We are one week into the new Arrow status quo, and it was even reflected in Oliver’s pre-show spiel! Let’s see how closely the show sticks to that status quo.
1. Don’t underestimate this team – except for Diggle
One of the weird issues with Legends of Tomorrow this season is that they’ve decided that the team is the laughing stock of time, and so treat it like a total joke. Last season, Arrow bordered on that, too, showing the new recruits constantly flaking on their missions. Well, this year, they’ve gone the opposite direction. Dinah, Rene, and Curtis are all really excelling at their new roles, and are, perhaps, the most formidable team that the Green Arrow ever had at his side.
The issue, of course, is that Diggle is now the Green Arrow, and he sort of sucks.
Let’s go through the reasons why he’s already a terrible Green Arrow: he doesn’t tell Ollie about his issues, he can’t make the tough calls in the field, he’s not an archer, and now he’s an addict. I knew that Ollie wouldn’t be out of the game for that long, and now we see his path to coming back: by finding out his ward replacement is a junkie!
Leaving aside his drug habit, Diggle just doesn’t have the leadership skills needed to don the hood, no matter how many fancy gadgets the crew cooks up for him. And this is coming from a guy who would love a full season of Diggle as Green Arrow – they just need to get the character right first.
2. Math tests
William and Felicity bonding over math was a cute subplot, and one that did a little to make William more than just an annoying kid. Felicity is appropriately reluctant to just jump into his life, and makes easy, slow steps into being the cool dad’s girlfriend. But it also gave the show some nice character moments for Ollie, showing his attitude towards school, solving problems, etc.
3. So…is Thea dead?
Aside from showing her once in the premiere, we have’t had another visit to her in the hospital. This week, Ollie and Felicity talk about her like she’s dead. Did I miss them pulling the plug on her? If not, they need to adjust the language a little bit, because this was really weird.
4. Action from inside the car
The show did one of its best action sequences in its history with the fight between Diggle and Onyx. Because it was shot from the perspective of someone inside the car, things like Onyx’s head breaking a window seemed super dramatic and interesting, instead of your standard, boiler-plate Arrow fight sequence. It was really fun and unexpected. Take note, future directors: this works way better than the most overly edited super fight sequence.
5. Let the people decide
Ollie letting the citizens of Star City decide whether or not vigilantes are the problem is a way to finally allow the vigilantes to stop being that, and start being heroes. The city’s embrace of the characters will allow a really important shift in the show’s tone. It makes sense that they wouldn’t have started off as big fans, but that time has passed now, and they should see that they are trying to help.
Of course, this is Arrow, so who knows?
