S06.E06: Promises Kept

[formerlyfreedom]

As Slade continues to uncover clues about his son’s last few years, Oliver makes a big decision. Meanwhile, the Green Arrow leads the team into battle against “The Dragon,” a villain who is stealing valuable tech in Star City.

[Primal Slayer]

Oh. There was an episode. It did nothing for me.

[Hiveminder]

Well, I fast forwarded through over half of that. Boring.

That Wilson family is cray. 

Edited November 17, 2017 by Hiveminder

[Mellowyellow]

Just saw the 2 min Olicity clip! Why did they fade the kiss???? Why????

In the words of the Backstreet Boys: Tell me whyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Oliver, Felicity and William are adorable though!!!!!! ? 

So effortless 

[KenyaJ]

All these past two episodes did was convince me that Arrow needs to go to 16-episode seasons.

[insomniadreams88]

Boring. 

Way too much Slade. Way too much Slade's son. Too much "son," "kid" and "boy."

We had to suffer through flashbacks within flashbacks. Flashbacks within flashbacks of stuff we already saw. Why? 

Loved Felicity being there when Oliver got home. Give me more of them and William as a family. But that one scene did not make up having to sit through 2 Slade episodes. 

Liked seeing Lyla and Dyla again, but the show just reminded me how much I miss baby Sara with their last scene, so, probably not the best move. 

And the whole Diggle & drugs storyline has been so predictable so far that I'm just not into it. 

[Guest]

This was a snorefest again.

I liked Diggle's plotline better than Slade's but even that was kinda dull. Though it was nice to see Lyla again. I liked that she called him out on his hypocrisy and he also acknowledged he was wrong. 

Mostly though it felt like filler which shouldn't be happening on the sixth episode of the season.

[WindofChange]

Best part:

This was totally a fanfic come to life. Felicity gives William junkfood and Oliver is unimpressed, Oliver coming home to see Felicity playing video games with William, William interrupting Oliver/Felicity's kiss :')

Edited November 17, 2017 by WindofChange

[statsgirl]

The good things:

Diggle and Lyla; Diggle coming clean about his tremors

Slade not betraying Oliver

Oliver's family scene at the end (@Mellowyellow, they kissed because Oliver had just come back)

Good directing on both action scenes and character scenes

The bad:

Flashbacks in flashbacks; I'm bored with Slade

This is really just a filler episode.

The boxes that Diggle burned at Dragon's lair were labelled Methylphenidate.  Why would you hide your street drug by labelling it as a drug that has a high street value already?  And Diggle, if you want, I'll share my Ritalin with you.

[Primal Slayer]

I was expecting Diggles storyline to go a totally different way, same with Slades. But Diggles got wrapped up really easily I felt like and Slades just wasn't interesting. 

[quarks]

I realize there's some stiff competition, but this may have been the single most pointless episode in Arrow's history.

Except for the part where Curtis pointed out that this entire "OOOH I HAVE A HAND TREMOR I SHALL TURN TO UNDERGROUND DRUGS" was one of the single most pointless subplots in Arrow's history, given that, as he noted, THEY HAVE A GUY ON THE TEAM WHO CURED PARALYSIS.

Oh, and people played video games. That was nice.

[Guest]

I loved Oliver coming home to his little family. Dude had such heart eyes to see them together. That whole scene felt very natural. And of course Olicity! Love them.

I think the cuteness of the whole thing is lessening the kid's bad acting? IDK. Haha.

Edited November 17, 2017 by Guest

[tennisgurl]

*Sigh* Things that Diggle could have done to fix his arm other than illegal drugs:

1. Ask his friend Curtis, who once cured paralysis, if he could help him out (which Curtis himself mentioned this week).

2. Call his friends Sara or Ray, who live on a flying time ship from the future that can regrow a human hand on a person, and ask if he can stop by their ship for five minutes. 

3. Call his friends over at Star Labs who regularly make amazing scientific breakthroughs and communicate with multiple alternate dimensions, including Barry, who can run him to any hospital on the planet in a few minutes, for some assistance.

4. Ask his best friend Oliver, a multi millionaire, if he can hook him up with a specialist in literally anything.  

5. Talk to his wife, the head of a super financed paramilitary group if she could introduce him up with some doctors specializing in military injuries. 

