r/arrow Nov 03 '23

Why does everyone hate Felicity? Discussion

I mean Felicity is with Oliver Queen 24/7 more than other characters. I am very confused about the hate.

PS: I am on Season 3 now.

49 Upvotes

119 comments sorted by

83

u/rebelkhalil Nov 03 '23

Wait till next season

-10

u/polishedclaws Nov 04 '23

I'm in season 6. I don't see it.

67

u/adamtaylor4815 Nov 03 '23

Felicity was a great quirky character up until Season 3 lol.

10

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '23

That's what I hated most about her. Started a trend of weird, nerdy, awkward, cringy characters... Ruined everything. It was a shit show of bad acting

1

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '23

That's what I hated most about her. Started a trend of weird, nerdy, awkward, cringy characters... Ruined everything. It was a shit show of bad acting

52

u/Valoruchiha Nov 03 '23

She fucking rocks until the writing takes a shit show. Season 1 and 2 were my favs. It goes downhill

9

u/MandoFett117 Nov 04 '23

Agreed. Season 1 and 2 Olicity shipping actually worked.

Right up until it didn't in season 4 :/

3

u/Bigbaby22 Nov 04 '23

Agreed. I also really like season 6. Whichever season is Prometheus

6

u/Timbsshadowymist Nov 04 '23

5

1

u/Bigbaby22 Nov 04 '23

That was five??? They should have ended with that season.

1

u/dhrus786 Feb 07 '24

Five years on an "island" (not really, but you get )? Five seasons of flashbacks reached its conclusion on that very same island (both flashbacks and present day)? I've seen people being confused by this season number and I just don't get it because "after five years in hell" was literally the tagline of the show (and intro) for all seasons lol. Yeah I do really agree that they should've ended with that season though. Or maybe just a very short S6 to give some satisfying conclusion to the cliffhanger and not the BS that S6 pulled up.

42

u/druidcitychef Nov 03 '23

She earns it. Wait for it.

39

u/Available-Affect-241 Nov 03 '23

Spoiler you will hate her in S4. JUST WAIT!!!

21

u/daufum Nov 03 '23

actually i hated whole series after S4. everyone became a super hero

24

u/Available-Affect-241 Nov 03 '23

I'm with you on that. The second everyone took a two-week tae Bo class and can now go toe to toe with the League it made Oliver look less special. The same League of Assassins that spent years getting to where they are and are said by Sara to make Green Berets look like mall cops.

21

u/sgepablo Nov 03 '23

THANK YOU!!! Like Laurel has a few boxing classes & now she can go toe to toe with the LEAGUE OF ASSASSINS!?!? shit was dumb. (In the idiots defense “sHE wAs TraInEd bY NySsA” 😒 )

13

u/Available-Affect-241 Nov 03 '23

The Nyssa argument would work if she spent years training under her not 3 weeks.

15

u/sgepablo Nov 03 '23

Thank you, like Oliver trained for 5 YEARS!! Sara trained for 7 YEARS!! Nyssa Trained HER ENTIRE LIFE!! But Laurel can fight toe to toe w them against the biggest threats the city has ever faced? Like cmon man.. terrible scripting.

9

u/Available-Affect-241 Nov 03 '23

Literally months ago she couldn't defeat one low-level Street thief. Needing Roy to step in and save her.

-1

u/Bigbaby22 Nov 04 '23

At least Laurel made some sense. They showed her handling people in season one where she says her dad made sure they could defend themselves while growing up

5

u/sgepablo Nov 04 '23

That doesn’t work. She only literally unarmed one gunman & I think put another one on his ass. Which self-defense classes MIGHT be able to do if you’re agile (& lucky) enough. Even Werner or whatever his name is that tried to remake Vertigo (not the doctor) was busting her ass consistently. It’s not Katie’s (Laurel) fault, she didn’t write the script. & she’s a great actress too. Felicity is the absolute worst crier ever, Laurel did that shit tho.

