Arrow is on hiatus for almost a month, which will give the series writers and producers plenty of time to whet fans’ appetites with what’s to come when the team returns at the end of April. The show returns with an episode titled ‘Dangerous Liasons’, which is set to pit Oliver and Felicity against each other, as she attempts to use Helix to take care of Prometheus once and for all. Now, we have learned that this episode won’t just deal with Oliver and Felicity’s current conflict, but with their big break up last season as well.
At the moment, Prometheus (Josh Segarra) is still at large, Oliver (Stephen Amell) is struggling to deal with the situation, and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) is being dragged deeper and deeper into hacktivist group Helix. It’s a tense situation for all of Team Arrow, and it looks like things are just going to get darker as the season continues. It’s a move that the rest of the team isn’t happy about, as they are concerned about the group and Felicity’s increasingly blasé attitude toward the work that Helix does.
Talking to TVLine, co-showrunner Marc Guggenheim reveals that the episode will explore the couple’s breakup in season 4, promising a particular event that will set this discussion in motion.
Oliver and Felicity’s relationship (or Olicity) has been a central part of the show since the beginning, but it’s also one of the more controversial aspects in the fandom. Many fans love Olicity, enough for the pair to win MTV’s ‘Ship of the Year’ award two years running. However, comic book purists remain frustrated that Oliver Queen isn’t with a Black Canary (and there have been several in the show so far) as he is in the comics. Because of this, when Felicity ended their engagement and walked out in season 4, reactions to the split were divided. Since then, Felicity got a new boyfriend (now dead), and despite a few allusions to the difficulty of working together immediately afterwards, the breakup hasn’t been a major focus in season 5.
“One of the things that we’ve always wanted to do, and I think a lot of the fans have asked for, is basically deal with the consequences of Episode 415 [when] Oliver and Felicity ended their engagement and broke up. They never really had a full-on discussion or exploration of why that breakup happened. Felicity just sort of reached her breaking point and walked out the door.
It comes out of the events of 519 and, quite frankly, all the other episodes that led up to it. Something happens in 519 that really tees up this conversation.”
Gugghenheim’s comments mean that this will no longer be the case after ‘Dangerous Liasons’, and for better or worse, Olicity is going to be thrust back into the spotlight on the show – and whether fans love them or hate them, it’s going to come as a relief to most to finally have this shock split explored properly.
Next: Arrow ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ Promo: Felicity Hunts Prometheus with Helix
Arrow returns Wednesday, April 26 with “Dangerous Liaisons,” at 8pm on The CW.
Source: TVLine
