TVLINE | You’ve had a string of episodes that could have easily served as the season finale. How will the actual finale top them?
We’re always trying to top ourselves. We always have said we’re never going to take our foot off the gas, we’re never going to hold back stuff at the beginning of the year just to save it for the end and we’re not going to hold back stuff for a [later] season when we could do it this season. We’re always about pushing as much story as we can, as fast as we can. Worrying about timing and worrying about topping ourselves, that’s what we call a “future us” problem. Our best episodes always find a new gear for the show, and I do think the finale finds a new gear. It’s exciting because we’re trying some very emotionally complex stuff along with some stunts and sequences that are the biggest we’ve ever done on the show.
TVLINE | Slade has been going after Oliver in a very personal way, but now it’s of a bigger scope. What will the emotional toll be like for Oliver in the finale?
For Oliver, it all comes down to [the fact that] he made this vow for himself at the beginning of the season that he would not kill anymore. That vow is going to be sorely tested. It was always part of our design of the season that we would basically place Oliver in a situation where he has every reason, tactically and vengeance-wise and necessity-wise, to kill again. At least one character during the finale will make this argument that if Oliver had not been so reluctant to kill, perhaps everything that’s been happening for the last couple episodes would not have happened. That only further complicates his moral dilemma.
TVLINE | In the promo pics, Slade has Felicity and Laurel. Does that give Oliver a moment where he has an emotional epiphany about either of one of those characters?
As Oliver learned, Slade is determined to kill the person he loves the most. Obviously, those images suggest that it could be Laurel or it could be Felicity. And I would be very foolish if I were to share the answer with you.
We’re always trying to top ourselves. We always have said we’re never going to take our foot off the gas, we’re never going to hold back stuff at the beginning of the year just to save it for the end and we’re not going to hold back stuff for a [later] season when we could do it this season. We’re always about pushing as much story as we can, as fast as we can. Worrying about timing and worrying about topping ourselves, that’s what we call a “future us” problem. Our best episodes always find a new gear for the show, and I do think the finale finds a new gear. It’s exciting because we’re trying some very emotionally complex stuff along with some stunts and sequences that are the biggest we’ve ever done on the show.
TVLINE | Slade has been going after Oliver in a very personal way, but now it’s of a bigger scope. What will the emotional toll be like for Oliver in the finale?
For Oliver, it all comes down to [the fact that] he made this vow for himself at the beginning of the season that he would not kill anymore. That vow is going to be sorely tested. It was always part of our design of the season that we would basically place Oliver in a situation where he has every reason, tactically and vengeance-wise and necessity-wise, to kill again. At least one character during the finale will make this argument that if Oliver had not been so reluctant to kill, perhaps everything that’s been happening for the last couple episodes would not have happened. That only further complicates his moral dilemma.
TVLINE | In the promo pics, Slade has Felicity and Laurel. Does that give Oliver a moment where he has an emotional epiphany about either of one of those characters?
As Oliver learned, Slade is determined to kill the person he loves the most. Obviously, those images suggest that it could be Laurel or it could be Felicity. And I would be very foolish if I were to share the answer with you.
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