Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 22 - You Have Saved This City

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



Plot

The battle between Team Arrow and the Ninth Circle comes to a head, as old friends return to Star City to help with the coming fight. Meanwhile, over two decades later, the next generation of Star City's heroes must save their city - and the world - from a corporation intent on empowering a new police state.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy (battle with Ninth Circle) and Judd Winick (destroying a wall that separates the rich and poor parts of Star City.)


Goofs

The Ninth Circle leadership expels Emiko from their ranks and kills her because of her vendetta against the Queen family exposing the group to the public. Yet they are perfectly willing to keep that vendetta going once Emiko is dead, because... reasons?

For that matter, even if the Ninth Circle were going after Oliver and Felicity for being thorns in their side, why not go after the whole of Team Arrow? All of whom have public identities now!


Performances

Emily Bett Rickards gives it her all one last time and steals the show in both the modern day and future segments. Somehow, Stephen Amell seems all the stronger playing against her and he's hardly a slouch. Their final moments together are Emmy-worthy.


Artistry

The fight scenes are fantastic, even for this show.

The episode's ending is absolutely perfect - both as a send-off for Felicity Smoak and as the series in general, as it seems that all of Season 8 will be devoted to Crisis on Infinite Earths.


Trivia

The female Ninth Circle member who seemingly takes over after Emiko is kicked out of the group is identified as Beatrice. In The Divine Comedy, Beatrice was the name of the poet Dante's ideal woman, who acted as his guide to the nine spheres of Heaven, just as Virgil had been his guide to the circles of Hell.

While the original Green Arrow comics introducing the Ninth Circle didn't include a member named Beatrice among the Ninth Circle's ranks, the name fits their convention of their leaders taking the names of important figures from The Divine Comedy.


Technobabble

Emiko somehow finds a way to block Felicity from tracking the Cygnus X-1 bacteria by its chemical signature.

Someone using a signal-bounced untraceable number calls in a fake bomb scare to a local shopping mall, to force people out into the open where they can be attacked by a Ninth Circle drone.

The Ninth Circle use a scrambler to make it impossible to track the detonation signal for their Cygnus X-1 bombs.

Curtis builds a number of optimized cryogenic chambers to that can be used to freeze the Cygnus X-1 bacteria.

Felicity determines all the Cygnus X-1 bombs and droves are hooked up to the same detonator. This means they only have to neutralize one target rather than over a dozen.

In Star City 2040, Penal Code Statute 10101971 governs vigilante justice.

Smoak Tech invented a line of flexible restraints, easier to store than traditional handcuffs.

The Archer program is revealed not to have a server room - its server is built into the wall that separates The Glades and Star City.

Felicity built a backdoor into the original Archer system so that anyone who had both her DNA and that of Oliver Queen would be invisible to the system. This is why Mia was able to fight the Zeta soldiers so effectively - Archer could literally not predict her next move, like all the other vigilantes.

When the wall between The Glades and Star City was built, explosives were planted in each control tower in case it ever had to be destroyed. The signal can only be activated from inside the tower.


Dialogue Triumphs

William: What are they gonna do with us?
Rene: You mean before they torture us to find out what you stole off Keven Dale's computer or after?
William: I'm gonna stop asking questions now.

Felicity: (sadly) This is not the life that Oliver and I wanted for them. They're supposed to be living happy, normal lives right now. That was the only thing that Oliver asked me to do. It was the only thing that I promised him I would do. And I failed. Some mother I turned out to be.

Oliver: You have every right to be angry. I was angry, too, because you let our father die. And that led to a ripple effect in my life of loss. I lost Tommy, my mother, Laurel, Quentin. And I wanted to kill you for all of it!

(The two struggle as Emiko tries to stab Oliver. He flips her and takes away her knife, holding it on her.)

Oliver: I know his death affected you, too. 

(Oliver releases the pin and stands up, allowing Emiko to stand.)

Oliver: Instead of finding the hero that I really believe is inside of you, you went down a dark path. And it killed your mother.

Emiko: Dante killed my mother!

Oliver: No, he didn't, Emiko. Your allegiance to the Ninth Circle killed your mother. Your hatred of our father killed your mother. His worst impulses drove you away, and it led to every terrible moment in both of our lives. I think that together, we can be better.

(Oliver holds the knife out to Emiko.)

Oliver: So if you're gonna kill me, do it.

(Emiko hesitates, as Virgil enters the room with a squad of Ninth Circle soldiers)

Virgil: Well, if you're not gonna kill him, we'll gladly oblige.

Oliver: I've spent a long time thinking about my legacy as the Green Arrow. I always hoped it would be saving the city. But now I know that my greatest legacy is this team. I started this mission alone. I was certain that I would end it alone, but the truth of the matter is that every bit of success that I've had along the way is because of all of you.

Diggle: You know, the spirit of this place will live on long after we're gone. You've inspired so many people, Oliver. They will carry on your legacy.

Oliver: Sounds like a cycle for good.

Diggle: Far better than that. A cycle of heroes. Who will fight to defend this city with every fiber of their being.

Felicity: Anyone ever told you you always know exactly what to say? 

Digg: (stone-faced) I have been told.

(Oliver and Felicity laugh ad Diggle cracks a stoic smile.)

Oliver: So what bargain have I made? What does the multiverse require? 

The Monitor: That you assist me as we seek to prevent the inevitable.

Oliver: But that sounds impossible.

The Monitor: The multiverse is more complex than you could fathom.

Oliver: What are you not telling me? 

The Monitor: I've seen your future, Oliver, inexorable and unavoidable. I have watched you die.

(Oliver just stares at The Monitor.)

Oliver: During this crisis?

The Monitor: (nods) I am truly sorry.

Felicity:No. You are not taking him!

Oliver: Felicity....

Felicity: Oliver...

The Monitor: I am not here to bring harm to you or your daughter. Trust me, the world needs her.

Felicity: You think that I'm just going to let you leave here with my husband's life? 

Oliver: This is bigger than us... Than all of us.

Felicity: Why does it always have to be you?

The Monitor: I cannot prevent his passing, but he can prevent the deaths of countless more, including you and your daughter. But he needs to come with me tonight.

(Oliver exits Mia's room to find Felicity sitting in their dining room.)

Felicity: (softly)This is why we can't have a normal life. This is why our children will never have normal lives.

Oliver: I had to make the deal.

Felicity: (holding back the tears) Oh, there's always gonna be some danger or some threat. The league of Assassins or HIVE or the Ninth Circle or the end of the friggin' universe.

Oliver: I need you to make me a promise.

Felicity: (drying her tears) Yeah, okay.

Oliver: No matter what happens to me... No matter what... You need to do everything in your power... You...You need to keep William and Mia safe.

Felicity: (standing, moving to feel Oliver's face) I will keep them safe. But wherever you go? Whatever happens to you? You'll never leave me. On our wedding day, you told me that I was the best part of you, but the truth is... we are the best parts of each other. And that is so much bigger than the friggin' universe.

Oliver: When I came back to Star City to start my mission, I didn't think that I was... capable or deserving of love.(sobbing)  But you opened up my heart in ways that I never thought were possible. My only regret is not telling you I loved you sooner.

Felicity: (hugging him tighter) No regrets.

Oliver: Would you tell Mia that I love her every day? And I know that she will grow up to be as smart and as beautiful as her mom.

Felicity:  I will find you... again. I promise.

Oliver: I love you.

Felicity: I love you so much.

(The two kiss passionately and hug each other for several seconds. Reluctantly, Oliver lets go of Felicity as she feels his face one more time before he lets go and walks back to the living room.)

(Felicity walks through the woods near Queen Manor. She stops and The Monitor approaches her.)

Felicity: I'm ready.

The Monitor: Where I'm taking you, there is no return.

Felicity: I have waited a very long time to see him. I'm ready.

(Felicity twists her wedding ring as The Monitor opens a breach. The two step forward into it as it seals behind them, with no indication they were ever there.)

Continuity

Sergeant Bingsley passes out and is in the back of am ambulance. As such, he can't confirm that Team Arrow didn't attack the police.

Team Arrow escapes from the SCPD thanks to Oliver's timely use of a smoke arrow.

The whole of Team Arrow have arrest warrants put out for their real names.

Curtis Holt and Black Siren return to help fight The Ninth Circle.

Ben "Bronze Tiger" Turner, last seen in 715, is revealed to have been paroled. He helps calm the crowds during the drone attacks.

Ben Turner agrees to help stop the Ninth Circle.

Lyla picks up John Jr., Zoe and Connor and takes them to an ARGUS safehouse.

Felicity tracks the signal to trigger the Cygnus X-1 release to the top floor of Palmer Technologies - what was Robert Queen's office when the building was still owned by Queen Consolidated.

Virgil tells Emiko that the rest of The Ninth Circle's leadership is concerned that her vendetta is bringing too much heat down upon them. He asks her to detonate the bombs now but she refuses.

Sergeant Bingsley tells Mayor Pollard that Team Arrow is innocent. He and several other cops join the team to swarm Palmer Industries.

