I loved what she did but cringed at how she did it. They went way too over the top with her (the dress, the hair, was that a fur?) flanked by "bodyguards" in a public restaurant. Cringed hard at this whole scene because it was just so forced.
But I do love the idea of her going down a dark path (she is, after all, the only main character who hasn't really explored their own darkness yet IMO). I just hope that the writers actually go there with her instead of pulling back. Remember when Thea threatened to kill Damian's daughter right in front of the little girl? Of course the writers pulled back from that and Thea didn't follow through, I hope it's different with Felicity and she does make some terrible decisions and there are actual consequences to pay.

I think Felicity is going to be affected the most by Ragman taking a hiatus. He has been essentially her conscience all season, the person she has a conversation with when she most needs to have a conversation with someone.

I didn't have any problem with the reasoning behind it. I just hate how they're trying to make seem like this badass super spy. That was super cringeworthy.
"By law you have to call it a lair if you use it to torture people." Douglas Davenport

shrugs I'm a lesbian single mom on disability income, so yeah, I'm a pretty liberal lady, I'd say.
And, I get from an in universe perspective that there was a nuke on the line, I get WHY she might have thought she could do something like that, no question about the in universe rationale. But the thing is I'M not IN the universe, I'm just a television watcher, so yeah, I'm going to be disturbed or upset by whatever beep up thing I might see on the screen.
Also, calling me a moron and mocking me for that? You know that big, long message that's been at the top of every page on every board lately? Yeah, you're one of the reasons that it's there.
Board Signature: You have failed this omelet!

Uhhhhh you understand the mission was to recover a stolen NUCLEAR BOMB right? You sound like a liberal moron. We can't offend anyone omg their feelings will be hurt blah blah blah.

I would say look at Felicity's behaviour as a whole in the episode. She has emotionally detached herself from feeling anything. Same in the scene when she saw what Diggle did to their prisoner. And why Oliver decided that he would do the favor for Anatoly because he saw how far Diggle and Felicity are sinking in their darkness.
I saw a lot of s3 Oliver in her, after Sara died.

Yeah, I figured that out. laughs AFTER I got over the shock of it, that is. And now that I am over it, I AM interested in seeing where this goes, like I said, if she becomes a straight up supervillain or something. grins It'll be cool to see.
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For what it's worth I think you're supposed to be disturbed by what Felicity did. This is part of her 'going dark' arc. That's the point.
I bet she gets darker before she gets lighter.

I don't think Roxy can hate anything or anyone! That wasn't the point of her post. She was a neutral who was upset with Felicity's actions here, as well as she should.
But yeah, a lot of fans or haters will look at certain actions through a different pair of eyes, depending on who does it. That's why I wanted to mention other examples of blackmail on this show. Didn't want people thinking I was slamming Felicity while letting Laurel and Oliver off the hook. If the show wants to take our heroes to those lenghts, their actions should be put in the proper perspective by show and fans alike.
The next few weeks will be fun, kulla. I can see a lot of Felicity fans turning into Walter White (from Breaking Bad) fans: they will defend every dark action of hers because they are convinced she's the hero of the story no matter what (I vividly remember Walter fans hating on his son for kicking Walter out of the house after he found out about his drug activities). Because it's what you said: Arrow has put Felicity on a pedestal, where she's never in the wrong about anything. And this won't change here either. According to a recent spoiler, when Oliver finds out about Felicity, his reaction will "surprise" the audience and they will have an adult conversation about it. Meaning that once again he won't take her to task about her actions and will blame himself instead. SMH!

shrugs I'm not an anybody hater. I just watch the show and enjoy it, you know? I'm not really as umINVESTED let's say, in the characters as a lot of other people seem to be here. If somebody does something beep up or somebody dies or whatever it'll upset or annoy me for like five minutes, but then I'll just shrug and get over it and keep watching.
To put me into perspective really, know that I first started watching this show just for the sake of the action scenes and explosions, haha.
Board Signature: You have failed this omelet!

