Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 12 - Blind Spots

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

When many are left injured by the Ormfell building collapse, including her young charge, Joey Davis, Kelly Olsen will become the guardian her community needs while the rest of the Superfriends are busy with fighting Nxyly.

Influences

The comics of Jack Kirby and The Empire Strikes Back (Lena leaving when she learns her friends are in danger mirrors Luke abandoning his Jedi training)


Goofs

It seems clear that this episode was originally intended to have James Olsen backing Kelly as she officially entered into the role of Guardian and that things were rewritten to put John Diggle in his place. 

Granting that Kara has a lot of blind spots when it comes to the image she presents to the world, Kelly's dressing her down over her failure to be an advocate for ordinary people doesn't ring true when Kara was making personal appearances at city council meetings and using her platform to give a voice to the voiceless not two episodes ago.

It is said that Alex's retinal scan will be needed to access an abandoned DEO facility, but Alex resigned as the DEO Director in 512.While the organization shut down shortly thereafter, it's unlikely Lex Luthor wouldn't have personally made sure she was wiped from the databases personally.

For that matter, how does the DEO still have an operational desert facility? 

With CatCo reporting on traffic problems in National City, it's increasingly clear why CatCo sank to #8 nationally under Andrea's management. 

Early in the episode, Councilwoman Rankin is said to take an experimental new medication but Brainiac-5 later says she was given some kind of gene therapy.

It's a little unbelievable Orlando doesn't recognize Kelly in her Guardian costume at this point. Almost as unbelievable as Kelly not quietly telling him the truth about who she is given her own issues with vigilantes lying to her.

Despite having the power to do wish for virtually anything, Councilwoman Rankin fights Supergirl hand-to-hand.

How did the book Florence wanted to give Lena get delivered to her apartment faster than Lena could fly home in a corporate jet? While it's possible it was delivered by magic, why bother addressing it if she could just send the book to Lena?


Performances

David Harewood gets a wonderful and understated moment in the middle of all the big speeches where J'onn explains why he chooses to live life as a Black man when he could appear to be anyone and it is far more powerful than all of Kelly Olsen's "Do you hear me?" speeches.

As always, David Ramsey is a delight as John Diggle/

Artistry

There are some very good speeches in the script for this episode.


Super Trivia

Azie Tesfai, who plays Kelly Olsen, co-wrote this episode. This makes her the first actor to also write for the Arrowverse on television, although Nicole Maines has written a Dreamer story for DC Comics.

David Ramsey, who plays John Diggle, also directed this episode.

John Diggle makes reference to being given the opportunity to become a special kind of hero, but it requiring that he abandon his family to do so. This is believed to be a reference to the Green Lantern Corps, which it was teased he might be joining in the finale of Arrow.

Technobabble

RP-90 is an experimental drug for respiratory issues, still undergoing trials. Somehow, it can give a human powers akin to those of a 5th Dimensional Imp after extensive exposure to magic residue.

The anti-magic cuff also makes it impossible to track Nxyly.

It is suggested that Nxyly can be tracked by modulating the Watchtower sensors to isolate Mister Mxyzptlk's unique magical energy wavelength. 

Baltorian scanners are portable and able to trace minute amounts of 5th Dimensional energy.

The device which transformed Kara's heat vision into 5th Dimensional energy also infused the Ormfell building with the same energy as it empowered Nxyly. This caused the energy to spread around the neighborhood and into the people when the building was destroyed. This is what is making the people sick.

Brainiac-5 determines that Councilwoman Rankin underwent some kind of gene therapy that turned her into an energy siphon after she interacted with the 5th Dimensional Energy, pulling life force out of the people of the Heights to make her wishes come true.

Brainiac-5 says they can create their own energy siphon using the same dampening technology employed by the magic-nullifying cuff they creaed for Nyxly. While this won't heal the sick, it will give them their energy back and enable them to start healing. However, this will consume all the 5th Dimensional energy, leaving them nothing to use for tracking Mister Mxyzptlk. 

Dialogue Triumphs

Kelly: Looking at those people at the hospital last night, knowing how badly they're struggling... And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help them.
Diggle: So you feel alone in this?
Kelly: Alex sent respirators to the hospital, but the rest of the team... Well, they have super villains to deal with.
Diggle: Oliver Queen was really good at seeing the big picture, but sometimes, because of that, he would overlook things. When I wanted to show him something he missed, sometimes he would require proof.
Kelly: Wish it didn't always require proof.
Diggle: I know. Tell me about it. 

Diggle: I had an opportunity to become a special kind of hero. But it would've meant me leaving Lyla, my kids, and everything I love behind. So I had to ask myself... what kind of a hero do I really want to be. So the question is... what are you gonna do with what you're feeling right now?
Kelly: I want to be an advocate for the people who have lost hope. For the people who have been failed by those meant to protect them. For the people who don't have heroes that look like them. Protecting those that are exhausted, so they don't have to fight every single day for themselves.
Diggle: Good. Let that guide you. 

(Kara apologizes for dismissing what Kelly had said earlier.)
Supergirl: I was just so desperately trying to catch Nyxly, because I know she would cause more damage.
Kelly: Yes, in the future. But while you all have the luxury of focusing on tomorrow, they are barely surviving today.

Alex: I thought I was listening, J'onn. You know, our lives and our experiences, Kelly and I, we have so much in common. I just...
J'onn: You will most likely never understand what she's going through. I came to this planet as a Martian. And in my heart, I've always been more Martian than anything. But... I have chosen to wear the face of a Black man for a very long time now. I could've changed races, could've changed into someone else entirely. But if I'm honest... wearing this skin has made me feel most like an alien on this planet. Feeling like I don't belong. Never quite getting comfortable with the idea that this... really is my home. But I also realize that Kelly and James don't have the option to make that choice. I know you, and I know your heart. And I know how much you and Kelly love each other. She does, too. When she's ready to open up, you'll be there for her. And she'll be glad that you are. 

Orlando: All you heroes end up being the same. You say you care, but you're just gonna go and leave us with a mess to clean up. Why should I trust you?
Guardian: You shouldn't. Trust should be earned. And when you've been wronged, nothing in you tells you to trust again. I'm just asking for a chance. A start to prove I'm different.
(There is a pregnant pause as Orlando considers this.)
Orlando: What do you need?

Alex: Well, how do I support you? Because I love you. And it kills me to see you in pain.
Kelly: Just... let me be. And don't push me to unpack it all right now so it can be communicated for you. Hold the space. And love me. Without having to understand all of me. And all my experiences. And for now, just... Hold me. 

Dialogue Disasters

Kelly: I know! I know that you're all trying to stop Nyxly. I know. But do you hear me? Do you see what is happening? People are gonna die! And I feel like I am yelling into a void! We're supposed to fight for everyone, together. And yet, I am looking at people suffer, people that look like me and everyone here is just too busy. Where is the outrage that people are gonna die without help? Without hope? Maybe you could spare a second for them?!

Councilwoman Rankin: With this power, I can transform this city, sweep away the useless and the weak and make it perfect. And no one will stop me. I'm going to destroy this whole city and rebuild it from the ground up!


Continuity

As the episode opens, Nyxly and Mitch still have not found the Totem of Courage. 

Nxyly declares that there is something off.

A flashback to 611 (i.e. 24 hours earlier) reveals that Joey King was with his friend Ayesha inside the Ormfell when it was destroyed by Nxyly. 

Joey is taken to the hospital, complaining that he can't breathe. 

Kelly discovers that everyone near the Ormfell when it collapses are experiencing the same symptoms. It is believe they inhaled a lot of dust. Unfortunately, the hospital in The Heights is already short on oxygen tanks and respirators.

Councilwoman Jean Rankin was also in the area when the building collapsed. She complains about being in Chisholm Memorial Hospital and demands to be taken to a different one when she realizes she's been recognized and makes a show about being moved elsewhere so as not to burden that hospital.

Kelly calls Alex to ask for help. Alex, who is in the middle of tracking Nyxly and trying to figure out a way to contain her, brushes Kelly off but says she'll contact some of her med school friends who work at other hospitals and see if they can send more respirators.

The doctor at the rich hospital says Rankin is fine but just needs to rest. She demands he give her an experimental drug for respiratory issues or else she'll pull her support from some local health-care grants the hospital needs.

Kelly calls James to vent about how people are dying around her. but all the local news is talking about is the Super Friends fighting a giant cat.

Lena has apparently started training in using magic with Florence.

Lena leaves Fortune Bay after getting a message about the problems in National City.

Lena leaves Florence's cave without taking a book that Florence wanted her to have. 

The DEO Desert Facility is apparently still intact and operational, despite the organization having shut down.

Alex and Kara go to the DEO Desert Facility to try and find some 5th Dimensional energy information that can be used to build a tracking device to find Mxy.

Alex thinks to check on Kelly, but decides she's got things under control.

Kelly calls Andrea, incensed that CatCo is reporting on traffic issues caused by the collapse of the Ormfell rather than the local health crisis. Andrea says her demographic cares more about traffic than The Heights.

John Diggle shows up on Kelly's doorstep, saying that James asked for him to talk to her.

Kelly recognizes John Diggle as being from Star City. He says he's in Metropolis these days.

Kelly and Diggle decide to explore the Ormfell wreckage.

Jean Rankin discovers her power after saying she would kill for a sandwich and magically creating a sandwich after her aide seemingly drops dead.

Kara and Alex find Baltorian scanners which are able to trace 5th Dimensional energy, which leads them back to the Ormfell.

Brainiac-5 says that gathering up the dust laced with 5th Dimensional energy should give them a power source that can track Nxyly and removing the dust should heal the sick people.

Jean Rankin meets with another councilwoman about building a new building that could house five teach companies where the Ormfell stood. She conjures up money to bribe her into helping her.

Kelly tries to talk to Kara about all the problems in the Heights, but Kara dismisses her and says Mister Mxyzptlk will be able to put things back how they were.

Kelly tries to talk to Alex about how she thinks there's something more than the dust hurting the sick people, but Alex runs off to deal with the effort to find Nxyly promising they will talk later.

Dreamer gives Kelly her scanner, just in case they did miss something, before she goes off as well.

Kelly uses the scanner to determine that Councilwoman Rankin is radiating 5th Dimensional energy.

Orlando confronts Councilwoman Rankin on her miraculous recovery, as she's making a speech about how the poor people in her district need to stop letting their weakness hold them back.

