Agreed: there's nothing wrong with the flashbacks themselves as a device, they just need to be better plotted and fleshed out. So little has happened in the flashbacks this year that it's no wonder people aren't invested in them.

Ewwwwwwwww

"I was the island the whole time!"

And she mustn't know! For reasons!

I think there might have been a few montages of them sparring intercut with Thea/Laurel training too a few times, but yeah, that was kind of it. . .

I'm thinking maybe that Opal City is where the spin off will take place?

I still can't stand him: from his creepy, stalker behaviour at the start of the season to his annoying puppy dog excitement and overemphasis of his wealth, I just cannot stand him at all - I've tried, I really have, but it's just not going to stick.

I want that on a T shirt!

To be honest, I'm not sure they know either.

They've really dropped the ball with the flashbacks this year. So from what I can remember: goes to Hong Kong, tries to escape a bit, does a few missions for Waller, goes back to Starling, gets seemingly set free, goes on the run with the kid, reunites with the couple, tries to stop a dirty bomb going off leading up…

Google "The Chronicles of Cisco"!

I would have liked that, actually: no real enemy to take on, just a general uprise in crime that Oliver can't stop.

It was to protect her! Or save her soul! Or. . you know, something.

"The Starling Scoobies" - I love that!

Yeah, we tried to make sense of this in the comments section of this week's Flash review: common consensus is that it makes sense emotionally, but not logistically for the characters (i.e. Felicity not knowing the suit's working).

. . . which they should have done when Oliver got thrown off a click in the mid-season finale. Seriously, what brought him back again? "The will to live" and penicillin tea? I'm not moaning about the logic/realism of it, because comics, but if they were intent on introducing the Lazarus Pit, that seemed like a real…

Made me spit porridge out of my mouth, and it's way too early for that over here in Blighty - kudos!

Exactly: the amount of times she's tried to weedle intel out of her friends, boyfriend and dad are reasons enough to keep her in the dark at this point, besides a random "protect her" excuse - I wouldn't trust her at all!

This is my theory too: she'll take up the mantle in maybe the finale, like Roy first got the domino mask in last season's finale, and then return as a fully-fledged sidekick in season 4 episode 1.

Pretty sure we're leading up to him ending it with her and leaving Starling City for the spin-off: do we think that he'll "give" Oliver his company back too when he leaves?