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jbuffyangel · 6 years

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Blessed: Arrow 7x13 Review (Star City Slayer)

It may be difficult to form coherent thoughts right now because of all the screaming, but I shall do my level best fam because WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Warning: gif explosion ahead.

Let’s dig in...

Olicity and Mia Smoak

OLIVER AND FELICITY ARE HAVING A BABY

AND IT’S A GIRL

AND SHE GROWS UP TO BE KAT MCNAMARA FROM SHADOWHUNTERS

I AM DYING Y’ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE’VE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS DAY!!!!!!

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!!!!

Of course, there are plenty of other things to discuss in the episode and we’ll get to it, but right now I want to bask.

This reveal was EPIC.

It actually exceeded my expectations because I didn’t think we’d get all the goodies all at once. “Star City Slayer” is basically my Christmas Wish List and Beth Schwartz just put delightful rainbow colored check marks after each request. *falls to knees to worship Beth*

We knew Arrow was dropping a bomb because Kat McNamara gave us all a heads up in her promotional press tour for “Star City Slayer.” But it’s wasn’t just one bomb. It was several.

First, Felicity is alive which DUH.

This reveal felt fairly perfunctory and it tells me the Arrow writers didn’t really expect us to believe Felicity was truly dead because, as I always say, they ain’t that crazy. You do not throw out the lightning in the bottle. You keep the lightning in the damn bottle for as long as you possibly can until she starts screaming to get out and you are absolutely forced to let her go otherwise you’ll be charged with kidnapping.

But was I laughing my ass off at all the antis who thought this was their year and Felicity was truly dead? You’re damn right I did. SUCK IT HATERS!!!!

Everything was revealed to us in the last three minutes of the show, which felt like the writers throwing a confetti and glitter bomb at us in a dark hole.

AND I WILL TAKE IT. Please and thank you.

We already had a mountain of evidence Mia is Olicity’s daughter, but there are extremely big hints throughout the episode telling us exactly where we are headed.

There is an absolutely beautiful transition from Felicity’s face in the darkness to Mia’s face. In fact, Felicity’s face almost melts into the Mia’s, so it is pretty damn clear Gregory Smith (the director) is trying to draw a substantial connection. These kinds of shots are important guys. This is how Arrow Arrows. Transitions, cuts, focused shots – it’s all trying to tell the story visually. When Arrow cannot give us the answer directly then they will drop crumbs the size and weight of anvils.

Dinah and Zoe are using Felicity’s Archer program to find where she planted the bombs, but thus far haven’t been able to locate them. Roy believes Felicity could have hid the bombs in the old, but still secret, Team Arrow bunker. But of course we know two people who are already in the bunker!

Mia and JJ tranquilize everyone, tie them up, and begin the interrogations. I like these kids. They’re nifty.

Mia wants the codes to the Archer program from William so she can find Felicity. Nobody questions Mia’s ability to kick William’s ass, least of all William, so he doesn’t last long. He also wants Mia to stop hitting Zoe. Awww… this is the Arrow equivalent of these kids playing Legos together.

Mia tells William Felicity is alive. It’s unclear if Mia knows because she has actual proof or if this is more a gut feeling type of thing. Either way it’s significant. Felicity’s circle of trust is pretty limited in the future. If she trusts Mia then she is incredibly important to Felicity. The only other person Felicity has reached out to for help was William, her son, and she sent him to get Roy, the brother-in-law (I’m just calling it like I see it). QUEEN FAMILY REUNION!!!!

This whole “Felicity is evil” angle is total crap too. Toss that nonsense out the window.

I think Felicity, Mia and JJ are trying to stop the destruction of Star City by infiltrating the Glade because Rene’s Chief of Staff is evil. Even if I’m wrong about plot points I am not wrong about Felicity being one of the good guys.

Mia can’t quite figure William out and the feeling is mutual.

William not a vigilante like Zoe, but finds himself embroiled in this bomb plot.

The differences between the two aren’t difficult to see. Mia is street and William is luxury condos. William is tech and Mia is Krav Maga. William is gentle and Mia is punch first ask questions later. To say these two come from different worlds is an understatement and yet they find themselves circling around each other.

She mistakes his interest in Felicity as romantic and we all gagged right along with William.

Mia’s reaction to Felicity being William’s step mother was a massive tell, which means Oliver isn’t the only one in the family with a terrible poker face.

Source: plotbunnyshipper

It was similar to Mia’s reaction when William told her Felicity was dead.

There is a person who cares under that hard exterior. There is someone who loves under all that pain. Sounds like someone else we know doesn’t it?

Oliver made his famous chili tonight, which is something the comic canon nuts have been after for years. But Arrow is going to put their spin on it. The comic canon folks will get their chili, but Oliver is making it for Felicity and William (and not LL like they want and ridiculously still believe they’ll get). It was two spicy for William, but Felicity was having seconds because SHE IS INCUBATING THEIR LOVE CHILD!!!!

Source: lucyyh

Stan the Fan, who was fantastically creepy, put some kind of drug in the chili to paralyze Oliver, Felicity and William. They went to the hospital and Felicity commented on the “mountains of blood” staff took to confirm there were no lasting effect.

DID SHE SAY BLOOD TEST?

I didn’t jump off the ground quite yet at this point. It was a fairly offhand remark from Felicity and I wasn’t sure if they’d reveal she was pregnant at the same time they confirmed Mia’s identity. I know I know. It makes complete sense to do it at the same time, but since when does Arrow ever make complete sense? I was being cautious.

And then all the bombs drop.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Felicity gets a call from the hospital regarding her blood test and SHE’S PREGNANT! THIS IS WHEN THE SCREAMING STARTED!!!!

We immediately cut to the flash forwards. Mia & JJ are fighting Dinah, Roy, Zoe and William. This is a fantastic fight sequence. It really feels like the old guard meeting the new. Roy gets the upper hand on JJ, but Mia gets the upper hand on Dinah. That’s my baby girl!!!!

William nervously holds a gun on Mia, but she’s cool as a cucumber. She knows he won’t shoot.

And why? *saythewordssaythewordssaythewordssaythewords*

Source: katie-mcgraths

BOOM!

BLACKSTAR IS MIA SMOAK!!!!!!

THAT’S DAMN RIGHT SHE IS!!!!!!!!!

My screaming went ultrasonic STG.

It’s so much goodness all it once I almost hyperventilated.

This reveal was like setting off fireworks in this dystopian nightmare world.

I AM ALL IN ON THE FLASH FORWARDS.

Is it awful William and Mia don’t know each other? Of course it is. My heart is broken Oliver and Felicity didn’t get to live an idyllic life, raising their babies in peace, and the city is still a hot mess 20 years in the future. I wouldn’t have picked it as a storyline, but if I was writing this show then Olicity would’ve been married in Season 3 and we’d be on our second set of triplets by now.

I don’t know how the family became splintered, but I am dying to find out. I want to see Felicity reunited with both her son and daughter. I want to know what the hell happened to Oliver. I absolutely want to see William and Mia’s relationship as brother and sister develop. It reminds me of the Season 1 between Oliver and Thea or more accurately Oliver and Emiko now. If everything is a mess in the future then at the very least I want to see the Queen family fighting to make it better. SIGN ME THE HELL UP!!!!!!

It’s not just about the Queen family either. Roy and Dinah officially confirm Connor Hawke is John Diggle’s boy JJ. Finally someone from present day recognizes these kids.

It’s clearly been YEARS since Dinah or Roy have seen JJ. What the hell happened? Where is Diggle? (Thank you David Ramsey for confirming you’ll be in the flash forwards). If JJ is working with Mia and Felicity then hopefully it means Diggle is as well.

“Star City Slayer’ felt like the birth of new OTA (William, Mia and JJ). Did you notice how JJ came running in as Mia interrogated William and Dinah, all protective and concerned for her? My ship is setting sail!

Kat McNamara said in her TVLine interview, “Beth has said they’re trying to combine the best qualities of Oliver and Felicity — his physical strength and her intellectual strength. “

And she is the best qualities.

Mia is the perfect blend of Oliver and Felicity. Everything we saw in the show was put there for a reason - the scotch,

the fight style,

her reaction to Oliver’s documentary,

her reaction to Felicity’s death,

Mia’s intellectual smarts

along with her street smarts.

It was all to show Mia’s connection to her parents. We didn’t imagine anything family. This fandom called it right from the start.

Let’s rewind a bit and go back to present day. I love how Felicity finds out she is pregnant. A blood test is irrefutable proof. Sure, pregnancy tests have come a long way, but you always get a blood test to confirm. I was happy to skip the whole “Is she sure?” trope.

It’s the perfect way for this child to happen. I never thought this baby would be planned. Look at Oliver and Felicity’s lives! It’s going to be difficult to find “a good time” and Felicity is extremely pragmatic. I like how Mia’s arrival is unexpected. That’s life folks. If you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans.

If you are screaming “But birth control!!!” lemme tell ya I know plenty of folks who have gotten pregnant on birth control. It would be easy to miss a step here or there given the craziness of Oliver and Felicity’s lives. I am also of the opinion Oliver “The Sex God” Queen has super sperm.

Felicity is understandably stunned, but she instinctively puts her hand on her belly as she watches William being ushered away to Central City with his grandparents for a “normal life.”

This is the life Oliver and Felicity chose, but it’s not the life their children chose. Felicity’s desire to protect William and her unborn child is completely understandable and what any mother would do. This news is unexpected and life changing, but Felicity’s hand over her belly shows her instantaneous love. Even though this child was unplanned it is already adored.

Source: olicitygifs

I’m not sure if the costume department specifically chose red on purpose, but Felicity finding out she’s pregnant dressed in a red sweater is a beautiful visual call back to Arrow 3x01 “The Calm.”

This is the episode where the seeds of this future were sewn. Their dinner at the Italian restaurant didn’t meet the qualifications of a first date, even though it came with all the nerves, because Oliver and Felicity already knew each other really well. They were already in love.

This was never about one date, a one night stand or even a fling. Oliver put those days behind him the minute he realized he loved Felicity Smoak.

It was always about forever for him.

Oliver is not a man of many words and it’s difficult for him to talk about emotions or the past. But Oliver owed Felicity the truth after their “ruse” to stop Slade. She needed to know there were no lies in that “I love you.”

Oliver tells Felicity how much she means to him and the life he dreams of having with her.

Felicity waited two long years to hear everything Oliver said.

This is why their breakup was so painful.

Oliver wasn’t just saying no to a relationship with Felicity. He was saying no to everything he dreamed. He was walking away from lazy days in bed,

failed omelets,

love ferns,

brown bag lunches,

soufflés,

ying yang kisses,

Christmas trees,

vows in the park,

homework help,

video game wars,

breakfast for dinner,

Thanksgiving,

and experimental cookies.

Oliver said no to a home, children and a love strong enough to build it all around.

Oliver could picture that life any time he looked at Felicity. He saw their children in her eyes. He knew exactly what he was giving up. Oliver gave himself one moment to live that dream

and love the children who would never be.

Anytime you think Oliver only loses I want you to think back to “The Calm.” You think back to the beginning of the series and remember how far Oliver Queen has come. Remember everything he has built with his blood, sweat and tears. We’ve gone from a man who was emotionally cut off, suffering under the weight of his pain, because of his self hatred and guilt,

to one who believes he deserves to be loved, fights with everything he has to hold on to love, and shines his light for the world to see.

The fans didn’t introduce the Olicity baby into the story.

The writers did and they did it for a very specific reason.

This has always been what Oliver is fighting for. Arrow is not just about saving Star City. It’s about saving Oliver Queen too. Felicity’s love and the family they will build together is his salvation.

This family is everything Oliver dreamed of. It’s everything he believed he didn’t deserve. It’s everything he’s fought to earn. Love, family and purpose. This is what it means to be alive. From the moment Oliver stopped surviving and truly started living again, this is the promise he’s always been headed towards.

Mia is the fulfillment of that promise.

She is the final piece to the puzzle.

Mia closes the loop around the life Robert and Moira Queen wanted for Oliver. The life they died to give him.

Maybe the Queen family is broken and splintered in the flash forward, but they will be put back together. Don’t doubt it for a second. Arrow is mass array of broken pieces which will ultimately fit together to unveil the final image. Salvation for Oliver, Star City, his family and the team is all the same thing. It’s all connected. You don’t get one without the other. Oliver will save his family just like they saved him.

It’s also important to remember how far we’ve come as fans who love this romance. We were told constantly Olicity would never happen. The NOlicity haters, L*urivers and antis from every nook and cranny said everything we saw on screen was our imagination. There was never a chance for Olicity. The writers would never abandon comic book canon for a love story of their own creation.

And yet… they did. Felicity became the female lead. Olicity became the central romance of Arrow. We didn’t imagine anything. Everything we saw was intentional. It was real. The smile was magic.

Her belief made him believe.

The lie was the truth.

The kiss led to

the sunset drive.

Everything broken

would be repaired.

Shame

would bring forgiveness.

The bouquet

promised the wedding.

And the dream

would become a reality.

Oliver and Felicity are blessed, and we as fans, are blessed to have them as our OTP.

Olicity and William Clayton

Oy. What a couple of weeks with William. He still hasn’t coughed up a reason for his expulsion, so Oliver and Felicity play good cop/bad cop with him over breakfast.

Is anyone surprised Oliver is the good cop? No.

He wouldn’t have been on the damn boat banging his girlfriend’s sister if Robert and Moira Queen said no when he was two. The fact Oliver continually found himself in trouble with his parents is a clear indication whatever discipline the Queen’s used didn’t work.

In fact, I remember Oliver having this fight with Moira in Season 1 over Thea. It’s a different story when it’s your kid, you’ve been in prison for several months and you just want bond with “Buddy.” Well, hike up the big boy pants and strap on those green tights Oliver. You’re a father now which means NO PANCAKES.

Felicity is the most adorable bad cop to ever walk the face of the earth, but her husband knows better than to question her benevolent rule.

Bae is still Queen. Felicity says one word and it’s see ya pancakes.

Oliver even takes William’s knife and fork away. I died. He’s like a light switch she can flip on and off. Let’s see what else Felicity can make Oliver do! Sounds like a good use of 45 minutes to me!

Source: myhauntedblacksoul

I have to be honest if I was expelled, refused to explain why, copped an attitude and stormed out on my parents I would not live to tell the tale. Instead, I would be buried in the backyard next to our pet bunny Petunia. I had no desire to piss my parents off. I valued my life thank you very much.

William does unload on Oliver and its pretty friggin great. The attitude needs to go, but William makes some valid points.

There’s been a lot of discussion about the “mistakes” Oliver has made and what he needs to do to be a better leader. I’m drawing a blank whenever this topic comes up around the Newbies because they are all awful and Oliver should’ve let them rot in Slabside.

However, the next phase of the Oliver Queen evolution is listening and his teachers are his wife and son. Keep your expectations low fam. Oliver is still a heterosexual male. There’s only so much listening he’s physically capable of doing.

William is cheesed off Oliver went to prison without discussing it with either Felicity or him (FACTS KIDDO), because his father does whatever the hell he wants to do (TRUE STORY). Simply because Oliver was heroically falling on the sword doesn’t erase his inability to ask for opinions.

Oliver feels this is an unfair characterization, but we only need to look at Felicity’s face and to know William’s remarks are on target.

Source: olicitygifs

Felicity changes into her good cop hat and approaches William with Oliver’s world famous chili and a Rubik cube lesson.

(FLASH FORWARD CALL BACK!)

Source: ebett

Oliver acknowledges William’s right to be angry and apologizes. The kid has been through a lot in the last couple years, which is why Oliver wants to bring him home.

It is at this point Samantha Clayton’s parents show up on Oliver and Felicity’s doorstep.

That’s right folks! A ticked off William called Grandpa and Grandma to complain. Jeez William. This is how those awful Lifetime movies about custody battles begin. Put down the phone dude.

I’m laughing right now because I’m imagining calling my grandfather to complain about my parents. He would have reached through the telephone to bop me on the head. Then he would’ve said my parents were amazing, I’m the luckiest girl on the planet and I should apologize right the hell now. Then he would’ve sent me fifty bucks. My Papa was the best.

Grandma and Grandpa Clayton have a different approach. They want custody of William. Sigh. I’m not saying they don’t have a point. They didn’t know Oliver was the Green Arrow and the dude is convicted murderer. He just did time in a maximum security prison! Also, he knocked up their daughter and his Green Arrow activities are pretty much the reason she’s dead. So Oliver isn’t going to win the Claytons over anytime soon.

They may think it is an open and shut custody case, but WHERE THE HELL WERE THEY?

There were plenty of times the Claytons could have intervened, but it takes William calling and complaining for these two to get off their asses? The kid was put into Witness Protection for god sake. Open and shut I think not.

Obviously, Oliver goes growly papa bear and tells them nobody is taking his son. Damn right. He didn’t even get that mad at the Claytons until they insulted Felicity’s ability to parent. I thought Oliver was gonna put an arrow in them. DO NOT SPEAK ILL OF THE WIFEY. HE WILL COME FOR YOUR LIFE AND A LIFE IS WHAT HE WILL TAKE.

I know William is going through stuff, but this is a really dick move. He knows Oliver and Felicity adore him and threatening a grandparent custody battle simply because he’s mad at Dad is completely inappropriate. Anyone can discipline this child at any time. I’ll wait.

Oliver finally finds his angry voice!

There ya go big fella. It’s the same one you use to interrogate suspects, but with less torture. And they say the hood didn’t prepare him to be a family man. Pfft.

Oliver and William basically have it out.

As parent versus child fights go this is a pretty good one. Obviously, Oliver wants to have his son home and give him a normal life, but there is no normal when you are running around in green leather pants shooting arrows every night.

Am I saying Oliver and Felicity should immediately ship William off to his grandparents? No. There’s a way to build the Queen family version of normal. They’ll do breakfast for dinner, but will occasionally be held hostage. It’s a give and take.

Parents have jobs where their lives are at risk every night. Do police officers ship their kids off to the grandparents? No. Do John and Lyla, who work for the least secret spy agency in the world, ship JJ off to Lyla’s parents? No. Zoe isn’t going anywhere. So why is William flipping his shit?

Source: olivergifs

Because William lived ten years with his version of normal and that life was with Samantha. It was a life with no masks, kidnappers blowing up islands or incredibly dull mob bosses. As wrong as it was to keep Oliver out of William’s life, Samantha did insulate their son from all the crazy.

