S06.E01: Fallout

[GHScorpiosRule]

18 minutes ago, way2interested said:

He does know? 

  Reveal hidden contents

A promo had him asking Oliver if he was going to be spending more time as Oliver over the "other guy" and point out how Oliver goes out and risks his life every night.

Thank you. I don't know how I missed that. And still,

he says "other guy?"

Come ON.

[apinknightmare]

5 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Thank you. I don't know how I missed that. And still,

  Hide contents

he says "other guy?"

Come ON.

I haven’t seen the preview

Spoiler

but are they maybe not at home? Or somewhere it’s not safe for him to say Green Arrow?

Edited October 16, 2017 by apinknightmare

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

I haven’t seen the preview

  Hide contents

but are they maybe not at home?

Neither have I. Just based on what @way2interested posted. And okay, I can accept it if

 

they're not at home and in public where anyone can hear

But I think what's irking me is the dialogue the writers are giving him. It's akin to a tween using "baby talk."

Edited October 16, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[way2interested]

5 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Thank you. I don't know how I missed that. And still,

  Hide contents

he says "other guy?"

Come ON.

It's metaphorical, like how Oliver described himself with a gesture of a hood and how Felicity described the GA with "grr" Not like the stupid "bad man" stuff.

[WindofChange]

10 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Thank you. I don't know how I missed that. And still,

  Hide contents

he says "other guy?"

Come ON.

I took it as a good thing. It means the kid won't blab about who his father is.

But it's now a moot point anyways because Oliver has just been outed lol

[statsgirl]

Maybe William doesn't want to admit to himself that his father is the Green Arrow.  It's cool knowing a superhero ... until it gets you kidnapped and your mother killed.

[Lunula]

After last season's cliff-hanger ending, we're given a pretty awful opener without any satisfactory explanations of how almost everyone made it off the island with nary a scratch. I've wanted to delete this show from my DVR for a couple of seasons and after watching that, it might just happen.

First, they saddle Oliver with a kid. Then they remove Thea, arguably my favorite character and someone who keeps Oliver grounded. They give us way too much newbie "action" - I'm already sick of Dinah & the weirdness between her and Diggle is just too much. Then they rehash this awful Laurel/EvilLaurel/Black Canary crap. Can someone just kill her? Then we have to watch even more rehashing of Quentin and his drinking and his guilt over his daughters. Ugh. And WHY do the writers keep waffling on this "Oliver doesn't kill people" anymore theme? He went through a huge identity crisis and decided no more killing, last season he has another identity crisis thinking he is "just a killer" and now in the season opener we see him and Rene shooting and killing galore. And WHY does Rene get a free killin'-people pass? Him shooting people is just so out of place in a comic book TV show - why wouldn't all of them just carry guns and be done with it? And seriously, Samantha's death was outright laughable. You're really gonna give us this stupid, "I can't leave without William!" shtick, runs back (where? who knows...), manages to get mortally wounded and then asks Oliver to watch over William with her dying breath? Really? Slade decides to leave everyone and "fend for himself" and then magically shows up later to help them get off the island? Then he becomes a loving & caring guy who only wants to be reunited with his kid? And Curtis...who could've been a cool & nerdy character interacting with Felicity, but instead you give him a super stupid identity along with a super stupid name. 

The show takes away two cool sidekicks (Thea & the mummy-guy) and gives us annoying, recycled Black Canary and a guy whose super power is to shoot people. We have to suffer through Quentin, yet they take Moira & Thea away. They give us Laurel back instead of Sarah. They give us a kid that doesn't belong to any woman we care about (in fact, I kind of actively dislike her). They promise us no more inane flashbacks and yet explain away the entire last season finale with flashbacks. 

/Sigh

[WindofChange]

16 minutes ago, Lunula said:

And Curtis...who could've been a cool & nerdy character interacting with Felicity, but instead you give him a super stupid identity along with a super stupid name. 

Because comics...

I could write an essay on how the comics harmed this show more than helped it 

[johntfs]

On 10/14/2017 at 10:38 PM, Jacks-Son said:

Felicity always wins style point because she's flat out gorgeous and looks good in whatever she wears.

On a trivial point, why does Oliver call William "Buddy"? It's seems like a horrible way to speak to your son. It reminds me of John Crichton (Ben Browder) on "Farscape" speaking to his hologram son by saying, "Hey Buuuddy". I've got three sons, and five grandsons and I've NEVER called any of them "Buddy".  You call your dog, "Buddy".  Oliver should just say "Son", or "William" or another affectionate name, but "Buddy" is not an affectionate name. It's a stupid name to call your own son.  Sorry, /rant

Emily Bett Rickards could make full manure sacks fashionable.

The "Buddy" thing actually works for me because I can easily believe that Oliver is clueless enough about parenting (given how he was raised) to conflate raising a child with owning a pet.

[BkWurm1]

10 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

How can William MySon not know or be aware that Oliver is the Arrow? Did his fear and terror of being held by Chase blind him to Ollie's suit? I know he prefers Flash to Green Arrow, but I guess the fear and thinking him to be "The Bad Man" (seriously, what 12 year old talks like that? Instead of saying the jerk who killed my mom/I blame for my mom being dead because he didn't save her) also made him forget?

I think the "Bad man" line was near-universally derided.  I don't hate what they were trying to reveal, that Willaim saw Oliver as the real villain, but they did it all wrong.  They were already writing him as a sullen preteen.  I'm not sure why they even went with the nightmare reveal.  Just let him yell at Oliver and flat out say it. 

