The Starling City Times: News and Media about Arrow

kes0704 · February 6, 2018

24 minutes ago, Midnight Lullaby said:

This reminds me so much of the BMD..when people didn’t think what Oliver did was so noble and right they doubled down on it and they only made me resent Oliver and whoever was defending him at the time as a result, lol

Let’s not forget the Snoozen storyline where they painted her as shady and still had Oliver support her against his former fiancée and his sister, thus spawning the RIPOliverQueen hashtag.

How they can continuously misread the audience after 6 years is mind boggling.

calliope1975 · February 6, 2018

1 hour ago, KenyaJ said:

Even if the writers misjudged where the audience's sympathies would lie, it boggles my mind if they thought the team with the morally superior position should also act like assholes about it.

This is what I don't understand. If NTA felt they had to split off for whatever reason, fine. But it's the snarky potshots and affronted behavior that's completely turns me off from being sympathetic.

catrox14 · February 6, 2018

1 minute ago, calliope1975 said:

This is what I don't understand. If NTA felt they had to split off for whatever reason, fine. But it's the snarky potshots and affronted behavior that's completely turns me off from being sympathetic.

I think the writers think they are being edgy and cool and it's DRAMA DRAMA!

bijoux · February 6, 2018

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

-- RG loves the team split story line and thinks that he, EK and JH are "bringing a new energy to the show." He said that OTA has always done things a certain way and has a "lot of hypocrisy" when they point the finger at others and don't point it at themselves. He thinks people will see both sides.

I think I got it. The n00bs are going for the most hypocrisy in order to outdo OTA. In that case, good job, losers.

BunsenBurner · February 6, 2018

17 minutes ago, catrox14 said:

I think the writers think they are being edgy and cool and it's DRAMA DRAMA!

Except that it completely turned me off NTA. I really don’t think there is anything they can do to make me trust or like them again.

Edited February 6, 2018 by BunsenBurner
Changed it to or

catrox14 · February 6, 2018

2 minutes ago, BunsenBurner said:

Except that it completely turned me off NTA. I really don’t think there is anything they can do to make me trust it like them again.

Oh, I wasn't suggesting it was a good choice. Just saying maybe they think it has merit. And I hate to say it, I've read some reviews that folks do think NTA has a point about OTA. I don't get that reading myself but it must be working for some in the audience

BunsenBurner · February 6, 2018

^^^ And I totally agree with you!

Mary0360 · February 6, 2018

2 hours ago, statsgirl said:

He probably gets a biased sample. People who are pro NTA and/or hate Felicity are going to @ him with their praise. He may see the negative response on the #Arrow site but the positives that he sees will outweigh that.

He posted a video with Echo on instagram where he said "NTA! I know y'all be hatin on us"

He's aware.

Its painfully obvious to me Rick is someone with a massive ego combined with an increadibly thin skin. From the start he came on to the show talking up his character as equal to Green Arrow and himself equal to Stephen. Now he thinks Wild Dog is equal to the Punisher and Wolverine. I think Rick should go ask ten randoms on the street if they know who Wild Dog is and then ask them if they know who Wolverine is. I can already predict the results.

Then there's the incident where someone in a constructive way questioned his answer to the Kreisberg fallout as being problematic, resulting in almost the entire cast 'schooling' said person on how increadible Rick is as a person and father in what I 100% believe was not conincidence. Ignoring the fact that saying 'it's unfortunate that it was made public' and referring to women as special fragile creatures that need to be protected, presumably by men, is problematic.

Then the incident couple weeks back when he responded sarcastically and dismissively to the people's take on Rene.

So to me the ego in his answers, the defensiveness of pushing NTA as the bestest and OTA as hypocrites and Arrow as being personally saved by his mere presence, is just inline with his personality.

Edited February 6, 2018 by Mary0360

SmallScreenDiva · February 6, 2018

4 hours ago, insomniadreams88 said:

-- RG loves the team split story line and thinks that he, EK and JH are "bringing a new energy to the show."

Sure they are. A dark energy. A bad energy. A show-ruining energy. Bad juju.

TwistedandBored · February 6, 2018

4 hours ago, tv echo said:

-- RG does read online tweets and knows what fans are saying.

-- Blah, blah, blah. I didn't care enough to transcribe more.

Mellowyellow · February 7, 2018

5 hours ago, tv echo said:

-- Blah, blah, blah. I didn't care enough to transcribe more.

hahaha this cracked me up! You know someone is a little sh@t when you of all people won't transcribe their stuff anymore!