William’s mother died pretty recently and this child has adjusted to a lot. He meets his father, but loses his mother. He gets to live with his father and gains a step mother, but he has to move away from his friends, school, grandparents and city. Then, just when he’s adjusted, everything is torn away again. His father is sent to prison and he’s put into Witness Protection with his stepmother. I understand why William is having difficulty adjusting to the Green Arrow life.

Felicity broaches the subject, but even discussing letting William go tears Oliver apart.

Source: olicitygifs

Felicity thinks William is old enough to decide for himself what kind of life he wants to live. And right now that life is with his grandparents. So Oliver lets him go.

Source: thegayfleet

This is why I’m still mad with writers for killing Samantha.

If the intent was to protect William from all the insanity of Oliver’s life then why kill his mother? Why bring back Raisa? Why send him off with the grandparents when William simply could be splitting time 50/50 with his mother in Central City?

Samantha’s existence didn’t preclude Felicity from having a relationship with him. It would have been interesting to see Oliver, Felicity and Samantha co parent.

The only reason Arrow killed off Samantha was to make Oliver a full time father and for the whole father/son sin cycle to continue. Eh. That was never a good enough reason for me, but especially now because they are looking for an escape hatch to throw William out of. If the endgame was always to route William back to Central City then they should have left his mother alone.

The argument Oliver and Felicity can’t provide William protection or a normal life, when they achieved those things all last season while living a pretty idyllic life, is a lot of nonsense. Yes, I know Oliver went through a time in Season 6 when he hung up the hood, but Felicity was still on the team. And Oliver suited back up eventually. William could adjust to the new normal just like JJ and Zoe have. Are JJ and Zoe getting shipped off to their grandparents? No.

It’s difficult to believe Oliver and Felicity willingly letting William go, even though I understand the kid’s frustration and anger.

Oliver is right. William can’t call his grandparents for back up anytime he’s mad at his parents. But by letting him move to his grandparents, Oliver and Felicity are just reinforcing this behavior! The Queen family needs to learn to fight without someone packing up and moving.

Perhaps, if we didn’t have the flash forwards we would see Oliver, Felicity and William work through this, but the writers want some distance between the three to sell the future storyline. I’m still not even sure this is the “abandonment” William is still bitching about 20 years from now, because guess what son? You left Oliver and Felicity! Not the other way around. It still boggles my mind Oliver and Felicity would allow this given how hard they fought to reunite their family this season.

It seems a little ridiculous to me William peaces out after his dad is released from prison or Felicity being so willing to let him go. William’s present day storyline feels slapped together with tape and glue. It flies in the face of everything this family established in Season 6 for the sake of the flash forwards. I’m having a very difficult time buying any kind of separation between William, Oliver and Felicity no matter how ticked off this kid is.

Of course, as William is walking out the door Felicity finds out she’s pregnant with his sister. I have no idea why William doesn’t know about Mia. I don’t think Oliver and Felicity said goodbye to him forever in “Star City Slayer” so there’s a lot of plot holes needing to be filled. I can’t even venture a guess and I really don’t want to. There’s too much information we don’t have and it feels like a fruitless endeavor. My plan is to wait and watch.

Curtis Holt

The Olicity baby wasn’t the only thing on my Christmas Wish List! Beth booted Curtis Holt off my show too !!!!!!!! YAHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, I felt a little bad for Echo because this was the least important development in the episode. The Olicity baby bomb blew him out of the water.

No, it doesn’t bother me he isn’t dead. I’m perfectly fine with Arrow shipping Curtis off to Washington D.C. for his dream job. I didn’t need him dead. I needed him GONE.

At first, I wasn’t quite sure what route Arrow was going. He tells Diggle about the job in DC but then John, who is determined to piss me off at every turn this season, offers Curtis a bigger job at ARGUS.

He’ll be in charge of their science division because what would we do without Curtis! HE IS SO VITAL.

Dammit Diggle! You had one job! JUST LET HIM GO.

Curtis goes out into the field with the team to hunt the Star City Slayer and I felt certain we were headed into L*urel L*nce territory. She decided to suit up “one last time” before taking her DA job and then BAM! Arrow right to the gut.

Amazingly, Curtis makes it out relatively unscathed and he even saves Dinah’s life with one of his T-spheres. I think. I didn’t really care other than he wasn’t dead. I was too busy thinking, “Shit he better not take John up on the ARGUS job.”

But I was prepared folks. As long as I got an Olicity baby I was prepared to deal with whatever other disappointments came my way.

But NOPE! Beth decided to be Santa Claus and give me allllllllll my goodies.

Curtis decides to take the job in DC. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The minute Curtis said it I went online to buy him 15 plane tickets – one for him and his 14 PhDs.

Of course, he gives full ownership of Helix back to Felicity.

See this is why he needs to go. He acted so magnanimous - like it was his to give. Curtis gives Felicity some pompous talk about finding her purpose. OMG THIS GUY IS TOO MUCH. IT WAS HER COMPANY AND YOU ROAD ON HER COATTAILS. MAYBE SHE WOULD HAVE HER “PURPOSE” BY NOW IF THE WRITERS WEREN’T CONSTANTLY SIDE LINING FELICITY TO GIVE YOUR USELESS ASS SOMETHING TO DO. Ugh. Is the plane here yet? I’m so done with this douche.

Anyways, what matters is Curtis Holt is GONE!!!!!!!

And it looks like we’re full steam ahead on Smoak Technologies.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

I don’t know why Arrow continually compartmentalizes Felicity. It seems to me she could be deputized and work with Team Arrow as Overwatch while creating Smoak Tech. Maybe that will happen, but for now it seems only one activity at the time. But at least her storyline won’t be stripped and ransacked to serve Curtis Fucking Holt anymore. WE CONTINUE TO BE BLESSED FANDOM. ALL MY PRAISE TO JESUS AND BETH SCHWARTZ.

Stan the Fan

Last, but certainly not least, “Star City Slayer” finally delivers a villain worth watching. Stan the Fan is back and is more creepy, diabolical and terrifying in one episode than Diaz was for a year and a half!

Brendan Fletcher is a genius and the smartest move Arrow made was not killing him off at the end of the episode. WE WANT MORE STAN!

The back story even made sense. WILL WONDERS EVER CEASE?

Stanley was abused and tortured by his parents until he finally killed them. Stanley’s older brother, who always tried to protect him, was horrified when he found out. So, Stanley killed him too. Now he seeks out older brother types to look up to and endear himself to. Stanley tries to protect his new “big brother” just like his brother did for him. He kills anyone he believes are bad for the person he admires – friends and enemies alike.

Okaaaaay. My man Stan has some legit issues.

Oliver: My teammates would never hurt you.

Stan: But they’re still bad for you! Worse even because they don’t understand you.

Soooo… not for nothin’ but I found myself nodding along with Stan the Fan.

He was making many of the same arguments many of us have made about the Newbies.

Is Stanley wrong? Are we wrong? HELL NO THEY ARE THE WORST! Is it a little worrisome I’m agreeing with the psychopath? Well sure, but I think it’s find to agree with crazy people when they make sense. Did Stan back into the right opinion via Insanity Street? Sure, but facts are facts no matter what route you choose.

I also completely understood his desire to hang out with the Queen family and make a new team just the four of them. I’ve had that dream myself.

But let’s be clear - I’m not a crazy fan like Stan. I AM COMPLETELY RELAXED ABOUT OLIVER QUEEN!!!

Slicing Dinah’s throat was a step too far over the line though Stan my man.

Source: arrowdaily

I just want her to take a job in Central City like Curtis moved to DC and bring Rene with her. Relocation would have been fine. You didn’t have to fricassee her vocal chords, bro.

I think the scariest movies are when you are physically restrained from defending yourself in any way. You can’t move or scream. The scariest Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode is “Hush” and it remains one of the most terrifying hours of television I’ve ever seen. I’m still traumatized.

Obviously, Oliver can take Stan the Fan in a blink of an eye so the paralyzing drug really shifted the power dynamic. It made Stan a real threat not only to Oliver, but his whole family.

Source: plotbunnyshipper

It’s completely unnerving to listen to a powerless Oliver Queen trying to reason with Froot Loops. Stephen Amell always does such a great job with making his voice melodic like Oliver is trying to lull Stanley into submission.

But you can’t fix crazy Oliver! I love how the Queen family worked together to stop him. William slides the bottle,

Felicity pisses Stanley off to get him to attack her,

and Oliver takes him out in one shot. BAM!

That’s how we do! It’s gonna be so great when all four members of the Queen family are reunited, kicking ass, taking names and saving the city together.

Stray Thoughts

Wait. So Bl*ck S*ren isn’t even IN the episode where Mia’s parentage is revealed. HAHAHAHAHA. Obviously, KC was on her honeymoon and that’s lovely, but it never ceases to amaze me how wrong her fans are. Just when I think they’ve hit a new low they reset the whole scale by digging even deeper into the Pit of Wrongness. Am I being petty? YA DAMN RIGHT I AM.

Ben Lewis’ scream when Dinah shoves William off the platform made me laugh until I cried.

Roy’s parkour made its triumphant return!

When my parents asked me to unpack the groceries it wasn’t a request I could refuse. My parents are lovely people, but next to Oliver they look like the Gestapo! Someone in the Arrow writer’s room needs to take a parenting class.

Felicity’s apartment security system is great and everything, but can’t she install a camera or something so they can see who the unidentified persons are? It’s called The Ring. Quite handy.

Loved the pink. Felicity was checking off all her signature colors. Source: lucyyh

Dinah lost her Canary Cry. Since she was having trouble dealing with being an outed meta it’ll be interesting to see what her reaction is. She doesn’t need to be a meta human to be part of Team Arrow. Although, I think this gives Team Arrow more of a reason to occasionally reach out to Bl*ck S*ren.

This was such a mom moment. Source: EBETT

This was such a dad moment. Source: olivergifs

Followed by another mom moment. Source: olivergifs

The woman loves her man and his chili. Source: feilcityqueen

This is the zenith of my shipper life. I have reached the top of Everest. Time to take stock of my OTP journey.

One taught me patience

One taught me pain

One taught me love

Thanks to @callistawolf for the review title!

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 7x13 gifs credited.

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

#arrow #arrow 7x13 #arrow 7x13 review #olicity #olicity baby #mia queen #mia smoak #oliver and felicity #william clayton #oliver felicity william and mia #queen family #anti curtis holt #arrow season 7 #arrow spoilers #season 7 episode review #season 7 episode reviews #william and mia #anti black siren #anti lauriver

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karazor--el · 5 years

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‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ reveals first look at big bad the Anti-Monitor

The destroyer of the multiverse has arrived.

Below, EW reveals an exclusive first look at LaMonica Garrett as the Anti-Monitor, the big bad of the Arrowverse’s forthcoming “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” With his White Walker-ish visage, the Anti-Monitor looks like the embodiment of multiversal death and thus the opposite of his benevolent counterpart, the Monitor, also played by Garrett.

In Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s landmark series Crisis on Infinite Earths, the comic upon which the crossover is based, it was revealed that the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor have been around since the creation of the multiverse and represent the positive matter and anti-matter universes, respectively. Millions of years ago, they waged a war that knocked them both unconscious for millions of years until Pariah’s (who will be played by Tom Cavanagh in the crossover) experiments on the multiverse woke them up. From there, the Anti-Monitor started consuming positive matter universes, which increased his power, and the Monitor recruited Earth’s heroes and villains to fight him and prevent the destruction of the multiverse.

Even though we haven’t seen him yet, the threat that the Anti-Monitor poses to the Arrowverse started to be felt this week. In Tuesday night’sThe Flash, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) ran into an anti-matter barrier in the Speed Force when he tried time traveling to the day after his death, and Jay Garrick (John Wesley Shipp) revealed that there’s been dangerous increase in anti-matter throughout the multiverse. It turns out that was just the beginning because over in Arrow’s season 8 premiere, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), Diggle (David Ramsey), and Laurel (Katie Cassidy) witnessed the destruction of Earth-2, which was hit by an anti-matter wave.

“It does indicate that ‘Crisis’ is starting earlier than we thought,” said Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz about Earth-2 dying.

As of right now, it’s unclear how closely the TV version of “Crisis” will follow the comic; however, the Arrowverse producers have made it their goal to honor Wolfman and Pérez’s game-changing oeuvre.

“I never feel anything other than a sense of responsibility,” Arrowverse executive producer Greg Berlanti recently told EW about adapting Crisis. “Whenever we do an iconic story line or we do something that reminds us really vividly of one of those books that meant a lot to us, we have a sense of pressure and obligation of ‘Oh wow, we really don’t want to mess this up’ even more so than we usually do. So that fear overrides any kind of other emotion.”

He added: “It’s the closest I ever feel to being a kid again, without a doubt. You just get the same sensation, and you didn’t even realize that you locked it up and put it away.”

“Crisis on Infinite Earths” kicks off with Supergirl on Sunday, Dec. 8, followed by Batwoman on Monday, Dec. 9, and The Flash on Tuesday, Dec. 10. After the winter hiatus, the crossover will resume Tuesday, Jan. 14, with Arrow at 8 p.m. and conclude with Legends of Tomorrow at 9 p.m.

EW.

#Crisis on Infinite Earths

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arrowdaily · 6 years

Link

OMFG, Blackstar is actually Mia Smoak (Katherine McNamara), the secret daughter of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards)! Fans may have guessed this was the case, but finally having it confirmed is still just so awesome. After getting into a bit of a scuffle with William (Ben Lewis) and his crew, Mia was finally forced to reveal that she wasn’t Felicity’s killer, she was actually her daughter.

Although we may have gotten an answer about who she is, we now have a new handful of questions about Mia’s life, her relationship with her parents (why do you go by Smoak, Mia?) and whether or not Felicity could actually be alive in the flashforwards after all. TV Guide caught up with McNamara to discuss all of this and more. Keep reading to see what she had to say!

TV Guide: You obviously have experience with passionate fandoms thanks to Shadowhunters, but were you still a little intimidated taking on the role of the child of a couple that is so beloved by the Arrow fandom? Olicity Baby has its own hashtag at this point. Katherine McNamara: 100 percent! I remember when I first found out. Beth [Schwartz] called me a few weeks after I was cast because of course they weren’t revealing this in the sides. Everything—they were dummy sides. It was a completely different character description for a rookie cop of all things. So I’m gearing up to play this really straight-laced character who really kicks butt and all this, and suddenly Beth calls me and goes, “Oh, by the way, congrats on joining the show, and, um, everything you know is a lie. You’re actually Oliver and Felicity’s daughter, so there you go. Congrats!” I’m going, “Wait, I’m sorry—pause, rewind, replay—, what am I doing?” The Shadowhunters fandom and the Arrow fandom have always been very closely connected, so I’ve seen the massive support for Olicity from day one, and now having watched the show, I completely get it. I’m completely on board as well, but now having to fill those shoes, those are two very large pairs of shoes to fill. On top of that they say, “Yeah, we want her to physically resemble and have the characteristics of Stephen and have the intellect and tact of Emily’s character.” And I’m sitting there going, “Wait, how soon do I have to do the salmon ladder? When do I have to look like Stephen Amell? Because I need some time for this.” But it’s been really lovely and both Stephen and Emily have been really amazing. It’s been such a collaborative, wonderful process, and I’m truly honored to be taking on this responsibility.

Are you excited to see how Olicity fans react to your big unveiling? KM: I am equal parts excited and a little trepidatious just because I know how strong the opinions of the fandom are. A lot of people have figured it out already, so I’m not too nervous, but you never know. I respect the fandom, and I really want them to be happy with this choice and with the way I’ve been bringing this character to life. I think they will be because the show’s done a great job of putting it all together. I’m excited to see what happens.

How much did you try to incorporate Felicity and Oliver’s traits into this character? Because you’re trying to create some truth in her identity, but you’re also trying to keep her identity under wraps. KM: Exactly! Well, as much as possible. A lot of that’s been helped by the dialogue and the situations that Mia has been put in. I did a lot of research. I did as much as I could. You know, the wiki’s online about the comic characters and I had a few months to watch the entire series, so I’ve watched all six—and now six and a half seasons—of the show just to try and pick up on any mannerisms or characteristics or ways of walking into a room or ways they handle certain situations just so I can find those little nuggets that will really make it real for the fans and for all of us.

How much will we learn about Mia’s upbringing and what her relationships with Oliver and Felicity are like? KM: I can’t say much about that, but what I can say is that the next few episodes—and I still don’t know everything because we’re still shooting season 7 right now—but from what I know, the next few episodes reveal quite a bit about Mia and how she was raised and why she is the way she is and why she’s so gosh darn angry all the time. A lot of that has to do with her upbringing and how she was raised, being this kid. A lot of it has to do with the relationship with her parents and that plays very heavily into who she became.

Would you say Mia takes after Oliver or Felicity more? KM: It depends on the situation and from which perspective you look. Physically, she very much takes after Oliver. She’s extremely aggressive in that she takes on situations from the point of offense before defense, and she will take you down before you can take her down, in a heartbeat. Emotions aren’t necessarily her forte. She much more prefers to deal with things on an intellectual or physical level rather than an emotional level because she has trouble dealing with emotions, which we will discover very quickly. But that’s where she lies on the Oliver spectrum. But she has quite a bit of tact. She’s very quippy, very witty, very clever in the sense that Felicity is. It’s very indicative of her childhood, which we do get to see in a few episodes, which will be a lot of fun.

Now that William knows they’re brother and sister, can we expect their dynamic to shift moving forward? KM: It changes everything for both of them and whether that’s for better or for worse we will find out soon.

When can we expect to start piecing together this mystery of why no one seems to recognize her for who she is? And does that play into this bigger mystery of how Star City ended up this way? KM: We start to get little pieces in this episode. Mia doesn’t even have all of the pieces herself, but as things start to unravel and as information gets shared, more and more gets revealed as they get closer and closer to figuring out what this message that came to the Hōzen means. Now that they have more people that have more information, it starts to all build. What it really does is, it shows you how dire the world has become and really the ruin that has come to Star City to force to Felicity and Oliver to go to these lengths to protect their children.

Mia has said she thinks vigilantes were the death of Star City and they got what they deserved. Considering we now know her parents were two of our favorite vigilantes, how did she wind up being so anti-vigilante? KM: She has a very specific perception of vigilantes based on her experience as well as based on the information she had as a kid [and] what’s she’s learned since being on her own. All of that has come together—plus her own personal struggles and pain and hurt that she’s experienced—it all comes together to form this very strong feeling of animosity towards vigilantes and this almost vengeful resentment of them.