At the very least it would have saved us from a kid that kept going to bed at dinner time and before Oliver has even left to attend the Police Academy Graduation Ceremony.  How were they not concerned about severe depression at that point?

And if William is upset that Oliver is the real bad man that got his mom killed, how was Oliver's promise to take care of him no matter what the right step to make Willaim agree to spend bonding time with him?  It's reassuring him for an issue not on the table.  Very confusing writing.   I wonder how many rewrites this mish mash of an episode went through

[Primal Slayer]

Where are Samanthas parent's? I know they are goin to pretend they don't exisy but still...

[bijoux]

Oliver mentioned that William would be better off with them, so I assume they'll show up when the show wants a) more drama with William, or b) to ship him off.

[tv echo]

The EPs won't introduce William's grandparents until they figure out what (Easter egg) retired superhero identities to give them. ;)

[GHScorpiosRule]

11 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

1. I think the "Bad man" line was near-universally derided.  I don't hate what they were trying to reveal, that Willaim saw Oliver as the real villain, but they did it all wrong.  They were already writing him as a sullen preteen.  I'm not sure why they even went with the nightmare reveal.  Just let him yell at Oliver and flat out say it. 
2. At the very least it would have saved us from a kid that kept going to bed at dinner time and before Oliver has even left to attend the Police Academy Graduation Ceremony.  How were they not concerned about severe depression at that point?
3. And if William is upset that Oliver is the real bad man that got his mom killed, how was Oliver's promise to take care of him no matter what the right step to make Willaim agree to spend bonding time with him?  It's reassuring him for an issue not on the table.  Very confusing writing.   I wonder how many rewrites this mish mash of an episode went through

1. Yeah, instead of refusing to look Oliver in the face, if he thinks Oliver as the "Bad Man" (ugh, not enough eye rolls for that line), I wished he would have just lashed out and screamed "you killed my mom!" or you didn't save her after you promised you would, or any rendition of that.

2. Not concerned at all. Again, why is William?

3.  Your guess is as good as mine. But for me, out of sight, out of mind. It was such a clunker of an episode. I actually expected better and was looking forward to it. More Fool, Me.

[BunsenBurner]

I did not like the "bad man" line but I also did not see it the way you all are describing it. I thought it made sense because to me he was saying what Prometheus had been telling him while being held captive, "Oliver/GA, your father wants nothing to do with you and is a bad man." If I was a pre-teen and I was subjected to who knows what other horrible things were said to me, I might just think that once I found out I had been kidnapped twice due to the GA being my father and is responsible for the death of  my mother that he is a Bad Man. Of course I would and I would also probably fear him.

Edited October 18, 2017 by BunsenBurner
I didn't write this well but I think you understand what I'm trying to say.

[BkWurm1]

3 hours ago, BunsenBurner said:

I thought it made sense because to me he was saying what Prometheus had been telling him while being held captive, "Oliver/GA, your father wants nothing to do with you and is a bad man."

It's not a bad thought the only problem is we had nothing to suggest that this is what Prometheus did. 

 

3 hours ago, BunsenBurner said:

I did not like the "bad man" line but I also did not see it the way you all are describing it. I thought it made sense because to me he was saying what Prometheus had been telling him while being held captive, "Oliver/GA, your father wants nothing to do with you and is a bad man." If I was a pre-teen and I was subjected to who knows what other horrible things were said to me, I might just think that once I found out I had been kidnapped twice due to the GA being my father and is responsible for the death of  my mother that he is a Bad Man. Of course I would and I would also probably fear him.

I agree that it makes sense for Willaim to blame Oliver, but if I really feared him to the point it reduced me to stammering, I wouldn't tell the dude I'm afraid of that I was afraid of him.  I'd let him think we were hunky dory!  I have to think that William isn't afraid of Oliver since he was willing to answer Oliver's question when he could have EASILY just said Chase, so how he reveals the Bad Man thing still doesn't work for me.  

[BunsenBurner]

21 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

It's not a bad thought the only problem is we had nothing to suggest that this is what Prometheus did. 

 

I agree that it makes sense for Willaim to blame Oliver, but if I really feared him to the point it reduced me to stammering, I wouldn't tell the dude I'm afraid of that I was afraid of him.  I'd let him think we were hunky dory!  I have to think that William isn't afraid of Oliver since he was willing to answer Oliver's question when he could have EASILY just said Chase, so how he reveals the Bad Man thing still doesn't work for me.  

Psychological abuse especially during a kidnapping has got to have an effect on William. He could also have suffered from Stockholm Syndrome. It was Chase, he killed his own wife, I wouldn't put anything past him to try and destroy any hope of William ever being happy that Oliver is his father. However he has been there for  5 months and he has to see that everyone is trying to be nice to him. There will be doubt in his mind until Oliver and he come to that 'ah ha' moment and realize that they only have each other.

It doesn't really matter, I just think Chase made himself be the good guy and Oliver the bad guy.

[tv echo]

In a recent Culturess interview, James Bamford talked about shooting 601...

Quote

So, I watched the season 6 premiere, “Fallout,” and wanted to ask you a couple questions about directing the episode. First, the lighting of the episode was striking. Because of how Oliver operates, a lot of Arrow takes place at night or in dark interiors. How do you ensure each scene is lit so it’s realistic but viewers can still tell what’s going on?

