Arrow S06E09 Review: Contrived Conflict

Arrow, Season 6, Episode 9:  Irreconcilable Differences

Before I begin this review, let me briefly apologize for my delay in the weekly episode TV reviews. Last week has been... very trying for me personally, which was why the only reviews that came up were the Punisher and Walking Dead, which I had prepared in advance. But yeah, we should be back on track.

Sadly, though, this isn't a particularly good episode of Arrow to come back to. 

Let's just acknowledge the good parts of the episode first, which is mostly Michael Emerson's awesome performance as... well, he's basically being Ben Linus from Lost all over again, being calm and in control while the whole world burns around him, but the final scene of the episode was particularly amazing, with the revelation that Cayden James and Black Siren aren't just working alone, and we have this Legion of Doom deal going on with Anatoly Knyazev and Vigilante (both of which have been built up significantly over previous seasons), and also Richard Dragon (who is very much under-developed). That was an awesome moment and the fact that all these baddies are actually working together is definitely out of the left field. Of course, it seems that we're going to have Cayden James be the Big Bad as opposed to Richard Dragon, but it's definitely for the better in my book.

Wait, there's another good moment here, which is Quentin and Evil Laurel's interactions. Those are pretty well-written. 

But the rest of the episode? Oh god, it was a hot sinking mess. Nevermind the fact that we had a whole ten minutes devoted to the saccharine wedding that, while cute, really should've happened in an episode with more exciting things going on. Quentin giving Oliver his watch in the wedding is a huge d'awwwww moment, though. 

But a combination of hypocrisy on Diggle and Oliver's part as they investigated the three 'newbies' instead of confronting them outright, and all that just to find out who has the proof on Oliver's secret identity and is going to Agent Whatsherface behind everyone's back? It's so trite and repetitive, and unlike most plot twist in this season of Arrow (which I tended to praise) everything surrounding this came out of the left field. We don't get any real hints of the Agent approaching Rene, Diggle turning his back on Dinah after she had been so supportive towards him throughout this season, Curtis being treated as a 'newb' despite him being around since season four, unlike Dinah and Rene... so much of it is just really plot twists that don't need to happen.

And yeah, the show tries to justify it by having a compromising meeting between Vigilante and Black Canary caught on screen with no audio. And also them remembering Evelyn Sharpe's treachery? Oliver gives Rene a second chance but he betrays him by going off the leash? Neither of those excuses really justifies any of Team Arrow's behaviour in this episode. 

And the biggest insult is perhaps how utterly repetitive this episode feels, with the whole 'secrets be bad' theme being done and burnt to the ground within the first two seasons of Arrow and Flash. Add that to the fact that the whole 'disbanded team' thing has been done to death throughout Arrow's history, and it's just a matter of time until they return. The thing is, it all happens so randomly with no real foreshadowing, and I'm not a big fan of that sort of plot twist. 

What else? Thea Queen returns, and while I enjoy the actress immensely, beyond a fun little conversation with Oliver about empathy, she doesn't actually get to do much but get dropkicked by Evil Laurel. There's this whole subplot about Vince and Dinah that... I recognize as giving Dinah something far more plot-relevant other than to be 'Screamy Cop Chick' but it's so dry that I just don't care all that much. 

Oh, and I absolutely love Oliver's remote-controlled explosive bow. It's been a while since we last had any sort of trick arrows going on .

So yeah, while the evil villain team-up is pretty cool, and both Cayden and Anatoly in particular are ones I am very happy to see more of... the rest of the episode is one huge mess. Not a good way to end this half-season of Arrow. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Noah Cutter (a.k.a. Calculator), Felicity's father, returns for a minor role during the wedding after a multiple-season disappearance. I genuinely thought he died during the season 4 climax, but I guess that bullet just grazed him.
• Quentin and Donna Smoak's relationship in season 4 is alluded to here. Oliver and Felicity's stay in Ivy Town during the beginning of the fourth season is also alluded to here, with apparently some buddies from Ivy Town showing up during the wedding. Evelyn Sharp's betrayal of the team last season is also mentioned multiple times here.