I've realised I swear like a sailor when I talk about the dumb@ss n00bs! They bring out the absolute worse in me! Every sentence has a swear word when I try to talk about them!

BkWurm1 · February 7, 2018

4 hours ago, apinknightmare said:

This interview makes me sad because after reading this along with the ones Echo gave, it's clear that the writers intend for us to see the newbies as the wronged party (and probably hoped that we'd root for OTA just because they've been around longest, and for the newbies because they're in the "right", and would therefore be conflicted). And what they're actually writing is about a million miles away from what they thought they were writing that it's baffling that they all have jobs.

1

I get a different take. I see Echo and Rick talking up the storyline from their character's perspective similar to how John Barrowman always spoke about Malcolm doing so much that he did out of love and as the hero of his own story rather than any hint as to the writer's intent on how the audience should still view the conflict. I do think the writers thought they were writing a conflict that was kind of evenly split on both sides. But since that split happened, I think they've kept writing in favor of OTA and only paid lip service to NTA.

SmallScreenDiva · February 7, 2018

What's the first episode written after the show got the initial reaction to the split? Which episodes would they have been breaking around the time Episode 9 came out? Too bad this isn't like Susan were the writers just pretty much jettisoned her. The newbs are characters DC and WB seem to really want to sell. They're looking mighty desperate with Black Canary 3.0.

apinknightmare · February 7, 2018

29 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I get a different take. I see Echo and Rick talking up the storyline from their character's perspective similar to how John Barrowman always spoke about Malcolm doing so much that he did out of love and as the hero of his own story rather than any hint as to the writer's intent on how the audience should still view the conflict. I do think the writers thought they were writing a conflict that was kind of evenly split on both sides. But since that split happened, I think they've kept writing in favor of OTA and only paid lip service to NTA.

I hope Echo and Rick are talking up the storyline from their character's perspective. Disagree about the writers writing in favor of OTA though. Yes, they are handling this more maturely than NTA, but NTA hasn't second-guessed their decision to go out on their own. Oliver has - twice now - made it clear he'd like them back on the team, and based on the synopsis from this week's episode,

Spoiler

he's considering asking them for help AGAIN.

The ball is continuously in their court, the newbies keep getting their snarky digs in to remind the audience why they're gone (and scenes rectifying the issues they have with OTA with how they decide to run things on their new team) and so far OTA's success depends on NTA's participation in the mission. That could very well change in upcoming episodes, but the way they've written this conflict so far indicates that OTA needs NTA, and NTA is perfectly happy operating on their own and supporting each other (regardless of what impact that has on the city - and there hasn't been any indication in the writing that any of this is wrong - yet).

Mary0360 · February 7, 2018

9 minutes ago, SmallScreenDiva said:

What's the first episode written after the show got the initial reaction to the split? Which episodes would they have been breaking around the time Episode 9 came out? Too bad this isn't like Susan were the writers just pretty much jettisoned her. The newbs are characters DC and WB seem to really want to sell. They're looking mighty desperate with Black Canary 3.0.

Stephen posted bts photos of 6x11 around mid November so I'm assuming 6x11 or 6x12?

SmallScreenDiva · February 7, 2018

6 minutes ago, Mary0360 said:

Stephen posted bts photos of 6x11 around mid November so I'm assuming 6x11 or 6x12?

Oh, not shooting, but breaking the episodes, like planning them out. 609 aired Dec. 7 so what would the writers have been planning out during that time ... just wondering if we're going to see any kinds of adjustments to the writing and when.

Morrigan2575 · February 7, 2018

7 minutes ago, SmallScreenDiva said:

Oh, not shooting, but breaking the episodes, like planning them out. 609 aired Dec. 7 so what would the writers have been planning out during that time ... just wondering if we're going to see any kinds of adjustments to the writing and when.

They'd have been planning the end of the season by that point.

Breaking wise, probably 17.

Mellowyellow · February 7, 2018

Was poor Ray received this badly (or worse) when he was introduced?

lemotomato · February 7, 2018

20 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

They'd have been planning the end of the season by that point.

Breaking wise, probably 17.

Last season Brian Ford Sullivan was writing episode 17 in mid December, so that sounds about right.

Morrigan2575 · February 7, 2018

9 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Was poor Ray received this badly (or worse) when he was introduced?