Rankin tries to run. Kelly chases after her and Rankin teleports away after creating a sledgehammer to try and kill Kelly.

Kelly is able to grab some of Rankin's hair in the fight with her.

Kelly loses it and shouts at the Super Friends for missing that Rankin was a problem.

Dreamer stops Alex and Kara from following after Kelly as she goes to the Watchtower gym.

Diggle follows after Kelly and tells her that he was given a chance to become "a special kind of hero" but that it would have meant leaving his family behind.

Diggle says that there are many kinds of heroes and Kelly can be the kind that protects people rather than fighting villains.

Kara apologies for not listening to Kelly and references her getting involved with the anti-alien protests in Season 4.

Alex talks to J'onn about feeling like she's failed to support Kelly. 

J'onn tells Alex that he chose to maintain the face of a Black man because he never felt so alien as when he looked like Hank Henshaw. He admitted he feared forgetting what it was like to be Martian and an outsider because of his ability to blend in anywhere.

Brainiac-5 figures out a way to drain Rankin's power and save the people of The Heights.

Braniac-5 also helps Kelly with designing a new Guardian costume, being sure to give the helmet better sight-lines. She also wants it to show off her face, making sure people can see that she's a Black woman.

Brainiac-5 tells Kelly that there is still discrimination and racism in the 31st Century, but it has gotten better in many respects.

The Super Friends confront Councilwoman Rankin and mitigate the damage to The Heights, as Kelly activates the energy siphon and tries to save the sick people.

Kelly gets Orlando to help her convince everyone in the hospital to go into the street or help the sick people out.

Councilwoman Rankin is apparently arrested (although it is unclear on what charges.)

Kelly, as Guardian, suggests that Orlando might consider running for her now vacant City Council seat. He dismisses this, pointing out he's an ex-con (even if he was fully pardoned) and that he is more worried about finding a place for himself and Joey to live.

Diggle congratulates Kelly on her premiere as Guardian and tells her something Jefferson Pierce once said - "Don't be a hero to the people. Be a hero for the people."

Kara apologizes to Kelly again and says she's thankful to have her watching out for people when she overlooks them while tending to the big picture.

As Diggle leaves the Watchtower, Brainiac-5 asks if he's heading back to Metropolis already and seems surprised when Diggle says yes.. Diggle then says "Worlds Await." - the same words that kept echoing in his head in F716. (This would seem to imply that he may have changed his mind about the job offer he mentioned earlier...)

With the interference caused by Councilwoman Rankin gone, Nxyly is able to get a bead on the Courage of Totem using her crystal ball.

Lena returns home to find a package containing the book Florence wanted her to take.

Lena's address is 508 Park Place, National City, CA 00389.

Alex apologizes to Kelly and asks what she can do to understand her better. Kelly says Alex doesn't have to understand - just be there to support her when she needs it.

Location

Fortune Bay, Newfoundland, Canada.


Untelevised Adventures

Apparently James Olsen and John Diggle became friends at some point, bonding over their similar struggles.

John Diggle also apparently met Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning) at some point and is privy to his secret identity. 


The Bottom Line

With a hospital short on respirators and a rich white woman who literally draws her power off the suffering of children causing a public health crisis as the villain, this may be the most timely and least subtle Supergirl episode ever. That's not a problem, since Supergirl has never been subtle. The problem is that the script gives Kelly Olsen far too many speeches that try to be Maya Angelou poems and its a bit much. 

Had there been more conversations like the ones Kelly has with Alex and Kara near the end of the episode, it would have been a far better episode. On the other hand, Kelly's speeches drive home the point that sometimes one has to shout to be heard and I'm not sure those moments that work well would hit as hard without the moments that don't to contrast against.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 16 - P.O.W.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

John Diggle arrives in Central City with a weapon to help Barry stop the Godspeed War. Meanwhile, Allegra and Ultraviolet’s new bond following he surgery is put to the ultimate test, as Joe and Kristin Kramer are hunted by her former colleague. 

Influences

The Flash comics of Joshua Williamson (use of Still Force and Godspeed characters), Ghostbusters (general design of the entropy trap),  and The Most Dangerous Game (Joe and Kramer being hunted.)

Goofs

The official show summaries keep changing Kristen Kramer's name, spelling her first name with an "i" and an "e' (Kristin/Kristen).

Cecile mentions that it is the year 2021. However, the events of The Flash season 7 have taken place within a four week period following the events of 703, which was firmly set in mid-2020 based on the Season 6 episodes leading to the battle with Mirror Monarch.

Joe retrieves his oversize gun seemingly from nowhere during the final confrontation with Creyke.

It's a minor point, but the episode never addresses if Caitlin (who knows more about metahuman neurology than most) examined Diggle while he was in Central City or after his breakdown facing Godspeed.


Performances

It's always good to see David Ramsey as John Diggle and the scenes between him and Grant Gustin improve this episode immensely.


Flash Facts

The entropy trap which Diggle delivers is said to be a one-of-a-kind due to it being constructed from some unique Time Trapper tech. This is a reference to a classic villain from the Legion of Superheroes comics - a time-traveler from the future who became the Living Embodiment of Entropy. This also confirms that the Time Trapper exists in the Arrowverse.

August Heart is said to have worked for Dayton Labs' Central City branch in the future. In the DC Comics universe, Dayton Labs is a research facility owned by Dayton Industries - a company owned by the superhero Mento, who was part of the Doom Patrol.

Adam Kreyke claims to have the power to die over and over. There are a few DC Comics characters who have a similar power of immortality, but most of them (such as Resurrection Man and Multi-Man) gain a new superpower each time they die.

At the end of the episode, Nora West-Allen's lightning is only purple when it was purple and yellow in Season 5. This is believed to foreshadow that the newly introduced Bart Allen Jr. is her twin brother, as his lightning is yellow, like his father's.

In the original The Flash comics, Barry and Iris did have twins, a boy and a girl, who inherited Barry's powers, but they were named Dawn and Don and were known as the Tornado Twins. 

Bart Allen Jr. desribes the Speed Lab as "crash." This is a future slang term from the comics, used by Impulse to describe good things.


Technobabble

The Godspeed War generates a build-up of electricity, shielding Central City from outside electrical signals, basically acting as a giant Faraday Cage. This prevents Cecile from calling Joe, who is outside of the city.

Adam Creyke is armed with an advanced pulse rifle and a scrambler program that prevents people close to him from using a phone.

The motion-detection plate on the entropy trap has a response time of a picosecond. The plasmatic wave it generates eliminates all entropy from any object or person, freezing it in time.

The metal band that Caitlin creates to replace Ultraviolet's mask is made of the same unique metal alloy, so her body won't reject it and it will still maintain the laryngeal structure.

Diggle confirms that the doctors at the neurology clinic in Gotham didn't find anything wrong with him physically.

Chester's algorithm confirms the Godspeeds are returning at an exponential rate. 

Caitlin's scan of August Heart's brain and body show no sign of speed powers, organic or artificial. However, his neurological scans show severe memory degradation yet his somatic memory cells are still intact, but inactive. She says a nano dose of neurogenic dark matter might reactivate the cells, but the procedure is risky and it would still only restore his memory temporarily.


Dialogue Triumphs

Diggle: So you want to tell me what's really got you so upset that you're talking to your teammates like that? And don't tell me it's about some broken tech, Barry.
Barry: It's my daughter. Nora. Before she came to join us, she lived in the future. The exact time Godspeed's from.
Diggle: Okay, and with everything that's going on, you think it affects the future somehow?
Barry: Dig, if... If August Heart is here, what does that mean for Nora? And the future of our family? Is she okay? Will Iris and I still have a family? Is Nora even alive in the future anymore? (breathing heavily) Now all I want to do is run to and make sure Nora's okay. See with my own eyes that my daughter's safe. But I can't do that.
Diggle: Why not?
Barry: Dig, you know better than anyone what could happen if I did. Besides, man, with this civil war destroying the city staying here to fight is the right thing to do.
Diggle: No, it's not. Barry, I lived a long life here on this earth. I've been a spy, a vigilante, a soldier... hell, I've even been the Green Arrow. The most important job I've ever had is as a dad. And there's not a bullet I wouldn't take, there's not a timeline that I wouldn't risk changing if it meant protecting my family. I know that now. Lyla... my kids, they're my heart, man. My soul. My entire world. How far would I go for them? As far as it takes. Everything else be damned. Don't be afraid to do the same.


Continuity

The events of this episode take place sometime after the Batwoman episode Rebirth (B216) as Diggle makes reference to his clinic visit in Gotham City from that episode.

As the episode opens, the Godspeeds are randomly running around Central City attacking people when they aren't fighting each other.

Barry has another dream vision of Nora West-Allen, like the one in 715, where she tells him that the future is changing and something happened to their family.

Iris is still suffering from a sickness that has her confined to her and Barry's apartment.

Cecile hasn't heard from Joe since he left Central City with Kristen Kramer 8 hours earlier

Joe and Kramer are revealed to have escaped their exploding car and hide in the woods as Creyke hunts them.

Kramer recognized Creyke's attack coming because she knew what the light of his pulse rifle looked like.

Barry is said to have six broken ribs and internal bleeding after his latest battle with the Godspeeds, but he says he'll be fine after an hour thanks to his speed healing.

Barry tells the rest of the team about his vision of Nora and wonders if he should go to the future to check on her.

Diggle arrives from Star City with a device Cisco constructed  - an entropy trap - which he thought might help with the Godspeeds.

Diggle volunteered to deliver the entropy trap personally, as he is still working with ARGUS.

Chester is aware of who John Diggle is (presumably having read up on previous Team Flash adventures) and says that he is a big fan.

Barry plans to use the entropy trap to catch a Godspeed so they can question him as to why the Godspeeds are fighting.

Caitlin heals Ultraviolet and says she won't need any more surgeries or bio-chip updates to live.

Ultraviolet plans to go after another Black Hole team right away. Allegra says that's stupid.

Ultraviolet asks Allegra to help her. Allegra agrees, but says they will only work to capture the Black Hole forces - not kill them - and that it will have to wait until after the Godspeed War is over. Ultraviolet agrees to those terms.

Barry attempts to lure the Godspeeds into the entropy trap by broadcasting one of their signals through the speakers built into his suit. They manage to catch one.

