Even though Felicity and Curtis are on opposite sides of the team split on Arrow, the two have still been working on their start-up together, but that has to change after “Collision Course” — and Felicity should be the one to state that their business partnership is over.
They’d had some issues even when they were still on the same team, but while they got past those, what Curtis did crossed the line, as he deliberately caused Diggle pain using the very chip he designed to help him. But while Curtis may have declared NTA “done with” OTA “forever,” meaning “no more communication,” it wasn’t clear what that meant for his and Felicity’s business partnership. It can be assumed he meant that was done as well, but we need to see Felicity be the one to declare that on-screen — and make it clear that it’s not because of anything she did.
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Felicity and Curtis’ Problems Started Before the Split
In “Thanksgiving,” both Felicity and Curtis had issues with actions the other had taken regarding their start-up. He wasn’t happy that she chose the company’s name and product, while she was angry that he used their technology on Diggle without telling her. There was also the matter of Felicity using their angel investor money for Oliver’s bail, and we didn’t get to see the conversation that followed after she confessed that to Curtis.
It didn’t make sense that neither Felicity or Curtis was the one to suggest the chip he designed and it had to be Alena who reminded Felicity about it, especially since Felicity wanted to help others with it at Palmer Tech. It seemed like they just wanted Felicity and Curtis on opposite sides of something outside of the team at that point.
What Curtis Did to Diggle Is Unforgivable
Despite Curtis leaving the team at the end of the winter finale, he declared his intentions to continue to work with Felicity on their company and he designed a chip to help Diggle. While we hadn’t seen any of their work on the company since the split, there had been nothing to suggest that Felicity and Curtis weren’t capable of still working together.
But that has to be over now. In “Collision Course,” when OTA found the tracker NTA was using to follow them to Black Siren, Curtis proposed another way of finding them: hacking the chip in Diggle’s arm. (Yes, the guy who was just angry about Felicity hacking the newbies’ system and against torturing Black Siren for the location of the money had no problem hacking a chip inside a person’s body and causing him pain by doing so.) Dinah told him to do it and Rene didn’t protest, but if Curtis hadn’t brought it up, they never would have known it was possible.
Felicity can never trust Curtis with that kind of technology again if he’s already shown he’ll use it to hurt people. (I’d like to think if Diggle didn’t have the chip that Curtis wouldn’t have suggested hacking Felicity’s, but that doesn’t excuse his actions.)
This left Diggle weakened and feeling his post-injury symptoms while NTA was ready to fight — and wasn’t holding back. And while Curtis did eventually ask Diggle if he was still in pain, he never apologized and when Felicity pointed out that he could have seriously hurt Diggle, only responded that they were going to hurt the city if they let Black Siren go. We never got any sign that Curtis regretted what he had done.
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Felicity Deserves to Speak
When Felicity and Diggle went to the hospital to check on Rene, Curtis told them, “We’re done with the three of you, period. No more cooperation. No more communication. Forever.” I don’t want Curtis to have the last word, especially considering how the newbies have been acting.
I am perfectly happy with the two teams severing all ties from each other — after Felicity sits Curtis down, tells him what he did wrong and makes him take responsibility (and apologize.)
Felicity Can Still Start Her Own Company
Just because this has to be the end of Felicity and Curtis as business partners doesn’t mean that Felicity can’t still start her own company. She doesn’t need him to do it. She has some experience on the business front with her work at Palmer Tech in season 4, and back in season 1, Felicity mentioned that she’d been building computers since she was 7.
She’s smart enough that she should be able to come up with another project for her company if the chip isn’t a possibility without Curtis’ involvement. (And don’t forget, there is a future in some timeline where Smoak Tech exists. Let’s assume that anything Felicity came up with in that timeline is something this Felicity can do too.)
This is the perfect opportunity to return to a time when Felicity didn’t need Curtis’ help doing things she would have done on her own before; we’ve seen him helping her with algorithms and in “Collision Course,” he mentioned a hack he taught her. Let’s let something good come out of this and allow Felicity’s genius to shine, both in her work as Overwatch and at her own company.
Are you hoping this is the end of Felicity and Curtis’ business partnership? Do you think what Curtis did was unforgivable?
Arrow season 6 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on the CW. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
If it’s on TV — especially if it’s a procedural or superhero show — chances are Meredith watches it. She has a love for all things fiction, starting from a young age with ER and The X-Files on the small screen and the Nancy Drew books. Arrow kicked off the Arrowverse and her true passion for all things heroes. She’s enjoyed getting into the minds of serial killers since Criminal Minds, so it should be no surprise that her latest obsession is Prodigal Son.