He was labeled a stalker during 301. I also recall crazy eyes but, i think that had a lot to do with BR's obsession with Bullet Coffee. Oh yeah, there were some rather unfriendly comments about renting out the whole restaurant when they had the 118 crossover

I liked Ray but, he was hated (on this board) until around 318/319.

Edited February 7, 2018 by Morrigan2575

SmallScreenDiva · February 7, 2018

20 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Was poor Ray received this badly (or worse) when he was introduced?

Folks didn't like Ray but nowhere near this level of hatred, I think.

37 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

They'd have been planning the end of the season by that point.

Breaking wise, probably 17.

Thanks!

WindofChange · February 7, 2018

8 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I liked Ray but, he was hated (on this board) until around 318/319.

Peak hate was 317 at Dyla's wedding. God was he insufferable and he made Felicity look like a doormat and I hated him for it.

KenyaJ · February 7, 2018

10 minutes ago, SmallScreenDiva said:

Folks didn't like Ray but nowhere near this level of hatred, I think.

Yeah, people didn't like him, and I think 317 was peak Ray hate, as @WindofChange said, but I don't remember the reaction being as vitrolic as it is towards NTA. By the time he and Felicity got together-together, I think most of us knew he was headed to LoT, so people were annoyed, but not outraged. I could be mis-remembering that, though.

ETA: Now that I think about it, people were maybe kind of outraged around 317. I remember a lot of us saying in the episode thread that Ray's actions in that episode actually made us like Laurel for the first time. That was pretty epic for this board.

Edited February 7, 2018 by KenyaJ

WindofChange · February 7, 2018

15 minutes ago, KenyaJ said:

ETA: Now that I think about it, people were maybe kind of outraged around 317. I remember a lot of us saying in the episode thread that Ray's actions in that episode actually made us like Laurel for the first time. That was pretty epic for this board.

It was horrible. I think I even said that he was ruining Felicity... Like.............................. wow.

statsgirl · February 7, 2018

My Ray hate maxed when he dismissed Felicity as a typical woman at the mercy of her emotions when she asked him to trust her wrt the Arrow but trusting Oliver at the end of the episode. (And then they left poor Roy twitching in the pool of water.)

I didn't start to forgive Ray until he broke up with Felicity and let her take the plane to Nanda Parbat. But I didn't like the season until the end of the finale.

lemotomato · February 7, 2018

Personally, I mostly just disliked Ray in 3A, but I hated him in 3B because of how he affected Felicity, who became his prop after she started dating him. Suddenly, the Felicity from 3A who called him out for buying her store to get her to work for him, left porcupine fart noises on his personal devices after he tricked her into helping him hack QC, and told him to stop pinging her location became a woman who made excuses for him, apologized to him after he went after her friends, never called him out for stealing her face recognition program or for launching the suit that she helped build without telling her, etc.

Hmm. I still have strong feelings about this, apparently.

Edited February 7, 2018 by lemotomato

Mellowyellow · February 7, 2018

Wow so Ray = worse than n00bs?

I would have thought BR would at least have his fans unlike these loosers!

WindofChange · February 7, 2018

2 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Wow so Ray = worse than n00bs?

For me, yes. Because Ray made Felicity (my fave) unrecognizable to me. The Noobs don't do that, they're just insufferable.

formerlyfreedom · February 7, 2018

Let's please get back on topic here - this is news and media about Arrow. Old storylines and relationship dynamics go in other topics. Thanks.

calliope1975 · February 7, 2018

ETA - Moving response to the appropriate thread.

Edited February 7, 2018 by calliope1975

EmilyBettFan · February 7, 2018

7 hours ago, kes0704 said:

Let’s not forget the Snoozen storyline where they painted her as shady and still had Oliver support her against his former fiancée and his sister, thus spawning the RIPOliverQueen hashtag.

How they can continuously misread the audience after 6 years is mind boggling.

They don't want to admit defeat. Which they should. They should own their mistakes. They own that they made the right decision with Emily/Felicity. Won't hurt them if they tell the truth after the season is over.

tv echo · February 7, 2018

To be fair to RG, other than his eyeroll-worthy NTA/OTA and Wild Dog comments, the rest of his interview covered a lot of non-Arrow stuff and he gave thoughtful answers. I just think his responses regarding the team split storyline is a combination of what he's been fed by the EPs and his own defensiveness regarding his character on Arrow.

