Arrow: Life Sentence
May 18, 2018 3:57 AM - Season 6, Episode 23 - Subscribe
With a new ally on his team, Oliver engages Diaz in an epic final battle. (Season 6 finale)
Everything finally paid off in this episode and I was satisfied with it overall. It was a dramatic hour of television and I only wish that news of Paul Blackthorne's departure hadn't leaked weeks ago because Lance's death would have been a shock.
I loved the moment on the steps at the end where Oliver confessed to being the Green Arrow. He looked right into the camera, at us, and told the world his secret. Great use of direction there.
I wonder how long Oliver will be in prison. Is this going to be a long-term arc or will he be back to normal business by episode 3?
posted by Servo5678 at 7:28 AM on May 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I loved the moment on the steps at the end where Oliver confessed to being the Green Arrow. He looked right into the camera, at us, and told the world his secret. Great use of direction there.
I wonder how long Oliver will be in prison. Is this going to be a long-term arc or will he be back to normal business by episode 3?
posted by Servo5678 at 7:28 AM on May 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I think the finale was as good as it was because of how miserable the journey was to get here. It's like having to walk through a boring dessert but you can see the oasis before you and it's so satisfying once you get there and take a sip. Sure there might be an interesting lizard or scorpion along the way, but they can't help you beyond a momentary distraction.
I didn't know Blackthorne was leaving either, so his death was really surprising. But I'm really glad they brought Sara back for this episode. It was so good and Caity Lotz stole the scene with her experience in emotional nuance from Legends. That look of devastation and confusion as her father is pronounced dead while one of her closest friends is being led away by the FBI was award-winning.
And there's just so much maturity out of Felicity and Emily Bett Rickard's portrayal. Like she knew her husband enough to figure something was up when he was giving everyone the apology tour. (Although Curtis didn't get one, wtf Oliver!)
I can see why Roy Harper would be integral to the plot next season if Oliver's sitting in jail. But of course it begs the question of why the FBI would continue to let these vigilantes run loose now that they know who everyone is.
And to echo the chamber, I really really am not looking forward to Diaz coming back next season.
posted by numaner at 11:18 PM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I didn't know Blackthorne was leaving either, so his death was really surprising. But I'm really glad they brought Sara back for this episode. It was so good and Caity Lotz stole the scene with her experience in emotional nuance from Legends. That look of devastation and confusion as her father is pronounced dead while one of her closest friends is being led away by the FBI was award-winning.
And there's just so much maturity out of Felicity and Emily Bett Rickard's portrayal. Like she knew her husband enough to figure something was up when he was giving everyone the apology tour. (Although Curtis didn't get one, wtf Oliver!)
I can see why Roy Harper would be integral to the plot next season if Oliver's sitting in jail. But of course it begs the question of why the FBI would continue to let these vigilantes run loose now that they know who everyone is.
And to echo the chamber, I really really am not looking forward to Diaz coming back next season.
posted by numaner at 11:18 PM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Given the mess of a season leading up to it this was a pretty good finale with some nice twists to set up next season. Quentin's story has been over for a while and having him sacrificing himself for his not-daughter was a good way to end it. And I agree, Caity Lotz was great in the one substantive scene she was in.
I was expecting agent Watson to be killed off once it was clear Oliver's deal with her meant he was going to prison.
So we've got Oliver in prison, the rest of Team Arrow intact (does their immunity deal allow them to still be vigilantes?), Diaz alive and plotting revenge, Watson possibly in charge of Star City, Earth-2 Laurel turning good, and Roy Harper returning to start off season 7. That's a lot to work through and much more interesting than wondering who survived the big explosion of last season.
posted by plastic_animals at 1:59 PM on May 19, 2018
I was expecting agent Watson to be killed off once it was clear Oliver's deal with her meant he was going to prison.
So we've got Oliver in prison, the rest of Team Arrow intact (does their immunity deal allow them to still be vigilantes?), Diaz alive and plotting revenge, Watson possibly in charge of Star City, Earth-2 Laurel turning good, and Roy Harper returning to start off season 7. That's a lot to work through and much more interesting than wondering who survived the big explosion of last season.
posted by plastic_animals at 1:59 PM on May 19, 2018
I was expecting agent Watson to be killed off once it was clear Oliver's deal with her meant he was going to prison.