I work very hard with our cinematographers to create a look that is unique… Use of primary colors and use of shadow [and] contrast to show the viewer only what we want them to see, while allowing for depth… Arrow’s lighting is deep in its soul as one of the characters of the show.
*  *  *
Similarly, the cinematography has a fluidity that contrasts from the use of close-ups and rapid editing that’s so common in action filmmaking nowadays. Is it an active decision to deviate from the norm? How do you figure out a style that works for you?

If I have a personal “style”, it’s “flow”. I want the episode to flow from scene to scene seamlessly, and within a scene the editing shouldn’t be noticeable or shocking to the eye, unless it’s called for by the nature of the content. I want the visuals to breath and cut down on the claustrophobic feel that television sometimes has. The use of wide shots and quite often longer takes… is my way of forcing the audience into our environment. Cutting to close ups immediately takes the ride [in] a different direction and, in my opinion, is a very antiquated… style.

Although all the action scenes were excellent, the opening fight really stood out to me. What did you hope to achieve with that sequence in terms of storytelling? How did you approach designing and filming it?

As some know, our broadcast time for an episode is somewhere [around] 42 minutes. I try to design the action to not only service the characters and story, but fit… within the episode… If my memory serves, my director’s cut of the episode was about [six-and-a-half] minutes over broadcast time. Some directors find themselves in a position of being 10-15 minutes over the time allotted. Imagine having to go through the episode and drop several minutes of beautifully shot, painstaking designed minutes of action or dialogue. That is one of the hardest jobs for the editor and producers, cutting the episode to fit in the time slot and still keep the director’s vision, design, intent. I can tell you that the opening fight portion in the first episode of season 6 was actually cut in half from the originally shot/edited action for time purposes…

The main challenge while designing this sequence was finding an appropriate location. When I saw the old, abandoned ferry, I fell in love. What better place for an evil mastermind to launch his missile on Star City from? When I first read the script, another word in my visual Rolodex popped up: drone. The opening and closing shots in this scene had to be shot over water and with a drone operated camera. Fortunately, Vancouver is home to some of the most talented drone pilots in the world.

The visuals for Green Arrow’s entrance out of the water also came very clear to me on my first script-reading, although the script originally had him arriving by parachute. For some reason, I kept seeing a launch from the depths of the ocean up onto the deck. That and an opening hand-to-hand fight… were the first visuals I got to work designing, discussing with the creative team. The stunt department did a fabulous job of bringing these ideas to life for us with countless discussions, surveys, and rehearsal time. I’m very proud of the end result and happy you enjoyed it all.

On a less technical level, what is your favorite moment from the episode? It can be something you enjoyed filming or something you think turned out really well in the finished product.

I really love Green Arrow’s entrance in the opening scene, along with the bridge sequence battling Black Siren and saving Wild Dog. A lot of time and lack of sleep went into those chunks of action. In addition, the character moments throughout the episode were a lot of fun to play with, as we follow each individual’s path picking up from where we left them in season 5. Discovering new strengths and weaknesses on all accounts sets up the rest of the season in a big way.

Edited October 19, 2017 by tv echo

[SmallScreenDiva]

Excuse me, I need to re-watch their scenes again

[quarks]

Quote

If I have a personal “style”, it’s “flow”. I want the episode to flow from scene to scene seamlessly, and within a scene the editing shouldn’t be noticeable or shocking to the eye, unless it’s called for by the nature of the content. I want the visuals to breath and cut down on the claustrophobic feel that television sometimes has. The use of wide shots and quite often longer takes… is my way of forcing the audience into our environment. Cutting to close ups immediately takes the ride [in] a different direction and, in my opinion, is a very antiquated… style.

(head in hands)

Where to begin? 

First and foremost: Arrow is a vigilante show relying on suspense.  A claustrophobic feel is one way of delivering said suspense. (Bonus! It can be used to hide your set problems!)

Second, the reason why the rest of the directors on Arrow/Flash film medium/long, especially with the action shots, is because they recognize that they don't have the correct camera for wide shots.  And yeah, there's a few workarounds for this, but not many. 

Third....yes, yes, we can all agree that cutting to closeups has been a standard part of film since about 1914, so I guess you could call it antiquated, but film/TV continues to use it because it's a recognized shortcut for drawing audiences into an environment.

[SmallScreenDiva]

I need a director or a film student to write a rebuttal to James Bamford ... and send it to the CW, Berlandti and WB offices, stat. Before he gives me vertigo. 

[statsgirl]

4 hours ago, tv echo said:

I really love Green Arrow’s entrance in the opening scene, along with the bridge sequence battling Black Siren and saving Wild Dog. A lot of time and lack of sleep went into those chunks of action. In addition, the character moments throughout the episode were a lot of fun to play with, as we follow each individual’s path picking up from where we left them in season 5. Discovering new strengths and weaknesses on all accounts sets up the rest of the season in a big way.

He should have put more time and lack of sleep into the character moments for anyone not called Dinah, Oliver, Diggle or Quentin.  "Strengths and weaknesses on all accounts"?  Give me a break.

[Angel12d]

Just seeing the couple of sneak peeks for 602 proved how bad Bamford is at directing/editing. I mean, I knew it already but the increase in quality is pretty eye-opening, IMO.

Edited October 20, 2017 by Angel12d

[leopardprint]

Omg, I just got a chance to watch this episode and that scene of Dinah meandering through Oliver's speech was so bizarre (and also really rude, I mean I hate Oliver's speeches too, girl, but have some manners). 

