Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Apologies for the late post. I have been grinding Kingdom Hearts 3 all week, and the cold, snowy weather in Michigan is no joke. I have a lot to say about this episode too. A good amount of this hour focused on my two favorite characters: Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance E-2. Stephen Amell and Katie Cassidy Rodgers are given a lot of emotional baggage to work with, thus “past sins”.

Oliver is finally addressing the story he’s been telling everyone for the past seven years: how his father killed himself to ensure Oliver survived. He left out the part where Robert Queen murdered someone first before doing the heroic deed. This has been an issue / non-issue with me since the show started. Every time he’s told this story to someone (Moira, Thea, Barry, etc.), he’s always leaving out the part where his father killed a man in cold blood.

I’m glad the show finally has Oliver confronting his own guilt, and how he handled the situation when he came back to Star City. The son of the murdered man, Hackett, never received closure from his father’s death, and rightfully(?) blames Oliver for keeping it a secret. This was a good time to mend his past, as Oliver is trying to start a relationship with his half-sister, Emiko Queen.

Emiko Queen is ready to talk about starting something after the events of the episode.

Laurel E-2 also reveals her past. I don’t think I like how she is at fault for her father’s (E-2 version) death. It’s her birthday, she made him leave the house, and her last words to him were hateful. However, how Felicity comforted Laurel, and their friendship hit the right amount of emotional beats. I also get giddy whenever these two and Dinah are in the same room together. Apparently, we’re getting a Birds of Prey-centric episode at some point this season… make what you will out of that.

The Suicide Squad arc of the episode was the weakest. It didn’t really mesh well with everything else going on, and Ricardo Diaz has to leave. He is really annoying at this point, and how Curtis is the one involved in this arc is not right. Curtis is the least interesting character on this show right now, and the writers haven’t done a great job of finding a good place for him. He is also the only member of the New Team Arrow who hasn’t been seen in the flash forwards. When he died, I wanted to believe it, but at the same time, I also didn’t want to believe Ricardo Diaz escaped ARGUS. Overall, I love the idea of Suicide Squad returning to the small screen in some form, but not like this.

Overall, solid episode on Oliver and Laurel, but everything else going on felt off. Next week is the 150th episode of Arrow. Damn, that’s crazy to me. Let’s see how it goes.

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