Jessie Robertson reviews the sixteenth episode of Arrow season 6…
I’m sorry to any readers out there; I’m way behind on my CW TV but I’ve been quite sick lately as well as my daughter so getting to these shows has been a struggle! Much to my surprise, when I get back to Arrow, I find one of my personal faves is gone!! Real talk: it’s been known for some time Willa Holland was leaving the show, as she’s cut way back in recent seasons. But, still, it’s a disappointment. Unfortunately, Thea as a character, has been getting the shaft here and there for years; she was apart of some great storylines early on in Arrow; learning who her father was, running the nightclub, a quick shout out to the comic book Speedy and his drug addiction. But she’s also been killed and reborn, and taken to Darhk’s underground perfect society which has to go down as one of the most ridiculous storylines in all of Arrow’s history.
Here, we have a new string of Assassins targeting Thea, unbeknownst to her, following Merlyn’s edicts from beyond the grave. We also get a nice Nyssa guest star who’s there to warn her and tell her about the existence of 3 more Lazarus Pits. This news heralds an awakening within Thea , and just as Roy’s kidnapping, revives the spirit within her to stand up and fight against something. This, combined, with Roy being with her, getting Ollie’s blessing in their new life and now having this new mission to undertake, there’s something severely rushed with her sendoff. Let’s remember she was just in a coma most of the season and is now awakened. She does get a very good scene with her big bro though, and he fires off a great line about how he’s put arrows in Roy before and it will be worse this time around if something happens to her. Also, I love her and Quentin’s relationship and it felt cheating to not give them some kind of a special moment, even if fake Laurel is around to replace that love he’s been missing.
There are also very good action scenes this week but really, this episode is about Thea’s goodbye. There is something really beautiful about her, Roy (along with Nyssa) on their own “Kung Fu” type quest to eradicate all these Pits. Where will she end up after this? Could she return? Let’s just say this episode paints it as not necessary but it would always be welcome.
Rating: 7.5/10
Jessie Robertson
