*This review contains minor spoilers*
Click here for my SPOILER YouTube review
After the amazing cliffhanger from season 5, “Arrow” starts off the season by revealing almost everyone survived the explosion of Lian Yu, mostly by uninventive methods, allowing the show to go right back to (almost) normal.
By leaving the fate of all the “Arrow” characters besides Oliver and William uncertain at the end of last season, there was a lot of mystery coming into the season premier. Unfortunately, we learn quickly that nobody of any major importance was killed, and Team Arrow is almost just as strong as ever. (Aside from Thea’s and Diggle, both of who eventually get back to more or less a hundred percent.) The only significant change is that Oliver is now a single father, and the dialog in the first few episodes between him and William is cringeworthily at times. However, their interactions improve a lot by the end of the season and they do have a solid bond.
Since all of Team Arrow survived the island deathtrap, we’re left with a bit too many characters. The solution was to put them at odd with each other, giving us the “Arrow” version of “Civil War.” So much of the conflict seems manufactured solely to drive the two groups apart that it often feels out of character for all involved. And they all seem to move past a point of no return, only to end up with an “all is forgiven” mentality by the final few episodes. Also, Oliver’s short-lived attempt to go at it alone seems forced, and doesn’t last long enough to make any real impact on the show or his character. On the other side of things, the redemption arc of Black Siren is uninteresting. The constant back and forth on her loyalties leaves the audience apathetic about what she chooses in the end. And Quentin’s blind faith that he can change her, even if it means tying her up and holding her prisoner, just feels pathetic and a little creepy. The acting sells it at the end, but it’s kind of too little, too late for us to truly care.
The plot for this season is kind of odd. Cayden James as the evil mastermind that wants revenge on Oliver for the death of a family member was basically the same plot from last season with Prometheus. The midseason twist that Ricardo Diaz is the true big bad comes out of leftfield, and is fairly underwhelming considered how little his character was used up to that point. It takes a few episodes, but once we understand his character and we see the methodical approach he takes to taking Oliver out of the picture, he becomes a menacing villain. This is especially evident with the nineteenth episode that focuses almost completely on Diaz. You really have to suspend disbelief at times to buy his ability to corrupt every level of Star City’s government, particularly in the final few episodes where he turns the police department into his home base and every single cop is on his payroll. While he becomes an interesting villain, once he goes off the rails in the final stretch of the season, you’re ready for his story to wrap itself up. But, the saga appears that it will continue.
The other major storyline about Oliver being outed as The Green Arrow and the subsequent investigation and trial is moderately successful. It’s not the most original thing to happen in the show, but they do take it much farther than they have in the past. While the season ending cliffhanger leaves things off in an interesting place, it will be hard to satisfactorily resolve the story next season.
After a disappointing start and a mediocre first half a season, “Arrow” does a solid job of turning things around for the remainder of season 6. While the melodramatic friction between Team Arrow and Team Not Arrow rarely feels natural, splitting the teams actually helped the show out until all the burned bridges are miraculously repaired. The villain swap ultimately works, but the story didn’t seem like it needed another season to finish telling it.
Season’s best episode: “Docket No. 11-19-41-73” (Episode 21): A decent court room drama that works within the craziness of the show. While the Human Target twist was obvious, the Tommy angle was pretty fun. Nice to see Team Arrow finally get a win.
Season’s worst episode: “Fallout” (Episode 1): The reveal that the big game changer from season 5 changed little makes for a disappointing start.
*** out of *****