Past Sins: Arrow 711 Review

            This episode  finally puts Robert Queen to rest.  For the past 6 1/2 seasons Oliver has dealt with the  legacy  that Robert Queen  left him. At first Oliver wanted to right his father's wrongs by crossing names  of a  list that Robert kept.  Later Oliver learned from both John Diggle  and Felicity Smoak that there could  be a different way,  and Felicity helped him into the light by showing  him he was a different man from Robert Queen.  In this episode  Oliver  publicly faces the truth about what Robert did in the boat to Dave Hackett.  From here on out Oliver can focus  on what it kind of legacy he will leave for his children.  He can  focus on what kind of  man he wants to be.

           Oliver and  Felicity:  Oliver and  Felicity are in a good  place. What I liked so far about the  way the writers  tell their story, is that they show that you can write  about a strong married couple and  have them  survive as  a couple.  We see the growth  both Oliver and Felicity have  made.  For me,  I don't need a sex  scene  in every episode  to show they love each other. We  had Felicity by Oliver's side at the  television studio. She gives  him support and love.We have the "I love yous" that are important while they each pursue their own individual lives and work. Together they  are  in a good place. Oliver focuses his life at the SCPD, while Felicity continues to improve her security system. By the way, when the system announces who was at the door, it convinces me that Felicity's technology is in use in the Glades in 2039. Here we see the early development of Smoak Technologies, and might I add  that Curtis isn't a part of this.   Later, during the last interview that Oliver gives, Felicity's by his side, and then she  sees Emiko and knows that Oliver needs to speak her  alone, and we  have  Felicity's making her cute excuses about having to go back, and we get that little smile that Oliver gives when she acts like that.  Those touches show  us they  both are  in a good place.

      Oliver:  Oliver has a lot to process.  You don't get over all that happened  to him in prison easily.  Then to top it off, he finds out more secrets about his family, and he has a sister he didn't know about. Knowing Oliver's deep love for family, he is troubled that his sister has been without a family her own life.  He  reaches  out to her, but she says she's not ready.  Not only has  he to deal with all of this, but there are folks who don't want him, a former  vigilante, on the police  force, so he has flack from  that quarter.  Felicity helps him see that coming out publicly with his past  will help not only Star City to understand  him, but it's a way to reach  Emiko.  There seems a sadness  over Oliver as if  the weight of  Robert Queen and all that he stood for, has pressed down upon him, and he can't quite lift it off.

Enter Samuel Hackett, the son of  Dave, and  Oliver feel the weight of that confessed  sin pressing even harder.  Did Oliver know that Dave  Hackett had a  son?  Apparently he never checked that out upon his  return.  So Oliver does have some responsibility for this, hence past sins. It's only  when  he and  Dinah see a map of the South  China Sea that he even asks, "Why  would he have this?"  When Dinah said, "Well, you came back, so he had hope  his  father would." It is only at this moment does he realize  he should have told him.  That hit him hard. Oliver sees the unredacted notes from Dr. Parker, and then he knows that Sam  knows his father is  dead. He eventually stops Sam from hurting the reporter,  and the police  officers, and  he does so with out hurting Sam.  Then he tells the public on television that his father murdered Dave Hackett.  He looks at the  camera and promises not to tell another  lie.  Now, do we believe he will keep that promise?  He promised Felicity  in the season 4  fake  wedding, he  would tell no more lies, and yet he didn't keep that promise.  I guess  you could say that he didn't lie, he just neglected  to tell Felicity all the truth.  He  didn't tell Felicity about the video he made William, but he  didn't lie about.  He didn't tell Felicity that he  gave himself over to the FBI, he  didn't lie, he just left stuff out.  So I have my doubts about the not lying statement.  However, it did cause Emiko to think about talking to Oliver.  Frankly, she was probably better off not being raised by Robert and Moria, but that's just me. I am thinking that going forward, Oliver will be more careful with the truth, because  he has grown as a person.

I'm thinking we shall see  a different, better, Oliver Queen going forward, because he has come to terms  with  his father's legacy, and  we shall see him focus more on the legacy  he will leave William and any other children he and Felicity will have.  So, do  I think he abandoned William, absolutely not, but neither do you, right?

