The only thing I thought as this show faded to black was "God I love this show." There's just something so intense about Arrow that I just don't feel compared to the other Arrowverse shows and I love them all in their own ways but Arrow is special to me. I especially want to give props to the new EP Beth and whoever is writing this season cause it's blowing me away with how tightly written the story is and how despite all the characters in this show, every one has something to do and a storyline given to them. It's feeling a lot closer to a Marvel Netflix show this season and I'm really hoping that each storyline is going to end up connecting to the same place cause that's always my favorite way of doing multiple storylines.
There were three (or four) major stories this week and the first was the ARGUS op. Lyla, Diggle and Curtis went to Switzerland and at first glance this storyline didn't feel like it added anything to the overarching one but once you looked closer, there were many similar themes and ways to parallel the FBI storyline with Felicity, Rene and Dinah. Before I get into that, let me just say that it was amazing to see Lyla again and even better, JJ who was born in season 3 and should be around 4 years old now but looked a lot older which was hilarious. It really was nice seeing him again and though I do understand why kids shouldn't be in Arrow, sometimes it's needed cause it's like Lyla and JJ are such big parts of Diggle's life and it doesn't work if we're constantly told about them rather than seeing them. I loved seeing Lyla and Diggle undercover together and I've been hoping ever since Diggle joined ARGUS that Lyla would be more of a recurring character. If we have to deal with seeing Cecile every single week on Flash, why can't we get more Lyla??
I'm also really interested in this idea of Lyla turning to basically what amounts to vigilantism because the red tape is too hard to get by and that Diggle was so against it at first which is hilarious cause he's suddenly gone back to this black and white view of the world similar to what he thought back in season 1. I wonder if this was done only to keep him in a sense on the outs with Felicity and Rene and their vigilantism and though I was initially surprised, it's not all that unexpected that Lyla hinted that she would have wanted Diggle to take up the Green Arrow mantle cause she's always been more grey than Diggle was. But going back to ARGUS, I'm a little confused about the whole setup. I was pretty sure that ARGUS was like SHIELD but a bit more rogue in that though they were technically a government sanctioned division, they were a secret spy organization unlike the FBI or CIA so they weren't controlled by the government. It seems weird to me that Lyla has to fight with "the brass" (whoever they are) to get things done. Amanda Waller seemed to do whatever the hell she wanted. I also wonder if maybe this season of Arrow will showcase ARGUS going rogue or at least show us the beginnings of that because we were told in Legends that ARGUS eventually takes over the world like HYDRA wanted to.
Like I said in the beginning, I do hope that whatever we do with ARGUS that it leads back to Diaz. We do know that ARGUS isn't focused on him (and as it turns out neither is the FBI) but like maybe they're running an op for something else and it ends up being linked to him through money or the Longbow hunters similar to how it was last week but maybe on a larger scale!
The second major storyline this week was the FBI storyline. Felicity went to Watson last week in hopes of working with the FBI to catch Diaz and unsurprisingly though Watson was on board (even if she tried to hide it from Felicity), her bosses were not which was a parallel to Lyla and her apparent bosses. In a way it makes sense why the FBI wouldn't have Diaz on high alert but at the same time it seems foolhardy not to keep him on their radar cause they know how bad he was last year and the idea that oh he hasn't done anything big yet is not looking at the big picture! Obviously he's planning something and it's a bad idea to be like let's wait until he does the thing before we worry about him. I loved watching Watson work with Felicity, Rene and Dinah to try to catch Diaz and it was a good plan on paper and I loved watching how they had such great teamwork and how each person has a role. It was unfortunate that it ended with Watson being demoted but of course it was too early for Diaz to be caught.