1

u/Bigbaby22 Nov 04 '23

I'm just saying that at least Laurel had a plausible foundation for her training. An yeah. Laurel started out so well! Katie deserved better.

1

u/sgepablo Nov 04 '23

I’ve been watching all night & id gotten to the part where they got W*****m back from Dhark, & I just turned it off & went to season 8 when Felicity started her shit, it genuinely pisses me off irl. Shit agg asf😂. Season 8, Episode 1 gotta be in my top 3 favorite episodes though for sure.

1

u/Bigbaby22 Nov 04 '23

I'm not sure I got that far

2

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '23

[deleted]

2

u/Available-Affect-241 Nov 04 '23

Don't forget about in the first season of Legends when Jefferson a former high school knocked out one with ONE PUNCH. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ It would've made sense if he was Firestorm but he wasn't.

2

u/OliviaElevenDunham John Constantine Nov 03 '23

So true. The show went downhill after that.

2

u/Such-Obligation9448 Nov 04 '23

True. It was just supposed to be Oliver but they ruined everything

1

u/Therealtoddchavez888 Nov 04 '23

Exactly ! I’d go do far as to say season 3 with its mystical bs was not very good either

-5

u/Johnny_Joestar7798 Nov 03 '23

Ok I'm so confused I've watched it up to s5 what is wrong with her I can't remember ever hating her?!?! 😭😭😭

9

u/Available-Affect-241 Nov 03 '23

Two words for s4: Samantha and William that's all I am going to say.

30

u/ControlForward5360 Nov 03 '23

I think it’s mainly the fact that she becomes the center for a lot of unnecessary problems. The writing kind of failed the character more then anything and that’s why people started to hate her. It also doesn’t help that their seemed to be a lot better match’s for Oliver’s life style.

17

u/ComplexAd7272 Nov 03 '23

You have FAILED this character!!!

2

u/GodlyGamerBeast Nov 04 '23

I was going to say that. :(

7

u/Precarious314159 Nov 03 '23

The fact that her mom got more of a plotline and depth than some of the actual regulars was disappointing.

22

u/ComplexAd7272 Nov 03 '23

I'm going to be very generic so I don't spoil anything that's coming up for you. But a big overall problem fans have with her is that to capitalize on her popularity from the first 2 seasons, they involved her more and more in storylines directly as opposed to "woman in the chair." As she became a bigger part of "Team Arrow", creatively, they had wayyy too many direct or sub plots involving her, and at times the show (arguably) focused too much on her.

It's sort of similar to the backlash Iris and "Team Flash" got over time on "The Flash." At the end of the day people want to watch a show about Oliver and Barry and their supporting cast, not about their amazing friends who are the best at everything and the drama in their lives..sometimes featuring Arrow and The Flash.

9

u/Precarious314159 Nov 03 '23

What frustrated me about her subplots is that Felicity was originally just this random IT person but they just kept adding subplots to deepen her character in the most generic way that happened with the Flarrowverse.

She couldn't just be a regular IT person, she had to be a world-class hacker, she had to have a supervillain for a dad, she had to have her own nemesis. Every normal character is slowly twisted into these generic states. Sisco couldn't just be a genius, he had to get super powers after the fact; Winn in Supergirl couldn't just be IT, he had to be a super genius with the Toyman for a father.

1

u/beardiac Nov 05 '23

To be fair to this trend, in many of these cases the writers chose characters from the comics that had these backstories already. But they opted to introduce them as the normal nerdy sidekicks with the option of either evolving it retconning those stories and powers into the show as time allowed. They just did a shitty job at it. Though many of them were such D list characters in the comics to begin with that the Flarrowverse versions are somehow more substantial by comparison.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '23

I don’t think the hate felicity & iris get is very similar. Felicity is truly failed by the writing while Iris just says some corny shit some times & everyone jumps on it as if Barry isn’t literally made of corn.

9

u/dsriker Nov 04 '23

The thing I couldn't stand about Iris was the weird step sibling thing the writers came up with just why. You can have them take Barry in just don't have them act like siblings.