The Godspeed refuses to answer questions, which Diggle takes as a sign that he's a soldier and will talk when he is ready to volunteer information.

Diggle tells Cecile that ARGUS is aware of her empathy powers, despite her efforts to keep her status as a metahuman a secret.

Cecile tried to read the Godspeed but could only sense hatred and determination.

The Godspeed was trying to contact his other selves but was blocked by Allegra's powers.

The Godspeed finally speaks and reveals that he knows Barry Allen's secret identity.

Joe wants to flee and get back-up but Kramer wants to confront Adam Creyke.

Joe asks why Creyke would be trying to kill Kramer now when he tried to save her before. She says that he must not know who he is hunting, which gives Joe an idea.

The Godspeed reveals that there are two factions within the Godspeeds - those loyal to August Heart, who want to take Barry's speed and deliver it to him. The other Godspeeds wish to live freely, as they "did not ask to be born, but we do ask not to die" which is the inevitable fate of all the Godspeed clones.

The Godspeed reveals that the original August Heart has come to the present day from the future and the Godspeeds are trying to find him. It also says the only solution is to kill August Heart before he becomes Godspeed.

The Godspeed escapes after Barry refuses to help kill August Heart, thanks to Barry forgetting that the anti-meta safeguards in the Pipleine only work on naturally created metahumans - not artificial speedsters created by a Velocity drug.

The Godspeed also breaks the entropy trap, which can't be rebuilt as it was made using repurposed Time Trapper tech that ARGUS didn't have much of in their possession. 

Barry snaps and yells at Chester when he says he can't fix the entropy trap. This prompts a lecture from Diggle.

Allegra overhears Diggle's speech about the importance of family and resolves to help Ultraviolet against Black Hole now.

Diggle references having been the Green Arrow for a time during Arrow Season 6.

Iris gave Cecile Nora's journal to search for information on August Heart. Cecile found mention of a few places Nora found that seemed personal to Heart which might be worth searching.

Barry agrees to let Cecile search for the original August Heart, but asks her to take Diggle and Allegra with her.

Cecile winds up going with Frost and Diggle, as Allegra isn't answering her texts for some reason.

John has a massive migraine, which he says is the worst one that he's ever had.

Cecile feels John's pain, describing it as like fighting a hurricane. She also claims to have sensed something behind the pain which felt infinite in power.

Barry tries to enter the Speed Force to visit Nora in 2049 but is ambushed by a mob of Godspeeds.

Barry is pulled out of the Speed Force by Deon Owens (aka The Still Force) who tells him that the Godspeeds are feeding on the Speed Force and that "big sis" (i.e. Nora Speed Force) has her hands full trying to deal with them.

Deon refuses to send Barry to the future, saying it is too risky until the Speed Force is done cleansing herself. Besides that, it is taking all of his strength to protect Iris, who is being pulled out of time by some outside force, which is causing her illness.

Deon promises to protect Iris, but tells Barry he's needed to fight the war in the present.

Diggle attacks the Godspeeds using a dose of nanites devised by Ray Palmer that neutralize superspeed. (The same nanites were used by Oliver Queen against Eobard Thawne in 122.)

Diggle has another headache, this time hearing a chorus of voices say "Worlds Await," over and over.

Frost saves Diggle while he is down.

Allegra is revealed to be tracking Ultraviolet, who ran off without her despite her promises to wait. She finds her in the middle of a massacre, critically wounded.

Ultraviolet has just enough time to curse Allegra for letting her die alone, but she says that she will not die afraid.

Ultraviolet's body dissolves into dust upon her death.

Frost, Diggle and Cecile check out the future site of Dayton Labs' as Nora's journal said August Heart worked there for a while in her time.  That lab doesn't exist in the modern day, however.

They find a man they think is the original August Heart, but he's amnesiac and was only at the Dayton Labs site because he felt it was important for some reason.

Adam Creyke claims to have died 17 times and been reborn over and over.

Adam Creyke recognizes Kramer and asks who she really is, claiming that the real Kramer was killed during Operation Griffin.

Creyke defends his mercenary actions, saying he gave half of the money he earned back to the reservation they grew up on.

At Joe's urging, Kramer doesn't shoot Creyke.

Chester calculates they have 90 minutes before the next wave of Godspeeds.

The only thing Cecile can sense from August Heart is the same confusion and fear an amnesiac would have.

Chester tells Diggle to thank Cisco for the Time Trapper tech and to tell him that he's going to do what he can to repair it himself.

Diggle leaves Central City, telling Barry there's something he's been putting off for far too long and it nearly got him killed. This coincides with a quick flashback to A810 and Diggle's discovery of a glowing green object in the meteor that nearly hit him when he was loading his moving van.

Barry and Diggle hug before he leaves and Barry offers whatever help he can.

The mystery man confirms his name is August after Caitlin injects him with dark matter.

Cecile has still not gotten in touch with Joe at the episode's end.

Nora West-Allen appears and tells Barry she wouldn't have come to the past if it weren't important.

Nora points out that the fact that she is there is proof that Iris will be all-right, as is the person who traveled with her. This leads to the introduction of her brother, Bart Allen Jr.

Location

A wooden area somewhere near Midway City.


Untelevised Adventures

Iris is off-camera for most of the episode, being protected by the Still Force.

Barry is ambushed by several Godspeeds while evacuating City Hall.

Frost is said to be out in Central City fighting the Godspeeds for most of the episode.

Iris gave Cecile Nora's diary so she could search for information on August Heart.


The Fridge Factor

Iris is reduced to a damsel to be protected by this episode.

Ultraviolet is killed off an episode after being cured, purely to give Allegra angst about abandoning her family and likely setting up her inevitable conclusion that Team Flash is her family now.


The Boomerang Factor

Barry's forgetting that the safeguards in the Pipeline only neutralize the powers of natural born metahumans seems like a major oversight, as does the safeguards somehow not working on those who get powers from temporary means like Velocity-9.


The Bottom Line

Overstuffed but comfortable, like an old easy chair. The scenes with Diggle are enjoyable and expand well upon his mystery. Unfortunately, the urgency of the Godspeed War is seriously undercut by all the subplots involving Iris' disappearance, Joe helping Kramer and everything involving Ultraviolet. It's clear they didn't have as much time to develop everything with the shorter season order and, ironically, it's probably for the best they had to abandon the Elongated Man storyline they had planned lest this seem even busier. That being said, the final two minutes bode well for the 150th episode and the arrival of Impulse.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 2 - Welcome To Hong Kong

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Returned to Earth-1, Oliver finds himself back in Hong Kong with Diggle and Black Siren, who refuses to believe that Earth-2 is gone. As she runs off to try and find another way home, Oliver and Diggle focus on finding an abducted Doctor who is important to The Monitor's plans and cross paths with their old ally, Tatsu. Unfortunately, their old enemy China White is also back in Hong Kong and once again after the Alpha-Omega virus.


Influences

The flashback sequences of Arrow Season 3 and Crisis on Infinite Earths.


Goofs

Despite saying he doesn't really know anything about breach devices and only knowing the technology by reputation, David Chen has software on his computer that enables him to determine that Earth-2 is gone.

China White claims that she was released from custody because the American government feared a scandal if word got out that a federal agency was planting explosive bombs in the necks of convicts and forcing them to runs special ops missions for them. Wouldn't they have just killed all the Suicide Squad agents to cover their tracks rather than release them and hope they keep their mouths shut?

The Monitor chides Oliver for not blindly following orders, yet Oliver passed the Monitor's test in Elseworlds precisely because he challenged the Monitor's moral authority.

On the flip side, what makes Ollie think disobeying the Monitor by sneaking off to learn more about him is going to help matters?


Artistry

The fight scenes between the Triad and Ollie and Diggle are well-handled.



Trivia

This episode is the first to include a new opening introduction for Season 8.



Technobabble

Dr. Robert Wong is a renowned biophysicist and Nobel Prize winner, in the field of complex proteins and antibodies.



Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver: (V/O) My name is Oliver Queen. For 7 years, I have fought with only one goal - to save my city. But now a new threat has emerged - a danger so severe it has forced me to leave my family in order to face it. And it won't be enough for me to just be the Green Arrow. To prevent the crisis that's coming, I am going to have to become someone else, I am going to have to become something else.

(Oliver awakens with a start from a nightmare of all his loved ones dying. He is in a strange bed in a strange room. The Monitor is in one corner.)
The Monitor: I warned you not to interfere.
Oliver: You didn't bring us here?
The Monitor: No. I discovered what had transpired on Earth-2, that you intervened to save Laurel Lance. I redirected you.
Oliver: What the hell happened back there?
The Monitor: A herald of what is to come. An entire world erased from existence.
Oliver: (confiused) Where's my mother? Where's... where's Tommy? Where's... where's Rene, where's Dinah?
The Monitor: They are no more.
Oliver: Did you hurt John and Laurel?
The Monitor: They are alive and nearby, but now you know that if we fail to stop the coming crisis, what you witnessed will occur on infinite Earths across the expanse of time.
Oliver: How did I fail? Your Dwarf Star particles are right there. (gesturing to a bag) 
The Monitor: You disobeyed my instructions to avoid entanglements on a parallel Earth. You confronted Tommy Merlyn. You altered the fate of Laurel Lance.
Oliver: I watched her die once. Okay? I wasn't prepared to do it again.
The Monitor: You are not a man accustomed to following orders. But the survival of the multiverse requires that you obey mine.

Oliver: I ignored the orders of a cosmic being, and as a result, I watched an entire world just disappear, so I'm just trying not to make the same mistake twice.
Diggle: Well, if this cosmic being wanted someone willing to watch the mass murder of innocent people, then he picked the wrong hero. Shouldn't blame yourself, man.
Oliver: (dryly) Well, what about my behavior over the past 7 years has given you the impression that I would?


Continuity

The Monitor says the he redirected Oliver, Diggle and Black Siren to Earth-1 after they entered a breach trying to escape Earth-2 without thinking of the destination.

The Monitor confirms that Earth-2 has been destroyed and blames it directly on Oliver's interfering with the affairs of that Earth instead of staying focused on the mission.

The Monitor instructs Oliver to find a man named Dr. Robert Wong. Again, he refuses to explain why he requires this.

Black Siren refuses to believe Earth-2 is gone. She takes the breach device and leaves to find someone local who can fix it.

