Jessie Robertson reviews the twentieth episode of Arrow season 7…
Arrow likes this kind of episode, especially late in the season. Except this time, with the revelations that came at the end, I can’t help but wonder if this actually fits in with our final season on slate next year. Confessions, as the title, speaks to an episode long trope where Dinah is interrogating each member of the Arrow team about the deaths of 2 security guards at a building where the Ninth Circle were going to unleash their new found weapon. The story folds and circles and presents several possible candidates, even Oliver himself. But, when it boils down, we find that it’s Roy, newly recruited to the team for this mission, to basically be an unknown factor the Circle can’t prepare for; he becomes a liability in the end.
The revelation that Roy had died since we last saw him, in the midst of himself, Thea and Nyssa destroying all remaining Lazarus Pits, he ended up needing one. The uncontrollable rage he felt after emerging from the pit (ala Thea and Sarah, although the latter doesn’t show many signs anymore) hit him in that moment and he bludgeoned two innocent men to death, unable to control it or stop it. What happens is Oliver has Dinah cover for them and run this elaborate ruse so the SCPD believes instead that Emiko murdered them. It’s an elaborate gross cover up really, and pulls back some threads from a younger Oliver, but feels firmly rooted in his philosophy now that family is more important than ever. This episode poses a legit, tough moral conversation and you could look at the whole team basically as accessories to murder, which again, calling back, is nothing new for Oliver, or even Diggle, a former soldier, but we’re talking murder, not self-defense, not war.
Oliver’s familial ties tangle this web even further; his sister is afflicted with the same rage, a rage she tried to quell and a rage that has driven her to some unspeakable acts, but acts that Oliver can understand and forgive. On the other hand, you have Emiko, who he can’t reach, no matter how hard he tries, willfully murdering at her own behest. Her reveal of not saving their father from the bomb that blew up the Queen’s Gambit was well done, and well timed. Also the fight choreography was at an all time high in terms of realism, fancy moves and entertaining fighting tonight; very well done.
This was an episode centered around one time sapping gimmick: the interrogations we pretty much knew to be false. Dinah states in dire terms if this info gets out (which Emiko already promised it would) the vigilante-SCPD connection is pretty much dead, but it feels like it was probably destined to be anyways, as much as I heralded this move earlier in the season. Our cliffhanger looks grim, but with another season on the books, we know it’s not.
Rating – 7/10: an entertaining albeit misdirectional episode is helped out by the amazing fights we got tonight and the story beats of Roy and Emiko.
Jessie Robertson
