Arrow 613 The Devil's Greatest Trick Review

      Well, what can I say?  This thirteenth episode didn't shine for me.   It ranks in my mind  with 513, when Arrow attempted to tackle gun violence, that episode didn't shine for me either. You can  go back and search my review  of that episode.  For me Arrow works best  when we  have Olicity  moments, and when the  team works  cohesively.  The moments  with Oliver and Felicity solidify the character growth  of both  people. When we have the give  and  take between them, and when we see that even  though the may  have different  ideas, they share the  same  goal.  Arrow has not only been about one  hero's personal struggle in becoming a hero, it's been  about  family.  When we have those family moments in the midst of the struggle of trying to save the city, Arrow shines.

Olicity:  Well there wasn't much tonight.  We did have the glances,  that for these two people,  speak volumes. We see their rings.  I  don't know about you, but I'm missing the lighter moments, the hugs, the kiss on the cheeks that we had at the beginning.  That being said, these two people are fighting an enemy that wants to detonate a bomb that will destroy the entire city, so it makes sense that their focus is entirely on saving the city. They have no time for anything else, including any kind of family life.  So the fact we didn't get a lot makes sense in the light of the story the writers tell.  Now that the major threat of destroying the city is over, perhaps in two weeks, we will see more of those Olicity moments that we all love.

Felicity, Thea, and William:  I did  love the scenes between  Felicity and William.  She reached out her hand to him to reassure him that his Dad would be okay and for him  to not be afraid.  We also learned that even though he said it was fine for his Dad to be the Green Arrow  because he had Felicity  now, he still has fears. That's totally understandable, no child wants to lose his parents, and he's already lost his mother.  However, it still seems unclear just what age he is.  When Thea comes in, William sits there with an arrow, and Thea takes it out of his hand, and says, "Give me that."  Cute, and like a good  Aunt she doesn't want him to get hurt.  William looked as if he were thinking  about things, and for some reason in that scene for that that moment, he looked older to me. Perhaps that's just me.  I think the writers may  give us a foreshadowing of just how Arrow will end the series.  William will take up the mantel of his father.  What do you think?  It was also great to see Felicity and Thea  working  together.  Sisters working  to help the man they both love.  I could see more of that.  They work well together.

           Oliver as Dad:  Oliver  has  grown  as a Dad.   He  promised Felicity that he  would never keep anything from her, and he keeps nothing from his son now.  The  writers allow Oliver to grow as a person.  Cayden James tells Oliver, "Be a better father than I was."  Oliver stops for a second, and in that second, I wonder if Oliver thought I might have become a father like you, if not for Felicity?  She helped Oliver to see that he can tell William the truth and he can take it.   When William overhears the address where James is and goes off  on his own  there, it was both annoying  yet typical  of a pre-teen child.  He wanted to be with his dad, because some part of him thought that if he were there then  nothing bad could happen.  When  Oliver calls him over, and says, "Don't be afraid, alright?  I'm right here, and I love  you very much," William realizes that he can trust his father, and that he has no reason to fear.  "Perfect love casts out fear." I know that's scripture and describes the love of the heavenly Father, but I thought of that in that scene.

NTA:  I am guessing that the writers, since they have kept the symbols for all the team in the opening  credit, will redeem NTA and bring them back into the fold,  but right now, they are annoying to me.  Dinah's anger is understandable she's lost the love of her life, and she's filled with rage.  She wants revenge even at the cost of killing most of Star City.  I did become annoyed  when Oliver tried to tell her we just don't kill for the sake of killing, they are better than that, and she says to Oliver "...you just let them die."  I found myself so annoyed with her.  Get over it, I wanted to shout at the television.  Curtis wasn't as annoying, but I have never been a fan of Curtis, so it wouldn't matter to me if they replaced Mr. Terrific with Alena, because she can do what Curtis did.  Although, I don't think they will do that.  I'm wondering if we  can trust Alena? What if she works for Diaz as well?  I hope not, because I like her, and I can see her fitting in with the ever expanding team.  The one who annoys me most is the one I liked  the most, Rene.  When he says, "I knew if we  worked with Oliver this would happen. The guy's a walking death trap," I nearly lost it.  Really?  Who saved you when you  got into trouble?   I  asked myself, why would the writers make this guy so obnoxious to us? If we put ourselves in Rene's shoes, why is he the meanest to Oliver? I wonder if it's because he feels guilty for what he's done.  So his guilt tries to excuse himself and make  Oliver look bad so he has justification for betraying him?  I think episode 614 will pit OTA with NTA and NTA will learn exactly how much they  don't know.  I think all this obnoxious behavior will in the end lead to  character growth for each person on NTA.  The writers know what they are doing, or so I hope.

       Cayden James:  We  learn that the real mastermind was not James, but Ricardo Diaz.  His greatest trick was fooling James.  I have issues as to  whether Diaz could seriously be as smart as Alena, Felicity, or James to have manipulated those photos.   Was I the only one who wasn't sure about that. I found it sad that the  writers wasted Michael Emerson in this role.  He's an award winning actor, and I had thought there would have been more with him, but the last half will be devoted to Diaz.

     Richardo Diaz:  Did you notice that Diaz did not want the city destroyed, because he wanted to take it over.  I  am suspicious that that it was Alena who found out exactly who it was that killed Owen, so that Oliver could show this to James, thereby stopping the the destruction of the city. We know that the new chief of police works for James as well as some members of the council, so could Alena be on his payroll as well?  It may seem unlikely but it made me wonder, was she just lucky, or was she a plant?

     Black Siren and Lance: I know I've said this multiple times, but the BS is annoying, and even the screams between BC and BS annoyed me.   Cayden James alluded to the redemption  of BS, and of course this will affect Lance. When Lance showed up Black Siren said, "Hi, Daddy; I missed you."  It seemed phony.  There was no sincere emotion there.  If the writer's meant there to be emotion so that we could see Laurel's struggle, then the actress blew it, because I saw only a callousness. Later when Lance is to bring her in  to meet James, and Laurel said something about killing him, I got the feeling that she would delight in doing so.  So what are the writers doing?  Dinah shoots BS and then Lance steals her away? He's going to find his little girl somewhere inside Black Siren.  Really, it felt like Lance went off the deep  end,  didn't it?  I  can feel for the man, he lost the daughter who lived  near him, with whom he could relate, and whom he loved, and here  is a women who looks just like  her, so I sympathize with him, but I certainly don't like the direction this is going.  Did anyone wish that Donna would show up and help Lance?  I always thought those two would be cute together.  I miss Donna right now.

Other thoughts:  I thought the Flash bringing Oliver and Diggle to James on the interstate a trifle ridiculous. First he's in prison and then who brought them back?  I guess we are not to  ask those questions.  My husband thought that part silly too. Correction:  Readers on the Olicity-Arrow Facebook page, have correctly pointed out that Barry had been released from prison. I had forgotten that, so  thank you,  and accept my apologizes.    Then  there is that stupid Flash backpack.  Really why would he even take it with him to go find his father?  I am supposing all he had in was his school books?  They  focus on that thing too, so the camera always rests on  it. Is that to remind us that William is not a teenager, but a child?  Will season 7 see more of a teenager?  I find it so annoying, but that's such a minor point.

The thirteenth  episodes of Arrow in  every season has been rather bland, don't you think?
If  you have Netflix, go back and review the 13th episode of every season. 2.13 we had the hookup of Oliver and Sara, 5.13 was the gun control episode, most were lackluster, and none were Olicity concentric at all.