The Internet cafe where Oliver tried to contact his family in 301 is revealed to be an ARGUS front. Diggle gets access to the backroom and a high-tech computer connected to the ARGUS intranet by telling the employee that Harbinger sends her regards.

Diggle calls Lyla into Hong Kong to keep an eye on Black Siren.

Dr. Wong has been missing for over a week. He was last seen at Wan Chai University, where he is a professor.

Tatsu Yamashiro (aka Katana) appears for the first time since 412.

Tatsu reveals that she left the Crescent Order after they demanded her death for giving the Lotus Cure to Nyssa Al Ghul. Since then, she has been a vigilante in Hong Kong.

The Cresent Order has knowledge of The Monitor and his true name, Mar Novu.

Tatsu recognizes the pins worn by the men in the last photo of Dr. Wong as the emblem of Hong Kong's secret police.

Black Siren met a hacker named David Chin through Cayden James several years earlier, who claimed to be able to get her back to Earth-2.

It is determined that Dr. Wong wasn't abducted but placed in protective custody, due to his working for the Chinese government to recreate the Alpha-Omega virus.

China White leads the Triad group that tries to kidnap Dr. Wong.  Both Oliver and Diggle thought she was in ARGUS custody. John says that as far as he knew, Lyla thought she was in their custody as well.

Black Siren learns that Earth-2 truly has been destroyed.

China White was last seen in 714, as part of John Diggle's new Suicide Squad.

Olive plans to use the virus as bait to draw China White and Dr. Wong out of hiding. Tatsu points out this was the same plan her husband attempted and it failed.

China White says the American government released her from custody because they feared a scandal if word got out about what ARGUS had been doing to force criminals to work for them.

Black Siren saves Katana from being killed by China White.

Dr. Wong is saved and the virus is secured.

Oliver gives Tatsu some of the same healing herbs she gave him after she saved his life in 310.

Oliver says he is going to Nanda Parbat in search of information on The Monitor.

Lyla is revealed to know the Monitor and to have been in communication with him for some time.

Connor says The Deathstrokes already took everything of value from Alberto Vasquez's private vaults, except for one flash drive that is completely fried.

William starts trying to fix the drive, as Zoe, Mia and Connor prepare to confront John Diggle Jr. by staking out the one black market where he can fence what he stole from Vasquez.

John Jr. agrees to have a friendly talk with Connor. This turns out to be a distraction and his plan was to leave the drive behind so William could fix it, so his people could then get the drive and the information on it.



Location

Hong Kong - Earth-1


The Fridge Factor

Tatsu is made out to be much less competent than she has been in the past as a sword fighter to give Black Siren a chance to save her and play the hero.


The Bottom Line

A lackluster episode that revives one of the weaker portions of Arrow's history and drags out the flash-forwards to ill-effect. There's nothing really bad about it, but there's a lot of characters it would have been better to see again than Tatsu, if only because her appearance in Hong Kong makes me wonder why a Japanese woman has made herself the protector of Hong Kong. Still, it could be worse.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 1 - Starling City

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

While trying to decipher the cryptic instructions given to him by The Monitor, Oliver finds himself back in Starling City on another Earth. Meanwhile, in the future of Star City 2040, Mia and William's team of vigilantes clash with an unexpected new foe.


Influences

Season 1 of Arrow and Crisis on Infinite Earths.


Goofs

Nothing is said about Robert Queen, who became The Hood of Earth-2 instead of Oliver Queen. Did Moira divorce him after his secret identity was exposed?  Was he sent to prison, like Roy Harper when he was fingered as The Hood in Arrow season 3? Was he killed and that revealed who he was? And why does everyone act like Adrian Chase's Hood is the first Hood on Earth 2? (Possibly Barry Allen's time-travel altered the timeline so both Robert and Oliver died on Earth 2 in the altered reality?)

Why does Earth-2 Simon Morrison use Adrian Chase as an alias when he's a good guy?

Where did Tommy Merlyn get trained to fight in Earth-2's reality?

Who was responsible for destroying the Queen's Gambit if Malcolm Merlyn honestly was a good guy on this Earth?

In a previous episode, Black Siren said that she knew Thea Queen quite well on her Earth and she was far less idealistic than the Thea Queen of Earth-1. Given the Earth-2 timeline, Thea would have been 12 when Black Siren moved to Central City to start a new life without her version of Oliver Queen. This makes it unlikely they would have kept in touch, particularly after Black Siren got her powers.

In this episode, Earth-2's Felicity Smoak is said to be running Smoak Technologies and is a huge success. Yet in an earlier episode, Black Siren said that Felicity Smoak of her Earth ran a criminal empire and was known for being ruthless. (The two aren't mutually exclusive, although now I really want to see Emily Bett Rickards as Earth 2's Wilson Fisk.)

How is Black Siren openly walking around when she was one of the most notorious criminals on Earth-2 five years ago and part of a regime that effectively ruled the world?

Why does Club Verdant - which Oliver started as a front to hide his first Arrowcave on Earth-1 - exist on Earth 2?


Performances

Stephen Amell does some great silent acting throughout the episode, reacting to various bits of bad news, nostalgia and looking at the picture of Felicity and Mia that is apparently the only possession he brought with him.

David Ramsey gets a bit of this too, during the scene where he is once again "The Black Driver."

Colin Donnel does a masterful job of playing a grief-stricken, driven to violence version of Tommy Merlyn.


Artistry

The direction and music do a great job of capturing the feeling of the first season of Arrow.


Trivia

At one point Adrian Chase calls Black Siren "Pretty Bird." This was Oliver Queen's pet name for Dinah Lance in the classic comics.

Reference is made to an incident in Pennytown. This is one of the districts of Star City in the DC Comics Universe.

Adrian Chase says that Bruce Wayne once told him that "if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." This is a direct quote from Sherlock Holmes in The Sign Of the Four.


Technobabble

Adrian Chase analyzes the metallurgy of the Dark Archer's arrows and Oliver Queen's arrows to prove they aren't the same.

Queen-Merlyn recently upgraded their facilities with 500 miles worth of high-capacity fiber optics married to an underground server farm.

Queen-Merlyn is research the possibility of using dwarf star matter as an alternative energy source.

William uses satellite imaging to determine that the Deathstrokes have assumed control of the old Galaxy One headquarters


Dialogue Triumphs

The Monitor: (opening narration) Among the many misconceptions humanity holds dear is the fallacy that all beings are created equal. In truth, there are those who are greater. They are called heroes. But even among heroes, there are different echelons. The highest belong to those known as the paragons. And they are the only hope of all creation.

Moira: I know the changes must be overwhelming, and you must feel like you're on a different planet or something.
Oliver: You could say that.

(Oliver walks into Queen-Merlyn's IT Department. He sees a blonde woman with a pony-tail from behind and can just make out her chewing on a black pen.)
Oliver: It's supposed to be red.
(The woman spins around in her chair. It is clearly not Felicity Smoak. Just some other blonde woman in glasses.)
Woman: Excuse me?
Oliver: Nothing. Sorry. I'm looking for Felicity Smoak.
Woman: (laugh) Like Felicity Smoak would slum it in IT, instead of running Smoak Tech!
Oliver: Oh. Good for her.

(Oliver and Diggle are in a car. Oliver in the back. Diggle driving.)
Oliver: So what do I call you?
Diggle: Diggle. Digg if you want.
(Oliver smiles at the familiarity. This is just like when they first met. We cut to the front seat and Diggle smiles faintly too as we hear Oliver tugging on the door handle only to find the child safety locks have been engaged, so he can't tuck and roll out of the car as he did when he lost Diggle before. It is apparent now that this Diggle saw the trick coming because he is, in fact, Earth-1 Diggle.)
Diggle: Sorry, Oliver. Fool me once...

Diggle: Oliver, has it occurred to you that whatever happens in this crisis happens because you push the people closest to you away?
Oliver: So you're in a forward area. Somebody throws a grenade right into the middle of your platoon. What do you do?
Diggle: I jump on it. I contain the blast.
Oliver: That's what I'm doing. I can't prevent whatever it is that's going to happen to me, but I will be damned if I'm going to put other people at risk.
Diggle: And I will be damned if I just let you go gently into that good night.

Tommy: So I've been thinking it over. And you really were on Lian Yu. Because if you had been here, you would've been protecting our sister. So the question is... why are you running around in The Hood's hood?
Oliver: Doesn't matter.
Tommy: Yes, it does! The Hood is running around this city, thinking that he's saving it, and nothing can save it. You don't understand the cancer that has taken over this city.
Oliver: (shocked by the realization) Oh, my God! This is the Undertaking. You stole the dwarf star particles because you want to destroy The Glades and get vengeance for Thea.
Tommy: How could you know that? And what happened to you on that island?
Oliver: What happened to you while I was on the island?
Tommy: While you were gone, this city has been rotting. It can't be saved!
Oliver: That's not true, Tommy. I have seen Starling City come back from darker moments than this. It can be redeemed. You can be redeemed.
Tommy: You don't understand what I've seen. You don't know how I found our sister. Every time I close my eyes, I see her body lying there, cold, on a dirty floor. So I swore that I would get vengeance on The Glades for what it did to Thea, and I am not going to let her down. Not again!
Oliver: That's not gonna make you feel better, Tommy.
Tommy: I don't care about feeling better. I just want The Glades to suffer.
Oliver: You're a better man than this.
Tommy: That was a different me. Good-bye, Oliver.


Continuity

The Monitor deposits Oliver on Lian Yu on Earth-2 in the year 2019, though this is not immediately apparent.

Oliver is able to summon a boat using the same signal fire trick he used in the Arrow pilot.

On Earth-2's Lian Yu, the Deathstroke mask with an arrow through the eye is replaced with a Batman or Batwoman mask.

On Earth-2, Moira Queen and Malcolm Merlyn are married in the year 2019 and have merged their companies.

On Earth-2, after Robert Queen was declared dead, Walter Steele hold his shares in Queen Consolidated and went elsewhere. On Earth-1, he took charge of the company and eventually married Moira Queen.

Earth-2's Tommy Merlyn is still alive and living at Queen Manor. He says he has been married and divorced twice in the 12 years since he last saw Oliver.

Earth-2's Thea Queen died of a Vertigo overdose on her 18th birthday. This is a dark take on the events of 111 on Earth-1, where Thea Queen took Vertigo at her 18th birthday party but only crashed her brand new car.

