Arrow Review 523: Lian Yu Season Finale

            Without a doubt Lian Yu proved to be the best season finale on Arrow.  It had everything a good wrap to the season should have, loose ends tied, new alliances forged that could alter the course of the next season, and an ending that left the viewers speechlessly waiting for season 6 to begin. I watched this twice because of so much choice dialogue.  Arrow is character driven, and because this is Oliver's story, I will focus on Oliver with each of the characters.           I will begin with:

     

Oliver and Felicity: We have watched these two fall in love, break apart, and come to understanding of who they are as a couple. Oliver in the last episode, stood back waiting for Felicity and not wanting to push her, yet waiting for her respond to him.  In the finale she came to terms with who Oliver is, why he does what he does, and what motivates him.  Oliver loves Felicity and deeply and when she says she wants to stay with him, he says, "I need to focus and that means I need to get you off the island."  He honestly told her, nothing held back, and she accepted his answer.  With the gravity of life in the balance Felicity kisses Oliver.  He so sweetly asked her, "Why?"  Her response sums up what we all probably felt, "I don't want to regret not kissing you. When it comes to the two of us I have regret enough." She admits to Oliver that she was wrong to leave him.  She was wrong to turn to Billy.  She accepts Oliver for who he is.  In being apart, they grew together.  They had to go through the trials to get to where they are.

               Oliver and Thea:  Thea has always been a concern for Oliver.  I have four brothers, three older, and no matter how old I get, they are always trying to protect me in some way.  That's what Oliver does, but he has grown in being a brother.  He knows what Thea can do, and how strong she is, but he doesn't push her in this episode. He asks her watch over Felicity and Samantha.  He wants the woman he loves and the mother of his child to be safe, so he puts Thea in charge, because he knows she has the strength to do this.  Thea in many ways is stronger than Oliver.


                  Oliver and Slade:  With the mirakuru gone from his body, Slade knows what he has done.  He also knows Oliver very well, and the lines these two have between them are some of the best all season. Slade confesses that he killed Oliver's mother, so why didn't Oliver kill him, and Oliver says, "Maybe what's happening now is the reason I didn't."  I am a Christian so often I see the story through my lens of faith.  I know that there is a plan for our lives that is greater than we could have for ourselves, Slade's line reminded me of that, and Oliver's answers shows how much he has grown.  He realized that when he listened to Felicity and stopped the random killing, there was plan that ended up being greater than when he might have thought.  Did you trust Slade?  In the beginning I didn't, but even though, I didn't care for Manu Bennett's bashing of Olicity, he certainly brings life to Slade Wilson. He made the viewer care for him. At least this viewer.  :) I loved when Slade very directly talked to Oliver about Robert.  He knew that Oliver suffered from survivor's guilt.  Slade said, "Everything with you, Kid, has to do with your father. You blame yourself for your father's suicide."  Then he said an important line, " You need to forgive yourself for your sins."  None of us are responsible for our parents sins.  They are theirs.  Sometimes we have to live with the affects of their sins, but we are not responsible for them.  Oliver felt a responsibility placed on him by his father, "Right my wrongs," but no child can do that.  That's what Oliver has been learning over the past 5 years.  He now has to forgive himself for what he only is responsible for.   Felicity showed him that in 520, and now he realizes it for himself.  He has finally grown and can truly move on in a new, better way, to truly be "Someone else."  Slade will not leave the island without Oliver and his son, I thought that line was good too. Slade has forgiven Oliver for Shado's death, at least that's how I took it. Forgiveness has been a theme in this last half of the season. Oliver has to forgive himself.  Felicity needed to forgive Oliver and to understand things from his point of view. Diggle had to forgive Lyla, and she had to understand him.  Lance had to come to terms with Laurel's death, and forgive himself as well.  Rene has to forgive himself as well.  So much in the last half of this season.

       Oliver and Chase:  Chase wants Oliver to kill him to prove to Oliver that he is a killer at heart who only loves to kill.  Chase in his insanity thinks this will justify all the killing that Chase himself takes delight in.  But Oliver won't kill him.  Oliver has grown, he may at one point have been that person that Chase thought he was, but he tells Chase, "I am not that person anymore."  Oliver has grown. He's no longer that man; he is truly Someone Else.  and that person will not kill.  Oliver has grown as a person, and he truly has become the hero Felicity knew all along he was. I love this line. Oliver has found the light within himself.  Other's can point us to the light and what is right and true about ourselves, but we have to believe it ourselves, and Oliver has finally done that.

Oliver and Moira:  What a great way to end the season and move on to a new focus in Season Six. The island flashbacks have come full circle. We know how Oliver got off the island with Anatoly's help.  His call to Moira touched so many hearts.  We felt Oliver's pain and Moira's joy.  This was a wonderful way the writers tied the five seasons together, and now do you wonder how we find Season Six to change. Oliver Queen will be the Green Arrow in a new light.  So much symbolism in all of this. Kudos to the writers, producers and directors.

Felicity and Samantha:  I loved the talk these too had.  Samantha knows that the engagement was broken off, yet she tells Felicity, "I saw that kiss you gave him, it didn't seem that complicated to me."  The viewers chuckled at that line.  Felicity tells Samantha, "For what it's worth, I never thought Oliver should let William go--not that I was consulted."   Felicity needed to tell Samantha that she was not behind Oliver's decision, and I also wondered if Felicity hasn't quite gotten passed the hurt of being left out.  Sometimes we can forgive, but forgetting sometimes takes a little longer.  This line is another reason I love this show.  Characters are not one dimensional.  They are real, we can identify with forgiving someone, but the forgetting what they have done, takes a little longer to move from, but I think by being honest with Samantha, Felicity can and will move on with Oliver. I hope Samantha makes it off the island.  I think she will allow Oliver and Felicity to see William.

Felicity and Thea:  Sisters at heart.  Felicity's talk and comfort she offered Thea shows the bond these two have for each other.  Felicity knows what it's like to have a less than perfect Father, and yet she knew that in his own way he loved her, by taking a bullet for her.  This made me think that her father is the man that headed Helix.  I think he may return in season six.  Thea's "I got to see the father he could have been," touched my heart.  She saw that Malcom sacrificed himself for her, or did he?  We know he won't return next season, but the question remains will he return someday?   Will this hold Thea back?  She carries so many burdens, yet I think her story will move forward next season, if she made it through, do you think she did?

Curtis:  I loved his line, "The Plane, The Plane, Was that too dated?"  Is Curtis returning?  Do you want him to return?  I liked him in the beginning,, but then he got on my nerves a little.  He was too much like Felicity and does Arrow characters so similar?  I hope he comes back, but part of me wonders.  The writers like to keep us guessing.

Black Canary vs Black Siren:  It's so clear who the better actor is.  I loved it when it was Lance to told Canary that she was Black Canary, and then he dropped Black Siren gladly.  This was important for Lance.  He has come to terms with Laurel's death, and he knows Black Siren was not Laurel.

Does Lyla rescue everyone from the island?  I am sure she somehow comes to the rescue, because she won't let Diggle be in danger.  She will come, I am sure.  We know that Rene  and Black Canary survive. Diggle and Felicity have to survive.  So that leaves Slade, Curtis, and Nyssa... will they make it out?

I cannot wait for season six, the next five months will be long ones.

I plan to watch the old ones, and blog reviews on them, if anyone is interested in that, please leave something in the comment section.  You can comment anonymously if you wish.  Or you can sign up to follow.  I  thank you all for reading my blog.