As I’m sure everyone remembers, the season 5 finale of Arrow left us with a huge cliffhanger wondering who survived the explosions on the island. Now, I had faith that most, if not all, would survive, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t any less disappointed with how they picked up season 6 five months later. Yup. Five whole months later. Granted, we did get flashbacks to the aftermath of the explosions, but still. By the time we got to those, we already pretty much knew who survived.
Anyways, enough with my ranting. The season six premiere didn’t just revolve around who survived and who didn’t. It comes in hot and heavy with a new baddie – evil Laurel/Black Siren (whatever you want to call her). Well, technically she’s not new, but she’s definitely throwing Team Arrow for a spin wondering why she’s on the attack. Unfortunately, this isn’t their only worry. It seems that some of Team Arrow may be experiencing some PTSD from the island – totally understandable. Oliver also has a new priority in his life that’s going harder than he thought would. Then, by the end of the episode, he gets thrown yet another curveball into his life.
Arrow season 6 is coming in hot! Let’s recap what went down.
Flashbacks
Before digging into the nitty gritty of what’s happening in the present, I want to briefly discuss what happened in the flashbacks of the aftermath on the island. We haven’t seen much, honestly. Most of the team took cover in the airplane. I say most because Samantha went looking for William, and Thea followed her. Felicity tried to, but Thea told her to take cover. Just as her and Diggle are running back to the plane, there’s an explosion and Digg seems to have gotten hit by some shrapnel.
After the explosions, Oliver and William went back. He told a terrified and confused William to stay in place out of danger while he went to look for his mom. The first person Oliver finds is Slade, who confesses to leaving and then coming back. He then takes Oliver to where he found Thea. She’s unconscious and not in great shape, but we don’t find out what happened to her until the end of the episode in the present.
As Oliver is kneeling beside Thea, William’s mom (Samantha) comes out of the woods. She’s in pretty rough shape also. Oliver rushes to her side and catches her as she collapses. He wants to get her some medical attention, but she tells him there’s no need. She just had to make sure that William was going to have a father. She made Oliver promise that he would be there for William before she dies in his arms.
We also see Dinah and Quinten searching the monastery. Evil Laurel/Black Siren comes in for the attack, and threatens to kill Dinah. She has a knife to her throat and all. This forces Quinten to do the unimaginable (at least to him) and shoot his daughter’s doppelganger. However, he and Dinah lie and say that they found Evil Laurel dead so that Quinten wouldn’t have to confess to what he did. As we all know, secrets don’t last forever, and this plays a big role in what happens in the present.
In the last flashback of the episode, we see someone get off a helicopter on the island and go to the monastery. There, he walks up to the Black Siren and she comes to – clearly not dead.
Present
As mentioned above, Evil Laurel is back and wreaking havoc. At first, the team thought it was just this guy threatening to flatten the city with a ballistic missile. They caught him, but Evil Laurel busted him out while simultaneously destroying the police station and killing 9 cops. Great. This season is off to a wonderful start.
Meanwhile, Oliver really wants Felicity to join him and William for dinner, but she doesn’t think it’s a good idea yet. She wants Oliver to spend time with his son without being a “buffer” between the two. Oliver understands, but promises that they’ll get to do something soon. I, for one, cannot wait for Olicity to get back on track. It’s been too long and my Olicity loving heart needs more Olicity in my life. I just really want Felicity, Oliver and William to be like one happy family despite the weird situation. 🙂
Speaking of weird situations, Oliver is having a tough time with William. While he’s called on Raisa (his old maid from way back) to help care for William, nothing seems to be pulling William out of his funk. Granted, he did just lose his mom 5 months ago, learned that Oliver is his dad and is now forced to live with someone he hardly knows. I get it. He’s being very withdrawn and really wanting nothing to do with Oliver. He can’t even call him “dad.” Ugh, my heart breaks when Oliver gets emotional, especially over his son! 🙁
I mentioned above how what happened with Quinten and Dinah on the island will influence the present. Well, Quinten is still feeling the guilt of “killing” who he still believes to be his daughter. It’s eating him up so much that he’s even tempted to drink again. Dinah, the only one who knows what he did, repeatedly tries to assure him that it’s okay. He saved her life. And when Quinten confesses to Oliver, Oliver sides with Dinah. He has nothing to feel guilty about, but he still does. Even when he comes face to face with her again, he can’t bring himself to shoot her again. Poor Papa Lance. ☹
Oliver is distraught over 9 officers getting killed, and they all want to know what Evil Laurel is up to. But he gets a lead on where she is. Team Arrow meet up with her and there’s a show down between Dinah and Black Siren as the rest of the team take on her minions. Surprisingly, when Dig tries to save Rene (Wild Dog) from one of the goons, he misses the shot and causes Rene to go over the bridge. Thankfully, Oliver comes in and lessens the blow of the fall. Not enough to keep Rene out of the hospital, though.