Oliver breaks into Queen Consolidated looking for dwarf star particles. He finds the security team dead, shot by arrows, the particles stolen and is encountered by The Hood of this reality - Adrian Chase.

The fight between Oliver and Adrian is broken up by Black Siren, who asks what Oliver is doing on her Earth. This is the first indication in the episode that we are on Earth-2.

Black Siren has created her own version of The Bunker on Earth-2. It has the same design as the Earth-1 bunker, but with purple lighting instead of green.

Since returning to Earth-2, Black Siren has partnered with Adrian Chase (aka The Hood). They are not lovers, she is quick to note.

Oliver hides the fact that he is from another Earth from Adrian.

The Monitor reminds Oliver that his task is to retrieve the dwarf star particles for reasons he will not explain - not to confront Malcolm Merlyn over his crimes. Oliver defends his actions, saying that he needs to solve the mystery of the stolen particles in order to get them.

Oliver goes looking for Felicity Smoak in the IT Department of Queen Merlyn, learning that on this Earth she is a famous tech magnate.

The Earth-2 version of Curtis Holt is the head of Queen-Merlyn's IT Department.

The Earth-2 version of Rene Ramirez is employed as the Queen/Merlyn bodyguard.

The Earth-2 version of Dinah Drake is a Detective Sergeant in the SCPD.

As on Earth-1, Moira hires John Diggle to act as Oliver's personal bodyguard/babysitter. It is later revealed that this is Earth-1's John Diggle, come to help Oliver.

Felicity told Diggle about The Monitor taking Oliver away. Somehow, Diggle was able to track Oliver to Earth-2 and got there using a dimensional breach device borrowed from Cisco Ramon.

It is Earth-2's Tommy Merlyn who initiates The Undertaking in 2019 rather than Malcolm Merlyn in 2013. His plan involves attacking The Glades using a doomsday device powered by dwarf star particles rather than an earthquake generator. His motivation is avenging the death of Thea Queen, whom he apparently knew was his half-sister in this reality. On Earth-1, Malcolm Merlyn was avenging the death of his wife.

Tommy chains Oliver up in the same location Malcolm Merlyn did in 123.

Earth-2 Rene and Dinah are working for Tommy Merlyn to bring about the Undertaking.They are nowhere near as well-trained as their Earth-1 counterparts and Oliver defeats them easily on his own.

When Adrian Chase asks how Oliver knows so much about what the Dark Archer is planning, Oliver says he's ten steps ahead of him. This is a nod to what Prometheus continually told him during Season 5 of Arrow.

The location where Thea died is 4587 Burke. Apparently the building there is the home to Star City's worst drug dealers.

Tommy quotes something that Thea once told him to Oliver - "The dead don't want anything." Earth-1 Thea said the same thing to Oliver in 102.

Oliver is able to talk Tommy out of activating the device and turning himself in.

Adrian Chase is able to dismantle the Undertaking device and agrees to give Oliver the dwarf star particles.

Chase deduces that Oliver is the Hood from another Earth on his own.

Chase apparently knew Bruce Wayne and quotes a staying Wayne told him, which is cribbed from Sherlock Holmes. This, coupled with the Batman mask on Lian Yu, suggests that Bruce Wayne may have been the Slade Wilson of Earth 2.

Oliver suggests Chase change his name to Green Arrow.

Oliver visits Tommy in the police station after he turns himself in. He also gives his mother a final hug, after lying that he will see her at home.

Black Siren arrives at the SCPD HQ just as walls of antimatter began to destroy everything.

Moira and Tommy are killed by the antimatter.

Oliver, Diggle and Black Siren jump through a breach just as the walls close in on them.

In the future of 2040, William Clayton is now expanding his company into Star City, under his alias. His company is Harris Consolidated.

Crime has risen 300% in The Glades since the wall came down, but is down across the board in Star City in general.

Mr. Vasquez is a figure of importance in the move to reintegrate The Glades and Star City. He credits the vigilantes with reducing crime in Star City as a whole.

The Deathstroke Gang, which is led by John Diggle Jr., abduct Vasquez. They take him to the old Galaxy One building.

William talks Mia into going along with Connor's plan to rescue Vasquez.

Vasequez gives the Deathstrokes a series of codes.

Mia insists that from now on the team is going to do things her way.


Location

Starling City - Earth 2


Untelevised Adventures

The fate of Robert Queen on Earth 2.

Everything involving how Black Siren got herself established in Starling City and Adrian Chase's background on Earth-2.


The Bottom Line

As a walk down memory lane and a tribute to the first season of Arrow, it is wonderful. As a set-up for the season, it's competently executed apart from some major continuity issues - most likely brought on by the series' need to include Katie Cassidy as Black Siren rather than setting this on an entirely different Earth. That being said, the final sequence in which Earth-2 is destroyed is chillingly effective and set the tone for the future episodes of The Flash depicting the same destruction.  The Crisis is coming and nothing will ever be the same again.

Unfortunately, this does take the piss out of the flash-forward sequences, because we know that timeline is safe, even ignoring the reports that filming has already begun on a Green Arrow and the Canaries spin-off combining the planned Star City 2040 spin-off and Katie Cassidy's proposed Birds of Prey series. Is it too much hope that we can get Ashley Scott in there as well if the universes merge into one?

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 11 - Past Sins

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.





Plot

A new villain threatens the city after Oliver is interviewed on television about his life as a hero and his father's sacrifice to save his life. Black Siren is confronted by a figure from her past who has seemingly somehow made his way into her life from Earth Two. And as John Diggle prepares to  reactivate The Ghost Initiative, Curtis tries to find a way to get to Dante that doesn't involve letting Ricardo Diaz out of prison.


Influences

Inception (the VR sequence when Curtis manipulates Diaz's dreams)


Goofs

While Black Siren may not be an alcoholic, her drinking in public when the woman she's impersonating was may not be a great idea. Particularly given that Laurel was fired from the DA's office once for drunk driving and trying to get the police to go easy on her because of her position/father.

You'd think Felicity would know better than to ask her out for drinks, come to that.

Black Siren being the most popular DA in the past decade sounds impressive until you remember that every DA in the show's history, save one, was a criminal or incompetent.

Why were there no police officers guarding the parking lot of the building where they rescued Nick Kannon? If there had been, Sam Hackett wouldn't have escaped.

It's unclear just how Felicity knows she has to stop Black Siren from killing Brett Collins. (Perhaps she had an alert set to her phone if Black Siren got within a certain distance of Brett Collins?)

How are the escaping Ghost Imitative recruits able to injure ARGUS agents in full body armor? (It's a clue that the scene we're watching isn't real.)

It doesn't make a lick of sense that the same people who rated "Laurel" as the best DA of the past decade are largely against Oliver Queen working as a Police Deputy. (Of course it doesn't make a lick of sense that Black Siren could become the DA in the current anti-vigilante city government either...)


Performances

There's something so gratifying about Echo Kellum's performance here and the barely restrained smugness as Curtis reveals how he owned Diaz with his plan.


Artistry

David Ramsey has a strong first outing as a director. The pacing of Diaz's escape is particularly well-handled and you honestly believe for a moment that they really did kill Curtis off.


Trivia

This episode was directed by David Ramsey - the actor who plays John Diggle.


Technobabble

All of the security cameras and overhead lights around Rich Kannon's car were shorted out before he was kidnapped. This suggests a planned power surge created by someone who knew how to manipulate the electrical grid.

Oliver uses a Net Arrow to catch Rich Kannon before he falls to his death.

Felicity has developed a program that can track genetic material. She uses this to find Black Siren before she kills Brett Collins.

There is a partial etching on the components found in Sam Hackett's apartment. They are reconstructed to determine that they belonged to Star City Electrical and were used to tag proprietary parts.

Sam Hackett's weapon, when plugged into the grid for SCPD HQ, makes everything in the building that can hold a current deadly thanks to the static generated by the electricity coursing through these walls right now.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver: My goal has always been to serve this city. I understand that there are people who... they disagreed with my methods before. So I would like to assure the people of Star City I will no longer be hiding in the shadows and I promise to always be on the side of the law. I believe that trust can be built through transparency. And I'm going to prove it.

Curtis: It's like the Ghosts of Villains Past in here!

(Curtis continues to object to reviving The Ghost Initiative.)
Curtis: How can you be okay with that?
John: I'm not.
(Curtis just stares at him.)
John: I'm not. We are fighting evil that most people don't even know exists. And sometimes that means making very difficult decisions, Curtis. The bombs are just a fail-safe. That's all.
(John walks past Curtis to leave the room. Curtis turns around.)
Curtis: There has to be a better way.
(John stops and turns back around to face Curtis.)
John: I wish there were.
(As John leaves, Curtis looks thoughtful and moves to his computer.)

(Suddenly, as Diaz is making his escape, his car and the road around him pixelate and vanish. He is suddenly strapped in a chair at ARGUS HQ, with a smiling Curtis looking at him.)
Diaz: What the hell just happened?!
Curtis: Well, first I overrode the explosive program that ARGUS put inside your head with a little virtual reality simulation that started running about 20 minutes before you remember getting your sedative. Then.. I owned your ass.
Diaz: You're dead!
Curtis: No. See, that all happened in your head, too. By the way - harsh.
Diaz: (pulling at his restraints) Get me out of here.
Curtis: See, I don't think you're going to want to be getting out of here. Because if you were to do that, Dante would be waiting for you. And I think he's going to be really pissed when he finds out you gave us everything we need to get him.
(Curtis exits the room, not looking back as he speaks one more time.)
Curtis: ARGUS thanks you for your cooperation.

Oliver: I wore that mask for a reason. Now that I've taken it off, maybe the consequences are finally catching up with me.
Dinah: Well, you can't take responsibility for every choice some lunatic makes, you know?
Oliver: No. I have to take responsibility for this. Me being on the force puts your reputation at risk, and it's putting lives in danger.
Dinah: Cops face risks every day. That is the job. And you are not putting anyone's life in danger, not unless you stop fighting for them. You think you're gonna do one interview, and all of a sudden, your problems go away overnight?
Oliver: I think I have been so obsessed with proving to people I'm not my father that I didn't stop and look at all the ways that I am exactly like him. I should have come clean with Sam years ago.
Dinah: But you didn't, and you can't stop the past from haunting you. The only thing you have control over is what you do going forward.