Do you think Felicity could truly still be alive, or is this just wishful thinking or denial on Mia’s part to admit that her mom is dead? KM: I mean, at this point, she has really no information. I think at this point in the story she is operating on a blind hope that her mother is not dead. Given that their relationship doesn’t seem to have resolved on the best of terms, she would probably like to resolve that.

We know episode 16 is a completely flashforward episode, so what can you tease about how we’ll learn from spending so much time in the future? KM: I just finished shooting that last week and that is really, really wonderful. I cannot wait for people to see it because that is probably the episode in which you get the most answers and you get to see quite a bit of Mia’s childhood as well as some really key moments that shaped who she became and how she got to be a fighter and how she got to be this really hardened person that she is.

#katherine mcnamara #cast #s7 #interviews #news

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queencanaries · 6 years

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B*th Schw*rtz co-wrote Blind Spot, Time of Death, Canary Cry which are all pretty anti Laurel episodes, though they were all with W*ndy M*ricle.

I wouldn’t consider those episodes anti-laurel, to be honest. I know why some would, though. But to me, those have been Laurel-centric episodes.

“Blind Spot” had Laurel in the centre of the action. Also, she was hella right about the big baddie bad. And there were some cool Laurel/Arrow moments.

I mean, “Time of Death” gets a bad rap. I always thought the Laurel/Oliver hallway scene was a powerful moment (despite Oliver being wrong and a dick), and we got the great Laurel/Sara moment at episode’s end (even though Laurel shouldn’t have had to apologise to Sara but w/e) and then Laurel went to her first AA meeting where Quentin swelled with pride. It showed development for her storyline that season, and done it in some pretty dramatic scenes where Katie really shined. At least the writing gave her material to work with, you know?

“Canary Cry” gets blown out of proportion (imo) with people inflating the whole “Evelyn becomes Black Canary” thing. But I liked it for the sheer fact that it ended with the show cementing Laurel as the only Black Canary. And that’s why the whole Tina Fake bullshit doesn’t add up and was clearly a last-minute decision to fix the backlash. Other than that, the episode actually did right by Laurel, in my opinion. And I stopped watching regularly since that episode - it’s when I went from full episodes, to clips, and now I’m a “read the recaps and watch black siren clips only” kind of viewer, haha. But yeah, I’ve never had a problem with “Canary Cry.”

But anyway, I know what you mean and I know how these episodes can be seen through an “anti-laurel” lens. And my “I actually like them” isn’t in defense of Beth Schwartz at all - I’m actually pretty torn on the whole thing with her and am expecting more Olicity/Felicity than ever before in Season 7.

I think it’s hard to judge how she’ll go based on her episodes. I mean, when Mericle stepped up into co-executive producer position, she had episodes under her belt that made her look promising. Hell, she co-wrote “Salvation” which is a top 10 episode of Arrow for me. But nothing changed. Hell, going through her episodes now -- she’s behind some really great ones. And yet the show has still sucked, haha. So I don’t think it’s an indicator. For me, I’m basing it on how Beth is on her social media, the type of fan-tweets she likes, and it seems to lean heavily on Felicity/Olicity than anything else and that has me worried.

#reply #arrow talk #Anonymous

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wsmith215 · 4 years

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Americans are gobbling anti-anxiety meds due to coronavirus

Americans freaked out by the coronavirus crisis are increasingly turning to prescription drugs to calm their nerves, according to a report Monday.

Health-research firm IQVIA found that prescriptions for anti-anxiety drugs spiked 10.2 percent in March, to 9.7 million, compared with 8.8 million during the same month last year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Meanwhile, prescriptions for antidepressants rose 9.2 percent, from 27.2 million to 29.7 million, from March 2019 to March 2020.

Even more startling increases were reported by other companies — Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit manager owned by Cigna, said that prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications rose 34.1 percent between mid-February and mid-March, according to the Journal.

Prescriptions for antidepressants and sleep medications increased 18.6 percent and 14.8 percent, respectively, according to Express Scripts.

Meanwhile, psychiatrists working for Ginger — a company that provides employers with video- and chat-based mental-health services for their workers — wrote 86 percent more scripts for psychotropic drugs, primarily antidepressants, in March and April 2020 than they did in January and February.

Dr. Bruce Schwartz, deputy chair and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, called the increased demand for the drugs “very problematic.”

“Many physicians have a low threshold for prescribing them,” he told the Journal. “Many people do develop a dependency on these medications.”

Dr. James Potash, director of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine, noted that the most popular anti-anxiety drugs were benzodiazepines such as Valium, Xanax, Ativan and Klonopin.

“They are powerful, and they are powerfully attractive in that they work instantly,” he said.

“You take Ativan, and 30 minutes later you are feeling dramatically less anxious.”

But Potash cautioned that although the drugs are effective for short-term treatment, users can develop a tolerance to their effects in as little as two weeks.

That can lead people to increase their intake, making it hard for them to stop gobbling down the pills — and leading to potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms when they finally do.

Dr. Beth Salcedo, a psychiatrist and the past president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, said that the best ways to deal with anxiety included “exercising, eating well, avoiding alcohol and making sure we surround ourselves with our social support as much as possible.”

If those don’t work, she recommends a type of counseling known as “cognitive behavioral therapy,” possibly coupled with antidepressant medications like Lexapro and Prozac.

Source link

The post Americans are gobbling anti-anxiety meds due to coronavirus appeared first on The Bleak Report.

from WordPress https://bleakreport.com/americans-are-gobbling-anti-anxiety-meds-due-to-coronavirus/

#Coronavirus News

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therapybg · 5 years

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RE-UPLOAD — AWK News 1.2.20: The Anti-Benghazi. [DS] novices no match for @realDonaldTrump

Noble Gold Investments Discover more about precious metal IRAs and 401(k) rollovers with Noble Gold Investments …Give them a call at 877-646-5347 or you can hit the link below and get the free gold and silver investment guide. Gold & Silver IRA Google ———————————————————————– Source: https://qanon.pub/ https://qmap.pub/ Tom Fitton Judicial Watch show Obama/Clinton aware of Benghazi: https://bit.ly/2u9DmOp SICK. Democrat Lawmaker Blames President Trump After Iranian Proxy Groups Attack US Embassy in Baghdad https://bit.ly/36gCVzX Giuliani Says Ukraine Corruption Came From ‘Highest Levels Of Obama Administration’; Wants To Testify, Try Case https://bit.ly/35auuVG Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command https://bit.ly/2ucVIy7 Trump prepares for battle as he deploys 4,000 troops after embassy attack https://bit.ly/2MNi7IM Iran-backed militiamen withdraw from siege of US Embassy in Baghdad as more American troops deployed https://fxn.ws/37xn4xs Iran-backed militiamen withdraw from siege of US Embassy in Baghdad as more American troops deployed https://fxn.ws/2QDZIPJ Vid: Giuliani: https://bit.ly/35j6gbG Pastor talks about POTUS supporting community: https://bit.ly/2MNxT6q Joe Biden tells coal miners they’re basically going to lose their jobs and they should learn to “program”. https://bit.ly/2FfJxCZ Did you know Badr Corps chief Hadi Ameri, who led today’s raid on the US Embassy in Iraq, was once invited to the @WhiteHouse by @BarackObama ? https://bit.ly/2ubWJGJ Juliun’s Rum POTUS misspelling alert: https://bit.ly/2ZKJ0Cr Replying to @JuliansRum The Ah Ha! moment heard the world round: https://bit.ly/36jDI34 ———————————————————————– NEW WEBSITE: https://www.andweknow.com/ Support this channel on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/andweknow PayPal: paypal.me/andweknow410 And We Know Shirts and gifts https://teespring.com/stores/and-we-know-828 Backup Channel: Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/1uDxpDogKMs9/ Twitter Tweets by andweknow Facebook https://www.facebook.com/andweknow828/ Instagram https://www.instagram/andweknow8_28 DropSpace https://drop.space/@Andweknow ——————————————————————————————— Special Thanks to Patreon supporters: https://www.patreon.com/andweknow Dr. Lori Smith; Rene Cooperstein; Lucinda Randolph; Mona Callender; Kay Parker; Abber Lee; Christina Golden; Pimolpan Hanner; Therese Wong; Mary A. Potraza; Dianna E. Kelley; Elaine Weitz; Nic McCormic; Dexter Price; Fred Johannsen; Carla Henry; Jan Walton; T.J. McCall; Delmer Oran; John & Lynn Markward; Delmer Oran; Sylvia Curry; Amélie Renée; Moses Clay; Sharleta Bassett; Joy Ruffle; Rande A Leonard; Robert Poole; Alison Opdahl; Robert Durant; Susan Liberty Hall; Mary Lapp; Trevor Eyster; Wilma Fields; Robert Durant; Dr. Mary M. Lapp; Susan Liberty Hall; Brad Hulquist; Linda R. Partridge; Maroan & Marlena Maizar; Gregory Campbell; Jeff Titterington; Edmond Johnson; Brad Hulquist; Edmond Johnson; Elaine Danan; Red Pill,Christian Warrior; Jan Stickler; Patricia McQuaid; Dale Box; Steve Cameron; Tony Pugh; Rebecca Miller; Rusty Hann; William Kalligher; Timothy Aguirre; Nancy; Patricia Perkins; Fred Ceschini; Kjerstin; Marina Michel; Ross D. Morris; Beth Kearns; Larry Kelly; Lynel Hill; Cheryl Mounter; Rebecca Williamson; Gilbert C. Sanchez; William Kalligher; Rebecca Williamson; Cheryl Mounter; Barbara Hill; Kathleen Robinson; Barbara Hill; Kathleen Robinson; Vincent Paretti; Ron Boggio; Jeffrey Heimbigner; Melissa Messner; Vivian Turrentine; mHIS; Nelsi Ayala; Dana Gilkison; Elise Ross; Kim Hanna; Øystein Solum; Just Ducky; John Wesley; Jill King; Ben Ganther; Deborah Garland; Patrick Bristol; Sal Fernandez; Erik Vereczkey; Sal Fernandez; Michael Law; Rick Nugara; Kip; Janice Gist; Pat Caulfield; Linda Traylor; Billy Jacks; Deborah Hawkins; David W Gruehn; Sherry Carson; Suzann Bang; Jennifer Diaz; Sherry Workman; Karen Kaufman; Maria Sullo; Patricia Wynn; Thomas Sonderman; Fisun; Marianna Schwartz; David Nycz; Jim Cavanagh; Jeffery Belk; Dan Schumann; Sal Fernandez; Janet Bonillo; Joyce Jones; Todd & Lona Arnold; Ann; Lorrie Ross; Joe Drozdowski; Terri Rodriguez Thomas; Tom and Kathy Sherry; Rose Branderhorst; Miranda Blum; Paul Reoch; Luke Moreton; Rebecca Stair: Janice Olmstead; David P. Hall; Peggy Lee; Loretta Walker; Anita Hendershot; Katherine Caldwell; David Florence; Kathyrn Bye; Linda Mohr; Amanda Cornell; Anna Raymond; Cheryl Rodriguez; Brian Harrington; Sheryl Phillips; Jeff Sokol; Dave & Tammy Wynn; Mary Poffenbarger; NK; Marco Garcia The post RE-UPLOAD — AWK News 1.2.20: The Anti-Benghazi. novices no match for @realDonaldTrump appeared first on AD 360. Read the full article

#AD360

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marytagus · 8 years

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Arrow 5x16 - Checkmate - What we Know What we Hope

What we know

Extended Promo

youtube

Synopsis

OLIVER SEEKS THE TRUTH — Oliver (Stephen Amell) gets closer to the truth about Prometheus. Meanwhile, Helix refuses to continue helping Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) until she does a favor for them.

Stills

Cast (from IMDB)

Writers

Beth Schwartz & Sarah Tarkoff

They never co-wrote episodes together. So let’s take a look at one at the time

Beth Schwartz

This is a long list: 1x08 "Vendetta"; 1x13 "Betrayal"; 1x15 "Dodger"; 1x20 "Home Invasion"; 2x02 "Identity"; 2x06 "Keep Your Enemies Closer"; 2x11 "Blind Spot"; 2x14 "Time of Death"; 2x20 "Seeing Red"; 3x03 "Corto Maltese"; 3x07 "Draw Back Your Bow"; 3x12 "Uprising"; 3x16 "The Offer"; 3x21 "Al Sah-him" (Story by); 4x01 "Green Arrow" (Story by); 4x06 "Lost Souls"; 4x12 "Unchained"; 4x19 "Canary Cry"; 5x02 "The Recruits"; 5x09 "What We Leave Behind";

Really Beth, 3x21 was YOUR Story? Really?

Sarah Tarkoff

Cowrote 4x10 "Blood Debts"; 5x05 "Human Target”; 5x11 "Second Chances".

The list is a bit all over the place but, it’s Beth Schwartz, so no surprises there. Nice episodes not much Olicity but not anti neither.

What we expect

The stills give me a two story vibe like I never saw before on the show but, at the sametime, I can’t help but feel that Oliver and Felicity are stepping on the same path.

Oliver steps into Talia’s mini-LoA (or is she rebuilding LoA?) lair, finds and talks to Talia; Felicity steps into Helix lair, finds and works with Alena.

The parallel is screaming at me. Maybe Oliver is reinitiating contact with Talia (the one that turned him into a monster) as Felicity is initiating contact with Alena (the one that “will” turn Felicity into a “monster”).

It's important to remember that Talia never told Oliver she was Talia al-Ghul. Will Oliver find out on this episode? Maybe. The LoA vibe could be enough for him to at least suspect a connection exists. If this happens in this episode it will be Oliver’s shock #1

A seemingly forthcoming Talia tells Oliver that Prometheus calls himself Adrian Chase. Oliver’s shock #2

I believe Oliver will understand Adrian Chase has been playing him. But he won’t know the real extent of Adrian grand scheme.

It also strikes me odd that Talia says “calls himself Adrian Chase”. Can it be that he’s not really Adrian Chase?

Will Oliver confront Adrian? Will Adrian walk up to Oliver? Not sure, but they will face each other, masks off, for the first time, and Prometheus tells it straight: both him and Oliver are playing a game, and he’s 10 moves ahead of Oliver who doesn’t even know what game they are playing. I add that Oliver didn’t even know he was playing a game.

He also drops the fact he has taken Susan hostage.

Oliver’s reaction:

My reaction:

Paraphrasing a Reedit guy (fanboys do understand current Oliver better than I do) Oliver has been “gaga” over Susan for weeks/months, having her in this situation because of him will make Oliver’s head spin and, taking GA attire (even with all the ACU and SCPD after him), he goes out to find her. That’s what I see from the promo. No matter how I feel as an Oliciter I do understand Oliver has to go after Susan, not only because she is his GF (Oh God... help me... I’m feeling sick) but, more importantly, he’s the hero.

Meanwhile, under Oliver’s radar, Felicity is getting entangled with Helix. Helix she sees as something that helps, a group of people like her.

I don’t know how this is going to play out exactly but I wish that the help Felicity asks Helix and that they use to push her on to do something for them in exchange, is Susan related (read Oliver related).

My hopes in all this are not very high. I do think this episode is pivotal on setting up the rest of the Season:

- Oliver finally finds out who his opponent is. Trouble is the opponent has him in deep trouble already

- Felicity takes on her dark path

- Susan is in trouble. Prometheus has her all tied up but I don’t think things are as violent as they seem as Josh Segarra stated there’s going to be some kind of relationship developing and EWR will feel betrayed by Oliver (probably a hint to EWR going to align herself with Prometheus)

- I think Diggle with the rest of the Team will to busy out with Oliver getting EWR and protecting GA from ACU and SCPD. He will probably be too busy to notice Felicity working with Helix.

- A guy on Reedit posted that we will find out in this episode that Felicity joined Helix because of Oliver. Pretty much everything they show us on the show is Oliver/Arrow related, it’s his story. Granted they do a backstory on every character on the Team but Felicity already had hers, every thing they show from Felicity will connect to Oliver one way or the other. So this, for me is no spoiler, besides it really doesn’t tell us anything, did she join Helix to keep away from Oliver? Did she joined Helix to help Oliver? Did she join Helix to protect herself from Oliver? It’s just “joining Helix because of Oliver” which really doesn’t tell us anything. The fact it’s a Reedit guy and that he was unhappy about it makes me think she joins to help Oliver, but this is just a theory not more than that.

- Lexa on interview said Talia is going to ask something of Oliver (something different from what she asked in the past). I’m hoping we can get both Oliver and Felicity in a situation where the ones that made / are making them “monsters” will ask something that they won’t want to do. That would be “walking in the same steps” in present time. Maybe they would decide to deal with it together

Last thought’s

- I’m totally prepared for Felicity dark arc

- I’m totally unprepared to watch Oliver going out to save EWR

- I’m totally prepared for Prometheus to take EWR mask off. Her all act needs to stop, Oliver needs to see who is the real EWR. Telling him is not enough, clearly he needs to see it.

Sidenote: How is it Stephen can’t see that? He’s no troll, why can’t he see that? What did the writers do that isn’t translating on the show?

SideSideNote: See Oliver, wouldn’t it be much better if EWR had just lost her job and cut all ties to you? Maybe she would be safe now.

- I’m totally unprepared for Oliver to be okay with Felicity joining Helix, but I’m guessing he will. They told us Oliver wouldn’t react as we expect, I’m guessing he’s going to be okay with it.

I’m not thrilled about the episode but I think it’s going to be interesting to watch. A lot of build up to upcoming episodes, and major plotlines finally moving forward. No more episodes just to fill in the Season, all major plotlines will be in play.

#arrow #arrow 5x16 #what we know #what we hope #what we know what we hope

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d3sertdream3r · 6 years

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Oliver’s Future

I don’t really feel great about how Arrow is going to end. I’m keeping my hopes up, but I really don’t want the writers to screw up 8 years worth of growth and pain and love that these characters experienced so that they can launch a new show about their kids and give them angsty backgrounds.

After everything he has been through, the literal hell that the other superheroes couldn’t even imagine facing and still coming out a hero, Oliver Queen deserves peace. He descended to the level of the monsters he faced to keep his promise to his father and despite being so broken afterwards, he decided that hope is better than despair. Love is better than hate and bitterness. He has fought so hard, damn it!

If he dies, he doesn’t ever get to see his family again. Yes, he will be resting in peace from the burdens that he has carried since the boat sank, but he never got to see his city saved. Not very satisfying.