[SmallScreenDiva]

20 minutes ago, leopardprint said:

Omg, I just got a chance to watch this episode and that scene of Dinah meandering through Oliver's speech was so bizarre (and also really rude, I mean I hate Oliver's speeches too, girl, but have some manners). 

I think it's supposed to show her checking the area for threats. But yeah, it just came across as her kinda walking in a park under the light of the moon. It was weird.

[AudienceofOne]

On 13/10/2017 at 1:09 PM, Angel12d said:

KC's acting was probably the worst it's been and I thought she was usually better at playing villain. IDK what happened there. Her sidekicks were also terrible actors which probably didn't help. The weird cheesy music whenever she entered was bad, too. Yikes.

That first scene in the police station, I actually said "God, that woman is even worse an actor than KC" and then it was KC and I was even less impressed with her acting than before.

On 13/10/2017 at 1:21 PM, tennisgurl said:

Wow, after that big "cliffhanger" ending, they really just settled who all was alive right away, didn't they? I mean, I knew pretty much everyone but Samantha would be fine, but still. They couldn't off any main character? Not even Rene or Curtis? Even Thea is just in a coma. 

I hate cliffhangers as it is without them acting in the next episode like that cliffhanger doesn't matter. They must have spend three seconds on it. At least the S1 earthquake was played for some genuine emotion and consequences. This was just like, "oh, the island blew up but that doesn't really matter, let's just go straight back to the town". Really bad, even for this show. 

On 13/10/2017 at 1:46 PM, tennisgurl said:

Samantha: "Oh my, I am dead but not too dead to wander over and say some dramatic last words and bitch more at my ex" *flops over dead* 

LOL. At least she's dead but now it means we have a season of a petulant tween and that's televisual hell as far as I'm concerned. 

On 14/10/2017 at 6:09 AM, ComicFan777 said:

From Felicity's:
"I know we talked about it and that he's getting used to me and it might be a little weird to...I mean, confusing, right, for him...for us...for me...for you."

I take it as Oliver and Felicity are dating, but they are keeping it low-key and haven't really officially announced it to William yet because he is still settling in.

I interpreted this scene the same way but I still thought was weird. Why would Myson care if the Dad he doesn't know has a girlfriend he also doesn't know? It's not like his Mum started dating his Dad again. Oliver having a girlfriend like Felicity could only be a good thing in terms of his relationship with his son. As she said, she'd make a good buffer. I didn't understand this at all.

On 28/10/2017 at 11:49 AM, leopardprint said:

Omg, I just got a chance to watch this episode and that scene of Dinah meandering through Oliver's speech was so bizarre (and also really rude, I mean I hate Oliver's speeches too, girl, but have some manners). 

I didn't find this episode as Dinah heavy as other people did. But I thought that scene was really badly blocked. Oliver's making this inspirational speech about how Starling is safe again and one of his police officers is striding around clearly looking for an imminent threat. They may as well have put a sign on her head going, "NONE OF YOU ARE SAFE". But then the episode as a whole was badly directed in exactly this way. Arrow's always been anvilicious but this was particularly bad.

[statsgirl]

On 11/9/2017 at 4:16 AM, AudienceofOne said:

But then the episode as a whole was badly directed in exactly this way. Arrow's always been anvilicious but this was particularly bad.

Bam-Bam strikes again.  I wish I could understand why they think he's such a good director other than that he's a member of the Old Boys Club.  (They gave him the cross-over episodes this year too.)

[SmallScreenDiva]

13 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

I wish I could understand why they think he's such a good director other than that he's a member of the Old Boys Club.

To borrow a friend's line, "Save us from mediocre white men."

[tv echo]

Black Siren starts racking up her Star City body count...

601 (Fallout) – No Oliver Queen voiceover intro.

601 (Fallout) – We see Oliver, Diggle, Rene and Curtis in pursuit of bad guy Alex Faust, who was one of Black Siren’s minions, and the script teases the absence of Felicity from this opening scene (per script):
Faust: “There’s an MGM-one-forty AT-ack-MS SSM. It’s fire-and-forget. You can’t stop it. You can’t disarm it.”
Oliver: “No, but I’ve got a very smart friend who can.”
(Felicity? We’re beginning to wonder, as we – EX. ROOFTOP – SAME (N1) 
MR. TERRIFIC sprints across the rooftop with the speed of a former Olymipian. Skidding toa stop at the roofline, looking up to see – THE MISSILE. Shooting towards the unsuspecting city. Terrific takes a deep breath before HURLING A T-SPHERE into the air! THE T-SPHERE shoots into the missile’s path – arcing around – hard – causing the missile to… FOLLOW IT! Away from the city. Terrific keys his comms -- )
Curtis: “My T-Sphere’s spoofed the missile’s guidance system. I’m drawing it back to the water.”
(EXT. ABANDONED FERRY – SAME (N1)
GREEN ARROW on comms -- )
Oliver: “Not too far back. I’m out on the water, remember?”
(BOOM! A distant EXPLOSION sounds as the MISSILE explodes in mid-air, missing its target. Faust looks to Green Arrow -- )
Faust: “You look troubled. As if detonations stir unpleasant memories.”
(ON Green Arrow. The memories of the last explosions he experienced far more than unpleasant, as we TRANSITION TO: 
OMITTED
EXT. LIAN YU – AIRSTRIP – DAY (FLASHBACK D1)
Picking up directly with the end of Ep. 523, Sc. 51. Everything with breakneck urgency -- )

601 (Fallout) – In a flashback recap to last season's finale, Felicity tells Oliver that Adrian Chase has rigged Lian Yu with explosives:
Felicity (over comms): "He's rigged the entire island with explosives. They're remotely linked to some sort of dead man's switch. If he dies, it detonates all the devices."
(Oliver shoots an arrow into Chase's leg, forcing Chase to release William.)
Chase (collapsing to floor of boat): "Unh!"
Oliver: "William, come here. (William runs to him) Are you okay? Are you all right?"
Felicity (over comms): "He wants you to kill him so it kills all of us."
(Chase puts a gun to his head.)
Oliver: "No, Adrian!"
(We hear a gunshot, and then Oliver turns to watch as explosions go off all over the island.)

