Since when do shows have new episodes on Thanksgiving? I know that this episode featured a turkey dinner and a fair amount of bad puns, but it is still an odd choice to make, no?
But hey, at least it had a repurposed Billy Joel cameo, right?
1. Pressure
I am impressed by the show’s dedicated, not just to Diggle as the Green Arrow (more on that momentarily), but also on the idea of Ollie being pursued by the FBI. It seems like this is going to be a thread that pops up every few weeks, conveniently going away when there are other stories to tell. While the “back to Washington!” moment was silly, the situation seems pretty damn dire.
2. A Matter of Trust
The team is under an insane amount of tension at the moment, from Felicity and Curtis’s start up having some communication issues, to Dinah and Quentin dealing with the shadows of people they love, to John’s recovery – it seems like the team is on the brink of collapse. Just about everyone needed a reassurance of one kind or another from someone else, just to make it through this week.
Dinah has become a really integral part of the team, and this week showed why from a few perspectives: as a cop, as a confidant to Quentin and John, and as the only truly super-powered member of the team. She is quickly becoming the glue that holds them together, and it was her – consoling Quentin, saving Rene’s ass in the stadium, and being the point of contact for Ollie in jail – that helped everyone survive this episode.
3. You’re Only Human
Diggle was pretty hard on himself this week, and equally hard on Oliver. But here’s the thing: he was right to shit on Oliver. Oliver has asked an unbelievable amount of John over the years, and usually does so without considering what John has to go through. This episode dealt with that a bit, and showed the depth of Diggle’s commitment.
While Ollie temporarily stepped back into the hood this week, it is clear that the show isn’t done with Diggle as the Green Arrow yet, which is a good thing, despite Diggle saying that being in the field could paralyze himself? I think it was implied that his treatment will fix that, but it was left a little ambiguous.
4. Tell Her About It
So, Thea woke up, and there’s a lot to catch her up on. Ollie’s son is now living with him (along with his and Thea’s old nanny), Slade is back and not evil, Diggle is the Green Arrow, etc. I suppose it was nice to break all that to her over a Thanksgiving dinner, but it more looked like they were just using her legs to hold the turkey while she ate hospital food.
And sure, the excuse for her waking up was a little abrupt, and a little anticlimactic (if they were trying different drugs that would eventually work, as Felicity said, then why was everyone so worried about Thea?
5. Keeping the Faith
I know that this show is always dancing on the ledge of ‘how will the team go forward?,’ but this season seems to be really ramping that up by giving Ollie stakes that aren’t just his career or his freedom. Because of the import that Ollie puts on him, William has become the most important character on that show. When Ollie lied to him at the end of the episode, it stung. When Ollie was arrested in front of him, it was a kick in the gut. The show has done a magnificent job of making in making us care about William in such a little amount of time, and did so, more or less, without relying on the acting chops of a teenager.
Well played, Arrow.