 Oliver offers Emiko another chance for them to work beyond their father's life and be better people together. When she refuses to take it, he offers her a dagger and tells her to kill him.

Before Emiko can make a decision, Virgial arrives with a group of Ninth Circle soldiers and a woman named Beatrice, who informs Emiko she has been cast out of the Ninth Circle.

Beatrice throws the knives that fatally wound Emiko.

With her dying breath, Emiko warns Oliver that the Ninth Circle know that Felicity is pregnant an they will stop at nothing to kill him, her and their child.

Oliver escapes from Palmer Industries just before a fire bomb destroys the upper floors.

Black Siren returns to Earth 2.

Bronze Tiger is offered a place on Team Arrow by Diggle. He turns it down, saying that he wants to focus on being with his son now that he's free of prison. Diggle understands but says ARGUS may approach him about a job anyway.

Curtis announces his intention to propose to his longtime boyfriend, Officer Nick Anastas and go back to his new job in Washington D.C.

Roy says he's going to take some time to be alone and figure out a way to atone for the two guards that he killed before he joins back up with Thea Queen and Nyssa Al Ghul.

Oliver says he and Felicity are going to leave town for a while, leaving Diggle in charge of the team while they are away.

Before everyone parts ways, Oliver says he is going to design a Mark of Four based around The Four Pillars of Heroism he thought up ad that the six of them (Oliver, Felicity, Diggle, Rene, Dinah and Roy) will be able to use it as a signal if they ever need help. This symbol was first mentioned and seen in the flash-forwards of 708 when Dinah revealed she had a tattoo of the symbol to William Clayton.

Diggle helps Felicity and Oliver find a home in a rural community called Bloomfield, which is a sort of retirement community for ex CIA, ARGUS and DIA personnel who need to go into witness protection. The entire city is basically one gigantic safe-house.

Several moinths pass during which Oliver and Felicity enjoy their time together, Mia is born and Oliver and Felicity both enjoy being the parents of a young baby.

The Monitor appears in Oliver and Felicity's living room and confirms the time has come for Oliver to fufill the bargain he made in S409.

Oliver explains that he agreed to give the Monitor "whatever the Multiverse requires" to save it during the coming Crisis, in exchange for the means to save Barry and Kara during the battle with Dr. Destiny. The Monitor reveals that this means that Oliver must come with him and help him to "prevent the inevitable."

The Monitor reveals that he has seen Oliver die and that there is nothing that can be done to avert his fate. He does say, however, that it is possible to make Oliver's death mean something and that he can use it to save the uncountable lives, including those of his wife and daughter.

The Monitor also says that it is important that Mia Smoak's life be saved, but does not explain why.

Oliver is allowed a chance to hold Mia one last time and to kiss Felicity before he leaves with the Monitor.

Mia is somehow able to fight several of the Zeta droids before they focus on her and overpower her.

The rest of the Zetas are finished up by a disguised Connor Hawke.

William and Rene are saved from Galaxy One by Zoe.

Felicity reveals that Mia is able to fight the Zetas because a backdoor in Archer stops her DNA from being analyzed and her movements predicted.

This prompts William to come up with a plan to destroy Archer by using the delay caused by Mia's presence at a gate scanner to upload a virus into the system.

The virus doesn't destroy Archer but triggers a system-wide reboot which shuts it down for four minutes.

Mia volunteers to activate the self-destruct on the wall during that four minute window.

William is able to code a 60 second delay into the self-destruct so Mia can escape in time.

Rene, Dinah, Roy and Felicity agree to take the rap for the destruction of the wall.

Dinah officially makes Zoe the new head of The Canaries.

Roy thank William for getting him off of Lian Yu.

Roy says how he got on Lian Yu in the first place and a long story when William asks him how he got there.

Felicity meets with Mia and William in the woods behind what was Queen Manor at Robert Queen's gravestone.

It is revealed that there are two new gravestones there. One for Emiko Queen, who is buried on Robert's right.  The other is on Robert's left and is for Oliver Queen.

Oliver Queen's tombstone identifies him as The Green Arrow and says he died in 2019.

Felicity says that this is the last time she'll see Mia and William, as she is going on a journey of her own - one that she can take now that she is satisfied that Mia and William can take care of themselves.

The episode ends with Felicity meeting with The Monitor, who asks if she is prepared because she cannot return from where they are going. Felicity replies that she has been waiting a very long time to see him as she twists her wedding ring. The implication is that The Monitor is taking her to see Oliver, but with no indication of where or when.


The Bottom Line

The first two-thirds is a bit of a rushed mess, which has no purpose but to finish up Emiko's storyline and everything involving the Zeta soldiers. The final third, however, contains some of the best moments in Arrow history and a fantastic farewell to the character of Felicity Smoak. For once, the episode is more than the sum of its parts and the perfect finale more than makes up for the weak start.  It will be interesting to see how the show goes on in Season 8 without Emily Bett Rickards but it will be an interesting train-wreck if nothing else.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 21 - Living Proof

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



Plot

Team Arrow is trapped in a collapsing building, as Smoak Technologies is raided by the police, who have a warrant for Felicity's arrest. Can Team Arrow reassemble to save their city from the Ninth Circle's efforts to frame them for their terrorist attack?


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy and the animated series The Zeta Project.


Goofs

Again, the drama of this episode in the modern day scenes is anti-climactic thanks to the future scenes revealing that Team Arrow will be fine.


Performances

Colin Donnell's cameo is blatant fan service but it's a fun bit of business that ads a new level to Oliver's struggle for survival.


Artistry

The direction on the sequence of Roy jumping into the benzene cloud is so tensely, tightly directed you honestly forget that Roy can't NOT survive it.


Trivia

Continuing the long Arrow tradition of each season's penultimate episode sharing the name of a Bruce Springsteen song, this episode is titled "Living Proof". Released on the 1992 album Lucky Town, Springsteen wrote the song about his young son and the feelings he felt as a father. This would seem to relate to Oliver's feelings regarding the pregnant Felicity, but the song makes mention of being imprisoned and a man who has lost all faith in himself - an apt description of Oliver in Season 7.

The robot soldiers Galaxy One makes that are powered by the Archer Network are designated Zeta. This seems to be a nod to Zeta - a robot assassin who first appeared in the Batman Beyond animated series, before starring in his own spin-off, The Zeta Project. Zeta developed his own independent morality system and refused to kill, going on the run to avoid being reprogrammed.


Technobabble

When Felicity arrives at Smoak Technologies, she asks Alena for an uplink gain augmenter.

Felicity's security system is programmed to generate a remote-detonated nanoelectric pulse that shorts out electronics. It also plays a stunning noise similar to the Canary Cry collar.

The chemical formula for benzene is C6H6. It is one of the most widely used industrial chemicals in the world and a known carcinogen. Exposure to large amounts can cause permanent nerve damage and a painful death.


Dialogue Triumphs

Tommy: You look shocked. Um, is it the beard? 

Oliver: (weakly) Uh-uh. You look good.

Tommy: (grinning) Yeah, I know.

Oliver: Ohh. I must have a really bad concussion.

Tommy:Yeah, man. A building just collapsed on you. It could be a little PTSD, too. That position that you're in with the rebar? It is remarkably similar to how you found me all those years ago.

Oliver: The night you died.

Tommy: Yeah. And I got to tell you, man, it looks like the same thing is gonna happen to you if you don't get out of here, like, right now.

Tommy: You know, it is insane that we both had secret half sisters.

Oliver: Well, yours didn't try to kill you, did she? 

Tommy: Well, you should give Thea some credit. I died before she had the chance to try.

Tommy: What kind of solution are you planning for her? 

Oliver: The one she deserves. She let our father die.

Tommy: He abandoned her, Oliver.

Oliver: She's been manipulating me, she's been manipulating the team for months, posing as some sort of hero. The woman's a murderer.

Tommy: So now you're gonna be one, too? And here I thought that we were done with all of that.

Oliver: I don't see another choice here, Tommy.

Tommy: It is exactly that kind of attitude that's gonna keep you stuck down here.

Oliver: I need to get out of here.

Tommy: You will. Trust me. What you really need to worry about is what happens when you do.

Oliver: Why?

Tommy: Everything you've done this year working with the cops, fighting for the city without a mask? You've got a shot at something we never had.

Oliver: What's that? 

Tommy: A clean slate. You can't shed your past, but you can keep it from hurting your kids. That's something our parents could never give us, but it is never, ever going to happen, Oliver, if you keep seeing red with Emiko.

Oliver: As long as she's still breathing, my family will never be safe. You know this, Tommy.

Tommy: Then you haven't moved past your family's mistakes, Oliver. You haven't broken the cycle of lies and hate. You're trapped. You're trapped just like you are in this room.

Oliver: But you're not here.You are a... You are a figment of my imagination that has been sent here to test my resolve. Won't work.

(Suddenly, the wall collapses, revealing a tunnel with light.)

Tommy: Looks like you found your way out.

Oliver: To stop Emiko, if I need to be as ruthless to her as she was to my father, so be it.

Tommy: Good luck finding your team, Oliver. You're gonna need them.