I did enjoy Felicity and Watson's back and forth in the server room of the CDC where they debated the merits of the law v. vigilantism and I liked how though they disagreed, both did see a bit of merit on the other side. It was similar to Lyla and Diggle's argument as well and it made me wonder if this was some sort of foreshadowing for Felicity joining a cyber security team (at ARGUS maybe) after she catches Diaz or more likely if she'll end up rebuilding Helix Dynamics as Smoak Technologies with a focus on cyber security. I'm living for the fact that Felicity is now living with Rene and that they're basically working together to catch Diaz and I hope we get to see their bond grow cause they haven't really had to many interactions since Rene joined the show. I'm dying at the idea that Rene and Felicity caught the Silencer and are planning to torture her or something to get info on Diaz. I really don't see it going well but honestly I didn't expect them to have her cause I thought at the end of their storyline when they were creeping through that warehouse that they would have ended up in the new Green Arrow's lair. I know I said that last week but it makes no sense to me as to why they would bother bringing a new Green Arrow to the show if he/she is not going to interact with our main cast.
Speaking of, no new Green Arrow this week and no flash forwards either and honestly I didn't miss them cause as exciting as the reveal of future William was, I'm not as interested in that storyline unless the new Green Arrow is future William cause otherwise it makes no sense as to why we should care about the future since I'm sure this is just one of many.
I don't know if I'd characterize what Diaz was doing as a whole other storyline or not but we did find out that what he stole wasn't actually a bioweapon like we all assumed but some sort of super serum of some kind. It would be great if it was Mirakuru as a callback to previous seasons but it could also be some form of Cobra venom which I know is a super strength serum in the comics. It made me wonder why the show didn't tell us what he stole so I do hope we learn about it next week cause it seems like a good hint as to his plan or even a reason for the FBI to care. This is an interesting change cause Diaz doesn't have any super strength in the comics. I also hope that eventually we get to know that Diaz's new evil plan is since his old one was to rule Star City by controlling it's cops and government and underworld but since that was ruined, what does he want now besides killing Felicity and William and Oliver? And why would the Longbow hunters follow him? Does he have money that he's paying them or are they on board with his evil plan? The two Longbow hunters in the room with him when he punched that wall did not look thrilled so maybe they'll switch sides or end up killing him and becoming the new Big Bads?
The final storyline of the episode was Oliver. I like that his story is also having to do with Diaz cause it still feels relevant to the rest of the show and gives him a purpose. Not only does it parallel Felicity in that both Oliver and Felicity will do whatever it takes to get a lead on Diaz, it also keeps up the stakes cause we care about Oliver finding out info on Diaz. It's one thing that's different than when Barry was in prison cause there it felt like we were watching two different shows but here it's all the same. I had a feeling that Brick was just playing Oliver last week and I still feel that way tonight. I highly doubt that this Demon Oliver is looking for is down in the second level cause why would Brick want to help Oliver? I still think that weird guy following Oliver around in a plant and I'd bet that he's the Demon cause he seemed to straighten up when Brick mentioned that name. At the same time we're told there's no way to get back to level one once you're on level two so it would make no sense story wise if the Demon wasn't down there.
I hope we get to see more old Arrow villains down on level two though I can't think of any off the top of my head since most of the Big Bads are dead (Malcolm, Ra's, Damien) or sort of redeemed (hey Slade) and none of the weekly villains seem evil enough to be down there. Maybe we'll get some new DC villains who haven't been on Arrow yet but are well known in the DC universe cause maybe this is the Arrowverse version of Blackgate! I also really liked the back and forth between Bronze Tiger and Oliver tonight and I would love it if he joined Oliver's side cause Oliver needs real backup instead of that little loser who adds nothing to this show unless he's a spy.
The promo for next week shows Black Siren joining Felicity and Rene which sounds fun to me! We also see Oliver going through some sort of therapy or maybe it's a parole hearing though I doubt that since he's clearly not been on his best behavior. It makes me wonder how on Earth Oliver is going to be set free from prison without breaking out... The only thing I can think of is if he gets some sort of pass on being a vigilante maybe because the city really needs him but that feels like more of a season long arc and we know he's in the crossover as the Green Arrow so he must get out by midseason. If I had to bet, I'd say maybe he gets the info he needs by the midseason and breaks out and stays hidden but then gets exonerated or something by the season finale so everyone knows Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow and are okay with it?
Make sure to watch Legends tonight (though I won't be reviewing it) and I'll see you all tomorrow for my Flash review!
xoxo Allie
