Jessie Robertson reviews the seventh episode of Arrow season 8…
At this point, Lian Yu, the island itself, is a character and a integral one to the fabric of Arrow. It’s revisited here, and rightfully so, in a mostly un-Arrow like episode.
There’s some very good acting by Stephen Amell in this episode. He’s basically, after last week, accepted his fate and is ready to carry out the Monitor’s orders. He seems like a man with a whole bunch of weight lifted off his shoulders. As they prepare to build this weapon they’ve been gathering all season, more members of Team Arrow are flying in to help but their plan gets shot down by a missile. Oliver, John and Laurel go looking for the culprits and Oliver, saying their full names to remind us of their identities, runs into Fyers and Wintergreen, villains from Seasons 1 & 2 stationed on Lian Yu. He rightfully says “I killed you” right before running into his mentor, Yao Fei, who is also dead. As they are strung up in nets by Fyers left as a trap, Oliver mentions how he’s accepted his fate, but it doesn’t make it any easier, a notion Barry Allen has also been struggling with, but in different ways. Yao notices Oliver is not with his children, instead chasing another enemy through the woods. Oliver knows this as well; it was different when he just had to leave and not say goodbye the first time; now, he does and it’s the hardest thing he’s ever had to do. These moments, as well as Oliver’s actual goodbyes, were some of the most poignant of the series.
Meanwhile, on the island, the plane wreckage is found and Roy is in trouble; a wheel from the plane has crushed his arm and their only recourse is to cut it off. It’s a moment in the show that harkens me back to Young Justice when that Roy Harper also loses an arm, but the moment, to me, is more about Diggle, who doesn’t want to do this. Instead, he continually tries to pry up the wheel, knowing they cannot. He later tells Roy he’s sorry; Roy responds “This isn’t your fault, John.” Diggle believes it is as Roy would not be here if he hadn’t brought him back into the fold. Roy tells him he’d rather be here than in his empty life, hiding from who he truly is. John has several great moments here: later when Lyla activates the weapon and is pulled into a portal, to go fulfill whatever it is the Monitor needs her to do. He truly reacts to the moment like a soldier; those characteristics are always there in this character: stoic, accepting even in the hardest circumstances. Diggle and Oliver have their goodbye, pretty much, and Diggle instantly responds to Oliver’s query ” I Need a favor” with “absolutely, anything at all.” Oliver remarks how he couldn’t have done any of this without him and I truly believe that’s Stephen Amell talking to David Ramsey, who was his rock throughout this show.
This episode was clearly not about building this weapon and fending off people long dead; it was another pitstop in Oliver’s farewell tour through his life. Lian Yu made him a living weapon, but it made him a better man than when he arrived, as he tells Mia. He has these great moments with both of his children, where they pretty much let him off the hook for not being in their lives as he was adventuring; even if he hasn’t himself. This episode has some action in it but it has a lot of great speeches and moments that are all goodbyes and in many ways, top what The Flash has done with his last moments. In both shows, they end with a red sun rising on the dawn, and the same tag scene, showing Nash Wells also accepting his fate to serve the Monitor in the coming Crisis.
Rating: 7.5 – Again, not as strong as last week’s episode, but delved into Oliver’s heart maybe more than many other episodes and it’s nice to have these even at the end of the series.
Jessie Robertson