Oliver: Good-bye, Tommy.

(Tommy shakes his head sadly.)

Dinah: You must be a pretty big idiot, risking your life like that.

Roy: Well, we're alive, aren't we? 

Dinah: You're lucky to be. 

Roy: I'm surprised you even care if I made it out alive or not.

Dinah: Of course I care. You're our teammate.

Roy:  Maybe I shouldn't be. You lost everything to protect me, and you don't even know me. Those guards that I killed, they're innocent. They had families.

Dinah: What you did back there, it was awful, but we all know it was the bloodlust, Roy. That wasn't you.

Roy: No. That doesn't change the fact that I put everyone else around me at risk. You should have just let me go to prison.

Dinah: I was wrong. We all make mistakes. I was just pissed because we had just lost everything. That doesn't mean I want you dead.

Roy: Maybe it's best if I am six feet under.

Dinah: Dying is the coward's way out. Every day that you stay alive, you try to redeem yourself for that messed-up thing you did. Because this world is a better place with a hero like you. Now let's go.

Tommy: I know that you think that you have broken your father's cycle, but as long as you are giving in to your worst impulses, you are never going to be free.

Oliver: What am I supposed to do? Just tell me what I'm supposed to do!

Tommy: Lean in to the best parts of yourself Your loyalty, your selflessness, your courage, your compassion, and show that side to Emiko. You are living proof that people can change, and you have got to find a way to see that in her, too.

Oliver: I don't know if I can.

Tommy: That's okay. That's the risk you got to take.

Dinah: (in the distance) He should be in there! 

Roy: (in the distance) Oliver! 

Tommy: Looks like our time's up.

Oliver: You know, Tommy, I miss you every day...

Tommy: I know, but I'm always with you. It's time to wake up now.

(Cut to Oliver, still pinned under the rubble where we first saw him as the episode opened.)

Continuity

Oliver sees Tommy Merlyn, while he is pinned under rubble. The position Oliver is pinned in is exactly the same as how he found Tommy in 123.

The vision of Tommy Merlyn has a beard for no apparent reason.

The Ninth Circle sent the security footage of Roy beating the two security guards to death to Sergeant Bingsley of the SCPD.

The SCPD puts out a warrant for Felicity's arrest after they determine that the Archer program was used to send the signal that triggered the Ninth Circle's biological weapon, while Emiko still had control of the program.

Felicity and Alena evade arrest thanks to Felicity's security system.

As a teenager, Oliver taught himself how to hot-wire a car practicing on Malcolm Merlyn's car. He was grounded for an entire summer because he did it three more times.

Roy offers to turn himself in for the murders of the security guards to save the rest of Team Arrow. This idea is dismissed because with a warrant out for Felicity's arrest, there's no real way to save the rest of the team from guilt by association at this point.

Roy risks his life jumping into a benzene cloud to shut off the emergency generator that risks setting the collapsing building on fire.

Emiko breaks into the Bunker and almost kills Felicity. She relents when Felicity says that she is pregnant and begs Emiko not to kill an innocent child. She still knocks out the power inside the Bunker. 

Felicity worries about giving her child a normal life after how badly she failed to protect William.

Alena suggests that Felicity can take herself off the grid to protect herself and her child and that she can run Smoak Tech for her.

Oliver hallucinates Emiko and the Ninth Circle killing Rene, Roy, John and Dinah. 

When the hallucination of Tommy tells Oliver how to beat Emiko, he names the four virtues that Future Dinah said made up Oliver's Pillars of Heroism in 708 - Courage, Compassion, Selflessness and Loyalty.

Everything that happened with Oliver trying to free himself is revealed to have been a hallucination. He doesn't work himself free of the rubble until the rest of the team find him. 

While in the Bunker, Emiko stole several of Oliver Queen's arrows.

The Ninth Circle attack SCPD Headquarters with Emiko dressed as Green Arrow, using Oliver's arrows.

Team Arrow arrives on the scene to find several officers dead. They find Sergeant Bingsley, who dies just after he says the police thought they were being attacked by Team Arrow. He confirms that the Ninth Circle stole the Cygnus X-1 bomb.

Emiko escapes with the bomb just as the SCPD air support arrives.

Galaxy One starts marketing the robots that killed most of the Canary Network under the name Zeta.

Felicity wants to disable Archer remotely but someone is reworking it as she's trying to hack it.

William comes up with a plan to save the vigilantes by creating Archer blind spots like the one Keven Dale has. He will meet with him under his fake CEO identity and hack Dale's personal computers, getting the code to create the blind spots. Felicity is against the idea, but William decides to do it anyway without permission.

William and Rene Ramirez are intercepted at Galaxy One HQ.

Alena is confirmed to be the one who stole the code for Archer and weaponized it for Galaxy One.

Future Alena has short hair dyed blonde.

Alena agrees to help Felicity destroy Archer... after Felicity freezes her bank accounts and shreds her passport.

The rest of the vigilantes are captured at the final Canary Nest.


The Bottom Line

It says a lot that the most entertaining part of the episode are the ones where Oliver is talking to himself through a hallucination. Unfortunately, there's not much drama to the rest of Team Arrow's being imperiled since we know that everyone is going to survive this thanks to the Flash Forwards. And the Flash Forwards are rather dull since 75% of them are devoted to people watching Felicity type. Still, the pieces are set for one heck of a season finale and at least there's nothing noticeably awful. Like most of Season 7 to date, it could have been so much more.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 20 - Confessions

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



Plot

Roy Harper is called in to help Team Arrow thwart The Ninth Circle's plot to attack Star City. Unfortunately, things go awry and there is massive collateral damage. Now Dinah Drake must investigate what went wrong, before the entire sanctioned vigilante program is thrown into question.


Influences

Rashomon (the same events being told from different viewpoints, despite the apparent conflicts in testimony and the fact that someone has to be lying or misinformed.)


Goofs

Emiko just goes crazy in this episode, wanting revenge on the Queen family in general (and by extension, Oliver) and plotting to destroy Star City for that reason even though it is the Ninth Circle that killed her mother - the one last good thing in her life. None of this jibes with what we've seen of the character, who honestly did seem to want to protect The Glades in earlier episodes.

How the heck did Emiko steal the security footage in the first place when she was fleeing the building before guards were killed?


Technobabble

The two dead security guards appear to have been killed by blunt force trauma.

Felicity says the only way the Ninth Circle can use the Cygnus X-1 is with a dissemination device, a.k.a. a thermal fogger.

Felicity used an algorithm to determine that the transit depot was the most likely target for the Ninth Circle to release the Cygnus X-1. She was later able to trace the bio-signature of the weapon to the same place.

The Ninth Circle hideout has some kind of thermal shielding that prevents it from being scanned by Felicity's tech to determine how many people are inside it.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Roy has just handily beaten several Ninth Circle members in front of Virgil.)
Virgil: Who the hell are you?
Arsenal: Your new worst nightmare.

Dinah: It's rather convenient, don't you think? You being unconscious at the same time two men are brutally murdered?
Roy: You think I did it? Whose side are you on?
Dinah: I am on the only side that matters - the truth.

Dinah: Two men are dead, Rene. Now, we know Team Arrow was on-site as well as Emiko, which means our two main suspects are either her or...
Rene: Me?
Dinah:  I didn't say that.
Rene: Well, that's what you were thinking, 'cause you've been looking for any excuse not to trust me this whole year.
Dinah:  That's because you have given me every reason not to. How many times have I warned you about Emiko? I told you she wasn't trustworthy. You refused to listen. Well, now she ends up on the scene of an attempted terrorist attack and a double homicide, and you were there, too.
Rene: And you what? You think I helped her?
Dinah: I just want the truth, Rene.

Rene: Doesn't any part of you think that maybe she's doing all of this because of what your father did to her, that if not for her upbringing, she'd be fighting with us instead of against us?
Oliver: A big part of me thinks about that all the time. At a certain point, Rene, people need to take responsibility for their actions. Emiko made her choice. I've made mine. You need to make yours.

Dinah: Two innocent people are dead, and we're covering it up.
Oliver: Dinah, if someone on this team goes down, this entire team goes down.
John: He's absolutely right. And if Pollard knew the truth, we would be sitting in lockup while the city rehashes whether vigilantes are a threat or not.
Felicity: Which would free Emiko up for Evil Plan B.
Rene: But Roy is not a part of this team. He's been gone for months doing who knows what.
Oliver: With due respect, you don't know what he's been through. Roy is and always will be as much a part of this team as the rest of us.
Dinah: Except the rest of us don't go around killing innocent people.
John: Dinah, as horrible as that was, let's not lose sight that we stopped an attack tonight.
Rene: (bitterly) And we framed Emiko for murder.
Oliver: Emiko is a murderer. A murderer who is the leader of the Ninth Circle. And as long as she is out there, this city will remain under threat.
John: I hope we can all agree on that.
Dinah: (quietly, clearly not happy) Yes.


Continuity

As the episode opens, the news is reporting there was an incident at the Huldin-McGuide Metro Station resulting in two fatalities.

The two fatalities are security guards who worked at the transit station.