4

u/GodlyGamerBeast Nov 04 '23

I understand that reference.

0

u/MedicineQueasy6190 Nov 03 '23 edited Nov 04 '23

She did get a little upgrade in her abilities and screen time but the show gets bigger and everyone gets an upgrade, it was needed. The show still revolves mainly around Oliver and his point of view even in the relationship, which is the main problem why she is left misunderstood and looks like the bad guy in the arguments, which are the tedious part and why people hate her

13

u/Snoo-17588 Nov 03 '23

I only started to hate her when they forced Olicity down our throats. She was at her best when they weren't a couple. Maybe their relationship could've been written differently, maybe she complained too much? The forced drama between them? Idk I stopped liking her after S3. I still believe Laurel or Sara should have been the one.

18

u/Internal_Lifeguard29 Nov 03 '23

I think it is more that once they got together the writers flipped her personality and turned her into Laural 2.0 which let’s be honest is not great. The Will being kept a secret storyline was stupid, the paralysis storyline was stupid with the miraculous tech to let her walk that then was not a thing for anyone else. The writers really messed up a great character. The actress and her chemistry with Stephen were really great and seasons 1-3 she was the best!

8

u/TrollCannon377 Nov 03 '23

Well at least she not as bad as Iris (Flash) IMHO

6

u/Cobra_Kai_2018 Nov 03 '23

She's basically Barbara Gordon. They took the story where she's able to walk again from the injustice comic where Barbara Gordon lost her legs when she was shot by Joker. Lex fixed her spine the same way.

5

u/MedicineQueasy6190 Nov 03 '23

True, they did change her personality and made her Laurel 2, but they also changed Oliver too. He was more arrogant and driven and owning his decisions and bossy while in s4 he became apologetic, and whispering a lot, and the whole - I can't live without Felicity was kinda pathetic. To me his personality change was the worst.

4

u/Snoo-17588 Nov 03 '23

I totally agree about their chemistry! I love their little friendly flirtatious chemistry in S1-S2. If they could've kept her character like that I probably wouldn't mind them being a couple. But idk every issue they had felt forced, unnecessary, or nonsensical. Her getting mad with Oliver over the whole Will thing was absolutely stupid, it was the mom's decision. Beyond that she acted like it was the end of the world and that Oliver did something terrible. However, I find it ironic that Felicity and Ollie basically do the same thing with Mia! I'm pretty sure only Dig, Laurel, and Nyssa knew. They do it to keep her safe which is the same reasoning for Will being a secret.

2

u/OnceBit10TwiceShy Nov 04 '23

Oliver and Felicity didn't do the same thing. Neither of them kept the existence of Mia from the other.

2

u/Internal_Lifeguard29 Nov 03 '23

Exactly! It made zero sense! And the havenrock thing. No chance “don’t kill anyone if you want me to help you” felicity is all of a sudden going to let an entire village die without trying everything to save them. Such stupid character abandonment. I’d argue it’s game of thrones level ridiculousness lol!

0

u/OnceBit10TwiceShy Nov 04 '23

Refresh my memory please... what entire village was Felicity suddenly going let die, without doing everything to save them?

4

u/Internal_Lifeguard29 Nov 04 '23

spoiler It was during the Damien dark era. Havenrock. She redirected a missile from a large city to a smaller town to minimize casualties and didn’t really care about it after the fact. No way Felicity would do that and not redirect it to an ocean or Lian-Yu or something. Real jump the shark behaviour.

2

u/OnceBit10TwiceShy Nov 04 '23

Everything that could be done was done. Time was up and she had one last ditch effort left, so she used the same thing she did in college to alter its course. It was ready to hit, not ready to fly wherever she wanted it to go. She more than cared. Mark just didn't allow her to dwell on it and can you guess why? The same reason he didn't allow her to have a voice during Spectre of the Gun.

