Arrow's 150th Episode: The Emerald Archer 712 Review

                The 150th episode of Arrow proved an interesting change of pace.  It paid homage to the show and the characters we love who are no longer with the show, and it still gave a connective plot to the future episodes. I thought the documentary style might be a confusing,   I actually found this episode enjoyable.  It gave us insights into our characters and it brought our team back out into the open, although why Felicity didn't receive a badge bothered me a bit.

            Oliver: A film crew follows Oliver as they follow the life the Vigilante, though it didn't seem so much about Oliver and it did on the questions of vigilante as a whole. It focuses, for me, on how they have all fared since season 6.  Oliver shows so much growth.  He says, "I'm not sure I'm a leader.  I made a lot of mistakes."  It takes growth to admit this.  Oliver still has issues within himself.  He tends to blame himself, this may always remain a part of himself.  I imagine that as a child, he probably always wanted to win.  He has come to see that yes, he made mistakes, but hello, that's what makes us human, but the questions remains, can we learn from them. Mistakes can be a good thing when we learn from them.  Oliver certainly has learned from his.  Did you notice that at the end when Oliver went to Mayor Pollard's office to resign, he started off by saying, "I've talked it over with my family..."Yes!  Finally Oliver has talked things over with Felicity.  This is growth, friends!  This shows us a healthy married couple.  We don't always have to witness it, though it's sweet when we do, give us dialogue like this and the viewer is happy!

        Felicity:  Felicity's interview for the documentary showed us the Overwatch the viewer has come to love.  She's come back from an incredibly dark journey.  She speaks the truth.  She tells the interviewer to call the vigilantes what they are, Heroes!  Why Star City can't see that amazes me.  Oliver and team have saved this city 3 times from the horrors of people out to destroy the whole city.  Malcolm Merlyn, Deathstroke, and Damion Dhark all tried various ways to annihilate Star City, and Oliver Queen and Team  saved them every time.  They indeed are heroes.

Felicity loves William and she's a good Mom, but she needs to learn your cannot be your child's friend.  When William practically throw his computer at his Mom and demands she clear the virus, she addresses the issue, but way too meekly for me.  I'm a mom of 4 children and there's no way my children would ever demand anything.  I'm cutting her some slack, because she's new at being a mom and she didn't get to start off with him as a baby.  She did her best to correct the issue, I guess I would have done it a little differently. I am happy she threatened to ground him, and he does eventually tell her what his secret is.

Seeing Felicity back as Overwatch felt good.  The team is back.  Now, why didn't Felicity get a badge, or will she?  She's certainly an important part of the team.

            John Diggle and the rest of the team: I enjoyed John's talk with Oliver.  He realizes he misses being part of the team.  They all tried to honor Oliver and help the city without being vigilantes, but they knew that in order to get the Chimera they had to work together as a team again to accomplish the goal.  Oliver doesn't want to go back to prison, and does not want the team to either, but John and the others are willing.  My problem with John rests in the fact that he told Oliver that while he was in prison, "...we all had each other's backs." Wait? What? Did John have Felicity's back when she needed a place of safety to stay?  My first thought was, "No, John, you did not." However,  I am not so sure I'm correct.  It was ARGUS that stopped Diaz from killing Felicity.  He had her back then.  John, I think didn't want Felicity out of protective custody, because she would have been an even greater target.  So I am willing to cut him some slack.  Apparently Felicity's forgiven him, and I guess so should the viewer.


 William came back from boarding school a bit of a brat, did't he?  The boy has a lot going on inside him. As I mentioned in an early post just on William, he's had a very rougher than normal few years.  He was raised without a dad, then when his dad shows up he finds out his Dad is the Green Arrow.  He finds this out from a man who was a psychopath, and responsible for the death of his mother.  However, William, doesn't see who killed his mother, was it the psychopath or Oliver?  It's way easier to blame Dad, and through a child's eyes, you can see why he would. When he does come to terms with his Dad being the Green Arrow, he loses his dad, but he's built a solid relationship with Felicity, so he has someone with him.  He understand Felicity, but more importantly Felicity understands his mind and the way he think. He connects with her, and with her he feels safe.  Then she sands him away.  We all know it was for his safety, but he isn't thinking the way an adult thinks. In his insecure mind, and yes I do think William is insecure, he thinks that they left him alone.  He's alone in a different country with a different children of a different culture.  What on earth did William do to get himself grounded?  My guess he did some serious hacking.  What do you think?

     Mayor Emily Pollard:  Emily Pollard is an enigma.  One moment I am convinced that she is not to be trusted and could be a part of  "Dante".  Yet by the end she gave all the vigilantes badges.  The vigilantes saved her and on camera, so I suppose she felt obligated to recognize them. Then again my curious mind wonders if someone made her give them badges.  She acted liked she didn't want to. What are your thoughts, do you trust Emily Pollard?

             Chimera:  Chimera is a mythological lion/goat, and the main villain of this episode. If it weren't for Felicity they would have had trouble getting this man, because his exo-suit made it difficult stop until Felicity figured out that if Oliver shot an arrow into that center medallion like thing he wore, that he would immobilized.  Our girl and Oliver got it done.  It turns out that Chimera was a Kevin Meltzer, who Oliver had saved 7 years earlier.  He became obsessed with vigilantes, so why he attacked them never made sense to me, but it's their story, not mine.  Kevil Meltzer had a history of mental instability, so maybe that's the reason. 

       Flashforward:  We see Connor Hawke from the cross-over episode of Legends with Blackstar as  she watches the Documentary.  The documentary which has been banned in 2039.   They leave together and go the old bunker that Oliver mentions in the documentary.  I've read that Blackstar's name is Mia Deardon.  Deardon was Moria's maiden name.  She was Moria Deardon Queen.  So I'm still think that this person is either Thea Queen's daughter or Oliver and Felicity's.  Some say that she can't be Oliver and Felicity's because she looks too young.  That could be true unless we find out at the end of this season that Felicity is pregnant, then the age may fit. I'm thinking she has to be related to the Queens because of the queen bee tattoo she has and because of her name.  What do you think?  I could be way off, but it's fun to speculate.


Final Thoughts:

• I enjoyed this episode better than the 100th episode.  Our show has come a long in the last seven years. It was nice to see it honored.
• It was good to see Cin back along with Rory. And I enjoyed Barry Allen, he was funny.  It was a nice tribute. 
• I'm thinking we will see the death of Curtis in the coming episodes at least by the end of season. They really seem to be foreshadowing it.  There has to be a reason he doesn't have the mark of four
• Loved the Felicity scenes as Mom.  She loves her son, and I'm glad they didn't have William toss out the "You're not my mom line."
• William seems a brat, but there's more to it than we know.
• Loved the growth of Oliver.  He talked to his family, people!  He's grown.
• I think Rene and Emiko are being friends.  I like them together, do you?
• Emiko is in the place Oliver was 7 years ago.  
• Are you curious as to what happens to the City? Why does Rene seem to leave the team behind?
• Leave your comments, they are always appreciated.