Oliver explains to Dinah and Sergeant Bingsley that Team Arrow was stopping a terrorist attack but that the terrorists are still on the loose.

Dinah says that two green arrows were found at the scene and they were confirmed to be the kind used by the new Green Arrow.

The fact that the new Green Arrow is a woman is not common knowledge at the SCPD.

Oliver officially reveals to the police that the new Green Arrow is his half-sister Emiko Adachi and that she is part of the Ninth Circle.

Dinah was the one to tell Green Arrow that Dante's body had been discovered.

Felicity hasn't been able to find the Cygnus X-1, but she has determined there's only one way for the Ninth Circle to use it and it requires a piece of equipment only made by Aerodyne Initiatives.

John and Oliver meet with the CEO of Aerodyne to offer their help. He politely declines.

Felicity investigated Aerodyne after this and determined their CEO was getting some hefty payments from the Ninth Circle. Oliver says, on the record, that he didn't tell Dinah about this because they didn't confirm the payments until later.

Dinah says that with two green arrows on the scene, the SCPD knowing Team Arrow was at the scene, the security footage from the building having disappeared and a distress call from a security guard that was incriminating to Team Arrow for some reason, things look very bad for Oliver's team.

Oliver affirms that he did not kill the guards and doesn't know who did.

Oliver admits to the police that he called in Roy Harper so they would have an agent in the field that the Ninth Circle didn't know about.

Felicity is now at the always hungry/odd cravings stage of her pregnancy.

Felicity says she's not responsible for the missing security footage.

Felicity defends Team Arrow bringing in Roy Harper and claims they were going to get him confirmed by the SCPD as an agent once the Ninth Circle were brought down.

Dinah points out that Roy Harper has a long criminal record. Felicity counters that he's been clean for the past four years, since faking his death in prison and escaping.

Dinah says the SCPD was able to track Roy Harper's whereabouts up until March 2018. Felicity points out this coincides with the time Dinah wasn't speaking to Team Arrow and when Roy Harper was abducted by the corrupt cops in the employ of Ricardo Diaz.

Felicity says Roy Harper probably spent the last year trying to relax and recover from the kidnapping/torture when Dinah asks where he had been.

This is the first time Roy Harper and Rene Ramirez have met. Roy thanks Rene for trying to save The Glades in his absence.

Roy says that he and Thea have destroyed two Lazarus Pits since they left Star City in 616.

When Roy asks why Oliver only called him in for this mission, Oliver explains that he didn't want Thea brought in to fight the Ninth Circle because he thought she was finally free of their family drama in Star City and he wanted to quietly tell her about his other half-sister and yet another messed-up thing Robert Queen did.

Dinah confirms that the thermal fogger was found on the scene.

Felicity says the specific reason they brought Roy in was they need someone who could sneak into Aerodyne who wasn't a publicly recognized vigilante who could spy on the CEO and confirm what they suspected about him being on the take.

Roy found the CEO of Aerodyne handing the thermal fogger over to Emiko. He wasn't able to stop her from escaping with it.

Felicity explains to the police that she determined there were only two places the Ninth Circle could hope to maximize the impact of the bio weapon at the depot - the ventilation room and the ventilation shaft.

When Team Arrow went to the depot to stop the Ninth Circle, Felicity and Roy went to the switch room, Oliver went to the room and John and Rene went to the shaft.

Felicity tells the police she had no idea there were any security guards on site. This is later revealed to be a lie by the flashback, where Felicity sees the two guards and Roy leaves her locked in the switch room while he investigates to see if they are Ninth Circle agents or not.

Felicity says she was locked in the switch room until Oliver gave her the all clear.

Felicity can't account for Roy's whereabouts before the guards were killed.

The flashback shows that Felicity heard the guards firing their guns while asking the rest of Team Arrow if they'd reclaimed the fogger.

Roy's criminal record includes several counts of Breaking & Entering, Grand Theft Auto and Aggravated Assault.

Roy tells the police that after he failed to stop the Ninth Circle from stealing the fogger, Team Arrow regrouped and Felicity figured out the most likely place for the Ninth Circle to release the Cygnus X-1 was the transit depot.

Roy says that after he left Felicity locked in the switch room he encountered a group of Ninth Circle agents, got swarmed and the last thing he recalls was being hit in the face and knocked out. When he woke up, the police were there and the guards were dead. He also has no idea who killed them.

John says that he found Roy's unconscious body just before the guards fired their guns. Given that, he says he can't see any way Roy could have been the killer. He denies protecting Roy, after Dinah accuses him of putting people before him all the time. John counters that Dinah doesn't know the real Roy Harper and is presuming a lot because of his past.

John was found to have the blood of one of the guards on his sleeve.

John confirms what Felicity said about Oliver going to the vent room and John and Rene going to the vent shaft.

When John and Rene got to the vent shaft, they discovered Emiko. Rene went chasing after her while John secured the device. That was when he discovered Roy and heard the gun shots.

John claims that he discovered the guards and checked their pulses but they were already dead and this is how he got their blood on his sleeve.

John also confirms that when he entered the room with the dead guards, Rene was already there, with his mask off and a pipe in his hand.

During the fight at the depot, Rene cut his hand and lost his glove.

Rene says that Oliver specifically asked him if he was cool with going after Emiko.

Rene pleads for Emiko, saying that she can't be completely hardened since she killed Dante and that proves she cares about her family on some level. Oliver says that may be true, but she clearly doesn't consider him family and at some point you have to take responsibility for your actions.

Dinah says that Rene's fingerprints were found on the murder weapon - the pipe used to beat the two guards to death.

Rene confirm's John's story about leaving him to deal with the fogger while he chased Emiko, but she got away.

The flashback reveals that Rene lied about not catching up to Emiko.

Emiko is dressed in her new Green Arrow costume.

Emiko tells Rene that she's doing what she is doing to take away everything the Queen family has as revenge for their taking everything she ever had.

Emiko also tells Rene that Dante wasn't the leader of the Ninth Circle - she is.

Rene's hand is hurt after Emiko grazes it with an arrow. This made him remove his glove and drop it.  Rene heard the gun shots just as he was starting to chase after Emiko.

When Rene ran towards the gun shots, he found Oliver standing over the guards, holding the pipe. He dropped the pipe and Rene picked it up with his ungloved hand when John ran in.

Oliver confirms that he confronted Virgil and several Ninth Circle members in the vent room and disarmed the fogger.

Oliver says he was still in the vent room when he heard the gun shots. He followed the noise to the platform where he saw the killer standing over the downed guards. He guesses the guards got off a few shots before being killed.

Oliver identifies the killer as Emiko.

All of Team Arrow is released from custody.

When Sergeant Bingsley says the case doesn't quite add up, Dinah says there's not enough evidence to hold all of Team Arrow as accessories and their stories all match up.

Mayor Pollard accepts what Dinah has discovered and agrees to continue to let the police work with Team Arrow.


It is finally revealed that Team Arrow is lying about the details of the night at the transit depot and that Dinah was there as Black Canary. Dinah was partnered with Oliver in tackling the vent room.

Roy Harper was the real killer.

It is revealed that a Ninth Circle member attacked Roy with a pipe while he was off on his own. The two security guards stumbled across this and one called in a vigilante attack while the other attacked Roy. This resulted in Roy losing control and beating the guards to death with the pipe.

Team Arrow decided to lie to protect Roy and that framing Emiko for the murders was hardly a sin given that she was about to commit mass murder.

It is revealed that sometime in the past year, Roy died while fighting The Thanatos Guild and Thea Queen used a Lazarus Pit to bring him back. This gave Roy the bloodlust that inflicts all those resurrected by the Pit.

While Thea Queen and Nyssa Al Ghul had access to the Lotus Extract (first seen in 412) it was unable to cure Roy's bloodlust. It is presumed this is due to his body chemistry being altered by exposure to Mirakuru.

Felicity tracks Emiko to an abandoned building outside Star City.

Felicity thanks Dinah for wiping the security footage from the depot.

Dinah says that she thought Felicity took care of the security footage.

It is revealed that Emiko stole the security footage and has sent it to Sergeant Bingsley.

Emiko tells Oliver that she knew about a bomb being planted on the Queen's Gambit and did nothing, hoping that both their father and Oliver would die. Now she plans to kill Team Arrow and destroy Oliver's legacy so Star City will forever think of him as a villain.

Emiko blows up the building with Team Arrow still inside of it.


Untelevised Adventures

At some point in the last year, Roy Harper, Thea Queen and Nyssa Al Ghul fought The Thanatos Guild and Roy Harper was killed. Thea and Nyssa brought him back using a Lazarus Pit then destroyed that pit.


The Fridge Factor

Any complexity Emiko's character had earlier in the season is sacrificed to turn her into a cliche "woman scorned."


The Winick Factor

Emiko is turned into the classic invincible Winickian villain, somehow knowing to steal the security footage of the depot, despite already apparently having fled the scene and the police being on the way.