Laurel fans have very similar blind spots. ::cough::Apple4::cough::
"Never wrestle with a pig. You get filthy and besides, the pig likes it." Cyrus Ching

Whether she was bluffing or not, she still blackmailed the guy. Don't get why people suddenly are so afraid to use that word.
Remember how people (especially Felicity/Olicity fans) were SO sanctimonious and critical when Laurel "blackmailed" the DA to get her job back? Apparently that plot twist cast a huge shadow on her as a character.Of course, these same fans tend to judge Felicity and Laurel according to very different moral standards, to the point where Felicity is regarded as so perfect and infallible that she can do no wrong, while Laurel's actions were/are picked apart and treated as if they were major offenses and totally damaging to her character portrayal. It also seems as though the writers themselves love Felicity so much (or are so afraid to tarnish her in-show image) that they hardly ever put her in a position where other characters have the opportunity to judge her or confront her about her actionswhile Laurel (and other characters whose name isn't Felicity) have had plenty of such moments.
I even remember how someone spent a whole article claiming that Laurel is morally unfit to become Black Canary because she ALMOST killed a man (Komodo), or because she did kill one of Blood's minions (to save Oliver's life). Well, Tina/Dinah has already killed, but I don't see many fans (not even Olicity fans) being up in arms about that. Besides, Oliver being a serial killer who often uses very unethical methods to extort information has never stopped Oliver/Felicity fans from regarding Oliver as a hero and an ideal boyfriend/husband for Felicity.
So, I've come to realize that moral judgments of characters among "Arrow" fans are so partisan that they often say more about the particular posters' likes and dislikes than about the characters' actual deeds or behavior. BTW, that goes for Felicity critique as well. This is not a criticism of the O.P. (who is not a Felicity hater as far as I know).

Whether she was bluffing or not, she still blackmailed the guy. Don't get why people suddenly are so afraid to use that word.
She's a blackmailer now. Just like Laurel was in late season 2. Just like Oliver was in season 1 with a lot of his List victims. No sugarcoating it just because it was against bad guys.

The guy was not inocent. He failed to inform the Kremlin about terrorism risk. But his family is inocent indeed so I am sure Felicity was just bluffing, she was not going to risk those people love. To be honest, even when it's good that Rory called her on it so she could realize what she was actually doing and not treat is as if it were small potatoes, I think that in this case she was justified. She give the man a scare but nothing else, he was not hurt and much less his family. And it was worthy because there were a lot of lives pending of it.

After Havenrock, she wasn't taking chances, even if it meant bluffing a threat to an innocent man. I do like that Rory called her out on it, but it's clear she's heading down a path where it's going to be more and more tempting for her to cross lines.

"This is my world" Superman

Exactly.
Anyway Too much water kills the plant.
It's not because she's pink or grey or any colour you choose she's become a bore, it's in the amount and dominance of it.
Lance is a Saint

She wasn't called a Mary Sue because she was perfect. She was called a Mary Sue because even when she was wrong, the show kept glorifying her.

Those 'some' people are still bitter she usurped comic canon despite the fact that the show screwed up the canon love story so badly that they really had no choice.
I'm sorry, my Dinah Laurel Lance is not a doormat who goes back to a man who cheated with her sister
"Never wrestle with a pig. You get filthy and besides, the pig likes it." Cyrus Ching

Yeah, I agree she was bluffing. And I'm also glad Rory called her out. I don't mind her doing dark things, because perfect characters are boring. People hated her for being a Mary Sue and now they're hating on her for being grey. I mean, I get people don't like her, but it seems she can't win with some people. I personally like her better this way. I find her annoying and sanctimonious when she's 'good'.

Well she is meant to be getting darker and her actions were actually recognised in this so I didn't have a problem, ive said it atleast 100 times but for me if a character is meant to be a dick/bitch then I don't mind because that's the point, it's when they willl like beep but somehow everyone see's them as doing no wrong that I get annoyed.
I would like to point out Felicity simply let the guy think she'd turn him in I'm 99.999% sure she was bluffing, was it mean of her to do this yeah but I mean do any of us really think they would have Felicity actually get a family killed intentionally at this point? I mean this may be the story where she becomes so engrossed in her own ego and power eventually she crosses the line with someone, but a this point she's merely skirting it.

I'm beyond glad. Now I can add "blackmailer" to the list of valid accusations I can throw her way.

Felicity has always been the villain. She even stole the show from Arrow in the fourth season when they changed the title:
Felicity and Friends.

Glad the whole thing was salvaged for you. I always reserve judgement, these days, until I see the entire episode. Which is a policy I haven't had in a while. Most notably during Season 2.
Which is really the biggest reason how I know they're back to basics.
"Never wrestle with a pig. You get filthy and besides, the pig likes it." Cyrus Ching

she was feeling weak in the aftermath of her meeting with a fan of who she used to be. moreover, had she not acted, and millions of people been killed with a nuclear bomb (a peril she already has MAJOR guilt issues over for ragman's hometown), then i think we can all agree this man being temporarily threatened would have been preferable to a nuclear holocaust.