Post — Aaron Ngo

Before getting into the episode review, I need to clear the air on something. Season 6 shouldn't have happened if this was the approach the writers decided to take. They should have stopped at season 5 and let everyone get killed on Lian Yu.

The Arrow Civil War, John Diggle's desire to become the Green Arrow, the lack of Thea prior to her departure, how they handled Ricardo Diaz and Cayden James, and their plans with Black Siren... all of it was not what I expected. The theme of the season was supposed to be family, but it doesn't play off that way anymore considering Thea left, William's presence isn't felt anymore, and Team Arrow is officially broken.

Now that we addressed the horrors of what occurred during this season, my review:

Tonight's episode finally dealt with John's frustrations over his inability to be the Green Arrow. Through Thea's and Felicity's urging, Oliver finally told Diggle that he has no intentions on giving up the mantle and apologized for stringing him along for the past couple of episodes.

This caused Diggle to ponder his role on the team and his frustrations. He talked to his wife Lyla to figure out the deeper issues he had with Oliver, which accumulated in a huge fight between the two of them over his leadership and his skewed priorities being the mayor, a husband, a father, and the Green Arrow.

Diggle acknowledged the way they handled Curtis, Rene, and Dinah was the bad move despite agreeing to the surveillance plan in the first place. Yes, he went there! Then it went into hostile territory once Diggle bagged Oliver for letting the city get taken over by Diaz, something Oliver redirected to Diggle, that it happened while he was wearing the hood in his stead and for using the drugs he bought off him for the injury he hid from everyone! The acting was amazing and arguably the best part of the episode seeing them go at each other for the mistakes they made. I was in awe.

Stephen Amell and David Ramsey need to win something for that scene alone.

But once Diggle brought up the body count Oliver caused due to his leadership decisions, including William's mother Samantha, Oliver hit a low point mentioning at least he didn't kill his own brother... that hit a nerve and triggered a violent confrontation in the Arrowcave. This scene was well done and ultimately caused Diggle to call it quits with Oliver to join his wife at ARGUS, leaving Team Arrow more broken than ever.

For the other characters in this show, yes they're still relevant, Curtis and Dinah dealt with the corruption in the police department and his relationship with a new love interest. I'm growing tired of the newbies and their awkward disdain for OTA (Original Team Arrow), so I hope one or two of them leaves by the end of this season. They're not working out for me. Curtis' boyfriend finds out about him being Mr. Terrific, all the good cops get canned, leaving the police department at the mercy of Ricardo Diaz.

Black Siren and Ricardo Diaz... I sensed it earlier in the episode, but they are indeed romantically involved for some reason. I don't understand why they needed to add that, but that's a thing and their plan to take down Oliver through ridiculous politics is still ongoing.

Diaz was not developed enough to earn the reveal as a main antagonist, I stand by that wholeheartedly, and Black Siren's development toward redemption is running thin. Sara Lance is slated to appear in the finale. Here's hoping she can knock some sense into her sister's doppelganger or kill her. Whatever comes first.

How's everyone else feeling about the latest episode or the overall season? Comment below to share.

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