Okay guys, I’m keeping this one short(ish) & sweet. Mainly because I was a little confused for a good part of the episode.

Let me start with this week’s amellyfact…

“The Felicity Smoak sequence was filmed in the CBC buildings in Vancouver and the wall climbing sequence used a wife for safety, not assistance.”

First: I’ve only been to Vancouver once. I wasn’t in love with it but I have plans to go back & give it another chance. Not that you guys care about that…my point is that I don’t know Vancouver well (or at all, really) so I don’t know where the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) buildings are or if there’s serious relevance beyond it just being cool that the CW shot our Canadian boy in the offices of a Canadian TV network that doesn’t air the show…I’m probably thinking way too hard about this. Or not hard enough.

Second: For clarity, I copied this amellyfact directly from Stephen’s email…the typo is his. I included it ‘cuz I’m an asshole but also because I thought it was funny. Seriously, if safety wives are a thing I want to know where to apply. I probably wouldn’t mind them using me.

Obviously he meant they used a wire for safety. The wire sounds less comfortable than a wife.

• YES!!! Seconds into the episode and we get SHIRTLESS OLIVER!!! I hope that they’re just setting the theme for the rest of the show with this. (I’m totally channelling my girl Megs here…she’s mastered the art of blatantly objectifying Stephen…to his face, really. Deceivingly, I try to maintain a little sense of decorum in public. He doesn’t need to know that licking the TV screen in the privacy of my own home may or may not be a thing I do.)
• Shit. From licking abs (and backs & shoulders) (figuratively) to Oliver referring to ‘evils’ as ‘cancers’. I don’t like this. Just because I don’t like the reference. I mean, I get it…Cancer IS evil and I think we’ve all been affected by Cancer in some way…I just hate the reminder. It’s a personal thing.
• And THEN…Jesus. Amell delivers this line: “But, cancers can be fought & conquered. All it takes is a surgeon and the right instrument.” And then I was ugly crying buckets of tears. For real. If you’re following Stephen on Twitter or Facebook, you know his mother is a Breast Cancer survivor. A recent survivor. Stephen’s been sharing little pieces of her story since April(ish) and his support of her and her attitude throughout has been beautiful & inspiring. So, my ugly tears were for people in MY life but also for Stephen being able to just say that line & thinking of the meaning of it for him & his mom. He essentially got to say his “Fuck You Cancer” on TV.
• Okay…enough of the heavy stuff. Heavy for me anyway. By the way…this could’ve been why I wasn’t paying as close attention as I usually do & ended up confused. The mind is a powerful thing. Mine was wandering. Anyway…
• Clearly this sniper dude is the “Deadshot” guy everybody’s talking about? (I’m starting to REALLY fear that I’m not comic book qualified enough to be doing this review.)
• 2 MINUTES IN AND ANOTHER SHIRTLESS SCENE!! Mind you, he’s sewing himself up & that’s making me need to look away from the TV. Not cool.
• The poison bullet  thing is fancy. So, here’s the way I saw this scene…dude shoots/poisons Arrow….ends up hacking into his computer system…is that what that was? When Oliver was looking at his computer screen and saw the clock? But Ollie just leaves…doesn’t try to stop the download…IF that’s what was even happening…was it really just a clock & Oliver figured out he was late & Dig was gonna be pissed?? Did I miss something? See!? I’m confused.
• Badass Thea’s all hungover & shit…after committing a B&E with her girls…and her mother’s just gonna let her skip school? Nuh uh. No ma’am. You’re going to school. Probably boarding school. More than likely, boot camp for teenage bitches who think they’re grown. You’ll learn.
• SHIRTLESS DEADSHOT!!! I’m not sure caps are justified here but he clearly laid off the carbs for this scene so I figure I can throw him a bone.
• I love this whole Oliver/Tommy/Dig scene where they’re talking about Oliver’s new nightclub. So fun…even more so when Tommy leaves & it’s just Ollie & Dig. I like their chemistry.
• So…this climbing the wall scene where Oliver’s looking for Deadshot’s vantage point/bullets/stuff…which…if Deadshot’s called Deadshot ‘cuz he never misses…how did Oliver end up finding a stray bullet? …anyway, this is obviously where they used the safety wire. Loser. I totally climb walls like that all the time with no wire. (Translation: duh…OBViously you used a wire…no need to explain the safety part, Stephen. I’d question your sanity and the sanity of all those involved in the show had they let you NOT use a wire.)
• If Dig is standing by watching Detective Lance accuse Walter of being involved in the last two shooting deaths in the city because of his business ties with the victims, who’s babysitting Oliver?
• Oh Thea. I’d imagine the badass teenager thing isn’t gonna go over well with your brother for very long. Still, I’m entirely in love with you outing Tommy & Laurel. Even though we know Oliver isn’t surprised in the least.
• Holy fight scene, Batman!! (sorry…I hate myself)
• Clearly Tommy being able to fight will lead to some kind of sidekick thing…right? And then LAUREL throws down!? I’m impressed. Also, I may be girl crushing on her even harder right now. Seriously though…where is all this going…where are my comic book people? Explain your theories, please!!

• I know we saw him earlier…but who’s the Chinese dude…does he have a name other than Arrow’s nurse/mentor?
• Is Big Belly Burger really a thing? I want a cheeseburger.
• Deadshot’s fancy wrist machinegun seems far more efficient than Ollie’s bow & arrow. (notice how I’m not griping about the impossibility of outrunning multiple sprays of machine gun bullets…again?)
• Felicity Smoak. Yum. Laurel who?? I think I just fell in love. Seriously…I want Oliver to be with her. Am I allowed to want that? What’s her story…I need background. I need comic books.

• Could Detective Lance, please…at least once…say, “Shit, his voice is SO familiar!”
• I’m actually warming up to this Laurel & tommy thing. It could be my newfound love for Felicity. Whatever.
• I love that Oliver’s starting to crack around Dig.
• Deadshot is not fucking around!! Man/woman/child, he doesn’t care!
• Wow. Arrow straight through the eye. There’s your dead shot.
• Holy shit!! Is Dig seeing him?
• Oh!!! Evidence of a new class that must’ve been held on the island…Pharmacology! That is a VERY smart, little, island nation of people.
• YES!!!! He’s totally letting Dig in!! I like this. So much. He needs somebody in the know. NOW I can’t wait for next week.

To sum up…for me, the beginning was kind of slow…but, that could’ve just been the mood I was in. Towards the end though? Awesome. It all picked up & more stuff’s starting to get pieced together & I love Oliver trusting Dig and I can’t wait to see Felicity again. We’ll see her again…right? Why are the IT nerds always the cutest, most awkward, most adorkable people ever? (on TV anyway…our IT guy is not adorkable…at all)

What did you guys think? What did I miss…are there things I HAVE to know or am I okay going along blindly & just getting stuff fed to me week by week as the show unfolds?