601 (Fallout) – In a flashback scene, we see what happened on the island right before the explosions went off:
Felicity (over comms): "Chase sabotaged the plane. We can't get off the island!"
Oliver (over comms): "There's an A.R.G.U.S. supply ship on the eastern shore."
Felicity (over comms): "That's on the other side of the island."
Oliver (over comms): "Slade knows where it is. Go now!"
Felicity: "Hey! Oliver says there's a boat on the eastern shore."
Slade: "You lot won't make it in time. I'll take my own chances." (He leaves on his own)
Felicity: "I always hated that guy."
Curtis: "What are we gonna do now?"
Diggle: "What about the plane?"
Rene: "Thought you said you couldn't get it fixed."
Dinah: "For shielding us from the blast, it should work just fine."
Quentin: "It's not like there's a whole lot of other options."
Thea: "No. He's right, okay? It's better than nothing. Let's go!" (Most of group starts to run in the direction of the plane)
Samantha: "No! I have to find William!" (Runs off on her own in a different direction)
Thea: "Samantha!" (Starts to run after her)
Felicity: "Samantha!" (Also starts to run after Samantha)
Thea (to Felicity): "You go to the plane, okay? I'll get her!" (Runs after Samantha)
(Felicity turns and runs in the direction of the rest of the group, but she trips and falls.)
Diggle (running back to help Felicity): "Careful. Let's go."
Felicity: "You should be on the plane."
Diggle: "I'm not taking refuge from 100 bombs without you."
Felicity: "Uhh, it's more like 250."
Diggle: "Go, go, go!"
(Then explosions start going off behind them as Felicity and Diggle run off.)

601 (Fallout) – Oliver invites Felicity to have dinner with him and William, but Felicity suggests waiting until another night:
Oliver: "What's this?"
Rene: "Remarks for the Police Academy graduation ceremony. Seems my promotion came with speech writing duties."
Diggle: "You can write?"
Curtis: "You can read?"
Rene: "I can kick both y'all asses is what I can do."
Oliver: "This is, uh - this is really good, Rene."
Rene: "It's like I keep telling you, Hoss. I've got the soul of a poet."
Felicity (entering with Big Belly Burger bags): "I don't think I have ever heard you say that."
Rene: "Who the hell asked you, Blondie?"
Curtis: "You totally missed me redirecting a ballistic missile, b-t-dubs."
Felicity: "Oh, man. Well, I've already seen you do that once. All right. Just as you ordered - a triple stack with a side of heart disease." (Hands bag to Rene)
Rene: "Don't judge me."
Felicity: "Ah, yeah. That's for you. (Hands bag to Curtis) Surprise. This is for you. (Hands bag to Diggle) Here you go." (Hands bag to Oliver)
Oliver: "Thank you."
Felicity: "You're welcome. Sorry I was MIA. I pretty much had to knock my mother unconscious to get her on a flight back to Vegas. She did not want to go."
Oliver: "That's fine. We - we had it handled."
Rene: "Yeah. Even without Dinah in the field."
Diggle: "Come a long way in a year."
Curtis: "Yeah. It also makes me grateful for all the times Oliver kicked our ass. Almost."
Diggle: "I'm gonna go home."
Curtis: "We'll walk with you." (Diggle, Curtis and Rene leave)
Felicity: "Wow. It's been over five months, and their subtlety hasn't gotten better at all!"
Rene (calling back): "Heard that!"
Oliver: "No, it hasn't."
Felicity: "Um, there's some in there for William, too. Got some fries and, like, a mini cheeseburger and then a burger without cheese because I wasn't sure if he was, like, lactose -"
Oliver: "Do you think there's enough for three?"
Felicity: "Well, I already ate and -"
Oliver: "Mm-hmm."
Felicity: "Unless you're asking because you think now's a good time. Like, do you need a buffer or -"
Oliver: "I don't need a buffer. I could use some company. I know we talked about it and that he's getting used to me and it might be a little weird to -"
Felicity: "I mean, confusing, right, for him - for us - for me - for you. (Pauses as Oliver smiles) Just not tonight. Another night."
Oliver: "Promise?"
Felicity: "Promise."
Oliver: "Okay." (He leaves)
Felicity (making regretful expression): "Emmm."