Oliver: My father killed Dave Hackett. The people of Star City deserve the truth.
Rich Kannon: Why come forward now? Hackett has been apprehended. The threat is over.
Oliver: Because transparency is about more than just not wearing a mask. I've made mistakes. I'm sure that I will make mistakes again. But what I will not do is lie. That is my promise to you, the people of Star City.


Dialogue Disasters

Black Siren's entire monologue about her father's death being her fault because she threw a tantrum like a toddler over a cake when she was 13 years old.


Continuity

Oliver appears on the Rich Kannon show with Black Siren to talk about his desire to protect Star City openly as a deputy of the SCPD. She talks about her desire to live up to Quentin's standard as the new DA of Star City.

It is revealed that Oliver approached Emiko and asked what he could do to make things right. She said she wanted nothing to do with him and that the Queen Family destroy everything they touch.

China White last appeared in 514.

Kane Wolfman last appeared in 709.

Carrie "Cupid" Cutter last appeared in 514.

Until now, Curtis was not informed of the meaning of the Dante painting he discovered and how it tied in to Diggle's reactivating The Ghost Initiative to go after a figure called Dante.

According to Diggle, they tracked one of the people who knew how to contact Dante directly to a compound in Egypt. This lead came from Ricardo Diaz.

Lyla refers to the events of 703 and why they need to use the Ghost Initiative to go around the chain of command that oversees ARGUS to investigate Dante.

Curtis is asked to make sure the bomb tech isn't rejected by the bodies of the various recruits.

Black Siren claims that she is not an alcoholic, unlike the Laurel Lance of Earth One.

Felicity says she thinks Quentin would be proud of the person Black Siren has become.

According to a news broadcast, Black Siren is the most popular DA in Star City in the past ten years.

Black Siren is confronted by a man named Brett Collins whom she thinks knows her from Earth Two.

On Earth Two, Brett Collins was the drunk driver who killed Earth Two's Quentin Lance. He is also the first person Black Siren killed after she developed her powers.

Rich Kannon is abducted shortly after leaving his studio, electrocuted by someone whose presence causes power boxes nearby to short out.

A video of a tortured Rich Kannon is sent to Channel 52 news, in which he reads a statement that Oliver Queen is no hero and that people will die if he does not quit the police force.

Black Siren finds a printed note in her office which reads "I FOUND YOU. I CAN GET TO YOU ANYWHERE."

Black Siren makes reference to the events of 704 and how she agreed to help Felicity with torturing The Silencer, no questions asked. She asks Felicity for the same right, when asking for her help in determining no one from Earth Two is on Earth One.

Oliver says the kidnapper is an amateur based on the quality of the video and the execution of how he tortured Rich Kannon. He also uploaded his video to the news from the Wi-Fi of a public coffee shop in the southeastern part of The Glades, apparently unaware that could be traced.

Using satellite imaging, Oliver is able to find the windows seen in the video of Rich Kannon on an abandoned building in the Glades. It is here that he finds Rich Kannon and the kidnapper, who says that people who aren't named Queen have a right to live too.

Oliver recognizes the phrase "people without the last name Queen are human too" from the transcript of his conversations with Dr. Parker from 704. Felicity says those transcripts were censored when she sent them to the press but the DA's office had the full transcripts. This leads to the conclusion that someone hacked the DA's office computers.

When pondering who would be interested in those transcripts, Oliver suggests Felicity look up the name David Hackett - the full name of Robert Queen's personal bodyguard, whom he killed before killing himself in the flashbacks in the series pilot. This leads Oliver to conclude that the kidnapper might be Sam Hackett, David's son, who he met a few times when he was younger.

Sam Hackett has a lengthy rap-sheet, including multiple charges of drunk and disorderly conduct, drug possession and assault.

Black Siren finds another threat in her car. This one says "I'M COMING FOR YOU."

Black Siren confronts a drunken Brett Collins. The only thing that stops her from killing him is the intervention of Felicity Smoak. He pleads ignorance and asks what Earth Two is when Black Siren tells him he should have stayed on Earth Two.

Sam Hackett has a degree in electrical engineering.

Oliver tells Dinah about how his father killed David Hackett. 

When they search Sam Hackett's apartment, Oliver and Dinah find plans for a search trip to the North China Sea. It's then that Oliver realizes that Sam was still holding out hope his father was alive, like him, and that he should have told David the truth to give him closure years ago.

Dinah and Oliver also find plans for some kind of electrical weapon.

Curtis is able to trick Diaz into revealing how to contract Dante thanks to a virtual reality simulation that makes Diaz think he's escaping ARGUS HQ. He kills Curtis during the simulation.

Apparently 77% of Star City wants Oliver Queen fired from his job with the SCPD.

Oliver suggests firing him to stop Hackett from enacting his Plan B. Dinah refuses to consider this.

As a teenager, Black Siren pitched a fit when her father didn't bring her favorite cake for her birthday dinner. He was killed by Brett Collins after he went out to get it for her. Her last words to him were "I hate you."

Oliver guesses that Sam Hackett is using his father's name to find work as an electrician because of his record. His dad's social security number is traced to Star City Electrical - the company whose parts were being used to build some kind of electrical weapon.

Sam Hackett's weapon electrifies the SCPD building to that anything running on electricity and the walls will fatally shock anyone who touches them.

Dinah is able to escape by using a rubber mat as a shield while charging one of the doors and shooting the power box Hackett manipulated.

Oliver goes back on the Rich Kannon show. He tells about how his father killed Dave Hackett before committing suicide. He says he did this in the name of transparency and promises to never lie to the people of Star City again.

Diggle intends to keep the Ghost Initiative program going, saying they may need known criminals as boots on the ground to go after Dante. Curtis, in turn, says that he won't blindly follow orders anymore.

Felicity tells Black Siren that Cisco Ramon checked the records on Earth Two and that their version of Brett Collins died on his porch sometime after Black Siren tried to kill him.

Dinah says the Earth One version of Brett Collins is in lock-up on public intoxication charges. He has a history of stalking and anti-vigilante violence. With that, she thinks she can get him locked up for good given what Black Siren said about the threatening letters she got.

Emiko approaches Oliver after his second interview with Rick Kannon. She says she believes Oliver is different than their father and she is ready to think about talking to him.

When Dinah goes into her car, she finds a note like the ones Black Siren found in her office and car. This one reads


The Winick Factor

The grand reveal of Black Siren's reasons for becoming a villain are just plain idiotic, with a 13 year old girl acting like a 3 year old in regards to getting a cake at her birthday. Worst of all, Black Siren - a character nominally based on one of the strongest women in comic books - has her entire motivation distilled down to Daddy Issues, with nothing being said about her mother or her influence upon her daughter in all of this. Where was Dinah Lance on Earth Two?

To make matters worse, all of this is dismissed in the episode's ending. It turns out Black Siren didn't really kill the Brett Collins of Earth Two. It turns out the Brett Collins of Earth One is a drunken creep and an anti-vigilante activist with a history of stalking and drunken stupidity who had just been arrested, so Dinah can make sure the book is thrown at him, so it all ends happily and there's no reason for Black Siren to feel bad... except for the fact that she's still an unrepentant killer who tried murdering millions less than a year ago.


The Bottom Line

Largely hampered by the latest attempts to try and make Black Siren into a good guy, this episode is an otherwise inoffensive piece of filler. The villain of the week is forgettable. The highlight is Curtis' battle of wits with Diaz and that's largely successful due to Echo Kellum's performance and Ramsey's direction selling the possibility that they really did kill Curtis off. The Oliver/Dinah interaction is also good, but the whole is strictly average.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 6 - Promises Kept

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

As Slade Wilson uncovers the truth about his son's past, Oliver finds himself in exactly the sort of trouble he had promised he would avoid. Meanwhile, back in Star City, the rest of Team Arrow must contend with The Dragon -a new crime boss who stealing advanced technology for an unexpected end and one whom has a surprising connection to one of them...


Influences

The Teen Titans comics of Marv Wolfman and George Perez (plot involving Deathstroke trying to bring the son who emulates him under control) and the Green Arrow comics of Jeff Lemire (character of Ricardo Diaz).


Goofs

Why doesn't Nylander recognize Oliver as the friend who was with Slade at their meeting in the last episode?

Why was the A.S.I.S. training room in Australia getting the Channel 52 news feed?

The whole "Diggle turning to mystery drugs" subplot doesn't make sense and both Lyla and Curtis point out why. Lyla rightly calls John the most moral man she knows and Digg's desire not to burden people would never outweigh his sense of duty to the team. Curtis points out that given that he was able to crate a microchip that could cure paralysis, John should have come to him first about his nerve problems instead of trusting a strange drug dealer.


Performances

Manu Bennett delivers his best performance yet as Slade Wilson. If this is his final appearance, he's ending on a high note. That still won't stop me from hoping for a Deathstroke series in 2018. Make it happen, CW!

Despite how random it was in starting and how quickly it's resolved here, David Ramsey sells the hell out of his performance here as John Diggle coping with drug abuse.


Artistry

The final shot of Slade walking away through a steam-cloud is like something George Perez would have drawn, brought to life.


Trivia

The first business the tech thieves try to rob in this episode is Cadmus Tech. Cadmus, in the original comics, is a scientific concern involved in genetic engineering. In the New 52 universe, they are tied to a business called Cadmus Industries. In the DC Animated Universe, Project Cadmus was an association of scientific, military and government agents who were concerned about the threat posed by The Justice League.

In the DCTVU, on Earth 38 - the world where Supergirl is from - Cadmus is the name of Lillian Luthor's anti-alien group.

Lyla makes a reference to the nation of Vlatava. In the original comics, Vlatava was a small eastern-European nation and home to the villain Count Vertigo.

The second business the thieves hit is the Bio division of Palmer Tech. This is, of course, Ray Palmer's company. They steal a second high-quality 3-D printer.

The character of Richard Dragon was originally created by Dennis O'Neil and Jim Berry for the novel Kung Fu Master, Richard Dragon: Dragon's Fists (1974). O'Neil, best known at the time for his work on Detective Comics and Green Lantern/Green Arrow, later adapted the character for the DC Comics Universe in Richard Dragon Kung Fu Fighter #1 (May 1975). As a teenage sneak-thief in Japan, a young Richard tried to break into a dojo run by O-Sensei. Bested and beaten by O-Sensei's prize student, the old master saw something worth saving in the young thief and took him on as a student. For seven years, Richard studied the martial arts, eventually deciding to use his skills for good. He went on to become one of the best (if not the best) overall martial artists in the DC Universe.