Edited February 7, 2018 by tv echo

tv echo · February 7, 2018

10 Arrow Facts You Never Knew
RYAN J. DOWNEY 02.07.2018
https://tvweb.com/arrow-tv-facts-arrowverse/

Quote

From Green Arrow to Arrow to Green Arrow to Arrow...
...
Nick Fury didn't always look like Samuel L. Jackson in the comic books, but he does now. Like many great comic book based properties before it, the superb writing and casting on Arrow has in turn influenced the modern comic book iterations. Oliver's best friend, bodyguard, Team Arrow teammate Spartan, and sometime Green Arrow himself, John Diggle, was created for the TV show. He became so popular that when DC rebooted their comic continuity with the New 52, Dig was now in their pages, too.
* * *
A note about 'shipping'...
...
A group of angry fans changed an Arrow subreddit to The Punisher as a sign of their disgust about Oliver and Felicity's Season 6 nuptials. Do you love Olicity? Hate Olicity? Do you hate all "shipping" conversations? Whatever your opinion, the soap opera ties to the Arrowverse have never been secret. Not only are there plenty of both loved and hated dense romantic entanglements throughout comic book history, but Arrowverse guru Greg Berlanti worked on Dawson's Creek and Everwood. Stephen Amell and Grant Gustin both appeared on the rebooted 90210. (The future Green Arrow lamented on Facebook at the time that he was not playing the love child of Dylan and Kelly.) It's all just part of the picture, true believers, just like the show's nerd cred. Take for example, the number of Arrowverse actors who've also been part of Doctor Who: Arthur Darvill, Colin Salmon, John Barrowman, Ben Browder, David Harewood, and Alex Kingston. The executives behind Arrow have professed their love of Doctor Who since the days of Season One.

The former residents of the Queen Mansion.
Liam Neeson offered to appear on Arrow.
Diggle's real life inspiration.
From Green Arrow to Arrow to Green Arrow to Arrow...
Harley Quinn exists in the ArrowVerse.
It's full of geographical Easter eggs.
It's also full of real-life geography.
Team Arrow loves two different bosses.
Damien Darkh has been Green Arrow and The Flash.
A note about 'shipping'...

Edited February 7, 2018 by tv echo

tv echo · February 7, 2018

No spoilers - just pure speculation as to who is the real mastermind this season (Malcolm, The Thinker, Alena, Diaz)...

Who Is Arrow's New Big Bad? Our Three Craziest Guesses!
By Lindsay MacDonald | Feb 6, 2018 10:00 AM EST
http://www.tvguide.com/news/arrow-season-6-villain-big-bad/

Why Ricardo Diaz Must Be the Real Villain of ‘Arrow’ Season 6 0
BY BRINKWIRE FEBRUARY 3, 2018
http://en.brinkwire.com/120336/why-ricardo-diaz-must-be-the-real-villain-of-arrow-season-6/

Edited February 7, 2018 by tv echo

Trisha · February 7, 2018

Sony Picks Up 'Infinitum' Script from 'Arrow' Co-Creator Marc Guggenheim
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/sony-picks-up-infinitum-script-arrow-creator-marc-guggenheim-1082880

tv echo · February 9, 2018

A.V. Club reviewer gave 613 a C+...

Michael Emerson's great performance isn't lost in a middling Arrow
Allison Shoemaker February 8, 2018
https://www.avclub.com/a-good-performance-makes-a-disappointing-arrow-4-8-15-1-1822860304

Quote

It was probably too much to hope that once Cayden James became aware of the manipulation that led him to weaponize his grief, that he’d get angry and wreak havoc in a new direction, becoming more entertaining and dangerous all at once. Sure, there was a chance that once Team Arrow proved that Oliver wasn’t responsible for the death of James’s son, James would become one of two big bads in this season, a force pushing against both sides, but as both a character and a villain, James got progressively more predictable, and that’s never a good sign. More ominously, he also seemed something less than ferociously intelligent, making him a much less fearsome villain. So the events of “The Devil’s Greatest Trick” come as no great surprise but they’re still a letdown.

What’s not disappointing in the least is that to the end, Emerson digs into every line with tremendous gusto — sometimes almost, but never actually, too much. He treats this stuff like it’s Shakespeare, and while there are some good pieces of writing here, there are some clunkers, too. Yet he makes them sing. Consider the scene where James goes from being ready to blow up the city to take down one person — a person whose identity is uncertain — to blaming himself for his son’s murder because Oliver acted like a dad in his line of sight. That’s ridiculous, but it works, because he’s so committed. He makes that leap, makes it so Cayden makes that leap, and there is no earthly reason that should seem plausible. Such is the power of a great actor, and it’s a rare pleasure, watching a great actor play a great villain.