601 (Fallout) – Black Siren storms the S.C.P.D. police station with her minions and, with the help of Alex Faust, detonates several explosions; and Team Arrow tallies the resulting casualty count:
(Alex Faust is handcuffed and sitting in the police interrogation room. Young cop gives him a can of soda.)
Faust: "Perfect. Open it up for me?"
(Cop pulls the tab up on the soda can. Faust suddenly knocks his head hard on the table.)
Cop: "Hey. If you think you can claim some kind of police brutality -"
Faust: "Not at all. No. I just needed to get this loose. Ugh! Ha! (Pulls a tooth out of his mouth) C4 implant. Boom. (Drops the tooth into his soda, which starts bubbling) Ha ha!"
Cop: "You're crazy."
Faust: "I don't judge you!" (Knocks the table over)
(The soda can explodes, knocking the cop out and blowing the door open.)
Black Siren (appearing through the smoke): "Well done, Alex. Right on schedule."
Faust: "One does one's humble best."
Black Siren: "Wire it up. Make it fast. We're on a clock."
(She and her armed minions go through the police station, shooting at cops. Faust arms the explosives.)
Faust: "We're all set here. Care to do the honors?" (Hands her the remote detonator)
(A smiling Black Siren pushes the button on the remote detonator, causing explosions to go off throughout the station, as she walks away with Faust and her minions.)
Black Siren: "Let's go."
(She stops for a moment and looks back at the devastation left behind with a smirky smile.)
*  *  *
Oliver: "What's the casualty count?"
Quentin: "Nine dead. Six in critical condition. Four injured."

601 (Fallout) – Team Arrow is shocked to learn that Black Siren did not die on Lian Yu, but is alive and in Star City:
Oliver: "The question is, who would do this and why?"
Dinah: "Well, I think I've got an answer on that. Got video footage."
(They watch the video of Black Siren at the police station.)
Oliver: "Has anyone seen this?"
Dinah: "I managed to get to it before anyone else could."
Diggle: "I thought you said she died."
Oliver: "You said Black Siren died on Lian Yu."
Dinah: "She did. She was dead. Buried under a ton of rubble when Quentin and I found her."
Felicity: "Okay. Well, unless our Laurel is mysteriously back from the dead - something I wouldn't put past either of the Lance sisters - Black Siren is not only not dead, she is not on Lian Yu."
Diggle: "Right. And running with our old friend Alex Faust."
Oliver: "Okay, Clearly, he was at S.C.P.D. when the explosion went off."
Diggle: "Which means he either died or escaped."
Dinah: "He escaped. The question is, why is he working with Black Siren?"
Oliver: "And where did they hire these mercenaries?"
Diggle: "I'll get this image over to Lyla. She can tell us where these guys are from and when they started working together."
Oliver: "I promised Raisa that I would take William to school, so I'll check in when I'm done with that."
    
601 (Fallout) – Oliver gives Felicity the GPS off Black Siren's van to backtrace:
Felicity: "How's Rene?"
Diggle: "Curtis and Lance took Rene to Dr. Schwartz for treatment."
Dinah: "It's a collapsed lung. It doesn't look so good."
Oliver: "Black Siren and the mercenaries escaped, but we pulled this off the van."
Felicity: "GPS?"
Oliver: "Yeah. Let's backtrace it, figure out where they came from."
Felicity: "On it."
Oliver: "Dinah, Quentin thinks the attack on S.C.P.D. was targeting him. Any idea why?"
Dinah: "No."
Diggle: "If Laurel was after Lance, why blow up the precinct after discovering he wasn't there?"
Oliver: "Maybe Quentin was wrong. Maybe our first instincts were right."
Diggle: "That she's targeting the police for some reason?"
Oliver: "We need to figure out what that reason is, and we need to find her."
Felicity: "Oh, funny you should say that. GPS' last location was a warehouse - surprise, surprise - outside Pennytown. If this Laurel is half as smart as our Laurel, she would not go back there."
Dinah: "Well, maybe she left something behind for us to go on."
Oliver: "John."
Diggle: "We are on it."

601 (Fallout) – Quentin confesses to Team Arrow that he shot Black Siren in order to save Dinah's life back on Lian Yu:
Felicity: "Is everything okay?"
Oliver: "I'm worried about William."
Felicity: "You want to talk about it?"
Oliver: "I would love to talk about it, but we have more pressing business, okay?"
Felicity: "Right. Okay."
Oliver: "Okay."
Felicity: "Well, I - I cracked the code, I mean, so to speak. You are welcome. These are the targeted areas, which means we can almost be 100% positive that Evil Laurel and friends will be attacking the Police Academy graduation tonight."
Dinah: "The question is why. Nine dead officers wasn't enough for them?"
Quentin: "No, it wasn't. Because she didn't get who she was after."
Oliver: "You mean you?"
Dinah: "Quentin."
Quentin: "Dinah, I appreciate you having my back, but I appreciate the truth a little bit more."
Felicity: "Wait. What exactly are we missing here?"
Quentin: "You're missing why I told you guys that Dinah and I found Laurel dead back on Lian Yu."
Dinah: "Quentin, I don't think you have to do this."
Quentin: "Yeah, I do. I've been living with this guilt for too long. I can't do it anymore. Bad Laurel - she wasn't dead when we found her back on Lian Yu."
*  *  *
Dinah: "I told Quentin to say she was dead when we found her to spare him the pain of telling you all the truth. The truth is, he saved my life."
Quentin: "The truth is, I killed my daughter. I killed my baby girl. I just left her for dead. That's the truth."
Dinah: "She was gonna kill me. As sure as I am standing here right now, she was going to kill me. And you saved my life."
Oliver: "You're staying here tonight."
Quentin: "I can't."
Oliver: "Quentin, if Laurel is targeting you, then she -"
Quentin: "Then she's not gonna stop, and the only way we can stop her is by dangling me right in front of her, so I'm gonna be there tonight front and center, okay, you understand?"
Oliver: "All right. You're at the graduation, but we need S.C.P.D. canine units at every entry point."
Curtis: "Actually, we can kill the canines."
Oliver: "What?"
Curtis: "Um, by 'kill,' I do not mean kill the actual dogs."
Oliver: "Curtis, what are those?"
Curtis: "These are the latest in high-tech sniffer devices."
Diggle: "Wait. Those are bomb detectors?"
Curtis: "They can spot as little as an ounce of explosive material within a 1,000-foot radius."
Felicity: "Yeah. The only catch is that we actually have to be there to operate them, which means Curtis and I need to be on the field, which means no one will be down here operating the comms."
Diggle: "I'll do it. Someone has to take one for the team. I can do it."
Oliver: "You sure?"
Diggle: "Yeah. My gun would get lost in all that A.R.G.U.S. and S.C.P.D. firepower anyways. I'll stay."
Oliver: "Okay. Okay. Let's get out there."