The character of Richard Dragon was introduced to The New 52 reality in Green Arrow #23 (October 2013) by Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino. This version of Richard Dragon was apparently a member of The League of Assassins and was killed by one of his students, Ricardo Diaz Jr., who took Richard Dragon's name.

Ricardo Diaz Jr. was the son of Ricardo Diaz Sr. - a corrupt Seattle businessman, who was killed by John Diggle who was, at the time, posing as Green Arrow. Seeking revenge, Diaz Jr. went off in search of The League of Assassins. After killing his mentor and taking his name, the new "Richard Dragon" returned to Seattle and began killing gang-leaders while posing as a vigilante. In truth, "Dragon" was cementing his control on the underworld with the ultimate goal of killing Green Arrow and taking over his city. To that end, Diaz formed a team - The Longbow Hunters - dedicated to killing Green Arrow.

The DCTVU version of Ricardo Diaz is a career criminal who goes by the street name "Dragon". Once part of a Glades gang called The Scorpions, he was sentenced to Life Without Parole twice for his extensive list of crimes. His convictions were overturned due to technicalities and he has only been out of prison for one month, according to Dinah.

Joe makes mention of a brother named Grant that Slade didn't know about. In the comics, Grant Wilson was Slade Wilson's oldest son, who followed in his footsteps to become the mercenary Ravager.

In one alternate future visited by The Legends of Tomorrow, Grant Wilson was the new Deathstroke who ruled over Star City 2046.

The video game Felicity and William are playing when Oliver returns home is Injustice 2 - a game which features, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Firestorm, The Atom, Supergirl, The Flash, Vixen, Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd and Deadshot as playable characters. None of these characters are seen, however, with Felicity playing as Blue Beetle and William playing as Sub Zero.


Technobabble

The thieves were after a military-grade 3-D printer, capable of printing weapons, drones or chemicals.

Semtex is a high-yield explosive.

The armor which Slade Wilson wore as Deathstroke was developed by the A.S.I.S and was in it's prototype stages in 2011.

"Double jolts of Life Plus One" is a slang term for "two sentences for Life Without Parole".

Curtis says that both the stolen 3-D printers could be used to simultaneously print inert polypropylenes and soft material catalyst composites. This would allow him to make reactionware - i.e. designer street-drugs.

The drug John is taking is an experimental steroid.

In pondering how to solve John's nerve damage, Curtis asks if he's had an electromyogram done, but then corrects himself and says he'll need to do an NCV Test first.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Slade Wilson lies in a hospital bed, his head and right-eye bandaged. He twitches suddenly as we see, from his perspective, flashbacks of his battles on Lian Yu.)
Joe: Father?
(Slade looks up. His gaze focusing. He sees his son, Joe.)
Slade: Joe...
Joe: How are you feeling?
Slade: How did I get here?
Joe: Evac found you washed upon the Philippine coast. They said you were barely conscious. Just muttering someone's name... Oliver. Who is he?
(Slade shudders as he remembers. We see flashes of his battle with Oliver Queen on The Amazo. He reaches up to his bandaged eye.)
Joe: Father?
Slade: ... someone that owed me a debt.
Joe: Everyone left you for dead... but I knew you'd come back.
Slade: I will never leave you again, Joe.
(Joe leans down and hugs Slade. Slade hugs him back.)
Slade: I promise.

Diaz: Until we get our FDA approval, we've got to be careful with the roll out. You understand?
John: I get it. I'm just trying to make it through the day.
Diaz: Aren't we all?

John: To be Green Arrow means that I have to be physically capable of protecting the city. No matter what! Lyla, you make the same choices at ARGUS all the time!
Lyla: Choices you've condemned me for making!
John: I know I'm wrong. But I couldn't let Oliver down.
Lyla: So you let yourself down instead?

(Oliver wakes up, tied up in a chair. He finds a sword point at his right eye. Slade is holding the sword, as Joe looks on.)
Slade: Years ago I made you a promise. Do you remember? I promised that you would suffer. The same way that I suffered.
Oliver: What are you doing? You're not this person anymore.
Slade: What I am is a father. Reunited with my son. I made him a promise too, And I'm not going to break it again.
Oliver: We made each other a promise, Slade. To save our sons! To save Joe. To save William.
Joe: He has a son? I'll make sure he suffers too.
(Slade moves around behind Oliver.)
Oliver: Slade?
(Slade starts to raise up his sword.)
Joe: Do it!
Oliver: Slade?!  Slade!
(Slade grunts and slrikes down... cutting Oliver's bonds. Oliver is out of his chair with a shot, knocking Joe out with a quick strike.)
Oliver: (glaring at Slade) That was a little too convincing.

Slade: I spared your life back there.
Oliver: I know. But back there, it didn't feel like an act, the same way it did with Chase back on Lian Yu.
Slade: Because when I saw my son... I was tempted. I would have done anything to keep us together. But when you mentioned William... I realized that's not my boy. It's Kane. But what I fear is there's only one way to stop him.

Joe: "Trust begins with honesty." That's what you said to me. But you lied!
Slade: You know life is not that simple, Joe.
Joe: That's not my name! How could you forgive Oliver Queen after what he did to you?!
Slade: Because he forgave me for far worse. Sins that I have to carry to the grave. A curse that I didn't want to pass on to you! All of this anger and resentment - it's time to bring it to an end, son!
Joe: (drawing his sword) No. It's just the beginning!

Slade: It's time for you to go home.
Oliver: And where will you go?
Slade: I'm going to keep searching for my son. Both of them. (pauses) I can't give up.
Oliver: If you ever need my help again, you don't hesitate to ask. 
Slade: You have your own son to protect and I'm not going to put that at risk again. You've seen what can happen.
(Oliver nods as Slade offers his hand. Oliver takes it and shakes it.)
Slade: Thank you, kid.
(Slade picks up his bag and walks off. Oliver turns and watches as Slade walks into an alley disappearing into a steam cloud.)


Continuity

Once again, John freezes up trying to fire his weapon as his hands go shaky.

Both Slade and Joe have a taste for single-malt scotch whiskey.

Ricardo Diaz is revealed to be leading the drug-ring that is making the drug that is keeping Diggle's aim steady. Diaz claims they are keeping it on the down-low until the FDA approves it.

John confesses about his nerve damage and his drug use to Lyla.

Slade spent two years (from 2010 to 2012) with his son, training alongside him in the A.S.I.S.. The Mirakuru drove him mad, however, and he killed almost all of his squad, save Joe, before leaving to pursue his vengeance on Oliver Queen, after seeing a news broadcast declaring that Oliver Queen was alive and had been rescued.

Joe reveals that he saw Slade kill a Chinese spy while they were supposed to be on a father-son trip in 2004. (As seen in the flashbacks in 605.) He says he made his first kill six months after that.

Joe reveals that he has a brother named Grant who Slade never knew about.

The Jackals are in custody but Joe/Kane gets away.

William got an A on his science project - a bottle rocket that went further than anyone else in his class.

John confesses his drug use and nerve trouble to Dinah, Rene and Curtis.

They forgive him, though Curtis is more offended that John didn't come to him for help first and promises to find a way to cure John without the steroid.

John promises no more secrets between himself and Dinah. She agrees... as she handles the matcbox that Vigilante gave her 605.


Location

An A.S.I.S. Medical Ward - 2010.
An A.S.I.S. Training Facility - 2011.
An A.S.I.S. Training Facility  - 2012.
A secret bunker in the nation of Kasnia.


Untelevised Adventures

The flashbacks in this episode tell the story of what happened to Slade Wilson in the five years between when he fought Oliver Queen on the Amazo and when he turned up in Star City posing as a businessman financing Moira Queen's run for mayor.


The Winick Factor

The arbitrary introduction of a drug addiction and the swift resolution of it in one issue is very Winnickian.


The Bottom Line

Half great. Half okay.

The only reason the subplot for Diggle works on any level is because of David Ramsey's performance. Had the subplot been given more time to mature, it might have worked more effectively. On the other hand, that would have required us to spend more time contemplating how out-of-character John was acting and how stupid he was for keeping secrets, not turning to the scientist he works with for help, etc.

The Deathstroke subplot, on the other hand, is handled perfectly and it gives Manu Bennett the exit from the series that he deserved rather than the embarrassing way Slade Wilson was handled in Arrow's third season. I really hope this isn't the last we see of Slade, but if it is, it's a grand way to go out.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 3 - Next Of Kin

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

Determined to devote his life towards his new son, Oliver asks John to take over as The Green Arrow, unaware that John is suffering from nerve damage that leaves him unable to draw a gun reliably much less fire a bow! As Oliver seeks help from an unlikely source in connecting with William, the rest of Team Arrow must contend with a rogue convert ops team and the deadly weapon they've stolen from Kord Industries.


Influence

The novels of Tom Clancy (plot based around a covert ops team going rogue) and the Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy (Oliver tries to balance work and parenthood.)


Performances

With every passing episode, Juliana Harkavy proves herself the Black Canary this series deserves and has needed since Caity Lotz' departure in Season Two. She captures the tough-as-nails essence of Dinah Drake from the comics and her chemistry with David Ramsey continues to be one of the best aspects of the show.

Talking of chemistry, Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards continue to be adorable as Oliver and Felicity.

The episode MVP, however, has got to be David Ramsey. He's often had a thankless job playing John Diggle but episodes like this one allow him the chance to show why he's been an essential part of Team Arrow since the series began.


Artistry

The action sequence with John Diggle fighting Onyx Adams in the car is a fantastic one, from the camera-work to the blocking of the fight.


Trivia

The episode opens with a new introductory voice-over by Oliver Queen, reflecting his retirement as Green Arrow.

We see Dinah using her sonic scream to direct and cushion the landing of a falling John Diggle. In the recent Batgirl And The Birds of Prey comics, Black Canary was shown using her sonic scream to propel herself upward, creating a degree of limited flight, in a similar manner.

Past stories have also shown Black Canary having the fine control to obliterate an ivory billiard ball into powder without hurting the hand of the person holding it. Given that, her using the Canary Cry to disperse a toxic gas cloud as she does in this episode is potentially possible.

