original storylines in comic book adaptations can be risky, especially when there are hard core comic book fans out there, but the Arrow writers seem to have found the perfect way to change things. In doing so, they are making the fans happy and giving them a great story to follow.

In the comics, Oliver and Laurel Lance are married (at least until they divorce and she moves away) but here in the TV show it’s been a different story. Many fans have developed a strong dislike for Laurel and it seems like the writers have caught on to that dislike. Laurel, or The Black Canary, is still a large part of the show but (thankfully) not as a love interest for Oliver.

Felicity isn’t even in the original comics — at least not the Felicity Smoak that we know and love. In fact she wasn’t even supposed to be a major character in the show. Emily Bett Rickards was hired for one day of work back in Season 1 but the showrunners (and the fans) saw the incredible chemistry between her and Amell and thankfully decided to keep her around. The rest, as they say, is history.

They aren’t sitting around pining for one another

Felicity isn’t waiting around for Oliver to figure things out. She isn’t sitting around at home all sad and lonely thinking about what could have been with Oliver. That’s not who she is. She’s moving on, she’s living her life, and she’s trying to be happy without him. As hard as it is to watch Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) and Felicity together, it’s nice to see that she is still putting herself out there. She may not be over Oliver, but she’s doing her best to keep him out of her head and to be happy.

There’s no awkwardness between the two of them (besides Felicity’s usual awkwardness). Felicity and Oliver are adults and they are behaving as such. They have not let one bad date ruin their professional relationship. They continue to work together and work well together at that. Yes we get the occasional snarky remark from Felicity or longing look from both sides but they continue to keep things profession in the Arrow cave.

Felicity & Oliver continue to be awesome individuals

Felicity is still an integral part of Team Arrow and continues to help out in their mission to save the city. She is also working with Ray and has helped him develop his Atom suit and set him well on his way into his mission of saving the city. (Felicity really does have a type doesn’t she?)

For his part, Oliver has continued on his mission to save his city, he battled Ra’s to protect his sister and has teamed up with Malcolm Merlyn (his sworn enemy) in order to better prepare himself for future battles.

They give the fans bread crumbs

Even though Oliver and Felicity have yet to hook up, the writers aren’t leaving the fans begging and pleading for more. They have given us fans these tiny, yet amazing moments to keep us satisfied.

The looks

Yeah those looks

Mhmmmm…

Those amazing Oliver & Diggle’s talks

The date

I know you remember the date

That kiss in the hospital

That other kiss

This moment

And that unbelievable forehead kiss

These moments give us hope. Even though Oliver has said that he can’t be with anyone right now.

And Felicity said this.

We know that it’s not over

The second half of this season has been a little short on Olicity. Those special moments are still there but lately they have been few and far between. The writers have used this time, and used this time well, to develop the story, a story that will eventually bring Oliver and Felicity back together.  I think some fans were actually starting to think that maybe it really was over between the two of them, maybe it was time to give up hope. Then they saw that promo. That unbelievable promo. You know the one we’re talking about. We know we weren’t the only ones squealing in happiness when we saw it, and we’re pretty sure we weren’t the only ones watching a certain part over and over again. It’s happening guys. It’s really happening. OK we’ve watched enough TV to know it will probably get interrupted, or end short, or be in a dream, but we don’t care. We are still getting something and we could not be more excited to see it!

Are you as excited as we are about that Olicity hookup? How do you think Arrow writers have done dealing with this relationships? What is your favourite thing about Olicity? Sound off and share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Just for good measure let’s take one last look at that promo here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFk7uixvN9s

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.