It’s totally possible that the heretofore ill-defined Ricardo Diaz will also be a great villain. Kirk Acevedo is certainly a capable actor, and that final scene certainly crackled (another fun thing to hear Michael Emerson say: “thinning the herrrrrd”), but unlike the big Cayden James climax, the Diaz reveal isn’t so thunderous that it’s easy to overlook the giant plotholes. Wasn’t Diaz just high-tailing it out of town? How exactly did he intend to stop Cayden James from destroying the city he’s so delighted to conquer when he didn’t know where James or the bomb were? If he’s capable of doing everything required to convince a top-tier criminal hacktivist that his son was murdered by a famous vigilante who isn’t exactly great at covering his tracks, why did he need James in the first place?
* * *
Emerson’s excellence, which we’ll now presumably lack, isn’t enough to compensate for a strange episode. It’s a ticking-clock story in which there’s relatively little urgency, a mystery in which there’s not much hidden, and an hour riddled both with dropped plot-lines and deeply stupid decisions. (William, when there is a giant bomb, do not leave the bunker.) “We saved the city, again,” Felicity says, before remarking that it sure doesn’t feel like they won. Agreed. Felicity. Emerson’s fireworks aside, that was one hell of an anticlimax.

Well, except for one of the most messed-up scenes in Arrow’s history. I can’t find the original post at the moment, but cheers to the commenter who last week remarked that the Quentin-Not Laurel relationship is deeply creepy, because this week that became much more apparent, particularly in that final car scene. Shot in a style different from the rest of the episode, jittery and invasive, the scene in which Quentin handcuffs a bleeding and unconscious Laurel in place in the back of his car can only be described as fucked-up. A man telling a woman he doesn’t really know that somewhere deep inside her is a piece of his dead daughter, then driving away with his bleeding prisoner, is dark and ugly. I have to believe that the manner in which that scene was shot indicates that the show wants us to feel that way, but the story to this point doesn’t say the same.
* * *
Oliver’s little “ugh I don’t wanna do this” look before saying “I have an idea” and calling in a favor from Barry Allen was perfect and funny and also about how I’m feeling about The Flash right now.

Edited February 12, 2018 by tv echo

tv echo · February 9, 2018

EW reviewer gave 613 a C*...

Arrow recap: 'The Devil's Greatest Trick'
CHANCELLOR AGARD February 09, 2018 AT 08:21 AM EST
http://ew.com/recap/arrow-season-6-episode-13/

Quote

Arrow‘s sixth season has been interestingly uneven and messy so far, but the one consistently good thing about it has been Michael Emerson’s performance as Cayden James. In the beginning, it was easy to just to say Emerson was doing the same thing he always does — playing a cold, reserved brainiac. But as the season has worn on, it’s been clear that wasn’t the case. As Cayden, Emerson was bloody terrifying and has brought a tremendous amount of emotion to Cayden’s rather unoriginal quest for revenge. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. In tonight’s episode, we had to bid this tremendously talented actor goodbye.
* * *
With the cabal rounded up, Team Arrow meets up with Cayden, whose hand is glued to a thermobaric bomb detonator as he monologues about finally getting justice for his son. Again, I found Cayden’s quest for revenge rather cliché, but I found Emerson’s heartbreaking speech about what it’s like to lose a child particularly moving — because of Emerson’s super-committed delivery, and not because it was well-written.
* * *
... Diaz pays Cayden a visit in prison and reveals that he did it in order to take over the city and that he has several city officials in his pocket right before he kills him. This revelation makes very little sense. How was Diaz planning on stopping Cayden from detonating the bomb? Was he just banking on Green Arrow being able to stop him? That seems like too much of a risk. Did Diaz intend to rule a city of ash? Either way, Diaz has been a pretty minor player this season, so this twist kind of lands with a thud. However, I’m open to seeing how this shakes out, and I’m definitely excited about a villain who isn’t driven by revenge.
* * *
Tonight’s episode ended on a creepy note: Unsurprisingly, Quentin scooped up a wounded Black Siren and handcuffs her in the back of his car because he fully believes there’s still a piece of his dead daughter inside of her. Then, he drives off as she bleeds in the backseat of his car. That’s majorly twisted and may have soured this entire storyline for me.
* * *
Note about last week’s grade: In hindsight, I wish I had given last week’s episode a C, because I disliked “All For Nothing” more than tonight’s episode. B- seems a bit too generous.