The Arrow stinger at the start of the episode no longer has the symbol for Spartan among the symbols for Black Canary, Wild Dog, Mister Terrific, Overwatch and Green Arrow.

Once again, mention is made of Kord Industries. In the comics, Kord Industries is owned by industrialist/inventor Ted Kord, a.k.a. the second Blue Beetle.

The terrible song the Kord Industries driver is listening to is Children of Aquarius by Marcus.

Onyx Adams first appeared in Detective Comics #546 (January 1985) and was created by Joey Cavalieri and Jerome Moore. A former member of The League of Assassins who abandoned her life of murder for a life of peaceful contemplation, she joined the order of Buddhist monks who ran the ashram where Oliver Queen lived for a time following his retiring from the world after mistakenly killing a young man. She was sent from the ashram to find Green Arrow and secure his help in defeating a renegade monk named Lars, who sought an ancient artifact of great power.

Onyx Adams would appear sporadically in other comics following her adventure with Green Arrow. She appeared as part of a team of female superheroes lead by Wonder Woman to fight Circe and her followers. She would later be recruited by Batman to serve as a bodyguard for one of his agents - a vigilante named Orpheus who had assumed the role of a crime-boss in Gotham City. Onyx would later take over Orpheus' gang herself and turn them into a peace-keeping force. She also served as one of Oracle's agents in the Birds of Prey.

The DCTVU version of Onyx Adams is a CIA agent who led a black-ops squadron working undercover in Syria. They disappeared in 2015 with $100 million in Syria government gold.

The CIA dossier on Onyx Adams which Felicity pulls up lists her as being 5'8 and 140 pounds. She's single and has an IQ of 120. She's described as being an art history enthusiast whose favorite style is surrealism and her favorite artist is Rene Magritte. It says that she holds a black belt in multiple Martial Arts but specializes in Dambe - a form of boxing developed by the Hausa people of west Africa. A trained gymnast, she is also a master of disguise and is specially trained in stealth and spy-craft.

At one point, Oliver makes William a  Monte Cristo sandwich using waffles instead of bread. This is a nod to Oliver's enthusiastic if unorthodox cooking skills in the comics, where Oliver is depicted as being the sort of person who likes experimenting in the kitchen but few people enjoy the results of his experiments.


Technobabble

All of the people killed by Onyx at Kord Industries died of broken vertebrea or blunt force trauma. 

Onyx uses a unique flash-bang weapon to blind people. Curtis develops glasses that resist the effect.

Felicity and Curtis build a weapon for John which they dub The Green Monster - a modified crossbow that shoots arrows instead of crossbow bolts. It has a 260 pound draw weight and the arrows exit the gate at 400 feet per second. It has an integrated recoil energy dissipation system, adjustable mount scope, quick detach quivers, a pistol grip, finger guards and a non-slip rubber insert. The Green Monster does not have stabilizers.

Chapter Nine of the Star City charter allows the mayor to convert a city council bill into a city-wide referendum, allowing the people to vote on a measure.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver Queen: (voice-over) My name is Oliver Queen. After five years in hell, I returned home with only one goal - to save my city. But I couldn't honor that commitment and honor the promise I made ti the mother of my son. So I asked the best man I know to help. His name is John Diggle and he is The Green Arrow.

(Dinah looks at John with a smirk on her lips.)
John: Maybe in another week I'll get used to that judgmental stare you keep giving me.
Dinah: This isn't judgement. It's amusement.
John: Hmm.
Dinah: (in imitation of John) Sooner or later someone's gonna find out The Green Arrow isn't shooting any arrows.
John: Dinah, I'm not an archer.
Dinah: No. It's not about the arrows, John. It's about the injury. I thought you were going to talk to Oliver?
John: I was. Until he asked me to put this on.
Dinah: Which he never would have done if he knew the truth.
John: Dinah, what do you want from me? The man's under an FBI microscope. He's worried about his son!
Dinah: Imagine how worried he'd be if he knew you were out there compromised.
John: Did you see me tonight? Did I look compromised? Dinah, I have this handled. The tremor's gone
Dinah: (sarcastically) Well, I guess I worried for nothing then.

Felicity: So the man who took down Damien Darhk is bested by arithmetic?
Oliver: It wasn't my strongest subject in school.
Felicity: No? What was? Truancy?
Oliver: (smiling) Charm.
Felicity: (smiling back) Yeah, no doubt.

(John, in The Green Arrow suit, sits in the cab of the delivery truck with the security guard and driver. Terrible music plays as the three men sit in silence.)
Radio: Children of Aquarius, Your dream is my dream.
The Green Arrow: You have horrible taste in music.

John: Every time I've hard to give orders... in the Army? On this team? There was always someone there backing my plays. I'm not used to making the hard calls alone. No one is more disappointed in me than me.
Dinah: Well, next time get it right. Our lives depend on it.

Oliver: This is weird.
John: Being back down here?
Oliver: How many times have you come down here to find me brooding?
John: I'm not brooding, Oliver. I'm thinking.
Oliver: Yeah.
(A long pause passes as the two regard each other.)
John: Okay, maybe I'm brooding a little bit.
Oliver: Well, if you haven't figured it out already, that expression is a much a part of the uniform as the green hood.
John: Every time you were down here brooding it was because you made a mistake. (pauses and sighs) I think you made another one, man.
Oliver: No. Not even close.
John: Who came to you? Rene?
Oliver: I needed to come and ask Felicity a favor. And then of course I saw that very familiar expression. It makes me wonder if maybe I asked too much of you.
John: What do you mean?
Oliver: I gave up being Green Arrow for William. But... you have J.J. You have Lyla. That doesn't exactly seem fair...
John: That's not the issue at all, Oliver. I made my peace with this whole life a long time ago.
Oliver: So what's the problem?
John: I don't know how you did it. You never hesitated to make the call. You were always sure. I'm not.
Oliver: I was never sure! Not one time! I'm very flattered that it looked that way on the outside, John. But on the inside, it was... it was instinct. It was instinct and it was fear.
John: Yeah, but you worked past it.
Oliver: Well, you'll work past it too. Now, I'm not going to sit here and say that you won't make mistakes. That you won't lose people along the way. You know... most... most will be strangers, but some.... some won't be. Because John? You're one of the main reasons that The Green Arrow even exists.
John: What are you talking about?
Oliver: The Restons.
John: The bank robbers?
Oliver: The bank robbers, yeah. You were the first person to convince me to look past just the names on my father's list. You helped me discover that The Hood - that persona - he wasn't a hero. You helped me find one. All of this - The Green Arrow, the idea of it - it exists because you had faith in me. Now you've got to have the same kind of faith in yourself. Because if you do, you can be a better leader... you can be a better hero... than I ever was.

(John walks to the end of the shooting range, looking at the tennis balls he shot to the wall.)
Dinah: Nice going. Steady.
John: See? Told you. Tremor's gone.
Dinah: Well, I'm convinced. (smiles) You were wrong about one thing, though.
John: What's that?
(Dinah takes one of the arrows from the wall and offers it to John.)
Dinah: You can make the hard calls on your own just fine.
(Dinah walks off, leaving John to look at the skewered tennis ball with a sense of satisfaction.)

(Felicity opens the gift box Oliver gave her. It contains a key. She looks to him, confused.)
Oliver: It's a key to my apartment.
Felicity: Okay. Umm... won't that be confusing? For William?  I mean, it sure as hell is confusing for me?
Oliver: I know that when I took William in, we agreed that we would keep our distance because... he was going to have a lot to process.
Felicity: He still has a lot to process.
Oliver: Yes he does. Every day... there's a new challenge.
Felicity: I sense a "but" coming. There is a "but" coming, right?
Oliver: But... then I saw you with him. And I became 100% sure that, if you want, his life will be better with you in it. (smiles) Just like mine.
Felicity: Are you sure?  That's what you want?
Oliver: I'm sure.
(Oliver leans forward and kisses Felicity, pulling her into his arms.)


Continuity

Dinah now has such fine control of her powers that she can use her sonic scream to slow the velocity of a falling John Diggle and direct him to a ledge.

Alex Faust, the explosives expert working with Black Siren, is seen for the first time since 601.

William likes his eggs scrambled.

Quentin tries to negotiate a deal with Councilor Pollard (last seen in 515) to try and get some toothless anti-vigilante legislation passed to make Oliver appear tough on Team Arrow. Oliver refuses to go along with the plan.

Felicity's apartment is six blocks from Star City Hall.

Kord Industries invented a military grade nerve gas called ZX.

For the first time, John Diggle freezes up in the heat of battle.

Dinah is still keeping John's secret but only because she fears revealing his injury will hurt the chain of command.

Reme approaches Oliver with his concerns about John, saying Oliver needs to come back because John is in over his head.

Felicity was Nevada's three-time state Mathletics champion. She would probably have made it the fourth year, but Freshmen weren't allowed to compete.

Oliver recruits Felicity as a math tutor for William.

Oliver refers to the events of 106 and how John Diggle was the first person to convince him that he could be a hero. He says there wouldn't be a Green Arrow if it wasn't for John.

Oliver makes Monte Cristo sandwiches using waffles instead of bread.

Dinah's Canary Cry is capable of keeping a gas cloud from spreading.

Team Arrow does not have a team victory dance. According to John, it never will.

Felicity and Curtis build a special crossbow for John that fires arrows instead of bolts.

John's tremor is now gone.

Oliver uses Chapter Nine of the city charter to put Councilor Pollard's anti-vigilante bill to a public vote of the people of Star City, rather than limiting it to a vote on the city council.

Agent Watson of the FBI is shown assembling a board of people around Oliver Queen. It includes pictures of Felicity Smoak, Quentin Lance and Rene Ramirez. It has a picture of Thea Queen, which is marked out with a red X. She ads a picture of John Diggle to it.

William gets an A on his math test.

Oliver gives Felicity a key to his apartment. The two agree to start dating again.

The final scene shows John Diggle meeting with a mysterious man in an alley, purchasing some kind of drug in a syringe from him. We see John's hand shaking as he injects himself, apparently treating his nerve damage.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode in most respects, though it seems a shame to take a cool character from the comics like Onyx Adams and use her name in place of a generic mercenary character. Then again, the series is already thick with ex-League of Assassins members. Still, what sells this episode is the performances of the ensemble cast, particularly Juliana Harkavy as Black Canary and David Ramsey as John Diggle.