Ha I was expecting it once she saw everyone's faces, like I thought she would sacrifice herself for that scared FBI agent at the trap warehouse.
posted by numaner at 10:44 PM on May 19, 2018
Ha I was expecting it once she saw everyone's faces, like I thought she would sacrifice herself for that scared FBI agent at the trap warehouse.
posted by numaner at 10:44 PM on May 19, 2018
Let's place all our bets on how long Oliver remains in jail. I figure he's out by...wait, how long was he the not-Arrow? About that long. I figured from the title alone that's where this was going and I wanted Felicity to kick him in the nuts when she found out.
Not sure where they go from here when Oliver is now 100% out of the Arrow closet.
NO MORE DIAZ puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeze.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:49 PM on May 20, 2018
Not sure where they go from here when Oliver is now 100% out of the Arrow closet.
NO MORE DIAZ puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeze.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:49 PM on May 20, 2018
I feel cheated that while they brought back Sara, they deprived her (and us) of a chance to reconnect with Quentin for one final time.
I'm equally annoyed at Oliver once again making decisions that affect everybody (especially Felicity and William) without actually telling them what he was doing. He'll never learn.
I'm sorry, but there is no way Diaz should have survived Black Siren's attack. He's not a meta, he's not enhanced, so just nope. I mean she melted a guy's face off prior to this and outright killed too many people to count. She wouldn't have made such a rookie mistake of just tossing him off the roof and into the drink. And even if she did, that should have been the end of him. I've had enough of him, enough of this story line, and I have zero desire to see him back.
I didn't quite catch what Anatoly said about Diaz's new partners, the first time they were mentioned, but the phrase Longbow Hunters has a very specific meaning to Green Arrow readers. It's the Mike Grell mini-series that moved Oliver to Seattle, swapped out his trick arrows for pointy ones, introduced Shado and Eddie Fryes, and did unspeakable things to Dinah. It didn't include mention of a trio of unstoppable killers, but I guess the writers have to come up with something new every once in a while.
Speaking of Anatoly, we didn't find out how he fared. Is he in custody? Did he get immunity as well? Will we get to see jailhouse conversations between the Oliver and Anatoly?
posted by sardonyx at 11:54 AM on May 21, 2018
I'm equally annoyed at Oliver once again making decisions that affect everybody (especially Felicity and William) without actually telling them what he was doing. He'll never learn.
I'm sorry, but there is no way Diaz should have survived Black Siren's attack. He's not a meta, he's not enhanced, so just nope. I mean she melted a guy's face off prior to this and outright killed too many people to count. She wouldn't have made such a rookie mistake of just tossing him off the roof and into the drink. And even if she did, that should have been the end of him. I've had enough of him, enough of this story line, and I have zero desire to see him back.
I didn't quite catch what Anatoly said about Diaz's new partners, the first time they were mentioned, but the phrase Longbow Hunters has a very specific meaning to Green Arrow readers. It's the Mike Grell mini-series that moved Oliver to Seattle, swapped out his trick arrows for pointy ones, introduced Shado and Eddie Fryes, and did unspeakable things to Dinah. It didn't include mention of a trio of unstoppable killers, but I guess the writers have to come up with something new every once in a while.
Speaking of Anatoly, we didn't find out how he fared. Is he in custody? Did he get immunity as well? Will we get to see jailhouse conversations between the Oliver and Anatoly?
posted by sardonyx at 11:54 AM on May 21, 2018
Well, that was another season of Arrow. 23 hours down and nothing to show for it. I think I may be done with the show, although Colton Haynes is cute enough I could imagine giving it a shot just for him.
As everyone's said, Diaz was a terrible villain and should just be dead. I never really understood his deal anyway. He's just... really brutal? Like he's a really bad dude who works out and tortures puppies or something? Even with the one episode about his backstory, a fairly good episode, I still couldn't give a shit about him. I really do miss the Dhamhien Dharhkh season.
posted by Nelson at 7:25 AM on May 27, 2018
As everyone's said, Diaz was a terrible villain and should just be dead. I never really understood his deal anyway. He's just... really brutal? Like he's a really bad dude who works out and tortures puppies or something? Even with the one episode about his backstory, a fairly good episode, I still couldn't give a shit about him. I really do miss the Dhamhien Dharhkh season.
posted by Nelson at 7:25 AM on May 27, 2018
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I hadn't heard that Blackthorne was leaving for a new show. I don't know that they could have found a non-fatal way to write Quentin out what with him not being a superhero and there being no way he'd leave fake-Laurel voluntarily, but, I sure wish they had.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:25 AM on May 18, 2018