If he is alive and was taken from his family, he spent 20 or so years without getting to see his kids grow up and he had to be separated from his wife. Even if they reunite in the future, his kids grew up thinking he didn’t care about them and blaming him for their shitty lives. So yeah. Still not satisfying after all he has been through.

The other heroes want to be superheroes so bad and they get all kinds of praise and adoration and peaceful lives with their families (I don’t think for a second that Barry won’t actually get to raise Nora). Robbing Oliver of his happy ending while all the other heroes get it would be the biggest and final “Fuck You” to the man who started it all and gave these writers an entire universe. Not to mention how insulting it would be to those who have supported the show and loved these characters for 8 years.

I have hope that somehow it will end well, but with Beth signing on the create more shows, my first thought is Star City 2040 spin off and that future is so bleak and miserable for OTA that I just can’t stand it. I’m not someone that can “fix it with fanfic” as much as I wish I was. I love Oliver so much and I have always put so much faith in the writers I hope they don’t let me down!

Here’s to hoping Oliver Queen has a satisfying ending!

#oliver queen #felicity smoak #arrow #olicity #stephen amell #please dont screw this up writers #im counting on you #im so nervous #ota #star city 2040 #beth schwartz #arrow writers #anti arrow flash forwards #no more misery #mia smoak #william clayton

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macman521 · 6 years

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Finally. It’s the end of the Felicity oppressive era. But as of now, I’m sure it’s not going to last. I’ll take what I can get.

#anti felicity smoak #dinah drake #black canary II #arrow #arrow season 7 #arrow spoilers #beth schwartz #anti olicity #anti olicity fandom #anti oliciters #anti olicity stans #oliver queen #green arrow

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jobsearchtips02 · 4 years

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More People Taking Drugs for Anxiety and Sleeping Disorders; Doctors Anxious …

Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications and sleep help have actually risen throughout the pandemic, triggering physicians to warn about the possibility of long-lasting dependency and abuse of the drugs.

” Lots of doctors have a low limit for recommending them. It’s extremely problematic,” says Bruce J. Schwartz, deputy chair and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. “Many individuals do establish a dependency on these medications.”

Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications, such as Klonopin and Ativan, rose 10.2%in the U.S. to 9.7 million in March 2020 from 8.8 million in March 2019, according to the latest information from health-research company IQVIA.

“ ‘ If you’ve lost your task, if you’re fretted if you’ll have sufficient food for your kids, that will keep you up during the night.’. “

— Charles B. Nemeroff, teacher and chair of the department of psychiatry at Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin

Some companies have actually seen more remarkable boosts. Express Scripts, a drug store benefit supervisor owned by.

Cigna,

says prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications rose 34.1?tween mid-February and mid-March, while prescriptions for antidepressants and sleep medications increased 18.6%and 14.8%, respectively. Ginger, which supplies video- and chat-based mental health services to business, says its psychiatrists wrote 86%more prescriptions for psychotropic drugs, mostly antidepressants, in March and April 2020 compared with January and February.

Health concerns, social isolation and the tension of task losses are taking a toll on people’s well-being.

” This kind of chronic stress brings about, for all those individuals who have never had stress and anxiety in the past, it sort of overwhelms them,” says Charles B. Nemeroff, teacher and chair of the department of psychiatry at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin and president-elect of the Stress and anxiety and Anxiety Association of America.

The most popular anti-anxiety medications are benzodiazepines that consist of Valium, Xanax, Ativan and Klonopin. Sleep medications like Lunesta and Ambien are comparable to the benzodiazepines in that they likewise alter the activity of GABA.

Physicians say that benzodiazepines can be a helpful tool and are very efficient for the short-term treatment of intense anxiety. Dr. Potash advises patients to restrict their usage to weeks, not months. The problem, he says, is that individuals can rapidly establish a tolerance to their results– sometimes in just two weeks– which can lead patients to increase the dose. This is particularly the case with the shorter-acting drugs like Xanax, which are likewise abused as street drugs. The medications can be difficult to stop, too. Withdrawal signs can consist of a surge in stress and anxiety, tremblings and, sometimes, seizures. The medications can be particularly harmful for older adults: In senior citizens, their usage is related to falls and cognitive problems.

Due to the fact that benzodiazepines can decrease the body’s drive to breathe, overdoses can be fatal. That is specifically real when they are combined with alcohol and opioids. Overdose deaths including benzodiazepines more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2013, according to a study published in 2016 in the American Journal of Public Health.

Individuals can also develop a psychological dependence, states Beth Salcedo, a psychiatrist in Washington, D.C., and the previous president of the Stress and anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Dr. Salcedo suggests taking other actions to attend to anxiety, including “exercising, consuming well, preventing alcohol and ensuring we surround ourselves with our social support as much as possible.” If stress and anxiety is hindering work or relationships, she recommends relying on the most evidence-based treatments for stress and anxiety conditions, which are cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of talk therapy, and antidepressant medications like Lexapro and Prozac. Since it can take numerous weeks for the impacts of antidepressant medication or treatment to start, some doctors will utilize benzodiazepines quickly in the beginning of treatment to offer patients with instant relief.

Medical Professionals have a few of the same concerns with common sleep medications like Ambien and Lunesta as they finish with the benzodiazepines, especially when taken long term: They can be unsafe when integrated with alcohol, and there are concerns they can be addicting and mistreated. The drugs likewise come with negative effects like daytime sleepiness, often called the hangover effect.

For chronic sleep issues, specialists recommend initially trying cognitive behavior modification for insomnia, called CBT-I. It generally includes “sleep limitation,” or limiting the amount of time individuals spend in bed when they are unable to sleep, and “stimulus control,” which indicates keeping the bedroom committed to sleep and sex.

” Changing behavior is usually a much healthier method,” says Dr. Potash. “It is practically all upside and extremely little drawback.”

Compose to Andrea Petersen at [email protected]

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from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/more-people-taking-drugs-for-anxiety-and-sleeping-disorders-doctors-anxious/

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jewsome · 5 years

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Books posted in September 2019

Here is the list of the 53 books that I posted on this site, JewishBookWorld.org in September 2019. The image above contains some of the covers. The bold links take you to the book’s page on Amazon; the “on this site” links to the book’s page on this site.

A.D.D Diaries of A Mad Curly Mixed Jew: funny stories and poems to live by by Emma Estrada (on this site)

And the Bride Closed the Door by Ronit Matalon (on this site)

Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack (on this site)

Braided: A Journey of A Thousand Challahs by Beth Ricanati (on this site)

Buttons in my soup by Moshe Ziv (on this site)

The Challah That Took Over the House by Melissa Berg (on this site)

Chelm for the Holidays by Valerie Estelle Frankel (on this site)

The Chosen Wars: How Judaism Became an American Religion by Steven R. Weisman (on this site)

The Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found by Bart van Es (on this site)

Faith After the Holocaust by Eliezer Berkovits (on this site)

The Fifth Column by Andrew Gross (on this site)

Finding Hagar: God’s Pursuit of a Runaway by Michael F Kuhn (on this site)

From Mesopotamia To Modernity: Ten Introductions To Jewish History And Literature by Burton Visotzky, David Fishman (on this site)

From the Cincinnati Reds to the Moscow Reds: The Memoirs of Irwin Weil by Irwin Weil (on this site)

Fun at Grandma Sadie’s: A Story for Rosh Hashanah by Sarah Mazor (on this site)

Gertrude Stein Has Arrived: The Homecoming of a Literary Legend by Roy Morris Jr. (on this site)

The Girl in the Haystack by Bryon MacWilliams (on this site)

Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life–in Judaism by Sarah Hurwitz (on this site)

How Could She by Lauren Mechling (on this site)

How The Rosh Hashanah Challah Became Round by Sylvia B. Epstein (on this site)

How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss (on this site)

Hungarian Jewish Architects by Tibor Gottdank (on this site)

Invisible As Air by Zoe Fishman (on this site)

Jackie and Jesse and Joni and Jae by Chris Barash (on this site)

The Jewish Cookbook by Leah Koenig (on this site)

Jewish High Holidays Activity Book (Full-Color Edition): Including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah by Alex Man (on this site)

The Jews Should Keep Quiet: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, and the Holocaust by Rafael Medoff (on this site)

Joseph and the Way of Forgiveness by Stephen Mitchell (on this site)

Judaism Reclaimed: Philosophy and Theology in the Torah by Shmuel Phillips (on this site)

King of The Fruits – Children Story For Rosh Hashanah by Rachel Mintz (on this site)

The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton (on this site)

Maimonides on Teshuvah: The Way of Repentance by Henry Abramson (on this site)

Maimonides’ Grand Epistle to the Scholars of Lunel: Ideology and Rhetoric by Charles H. Sheer (on this site)

The Mitzvah Gang and the Extraordinary Sukkah by Sarah Mazor (on this site)

My Mother’s Spice Cupboard: A Journey from Baghdad to Bombay to Bondi by Elana Benjamin (on this site)

A New Approach to Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur: Based On The Teachings of HaRav Yitzchak Berkovits Shlita by Moshe Kormornick, Zvi Gefen (on this site)

On Division by Goldie Goldbloom (on this site)

Philo’s Heirs: Moses Maimonides and Thomas Aquinas by Luis Cortest (on this site)

Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveitchik on the Experience of Prayer by Dov Schwartz (on this site)

Rereading The Rabbis: A Woman’s Voice by Judith Hauptman (on this site)

Romance Behind Judaica: Celebrating the Richness of the Jewish Calendar by Faydra Shapiro (on this site)

Rosh Hashana / Yom Kippur Guess Who? by Ariella Stern (on this site)

Schindler’s Listed: The Search for My Father’s Lost Gold by Mark Biederman with Randi Biederman (on this site)

Shanah Tovah, Grover! by Joni Kibort Sussman (on this site)

The Shofar – Adventure Story For Rosh Hashanah: Jewish New Year Holiday Story For Children by Rachel Mintz (on this site)

The Song of Songs: A Biography by Ilana Pardes (on this site)

The Song of the Jade Lily by Kirsty Manning (on this site)

Stavans Unbound: The Critic Between Two Canons by Bridget Kevane (on this site)

The Third Daughter by Talia Carner (on this site)

Tishrei’s Holidays-Activity Book for kids.: Coloring Pages. Mazes. The four species. Hidden words game and more by Ronit Tal Shaltiel (on this site)

To Destroy Jerusalem by Howard Kaplan (on this site)

Yitz Greenberg and Modern Orthodoxy: The Road Not Taken by Adam Ferziger, Miri Freud-Kandel, and Steven Bayme (on this site)

Yom Kippur Children’s Machzor by Noam Zimmerman (on this site)

The post Books posted in September 2019 appeared first on Jewish Book World.

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#jewish #jewishbook #book

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jbuffyangel · 6 years

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The New Eve: Arrow 7x16 Review (Star City 2040)

“Star City 2040” is a backdoor pilot and I loooooooooved it! GIMME.

Let’s dig in…

Mia, Felicity and William

The nice thing about backdoor pilots is if the episode is not announced as a backdoor pilot and the show isn’t picked up or doesn’t happen for some reason, then the episode can just be a regular episode. However, if the spin off does get picked up, then the audience will point to this “regular episode” as the one that launched the new show.

This is the situation we find ourselves in for “Star City 2040” and Mia Smoak. There’s no official word yet, but there’s been some buzz about a potential spin off centering on Katherine McNamara’s character and Beth Schwartz signed an overall development deal with the WB. Throw in this episode, add it all up and it spells

“Star City 2040” is setting up Mia’s backstory and the writers don’t waste any time. We open on Felicity delivering the PRINCESS THAT WAS PROMISED (yes that is her nickname) in the Olicity love cabin. Y’all I want the back story on this love cabin. How long did Oliver and Felicity stay there? How much sex did they have? I’m only asking for the important details. For science.

There is a beautiful shot in the mirror as the camera pans into the room where Felicity is laboring.

Source: feilcityqueen

Oliver’s bent forehead is resting against Felicity’s head as she struggles to bring their daughter into the world. Labor and delivery is one of those deeply intimate moments in life no matter who is in the room with the mother. It’s such a simple yet profound moment of devotion from Oliver.

Maybe it means even more because we know Oliver is missing in the future. Felicity is going to raise Mia entirely on her own, but in this time and place Oliver is here, witnessing the birth of their daughter. He is loving and supporting Felicity any way he can. In this moment she is not alone and they are in this together.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Facts. Your affection towards the man who impregnated you dramatically increases once labor and delivery is over. During delivery it may be a different story. For me it was weeks upon weeks of never ending pain, so by the time the doctors knocked me out for the c-section I was pretty much done with everyone.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Felicity squeezes Oliver’s hand tight, her wedding ring shining in the sun, as she pushes one final time. This image of them holding hands as she brings Mia into this world is a powerful symbol of where their story began and what their love created.

The reason we wear wedding rings is because they are an endless circles. The commitment we are making to our spouse is forever. We wear our ring on our fourth finger of our left hand because the Romans believed the vein in this finger lead directly to a person’s heart. Love is eternal.

Their daughter is entering the endless loop of love that resides within Oliver and Felicity’s relationship, the commitment they’ve made to each other and their children.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Mia will always be wanted and adored. Oliver and Felicity’s marriage is forever and, as we’ll soon learn, there’s nothing they won’t do to keep their family safe.

Source: oliverxfelicity

This child represents so much of what Oliver believed he could never have. He was a lost soul who thought life was merely about survival and he didn't deserve one worth living for. Oliver couldn’t fathom being worthy of love let alone creating new life from that love.

And yet he found himself hoping and dreaming. Mia is the final piece of the Queen family and Oliver Queen puzzle. She is proof sometimes dreams come true.

Of course, Oliver and Felicity’s daughter is born in the morning with the sunlight brightly shining on them.

It’s always the light. Oliver lost his innocence long ago, but this child is a new beginning. We can recapture what was lost because children open and fill places in our hearts we never knew existed. Mia shines her light the moment she was born. This is why children are a gift.

Felicity whispers a soft and perfect, “Hi,” as she welcomes her daughter to the world. As the tagline in the 7x16 promo said, “A hero’s legacy is born.” This is how the story continues. What Oliver and Felicity built can live beyond them through Mia. She has her own hero’s journey to walk, but this is how the light never fades.

Source: oliverxfelicity

We watch as Mia grows from a small child, to a tween

Source: ebett

and finally into a young woman through a series of training scenes with NYSSA AL GHUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Source: ebett

YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

I screamed with delight over Nyssa training Mia. Do you believe Mia is a badass? Damn right you do because she was trained by the best. Nyssa trained Sara, who was under her tutelage with the League of Assassins for years.

Mia spent even longer training with Nyssa than Sara did. She has something no other character on Arrow has, including Oliver. Mia was trained to fight almost as soon as she could walk.

Arrow has a bad habit of characters learning skill sets it took other characters (cough*Oliver/Sara*cough) years to learn in a few short months. I’m not just talking about L*urel. Thea and Roy were guilty of this treatment too. However, Oliver trained Roy and Malcolm trained Thea. It took a slightly smaller logic leap to believe those characters could get up to speed in a few months because of their instructors.

L*urel was a mess though. BOXING?

She went from barely being able to throw a bunch, falling off cars and incapable of handling one guy with a knife to taking down five assassins in a matter of a couple weeks. REALLY?

The only mildly believable explanation for her newly acquired skill set was Nyssa trained her OFF SCREEN.

We watched more training with Mia than we ever saw with L*urel and it occurred in a believable time frame. Way to learn the lesson, Arrow writers. BRAVO.

Ready for some petty? I legit cackled, yes CACKLED, they went out of their way to bring back Katrina Law so Nyssa could train Mia. Katrina has another television show and just had a baby. One would think it’d be easier to use an actress already contracted with the show. So many of the antis were convinced Bl*ck S*ren trained Mia or maybe even raised her. After all, Felicity and L*urel have a burgeoning friendship in Season 7, but noooooope! Classic.

I love the shot of Felicity holding a cup of coffee and watching little Mia intently as she trains with Nyssa in the backyard of the Olicity love cabin.

Source: hollandrooden

First, her hair is long again and swept up like it was in 2x08 and I LOVE THAT HAIR STYLE.

Fair warning, Felicity’s hair is really important to me this episode. I’m bizarrely excited she grows it long again in the future.

Second, keeping Mia safe requires more than keeping her hidden. Felicity turning to Nyssa to train her daughter so Mia can protect herself is a direct result of everything she went through with William while Oliver was in prison.

Witness protection wasn’t enough. The bad guys always find a way. When Diaz came for Felicity and William they barely escaped with their lives. Felicity gave as good as she got and saved William, but the only reason she survived was because A.R.G.U.S. showed up.

Felicity Smoak is a badass in many ways, but her fighting skills don’t compare to Oliver’s. That’s just facts. Felicity was never more acutely aware of this fact than when her husband sacrificed himself, went to prison, and left his family wide open for the wolves to feed on.

Felicity can’t depend on the love cabin to keep her daughter safe anymore than she could depend on A.R.G.U.S. or Witness Protection. If Mia has to deal with all the dangerous consequences of being Oliver Queen’s daughter than her mother is going to make damn sure their daughter can fight like her father.

Source: felicittysqueen

This might make me the stupidest person on the planet, but I was really jazzed when Nyssa broke out the bow and arrow.

Source: ebett

We haven’t seen Mia with a bow yet, so I wasn’t entirely sure what her choice of weaponry would be. Listen, sometimes I don’t know stuff and am easily surprised by this show. It happens.

Mia had to work her way up to the bow. She learned all the hand to hand combat first. I feel like it went in the opposite order for Oliver. Didn’t he learn the bow first from Yao Fei and then Slade taught him how to fight later? I need to rewatch Season 1… and maybe write some reviews (ducks as people throw things at me).

Honestly, Mia’s life with Felicity in the love cabin seems almost idyllic in many ways. I’m not saying Oliver missing is unimportant. Of course, he is a huge gaping wound, but when you think about all the ways the writers could have written a miserable childhood for this girl I was surprised by how regular it seemed. The character descriptions for Mia included a wildly unpleasant sounding past, but essentially she grows up in a small town and doesn’t ever venture into the city.

Neither does Felicity. She runs Smoak Tech from home because she is a mind blowing genius who can run can operate a multi billion dollar corporation from a forest.

Felicity’s aging makeup is practically nonexistent

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

because if you came from the gene pool of the immortal Donna Smoak you’d look banging at fifty one too.