601 (Fallout) – In a flashback scene, a dying Samantha forces Oliver to make another promise:
Samantha: Oliver?”
Oliver: “Samantha?”
Samantha: “William?”
Oliver: “He's fine, he's fine... We have to get you medical attention.”
Samantha: “No. I just needed to make sure that he was okay.”
Oliver: “He wants to see his mom.”
Samantha: “William needs a parent. Promise me… that you will be his father.”
Oliver: “I promise.”

601 (Fallout) – Team Arrow stakes out the S.C.P.D. Police Academy graduation ceremony:
Felicity (over comms): "Curtis, you got anything?"
Curtis (over comms): "Negative, and shouldn't you be calling me Mr. Terrific? I am in the field."
Felicity (over comms): "Yeah, but you're not in your suit, so... no suit, no code names. Them's the rules."
Dinah (over comms): "How about we try to focus instead? Spartan, what do you see?"
Diggle (over comms): "So far, so good."
Felicity (over comms): "Yeah. Maybe they decided to rethink their plan."
Curtis (over comms): "That'd be a smart move. Haven't seen this many cops in one place in my life."
Dinah (over comms): "Me either. And I'm a cop."
Diggle (over comms): "Yeah. Well, it doesn't mean they're not gonna try something, so everyone stay sharp."
Oliver (as Mayor): "Thank you all for being here. In light of the recent attacks on the S.C.P.D., tonight's ceremony is incredibly important, and while we need to mourn the loss of life, I feel the need to mention that this city is better off than it has been in quite some time. Crime is down. Our streets are peaceful. People are not only moving here, they are staying here. And do you want to know why? It's because you help them feel safe. You have chosen a profession, one of the most dangerous professions in the world. Whereas other people run from danger, you run towards it time and time and time again, and for that, we all owe you a huge debt of gratitude. So, thank you. Thank you for protecting our families, for protecting us, and for protecting our beautiful city. Thank you."
(Audience applauds. Oliver receives thanks from new police officers. Then he and Quentin go to his mayoral office.)
Quentin: "You keep this up, they're gonna ask you to run for Governor."
Oliver: "Yeah? I'm just glad a bomb didn't go off during the speech. Anything from Black Siren and her crew?"
Quentin: "You mean the psychopaths I unleashed on this city? No, not yet."
Oliver: "You cannot take that on, Quentin, and this speaking as one of the world's leaders in feeling guilty."
Quentin: "Um, have you ever fired a gun at your own daughter?"
Oliver: "That is - ahem - that's not what happened. Black Siren is not Laurel."
Quentin: "She is Laurel. You know it, and I know it, and we both know that this parallel universe crap is crap! All right. Every time I see her, I get that - that feeling, that instinct. She's my child. She's - she's my baby girl, Oliver, and I tried to kill her."
Oliver: "Well, from what I understand, you were protecting a friend. You are not just a good man, Quentin. You are a good father. I know because you're a better father than I could ever hope to be."
Quentin: "You got to give it some time. You only been at it, what, five months?"
Oliver: "It's not getting any easier."
Quentin: "Well -"
Oliver: "William blames me for Samantha's death."
Quentin: "Why?"
Oliver: "Because he's a smart kid, and he knows what happened happened because I was involved. He shouldn't be with me. He should be with Samantha's parents."
Quentin: "Well, listen. That's not what Samantha thought."
Oliver: "I don't know how to reach him."
Quentin: "Just be his father."
(Felicity enters)
Oliver: "Hey. Anything?"
Felicity: "Nothing. Curtis and I have scanned every inch of this place. Something seems really off."
Oliver: "Let's get in touch with Spartan, see if he saw anything on the cams."
Felicity (over comms): "Spartan, do you copy?"
Diggle (over comms): "Yeah. Still here, still nothing. Maybe A.R.G.U.S. scared them off. Maybe they're targeting Lance some other way. Maybe he isn't the target -" 
(An explosive device lands on the floor of the Arrow Bunker. Black Siren and her minions blow open the door and enter the Arrow Bunker.)
Felicity (over comms): "John, do you copy? John, are you okay?"
Black Siren (over comms): "Don't worry, Felicity. John's fine. He's just gonna be catching up with an old friend."

