Arrow's Andrew Kreisberg Explains Olicity and Felicity's Chemistry With Ray Palmer

During a recent interview with TV Guide, Arrow Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg said that the relationship between Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak is part of a big, central idea playing out during Season Three about whether or not Oliver can truly live a normal life while still operating as Arrow.

Starting with a date in the season premiere, the pair will almost certainly not end up together right away -- although the producers are trying to avoid falling into the old trap of keeping the designated couple apart just to play the "will they or won't they" card.

"When you see the premiere and you see how things shake out, you'll come to a very sympathetic understanding of both of their positions," Kreisberg said of the always-teased "Olicity" relationship. "The premiere last year was a microcosm of what was happening for the whole year. In the same way that the premiere of last season was really about Oliver struggling with whether or not he should be the Arrow, in this season premiere it's, 'Can I have everything I want?' That quest is going to take up his entire year, and hers."

Asked about the presence of Ray Palmer -- a character who will come in as the new head of Queen Consolidated and immediately take a romantic interest in Felicity, Kreisberg said that he will be "a big foil" for Oliver. "It's Season 3, and Season 3 is typically when you add that game-changing character like Buffy did in adding Faith or Everwood did with adding Scott Wolf," Kreisberg said. "First of all, getting Brandon — he couldn't be nicer, he couldn't be sweeter. It's just such a different energy that he's bringing to the show. A lot of what's funny about Felicity and Oliver is that he's so straight and she's the funny one. With Brandon, you get somebody who's as tall, square-jawed and handsome as he is [and] he's a really funny comedian. He and Felicity can have that verbal repartee that we haven't typically had on the show. As much as the show is getting darker, it's gotten a lot funnier. It's just such a different energy. He and Felicity are really cute together."

Arrow returns on October 8, but expect to know a lot more about this season after the Comic Con panel next week.