Also, Felicity Smoak is the Queen of DCTV and as such it is mandatory she look amazing in any timeline.

How much do I love her hair let me count the ways? It has a very Moira Queen vibe and I dig that.

I questioned if it was Emily’s real hair for a second, but @callistawolf assured me it’s a wig. So it is possible for Arrow to create good wigs. This might be one of the seven signs of the apocalypse. PREPARE YOUR SOULS.

Future Felicity is very… chill. There’s a reserve to her twenty years later. It’s almost a quiet calmness. Still waters run deep sort of vibe. There’s less babble and exuberant cheerfulness, but she’s still Felicity.

Source: lucyyh

She talks boys with her daughter, weaving in all the Wizard of Oz references, without missing a beat in her rapid fire delivery, but there’s a measured tone to it. This is older and, if possible, even wiser Felicity. Life has taken its toll, but it hasn’t stolen her light. Felicity is still our girl and she’s created some kind of happy life with Mia. No matter where Oliver is this is what he would want for his wife.

But Mia is getting antsy to spread her wings beyond the small town of Bloomfield as young women often do. If Oliver was the hero Felicity claims then why does she have to keep it secret? Why can’t she scream she’s Mia Queen from the mountain tops? Yeah, I wanna know that too. Unfortunately, we aren’t offered an answer other than Felicity ticking the “It’s complicated” box.

Source: olicitygifs

Mia shatters a photo of Oliver and Felicity holding her as a newborn. One perfect, happy moment when life seemed limitless and their family felt complete captured on film and frozen forever. The arrow goes through the apple Mia was aiming for and straight through the glass picture frame.

This photo constantly reminds Felicity what she’s fighting for, which is why it leads to the Overwatch lair. Extremely on brand Ms. Smoak. I totally fist pumped when the arrow short circuited the tech and revealed the secret door GoGo Gadjet style. The whole room has a very Dr. Claw vibe, except we know Felicity is not evil, so it’s more like Penny grew up and got herself a do-gooder lair once her uncle retired or something.

The screen savers on the two computer screens are photographs – one of Oliver dressed as the Green Arrow and the other of William with Felicity. The same photograph Oliver kept with him in prison at the beginning of the season.

If you feared William was out of sight and out of mind think again. He was with her every moment of every day. Everything Felicity lost and is fighting to get back encompassed in two photographs. Both are powerful images and we realize how much Mia doesn’t know about her mother.

I love the shot of Mia sitting down at the computer. She is sitting directly in the middle of the split between screens like a missing puzzle piece. The past meets the present and Mia is split between the seam. For the first time all members of the Queen family are represented in one room. The screens are connected and angled at a point. It almost looks like the photos and screens make the shape of an arrowhead and Mia is the shaft.

Mia tries to get into the system and immediately an image of old man Rene and resident Flash Forward bad buy Kevin Dale. We first met Dale in 7x10. Rene had a meeting with Dale to inform him the Canaries have “the plans” and questioned him about Felicity Smoak’s death. More on Rene later though.

The system starts to shut down and Felicity overrides the self destruct protocols. The cat is out of the proverbial bag and Felicity tells Mia she’s been trying to take down a corrupt company in the city as Overwatch. Except, she’s not Overwatch because there’s no team so it’s a totally different thing!

Yeah Mia ain’t buying that either. She gets angry fast and furious style. There are multiple levels to Mia’s anger, which took me a couple viewings to understand because the writers were throwing so much information at us so quickly.

Bottom line is Mia feels betrayed. Oliver being a vigilante is the entire reason Mia was never able to go to a normal school or go anywhere outside Bloomfield. It’s also the reason she grew up without a father. Oliver wasn’t killed in a car crash. He isn’t living in Zurich with his new wife and family. Regardless of what happened to him we know it was vigilante related because that’s the show.

Now her mother, who is the only person in the world Mia loves, is engaging in the same type of behavior that cost Mia her father annnnnnd Felicity lied about it.

Just switch hacking with snorting cocaine. It’s like Mia walked in on Felicity doing a line. Extremely dangerous behavior Mia thought her mother had left behind. She thinks Felicity is a vigilante junkie.

Source: olicitygifs

Of course, we know different. We know being a hero is who Felicity truly is, but to Mia she’s just Mom and she feels betrayed. Felicity tries to explain the promise she made with Oliver, but she can’t really get into what she’s trying to save beyond “the city.”

Listen, I get saving Star City is the entire mission of Arrow, but it doesn’t really pack the same punch as, “I’m trying to save the city so we can be reunited with your brother.” Am I right? Unfortunately, William is another secret Felicity is keeping from Mia. I am confident all of these decisions are to keep the kids safe, but the lies can’t stop the relationship between mother and daughter from cracking.

Mia cannot understand why the lies are necessary if being a vigilante is so honorable. She’s starting to believe the “propaganda” as Felicity calls it, which is more evidence that Oliver working with the police and the city accepting Team Arrow doesn’t last long. Eventually, the city turns against Oliver AGAIN. Ungrateful twats.

Mia is fed up with being kept on the sidelines while her mother plays vigilante. She feels like Felicity has lied for her entire life. Eh. I mean… kind of?

I love Mia but I’m automatically programmed to defend Felicity Megan Smoak at all costs. The writers needed Mia to separate from Felicity, run off to the city, and become a bitter and cynical soul to throw us off the Olicity baby scent. This scene doesn’t entirely work for me in terms of creating a wedge between mother and daughter. It feels a little bit like Mia throwing a temper tantrum, which hey happens with the youths sometimes. I had far less issues with this scene once the episode ended and I’ll explain why in a bit.

Just to play devil’s advocate with my own brain (cause it’s fun), Mia’s reaction isn’t any different than Tommy, Quentin or even Diggle’s when they found Oliver was The Hood. All three were spectacularly ticked off and did not view Oliver’s nightly extracurricular activity as a good thing. Of course, they all came around (some faster than others) and viewed Oliver as the hero he truly is.

Mia is struggling with what she sees and what she’s been told in the same way. She’s been told vigilantes are heroes by her mother, but everyone else is telling her vigilantes are to blame for all the misery. It’s not a difficult to understand why Mia would start to believe vigilantism is to blame for everything wrong in her life too. Also, Felicity lied and her daughter is just ticked off about it.

She runs away from home and writes Felicity a letter that’s basically a neon sign blinking “MY HERO’S JOURNEY STARTS NOW.” We meet a rougher, darker and far more depressing Mia in Star City.

Source: ebett

She chooses the name Blackstar because she wants to be erased. Whatever light we see in Mia isn’t really there. It’s already faded to black.

Yeesh, girl. You don’t need to be as broody as your old man. At least Mia hasn’t skinned anyone for practice, but she’s getting a tattoo and is generally pessimistic about life. Close enough. The cage fighting pays homage to Oliver’s Bratva initiation. The writers want to make sure we really see the parallels because OLIVER AND MIA ARE THE SAME.

In case you missed the Bratva parallel, they follow it up with two more. Mia is doing handstand push ups and she pulls her bow from the case just like Oliver did in the pilot. But they aren’t thinking about a spin off. Nope. Nothing to see here!

Source: mia-smoak-gifs

William and Mia join forces for another brother/sister team up. First up is scaling the wall to enter into The Glades undetected.

Source: ebett

I feel William on a spiritual level in this scene.

This polar-opposite-yet-so-much-in-common thing between Queen siblings is really working for me. Ben Lewis is hysterical and he’s the perfect funny man to Katherine McNamara’s straight man err woman. They are way more fun than Oliver and Thea. I say this as someone who deeply loves the OG Queen siblings, but we never quite found our way to fun with those two.

I also appreciate the begrudging mutual appreciation of one another’s skills.

William marvels at Mia’s physicality while she is thoroughly impressed with whatever tech he’s cooked up.

Source: ebett

Yeah, I could do this for another eight years. Sign me up.

William finally gets annoyed with Mia’s whole anti vigilante shtick. Listen, my little lemon drop love child. You are on a vigilante show. You are the offspring of vigilantes. You are going to star in a vigilante show. It’s time to get on board with vigilantism, Mia. It’s in the blood baby. Listen to your big bro.

Felicity’s coordinates lead directly to Galaxy One. Their headquarters is in The Glades and they are one of the richest and most powerful companies in the world. It’s safe to assume this is the company Felicity was trying to expose as Overwatch.

William and Mia assume Felicity is being held there and they are gonna break her out by going undercover. YASSS! Let’s do this 1x22 style.

Where’s the elevator shaft?

William pretends to be a CEO while Mia is his executive assistant

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

and this is such a feels inducing and hilarious callback to Season 2 Olicity my heart almost burst. William had Oliver’s smug arrogance and pragmatic thinking down cold while Mia adamantly refuses to be anyone’s assistant. Like mother like daughter! But someone needs to tell these kids a single cup of coffee is one of the main reasons their pine tree of a father realized he was falling in love with their mother.

William, as CEO, gets through the body scan just fine, but drops bombshell information on us. HIS NAME ISN’T CLAYTON ANYMORE. IT IS HARRIS.

I know a lot of people have been concerned with the William side of things. If Oliver and Felicity went to such great lengths to keep Mia safe why did they leave William hanging with the grandparents in Central City?

Like I’ve been saying you don’t keep two precious jewels in one spot. It seems anywhere outside Star City was safe, which is why Felicity kept Mia in Bloomfield for her entire life. If we follow that same logic then William should be fairly safe in Central City or anywhere other than Star City. Perhaps, Oliver instructed the grandparents and William to change their last name. If Olicity is afraid enough for their baby to go into hiding and not tell anyone about her existence, I’m thinking requesting a name change for their son wouldn’t be too outside the realm of possibilities.

Connor shows up at just the right time and he’s done recon on the Galaxy One building. He thinks Felicity is being held on one of the sub levels, but they need the CEO’s DNA to get through security - Kevin Dale. And it all starts connecting.

As William works Dale he reveals the name of his company is Harris Consolidated. Immediately, I feel a flood of warm fuzzies as I remember the dynasty which made the Queen family their billions. But then it hits me.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. (Yes. I type all my thoughts. I’m weird. )

William changed his name from Clayton to Harris. How much do you want to bet that when Arrow is all over William changes his last name to Queen? Perhaps he changes the name of his company to Queen Inc. It could be the reason we’ve seen the name Queen Inc. in The Flash’s future newspaper.

All this time I thought Oliver would get the company back, but nope it’s William’s company. I suppose Felicity and William could also merge their companies to form Queen Inc. when Arrow ends and Felicity wants to retire to Aruba with her husband. Of course I could be wrong, but the use of Consolidated in William’s company’s name feels more than just a nod to the past for me.

As William flirts with Dale, so Mia can steal the necessary DNA, he explains the quick success of his company was due to an angel investor named City of Emerald’s Capital. I legit yelled, “It was Felicity, William,” but he couldn’t hear me.

Source: smoaktechs

I’m a tad disappointed a boy this bright hadn’t figured it out yet. Of course, Emerald City is a nod to Felicity’s love of the Wizard of Oz as Mia explains later, but also EMERALD = GREEN. She hung a sign out there kiddo. Pay attention.

Connor has some technology that can replicate a DNA signature and fool a full body scan. Yeah, I don’t really get it, but Connor says it works and where he goes so goes my nation. I’m sold buddy. Also, take of your shirt please while hero-ing. Why didn’t we put that in Joseph’s contract? Someone get me legal!

This feels like more technology Felicity invented and is somehow related to Archer. Diggle did say A.R.G.U.S. would love to get their hands on her technology. If the tech sounds awesome then it is safe to assume Felicity invented it.

Source: smoaktechs

There’s some fun brother sister banter in the elevator because that’s the family way and Mia actually admits to caring about William. QUEEN SIBLINGS FOREVER.

After battling their way through some security goons the trio finally finds Felicity. It is such a great reveal.

Mia: Mom.

William: You are alive.

Felicity: I told you not to come!

Me:

QUEEN OF DCTV IS ALIVE AND IN THE FLASH FORWARDS.

Dear antis and annoying anons in my inbox insisting Felicity is dead,

These writers would rather write the show in the depths of hell while burning in eternal torment than kill Felicity Smoak.

Love,

The Flash Forwards immediately felt 800% more hopeful with Felicity’s presence. God I missed her. The writers must never again keep her out of a timeline for sixteen episodes. It is just wrong and hurts my soul. There are only a few episodes left and I demand my goddess in all show timelines. I shall not be deprived of Felicity Smoak goodness any longer. Yes, I am saying this in my very best Scarlett O’Hara voice.

Of course, she gives the classic mom response which immediately ticks Mia off, but it is William’s reaction to Felicity that touched me the most.

He hugs her and his forgiveness is almost immediate.

Source: felicittysqueen

William truly believed Felicity was dead (thanks for nothing Dinah), so whatever mistakes she made seem smaller in comparison. William is so much like her. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is guided by his compassion as much as intelligence. Felicity never forgot her son. She watched over him and has been fighting every day to be part of his life again. This hug is twenty years in the making.

Twenty years apart is awful. I agree Oliver and Felicity deserved to raise their children in peace together. But this is Arrow and the story is not going to end without a big sacrifice because there is always sacrifice in a hero’s story. Oliver hasn’t “deserved” any of the horrible things that have happened to him. That’s not really the point.

The point is suffering can be redemptive. Good things can come from bad things happening. The upside is the really bad thing already happened. Oliver and Felicity have made their sacrifice, so there’s no way the future isn’t going to end happily for them.

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the reunions in the future knowing this family has been separated for so long, but I found myself quite affected by William and Felicity’s hug. I didn’t have to live through the twenty years. They’ve been separated for a couple of episodes in terms of actual hours spent watching Arrow. I don’t know if relieved is the right word, but as I watched Felicity and William reunite I thought, “Okay. They are together now. They can at least begin rebuilding whatever damage has been done to this family.”

Source: arrowdaily

As Mia watches her mother hug her brother there’s a mixture of feelings on her face. She is happy, angry and maybe even a little jealous. Mia can’t forgive as easily as William and I think part of her envies the way he can access all of his emotions so easily. Mia doesn’t know how to do that yet. It’s almost as if she shut down a part of her heart after her fight with Felicity because the betrayal hurt too much. Sound like someone we know?

Mia is furious Felicity wants to stay and dismantle the bombs because, once again, she is choosing being a vigilante over her family.

Felicity doesn’t deny sacrificing her safety and her family for the greater good. That’s the job.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

Being a hero is who Felicity Smoak is and selflessness requires sacrifice. She can’t shut that part of her down because she’d only be half alive. This isn’t just Oliver’s hero’s journey. It’s Felicity’s too.

Yes, Felicity is a mother, but her love for her children is not all she is. It’s okay Felicity has a purpose beyond her family because women are not just one thing. Fighting for Star City is what fuels Felicity and it is the life she chose. It’s why we love her. Felicity does what others can’t or refuse to do. It’s what makes her a hero.

William, as Felicity 2.0, chooses to help his mother stop the bombs. It is a team up worth waiting twenty years for. Not so long ago, Felicity was explaining to William what it was like loving a hero, the strength it requires and the sacrifice.

As furious as young William was at Oliver for being the Green Arrow and being unable to provide the normal life he craved, he also understood who his father was. Oliver’s heroism is what William loves most about his father and what he hates most. It’s the same with Felicity.

Derek: You stood in front of a bullet for me. I know why you do all of it. It’s what I love about you.

Meredith: And what you hate about me.

Derek: Yeah.

I love these lines from Grey’s Anatomy so much, and I quote them often in these reviews, because it perfectly encapsulates what it is like to love a hero. William and Mia love their parents very much, but it doesn’t mean loving them is easy.

Rene shows up to tell the team the bombs have already been moved off site. I thought it was weird how he used the phrase “impeccable genetics” when describing his daughter, but then I realized the writers wrote it so Felicity could use the same terminology when she dropped the bomb on Rene.

Source: feilcityqueen

LINE. OF. THE. SEASON.

Felicity needs to destroy the brain of the bomb, which is the cube Dale was fidgeting with during the meeting with William. Rene gets the team into the masquerade party in The Glades where Dale will be. Everyone wears a hooded cape and mask, which is a fun homage to Mia Dearden’s superhero suit in the comics.

Felicity and William track Dale

Source: ebett

and Mia zeroes in on him prepared to take him out all on her own.

Source: dcmultiverse

This is another one of those “this feels like a pilot” moments, because Mia’s fight with Dale and his goons is almost exactly like Oliver’s fight in Adam Hunt’s office in the Arrow pilot.

They even turned the lights off. It’s a great scene and proves Mia is just as capable of taking down twenty guys just like Oliver Queen. Plus she gets to throw on her cape in a very superhero way at the end, which is just nifty.

Dale escapes so Team Arrow ditches the capes and a fight breaks out in order to find him. Mia zeroes in on Dale and Connor tosses her the bow.

Source: felicittysqueen

The lights of the party stream behind her as she takes aim at Dale. Mia Smoak looks like a star and she’s anything but faded.

Source: mia-smoak-gifs

The light seems to stretch out infinitely as it guides the arrow along its path. She destroys the cube and stops the bombs from detonating just as the party fireworks explode in the night sky.

Source: lucyyh

Once again, Mia is illuminated like a star in the night sky and looks like the hero she is destined to be – just like her parents.

The bomb plot is foiled, but the team still needs to take down Galaxy One from the inside. Rene will continue to play patsy and has issued a dead or alive reward of ten million dollars to capture Arsenal, Bl*ck C*nary and The Calculator. Galaxy One’s plan was to remake Star City just like The Glades, so they could expand Archer globally which is like Skynet launching the nukes. We don’t want computer programs going global. It always ends badly in television shows and movies.

Felicity thanks William for holding on to the hozen and answering her prayer.

Source: feilcityqueen

It’s a little too much emotional family bonding and makes Mia uncomfortable, so she walks off in classic Felicity Smoak style

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

fueled by her Oliver Queen genetic broodiness. I love this kid.

Mia and Felicity have an outstanding mother and daughter scene where they hash out all their issues. Mia hated vigilantes because she hated her mother. She hated her mother because Felicity lied to her. But no matter how much Mia hated the lie, she also understood why Felicity did it.

It’s reminiscent of the hospital scene in 5x20 when Felicity forgave Oliver for lying about William.