         Felicity and Laurel:  It's good to see Felicity having a female  friendship.  I think we all need that in our lives.  Someone we can complain about husbands to, and yet encourage us, so I get why the female writers want to show female friendships, but I'm not sure I buy into this friendship just yet. I have issues as to how E2 Laurel Lance can be the greatest ADA in years without having ever gone to law school.  I'm not buying into the whole redemption  arc for  her.  That being said, it would be logical to have Felicity bring light into Laurel's dark life.  I did feel sympathy for her when she  said she felt the burden of  her E2 father.  Children don't view the world as adults do, so I can see how she would have carried that inside  her.  It helps to understand her a bit better.  I think Laurel still walks the line between good and  evil, and perhaps she always will.  I guess I just struggle with the character herself, she doesn't seem fleshed out.

            ARGUS:  DC has a silly policy of  not allowing it's movies to be mentioned on their  television shows.  So we all know that Ghost Protocol is the Suicide Squad.  Curtis gives a nod to it.  He hates what Lyla and John are doing, but is ordered to do it anyway.  He finds a way to extract the info on Dante from Diaz by tapping into his  mind.  Of course we don't know this, and so when  Diaz "kills" Curtis part of  me  was glad.  Is this a necessary character in a show overpopulated with characters? Anyway, Curtis is very much alive, and he will continue to work at ARGUS but he's not going to compromise his beliefs.  Does this foreshadow his leaving the  show in some way, if  not through death then he does  quit?  Remember he has no mark of  four.

               Emiko:  I'm certain Emiko is the replacement sister for Oliver.  I do have questions about her.  Why visit Robert Queen's grave if she wants nothing to do with Oliver?  Who trained her?  Who gave her the book that resembles Robert's?  Was she just marking  off  names of  possible killers of her mother? If she's so angry with Oliver, why become the  Green Arrow in his place? Emiko brings lots of  unanswered questions for me.  If  you have some of the answers,  I would love to  hear them, please leave them in the comment section.  My guess is that every child wants to know their father, even if he isn't such a nice  person.  When  someone  as  wealthy and famous as Robert was abandons you and your mother, you do wonder what it might be life, if  the parent accepted  you.  I certainly feel  for her.  I just don't know if she's necessary yet to the telling of the story.  She's another dot on the character map, but where will all those dots lead?

Potential New Villain:  Who wrote the notes to the two Black Canaries?  It clearly wasn't Brett Collins.  Could it possibly be  Stanley?  Whoever it is seems to be against Vigilantes.  Since Oliver rejected Stanley, could  he be the one?  Is Dante the next villain, or could it be ARGUS itself, with the leaders at the top?  Are we seeing the rise of events that will eventually lead the Star City of the future?

Robert Queen:  I'm including Robert Queen here because indirectly he  played  a role.  He and  Moria would not win  parents of the year.  They kept secrets, told lies, cheated  people, and probably a  whole host of things I  haven't thought of.  Did Robert do right in killing Dave Hackett?  Apparently there was very little food left, perhaps only enough, in  Robert's mind, anyway, for one person,  so  he chose  his  own son.  He had no way of  knowing  that they would reach an island where all of them  could have lived, but he played God.  I'm Christian, and  even though it seemed  noble for him to choose, it really wasn't his choice  to make.  So he killed a man in front of  his son.  He left his son and  daughters in a psychological mess.  Let's hope they let Robert Queen rest in peace, and focus on the legacy that Oliver will now leave.

Final Thoughts:

• David Ramsey directed this episode and he did fined job.  
• For me it was mediocre episode; good, but not great.
• There are too many characters populating Arrow.  It's hard to focus, and because of  all the characters the viewer  seems to  lose sight of  the Who Arrow is all about.  
• I love the good place Oliver and Felicity are in, and happy the writers know how to write a married  couple on television.
• I see the beginning of Smoak Technology here, and it's in use in the Glades of the future. Felicity did it without Curtis's help.  
• Can we ever let go  of our past?   I don't know if  we can ever fully let go of  it, but  we can learn from it and move into a new direction.  The past can shape us, but it does not have to mold us, and I'm thinking Oliver will not be in the same mold as his father.  He is  now "Someone Else"