What happened to Raisa?

[Halberdier17]

Boozoo Thea asked Ollie what the Island was like. Ollie said it was really cold.

[NightHawk777]

All I can tell you, is the Queen family is extremely disfunctional.

Pops was definitely not a boy scout.

It's been a long time, but as I recall, Moira had Oliver kidnapped, etc for a reason that you may not have gotten to yet. But it is something that plays into the entire first season, not to say she handles things in the best way. I don't remember him being tortured by her though, maybe I have to rewatch.

As for Walter, remember, Oliver doesn't know the guy, and he's living in his house when he returns after 5 years.

[JDBentz]

All I can tell you, is the Queen family is extremely disfunctional.

Pops was definitely not a boy scout.

It's been a long time, but as I recall, Moira had Oliver kidnapped, etc for a reason that you may not have gotten to yet. But it is something that plays into the entire first season, not to say she handles things in the best way. I don't remember him being tortured by her though, maybe I have to rewatch.

As for Walter, remember, Oliver doesn't know the guy, and he's living in his house when he returns after 5 years.

I think they were referring to the fact that the men who Moira had kidnap Oliver used 'enhanced interrogative techniques' as far as using a taser as a 'electrical shock device' goes.

Boozoo, as Halberdier17 said, I was referring to the question Thea asked about what it was like on the island. On the intellectual side, I recognize they were having Willa Holland portray the typical, self-absorbed teenage girl who thinks her brother will be the same and is just 'curious'. I think Moira made only a vague mention of the scars.

As far as the whole 'what were the Queens up to', I will say that from my understanding, Robert (Oliver's Dad) got involved with a project that changed course after a time to form the plan that takes up the plot of Season 1. The book is a remnant of the original plan Robert got involved in. Moira got involved after the Gambit, or so we are led to believe. You'll find out what I mean as time goes on. That's about all I can say without going into spoiler territory, and even that is a bit risky (if a mod reads this and decides it is, go ahead and 'cut the spoiler' or 'add spoiler tags'; I'm really not a good judge of that which is why I stick with the Spoiler and Speculation threads as a regular poster...).

[NightHawk777]

Oh, btw, Raisa was mentioned in conversation in a flashback .

[Boozoo]

Okay, I'm up to Episode 22, and it's gotten a little better and much, much worse.

First for much, much worse: Turns out Dad was a fantastically noble, community-stewarding rich guy(we could almost say "activist", but we know how abhorrent that term is to these super benevolent rich guys), just trying to make the Glades better alongside other community-steward rich guys, and then suddenly getting sucked into a plot by poor, driven-crazy-by-grief Malcolm against his will. Long suffering, equally heroic and plucky Mom tries to step in and help. I mean really, what's the worst these two have to atone for? Daddy had a few affairs? Mom tried to save her family? This is NOTHING like what the pilot seemed to have in store for the series. In the pilot, his Dad was a self-admitted, guilt-ridden scumbag, and, as I will forever keep pointing out, he shot that poor crewman without a qualm, revealing all you should need to know about his character. For some reason, he also made his son swear to atone for Dad's sins by getting the guys in the "book", who are presumably men in power who have failed their city, as the most important thing ever - when he knows Merlyn is planning to kill thousands. That make any sense whatsoever?

Of course not. It only shows me that the pilot and the show's premise, mainly that Oliver is there to avenge wrongs done to the everyman "little guy" by the unassailably rich and powerful, was hijacked so that they could spend the whole season making up a story that would justify the wealthy and powerful being the good guys - a COMPLETE (not to mention insulting and infuriating) 180° turnaround!

Oliver started out hard-as-nails driven, sharp and perceptive about the deceptiveness of the 1%'ers, grimly determined and merciless, but he winds up a mix of now-angry, formerly clueless rich kid who turned out to have magically acquired world-class survivial/assassin skills at Boot Camp Island and some crybaby, dullard, soap opera character who kills nameless henchmen by the score without a moment's thought, but gets all sanctimonious about the rights and justice due whatever rich, ruthless scumbag is on the episode's villain du jour list. Clearly, this series is written by royalty worshippers pandering to the wealthy class - not exactly who you want penning a modern day Robin Hood, is it? I shouldn't be surprised if he further morphs into a "hero" who protects the righteous rich from the common criminal rabble, the sacred "book" that there was such to-do about and his primary raisin-d'etre cast aside and forgotten.

BTW, it was partially because of Thea's question at the dinner table about the island in the pilot that I found her a sympathetic character - not ONE of the other douchebag, self-absorbed characters, family or friend, asked him about his 5 YEAR experience on the island! Pretty striking and telling.

They did a bait-and-switch with the pilot and the series. The pilot held amazing promise; the series is mostly disappointing and cliche-ridden.

The mildly good stuff: Oliver does show occasional no-nonsense, grim, hard, lethal justice; Felicity is fun; Tommy's character does some good; Detective Lance has a few good smart-ass lines.

I could go on and on . . . hopefully, the watered-down, unrecognizable series won't. But I would welcome it morphing back into what it started out to be: a modern-day Robin Hood story.

[costas22]

Raisa is like the Gabe Sullivan of Arrow.

[southrnbygrace]

Actress Kathleen Gati, who portrayed Raisa, has been on General Hospital for a while now. But when someone tweets her about her episode of Arrow she always seems pleased that people miss Raisa.

[NightHawk777]

She made the utmost of her moment of fame

[Lipzo]

She's back in the next episode at Moira's funeral.

[Boozoo]

Series premise goes from refreshing to worthless

"I shouldn't be surprised if he further morphs into a "hero" who protects the righteous rich from the common criminal rabble . . ."

When I wrote that in the last post, I was on the second to last episode of Season 1. I didn't expect it to be so prophetic, but the VERY FIRST episode of Season 2 confirmed my worst suspicions. Good God!

So what have I "learned" since the pilot (and in complete contradiction to the pilot)? That rich people have our best interests at heart (pre-undertaking Queen/Merlyn/Glade group); they are noble and self-sacrificing (Daddy kills himself for Sonny; Mommy is the definition of martyr; Tommy sacrifices himself; Merlyn sort of does); they are genetically superior (Thea can completely run a nightclub before she's 21, Tommy more-or-less likewise); and they acquire super powers rather easily (Oliver and Merlyn).

This series morphed from a ballsy Robin Hood fable pilot to an Ayn Rand fable series in a single season. What. a. crock!

[Hatchetjoe]

Sorry to go in a different direction. Does Oliver recover the family business and wealth?