Felicity had to walk in Oliver’s shoes to understand his perspective (and vice versus), which is exactly what happened with Mia in “Star City 2040.” She walked in her mother’s heroic shoes. Mia finally understands the danger, responsibility and sacrifice this life requires, which is how she finally reaches compassion.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Because after everything her parents sacrificed, including a peaceful life with their children, the city turned their backs on vigilantes. Welcome to the Star City Is A Bunch of Ungrateful Twats Club Mia. Have another scotch, honey.

The break in Mia’s wall gives Felicity the opportunity to tell her what we’ve all thought and needs to be said.

Mia Smoak is just like her dad – a stubborn, lethal, compassionate, badass with a heart of gold. Mia loves deeply and when she’s hurt it cuts just as deep, so she shuts down. But she cannot wall her heart off forever anymore than Oliver could because love is what fuels the fire in Mia. Her light is not extinguished. It shines brighter than she ever realized possible because of course it does. Mia is Oliver and Felicity’s girl.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

As independent as Mia claims to be, she also yearns for what any child wants. We all want our parents to be proud of us. As much as Felicity wishes she could keep Mia away from this life and these choices, she also recognizes it is her daughter’s decision to make. At the end of the day, Mia stepped up. She is so much like both her parents. As Felicity and Mia find some healing between them, somehow it feels like Oliver is in the room with them too.

Quite frankly, I am floored they resolved the fissure in Felicity and Mia’s relationship so quickly. I was mentally prepared for Mia to hate her mother at least for all of Season 7 and perhaps well into Season 8. I love that I was wrong. This is the reason why I have fewer problems with their big fight. It may have felt rushed, but since it was resolved within the hour I’m bothered by it less. Now we get to watch Felicity, William and Mia become a united force and find a way together to bring Oliver back to the family he loves more than anything else.

Maybe Oliver is dead and will be resurrected (although I really doubt the writers killed him at this point). Maybe Oliver is simply missing and cut off from his family. We may not know what happened or where he is, but we do know how this family will be reunited. Felicity told us tonight. It’s what she said to Oliver not so long ago, when they were first falling in love, and they often repeated it when whatever struggle they were facing seemed impossible.

“There’s always another way.”

The Yellow Brick Road and the Garden of Eden

There are many references to the Wizard of Oz because it is Felicity’s favorite story. Her Scarecrow remark to Roy in 3x19 wasn’t a toss away line. The reason Felicity Smoak loves the Wizard of Oz is because she loves heroes and that story is one of the great hero’s tales. There are a lot of really important lessons in Wizard of Oz, which we can apply to “Star City 2040” and ultimately Oliver’s legacy.

The Glades/Star City is clearly Emerald City. The twist in Wizard of Oz isn’t when Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch of the West. It’s when she pulls back the curtain and discovers there is no wizard. There is no magic man granting wishes.

All the characters already had everything they needed deep inside their souls to be exactly who they wanted to be. William, Connor, and Mia all have what it takes to be heroes even though they may not fully realize it.

They need to tap into what’s already there just like Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion did. Just like Felicity, Diggle, and Oliver.

Source: lyricalarrow

The grass is not always greener on the other side, which Mia quickly discovers when she leaves Bloomfield for Star City. Dorothy realizes she had the power all along to go back home. She simply had to choose the people she loves. Mia makes the same choice as Dorothy when she forgives her mother and accepts what Felicity has been telling her about vigilantes is true.

The Yellow Brick Road is symbolism that lacks any real subtle because it’s literally the road Dorothy walks on her hero’s journey. It can’t get much clearer. Dorothy never wavers on the road. She is determined to find the Wizard so she can go home, despite all the trials and tribulations the Wicked Witch throws her way. Felicity is Mia’s home. She will always be home and Mia stopped at nothing to get her mother back.

Trust is another massive component to Dorothy’s story. She made friends in the unlikeliest of places and their success was truly a team effort. Each person had special gifts, which proved vital in the defeat of the Witch and ultimately the salvation of Emerald City. Mia is so much like Oliver and she is always ready to go it alone, however she couldn’t this time. She needed William and Connor to help save Felicity. And she will need the whole team to save Star City and her father too.

Honesty is freedom. Once Dorothy pulled back the curtain the Wizard was free of the lie. He no longer had to live behind the curtain hidden away. I view Oliver as the Wizard because what happened to him is shrouded in so much mystery. However, the Wizard is just a man who wants to return to his normal life like Dorothy does. The Wizard wants to be free of the curtain as much as he needs it. This is no different than Oliver needing the hood and wanting to be free of it someday.

Mia: I need to find out the truth about everything. About who our family really is. What I’m meant to do with my life. I can’t hold back anymore. I need to forge my own path.

Mia may mourn for what was lost like Oliver does, but she is at the beginning of her Yellow Brick Road whereas Oliver is at the end. Salvation for Star City is not the eradication of crime. There will always be another Wicked Witch. So, there must always be a hero lighting the road in the dark.

The gift Oliver Queen will give the citizens of Star City is hope. His legacy will live on when someone else chooses to become that hope. And then Oliver will be free to find his happiness at the end of the Yellow Brick Road.

This brings me to Galaxy One being a front for Eden Corps, which is a supposedly defunct terrorist organization that nuked cities at some point. Since Dante funds terrorist organization I feel the Chart of Evil will ultimately connect from Dante to Eden Corps to Galaxy One. It’s all fruit of the same poison tree.

The name Eden is not coincidental. Mia shatters the family photo aiming for an apple. The arrow goes through the apple and directly into the family photograph, which opens Felicity’s secret lair. Eden is from the Garden of Eden or the paradise Adam and Eve lived in until they disobeyed God’s command. They ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil after being tempted by the Devil. Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened and were cast out of paradise.

Galaxy One’s goal is to eradicate vigilantes and create a new world order with the Archer program. This new world is promised to be a paradise behind walls and Galaxy One/Eden Corps decide who lives or dies. It’s like extermination based on zip code rather than religion/ethnicity like the Nazis did in World War II. This biblical reference feels somewhat similar to Damien Darhk’s Genesis plan in Season 4. It is mass genocide in exchange for paradise. Not unlike Malcolm Merlyn’s Undertaking in Season 1. The ends justify the means to these villains.

No one can say with 100% accuracy what kind of fruit Adam and Eve ate, but the apple is the fruit most commonly depicted in popular culture. Mia shoots an arrow through the apple and it immediately launches her hero’s journey. She discovers Felicity’s lair, they fight, and she leaves for Star City. Then she must enter The Glades to save her mother. Mia’s eyes are opened to the truth about her mother even though she doesn’t fully grasp what that truth means in the moment. She leaves her idyllic life in Bloomfield for the harsh reality of Star City.

Mia is essentially at a crossroads in “Star City 2040.” She can either continue alone as a fading star or she can embrace the truth of her past and let it lead her towards a righteous path. The greatest gift God gave us is free will. Every hero has to decide to be a hero at some point.

I often say superheroes are Christ like figures because of their pure hearts and willingness to sacrifice for others at the expense of their own happiness and/or lives. I’ve been teasingly calling Oliver Jesus this season because he is a fully realized superhero. We are witnessing an evolved Oliver who has grown leaps and bounds from the man we first met in the pilot.

Oliver no longer lives in a black and white world. He sees the grey and operates from a true sense of justice where killing has no real place. He lives openly as the Green Arrow, which means no more lies. Oliver has embraced his team and is leading from example. He is far more patient, understanding and accepting of others, particularly when it comes to opinions which differ from his. Oliver has accepted he deserves love and has embraced it. He’s living life fully as a husband, father, brother and friend. Most importantly, Oliver is trying to save his city by instilling hope and honor through his example. His light shines on the darkest corners of Star City.

Do you know what Jesus is also called? The New Adam. Christians believe Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again in fulfillment of God’s promise that one day we’d be delivered from the sin Adam and Eve introduced into our world. Our souls are saved because God loved us so much that he sacrificed his only son. Jesus’ mother Mary is sometimes called the New Eve. She was born free of original sin and remained sinless until ascending body and soul to heaven.

But this a superhero story, so it’s not going to be an apples to apples comparison (HA! Get it?), particularly since this is coming from the CW and not the Vatican. However, the writers are using biblical symbolism for a reason. Star City has gone to hell in a hand basket without Oliver. Eden Corps is essentially the Devil and Star City needs their superhero-Christ-like-figure to deliver their souls from the eternal torment of hell. Cool right? Oliver is that deliverance. He is the Christ like figure. Oliver Queen is the New Adam.

Arrow is not stopping with Oliver Queen. Saving Star City will be a family effort. It’s impossible for Oliver to eradicate crime just like we can never truly eradicate the evil Adam and Eve’s sin allowed into the world. But there is promised salvation.

Oliver may save the city, but he cannot be the Green Arrow forever. He doesn’t want to be the Green Arrow forever. What Oliver wants more than anything is to hang up the hood and live his life in peace. However, in order to do that he needs someone to take up the mantle of Protector of Star City. There must be a new superhero waiting in the wings. Not the New Adam, but the New Eve like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

Mia.

SmoakNHawke

DID Y’ALL HEAR THAT? IT’S THE SOUND OF MY SHIP SETTING SAIL!

Connor gets Mia through security scan because he’s AGENT Hawke. Umm… say what? Honestly, I don’t know why I was so shocked by this. Both of his parents were A.R.G.U.S. agents, but I’m wildly excited and dumbfounded when any of these children pick up their parents’ tools of the trade. I AM JUST SO HAPPY FAM! I’m overwhelmed by the wealth of goodies.

Connor started working on credentials and clearance once he realized Mia and William would be heading directly into the belly of the whale. It’s 100% apparent Connor is going to be the planner in this group. He obtained a pass to Galaxy One as an agent for Knightwatch, which is the good version of A.R.G.U.S. It seems A.R.G.U.S. goes all evil no matter what timeline we’re in.

The details on Connor and Knightwatch are fuzzy for a reason because the writers don’t want to fill all the blanks in the backdoor pilot. Then there’s no show. However, I think it’s safe to assume Knightwatch may be perceived as anti vigilante, otherwise why would the Galaxy One security guard release Mia into Connor’s custody? However, the reality may be Knightwatch is operating on some kind of undercover/double cross capacity.

Long story short – Connor is one of the good guys and he has a badge. So he’s hot and useful. Excellent.

He apologizes for not telling Mia the truth and she responds by slamming him up against a wall.

Oh my friends, scenes like this are how ships are made. Get it girl. I was not expecting this line to come out of Mia’s mouth though -

Source: mia-smoak-gifs

WHAT DID YOU SAY CHILD? DID YOU SAY “WAS ANY OF IT REAL?” MEANING Y’ALL WERE HOOKING UP? IS THAT THE REAL WE’RE DISCUSSING? JUST SO I AM CLEAR – REAL IS A EUPHEMISM FOR SEX?

SmoakNHawke is definitely a go and more importantly THEY’VE ALREADY HAD SEX. You could hear my screams for miles.

Yeah, I know we didn’t get to see anything YET. Listen cupcakes, this is what the spin-off is for. They’ll fill in the blanks. Arrow uses flashbacks and flash forwards. The probability is high the spin-off will too. I ain’t worried about it.

The backdoor pilot just gave us a canon ship to root for without a disastrous backstory like sleeping with sisters or foster siblings hooking up. I wasn’t expecting SmoakNHawke to happen this quickly. The OTA babies falling in love is a wonderful idea the fandom cooked up and I was sure the writers would either ignore completely like most of our good ideas or let it simmer for years on end. We just went from zero to sixty with one sentence. This is a moment to rejoice.

More importantly, if the spinoff doesn’t happen, and this is where the story ends for the Flash Forward characters too, then the writers made damn sure Mia and Connor were a thing before Arrow went off air. They understand the importance of Diggle’s son and Oliver’s daughter being together. It’s Christmas y’all. All we do is win.

Connor assures Mia “all of it” was real and I’m swooning. Felicity asks what Mia’s type is in a later scene and I yelled, “HER TYPE IS CONNOR HAWKE.”

As angry and hurt as Mia is, she still couldn’t let Connor get his ass beat and saves him from a couple of the security goons. I love this flip of gender dynamics. Not that Olicity remain rooted in traditional roles, quite the contrary. However, it’s not all that often we see a female hero saving a male.

Mia is too angry with Felicity’s choices to help her with the bombs. William leaves with their mother, but Connor stays with Mia. He is ride or die. If she wants to help then he’s there. If she wants to leave then he’s cool with that.

They have a pretty epic fight too. Mia can’t decide if she’s angrier about the lying or Connor believing she needed protection.

Mia defines whatever is between her and Connor as a relationship, so I feel they are more than just a hook up, but short of boyfriend and girlfriend. Connor is sorry he lied, but he’s not sorry he stuck around and kept an eye on Mia just like his father instructed because he truly cares about her.

“When you like someone, proximity is a good thing, regardless of how they feel about you." (Pacey Witter, Dawson’s Creek)

They sure fight like they are boyfriend and girlfriend. Connor gives a fairly epic speech about choosing to be a hero and learning how to selflessly share their superhero parents with the world.

Connor didn’t like Diggle and Lyla choosing the city above their family time and again, but as he grew older it became something he admired in his parents. Their sacrifices only made Connor love them more.

Source: oliverxfelicity

I’m curious about Connor’s backstory because he says he chose to be a superhero in training whereas it was more or less forced upon Mia. But today is the day she can make the choice for herself. If Mia walks out on Galaxy One then it is her decision. She can’t put the responsibility on Felicity this time.

Mia simply doesn’t trust Connor anymore and believes he has an ulterior motive just like Felicity and William. So, he uses a little reverse psychology. Mia walking away from danger is exactly what her mother wants and doing directly opposite of what Felicity wants is extremely appealing to Mia right now. God bless the rebellious youth. I swear Diggle must have discussed with Connor how to manage a Queen. This is straight out of the Yoda playbook.

Connor has to earn Mia’s trust back, but their story is just beginning and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Roy, Dinah and Rene

Once again I am the least interested in Team Newbie. Yeah, they are still Newbies after twenty years. I wish I could be more positive about Roy, but he listened to Dinah’s nonsense about Felicity being evil and dead. It’s swell they are all happy Felicity is alive and one of the good guys, but none of them get any points because they believed the worst about their friend who has proven to be a spectacular human being time and again. Dinah’s first inclination should have been Felicity is pretending to be evil to infiltrate a Big Bad because DUH. Morons.

They decide to finally look into Felicity’s death in EPISODE 16 and discover the shock of all shocks, “The case files are a mess.” YEAH BECAUSE SHE ISN’T REALLY DEAD YOU DINKLE TWITS!

Rene confessing he knew about the bombs isn’t a shock because we knew he was in on some kind of plan in 7x10. Galaxy One can expand The Glades in a fraction of the time and he thought Star City would be evacuated before the bombs. Rene being the biggest dumbass to ever live isn’t a shock. That’s just a regular Arrow Monday.

Rene aligned himself with Galaxy because he liked feeling powerful and respected. He was no longer living in the shadow of Oliver Queen. Now he was the mayor who saved the city. Unfortunately, aligning with the Big Bad at any point requires a redemptive arc. It’s great Rene is working undercover with Team Arrow now, but I am not expecting him to survive Season 8.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

Dinah is thrilled to see Felicity alive, but she is not overwhelmed with joy over seeing Dinah. Felicity almost looks distrustful as Dinah hugs her. At the very least she’s ticked off Dinah believed she went all evil. There’s definitely more to the story and everything is not one hundred percent between these two.

The only other piece which interests me is Roy’s rage issues. It’s not Mirakuru related, but it’s completely possible he took a dip in the Lazarus Pit and banished himself to Lian Yu because he couldn’t control the rage. The fact Nyssa is available to train Mia for several years means the Lazarus Pit mission was over. Thea is LOA trained and Oliver’s sister. She would have been Felicity’s first choice to train their daughter, but instead it was Nyssa. This does not bode well for Thea’s fate. Everyone mentally prepare. Thea is dead.

Stray Thoughts…

It’s like Mia was tailor made for us. I will never tire of Arrow sticking it to comic book fans with lines like this. Yes, that’s right folks. The non comic book couple is canon on the TV show and they spawned a non comic book character to carry on the Green Arrow’s legacy. Suck it. Source: oliverxfelicity

It’s a little odd Mia’s first question wasn’t, “Hey! Who is the kid in the photo?” but given the potential canyon sized plot holes this storyline could have I’ll let it slide.

Itty bitty Mia was played by Bam’s daughter. I was wondering where you find a mini ninja and of course she is BABY BAM. Source: ebett

Clary Fray was a pretty physical role on Shadowhunters, but Katherine has really had to step it up as Mia and she’s doing a fantastic job with the stunts. She’s no Stephen, but he’s insane so we won’t grade her on that level of madness.

Oliver’s Yao Fei box keeps showing up everywhere. First it’s on Lian Yu and William digs it up. Now it’s in the backyard of the Olicity love cabin. This thing gets more miles than Delta.

WHAT DOES THE KEY TATTOO MEAN?

Where the friggin frack is Bloomfield? I’m sure there’s some comic book explanation.

The pairing of Mia and Connor romantically makes me smile because I always said Diggle was Oliver’s first wife. Hehehehe.

“Oh good now there are two of you.” William is Felicity 2.0 officially. It’s canon now.

Felicity’s mask was sparkly green. I was wildly excited about this color choice.

I love how Felicity pesters Mia about boys because Donna used to do the same thing to Felicity and it drove her nuts, which is proof we all become our mothers someday. Source: felicitysmoakgifs

I’m still not over Mia’s loft being the same set as Olicity’s loft back in Season 4.

“No one gets to kill my mom except me.” I have a super great relationship with my mother, but I don’t know any woman who can’t relate to this line on some level. Sometimes your mom just drives you nuts, but she’s still your mom and only you get to murder her. Nobody else can mess with her.

Rene didn’t think Roy was alive. Thinking people are dead is like an epidemic with the Newbies. Not blown away by their powers of deduction.

