Inheritance: Arrow 717 Review

    Well, although this was not a concentric Olicity episode, we did  receive quite a huge reveal that certainly  surprised me.  So though this episode wasn't the best one for me, many things still happened that will drive the story forward  to it's  conclusion, which I think really won't happen until 810.  Now that we know season 8 will be the end of the series, season 8 will seem to me, anyway, more like an  extended  season 7.  Enough on that, let's dig in.

             Oliver:  Oliver's heart is always for family.  I guess that's about the only good thing that Robert and Moria left him with.  He wants to save Emiko.  He knows she was only 11 when Moria made Robert choose between his  money, his company, and  Oliver and  Thea and Emiko and her mother.  When he left them he left them with no money and no home.  Oliver takes Robert's guilt upon himself.
 Oliver has grown, and I was  frustrated at first that he took this guilt upon himself, but then I realized that is who he is in his heart.  He takes things very personally. There are parts of ourselves that we can never change, they are who we are in the core of our being.  We have to learn to deal with who we are, and Oliver seems to be doing that. However,  Oliver still doesn't realize that you  can't save someone who does not want to be saved.  Also  Oliver still has trouble listening to people.  John Diggle tried to talk to him about what he went trough  with Andy.  He  really wanted to redeem Andy, but couldn't because Andy  didn't want to be redeemed.  Oliver doesn't listen to him.  He didn't even listen to Emiko when she told him to let her do things her way.  If Emiko had  really been in trouble with Dante, things might have made a bad turn.  Oliver didn't even listen to Felicity.  She really didn't want him going back to Emiko's place, "I bet he does the exact opposite of what his wife recommends."  At least she's come to terms with the fact that Oliver isn't always going to listen.  Oliver's character is such that he will always want to help redeem a  person, especially if that person is family. Oliver seems heartbroken when he says, "She came her looking for a family and she chose the Ninth Circle."  I don't think he's going to stop trying to help her, do you?

     Emiko and  the Big Bad:  The Ninth Circle is a society that almost from the beginning of history is responsible for worldwide regime change. Dante was at one time the head, but now it's Emiko who heads the Ninth Circle. Did that one take you by surprise?  It did  me.  Here is where I'm  confused. Emiko later is dressed in black  suit and  carrying red-tipped arrows, a nod to the Red Arrow of the comics.  The Ninth Circle surely should have know that Oliver was  in prison, so was  Emiko trying to get the attention of the team?  She got Rene's attention.  She and Rene seems to have forged a friendship. When Oliver brings Emiko into the lair, and Rene takes her to put ice on her neck, she's surprised  Rene doesn't question her.  He says he respects her.  I think Rene truly like her, and I think she likes him, because at the end  when  he  approached her, she told him to back off, and she could could have killed, but she chose not too.  Can Emiko be redeemed.  She saved Rene and that says something about her.  However she wants the Archer Program for herself, and as of now, it seems she's the one that will make the Archer program go nuclear.  She is a vigilante. That would make her wanted in the future.  We have not seen her yet in the future.  Does Emiko get an eleventh hour redemption, and she'll end up being the one to help the team?


Emiko had a crappy childhood with a father who really didn't love her. When she  proposed the business plan he seemed  proud of her, but he couldn't bring himself to take her side.  She had  a louse for a father.  She didn't have to be consumed by hate.  She is the one who blew up the Queen's Gambit.   Early on  Emiko got involved with the crime families of Star City.  She was hired by Frank Bertinelli, the father of the Huntress.  This led her to Dante and the Ninth Circle. So did Merlyn  hire Emiko? I doubt it.  My guess is he hired someone inside the Ninth Circle to do  it, but perhaps she carried it out. Even if she didn't actually set the explosive devices, she knew about it, and let it happen, so she's still a part of the whole destruction. Some thought that she famed Merlyn?  What do you think?  I know of people who have had crappy  fathers yet they went on to have productive lives.  I'm thinking that in the end  we will see her redemption. Dante asks Emiko if her allegiance has shifted, and she says that she will bring Dante down.

       Felicity:  We had  some cute Felicity moments.  Her comedic timing is impeccable.  She would be so good in a comedy show.  Her little foot kick when everyone goes off and she's left alone in the lair was funny and so  what expect of the Felicity from earlier seasons.  Her touches to Oliver and her hand  over her baby wanting to protect both endear us to her.  She's there for Oliver even in the bad times.  She wanted to defend Emiko with Oliver.  She will always chose his side. I'm  still not sure why  we  need  Alena Whitlock this late in the game. She is welcomed because she at least is helping Felicity find a way to change the program. Some have asked me if Alena can be trusted. I think she has proven that she can be.  Will we find   her in the future?   This is the first time since Felicity created Archer out of fear with all her trouble with Diaz, that's she's been faced with the idea that perhaps the Archer program may not be such a good  idea.  How many citizen's rights were violated to get their DNA?  Now Felicity wants to try and find a way to do it without DNA.   Will it be too late?  From what we know of the future, it seems like it might be too late already.

     Laurel/BS:  Somehow there is a connection between Dante and Black Siren.  Emiko knows who she is and is arranging her downfall.  All along we've wondered has  BS been turned?  Will she go towards the light.  She has seemed to try.  Let's be honest, you all know I'm so not a fan of BS, that being said, I will say, I'm happy that BS turned out to be  a help to Felicity.  She got Felicity to see that killing wasn't the best possible thing to do.  She would have regretted it, and we would not have Mia if  she had followed  through with killing, so for that I thank Laurel/BS.   I thought the question that Dinah asked her was a good one.  Does Laurel know what side she's on?  It's clear she doesn't it.  She appears to be a good  friend for Felicity, because Felicity doesn't see the bad in her anymore.  Laurel was the friend  she  needed  when  everyone  else turned their backs  on her.  Do you think her friendship with Felicity was all an act?  I'm not sure. That's what the promo wants us to believe, but what if there's more there?  What if Emiko or Dante hold something over her head?  What if they tell her they  will kill Felicity if she doesn't do what they want?  Laurel knows about the baby.  I think there is way more to this than we know.  I've a feeling BS will die protecting Felicity.

Final Thoughts:

• There was lots of good  action and  fight scenes in this episode.  Oliver stopping that arrow that Emiko let go was amazing. 
• I like Moira  and Robert even less than I like them previously and that was not much at all.  Why didn't Robert stand up to Moira and say no?   Still Emiko is responsible for her own actions.
• In the future we  have yet to see Emiko.  Do you think in the future there is a connection with her and  Rene.  If she somehow has the Archer Program, it's being used  in the Glades, and  Rene  is the mayor there.  Wondering if puzzle  pieces will fit together?
• Although not a fan of  the E2 Laurel Lance, I think there's  more than meets the eye.  I enjoyed her friendship with Felicity and hope that it was real. I'm not convinced it wasn't.
• Can we really have it all without sacrificing something?  Katherine Hepburn in an interview once said, that it was lie to say women could have it all.  I'm not even sure men can have it all.   Just something to ponder.
• I'm thinking that pretty soon we should be seeing Oliver, Felicity, John, Rene, and Dinah be getting the Mark of Four tattoo, because I think they are all going to have to separate sooner than we think.