‘Arrow’ season 3: Emily Bett Rickards on future for Oliver, Felicity

On Wednesday night’s “Arrow” finale, the most polarizing moment may have ironically not been one that had to do with a character’s death, departure, or return to the show. Instead, it was a few words spoken from Oliver to Felicity that were part of a genius plan to flush out Slade Wilson and leave him vulnerable to an attack from within.

Thanks to this move, Slade’s now quite possibly in the same hatch that Desmond Hume was removed from … but also, the fact that this confession was a fake means that the relationship between the two characters hasn’t changed. Will it during season 3? While star Emily Bett Rickards has to be at least reasonably coy on the subject for now, she did tell TVLine recently that she thinks there will be “something explored” between the two at some point in the future.

Emily also points out that she is actually happy about the fact that Felicity did not repeat the words “I love you” back to Oliver, since her response instead was real for that particular moment:

“I was glad, actually, because for one, it’s truthful, because it’s so shocking … After all this time – 46 episodes, two years – she’s not expecting it.  don’t think anyone was. Like, ‘Why are we in the middle of this house when the apocalypse is happening outside? We should be getting machetes! Where’s my ninja sword?’ I think [Felicity’s reaction] was a very honest [unspoken] response like, ‘Oh, no, wait… I love you too, but….'”

For now, you can just watch clips of this moment again and again on YouTube and pretend it was real. Don’t worry, since we are right there with you doing the same thing.

We discussed Oliver and Felicity’s future recently in our CarterMatt Podcast for the finale, so be sure to check that out. Also, click here for more TV news sent right to you via our official newsletter.

Photo: The CW