I mean, I am super glad he finally came clean this week, but this whole subplot was so stupid and out of character, and apparently means nothing in the grand scheme of the season, that you might as well have had Dig complaining about how he cant shoot because he keeps turning his crossbow into Skittles. 

Did I not talk much about the episode? Its because it was a REALLY boring episode. The only things I really liked was the Dyla stuff, seeing some of Slades transition between Crazy Slade and Super-villain Slade, and the ending with Olicity and William as a happy family. Everything else was basically TV sleeping pill. 

Edited November 17, 2017 by tennisgurl

[Guest]

This show has a real father/son complex tbh and it's creeping me out. My son, this. Father, that. And now there's another Slade son out there. And then we saw baby John instead of baby Sara and just...STOP.

[KenyaJ]

In this otherwise pointless episode, I was really glad to see Lyla back and even happier to see Diggle be honest with her.

Also, I loved that when William got tired of Raisa, he reached out to Felicity.

She's going to be the best step-mom.

[WindofChange]

Just now, KenyaJ said:

Also, I loved that when William got tired of Raisa, he reached out to Felicity.

  Hide contents

She's going to be the best step-mom.

heeeeeeee DID YOU EVER THINK YOU'D SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS 2 YEARS AGO?!

[Lantern7]

Slade got to live. I've heard there will be a Deathstroke in the DCEU (should it continue), and we saw what happened to Deadshot. Mildly surprised, really. And he gets a son to try and locate, while hoping he's not an asshole like Joe. Hey, maybe Grant will have the blonde afro and the thick muttonchops.

Diggle is an idiot. He did come clean to everybody, so I guess that counts for something. And he's still with Lyla, so there goes my theory about him hooking up with Dinah, though I wager that's still in play.

There's an episode next week, on Thanksgiving. That's . . . different. After you devour lots of turkey, sink your teeth into fresh ham!! I am hoping for a good episode, since Gotham will be taking the week off, along with the friggin' insane shit that comes with it.

[DrSpaceman10]

1 minute ago, Angel12d said:

I think the cuteness of the whole thing is lessening the kid's bad acting? IDK. Haha.

I think the kid's best when he's in scenes with EBR, that's when he's the most natural. SA and the kid's scenes aren't quite clicking for me yet, which is odd because SA's a parent in real life and I thought it would come off more naturally for him. 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Felicity/William/Oliver scenes are one of my highlights of the season so far ?. If only they'd written it like this from the beginning :/

[Mellowyellow]

Is it acceptable to say "happy ending" in the context of an actual happy ending anymore?

Did Oliver just have a dirty mind or does the term happy ending mean sex stuff these days?

[tennisgurl]

Felicity is already falling into Cool Step-Mom territory. "There are no rules in this apartment, I`m not like a regular step-mom I`m a cool step-mom, right William"? 

[Sunshine]

Why were they going to the roof to demonstrate the bottle rocket when it was raining outside?

I think we got the Slade snoozefest to free up SA and others to work on the crossover.

[WindofChange]

Just now, tennisgurl said:

Felicity is already falling into Cool Step-Mom territory. "There are no rules in this apartment, I`m not like a regular step-mom I`m a cool step-mom, right William"? 

She helps with his science project (yes, she helped and there's nothing that will change my mind about this), gives him ice cream for dinner, plays video games with him, helps him with his math homework :') 

Next thing you know she and William are hiding a puppy together from Oliver :')

[Lady Calypso]

Man, that was boring as hell.

The highlights?

Dyla scenes and Olicity/William scene at the end.

Everything else? Yawn.

If this was a Deathstroke backdoor pilot, I'll pass. Or, make the show and then I won't watch.

[Chaser]

15 minutes ago, WindofChange said:

Best part:

This was totally a fanfic come to life. Felicity gives William junkfood and Oliver is unimpressed, Oliver coming home to see Felicity playing video games with William, William interrupting Oliver/Felicity's kiss :')

My favorite part of that clip was William and Oliver waiting for Felicity and her little skip after them.

[insomniadreams88]

Did I hear right that they had rocky road ice cream? With nuts? Isn't Felicity allergic to nuts?