Edited February 9, 2018 by tv echo

tv echo · February 9, 2018

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 13 - The Devil's Greatest Trick
Starman February 8, 2018
http://www.mygeekygeekyways.com/2018/02/arrow-episode-guide-season-6-episode-13.html

Quote

Ricardo Diaz has to be the worst criminal mastermind ever. Supposedly he set up this whole conflict between Green Arrow and Cayden James as a means of taking over the city, yet didn't have any mechanism in place for stopping Cayden James from following through on his plan to blow up the city. Only Team Arrow coming together - despite their fractures - managed to keep his whole plan from falling apart, even though his entire plan is dependent on the team being fractured!
* * *
Michael Emerson's performance as Cayden James is Emmy-worthy.
* * *
Dinah becomes completely irrational and murderous for the sake of making it seem like there is any kind of comparison between her and Black Siren
* * *
Quentin and Laurel's characters are both derailed for the sake of the stupid Black Siren redemption arc. [tv echo: I think he meant to write "Quentin and Dinah's characters" Read the below paragraph.]
* * *
Crap on a cracker, made tolerable only by some excellent acting. The script is Winnickian in its stupidity, with villains who have brilliant plans that put them three steps ahead of the heroes at all times and any victories the heroes have all being part of the plan.The Black Siren redemption arc has now derailed two great characters - Dinah (who is turned into an illogical, murderous harpy to make Faux Laurel seem less evil by comparison) and Quentin (who is now committing multiple crimes helping a wanted murderer escape justice because he wants his baby girl back).

Shockingly, that isn't the worst aspect of the episode. That would be the "surprise" reveal that isn't that surprising, given that we know Black Siren isn't smart enough to have done the work required and Anatoly - ignoring his code of honor - didn't have any reason to turn against Oliver when this plan to strike against him started. By process of elimination - and his being the least developed villain - that means that Diaz has to be the traitor to Team James... but given his goals of running the city, that makes him helping James and not having an out on the plan to blow up the city all the more illogical.

All I know is that this show is going to have an uphill battle trying to redeem itself when it returns on March 1st. As of right now, I'm firmly with the camp of fans who say this series should have stopped with Season 5 like they planned.

Edited February 9, 2018 by tv echo

tv echo · February 9, 2018

613 review by that pro-Laurel writer...

Arrow Season 6 Episode 13 Review: The Devil’s Greatest Trick
Delia Harrington Feb 9, 2018
http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/arrow/270847/arrow-season-6-episode-13-review-the-devil-s-greatest-trick

Quote

About Laurel – with every episode, it becomes increasingly clear that the show intends to have Quentin uncover some kernel of goodness in Black Siren, which will lead to some sort of emotional breakthrough that will essentially result in a one-for-one swap of Laurels. This is frustrating. They had a perfectly good Laurel Lance already, and her death was rightfully questioned at the time.

While some might say that replacing Laurel with, er, herself is righting that wrong, it actually cheapens it for me. The one thing I liked about OG Laurel’s death was that other characters reacted appropriately. That is, the entire show truly mourned for the loss. To undo all of that means that the writers got to use Laurel as motivation for Oliver and to raise the stakes for that arc and then simply hit the redo button later on when it’s convenient, having their cake and eating it, too.

Beyond that, Black Siren isn’t really bringing much new to the table, from a story perspective. Quentin has already grappled with an assassin daughter and with a daughter who comes back to life. The show has already revived a Lance sister and sent her on an emotional walkabout. This was rendered even weirder by the fact that for a short while, Diggle had a daughter named after the wrong dead Lance, when Sara was back and Laurel was dead. But rather than deal with that quirk of their own making, the writers used Barry’s Flashpoint meddling to “correct” this problem by gender-swapping Diggle’s kid, which had the added benefit of giving the side effects of Flashpoint some serious and far-reaching weight.

