Arrow, Season 6, Episode 3: Next of Kin
So this episode was... satisfactory. I do like the fact that we're actually shaking up the status quo and having John Diggle's Green Arrow carry the mantle for a little while longer. Hell, we even get the new, revamped season 6 opening theme that states John Diggle is Arrow. Also, we don't have any flashbacks in this episode, which is definitely welcome in my book.
What's less welcome is this episode, which, while taken in a vacuum is a perfect example of a self-contained episode that still ties into the overarching plotlines of the season (the FBI stuff, Diggle Arrow, Daddy Oliver) really feels repetitive. Oliver trying to be a good daddy is heartwarming and all, but we've seen variations of it over the past two episodes, and I find it really hard to care. Sure, it ended up with Oliver and Felicity rekindling their romance for like the sixth time and I kind of shrug it off. If they don't make the entire show about Olicity shipping at all, it's definitely going to be great. Oliver also juggles mayoral duties while trying to deal with his commitment to Team Arrow, which, while told well, does feel like a case of "been there, done that".
John Diggle's first tenure as Green Arrow this season is... interesting. We get a villain in Onyx (a minor Batman villain that I'm happy to see) wreaking havoc with some... revenge plot or whatever involving a biochemical gas, but Diggle keeps freezing up during missions, causing Dinah to confront Diggle, while Wild Dog goes over his head to report it to Oliver. Oliver and Diggle's talk in the base about brooding is definitely well done, and easily the highlight of the show. I did like the mood whiplash of going from Diggle struggling with multiple problems like his lack of ability to shoot arrows to his freezing up to conquering all that and having a yay party at the Arrowcave... only for the final scene to show that he's doping? (Or, who knows, maybe it's just vitamins) It's actually pretty well-crafted by the episode, so even in an episode whose plotline by rights shouldn't surprise me, they still manage to do it.
Definitely not a fan of the CIA plot, though. It reeks of boredom, and the revelation that we're going to extend it to more beyond the first two episodes elicits nothing but a groan from me.
We also get a couple of amazing action scenes, with Diggle fighting Onyx around the car while the hostage scrambles around within the vehicle is the epitome of a classily-shot action scene. Also an amazing action scene is Diggle being shot up into the air by a canary cry.
Overall, though, it is still a pretty amazing episode that stars John Diggle's Arrow and the trials and tribulations that the fledgling team missing its former headpiece has to deal with. It's honestly nothing we haven't already seen before, since this isn't the first time Oliver goes missing or puts down the hood, but there's definitely a sense of torch-passing as compared to "shit Oliver is missing in Nanda Parbat, what are we gonna do?" which we had in the third season.
DC Easter Eggs Corner:
- Onyx (a.k.a. Onyx Adams) isn't a full-out villain in the comics, but rather a retired member of the League of Assassins. She did get involved briefly in Star City and battled several mystical villains alongside Green Arrow and Black Canary, but would be a key player during the 'War Games' era in Batman stories.
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