Following another lead, Dig and Dinah search for clues in a warehouse. While they’re there, they both question each other’s secrets, but neither spill the beans. They do find a map of City Hall, though, and realizes that Evil Laurel is planning an attack on the police academy graduation. Dig wonders why she would target the police, but Dinah believes she knows why as she remembers what Quinten did to save her.
Just as Oliver is about to leave for the police academy graduation, William cries out for Raisa as he wakes from a nightmare. Oliver insists on checking on him instead. When he questions William about the bad dream, William says that it was about the bad man. Oliver tries to reassure him that the bad man is gone, but William says the bad man is still there. When Oliver asks who the bad man is, William points to Oliver. William blames Oliver for his mother’s death, and my heart shattered at the heartbroken look on Oliver’s face.
In the bunker, Oliver wants Quentin to stay behind sine Evil Laurel seems to be targeting him, but Quentin knows he needs to be used as bait. Reluctantly, Oliver agrees. Felicity and Curtis have to go as well so they can operate this new gadget to take down Evil Laurel. This leaves Dig behind to stay and run the comms in the bunker.
It turns out that the attack on the police academy graduation at city hall was just a distraction planted by evil Laurel. The real attack happens at the bunker while Dig is there alone. He gets knocked down and she saunters in, taunting him. She demands her minions to kill him while she does something else. Dig tries to fight off the minions and tries shooting at them, but something goes wrong. Thankfully, Oliver is there to save him once again, but Dig isn’t too happy with himself.
Team Arrow comes in just as Evil Laurel and her minions are about to set off bombs in the bunker. She and Dinah face off again as Curtis and Felicity try to disarm the bombs.
When Evil Laurel is gone, the team realize that she was there to steal something. So, they do inventory. As Dinah confronts Dig about his inability to use a gun lately, Curtis pops in and says he knows what Evil Laurel took. It’s a prototype of one of his T-spheres. Thankfully, a prototype means it’s not weaponized yet, but what else can she do with it?
Meanwhile, Oliver pays a visit to Rene in the hospital. He’s putting on his clothes and getting ready to leave against the doctor’s advice. Oliver asks him about his daughter and how she would feel if something happened to him. Rene isn’t too concerned because she’s moved on with her foster family. He blew his chance at having her back months ago. It’s then that Oliver hands him an envelope with a letter saying he has another hearing to get his daughter back. Rene hugs him in appreciation.
On his way out, Oliver visits someone else… Thea. She’s in a coma with no change, I’m assuming, since the explosions on the island. Slade then pops in and asks how Thea is before revealing that Oliver’s intel on his son panned out and he’s going to look for him. Oliver wishes him luck before confessing to his own parenting woes. Slade advises him to be patient but prepared. He needs to be the man his son needs him to be and not who everyone else expects him to be.
Back home, Oliver has a talk with William. He informs William that he doesn’t need to like him for Oliver to take care of him. Oliver assures him that he’s never going to walk away from him, no matter how mad William may be at him. He then offers to let William stay up late to watch a baseball game the next night and William hesitantly accepts it. This is progress, people! 😊
The good news doesn’t last long, however. Just as Oliver leaves William’s room, he gets a call from Felicity telling him to turn on the news. There, on national television, they are reporting that Oliver is the Green Arrow… again. This time, however, they have proof. They share a clear photo of an un-masked Oliver in the Green Arrow suit. Felicity asks what they’re going to do about this, but Oliver has no idea.
Arrow airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW!
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