At long last, it feels like we have reached end-game for ‘Arrow’ Season 6, and I’m pleased to say, I don’t really know where the show is going at this point. True, it is clear the heroes are going to have to unite and stop Ricardo Diaz and end his control of Star City, but what that looks like and how they manage to pull it off over the next few episodes I honestly cannot say, and that is not even mentioning whether or not we will ever see a reconciliation of Team Arrow or any semblance of status quo return to the series.
But jumping into this episode, Oliver decides to get back into Anatoly’s good graces, so he heads to Russia to do the Bratva a favor (the details of which we are not privy to), and returns home to tell Anatoly that the Bratva will now welcome him back. However, Anatoly is no longer interested in the Bratva, as they exiled him after years of service, and they took years to gain the kind of power Diaz has. However, Oliver reminds him that Diaz has no honor, a claim which strikes deep with Anatoly, even as he captures Oliver and brings him to his new boss.
Meanwhile, Diaz forces Laurel to set up a meeting with Quentin and basically demands loyalty from the new Mayor in the form of signing a real estate license for him, which Quentin is dead set against, not to mention royally pissed off that Laurel betrayed him and was playing him the whole time. He tells her to get out of his apartment and she reveals that she is truly terrified of Diaz (especially after last week’s outing). Quentin sympathizes, remembering how working for Damien Darhk to keep his own Laurel alive a few seasons back affected him. He relents and signs the deal to keep Laurel safe, and they vow to protect each other from Diaz until they can find a way to get out from under his thumb. And you know what, I think I actually believe Laurel. I just hope she’s not playing Quentin again.
As for Team Dart, they welcome back Rene and let him know the Quiver Crew is no more, that Diggle quit right before Oliver fired Felicity, and that they are the last crime-fighting team in town. They head out to try to take down Diaz’s old drug gang thinking the man might be using them to get back in the Vertigo game. Instead, they discover a gun shipment and a trap but are saved by Diggle and ARGUS who were following a similar lead. They join forces for the moment after Diggle apologizes for everything that went down. Rene reveals to Dig that he is suffering from PTSD worrying about dying and leaving his daughter alone.
Diggle tells him about compartmentalizing those emotions (real healthy there Dig) but Rene opts out of the next mission where they go after a massive high-tech gun shipment going through town run by the Quadrant. They are successful, thanks to Curtis and his acrobatic skills which allow him to plant trackers on all the gun trucks so an ARGUS drone can blow them up. Diaz and the Quadrant are furious. Dinah and Curtis offer Dig a place on their team but he says he wants to see his ARGUS gig through for the moment and says they can team up again soon. He tells them not to give up on Rene. They visit their friend, and Rene learns that his daughter has known about his vigilante life for some time and wants him to stay out there fighting for the city, and for her, so Rene stays on the team.
Meanwhile, Diaz, in a rage, heads to Anatoly who presents him with Oliver and challenges the man to a fight on the condition that whichever man loses will leave the city forever. Oliver agrees and they go at it. While it looks for a brief moment like Diaz might have the upper hand, Oliver bests him, but Diaz pulls out a knife and stabs Oliver, fighting dirty, and Oliver ends up “losing” due to Diaz’s cheap trick. Anatoly sees that Oliver was right about Diaz not having honor, but before he can help his old friend escape, Diaz tells Oliver that he does not have to leave town, but instead invites him to stay for another 25 years to life. He informs Oliver that he is pushing up his trial to the following week. On the news they announce that the trial for Oliver is moving forward with no bail, a broadcast which all the major characters of the show watch uneasily, making it clear this is the end game, which is sad because Felicity, Diggle, Curtis, Dinah, and Rene all watch, but none of them are particularly happy with Oliver at the moment, and aside from Felicity, we are not sure if any of them are ready yet to help out their old leader.
BOW-STRING THEORIES:
- Will Felicity join Team Dart, and maybe inspire them to help Oliver through a rousing speech?
- Will Oliver finally reveal he is the Green Arrow during the trial to unite the city against Diaz?
- Could Laurel be the one to kill Diaz, thus giving her some major hero points on the show?
- Could Oliver and Anatoly be the ones to die at the end of the season?
Not a bad episode, good to have Rene back but it felt a lot like a set-up for the season’s end, as I feel like all the good stuff is coming up in the final stretch, and this was just to get us onto that final leg of the run of episodes. I’m glad they didn’t just magically drop the Oliver trial business plotline as they have done with others in the past and that it might mean something now that it is being used in the season finale, but I hope it does go somewhere, and that we don’t end the season with everything “magically” working out for Oliver and the status quo returning to normal. It’s the end of Season 6 people, shake things up, and not by another “who is dead!?” cliffhanger that ends up being “no one important.” See you back here soon!