The Bottom Line

Beautifully executed up until the reveal at the end, which makes no sense and derails Emiko's character. It doesn't say a lot for our heroes that they take this particular gambit but I can't say it's out of character either since "Make Bad Choices" is a default mode for most of Team Arrow's membership. Still, the script does plant the seeds for showing why Rene turned on the team in the future and why Dinah has a grudge against Roy Harper, so it gets that much right. Unfortunately, the wasted potential of Emiko seriously hampers what this episode does right.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 19 - Spartan

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




Plot

Armed with new information on the killer of Emkio's mother, Oliver hopes to turn his sister away from the Ninth Circle. Unfortunately, a sudden setback will leave Team Arrow at a disadvantage and send Diggle looking for help from an old military contact he has a bad history with. Meanwhile, Felicity is approached with an interesting offer regarding her company, only to have the Ninth Circle steal her latest invention for their own purposes.



Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy (The Ninth Circle and Emiko Queen) and Chuck Dixon (the Cygnus X-1 weapon)


Performances

Ernie Hudson is a fun presence as General Stewart.


Trivia

Alena makes reference to a Dr. Will Magnus wanting to buy Smoak Technologies. Felicity describes him as the world's greatest expert on robotics. First appearing in Showcase #37 in April 1962, Dr. Will Magnus was the scientist who created the super-powered robots known as the Metal Men.

Diggle's stepfather is revealed to be a Marine General named Roy Stewart. It is worth mentioning that there is a long-running fan theory that John Diggle is the Arrowverse equivalent of John Stewart - a career soldier who became a Green Lantern. This would seem to confirm the idea, as it was suggested that John Diggle, on Earth-90, had become Green Lantern.

Diggle makes mention of his father dying during a secret mission to Vlatava. In the DC Comics Universe, Vlatava is an Eastern European nation with a long history of religious and sectarian turmoil. The entire country, with the exception of its president and Count Vertigo (the last surviving member of its royal family) was killed by The Spectre.

The Ninth Circle is after a biological weapon dubbed Cygnus X-1, which is said to be a bacteria that can eat through anything. This sounds similar to Mutajek 9-9 - a self-replicating biological weapon from the Green Arrow comics which could eat through any form of plastic and destroy a city in minutes. In the Where Angels Fear To Tread storyline, Oliver Queen died trigger an explosion that prevented a Mutajek 9-9 bomb from being detonated over Metropolis.


Technobabble

The item Virgil and his men were sent to purchase was an ARGUS vault drive, triple-level encryption or eyes-only documents

Felicity says the vault drive contains a security failsafe protocol to prevent it from being hacked that isn't the same as the ones used by ARGUS. She recognizes them as belonging to the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The Galaxy One helmet is powered by a module made of an alloy proprietary to Galaxy One. In order to access its workings, Felicity must get one of that exact make of module.

With enough pressure at a steady pace, a shoelace can saw through hard plastic.

Cygnus X-1 was meant to genetically engineer a bacteria that could consume the byproducts of nuclear fission. Instead, it created a bacteria that would eat through nearly anything.


Dialogue Triumphs

Virgil: (eying Alena as she wields a keyboard like a club) Pistol beats keyboard, darling.

(General Stewart enters into the Bunker)
Stewart: So this is where you people work? Impressive.
Oliver: How did your men end up at Smoak Tech, General?
Stewart: Several months ago, the DIA  got wind of a Ninth Circle mole inside ARGUS. Since then, we've made it a point of tracking their activity, including the theft of that drive, which led us to your friend Virgil.
John: Wait. Wait. Wait. I thought you said you didn't know anything?
Stewart: I said I couldn't -tell- you anything.

Alena: What happened to Archer putting Smoak Tech on the map?
Felicity: Well, that was before I realized all the bad that she could do. I wanted to invent something that would help save the city, and instead I made something that can destroy it.
(Felicity freezes up in horrified realization.)
Felicity: Oh, my God. I'm a mad scientist. Oh, my God, no. It's so much worse than that. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm my dad!
Alena: I am your friend who has some real-life experience working with evil geniuses, and you need to trust me on this one - you are not one of them, okay?

John: Oliver told me the truth about Vlatava... about my father. Why did you let me believe a lie? You let me hate you.
Stewart: Every child deserves to believe that his father is a hero. And believing it, you became one. If he could see you today, I know he would be so proud of you.
John: If I'm a hero It was all because of you, Sir.


Continuity

Virgil appears for the first time since 714, leading the group of Ninth Circle soldiers trying to buy a high-security ARGUS vault drive.

When Felicity accidentally fries the drive before they can figure out what the Ninth Circle was after, John Diggle says he has a contact with the Defense Intelligence Agency - the DOD department who encrypted the vault drive.

John's contact is revealed to be General Roy Stewart - John's step-father.

General Stewart denies knowing anything about the Ninth Circle and says he can't tell them anything about what is on the drive since John lost his security clearance after he quit ARGUS.

Felicity is still trying to get Archer rebooted.

Robotics expert Dr. Will Magnus is apparently interested in buying Smoak Technologies because of Archer. Apparently it sounds similar to an AI he's been working on for years.

Smoak Technologies is attacked by the Ninth Circle and Virgil.

Felicity and Alena are saved by General Stewart's men, but the tablet holding Archer is stolen.

General Stewart lied about not knowing about the Ninth Circle and reveals the drive contained a list of DIA Special Agents in the field.

John has never gotten along with his step-father. He later tells Oliver this is due to Stewart being his father's commanding officer on a Vlatava, where he died and the report of the mission making it sound like Stewart left his men to die while escaping himself

John also says that Stewart was a harsh man, who had him and his brother run through the same Spartan-style training drills that he did as a marine in a bid to make them tougher. He said he didn't care if he was liked, so long as they were strong.

Only one of the DIA agents is unaccounted for. When Team Arrow goes after him General Stewart and Diggle are ambushed and abducted by the Ninth Circle.

General Roy Stewart has been, over the course of his career, the thrice-decorated Commander of the 1st Recon Battalion, Commandant of the USMC, the head of DARPA and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

According to Felicity, the botched mission where Diggle's dad died was actually a huge success and part of why General Stewart was asked to head DARPA.

The Ninth Circle wanted General Stewart for his knowledge of a project called Cygnus X-1. It becomes clear they intend to use Archer to find the DIA personnel who have access to it and follow them to steal it.

Oliver gives John the unredacted files describing his father's death. According to them, John's dad was negligent, got two other Marines killed and the only reason anyone survived was because of General Stewart's leadership.

Felicity deletes Archer rather than let it be used by the Ninth Circle.

Oliver tries to tell Emiko about Dante's setting up her mother's assassination, but she doesn't believe him.

The Ninth Circle gets away with the Cygnus X-1.

John makes his peace with General Stewart.

Alena makes a back-up of the root files of Archer. She says they can rebuild but Felicity argues against it. Judging by the way Alena looks at her flash-drive, she disagrees.

Emiko kills Dante, saying she learned the truth about how he arranged for her mom ti die.  He says it was to make her stronger by destroying the final piece of her old life.

Mia gives Felicity the helmet she took from the Galaxy One soldier in 718.

The bombs The Canaries stole are secure and William is making sure they can't be exploded remotely.

Roy and Dinah are setting up a perimeter around the last Canary Nest.

Felicity needs a unique power module to access the helmet. Connor and Mia go to retrieve one.

The Deathstrokes are a gang that control part of the marketplace in Central City. Only certain people can get into their territory.

Connor has a UV tattoo that allows him to go into Deathstroke territory.

John Diggle Jr. is revealed to be the leader of The Deathstrokes. Connor says that he rebelled against their parents teachings.

Before their off-camera encounter, Connor hadn't seen JJ in over a year. They used to be best friends before JJ rebelled against their father.

Mia forgives JJ for lying to her while working in his deep-cover identity.

Mia and JJ have to evade the Deathstrokes that JJ apparently sent after him.

Felicity determines the helmet connects its wearer to Archer, effectively giving them an AI-driven sixth sense. An army of soldiers with tech-enhanced armor could easily destroy the Canaries, according to Felicity.


Untelevised Adventures

Connor Hawke's meeting with JJ takes place off camera.


The Bottom Line

A lackluster and largely forgettable episode, that does nothing to advance the plot until the final two minutes. Even then it doesn't really change much beyond letting us know WHY the soldiers killing The Canaries are so awesome and Dante dying... though it is unclear if Emiko is going to turn on the whole organization or use the Ninth Circle to make the whole world burn. Alas, thinking on next week's episode is more entertaining than this one.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 22 - The Ties That Bind

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


Plot

With his plan to put Oliver Queen in prison thwarted, Ricardo Diaz decides to just kill Green Arrow and all of his former allies. The heroes of Star City must put aside their differences to finally join forces against their common enemy.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick. (Invincible bad guys who are far more clever than the heroes.)


Goofs

Lyla says that she can't bring in ARGUS to help with the fight in Star City because what Diaz is doing is a law enforcement matter outside of their jurisdiction. While this does make sense from a legal and logistical standpoint (The CIA is not allowed to get involved in affairs on American Soil, to give a real world example), surely Ricardo Diaz is a person of interest as a known associate of the cyber-terrorist who recently threatened Star City - a matter which ARGUS could act on?