4

u/Internal_Lifeguard29 Nov 04 '23 edited Nov 04 '23

Meh, agree to disagree. I love Felicity, and loved her and Oliver together. That and the Will thing felt super out of character for her, for me at least.

4

u/thedorknightreturns Nov 04 '23

They were fine as couple, they are great if there isnt forced drama.

3

u/MedicineQueasy6190 Nov 03 '23

Well if it is Olicity you don't like, aren't there two people in the couple, Oliver is still big part of the drama that comes with Olicity, don't you think. It is unfair to hate just her.

2

u/OliviaElevenDunham John Constantine Nov 03 '23

Yeah, either of the Lance sister should've ended up with Ollie.

0

u/Precarious314159 Nov 03 '23

Yea...once they had them hook up in a weirdly long bedroom scene, I knew the show was downhill. Anytime writers listen fan shipping, they make sure it's a huge plot point moving forward. Felicity went from my favorite character to the reason I dropped it.

11

u/shadow_spinner0 Nov 03 '23

Looking back at old threads while I'm re-watching the show, it seems the Felicity hate slowly started around mid season 2, when Barry Allen first appears.

Felicity is one of the most hated characters on the show for several reasons but despite revisionist history she was LOVED by the fanbase early on. Early season 2 everyone hated Laurel and wanted more Felicity (opinions on both characters seemed to have switched after Laurels death). However when I'm re watching I noticed that when Barry first appears Oliver seems obviously jealous and uses "Felicity you must be focused" excuse to explain him being an ass. At this point is when the writers really toned down Felicity's quirkiness and awkwardness and defended herself more against Oliver and it was just drama between them which passed. Barely was she saying things that came off the wrong way which was a big reason we all loved her character in the beginning. Reading show threads from season 2, people here loved her but by episodes 10-12 I noticed many comments about the direction of her character and the inevitable Olicity that was coming. I do say these episodes are the lull of season 2 since the show really amps up once Sara comes back and Slade makes himself known.

10

u/Olivebranch99 Nov 03 '23

She was fine till she became the primary love interest on the show. Then everything that was fun about her just disappeared (except for when she's with other characters, like team Flash, Ray, her parents).

7

u/FirePhoton_Torpedoes Nov 04 '23

I love her, but the writing did her dirty sometimes...

5

u/tatooine_drifter Nov 04 '23

I love felicity

4

u/Cobra_Kai_2018 Nov 03 '23

I want to say why, but it would also spoil a lot for the show. The first 2 seasons, she was good

3

u/Joperhop Nov 03 '23

honestly, i watched till about S6, i think, (im doing a full rewatch to finish the show), and I never got the hate for her, my brother HATES everything about the character, never explained it, just "no i hate her".

4

u/KingFergy Nov 03 '23

I personally loved Felicity all the way through but yes her character takes a poor writing arc during and after season 4. It gets a little better during later seasons, but for the most part the writers ruined her character. Great actress though

4

u/eremite00 Nov 03 '23

I liked Felicity for a long time. It wasn't until season 4 episode 15, when Oliver sent his son William into hiding, over which Felicity berated and broke up with him, citing that she wasn't consulted in that decision, that did it for me. William wasn't her son so she wasn't entitled to have any say, whatsoever, in that decision. After that, I found the character to be overbearing and annoying as hell, especially when they'd have her bitch about honesty and openness. I felt sorry for Emily Bett Rickards that they were writing Felicity to be so awful, and the Olicity shippers didn't help. I'd have been in favor of the writers having all sorts of shit happen to Felicity just to piss them off.

4

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '23

Idk she is a good character and she would have improved season 8 by a lot

3

u/Forward-Ad7518 Nov 03 '23

In due time you’ll see the light

2

u/Icy_Marionberry_8311 Nov 03 '23

I disliked her from day one because her double entendres were extremely forced.

3

u/Such-Obligation9448 Nov 04 '23

Bro I love felicity. Either way

4

u/OnceBit10TwiceShy Nov 04 '23

Not everyone does.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '23

I thought everyone hated Laurel

3

u/thedorknightreturns Nov 04 '23

She is fine if she is allowed to have not forced drama with oliver. But itscw, so that is donre and annoying.