Edited February 9, 2018 by tv echo

tv echo · February 9, 2018

ARROW: "THE DEVIL'S GREATEST TRICK" REVIEW
BY JESSE SCHEEDEN 8 FEB 2018
http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/02/09/arrow-the-devils-greatest-trick-review?abthid=5a7d25e85b17b74d0c0000ec

Quote

The three-way manhunt for James’ ex-partners helped get this week’s conflict off to a fast-paced, exciting start. It also dovetailed nicely with the escalating tensions between Black Canary and Black Siren, the former of whom is almost completely consumed by a thirst for vengeance at this point. The first half of the episode boasted a strong blend of martial arts goodness, suspense and solid character drama as Dinah’s relationships to her former Team Arrow allies and to Quentin were sorely tested.

Unfortunately, “The Devil’s Greatest Trick” started to lose some of that momentum once all the big players were gathered together under one roof. Part of that is simply that the big mystery of the Arclight betrayer wasn’t much of a mystery at all. Once it was made clear that one of James’ three partners was the traitor (and therefore, the real evil mastermind driving Season 6’s conflict), was there any doubt as to their identity? Of course it was going to be Ricardo Diaz. Heck, the title of this episode practically gave that away on its own. I’d rather the writers jump straight to that reveal rather than muddy the waters by having the villains escape once again. Because of that, the final showdown between James and Ollie didn’t carry quite the weight and sense of dread it needed.
* * *
For the time being, I’m very mixed on the idea of Diaz taking over as Season 6’s main villain. On one hand, yes, this show really needed something - anything - more creative than another bad guy who wants to blow up Star City because his kid got killed. There’s something to the notion of Diaz as an ambitious, pragmatic crime lord. He’s not motivated by some elaborate revenge plot against the Green Arrow. He’s just a crime boss who sees an opportunity in Star City and has the presence of mind to keep to the shadows, unlike Danny Brickwell before him. In that sense, he is fairly unique among Arrow’s major villains.

On the other hand, this reveal might have carried more weight if the series had given us much reason to care about Diaz one way or the other. He’s been such a non-entity up until now. You can see the method behind the writers’ madness now. They obviously had a purpose in mind with keeping Diaz out of the spotlight. But that’s still no excuse for failing to flesh out a character who’s suddenly become such a critical player in Season 6. Nor does it really justify devoting so much time to Cayden James, a character who now is revealed to have been merely a means to a greater end.
* * *
A couple sidebars worth mentioning. Firstly, for a brief time I actually wondered if the writers were going to throw a huge curve ball and reveal William as the evil mastermind. His squirrely behavior in this episode seemed very odd, even with the justification that he needed to be close to his father while the threat of death loomed. Honestly, I would have loved for the series to veer in such a crazy direction, but alas.

tv echo · February 9, 2018

NUKES, TWISTS AND THE CAYDEN JAMES STORY COMES TO AN END IN THE LATEST ARROW
Trent Moore February 8, 2018
http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/nukes-twists-and-the-cayden-james-story-comes-to-an-end-in-the-latest-arrow

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In his final appearance, Cayden James finally became a rogue worth having around in the Arrowverse. The mysterious, evil hacker has always ben drawn with broad strokes, with a seemingly random vendetta against Oliver driving his entire crusade. But it turns out the super-intelligent hacker played by Michael Emerson was a far more tragic figure than most fans expected. His son’s murder was all a ploy to push him into conflict with the Green Arrow, and after realizing it, James is left a broken shell of a man who surrenders—realizing that blowing up Star City to kill the man who killed his son is no way to honor his memory.
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But, that anonymity is likely coming to an end soon. Arrow managed to clear the board from the James’ arc and set the stage for Diaz. He seems to be a throwback type of villain, aimed at dominating crime in the city. Sure, we’ve seen that before, but Fringe alum Kirk Acevedo brings a menace to the role that could be a whole lot of fun to see.
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*Dinah continues to go rogue, spending most of the episode tracking Black Siren. She almost kills her, too, if not for Oliver busting in to save the day. This has proven an interesting story for Dinah, though you have to wonder where they’re taking her longterm. If they really do redeem Laurel at some point, is there room for two Canaries?
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*Lance ends the episode seemingly in the wind with an injured Black Siren in his back seat. After all the losses Quentin has suffered in his life, you have to hope he can find a way to redeem Earth-2 Laurel. There seems to be some humanity still in there, and hitching that wagon to Lance was a clever way to ground that story in some human stakes. It’s not just about saving Laurel—it’s about Lance trying to find some semblance of connection with the daughter he lost.