So much same William. Source: mei-pellegrino

Felicity blames herself for Galaxy One and Eden Corps because she invented Archer and somehow the bad guys get their hands on it. However, I do not think Felicity is blaming herself for Oliver. There’s two different trains moving at the same time on parallel tracks. There’s Dante/Eden Corps/the Ninth Circle/Archer and there’s the promise Oliver made to the Monitor. I believe the reason Oliver is missing/presumed dead etc is because of the deal he made with the Monitor. Perhaps Archer is a hurdle when Oliver is finally free to come home to Star City, but I don’t believe it’s the reason Oliver is gone. The reason Oliver was not around to help protect Felicity and Mia from Dante/Eden Corps/the Ninth Circle/Archer is because of his promise to the Monitor and Felicity had nothing to do with that. Source: felicitysmoakgifs

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enchantingtigerbarbarian-blog · 7 years

Text

Index

INDEX

Abbas, Mahmoud, 231, 299

Abe, Shinzō, 106

Abraham Lincoln, USS, 182

Abramovich, Roman, 80

Adelson, Sheldon, 6, 141–43, 178, 289, 309

Afghanistan, 42, 263–68, 275–76

Agalarov, Aras, 254

Agenda, The (Woodward), 116

Ailes, Beth, 1, 4, 223–24

Ailes, Roger, 1–8, 11, 24, 26, 57, 59–60, 147, 164, 178–79, 195–98, 210, 212, 222–23

Alabama, 301–3

Al Shayrat airfield strike, 193–94

alt-right, 59, 116, 121, 128–29, 137–38, 174, 180, 296

American Prospect, 297

Anbang Insurance Group, 211

anti-Semitism, 140–44, 296

Anton, Michael, 105–6, 185, 229

Apprentice, The (TV show), 30, 76, 92, 109, 200

Arif, Tevfik, 100

Armey, Dick, 81

Arthur Andersen, 278

Art of the Deal, The (Trump and Schwartz), 22

Assad, Bashar al-, 183, 190

Atlantic City, 30, 99, 210

Atwater, Lee, 57

Australia, 78

Ayers, Nick, 240

Azerbaijan, 254

Bahrain, 231

Baier, Bret, 159–60

Baker, James, 27, 34

Baker, Peter, 277

Bannon, Steve, 185, 209, 247

Afghanistan and, 263–68

agenda of, in White House, 115–21, 275–77

agenda of, post-firing, 301–10

alt-right and, 137–38

background of, 55–60

campaign and, 3, 12–13, 17–18, 55, 86, 112–13, 201

Charlottesville and, 294–96

China and, 7–8, 297

Cohn and, 144, 146, 186

Comey firing and, 169–70, 211–15, 217–18, 232–33, 245–46, 261

CPAC and, 126–34

eve of inauguration and, 4–10

first weeks of presidency and, 52–55, 60–65, 67–70

Flynn and, 95, 103, 106

immigration and, 61–65, 77, 113

inauguration and, 42–43, 148

influence of, 70, 85, 108–10, 188

isolationism of, 227

Israel and, 140–43

Ivanka and, 146–48, 186–87, 211, 218–19, 221, 257

Jarvanka vs., 140, 174–82, 235–39, 243, 257, 261–62, 272, 274, 277, 280–81, 289–91

Kelly and, 287–91, 294–97

Kushner and, 69–70, 72, 77, 87, 110, 132, 134, 140–48

Kuttner call and firing of, 297–300, 307

media and, 38, 90–91, 93, 195–97, 206–9, 222

NSC and, 103, 176, 190–92

Obamacare and, 165–67, 170–72, 175

Paris Climate Accord and, 238–39

Pence and, 124

Priebus and, 33–34, 110

role of, in early presidency, 31–35

Russia investigation and, 7, 95, 97, 101, 154–55, 157, 170, 211, 233–46, 254–55, 257, 260–62, 278–81, 308

Ryan and, 161–63

Saudi Arabia and, 229–30

Scaramucci and, 268, 271, 274, 277, 281–85

Sessions and, 155, 241–42, 277–78

Syria and, 190–94

Trump on, 122–23

Trump pressured to fire, 173–82

Trump’s personality and, 21, 23, 35, 45, 47–48, 148–49, 158

Trump’s Times interview and, 277–78

White House appointments and, 4, 36, 86–87, 89, 189, 285

Barra, Mary, 88

Barrack, Tom, 27–29, 33, 42, 85, 233, 240

Bartiromo, Maria, 205

Bass, Edward, 56

Bayrock Group, 100–102

Bedminster Golf Club, 165, 213–14, 216, 287–94, 297, 302, 307

Beinart, Peter, 297

Benghazi, 97

Berkowitz, Avi, 143

Berlusconi, Silvio, 100

Berman, Mark, 78

Best and the Brightest, The (Halberstam), 53–54

Bezos, Jeff, 35

Biosphere 2, 56

Blackstone Group, 35, 78, 87, 298

Blackwater, 265

Blair, Tony, 156–58, 228

Blankfein, Lloyd, 144

Bloomberg, Michael, 117

Boehner, John, 26, 161

Boeing, 88

Bolton, John, 4–5, 189

border wall, 77–78, 228, 280, 303

Bossie, David, 58, 144, 177, 234, 237, 301

Bowles, Erskine, 27

Boyle, Matthew, 298–300

Boy Scouts of America, 284

Brady, Tom, 50

Brand, Rachel, 279

Breitbart, Andrew, 58–59

Breitbart News, 2, 32, 58–59, 62, 121, 126–29, 138, 160–62, 167, 179–80, 196, 207–8, 237, 266, 275, 297–98, 309

Brennan, John, 6, 41

Brexit, 5

Britain, 70, 157

Brooks, Mel, 15

Bryan, William Jennings, 45

Brzezinski, Mika, 66–69, 121, 176, 247–49

Brzezinski, Zbigniew, 66

Buckley, William F., 127

Bush, Billy, 10, 13–14, 34, 86, 96, 161

Bush, George H. W., 26, 27, 34, 126

Bush, George W., 16, 27, 44, 82, 90, 126, 128, 138, 182, 184, 199, 205, 225, 227, 264

Bush, Jeb, 21, 56, 138

business councils, 35, 87–88, 239, 298

Camp David, 84

Canada, 107, 228

Card, Andrew, 27

Carlson, Tucker, 140, 205

Carter, Arthur, 74–75

Carter, Graydon, 74, 199

Carter, Jimmy, 27, 66

Caslen, Robert L., Jr., 189

Celebrity Apprentice (TV show), 22

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 6, 17, 42, 48–51, 65, 102, 104, 263, 265, 267

Charlottesville rally, 292–96, 298

chemical weapons, 183–84, 190–93, 265

Cheney, Dick, 27

China, 6–8, 39, 100, 193–94, 211, 226, 228, 258, 267, 269–70, 297

Chopra, Deepak, 80

Christie, Chris, 16, 24–25, 30–31, 210, 242, 279

Christoff, Niki, 78

Churchill, Winston, 50

Circa news website, 159, 257

Clapper, James, 41, 214–15

Clinton, Bill, 23, 27, 54, 58, 90, 116, 123, 128, 158, 225, 228

impeachment of, 201, 233, 280

Clinton, Hillary, 3, 11–12, 18, 35, 69, 76, 87, 94, 97, 112, 134, 141, 144, 164, 204, 206, 233, 253, 269

Comey and, 169, 213, 216, 220, 245

Russian hacking of emails, 254, 259–60

Clinton Cash (Schweizer), 309

CNBC, 143, 207

CNN, 37, 39, 92, 159, 237, 298

Cohen, Michael, 278–80

Cohn, Gary, 89, 143–46, 170–71, 176, 186–87, 190, 229, 235, 258, 261, 270, 276, 285, 290, 296, 304–5

Cohn, Roy, 73, 141

Collins, Gail, 92

Comey, James, 6, 11, 168–70, 211–20, 223–24, 229, 232–33, 237, 242–45, 261–62, 280, 307

Commerce Department, 133

Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), 126–39

Conway, George, 201–2

Conway, Kellyanne, 9–10, 12, 18, 20, 33, 37, 39, 43, 45, 48, 60, 64, 81, 84, 86–87, 91, 93, 96–97, 107, 109, 112, 122, 127, 129, 132, 134, 146, 170, 175–76, 185, 188, 198–203, 205, 207, 209, 261, 269, 291

Corallo, Mark, 238, 257, 259–60, 280–81

Corker, Bob, 43

Corzine, Jon, 56, 144

Coulter, Ann, 29, 128, 138, 201, 205

Couric, Katie, 203

Cruz, Ted, 12, 201

DACA, 280

Daily Mail, 15, 308

Daley, Bill, 27

Davis, Lanny, 233, 238

Dean, John, 212–13

Defense Intelligence Agency, 101

Democratic National Committee (DNC), 101

Democratic Party, 37, 97, 212, 310

Deripaska, Oleg, 17, 101, 240

Devil’s Bargain, The (Green), 276, 289

DeVos, Betsy, 21, 129

DeYoung, Karen, 105–6

Dickerson, John, 209

Digital Entertainment Network, 56

Director of National Intelligence, 86, 214

Disney, 42, 88

Dowd, Mark, 281

Dubai, 39

Dubke, Mike, 208, 273

Duke, David, 141

Dunford, Joseph, 182

Egypt, 6, 81, 227, 231

elections

of 2008, 62, 111

of 2016, 18, 101–2, 309

of 2017, 301–2

of 2018, 171, 309–10

of 2020, 308–9

Emanuel, Rahm, 27

Enron, 278

environmental regulation, 182, 295

Epstein, Edward Jay, 102

Epstein, Jeffrey, 28

Europe, 5, 142

European Union, 99

executive orders (EOs), 120, 133

climate change, 182

immigration and travel ban, 61–65, 68, 70, 78, 95, 113, 117

executive privilege, 245, 278

Export-Import Bank, 271

Facebook, 21

Farage, Nigel, 275

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 6, 11, 42, 96, 98, 101–2, 156, 159, 168–70, 210–20, 235, 244–46, 255, 281

Federalist Society, 86

Federal Reserve, 276

Fields, James Alex, Jr., 293

Financial Times, 278

First Amendment, 136

Five, The (TV show), 273

Florida, 60

Flynn, Michael, 4, 16–17, 95–96, 101–7, 154–55, 172, 176, 188–89, 191, 210, 220–21, 225, 227, 244, 280

Foer, Franklin, 99–102

Ford, Gerald, 27, 90

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court, 95

Fourth Amendment, 16

Fox Business Channel, 205, 268, 270

Fox News, 1–3, 8, 24, 127–28, 140, 159, 195–97, 205, 217, 223, 237, 272, 284, 298

Franken, Al, 151–52

Freedom Caucus, 161, 171

Fusion GPS, 37, 99

G20 summit, 257

Gaddafi, Muammar, 270

Gamergate, 59

Gawker, 308

Gaza, 6

Gazprom, 101

Geffen, David, 12, 178

General Electric (GE), 88

General Motors, 88

Georgia (post-Soviet), 226

Gingrich, Newt, 177

Giuliani, Rudy, 16, 30, 86–87, 210, 242, 279

Glover, Juleanna, 78

Glover Park Group, 203

Goldman Sachs, 55–56, 81–82, 119, 143–49, 174, 179, 184, 270, 305

Goldman Sachs Foundation, 82

Goldwater, Barry, 127

Gore, Al, 123

Gorka, Sebastian, 129

Gorsuch, Neil, 85–87, 133

Grimm, Michael, 310

Guardian, 276

Guilfoyle, Kimberly, 223, 272–73, 284

H-1B visas, 36

Haberman, Maggie, 91–92, 206–7, 277

Hagin, Joe, 186, 229

Hahn, Julia, 236

Haig, Alexander, 27

Halberstam, David, 53–55

Haldeman, H. R., 27

Haley, Nikki, 305–6

Hall, Jerry, 19

Halperin, Mark, 217

Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, king of Bahrain, 231

Hanley, Allie, 127, 139

Hannity, Sean, 68, 195–96, 222–24, 309

Harder, Charles, 308

Haspel, Gina, 157

Health and Human Services Department (HHS), 166

Hemingway, Mark, 38

Heritage Foundation, 162

Heyer, Heather, 293

Hicks, Hope, 13, 26, 109, 150–54, 158, 160, 185, 188, 198–201, 203–9, 213, 216–17, 229, 235, 247, 258–59, 261–62, 271, 277, 279, 281, 297, 307

Hiltzik, Matthew, 203–4, 207

Hitler, Adolf, 127

HNA Group, 269

Hogan, Hulk, 22, 308

Homeland Security Department, 63, 86, 133, 218, 285, 288

Hoover, J. Edgar, 219

Hubbell, Webster, 97

Hull, Cordell, 105

Hussein, Saddam, 27

Hutchison, Kay Bailey, 81

IBM, 88

Icahn, Carl, 20, 141, 211

Iger, Bob, 88, 238

immigration and travel ban, 36, 62–65, 68, 70, 78, 95, 113, 116–17, 138, 288

infrastructure, 224, 295

Ingraham, Laura, 201, 205, 222

intelligence community, 6–7, 41–42, 98, 101–2, 104, 153, 159, 219

Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), 56–57

In the Face of Evil (documentary), 58

Iran, 4, 191, 225–27

Iraq, 42, 49, 128, 138, 182

ISIS, 7, 49, 219

isolationism, 118, 174, 184, 191, 227

Israel, 4, 6, 140–43, 211, 219, 227, 230, 265, 281, 289

Jackson, Andrew, 44, 67, 158

Jackson, Michael, 28, 42

Japan, 39, 106

Jarrett, Valerie, 129

Jefferson, Thomas, 293

Jerusalem, 6

Jews, 73, 140–45, 157, 293

John Birch Society, 127

Johnson, Boris, 70

Johnson, Jamie, 79–80

Johnson, Lyndon B., 6–7, 53, 66, 158, 167

Johnson, Woody, 12

Jones, Paula, 201

Jordan, 6

Jordan, Hamilton, 27

Jordan, Vernon, 78

Justice Department (DOJ), 94–96, 98, 105, 151, 154–56, 168–69, 210, 216–17, 242

Kaepernick, Colin, 303

Kalanick, Travis, 88

Kaplan, Peter, 74–76

Kasowitz, Marc, 238, 259–60, 280–81

Kazakhstan, 281

Keaton, Alex P., 128

Kelly, John, 4, 63, 109, 188, 218, 285, 287–91, 294–97, 299–300, 304–7

Kennedy, John F., 53, 84

Kent, Phil, 92

Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack, 183–84, 188–93

Kim Jong-un, 293

King, Martin Luther, Jr., 50–51

Kirk, Russell, 127

Kislyak, Sergey, 95, 106, 151, 154–55, 218, 236

Kissinger, Henry, 41, 77, 142, 145, 193, 226–28

Koch brothers, 178

Kudlow, Larry, 143, 207

Ku Klux Klan (KKK), 294–95

Kurtz, Howard, 217

Kushner, Charlie, 17, 31, 72, 210–11, 257, 281

Kushner, Jared

background of, 28, 71–76, 80–81

Bannon and, 8, 12, 52–53, 68, 110, 115, 132–34, 140, 145–47, 154, 173–74, 176, 179–82, 187, 191, 207–8, 235–36, 238–39, 243, 245–47, 274, 276, 281, 289, 291, 297

business affairs of, 17–18, 102, 211, 256, 281

business council and, 35, 87–88

Charlottesville rally and, 294

China and, 193, 211, 228

Christie and, 31

Comey and, 168–70, 210–14, 216–18, 232, 243, 245, 280, 307

CPAC and, 132–34

electoral victory and, 10, 12, 18–19, 45, 60, 103, 112

intelligence community and, 41–42, 48, 156–57

Kelly and, 288–91, 294, 305–6

McMaster and, 176, 189, 192–93, 235, 266, 289

media and, 68–69, 76, 146, 202–3, 207, 277–79

Mexico and, 77–78

Middle East and, 70, 140–43, 145, 157, 182, 192, 194, 211, 266, 268

Murdoch and, 73, 156, 179

Obamacare and, 72, 166–68

Office of American Innovation and, 181, 207

policy and, 115–25, 226, 228

role of, in White House, 29–30, 40–41, 64, 69–72, 77, 93, 109, 172, 285

Russia and, 24, 106, 154–56, 170, 236, 239, 253–58, 261, 271, 273, 278, 280, 283–84, 307–8

Saudi Arabia and, 225–29

Trump’s speech to Congress and, 149–51

White House staff and, 33, 110, 121, 140, 143–49, 186, 253, 268, 271–74, 282–83, 286

Kushner, Josh, 69, 166

Kushner Companies, 256

Kuttner, Robert, 297–98

labor unions, 67–68

Ledeen, Michael, 104

Lee, Robert E., 293

Lefrak, Richard, 27

Le Pen, Marine, 100

Lewandowski, Corey, 11–13, 17, 26, 28–29, 204, 234, 237–38, 252–53, 255

Lewinsky, Monica, 233

Libya, 6, 42

Lighthizer, Robert, 133

Limbaugh, Rush, 128, 222

Lowe, Rob, 42

Luntz, Frank, 201

Manafort, Paul, 12, 17, 28, 101, 210, 240, 253–56, 278, 280

Manhattan, Inc., 74

Manigault, Omarosa, 109

Mar-a-Lago, 4, 69, 99, 106, 159, 189, 193–94, 210, 228, 248–49

Marcus, Bernie, 309

Mattis, James, 4, 21, 103, 109, 188, 264–65, 288, 296, 304–5

May, Theresa, 258

McCain, John, 112, 306

McCarthy, Joe, 73

McConnell, Mitch, 32, 117, 301–2

McCormick, John, 167

McGahn, Don, 95, 212–14, 217

McLaughlin, John, 10

McMaster, H. R., 109, 176, 185, 188–93, 211, 235, 258, 263–68, 276–77, 288–89, 298–99, 304–5

McNerney, Jim, 88

Meadows, Mark, 161, 163, 171

Medicare, 165

Melton, Carol, 78

Mensch, Louise, 160

Mercer, Rebekah, 12, 58–59, 121, 127, 135, 139, 177–80, 201, 208, 309

Mercer, Robert, 12, 58–59, 112, 177–80, 201, 309

Mexico, 39, 62, 77, 93, 228

Middle East, 29, 70, 140, 145, 157, 190, 211, 224–33, 242, 264

Mighty Ducks, The (TV show), 56

military contractors, 265, 267

Miller, Jason, 234, 237–38, 299

Miller, Stephen, 61, 64–65, 89, 133, 148, 209, 213, 229, 258, 307

Mnuchin, Steve, 13, 133, 290, 296, 304

Mohammed bin Nayef, crown prince of Saudi Arabia (MBN), 228, 231

Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia (MBS), 224–31

Moore, Roy, 302–4

Morgan, Piers, 22

Morning Joe (TV show), 32, 66–67, 121, 189, 247–48

MSNBC, 66, 106, 247

Ms. Universe contest, 38–39

Mueller, Robert, 220–21, 223, 229–30, 232–33, 238–41, 243, 256, 258, 261–62, 277–80, 306, 308