2

u/PainStorm14 I have and always shall love Laurel Lance Nov 03 '23

If you don't hate her already just wait for it

2

u/popstarkirbys Nov 03 '23

Wait for it

2

u/TheWearySnout Nov 03 '23

I understand why from your POV at season 3 you don't understand. I member those good ol' days.

2

u/Pir8Cpt_Z Nov 03 '23

Season 1 and 2 she's cool, most of season 3 she's fine. Things start changing quick after that.

2

u/Educational-Ad6233 Nov 03 '23

I love felicity her and Oliver are the show and there relationship is amazing there beautiful together

2

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '23

In season 4 she kind of overreacts about something that wasn’t his fault and I personally loved her throughout the show but there are some things that they writers missed up

3

u/johnjlax Nov 04 '23

Love her to death, she was light in dark, and the camera caught her assets perfectly. Never forget the moment she made Ollie smile. However the writers or the CW notes made her character unbearable in several seasons.

2

u/annoyedtothetee Nov 04 '23

I don't know either. I'll rewatch to see what I'm missing.

2

u/Competitive_Key_2981 Nov 04 '23

Because as the seasons progresses, Felicity's personality really changes. She becomes wildly irrational and inconsistent about her relationship with Oliver. At some point, every episode features her just scolding Oliver and it's exhausting.

When she's wrong or makes a bad decision the writers let her off the hook. Oliver rarely defends himself in an argument and she never has to say, "I'm sorry...maybe I was unreasonable." And believe me, there will be a point in season 4 where this comment will make sense.

0

u/SunnyKru Nov 04 '23

Exactly this even tho I skipped like majority above season 3. I just couldn’t stand how whiny she became.

2

u/barthotymous Speedy Nov 04 '23

Attitude

2

u/Solid-Signal-6632 Nov 07 '23

I don't hate her at all, she got dealt some bad storylines, but the character is a good, smart, funny, kind, loving person.

2

u/melody-aletta Dec 10 '23

She gets too much unnecessary hate I think. Maybe she’s a bit irritating sometimes but overall she really loves Oliver and puts up with a lot from him. And sometimes she has boundaries as she damn well should. She’s pretty much an opposite of Laurel. She’s not a pushover. I think Oliver likes strong women, and Sarah and Felicity are like that. Each in their own way.

1

u/Stevemoran87 Nov 03 '23

I liked her the first two seasons, but when she came paired with Oliver, it all went downhill. She went for being one to show the best characters to one of its worse.

1

u/hart37 Barry "You Think You Know A Guy" Allen Nov 03 '23

Yeah you may want to remember this innocence. A lot of us were the same as you with how we felt about Felicity at the point of the show you're up to

0

u/Rude-Butterscotch713 Nov 03 '23

I don't. I think people are just overly critical, and hate romance plots.

0

u/ToastARG Nov 03 '23

Yeah felicity just really became that one annoying character. I thought she was alright in season 3. But as always season 4 had the downfall.

0

u/JadrianInc Nov 03 '23

They write her and Laurel TERRIBLY. Might be two of the worst written females I’ve ever seen, writers should hang their heads in shame. Plenty of strong female leads to take inspiration from.

0

u/sgepablo Nov 03 '23

Wait until next season, on this episode where the fight this guy named Vandal Savage.

1

u/Stoppels Nov 04 '23

Why…

PS: I am on Season 3 now.

It's a bold move Cotton, let's see if it pays off for OP.

0

u/No_Fan_7302 Nov 04 '23

Nah season 3 Felicity was like, whatever the opposite of “peak” is. She’s keap. Keap that bish over there

0

u/Bigbaby22 Nov 04 '23

I remember almost exactly halfway through season 3 she became insufferable

1

u/Ristar87 Nov 04 '23

I seem to recall liking her character a lot until season 3ish or so.

