Jessie Robertson reviews the seventh episode of Arrow season 6…
There isn’t a whole lot to be thankful about this week on Arrow, in an episode titled “Thanksgiving.” I like them building a new, state of the art CCPD station since week one (where that money came from I’m not sure.) And besides just having Michael Emerson on the show, there weren’t a lot of positives this week.
Caden James isn’t a great villain name but the actor behind it makes boring, basic computer hacker stuff seem a bit more….elevated? Jury’s still out on Black Siren; there’s obviously meat coming with her character (and most likely Quentin) but right now she just seems like a psychopath. The big bomb plot this week? That’s a big ole’ dried out stuffing dish for me. Besides the Billy Joel name drop, everything from Oliver’s talk with the event promoter to Rene causing a bigger disruption by firing off his gun in the stadium, I didn’t care for it. At first I even wondered, what is the point of “pressure cooking” a stadium full of people? But, then we saw it was an even bigger dud than that.
John’s drug use combined with Curtis’ proto type cure, then both of their subsequent fights with Felicity and Oliver were heavily dramatized and forced. We all knew eventually Oliver would become Green Arrow again, I just didn’t think it would be this soon. He actually seemed happy not doing it and being with William and for once, keeping a promise. I understand his being upset with John about his addiction and injury but to over-react (then apologize) after David Ramsey played such strong scenes this week, it just felt like so many unnecessary side items at the dinner table. Felicity has a history of quickly reacting with harsh decisions and putting the kibosh on their startup was another one. There was a lot going on and a lot wrong here this week.
Then we have Inspector Watson. Is this part of a larger storyline because so far, it’s kind of just one note. No evidence yet and members of Team Arrow willing to break the law to let Oliver sneak out? Then, Oliver becomes Green Arrow at just about the worst possible time to retake the mantle. Arrow is a very good show when it sticks to one big story for the week and delves into it, deeply, instead of opening up multiple storylines for one episode and not properly resolving any of them. It felt very reminiscent of season 3 again.
Rating: 6.5/10
Jessie Robertson