Arrow - S6E2 - Tribute

Previously on Arrow, “Fallout”

This week, Oliver and Co dealt with the aftermath of Oliver being unmasked as the Green Arrow. With the delightfully unimpressed Special Agent Watson leading an FBI investigation into Oliver’s nocturnal habits, Oliver spends the episode lying low and complying with the FBI’s directives… who am I kidding? This is Oliver “Drama-queen” Queen we’re talking about, so naturally he spent the episode skipping his interviews and battling the Bratva.

The Good

Finally, we got an answer to the eternal question: How the fuck do Team Arrow all pay their bills? The answer in Felicity’s case: barely. While Oliver, Lance, and Rene all have their jobs in the mayor’s office, Dinah is a cop, and Diggle has his very own Sugar Momma (apparently being the Director of ARGUS has its perks), Felicity has been getting by on her severance package from Palmer Tech, which is quickly running out. She is shocked to discover that Curtis has been taking on freelance work on the side (because apparently friends don’t talk about that kind of thing), and suggests that they go into business together, which should give her a nice, non-Oliver related subplot given that the Helix storyline seems to have been put on the back burner.

There were zero flashbacks in this episode. None! Here’s hoping that this is ushering in an era where we will never again have to see Stephen Amell don a terrible wig.

Not to damn with faint praise, but William was less terrible this week. I still didn’t REALLY care about him, but I wasn’t actively wishing for his death either so, baby steps?

Anatoly, aka my favourite guest character, is back to run amok in Star City! David Nykl always manages to elevate every episode that he’s in, and ‘Tribute’ is no exception. He adds heft to what would otherwise be a pretty generic kidnapped businessmen storyline, officially severing his friendship with Oliver in the most dramatic way possible. How he manages to murder people while still giving off the vibe of someone you’d want to have a beer with is a true mystery, but he straddles that line masterfully.

(Sidenote: Anatoly is apparently spelt with a Y not an I, so to everyone who has read my previous reviews, my bad?)

The Bad

Diggle’s storyline so far this season has been perplexing. It seems out of character for Diggle to hide his nerve damage from the rest of the team, especially given that a) it has the potential to endanger them in the field and b) they cured paraplegia last season so a little bit of nerve damage certainly seems surmountable (it also seems even more out of character for Dinah to be such a dick about it). This is particularly concerning with Oliver attempting to hand over the mantle of the Green Arrow. That decision is also perplexing. I understand Oliver’s desire to retire from the vigilante game for his kid, but it seems illogical to then hand it over to someone who also has a kid. Plus are we really supposed to believe that people aren’t going to notice that the Green Arrow is now Black? Not to burst any bubbles, but people who say they don’t see colour are all lying. Switching to a completely different person immediately after the FBI begins their investigation is sure to raise some red flags, and Special Agent Watson already seems like a much better detective that Quentin Lance circa Season 1.

Quotes of the Week

Oliver prompting the writing of a dozen ‘Is Batman coming to the Arrowverse’ articles - “Photos can be doctored. They could have put Bruce Wayne’s head on that body!”

Lance - “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding.”
Special Agent Watson - “Yeah, because the FBI is world renowned for its sense of humor.”

The Markovian businessman saying what we’ve all been thinking - ”If your mayor truly is a superhero, which seems ludicrous…”