tv echo · February 9, 2018

Arrow, ‘The Devil’s Greatest Trick’: Cayden James Saga Comes to an Abrupt End
BY CRAIG WACK · FEBRUARY 9, 2018
http://oohlo.com/2018/02/09/arrow-the-devils-greatest-trick-cayden-james-saga-comes-to-an-abrupt-end/

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What’s the scoop: Cayden James’s pre-villain life played out like a millennial update of Harry Chapin’s’ “Cat’s in the Cradle“:

Missed my son’s ballgame just the other day

He’s a baller and can really play

But there were computers to hack and men to make pay

Then my boy was killed by an arrow now EVERYTHING MUST BUUUURRRRRNNNN!!!
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Meanwhile in B-plot land: And in the redemption arc no one wanted, we get more of Quentin trying to save his daughter from another dimension. Quentin is hanging on to any thread as confirmation that some sliver of his daughter exists, and ignoring Laurel saying things like “I’m not your daughter” or “I enjoy killing people.” The situation is complicated by Dinah’s Revenge Tour 2018, which means about every two minutes, Temporary Canary shows up to try to whoop some Laurel ass. When James’ morality play falls apart, Dinah is there to stop Laurel from escaping; there’s a scuffle, and Dinah disarms Quentin and gut-shoots Laurel. Black Siren manages to survive, but she’s probably going to wish she didn’t because Quentin has patched her up, and is going to try to cure his pseudo-daughter of her wickedness. Don’t be surprised if the next time we see Laurel she’s in her underwear, chained to a radiator like something out of Black Snake Moan.

Sex and the Olicity: It was a “No time for love, Dr. Jones” kind of night. Too much stuff going on for exposition breaks, makeouts, or tie straightening.
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Last impressions: On one hand, the Cayden James-bomb drama was starting to overstay its welcome, so some credit is due for wrapping up that piece of the piece of the story. However, what we’re left with (Laurel redemption, Team Arrow vs. Team Dinah’s Revenge, Diaz as Star City crime lord) doesn’t feel like it’s going to be strong or compelling enough to carry the story through the end of the season, once Arrow returns from its Olympics break. So, overall, this episode wound up being a mixed-bag. The action sequences were good, and the looming threat of incineration gave the episode some stakes. But, the character flip-flops (looking at you William), Dinah being so mad she keeps forgetting she has powers, and the continuing tension between Ollie and his onetime trainees really dragged the whole episode down.

Edited February 9, 2018 by tv echo

tv echo · February 10, 2018

Arrow Review: The Devil’s Greatest Trick (Season 6 Episode 13)
February 9, 2018 Brianna Martinez
https://www.telltaletv.com/2018/02/arrow-review-the-devils-greatest-trick-season-6-episode-13/

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Here’s the thing with Lance’s continuing crusade to save the person he thinks is his daughter: Black Siren is not his daughter, never was his daughter, and has no desire to take his daughter’s place (as creepy as that whole idea is) or to be redeemed in any way. If she says as much, shouldn’t we just take her word for it?
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That’s what makes this whole situation frustrating and seeing Quentin’s unwillingness to come to terms with it every week makes it much more upsetting, especially when he’s attacking the people who were there for him.
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With the focus on villains, the reveal that we’ve been waiting for drops, as Ricardo “The Dragon” Diaz takes the stage. It’s a surprise, and I’m still not sure what to make of it. Beyond what happened between him and Diggle, there’s nothing substantive on the man.
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There were no signs that indicated he even seemed like the tech-y, manipulative type of villain that could have pulled off that video doctoring. But there’s still time to flesh The Dragon out, I suppose. Though the villainy bar is set at Adrian Chase/Simon Morrison/Prometheus and only time will tell if whatever The Dragon is planning will rise to it.
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Michael Emerson’s limited time on screen is compelling when he isn’t being crowded by this cabal, with an air of looming danger. But James’ ending feels like a fizzle instead of a pop.

There were opportunities to have him loom larger with his abilities and focus on each member of the team. But those opportunities were lost as each episode went along and a few threads, like Felicity’s digital fingerprints all over that system on Arrow Season 6 Episode 4, “Reversal,” that just continue to dangle.
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Dinah’s currently the only newbie with any justified anger, and it’s not even directed at Oliver and OTA.
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The others continue their same song and dance, and it’s getting tired. The repetitive nature of what Rene and Curtis are doing is hurting their chances of the pair ever looking even remotely reasonable.
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I can’t be the only one who thinks that this drama with the newbies is getting stale with the same lines being thrown around every week. You know the one.