601 (Fallout) – Team Arrow returns to the Arrow Bunker to defend it from attack by Black Siren and her minions:
Black Siren: "Shouldn't you be protecting the graduation ceremony? Oh, but what's wrong? Did you lose your nerve along with your aim?"
Diggle: "I don't know. You tell me." (Throws an explosive arrow tip at them and escapes)
Minion: "You want me to kill him?"
Black Siren: "I'm not paying you to keep him alive. Let's get to work."
(Diggle exchanges gunfire with a minion, but his gun hand shakes. Minion points a gun at him.)
Minion: "You're not gonna feel a thing. Promise."
(Oliver shoots an arrow at that minion and then fights several other minions.)
Oliver: "You okay?"
Diggle: "Unh! Pissed!"
Minion: "Just about finished."
Black Siren: "Make sure you put one here, too." (Points to the old Black Canary suit memorial glass case)
Minion: "Incoming!"
(Dinah and Curtis drop down. Dinah screams her Canary Cry and blows back two minions.)
Black Siren: "God, you are such a bitch."
Dinah: "Yeah. It takes one to know one, sweetheart."
(Dinah fights with Black Siren. Curtis uses his T-spheres to fight minions.)
Curtis (over comms): "Good news. The bomb sniffer works."
Felicity (over comms, from mayoral office): "Bad news - it’s working in the Bunker."
Curtis (over comms): "Yeah. The whole place is wired."
Felicity (over comms): "Yeah. If you can take the devices, I can jam the detonation signal remotely. Is John okay?"
Curtis (over comms): "I don't know, but I might not be." (Faces two minions)
(Oliver enters with Diggle and shoots arrows into the minions.)
Oliver: "Spartan's fine. I have eyes on Black Siren."
(More fighting.)
Black Siren: "Err! To be continued." (Throws down an explosive device and leaves, but runs into Quentin in another part of the Bunker)
Quentin: "Don't move! I said, don't move." (Points his gun at her)
Black Siren: "Well, this feels familiar. Maybe this time, you'll aim for the heart."
Quentin: "I'm sorry."
Black Siren: "For shooting me or for leaving me for dead?"
Quentin: "You were trying to hurt my friend."
Black Siren: "Oh. So - so you choose your friend over your own daughter?"
Quentin: "Don't make me do this, Laurel. Please don't make me do this."
Black Siren: "So now I'm Laurel? Don't torture yourself. Because if we were back on Lian Yu and the roles were reversed, I would have pulled the trigger." (Walks past Quentin and leaves)

601 (Fallout) – Team Arrow picks up the pieces at the Arrow Bunker and tries to figure out Black Siren's objective:
Quentin: "Whoa. Hell of a mess."
Oliver: "Yeah. What's happening with the graduation?"
Quentin: "Uh, went off without a problem, unless you count some food poisoning from the city caterer."
Diggle: "The graduation was a distraction. Laurel left that map for me and Dinah to find."
Felicity: "So when did she pivot from targeting them to targeting us?"
Curtis: "Maybe she didn't. I mean, maybe the S.C.P.D. and the Bunker were her targets all along."
Diggle: "That seems pretty random, particularly considering how much trouble Laurel went through to make sure we wouldn't be here."
Oliver: "Well, what if planting the explosives wasn't her objective?"
Felicity: "Planting the explosives was to cover her objective."
Oliver: "Yeah."
Curtis: What if she was trying to steal something?"
Felicity: "Like what? (Curtis shakes head) She doesn't need weapons."
Oliver: "Mercenaries she's working with do. We should inventory the armory. We - we should inventory everything that we have. If she stole something, we need to know what it is, and we need to know fast."

601 (Fallout) – Felicity tells Oliver to turn on Channel 52, which has obtained a photograph of Oliver as the Green Arrow:
Oliver (on phone): "I was just gonna give you a call."
Felicity (on phone): "Turn on Channel 52 right now."
Oliver (on phone): "Okay."
Channel 52 TV News Anchor: "- with the discovery of a shocking photograph that seems to finally solve the mystery haunting Star City for the past two years - who is the Green Arrow? This photo, which was obtained exclusively by Channel 52, provides unequivocal proof of the identity of the vigilante known as the Green Arrow. (Photo of Oliver in his Green Arrow suit, with his head uncovered, is shown on screen) This is the latest controversy to hit -"
Felicity (on phone): "Oliver. What are we gonna do?"
Channel 52 TV News Anchor: "What else has the mayor lied about? As always, we'll keep you updated with breaking news on Channel 52."
Oliver (on phone): "I - I don't know."

Edited May 13, 2020 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Samantha's actions are another example of plot driving character...

Samantha previously didn't even want Oliver publicly or privately associated with her son ("But can you really tell me that your life is any less crazy? Can you honestly say that William isn't better off with your world kept away from his? ... I don't want to run the risk of him getting sucked into your orbit? That can't happen."). So she forced Oliver to promise that he wouldn't tell anyone that he's William's father - not even William himself or Felicity.

Yet now Samantha, by asking Oliver to promise to be William's father, is forcing William to become a part of Oliver's world - that world she was so adamantly against before, even though she could've asked Oliver to promise to allow her parents (William's grandparents) to take custody of William. Or she could've asked Oliver to promise to tell William that he was his father and then to talk to William and the grandparents to figure out what was best for William. This is even after Samantha knows that Oliver is the Green Arrow.

Also, since Samantha never told her son that Oliver was his father, she's also forcing William to live now full-time with a strange man who visited him from time to time, instead of with his grandparents, who he is familiar with.

Edited March 13, 2020 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Yesterday MG tweeted three script pages for this episode, which I've added to my transcriptions above.