For that matter, surely as the Director of ARGUS, Lyla knows who to contact at the FBI, the DEA, the ATF or countless other government agencies that would be empowered to arrest Diaz legally? (It might have been easier for Lyla to say she'd have to coordinate with the FBI to operate and it would take too long or for Oliver to point out there's no way to know Diaz didn't have connections in the local FBI as well.)

Kirk Acevedo goes full Shatner with his pauses and line breaks in this episode. (Why would she tip off Queen (pauses) and then DRAAAAG OUR AAAAAASES (pause) out of the fire?)

Diaz surviving the explosion at point-blank range and going flying down a staircase into a stone wall is complete and total bullshit.

Lyla doesn't have authority to bring ARGUS agents in force to deal with Diaz yet somehow orders a forensics team to investigate the ruins of Helix?

Why do The Quadrant leaders agree to a meeting with Diaz on his own turf with none of their own bodyguards close at hand?


Performances

Honestly, the whole heroic ensemble is on point this week, but we'll given an MVP shout-out to Juliana Harkavy, who gets the first chance in far too long to show how awesome Black Canary is and should be played.


Artistry

All the opening action sequences are amazing.


Trivia

As is tradition for the penultimate episode of every season of Arrow, the title is taken from a Bruce Springsteen song. As usual, the song ties into the theme of the episode, as The Ties That Bind is about someone who has been trying to stand tough on their own because they're afraid of the pain that relationships with other people can cause.

The Arrow logo card at the end of the first segment once again only shows Ollie's arrowhead symbol and not the rest of the Team Arrow symbols.


Technobabble

According to Dr. Schwartz, all signs of the nerve damage, loss of arm strength and loss of motor control that John had in his injured arm are gone.

Helix Dynamics now owns a polyrase inhibitor. Felicity and Curtis had to take out three loans to get it.

Diaz's "necklace" is a GRV-657 Solid State Drive. Felicity describes it as a military grade data storage device with dynamic encryption.

Felicity reprograms her sniffer to specifically couple with the digital signature of Diaz's drive.

Felicity determines that the encryption on Diaz's drive is Corto Maltesian in origin. She guesses the drive is carrying Diaz's books.

The SCPD use a tricelic gas in order to drive Team Arrow out of the Helix hideout.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Open on a thug urinating in an alleyway. Black Canary comes up behind him.)
Black Canary: I'll give you the courtesy of putting that back in before we start this. 
Thug: (smirking) Does it have to be in that order?
(He starts to turn around, but Black Canary kicks him in the stomach, knocking the wind from him.)
Black Canary: You work for Ricardo Diaz.
Thug: (still smirking through the pain) Who?
Black Canary: You want to play that game? Good.
(Black Canary grabs the thug by his shirt.)
Black Canary: I need to blow off some steam.

(John runs into the hallway towards the sounds of the shots. He sees Lyla with her guns drawn, one aimed toward each end of the hallway.)
John: Lyla!
(John runs towards her, and grabs her, spinning around as he shoots a man who was coming from the other direction.)
Lyla: I had him!
John: I know you did, honey.

(Three of Diaz's men have their guns trained on Black Canary's back. She has her hands up.)
Thug: One bullet. Back of the head. You won't even feel it.
Black Canary: (smirking) You know the cool thing about sound waves?  They bounce.
(Black Canary lets out a Canary Cry against the wall in front of her. It echos and knocks her and the thugs back, but she's able to roll with the force and comes up in a roll as the thugs are sent flying and knocked out on the other side of the alley wall.)

Oliver: If we just press ahead like this.. we are going to die out there.
Felicity: We haven't worked together in months.  You know Diaz isn't expecting that, at least.
Oliver: But he's planned for everything. Us getting back together? Working as a team? It's a start, but this guy's got an army.He's got the officials. He's got the police.  He's got everything.
Curtis: Please tell me there's a "but" coming at the end of this pep-talk.
Oliver: Anatoly Knyazev.
Rene: I thought he hated your guts?
Oliver: I think we've come to an understanding. I also think he might be the one move Diaz does not see coming.
John: Well, Oliver, if that's our tactical advantage, we need to press it.
Oliver: Let me set a meet with him, ok? Let us make a move off of his intel. But until we have it, I want you guys to stand down, and... I'm asking you to trust me. I know that that trust does not come easy after everything that has happened. Let's put all of that aside... and get this done.

Anatoly: "You cannot wage revolution in white gloves." Lenin had his faults, but he was right about that.

(Felicity has just asked Lyla for advice on how to cope with Oliver being nervous about her going into the field.)
Lyla: We always knew our lives would be high risk. Eventually, we got to a point where worrying about that seemed less important than enjoying the time we had together. Even if it was on a battlefield.
(Felicity closes her eyes as if savoring the romantic thought.)
Lyla: (pauses) Also, getting divorced helps.
(Felicity's face drops.)

Oliver: You promised me you would stay put.
Felicity:Well, I didn't exactly promise -
Oliver: Fine. You promised me you wouldn't do anything stupid. You charged into a fire-fight.
Felicity:Which was a calculated risk.
Oliver:  Calculated - (stammers) Did you calculate how close Ricardo Diaz came to shooting you in the back of the head?!
Felicity: We got what we wanted.
Oliver:  That's not - (bites his lip)
Felicity:And if I'm right, what we wanted has the list of everyone in the city that Diaz controls.This could help us get our home back from Diaz, Oliver. We could actually save our city this time around. I think that's a little more important than "what ifs."
Oliver:  This is why I started working alone again.
Felicity:Yeah. You know what? I tried convincing myself that that was the right move too. But it's not. Because we're married and we're supposed to be each other's strength. So there is no "alone" for us anymore.
Oliver:  It's not that simple and you know it.
Felicity: God, I'm really going to need you to start seeing it that way.

(Dinah is trying to talk Curtis into resting.)
Curtis: He almost killed my man! What do you expect my reaction to be?
Dinah: Exactly the same as mine.
Curtis:... I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about Vincent. I'm so sorry, Dinah.
Dinah: You shouldn't be thinking about Vincent. You need to be thinking about Nick. (sighs) Just please don't go about this the same way that I did, Curtis - blind with rage. (pauses) Remember how you had to talk me down?
Curtis: I remember my advice not really taking.
Dinah: (chuckles) Yeah. Well, you're a lot smarter than me.

(Oliver is trying to justify his keeping Felicity out of the field.)
John: The truth is you were there for her tonight. The same way she's been there for you as Overwatch. (sighs) And, look, when I said that your focus was split, I didn't mean throwing away everything and everyone that gives you strength.

(Lyla and John are moving down a corridor, Suddenly, Lyla, grabs John, throws him down and spins to shoot one of Diaz's men who was approaching them in the same way John did earlier at the hospital.)
John: I had him, honey. (kisses her cheek)

Oliver: I shouldn't have pushed you away. I should have trusted you to keep yourself safe. And I should have trusted my abilities to help keep you safe.
Felicity: Thank you.
Oliver: Yeah.
Felicity: It's good to know that after all these years, you can still learn something. (kisses his shoulder)
Oliver: Well, I still have a ways to go.
Felicity: That's true.


Dialogue Disasters

Diaz: Should've done this months ago. (The sentence that pretty much sums up everything about his "plans".)


Continuity

As the episode opens, Felicity, Oliver and William are cooking dinner together, John and Lyla are meeting with Dr. Schwartz before their date night, Curtis has taken Nick to Helix Dynamics office, Rene is watching a hockey game with Zoe and Dinah is questioning one of Diaz's men alone.

Anatoly sends Oliver a text warning him of Diaz's attack.

Nick is wounded trying to save Curtis from Diaz's men. Lyla has them sent to ARGUS Med-Bay so he can get surgery.

Nick and Curtis are officially boyfriends.

Lyla has Zoe, William, Raisa amd John Jr. sent to the NORAD bunker in Colorado.

Diaz's men are seen trashing The Bunker before setting it on fire.

The ARGUS Charter does not cover law enforcement.  What resources John has were provided by Lyla stretching the rules as far as she could.

Anatoly tells Oliver that the the SCPD has "kill on sight" orders regarding him and the rest of Star City's vigilantes and their family members.

The Quadrant is not happy with Diaz's turning Star City into a war zone in a bid to take out the vigilantes.

Curtis is stabbed by Diaz after trying to fight him one-on-one. Somehow, the team is able to get away from the SCPD and Quadrant forces carrying him.

Felicity says she can use her data sniffer - last seen in 612 - to get the information from Diaz's necklace.

Diaz's "tech kid" is a younger man named Crosby, whose grandmother is being held hostage in exchange for his cooperation.

Anatoly convinces Diaz that the spy in their organization is Lydia Cassamento, after Diaz accuses him of slipping information to Oliver.

Dinah refers to Curtis talking her down during her fight with Black Siren in 614.

Crosby is able to trace Felicity's system to the former Helix hideout used by New Team Arrow.

Diaz kills Lydia Cassamento.

