Arrow, Season 6, Episode 7: Thanksgiving
Repeating a plot arc is tricky. Action story arcs tend to get an easier pass because it's easier to make it different by using a different antagonist, and there's always the primal sense that maybe this time the world will be destroyed. But this is like the third or fourth time that we're doing the 'Oliver Queen is suspected of being the Green Arrow' song and dance, and by god, I found out that I am so over it. There really feels to be something that's far more interesting to talk about other than yet another storyline about how FBI agent Watson is trying to prove Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow in the same day that a terrorist bomb is going to be set off.
Meanwhile, the other storylines here -- John and Oliver dealing with passing the mantle of Green Arrow around; John's addiction; Oliver's promise to his kid; Dinah and Quentin's 'my loved one is a villain' bonding session; Cayden James in general -- are all so much more interesting. Sure, all of them combined don't make an above-average episode, despite great acting moments from Michael Emerson, Stephen Amell, David Ramsey and Paul Blackthorne, but they're certainly so much more exciting and interesting. Sydelle Noel (Watson's actress) isn't a bad actor at all, but she's given such basic and bland material that it's hard to really be excited about it.
And honestly? A lot of the episode is just lackluster, and only the strong acting and individual moments really save it. I really loved the scene when Oliver finally talks to Thea as she regains consciousness in her hospital room. I loved how Dinah and Quentin bonded over how their loved ones -- evil-alternate-universe Laurel and Vince -- are villains and they've both had the chance to stop them and didn't take the shot, and Quentin's expression when he realized that Dinah probably has it worse than him is amazingly done. I really loved Michael Emerson's speech to Oliver, and his hilarious hammy back-and-forth with Laurel. Does Cayden James' backstory really matter at this point? It makes him interesting, but it also seems like a bland rehash of Prometheus at this point... but I really am excited about Cayden for the simple fact that Michael Emerson is a badass actor. "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!" is a common line to quote, but man, Emerson's just awesome. Black Siren is still a hammy henchwoman that is still one-dimensional, but Katie Cassidy looks like she's having so much gosh-darned fun I can't fault the role.
But none, perhaps, is as well-done as Oliver and John's scenes this episode. Like I said in the past two episodes, part of what makes Arrow moments so powerful is the five-season-strong bond between many of the original cast members. Oliver and Slade. Oliver and John. And the angry back-and-forth that John has with Oliver as he lays in the hospital, taken out of the action with a combination of the steroid use and Curtis's experimental treatment, is well done. Diggle shouting at Oliver about him putting his interests above Diggle's own, Oliver's later apology, John's own apology and noting that being Green Arrow is something he wants to be...
Yes, on the surface you could brush it off so that Oliver can get under the hood in time for next episode's Crisis Crossover where everyone who isn't caught up with this season's Arrow is expecting Stephen Amell to be Oliver Queen to be Green Arrow. But on the other hand, the bro bonding moment between John and Oliver, with Oliver promising to keep the hood warm only until John recovers, is definitely well-done that I can't not like it.
Part of me is honestly disappointed that they didn't do a lot with John Diggle's tenure as the Green Crossbow Bolt Arrow. Most of his tenure as the Green Arrow this season involves him playing second fiddle to episodes that centered around Dinah, Felicity or Slade as the main focus, which leaves him just another vigilante in Arrow's ensemble cast. But at the same time, what few scenes he got struggling with his drug addiction and his whole successor deal is so well done by David Ramsey that I am far more invested in Diggle's story, and it truly leaves me wanting more. If you had told me that back in the first season that I'd want John Diggle to do more as the Green Arrow, I'd probably laugh at your face.
Felicity and Curtis have a brief blow-out over Felicity doing things without consulting with Curtis first, although it's somewhat overshadowed by Oliver and John's conflict. It's... okay? I don't mind this plotline at all, although at the same time I'm not overtly interested either.
There's also a subplot about how Cayden has framed the vigilantes into looking like brutal mofos where they beat up villains dressed up as cops the very day before voting for the vigilante ban happens, and the vigilante ban ends up passing. I'm pretty sure we've gone through this song and dance in the fourth season with Darrhk, yet the vigilante ban still feels so much more interesting than the whole FBI investigation thing... but not by much. At this point, Arrow really feels like the most mature and possibly the strongest of the CW shows. Not because of the long-term plot storytelling, because despite being played by an amazing actor Cayden James is still bland, and Richard Dragon's storyline barely elevates him beyond a C-lister, but simply by the strength of the quieter moments between the actors and how much these characters have been consistently written throughout their six-season tenure despite however unstable the story and plotline might be. And make no mistake -- despite the strong moments, this episode is pretty choppy and messy.
Overall, though, I'm just happy to go through this episode, because after this, I get to talk about a Crisis Crossover -- another type of storytelling that wouldn't have been as good if we didn't have so much history to draw from. I've waited until all four parts are out so I can watch them all at once. Brief spoiler warning: it's good. I like it.
DC Easter Eggs Corner:
- John Diggle references the illusory Star City from way back during the 'Invasion' crossover when the Dominators invaded and kidnapped the non-metahumans and placed them in a fake world.
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