Jessie Robertson reviews the season 6 finale of Arrow…
So, after a long season where the Arrow-verse grew in leaps and bounds (Legends) and faltered time and time again (Flash), there was Arrow; Arrow had rebounded last year with its back to business street level serial killer storyline; this season, it seemed to be on the same track but had its own bumps in the road. Where we landed tonight, after “Life Sentence” is in a place where I’m actually already stoked and thinking about next season. Let’s look at where the pieces fell after tonight.
Quentin Lance
One of my favorite all-time CW characters has now perished; after suffering through alcoholism, the death of both his daughters, and some damn fine acting, Paul Blackthorne bids the show adieu. During his scene outside the station with Oliver, where they were going over their history (which was a tremendous scene in its own right), I just got the sense this was it for him. His part in tonight’s story was great and it wagered big stakes on the Lance-Laurel dynamic which I’m glad for because it seemed to be wishy-washy but they went all in on it with his sacrifice. He and Oliver’s last scene and bringing Sara in were both pitch perfect.
Ricardo Diaz
Diaz doesn’t die! Wow. And it was Laurel who ruined their chance to catch him; that perfectly made total sense for the story. But, his data was completely copied so where does he go from here? He gave another breathy, dark performance tonight and his and Oliver’s fight scene was really freakin cool, it was almost like a throwback to an old Matrix fight scene in the rain.
Oliver’s Sacrifice
Let’s just be honest; Stephen Amell brought all of it in this episode. From the opening amazing fight scene, featuring like 10 heroes, to his “Oliver farewell tour” as Felicity dubbed it, making amends to the ones he’d hurt the most this season (Rene, John, Dinah) to his final scene with Felicity and William and just being at peace with finally being able to admit who he is and why he did it. His acting has just risen steadily since season one and it all culminated here.
As for everything else, was this a perfect episode? No, the FBI agent character has done got on my last nerve. Rene’s fake out death was a nice swerve and leaving the costume to a Diggle who still doesn’t seem to be in the right head space to man it, along with the weirdness of what Laurel does next and Anatoly becoming a series regular next year all feel like slightly odd moves that don’t fit together. Also, losing Paul Blackthorne is a damn tragedy to the show. But, I leave you with this: Around 2005, a movie script was penned revolving around Green Arrow being framed for murder and locked into a Supermax prison with all these great comic book villains and he had to fight to survive and find a way out; if that’s the impetus for season 7, I’m – all- the – way- freakin- in! Season 6 of Arrow wasn’t perfect and the trust issues would sneak their way back in, but what a wrap up, a damn good finale, if I say so myself.
Rating: 9/10
Jessie Robertson