[Mrs. de Winter]

Wow - that was so boring it bordered on painful.   Guess it was the drugs that made Slade interesting.

At least Lyla and Diggle were interesting.  Not interested in the new villain. 

Olicity and William were cute - but did Felicity say they had Rocky Road Ice Cream?  Doesn't that have nuts in it?  I am assuming I misunderstood since Felicity is allergic to nuts. 

Edited November 17, 2017 by Mrs. de Winter
to clarify the him (since we have so many fathers and sons

[bethy]

I appreciate that we got Diggle at least checking in with Felicity about being at the bunker for the big reveal? But yeah, the best scene of the whole thing was the clip above.

ETA: Oh, and Dyla! How could I forget Dyla? Them, too. Now I just need the Diggles and the Queens to hang out together. 

Edited November 17, 2017 by bethy

[Hiveminder]

7 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

This show has a real father/son complex tbh and it's creeping me out. My son, this. Father, that. And now there's another Slade son out there. And then we saw baby John instead of baby Sara and just...STOP.

I feel like the entire writers room is just a constant daddy issue therapy session. 

 

I have to say, with Oliver being so happy about not being GA and not showing any desire at all to go back to it, I’m seriously expecting to be really upset when he has to put the hood back on. I think they miscalculated on this storyline. How can I root for the hero to go out heroing when that is so so obviously the last thing he wants to do? 

[Guest]

Also why are all the actors they get to play the sons so bad? Slade's son was PAINFUL. I cringed. 

Edited November 17, 2017 by Guest

[thuganomics85]

Surprise, surprise!  Lyla returns and suddenly Diggle actually gets his shit together and admits he has a problem.  He really is lucky that he has such an awesome wife.  And, of course, this episode actually highlights how dumb he's been by having Curtis point out that he freaking cured someone who was freaking paralyzed, so Diggle was a dolt for not even trying to ask and just going straight for the illegal drugs thing.  Still, David Ramsey acted the hell out of his confession scene, but then again, he's always been one of the strongest of the cast.

So, did the Dragon die in that explosion?  I was a bit confused over that.  I'm normally all for Kirk Acevedo, but I heard and read all about him being a dick on social media, so that took out a lot of the fun.

I'm not sure how this show made me bored with Slade and Manu Bennett, but they pulled it off and then some.  All of his stuff with Oliver and his son was boring, rushed (one minute, Oliver is confronting Evil Dyson with the trigger and then suddenly Oliver at Slade's aid like it's no big thing), and underwhelming.  It almost bizarrely felt like a backdoor pilot in some ways, but I really doubt that is going to happen.  Even the return of Shado/Celinda Jade was underwhelming, since it reminded me of Slade's creepy obsession and how it made him go from a great villain to a cliched stalker.

There is actually going to be a new episode next week?  Do networks no longer fear the Thanksgiving holidays, anymore?  I guess they're hoping everyone will be stuff with turkey and whatnot and they'll just opt to stay at home and watch some Arrow.  At least it looks like Cayden might be back, which is good because I feel like this season is really going to need as much Michael Emerson as it can get.

[apinknightmare]

13 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Did I hear right that they had rocky road ice cream? With nuts? Isn't Felicity allergic to nuts?

She is! Or...was, I guess.

[statsgirl]

Maybe they're not the kind of nuts Felicity is allergic to?  There's tree nuts, and there peanuts and some people are allergic to only one kind (frantically trying to fanwank)

Given how Joe killed a man six months after his daddy did, I'm wondering if it's less mirakuru changing Slade than it letting the Wilson nature out.

[apinknightmare]

My main observation for tonight is that I cannot believe that KA caused such a stir clapping back on twitter for his debut as a guy who PRINTS OUT DRUGS. 

[GirlvsTV]

7 minutes ago, Hiveminder said:

I have to say, with Oliver being so happy about not being GA and not showing any desire at all to go back to it, I’m seriously expecting to be really upset when he has to put the hood back on. I think they miscalculated on this storyline. How can I root for the hero to go out heroing when that is so so obviously the last thing he wants to do? 

