Arrow - S6E7 - Thanksgiving

Previously on Arrow, “Promises Kept”

After two sluggish episodes centered on Slade Wilson and his boring son, Arrow was back with a vengeance, beginning with Oliver’s arrest within the first five minutes, and ending with Thea’s miraculous recovery from Willa Holland’s contractually mandated absence her coma. ‘Thanksgiving’ was absolutely stuffed (is that an appropriate Thanksgiving pun? I’m an Australian so I’m new at this.) with plot, churning through Oliver’s arraignment, friendship drama between Oliver and Diggle and Felicity and Curtis, the anti-vigilante vote, and a fake bomb threat at a Billy Joel concert.

The Good

Michael Emerson appears to be playing a villainous version of Finch, his character in Person of Interest, and I have never been happier to see an actor typecast. He seems to be gleefully throwing his all into playing the character, and imbues lines like “Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war, Miss Lance” with the gravitas that they deserve.

We’ve been following along with these characters for more than five years now, and the show is at its best when it slows down and lets the characters just interact with each other. Diggle and Oliver clearly love each other, but they also have a decidedly unbalanced history, and watching Diggle lay into Oliver about how much of his life has been in service of him was almost cathartic, as was Oliver telling Diggle how disappointed he was that he kept his injury a secret. In the same vein, Felicity and Curtis spend so much time just casually quipping at each other that it was a relief to see some real conflict in their relationship.

As much as I normally detest it when shows revive their characters from comas at convenient times with no long-term damage, I’ll let it go this time because I’m just so happy to have Thea back in action.

The Bad

I would have thought it would be illegal to use investor money to bail out your boyfriend, and seems unbelievable that Felicity would do it without telling Curtis regardless.

We’re nearly half way through season six, and Black Siren still doesn’t seem like a fleshed out character with any kind of recognizable motivations (although, to be fair, we didn’t get much of that with the original Laurel either). Also, has no one noticed that the supposedly dead Laurel Lance is walking around committing crimes without a mask on?

Special Agent Watson is similarly lacking in characterization, still just a caricature of the classic law enforcement antagonist who cares more about the letter of the law than saving lives, despite Sydelle Noel’s best efforts.

This plotline is also hard to connect to because I agree with her; vigilantism is objectively pretty terrible, and the protagonists are technically murderers. Superhero stories deal with this issue in different ways. Batman has a corrupt police force to contend with, and Superman has superpowers, and so he can deal with villains beyond the capabilities of the authorities, but Oliver is just a random guy who is good at hitting people, in a town with a working police force. The show works better when it doesn’t keep reminding me that I’m rooting for a bunch of criminals.

The Weird

Has there been a stranger moment in the entire history of this show than when they cut to actual footage of a Billy Joel concert?

Quotes of the Week

Felicity - “If I was dating the Green Arrow I think I would know. Besides The Flash is much more my type.”

Rene to Curtis - “If you’ve got FOMO about being interrogated don’t worry; think you won’t miss out when we all get arrested.”

Rene, getting in the Thanksgiving spirit – “I’m gonna crush my French fries and pretend they’re mashed potatoes.”

Rene defending his knowledge of Billy Joel – “I happen to like a wide variety of music, and The Stranger is a treasured piece of rock and roll history.”

Rene, about Dinah – “She has the least field experience of the three of us. No offense.”
Felicity, incredulous – “She has superpowers, tactical training, and police experience!”