Curtis had the entire Helix hideout rigged to explode. Rene gives Oliver the trigger to activate it.

Oliver blows up the Helix hideout when confronted by Diaz.

Lyla sent a forensics team into The Helix hideout. They did not find Diaz's body.

Felicity did not finish the decryption in time. There was nothing salvageable after the Helix hideout blew up.

Diaz kills another of the Quadrant leaders. The last one swears loyalty to him.

FBI Agent Samandra Watson last appeared in 607.

Watson agrees to help Oliver retake Star City in exchange for two things. The first is his saying "I am The Green Arrow." The second one is unrevealed at the end of the episode.


The Winick Factor

Averted, but this episode only goes to prove that had it not been for all the forced drama making all the various heroes fight with each other for most of the second-half of the season, Diaz would have been easily dealt with in two or three episodes, tops.


The Bottom Line

The best episode in recent memory and not just because there's no Black Siren Redemption Arc nonsense weighing it down. The only downside of the episode is the forced stupidity of The Quadrant Leaders in the final segment, the plot contrivance that prevents ARGUS from being brought in gangbusters and that most of this episode proves how easily Diaz would have gone down if it weren't for all the forced drama that drove the heroes apart and kept them from working against a common enemy. The damnable thing is I'm actually excited for the finale, though I suspect I'll wind up not liking the direction of the show as we go into Season 7.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 21 - Docket No. 11-19-41-73

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




Plot

The Trial of Oliver Queen begins, with Black Siren posing as Laurel Lance acting as the prosecution's star witness! An unexpected ally may help sway the jury, but with Diaz running the DA's office and the judge in his pocket, does Oliver have any chance of getting out of this one


Influences

The Fall of Green Arrow storyline (Oliver Queen exposed as Green Arrow, facing murder charges) and the Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick (Oliver Queen forced from office after being revealed to have sponsored vigilante activities, general theme of heroes fighting each other instead of villains who are portrayed as being far smarter and more competent to a comical degree.)


Goofs

Rene's justification for suddenly wanting to help Oliver after being ready to see him die last week don't make a lot of sense, as Dinah points out. It would be far more believable for Rene to see he feels guilty for having betrayed Oliver (which he sort of hints at) than the wishy-washy "I still hate him, but I don't want to see him in prison" speech he gives.

Quentin tries to goad Black Siren into standing up to Diaz by saying that his Laurel is like Black Siren in that neither of them would tolerate being ordered around. This flies in the face of every bit of characterization we've seen of Black Siren so far, despite it being totally illogical that she should let a powerless punk like Diaz boss her around. The hell of it is Black Siren also has a point about Laurel having been kind of an idiot who got in way over her head and died because of it.

Reference is made to John Diggle's child being abducted at some point in the last four years.. Oliver abducted Lyla and left Baby Sara Diggle alone back in Season 3, but there is no story where either John Diggle Jr. or Sara Diggle was abducted. (Perhaps this was a change caused by Flashpoint?)

Diaz gets upset about Black Siren not saying Oliver Queen is Green Arrow on TV, yet he's having her held in reserve as a witness at the trial, where her saying he's Green Arrow would actually do some good in his grand plan to send Oliver Queen to prison.

There's so much irony to Diaz criticizing Black Siren for being an unconvincing actress.

Again, there's no reason for Black Siren NOT to kill Diaz once she has her breath and some distance.

It's unbelievable that Dinah and John would take the chance of attacking Diaz in broad daylight on the courthouse steps while the trial is going on, given how many cops are around.  Nearly as unbelievable as the fact that there's no media around to notice this happen!

Granting that it's possible for Diaz to have connections that let him get a hold of CIA records, how on Earth will they explain Laurel Lance - captive Assistant DA for two years - having access to those kind of records legally?

Again, we have to wonder why ARGUS isn't brought in to testify that "Laurel Lance" is a wanted fugitive from a parallel Earth after there's a threat of CIA files being turned in. It's not like the trial could get any more convoluted or crazy with the prosecution claiming that a master of disguise is impersonating a dead man to protect a superhero mayor's secret identity.

Black Siren and Quentin talk about her plan to "bury Oliver" some 15-20 feet away from a horde of reporters who are taking pictures and filming their conversation.

It's also unbelievable that nobody, except Curtis, thinks that Diaz might also be threatening the jury after also taking control of the judge and the DA's office.

Technically. since Oliver is being tried in a criminal court, Jean Loring should be requesting a Judgement of Acquittal rather than a Judgement Notwithstanding Verdict. They amount to the same thing, but a Judgement Notwithstanding Verdict is used in civil court cases.

Why doesn't Diaz kill Black Siren for turning against him once he has her powers neutralized?


Performances

Brief though it is, it's nice to see Colin Donnell smiling his way through a performance as "Tommy".

Emily Bett Rickards hasn't been given that much to do this season, but she turns in a powerfully understated performance in this episode even though she has little to do but be the dotting wife. Still, she gets some very powerful speeches.


Artistry

The muted camera tint on the opening sequence of John Diggle in Kasnia is a nice touch, putting a grey aura over everything that suits the gloomy tone of the episode.


Trivia

The episode title - Docket 11-19-41-73 is a reference to the very first Green Arrow appearance in the comics. Oliver Queen's first appearance came on November 19th, 1941 in More Fun Comics #73.

The episode's opening scene is set in Kasnia - a fictional Eastern European country which was first introduced to the DC Comics Multiverse in Superman: The Animated Series.

Jean Loring - Oliver Queen's lawyer - is quite a different character in the original comics. She was the original love interest and eventual ex-wife of Ray "The Atom" Palmer. She later went insane and became a host for Eclipso.

The episode's opening title stinger once again only has the Arrowhead symbol rather than all the symbols for Team Arrow.

The special prosecutor brought in to try Oliver Queen is said to have taken down Intergang and Bruno Manheim. In the classic Superman comics, Bruno "Ugly" Manheim was a crime boss in Metropolis and the leader of Intergang - a criminal organization who acquired high-tech weaponry from Apokolips.

Ironically, the end result of this episode is the opposite of the trial in The Fall of Green Arrow. There, Oliver Queen is found innocent of murder charges despite the evidence against him and a full confession, because the jury felt he was saving their city in the wake of an attack by the villain Prometheus who killed thousands of people in their city. The judge in the case says that he cannot send Oliver Queen to prison with a verdict of Not Guilty, but he can exile him from Star City for the rest of his life. This is, to put it mildly, a major violation of basic legal rights under the United States Constitution.


Technobabble

A pixel-level analysis of a digitally altered photograph will show almost undetectable light shifts and resolution inconsistencies that would not be present in a natural photo.

Judgement Notwithstanding The Verdict is a type of legal judgement that is sometimes rendered by the judge at the end of a Federal Civil Jury Trial. This allows the judge to override a jury's verdict in the rare circumstances in which a jury's response seems unreasonable in the face of the evidence presented. While defense attorneys often request this, it is rarely done. A Judgement Notwithstanding The Verdict can only be used to overturn a guilty verdict. A judge has no power to declare a person guilty after they have been found innocent by a jury trial.

It is revealed that Diaz has some kind of device that can cancel out Black Siren's sonic scream.


Dialogue Triumphs

(John enters into a hovel. He sees a shirtless man, his face hidden in the shadows, tied to a chair.)
Mystery Man: John!
John: I'm getting you out of here.
(John moves forward and starts to cut at the man's bindings.)
Mystery Man: (laughing) What the hell are you doing here?
John: I need your help. In Star City.

(Rene, Curtis and Dinah walk into the courtroom.)
Curtis: This looks bigger than The OJ Trial.
Dinah: How would you know? You were in, like, fourth grade?
Curtis: Yeah, but I watch American Crime Story.

Alexa Van Owen: Oliver Queen is a hero. He is. He's saved this city more times than anyone can count. But he's done it all from behind a mask, so that he could take the law into his own hands. In fact, he's taken as many lives as he's saved. So yes, Oliver Queen is a hero. But that doesn't mean he's not also a criminal.

Jean Loring: Three weeks ago, Oliver Queen was mayor of this city. In that time he has gone from being under indictment, to impeachment to being on trial. How?! How could everything go wrong so quickly for him? I think intuitively you know the answer. Corruption. It runs through this city like a cancer, compromising some city officials while discrediting others. Like...  ike the defendant. Even the anti-vigilante law that he's being charged under is the work of the corrupt men and women who are holding our city in their grip. This may sound like a conspiracy theory, but at the conclusion of this trial I'm going to ask you what is most likely - that our city's government has been compromised or that we elected a superhero as our mayor?

Oliver Queen: I'd be putting a target on my back. I'd be putting a target on my wife and son's back. I've been The Green Arrow for six years. I didn't plan on doing it forever! I thought that one day my mission wound end and I would finally, after all this time, get a chance to actually live my life! (pauses) That will never happen if I tell the whole world that I'm The Green Arrow.

Oliver: I don't want you in a position where you perjure yourself because of me.
Felicity: (sarcastically) Oh well. Let me add it to the long list of felonies I've already committed for you.
Oliver: Look, John has something planned. You don't have to take the chance.
Felicity: I will take any chance if it keeps you from being taken away from me and William.