I feel like they did a bad job when the first version of this storyline played out in s4 as well. Felicity clearly wanted to come back to the team, but they didn't do a good job establishing Oliver's motives for doing so - especially since he seemed pretty happy and settled in Ivy Town. I remember being kind of sad he put the hood back on because he seemed so happy without it.

This ep was mostly boring, but not as awful as I thought it would be. My bar was basically subterranean though.

I liked Diggle and Lyla's interactions and am glad the Diggle/drug thing is mostly resolved because, as many of you have pointed out, it was dumb and nonsensical. 

Good Lord, all the My Son-ing though! Do they think viewers can't remember the characters actual names? You know what might help with that? Calling the characters by their names instead of "My/Your/His Son."

[WindofChange]

LOL I love them

http://oliverxfelicity.tumblr.com/post/167576228811

[Chaser]

It took me an embarrassingly longtime to remember what secret Dinah is keeping from the Team. Wow do I not care.

[JamieLynn832002]

4 minutes ago, Chaser said:

It took me an embarrassingly longtime to remember what secret Dinah is keeping from the Team. Wow do I not care.

I literally didn't get it until she pulled out the matchbox.

[KenyaJ]

39 minutes ago, WindofChange said:

heeeeeeee DID YOU EVER THINK YOU'D SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS 2 YEARS AGO?!

Nope! It brings me such joy.

37 minutes ago, Hiveminder said:

I have to say, with Oliver being so happy about not being GA and not showing any desire at all to go back to it, I’m seriously expecting to be really upset when he has to put the hood back on. I think they miscalculated on this storyline. How can I root for the hero to go out heroing when that is so so obviously the last thing he wants to do? 

I feel like that that was established in 401. I think all Oliver really wants is to be a househusband, making eggs for William and Felicity in his slow cooker. And truth be told, I'd happily watch a show about that.

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, Hiveminder said:

I feel like the entire writers room is just a constant daddy issue therapy session. 

They have some serious issues, that's all I'll say.

44 minutes ago, Hiveminder said:

I have to say, with Oliver being so happy about not being GA and not showing any desire at all to go back to it, I’m seriously expecting to be really upset when he has to put the hood back on. I think they miscalculated on this storyline. How can I root for the hero to go out heroing when that is so so obviously the last thing he wants to do? 

Yeah, I have to give them something though because I am actually interested to see what exactly puts him back in the GA suit again. Because it really sounds like he just doesn't want to do that anymore.

[La Dee Da]

[growly Australian accent] Mehhhhhhhhh...

Not the episodes I would’ve chosen for this point of the season! I agree this is crossover-driven filler — if it was a backdoor pilot, I’d expect Slade to introduce the plucky team of outsiders he assembled to find Joe but who, while just in it for the money, will clearly become his family instead.  

I struggled to pay attention to this one as well. I rewinded to make sure I caught the reveal about the second son, but I’m a bit confused.  Did Joe say he killed his brother after the camping trip he took as a pre-teen or did he mean it metaphorically (given Slade said he was going to look for both of them)?  He seemed well adjusted during the other flashbacks - eh, I’m thinking too hard about this.  I did like Diggle and Lyla’s high functioning relationship, though. 

Quote

54 minutes ago, Hiveminder said:

I have to say, with Oliver being so happy about not being GA and not showing any desire at all to go back to it, I’m seriously expecting to be really upset when he has to put the hood back on. I think they miscalculated on this storyline. How can I root for the hero to go out heroing when that is so so obviously the last thing he wants to do? 

 

I agree - he is so content with not being Green Arrow and we’re supposed to want him to be happy. I’m a little leery about how they pull him back in. Diggle revealing his condition creates the pretext for Oliver taking up both his hood and his guilt.  And then, given how idyllic things have been with William, does he hide this from him, fearing they’ll fall into the same situation as the Wilsons? Bleh! 

[statsgirl]

I thought that Joe said that he killed someone six months after the camping trip but it wasn't his brother.  Mama Wilson didn't want him growing up with Slade and I think she hid him.  So that he could reign terror in 2046 on Legends of Tomorrow.

It's in the Wilson genes, I tell ya.