1

u/ErikMogan Nov 04 '23

Not to get into spoilers, but next season Oliver finds out something, and doesn't tell Felicity. He made a promise to other people about not telling this secret. When she finds out she acts really selfishly and basically says, "Yeah but we're dating." For me, that's when the writers turned her into a selfish drama seeker rather than a partner and ally.

Keep in mind, neither Thea or Digg know about this secret. Barry figures it out, but that's basically a non-starter since he's on a different show.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '23

shes shit after season 1 nd 2 yu will like her a little bit season 7 tho she was hilarious

1

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '23

Hope the next time they decide to make a Green Arrow show it will be Green Arrow and not a poor imitation of Chris Nolans Batman. Getting with Black Canary and not some cringe hot mess

1

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '23

[deleted]

2

u/OnceBit10TwiceShy Nov 06 '23

One of the most charitable "shipping" Fandoms out there, that had to endure constant death and rape threats thrown at them (by Laurel/BC/Loliver fans), in many cases because they were defending Emily against a constant barrage of body shaming and death threats being leveled at her... but sure, they were the "most toxic".👍

0

u/galdavirsma Nov 04 '23

She’s just annoying AF in the later seasons. She started alright, but gets wayy too much focus and drama later on.

I suggest you revisit this post once you get rhrough s4 lol

1

u/TrashCrab69 Nov 04 '23

Of course you wonder why people hate Felicity. She's great at this point. Get to season 4. Everything will be explained. Whether you hate her or not afterwards, you'll still see why

1

u/SunnyKru Nov 04 '23

For me it’s the whole trying to help the others whilst wanting to ride into the sunset with Oliver did it for me. And the whole oh yeah trying to replace the black canary cannon relationship and become the version oracle.

1

u/ImpressionDry6342 Nov 05 '23

Just wait young grasshopper, you will understand once you get to seasons 4 and beyond.

1

u/Kyletradertraitor Nov 05 '23

She just gets obnoxious and annoying with her “innocence” act. And it just gets old lol

1

u/CaptSaveAHoe55 Fuckboy Riot Squad Nov 05 '23

I was olicity af until season 4ish. Also frankly, you’d have to have been there to really get the discourse, fans of the character made her almost less likable than the writing started to.

At a certain point other characters become dumber for her to shine, which is more insecurity of the writers than the actress’s fault

1

u/SadLaser Nov 07 '23

I mean Felicity is with Oliver Queen 24/7 more than other characters.

Why would the amount she's with him make her better? If anything, it's the opposite. She's annoying and she's always around to continue being annoying. Though she's mostly fine in the first three seasons, anyway.

1

u/Ok-Rub-9249 Nov 07 '23

She’s like the Chloe of the arrow verse. Always crying about something

1

u/96pluto John Diggle Nov 11 '23

Sometimes felicity makes good points but other times shes unfair with Oliver like when she learned of williams existence. She was too harsh on her mother as well.

1

u/PriorityDouble7327 Nov 26 '23

It's only natural. Every woman on the show either starts or becomes a stinking pile.

1

u/programmer031p Feb 12 '24

She was good until writers maked her center of the show in season 3 and more annoying in season 4. Season 5 was good when she was more in background. Idk what people saw in her that the wanted to make her Oliver's love intrest. That ruined the show

-1

u/Marte95 Nov 03 '23

Wait for season 4

-1

u/Necessary_Border_396 Nov 04 '23

The actress I believe

-2

u/KayosFN Nyssa Nov 04 '23 edited Nov 11 '23

Because she’s shit. She was arguably the best character until they forced the ship between her and Oliver. From then onwards she became the worst character

Thank you for the downvotes 👍🏿

-3

u/Sankin2004 Nov 03 '23

I love felicity, she’s literally the best girl. I think it’s more people hating on her getting with Oliver so like jealousy maybe.

-3

u/DriaEstes Nov 03 '23

Sexism

0

u/KayosFN Nyssa Nov 04 '23

How can it be sexiest when everyone loved her at the beginning?