Arrow Round Table: Andy, the Disappointing Diggle

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Felicity's nemesis Brie Larvan came to town for Arrow Season 4 Episode 17 and while there, she helped Felicity come to a decision about her future. The round table team is chatting about that, as well as how Oliver is handing the breakup and the reveal of Andy Diggle as a new Big Bad.

Join TV Fanatic Kelly Thompson, Jim Garner, Meg Bonney and Carissa Pavlica as they share all of their thoughts on these issues and more. You can participate by noting your opinions in the comments or on Social media. Get started!

What did you think of Brie Larvan's return?

Kelly: Again, not a fan of this villain of the week. The "bee" jokes were way over used and it annoyed me immediately.

Jim: I'm ok with a villain of the week when it pushes the story forward. However, I have to agree with Kelly on Brie, the "bee" jokes were over used and I find it highly unlikely that the prison system would just accept her release date suddenly changed and let her go.

Meg: I know I'm alone, but I loved the bee puns. Comic books are a bit cheesy and I don't mind that in my comic book shows. Arrow is so dark so I appreciate the occasional silly.

Carissa: From someone who hates puns, I didn't even mind them. Brie was better than she was on The Flash and fit into the tone really well.

How has Oliver been handling the breakup? Will he be able to move forward now?

Kelly: Ollie has been handling the break-up pretty horribly. Luckily, Laurel was able to speak the truth to him that he can't blame him being the Arrow as the reason of the break-up. Oliver caused the break-up by his own decisions. I hope Oliver will be able to move on because I'm done seeing him mope around and the relationship being the main focus of the show. I do assume that Felicity and him will reunite before the end of season, though.

Jim: He's not done well at all. I'm not sure there is much more I can add to what Kelly said above, other than I, too, hope that they get back together soon.

Meg: I am surprised he isn't worse actually. I think this episode dealt with the post breakup aftermath a little better. Having Felicity off in her own was better for everyone.

Carissa: I was surprised he admitted he was happiest not being a part of Team Arrow. Maybe this isn't the job for him? Maybe he can only be the man she loves without being Green Arrow. He's pretty miserable.

Thoughts on Felicity's decision to remain off of the team to focus on Palmer Tech?

Kelly: I love that decision. She can change the world with the developments at Palmer Tech and not just save one city. If Curtis continues to work with the team (which I loved, so I hope he does) then she doesn't have to feel bad about leaving the team without a tech person. Felicity has really grown into her over the last couple of seasons so I look forward to her getting an interesting storyline outside of being with Oliver.

Jim: I think it is great. It also ties in nicely to what we saw in DC Legends of Tomorrow where it become Smoke Technologies in the future. Though I'm hoping the rest of that doesn't come to pass :)

Meg: I really like her as the CEO and away from the team. Partly because she holds her own there but the biggest reason is Curtis. I love the dynamic with him as the new Felicity role.

Carissa: It felt right. Much like Oliver admitted he was happiest off of Team Arrow and with Felicity elsewhere, Felicity just wants to help people. At Palmer Tech she has the best opportunity to help the most people.

Andy Diggle as the new (and now third?!) Big Bad. React.

Kelly: Well seeing as I completely forgot about Andy, I was shocked. I feel bad for Diggle though who thought he saved his brother, and now he is going to find out that Andy is still a bad guy. There have definitely been a lot of Big Bads this season so adding one more to the batch is fine with me.

Jim: I'm more confused on why Andy would have been working as a henchman when Team Arrow found him if he was really that high up to be the Big Bad now. That being said, I was a little surprised that he turned out to be the ace in the hole as I was sold on him being reformed. Hopefully this will be the last big bad for the season.

Meg: I was super confused and surprised. I was happy to see him go because that story was getting old. It should make things interesting going forward. It adds another angle to the who's in the grave. Maybe it's Diggle and maybe it's Andy who killed him.

Carissa: I never trusted him and knew Diggle's decisions to allow him to live with him and get close again would come back to hurt him. Poor Dig.

One more week until we find out who is in the grave. Are you ready for that and how do you think it might impact the show?

Kelly: I am ready. I've been ready since the season premiere. This death has been like a large cloud looming over the show so finally figuring out who is dead will feel like a weight lifted. The death will impact the show, but until we figure out who it is, there is no way to know how big that impact will be. If it's Lance then the impact will be big enough (and maybe cause Sara to make an appearance) but if it's Laurel or Thea then that impact will change the show forever.

Jim: Wow, Kelly really summed that up very well. I agree that I won't know how to react until we know who is in the grave. It could be anyone, Diggle, Thea, Laurel.. The downside to having Barry Allen be the one standing with Oliver is that the only person we can be sure it isn't, is Oliver. I'm certainly ready to find out!

Meg: I can't wait to find out! FINALLY! It has been way too long. I think that it's going to be super impactful mostly because Barry thought it was important enough to go to the funeral.

Carissa: I'm ready and I'm not. As much as I wanted it not be be a fakeout, this has been too much for too long. It's pitted fans against fans and hasn't been good for the series, in my opinion. If it's a big death, I'm not looking forward to the fallout.

Tune into Arrow Season 4 Episode 18, "Eleven-Fifty-Nine" to see what's next, and get your first look below.

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.

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Arrow Season 4 Episode 17 Quotes

It looks like we have ourselves a taller, more dude-like version of Felicity.

Diggle

Oh...wow. I'm sorry, I just gotta look. Did you sew that in yourself or do you have some sort of lip sewing guy?

Damien