[Frozendiva]

I think I am almost done with the show. This season has not really held my interest - maybe it'll get better. Boring ep this evening.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, statsgirl said:

I thought that Joe said that he killed someone six months after the camping trip but it wasn't his brother.  Mama Wilson didn't want him growing up with Slade and I think she hid him.  So that he could reign terror in 2046 on Legends of Tomorrow.

It's in the Wilson genes, I tell ya.

I must've missed that part. He killed someone 6 months after that trip??? The little dude was like 11 wasn't he? Hello, sociopath!

[LeighAn]

51 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

My main observation for tonight is that I cannot believe that KA caused such a stir clapping back on twitter for his debut as a guy who PRINTS OUT DRUGS. 

I for one hope he continues to be lame just because Reddits so increadibly desoerate for him to be super badass and awesome. I also hope that he doesn't even get a look in from Oliver and remains Diggles villian just because that's the opposite of what Reddit wants. And because #kidvicious will probably have a brain aneurism when he realises he's lame AF, like Manu did. 

[La Dee Da]

Thanks, Statsgirl! I almost wrote that makes sense but then remembered the pre-teen killer aspect of that scene. 

[statsgirl]

I think Slade had a third child in the comics, a girl.  Interesting that the show hasn't mentioned her at all.

[Featherhat]

5 minutes ago, LeighAn said:

I for one hope he continues to be lame just because Reddits so increadibly desoerate for him to be super badass and awesome. I also hope that he doesn't even get a look in from Oliver and remains Diggles villian just because that's the opposite of what Reddit wants. And because #kidvicious will probably have a brain aneurism when he realises he's lame AF, like Manu did. 

Plus even before the twitter furor he had almost no chance of being the best villain of the season when ME's debut was so well received and acted. 

Slade had Rose Wilson as his daughter in the comics. I guess she happens when they run out of Mysons 2.0 storylines.

Edited November 17, 2017 by Featherhat

[MissL]

51 minutes ago, KenyaJ said:

Nope! It brings me such joy.

I feel like that that was established in 401. I think all Oliver really wants is to be a househusband, making eggs for William and Felicity in his slow cooker. And truth be told, I'd happily watch a show about that.

Ha! I get it. But I actually did enjoy watching Oliver fight off those guys. Even stopped fastforwarding for a minute. I miss SA running around being badass. Mayor Queen/dad Oliver is boring with those speeches.

Um why the weird window/rain shots during the Olicity kissing? Were they trying to be artistic?  It was just odd and abrupt.

i hope next week gives us a one on one with Diggle and Felicity and the tremor conversation. I'd hate that conversation to happen off screen and he ends up getting more of a meaningful moment with Dinah than Felicity.  

[Hiveminder]

59 minutes ago, GirlvsTV said:

I feel like they did a bad job when the first version of this storyline played out in s4 as well. Felicity clearly wanted to come back to the team, but they didn't do a good job establishing Oliver's motives for doing so - especially since he seemed pretty happy and settled in Ivy Town. I remember being kind of sad he put the hood back on because he seemed so happy without it.

I’m not sure what they’re trying to do with Oliver’s motivation.  Oliver fully intended to stop being the Hood when he thought they were about to stop the undertaking in season one. He tried to give it up by secluding himself on the very island where he was tortured, nearly died, and watched people he cared about die between seasons one and two. He didn’t want to put the Hood back on in the beginning of season two until Thea was kidnapped. He spent season three hating his life and then gave up being the Arrow at the end of the season. He seemed content and happy in Ivy Town and had to practically be dragged back to Star City in season four. He tried to give up being GA in season five because Chase made him believe it was all based on that killer nonsense. Now he’s given it up for his son’s sake (a really, really good reason), and he seems really happy. 

This man does not want to do this.

 

35 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

They have some serious issues, that's all I'll say.

Yeah, I have to give them something though because I am actually interested to see what exactly puts him back in the GA suit again. Because it really sounds like he just doesn't want to do that anymore.

I guess I don’t have any trust that they’ll manage to come with a good reason that isn’t total bull. 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Hiveminder said:

I guess I don’t have any trust that they’ll manage to come with a good reason that isn’t total bull. 

Sadly, I agree. But I still want to know what they come up with! Haha.

Either he'll find out about Diggle and feel compelled to come back OR he'll get William's permission or something.