Alexa Van Owen: If you're The Green Arrow, how come Rene Ramirez testified under oath that Oliver Queen is?
Tommy: Well, I would suspect that he was being pressured to.
Alexa Van Owen: Are you saying he perjured himself?
Tommy: Well, I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. I'm just The Green Arrow. And I am telling you I am the only man that has ever worn this hood.
Judge McGarvey: Mr. Merlyn, you are  under arrest on suspicion of murder, assault, and violation of the Anti-Vigilante Act of 2017. The bailiff will remand Mr. Merlyn into custody.
Alexa Van Owen: Objection, Your Honor! It is The People's contention that Mr. Merlyn here is not The Green Arrow.
Judge McGarvey: Be that as it may, I can't just let him walk out of my courtroom.
Tommy: (smiling) You know, if it's any consolation, my team is going to extract long before I ever get to prison. So...
Judge McGarvey: Get him out of here!
("Tommy" obligingly puts his wrists out for the bailiff.)

(Felicity says that she can take care of protecting herself and William so Oliver doesn't have to worry.)
Oliver: That's not how wedding vows work.
Felicity: Well, we didn't exchange vows. But if we did, exchange means "goes both ways." So we fight for each other, Oliver. We protect each other. We're gonna save each other.

John: Thanks again man. I owe you another one.
Christopher Chance: Yeah, well - after Kasnia, let's just call it even.
Oliver: Chris. Thank you.
Christopher Chance: Yeah. Always happy to help. Just try not to need me again... for at least... another year. Okay?


Dialogue Disasters

Diaz: (as he strangles Black Siren) When you take the stand, I want you to give the jury a much better performance than the one you've given me.


Continuity

The opening sequence sees John rescuing an unseen man who recognizes him from a hovel in Kasina. John says they need his help in Star City.

Jean Loring, Oliver's lawyer, was last seen in 615.

Alexa Van Owen is a special counsel brought in to try Oliver Queen's case on behalf of the Star City DA's office. She has prosecuted both CEOs and Serial Killers in her day and employs a team of CIA-caliber investigators that can find out anything about anyone. She has a 99% conviction rating. Loring does not believe her to be in Diaz's pocket.

Oliver is offered a plea bargain - a single count of manslaughter with a 15 year minimum sentence. Oliver refuses to take it.

Loring says that Judge McGarvey, who is trying the case, almost certainly is under Diaz' control.

Rene and Dinah have both been called to testify against Oliver in court. They agree to lie to protect Oliver, because as mad as they are at him, they don't want to see him go to prison. Rene also feels guilty about having betrayed Oliver earlier in the year when dealing with the FBI in 609.

Quentin gives a television interview where he says that Oliver is not Green Arrow, pointing out that he arrested Oliver on charges of being The Arrow six years earlier and that Oliver passed a polygraph saying he wasn't in 105.

The first witness for the prosecution is John Diggle. He is not present and a bench warrant is issued to have him brought to court.

The second witness for the prosecution is Dr. Eliza Schartz - the doctor who has secretly helped patch up various Team Arrow members. She last appeared in 615. She is an attending physician at Starling General Hospital. She refuses to testify regarding Oliver's medical history and any injuries he might have suffered, citing Doctor/Patient confidentiality.

Dr. Schwartz is asked about the events of 418 and an incident in which The Green Arrow brought The Black Canary to her for treatment. Schwartz says she was too focused on treating Laurel Lance to pay attention to who The Green Arrow was under his mask.

John arrives at the courthouse just before he is declared in contempt of court. He apologizes for being late, saying he was delayed by business out of town.

John testifies that Oliver Queen is not The Green Arrow, saying that as Oliver's bodyguard from 2012-2016, he'd know if he were running around with a bow and arrow at night.

The prosecution brings up John's abduction at the hands of Damien Darhk (409), the abduction of his child (a lost adventure caused by Flashpoint?)  and his hospitalization with nerve damage (601), saying he either runs in dangerous circles or has the worst luck ever.


Dinah is the third witness called by the prosecution. She claims to have had limited interaction with Oliver as Mayor, despite being head of his security detail at City Hall. She is later questioned about the death of Sean Sonus in 511 (over Jean Loring's objections of relevance) and pleads the 5th Amendment when asked if she murdered him.

Raisa - Oliver's housekeeper - knows that Oliver is The Green Arrow.

Rene says he will go to jail before screwing Oliver over again. He changes his mind after Diaz shows up in the court room escorting Zoe.

Rene apparently still has immunity from prosecution, but Curtis says that won't mean anything if he tries to plead the fifth or refuses to testify.

Rene winds up testifying that Oliver is Green Arrow, that he was part of his vigilante team and that he saw Oliver Queen kill and/or maim too many people to count.

Oliver tells Jean Loring that he is The Green Arrow. She suggests he confess to that and they restructure their case around proving that he doesn't deserve to go to prison and hope they can nullify the jury. Oliver refuses, saying that he'll never be able to live in peace if the world knows he is Green Arrow.

Felicity graduated Summa Cum Laude from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Masters Degrees in Cyber Security and Computer Sciences. She is accepted as an expert witness who testifies that the photo of Oliver as Green Arrow from 601 is a fake.

The prosecution challenges the relevance of a faked photograph showing Oliver Queen is Green Arrow. Felicity responds by pointing out that there's no reason for anyone to create a fake photograph of Oliver Queen as Green Arrow if he actually is Green Arrow.

Felicity is questioned about her wedding to Oliver being rushed, occurring as it did one week before his indictment. She is also questioned about her father, The Calculator, and denies having known he was a master hacker criminal until he reformed.  She also denies having committed any cyber crimes herself.

Oliver testifies that Roy Harper was not a vigilante. He says that Roy sacrificed his life to protect the identity of a man who was alternatively called The Hood or The Arrow at that time. He says that he has learned since then that The Hood/The Arrow has taken up the name The Green Arrow. Oliver says that he is not The Green Arrow. He says he does know who The Green Arrow is but that he has promised to keep that information secret.

Alexa Van Owen acquired a photograph from Susan Williams - the reporter Oliver dated briefly during Season 5 - which shows him in Russia during his fifth year in exile away from Starling City, when he claimed to be trapped on Lian Yu.

Oliver admits that he spent part of his five years missing in Hong Kong and Russia.

The trial is disrupted by the arrival of Tommy Merlyn, who claims to have faked his death during the events of 123 so as to better hide his identity as The Hood. He confirms Oliver's story that Roy Harper lied and died to protect him.

"Tommy Merlyn" is revealed to be Christopher Chance AKA The Human Target, who was last seen in 505.

Black Siren tells Quentin that she is being forced to testify, pretending to be Laurel, and that Diaz somehow got his hands on The Human Target's CIA file to bring into evidence regarding the stunt they just pulled.

Felicity refers to how the team broke John out of prison in 504.

Oliver asks John to take Felicity and William into ARGUS Protective Custody if Oliver goes to prison.

Black Siren testifies that Tommy Merlyn is The Green Arrow. She claims that Quentin inspired her to stand up to Diaz.

Oliver is found guilty of all 26 charges against him.

Jean Loring moves for a Judgement Notwithstanding The Verdict. Judge McGarvey grants it, freeing Oliver.

It is later revealed that Christopher Chance replaced Judge McGarvey. He and John Diggle agree to call it even on the owed favors, but he does ask that he not be asked for any favors for at least another year.

It is revealed that the plan to have Chance replace the judge was all Rene's doing.

Rene and Oliver make their peace over everything that happened between them.

Diaz kills Judge McCready.

Black Siren tries to make a move against Diaz. It turns out that he has some sort of device that cancels out her sonic powers.


Location

Kasnia - 2018.


Untelevised Adventures

Apparently John Jr. was kidnapped at some point in the past. (Perhaps, as a result of Flashpoint, Oliver kidnapped John Jr. instead of Lyla when he was with The League of Assassins?)


The Fridge Factor

Black Siren finally stands up to Diaz, only to have her powers negated and be totally useless after that.


The Winick Factor

Black Siren's not killing Diaz long ago is justified by his just happening to have a device to negate her powers when she finally does turn on him. Despite this, he does not kill her.


The Bottom Line

It says a lot about a show when the most stupid and unbelievable aspects of it do not involve a master of disguise pretending to be a man that's been dead for five years in order to protect a superhero mayor's secret identity.

The fact of the matter is that this episode's biggest accomplishment is making the second half of Season Six an even bigger waste of time by having Diaz abandon his grand scheme of putting Oliver Queen in jail (something he could still presumably accomplish by having the police raid his bunker, which he should - based on this episode - know the location of) in favor of just killing him and all the vigilantes whose identities he's known for at least a year.

The one bright side in all of this is that the show is finally taking steps to bring Team Arrow back together, albeit in an incredibly rushed and half-assed way. Still, I'm beyond caring. Just as I'm beyond caring that Black Siren finally chose a side only to be rendered completely useless because it's more important to sell that Diaz as a threat than to sell her competency.