Mulvaney, Mick, 116, 171, 185, 285

Murdoch, Chloe, 156

Murdoch, Grace, 156

Murdoch, Rupert, 2, 8, 19–20, 32, 36, 60–61, 73–74, 80–81, 93, 121, 147, 156–57, 178–79, 195–98, 223, 289, 298

Murdoch, Wendi, 19, 80, 156

Murphy, Mike, 56

Musk, Elon, 35, 78, 88, 238

National Economic Council, 89, 143–44

National Environment Policy Act (1970), 182

National Football League, 303–4

nationalists, 133–34, 138, 174, 276, 293, 301–2

National Policy Institute, 127

National Republican Senatorial Committee, 112

National Security Advisor

Brzezinski as, 66

Flynn as, 4, 17, 95, 101–7, 191

McMaster as, 176, 188–89

Rice as, 6, 41

National Security Agency (NSA), 102, 223

National Security Council (NSC), 42, 103, 105, 176, 185–86, 190–91, 193, 265, 267

Navarro, Peter, 133

Nazi Germany, 7

NBC, 66, 92

neoconservatives, 4, 128, 227

neo-Nazis, 137, 292–95

Netanyahu, Benjamin, 6, 142, 231

New Republic, 98, 297

Newsom, Gavin, 272

New Yorker, 37, 56, 151, 154, 215, 284–85

New York magazine, 74

New York Observer, 72–76, 141

New York Post, 15, 74, 113, 207

New York Times, 37, 51, 90–92, 96, 151–53, 196, 205, 207, 211, 236, 237, 257, 259–60, 266, 271, 277

Nixon, Richard M., 2, 8, 26–27, 41, 54, 90, 93, 212–13, 222

Nooyi, Indra, 88–89

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 77

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 99

North Korea, 291–93, 297

Nunberg, Sam, 11, 13, 16, 22, 144, 237–38, 248, 282, 291, 300

Nunes, Devin, 170

Obama, Barack, 27, 35–36, 41–45, 54, 61–63, 67, 90, 101, 104, 128, 164, 187, 215, 250, 269, 295

birth certificate and, 62, 295

DOJ and, 94–96, 210, 279

executive orders and, 61

farewell speech, 36

Flynn and, 101

immigration and, 63

Middle East and, 6–7, 42, 183, 190, 225, 227, 231, 263–66

Russia and, 95, 151–54, 156

Trump inauguration and, 43–44

White House Correspondents’ Dinner and, 198

wiretapping and, 157–60

Obamacare repeal and replace, 72, 116–17, 164–67, 170–71, 175, 224, 283, 285, 290

Office of American Innovation, 180–81, 207

Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 116, 185, 285

O’Neill, Tip, 167

opioid crisis, 291

O’Reilly, Bill, 195–96, 222

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 271

Oscar insurance company, 72

Osnos, Evan, 154

Page, Carter, 101

Palestinians, 227, 230–32

Panetta, Leon, 27

Paris Climate Accord, 182, 238–39, 301

PayPal, 21

Pelosi, Nancy, 78

Peña Nieto, Enrique, 77–78, 228

Pence, Karen, 124, 209

Pence, Mike, 92, 95, 106–7, 123–24, 171, 209, 218, 240

Pentagon, 7, 55

Perelman, Ronald, 73, 141

Perlmutter, Ike, 141

Petraeus, David, 263–64

Pierce, Brock, 56–57

Planned Parenthood, 117

Playbook, 171

Podesta, John, 27

Politico, 171

Pompeo, Mike, 49, 51, 157, 306

populists, 6, 24, 31, 100, 113, 118, 142, 174–75, 177, 276, 301

Powell, Dina, 81–82, 145–46, 176–77, 184–88, 190, 192–94, 229, 235–36, 258, 261, 265–67, 276, 279, 285, 296, 306

Preate, Alexandra, 1, 32, 130, 207–8, 238, 249, 275, 278–79, 299

Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act (2010), 24

Price, Tom, 165–66, 171, 291

Priebus, Reince, 77, 86, 144, 146, 150, 166, 171–73, 176, 203, 205, 207, 209, 229, 238, 257, 296, 304

business councils and, 89

campaign and, 9–10, 13, 18, 112–13

chief of staff appointment and, 26, 32–34, 60, 64–65, 67–70, 109–10, 117–24, 243–44, 305

CPAC and, 127, 130–34

Flynn and, 95, 106

inauguration and, 45, 52

Obama wiretapping story and, 159–60

resignation of, 282–85, 307

Russia investigation and, 171, 211–14, 216–17, 232–34, 261–62

Scaramucci and, 270–72, 282–85

Prince, Erik, 265, 267

Private Eye magazine, 74

Producers, The (film), 15–16

Pruitt, Scott, 21

Putin, Vladimir, 7, 8, 24, 37–38, 99–102, 153, 155

Qatar, 230–31

Raffel, Josh, 142, 207, 258–59, 279

Reagan, Ronald, 26, 27, 34, 58, 90, 126–27, 144, 201, 222

Remnick, David, 154

Renaissance Technologies, 58

Republican National Committee (RNC), 10–11, 13, 26, 28, 30, 32–33, 52, 112, 119, 172, 205

Republican National Convention, 21, 26, 28, 253

Republican Party, 2, 18, 30, 40–41, 81, 86, 98, 111–12, 117–21, 128, 161–67, 171–72, 201, 290, 303

fracturing of, 179–80, 253, 283, 306, 309–10

Rhodes, Ben, 41, 154, 159, 185, 215

Rice, Susan, 7, 41, 153

Rometty, Ginni, 88

Rose, Charlie, 309

Rosen, Hillary, 78

Rosenstein, Rod, 212, 214, 216–21, 279

Ross, Wilbur, 78, 133, 229–30

Roth, Steven, 27, 141

Rove, Karl, 57, 238

Rumsfeld, Donald, 27

Russia, 24, 37–39, 92, 151–56, 160, 190–91, 236–46, 273, 303, 307–8

Bannon on, 6–7, 238–40, 278–83

Comey and, 168–70, 210–20, 242, 244–45

Don Jr. Trump Tower meeting and, 253–61, 271–72, 307

Foer’s theories on, 99–102

Flynn and, 17, 95, 102–7, 154–56

investigations begun, 41, 94–107

Kushner and, 41–42, 80, 102, 154–56, 168–70, 210–14, 218, 226, 236–37, 245–46, 254–56, 273, 278, 281, 283–84, 307–8

money trail and, 278–83

Mueller appointed special counsel, 220–21, 223, 229–30, 232–33, 238, 239, 241, 243, 261–62, 278–80

Obama wiretapping story and, 157–60

sanctions and, 105–7, 226

Sessions and, 151–52, 155–56, 245–46

Syria and, 190–91, 226

Steele dossier and, 37–39, 92–93, 102, 151, 156

Russian oligarchs, 17, 81, 100–101, 254

Ryan, Paul, 32, 117–21, 159–67, 170–72, 224

Sandberg, Sheryl, 187, 236

Sanders, Bernie, 5

Sanders, Sarah Huckabee, 229

Sater, Felix, 100–101, 278

Saturday Night Live (TV show), 89, 91, 93, 208, 276

Saudi Arabia, 6, 224–32, 236

Saval, Nikil, 276

Scaramucci, Anthony, 268–74, 277, 281–86, 288, 307

Scarborough, Joe, 32, 47, 66–69, 81, 121, 147, 176, 247–49

Scavino, Dan, 229

Schiller, Keith, 217, 229

Schlapp, Matt, 127, 129, 131–33

Schlapp, Mercedes, 129

Schmidt, Michael, 277

Schwartz, Arthur, 249, 298–300

Schwartz, Tony, 22

Schwarzman, Stephen, 35, 78, 87–88, 298

Secret Service, 84

Seinfeld (TV series), 56

Sekulow, Jay, 281

Sessions, Jeff, 4, 59, 61–62, 64, 94, 138, 151–52, 155–56, 170, 212, 214, 216–18, 220, 241–42, 245–46, 261, 277, 279–80, 302

Sinclair organization, 159

Sisi, Abdel Fattah el-, 231

60 Minutes (TV show), 309

666 Fifth Avenue, 211, 281

Skybridge Capital, 269–70

Slate, 98–99

Slovenia, 15

Smith, Justin, 78

Snowden, Edward, 42, 95

Soros, George, 178

Special Operations, 265

Spencer, Richard, 127, 129–30, 137–39, 292–94

Spicer, Sean, 10, 47–48, 64, 91, 96, 122, 132, 160, 205–7, 211, 217–18, 223, 229, 251–52, 257–58, 261, 272–73, 282, 286, 296, 307

Spy magazine, 74

Starr, Ken, 233

State Department, 63, 86, 228–29, 231

Steele, Christopher, 37, 99

Steele dossier, 37–39, 92–93, 102, 151, 156

steel industry, 67–68

Steinmetz, Benny, 211

Stone, Roger, 13, 17, 55, 288

Strange, Luther, 302–4

Strategic and Policy Forum, 87–89

Suzy magazine, 15

Swan, Jonathan, 299

Syria, 42, 183–84, 188–93, 219, 226, 265

Taliban, 267

tax reform, 87, 167, 224, 290

Tea Party, 5, 18, 26, 33, 58–59, 128, 161–63

Thiel, Peter, 21, 222, 309

Thrush, Glenn, 91, 277

Tillerson, Rex, 4, 21, 86, 211, 225, 229, 265, 267, 296, 304–6

Time magazine, 50, 56, 93, 130, 147, 276

Time Warner, 78, 92

trade, 116, 174, 276

transgender ban, 284

Treasury Department, 133

Trotta, Liz, 223

Trudeau, Justin, 107, 228

Truman, Harry, 61

Trump, Barron, 14

Trump, Don, Jr., 17–18, 27, 204, 252–61, 271, 278–79, 307

Trump, Donald

Abe meeting at Mar-a-Lago and, 106

Afghanistan and, 263–68

Ailes on, 2–8

Ailes’s funeral and, 222–24

Alabama GOP Senate run-off, 301–4

Apprentice and, 30, 76

Bannon and, 1–8, 31–32, 35, 52–53, 59–65, 93, 122, 146–47, 158, 187, 190–91, 232–37, 289, 301, 308–10

Bannon firing and, 173–83, 298–300

Billy Bush tape and, 13–14, 34

business and finances of, 17–18, 36–37, 39, 99, 100, 102, 240, 252–53, 277–79

business councils and, 87–89, 298

cabinet appointments and, 4–5, 86

campaign and, 3, 12–18, 59–60, 66–67, 99, 101, 112, 114, 134, 157, 201–4

Canada and, 228

chaotic leadership style of, 108–24

Charlottesville and, 293–96, 298

China and, 193–95, 228, 297–98

Comey and, 168–69, 210–20, 224, 232–33, 242, 244–46

Congress and, 116–18

Conway and, 146–47, 200–203

CPAC and, 126–39

DOJ and, 155–56, 168–69

electoral victory of, 3, 9–20, 24, 34–39

executive orders and, 61–65, 120

fake news and, 39, 48, 135–36, 152, 168, 215, 237

Flynn and, 103–4, 106–7

foreign policy and, 184, 226–28

future of presidency of, 308–10

Gorsuch nomination and, 85–87

Haley and, 305–6

Hannity interview and, 309

Harrisburg trip and, 209

immigration and, 61–65, 68, 117

inauguration and, 1, 40–44, 47–51, 251

information and influences on, 70–71, 108–9, 113–16, 188, 192–93

intelligence briefings and, 115

intelligence community and, 41–42

Israel and, 231

Ivanka and, 69–71, 79–80, 181, 187, 237, 252, 257–58, 290

Jews and, 140–44

Kelly as chief of staff and, 285–91, 294–97, 304–7

Kislyak meeting in Oval Office and, 218–19

Kushner and, 40, 69–73, 93, 122, 126, 142, 145, 179, 181–82, 211, 252–53, 290

McMaster and, 188–90, 193, 289

media and, 34–35, 39, 46–47, 51, 74–76, 89–93, 96–99, 195–209, 215, 224, 247–51, 260

Melania and, 14–15, 43

Mercers and, 178–80

Mexico and, 77–78, 228

Mueller investigation and, 220–21, 223, 229–30, 232–33, 238–41, 243, 256, 258, 261–62, 277–80, 306, 308

Murdoch and, 19–20, 60–61

New York Times interview of, 277

NFL controversy and, 303–4

nightly phone calls and, 85, 92, 121–23, 158, 188, 210, 215, 230, 279

normalizing influences on, 138, 179, 183–88

North Korea and, 106, 291–93, 298

Obamacare and, 164–71, 175, 224, 283

Obama wiretapping accusation and, 157–60

O’Reilly and, 196–97

pardon power and, 256

Paris Climate Accord and, 238–39

Pence and, 123

personality and behavior of, 21–24, 35, 54–55, 70–73, 83, 114, 158, 232, 242–31, 248, 303

phone calls with foreign leaders, 78

political style of, 45–48, 249–51

popular vote and, 34

press secretary and, 110, 205–6, 272–74

Priebus as chief of staff and, 26–34, 109–10, 122, 146, 187, 243, 285

Republican Party and, 112, 163

right wing and, 196–97, 222–23, 237

Russia and, 24, 37–39, 41, 95–107, 151–54, 168, 190–91, 212, 218–21, 236–42, 244–45, 253–62, 271–72, 278–79, 283, 303, 307–8

Saudi Arabia and, 224–32

Scaramucci and, 269–71, 273–74, 282–84

Scarborough and Brzezinski and, 66–69, 247–49

Sessions and, 155–56, 241–42, 245, 277, 284

sexual harassment and, 23, 238

sons and, 252–53

speaking style of, 135–37

speech at Huntsville for Strange, 303–4

speech to Boy Scouts, 284

speech to CIA, 48–51, 65

speech to joint session of Congress, 147–50

staff doubts about, 186, 232–33, 242–43, 304–5

staff infighting and, 122–23

Syria and, 183–84, 188–93

tax reform and, 224

tax returns and, 18, 278

television and, 113, 150, 188, 197

transition and, 24–36, 103, 110, 112, 144

White House Correspondents’ dinner and, 198–99, 208–9

White House living quarters and, 70, 83–85, 90–92

women as confidants of, 199–200

Yates and, 94–96, 98, 214–16

Trump, Eric, 17, 27, 252–53

Trump, Freddy (brother), 72

Trump, Fred (father), 72, 90, 295

Trump, Ivanka, 13, 15, 17–19, 64

Afghanistan and, 266–68

background of, 73, 75, 78–81, 141, 179

Bannon and, 145, 147, 174, 176, 179–81, 187, 208, 235–39, 243, 261–62, 267, 274, 276, 280–81, 289, 291, 297

Charlottesville rally and, 294

China dinner and, 194

Christie and, 31

Comey and, 170, 210–13, 216–17, 233, 237, 245, 261–62

Haley and, 305

Kelly and, 288–90, 306

media and, 156, 202–3, 207, 272–73, 277–79

Obamacare and, 166

Paris Climate Accord and, 239

Powell and, 81–82, 140, 145–46, 186–88

Russia and, 239, 256–58, 261–62, 273, 307–8

Saudi Arabia and, 229, 231

Syria and, 190, 192

White House role of, 68–71, 78–81, 118–19, 181, 187, 200, 252, 285

White House staff and, 124, 146–48, 202–3, 268, 272–73, 282–83, 286, 289

Trump, Melania, 14–15, 18, 29, 43–44, 84, 229, 231, 291, 308

Trump International Hotels, 43, 200–201, 298, 300

Trump SoHo, 210

Trump Tower, 25, 35–37, 60, 83–84, 100, 108

Don Jr. meeting with Russians at, 253–61, 271–72, 307

Kislyak meeting with Kushner and Flynn at, 154

surveillance of, 158–59

Turkey, 104, 226

Twenty-Fifth Amendment, 297, 308

Uber, 78, 88

Ukraine, 101, 226, 240

U.S. Congress, 41, 61, 98, 120, 147–49, 152, 163, 165, 166, 216–17, 238–39, 244, 306, 310

U.S. Constitution, 16

U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee, 162

Intelligence Committee, 168, 170

Obamacare repeal and, 161–62, 171–72

Ways and Means Committee, 162

U.S. Senate, 59, 94

Judiciary Committee, Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee, 214–15

Foreign Relations Committee, 43

Intelligence Committee, 242, 244–45

Obamacare and, 283, 285

US Steel, 67

U.S. Supreme Court, 85–86, 251

University of Virginia, “Unite the Right” rally at, 293–94

unmasking, 96, 160

Vanity Fair, 74, 75, 199

Venezuela, 293

Vietnam War, 53, 264

Vogue, 35

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, 201, 269

Walker, Scott, 33

Wall Street 2 (film), 270

Walsh, Katie, 10, 18, 52, 64, 110–17, 119–25, 144, 161, 163, 168, 171–72, 181–82, 187, 239, 303

Washington Post, 35, 37, 56, 78, 95–97, 105–6, 151–52, 155, 206, 211, 236, 237, 266

Washington Times, 129

Watergate scandal, 212–13, 278

Weekly Standard, 38

Weinstein, Harvey, 203

Weissmann, Andrew, 278

Welch, Jack, 88

West Bank, 6

White House communications director

Dubke as, 208

Hicks as, 297, 307

Scaramuccci as, 273–74, 281–86

White House Correspondents’ Dinner, 198–99, 208

White House ethics office, 270

White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, 270–71

white supremacy, 127, 138, 293–96

Whitewater affair, 58, 97

WikiLeaks, 153, 254

Wintour, Anna, 35–36

Wirthlin, Richard, 201

Women Who Work (Ivanka Trump), 79

Woodward, Bob, 54, 116

World Bank, 257

World Wrestling Entertainment, 22

Wynn, Steve, 30

Xi Jinping, 193, 228, 258

Yaffa, Joshua, 154

Yahoo! News, 37

Yanukovych, Viktor, 101

Yates, Sally, 94–96, 98, 104, 214–16

Yemen, 6

Yiannopoulos, Milo, 128–28, 138

Zhukova, Dasha, 80

Zucker, Jeff, 92

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MICHAEL WOLFF has received numerous awards for his work, including two National Magazine Awards. He has been a regular columnist for Vanity Fair, New York, The Hollywood Reporter, British GQ, USA Today, and The Guardian. He is the author of six prior books, including the bestselling Burn Rate and The Man Who Owns the News. He lives in Manhattan and has four children.

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