We've loved her since Day 1, and now at long last Arrow fans have finally been given some answers to Felicity Smoak's background. And it definitely wasn't without its fair share of surprises. For starters, our favorite blonde was going full-on Goth with black hair (which included purple streaks no less), a nose ring, and lots and lots of eyeliner. Not to mention the fact that she was part of a techie civil disobedience group called "The Hackivists," which, I gotta admit is just as clever as it is nerdy. But the one major takeaway I realized throughout Wednesday night's episode "The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak" was that this girl can definitely kick some ass both with and without WiFi.
Let me explain… Starling City becomes the target of a cyber group known as the Brother Eye, whose logo honestly looked a lot like Sauron's evil eye from Lord of the Rings, no? Anyway, as luck would have it, the ring leader turned out to be Felicity's college boyfriend and first true love, Cooper Seldon, whom Felicity believed had killed himself in prison. Unfortunately, he grew up to be a complete jerk and basically threatened to kill Felicity and her mom, Donna Smoak, played by guest star Charlotte Ross, if she didn't help him steal a whole bunch of money. Not exactly the kind of former flame reunion you'd hope for, is it?
Obviously, since Felicity is a genius, she manages to get word to Oliver about her location, which results in an epic Oliver-machine gun showdown. However, the best part was that when it came to saving Felicity's life, Oliver wasn't the one who saved it — she was. For someone who's always felt self conscious about her lack of fighting skills, Felicity managed to not only clock Cooper in the face, but get the gun away from him as well, basically saving the day. Even Oliver was impressed that his services, as chivalrous as they were, weren't actually needed in this case. And I for one could not be more thrilled.
Felicity has done so much growing throughout the series, possibly more so than anyone else. So it's nice to see yet another one of Arrow's female characters really come into her own and take control of her life rather than letting a man do it for her. (Please let Laurel, Thea, and Felicity be Starling City's version of Charlie's Angels.)
Regardless, this week Felicity proved that she's way more than just a genius hacker. She's also a hero. Get it, girl!
Images: Cate Cameron/The CW; Wifflegif
