Hey everyone! Arrow season 6 so far is what season 4 tried to be, and failed. Let's get into it!
First of all, let me just say that my mood watching Arrow last year compared to this year has completely transformed for the better. It seems that the writers have finally learned how to properly balance their romantic storylines with the main action of the episodes. One of Arrow's biggest criticisms over the years was the writers' inability to balance these plots, and it seems they are learning their lesson.
When we last left off, Lian Yu was going kaboom, so the fate of pretty much all the characters except Oliver and William were *supposedly* in the air. To nobody's surprise, however, everyone on the team survives, but we say goodbye to Samantha, William's mother. Thea is in a coma (*cries forever*), and Nyssa is nowhere to be found. She better be alive, writers!!! Or else I'm suing. Anyways, there's a lot of storylines going on within the big picture, and I'm going to get into all of them.
With Samantha out of the picture, Oliver struggles to be a proper, full-time father to William, who resents him for his mother's death. From being unable to help William with his math homework, to giving him advice about how to fight instead of comforting him like a normal, non-vigilante parent would do, it seems that Oliver's blunders keep piling up. However, it's clear to see that Oliver would do anything for his son, including straight up handing off his mantle to Diggle after being accused of being the Green Arrow yet again. Slowly but surely, however, William is letting his walls down, and it's so beautiful to watch.
But the Queen family wouldn't be /that/ family without one key member, and that member is Felicity Smoak. Oliver and Felicity are working on rebuilding their relationship, which makes me so happy!!!! They're actually communicating this time, and even when they fight, it's because their first instincts are to protect each other from harm. (The way they look at each other with quiet pride and longing watered my crops.) Even William quickly warms up to Felicity because let's face it, the Queen men always bow down to her. Even with all the shit that's going on, these three are clearly happy, and it makes my heart sing. I'm looking forward to further development of my family, and seeing a different side of Oliver.
Even better, we can receive these Olicity kisses and goodies without taking away from the other mains. Baby Team Arrow, especially Dinah, own my heart, and the cast's chemistry shines through. They've learned to work together more efficiently, which becomes important especially after Oliver leaves the team, since they have to adjust to a different person's methods of leadership. In addition, it's refreshing to see each team member have a particular strength, and become more confident in their talent. Also, can I just say that Dinah absolutely slays at the Black Canary? She does the title justice; why couldn't we have had Juliana from the very beginning???
Speaking of the inferior Black Canary, Katie Cassidy returns as a season regular as Black Siren/Earth-2 Laurel Lance. ....Sigh. Black Siren got boring after a few episodes, especially after it was established that she's only a tool the bigger male villains manipulate for their cause. In addition, it's annoying to see the writers still insisting upon BS being the team's weakness because she looks like "their" Laurel. Homegirl is a domestic terrorist, you guys!!! Stop trying to redeem her and just kill her already. Also, the bitter Laurel stans have returned, and they ruin everything they touch. Black Siren's now stealing T-sphere prototypes and assisting criminal hackers in destroying the Internet with the same infuriating smirk on her face, because Katie Cassidy doesn't know the concept of having more than one facial expression ever. Speaking of villains, the big bad hasn't really appeared yet. Or will the big bad be said criminal hacker, Cayden James? It wasn't presented very clearly, in my opinion.
Anyways, moving on to more interesting people and storylines: We come full circle to Original Team Arrow being the heart and core of the show. Despite having a post-Lian Yu degenerative nerve tremor in his hand, which could endanger the other members of Team Arrow, John Diggle accepts Oliver's request to become the Green Arrow because he is a good man. Felicity assists Alena with stopping Cayden James despite her misgivings and insists Oliver stays behind with William because Oliver's goal is to spend more time as a father, and she doesn't want to hinder it. Felicity also makes Diggle a hybrid gun-crossbow thing, as to not raise suspicion that Green Arrow isn't, well, using arrows. In return, Diggle and Oliver are wholeheartedly supporting her new venture with Curtis and Alena, Helix Dynamics, in which they plan to make Felicity's microchip implants (that help her walk, in case you forgot) universally accessible. In all honesty, I'm so relieved Felicity is finally getting a job, and that the writers actually wrote a scene to justify the unemployed members' lack of jobs. I'm also glad that she's using her genius for good, since her desire to help people with the microchip was part of the reason she got fired from Palmer Tech in the first place.
Arrow returns for its sixth season stronger than ever. The team dynamics are brilliant, the storylines, for the most part, are intriguing, and the plotlines are finally balanced. Even though I still feel that some of the scenes are rushed a little to save screentime, making it a little disjointed to follow, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. (And the crossover Olicity/Westallen wedding!!! AHHHH!!!!!)
See you next week for Jane the Virgin!
Extras that didn't make it in:
- I'm glad to see Quentin back.
- I didn't know how to fit it into my main recap, but we're introduced to FBI agent Samanda Watson, who's investigating Oliver being the Green Arrow. Even after his name is cleared, she still (rightfully) suspects him; she even has a board with pictures of the team members. I'm excited to see where it goes.
- Give Dinah a love interest, preferably a woman, please.
- Thea better wake up soon or else I'm fighting the writers.
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