Arrow S06 E07: Thanksgiving

In the lull between the two-part Deathstroke backdoor pilot and the big crossover this year (Barry and Iris’ wedding/Crisis on Earth-X) we’re getting a quiet little holiday episode.  And if you believe that, I bet you’ll also believe Oliver won’t be suiting up as the Green Arrow again.  Villains are on the march this Thanksgiving, and only Team Arrow can stop them. 

As we open on Oliver doing charity work and opening ground on the new police headquarters, and of course as always dodging claims that he is actually the Green Arrow.  Before the real action starts, I am stunned that reporters are still pulling at the secret identity thread.  Has no one noticed the juicier stories of the on again/off again girlfriend, the suddenly appearing son, and a sister in a coma?  Seems to me there are other stories to report. 

Regardless the ceremony is broken by the very public arrest by FBI agent Samanda Watson for his crimes as the Green Arrow. She seems to have it all worked out, including that John Diggle is now the Green Arrow and Roy Harper was The Hood, all under Oliver’s directives.  From the previews and the opening sequences, it’s all too easy to see what will happen here. Multiple attacks by villains, principally Cayden James and the Black Siren, will convince Watson that the Green Arrow is needed. 

With Oliver under heavy watch and Diggle’s drug problems blowing up in everyone’s face, this is not a good Thanksgiving.  Felicity is feeling left out as it’s Curtis that put their company’s prototype in Diggle’s system.  It would seem that Felicity only has leadership skills when the writers want her to. We do see an intriguing consistency with Oliver however, he’s a better leader out of costume than in costume.  Does the Green Arrow costume itself lower the wearer’s IQ?

We get some interesting name drops and returns this episode.  Jean Loring, who in the comics was Ray Palmer’s wife and later Eclipso, is Oliver’s lawyer once again.  The Sunderland Corporation is one of the places raided by the Black Siren.  Sunderland in the comics is a typical evil corporation with ties to Lex Luthor, Doctor Moon, and the Floronic Man that has run afoul of the Swamp Thing on several occasions, among others. 

And then there’s Billy Joel, what the hell was that about?  We also got a few moments with poor forgotten Thea who miraculously woke up in time for the ending of the episode.  The whole plan of the villains was to get a one on one conversation between Cayden James and Oliver, to let him know this vendetta was for his son Owen, and to get video footage to sway the vigilante vote. 

As always, like a tradition, the pre-crossover episode has represented a temporary tying of loose ends, a leveling of the field, and this year is no different.  I just wish it was.  This show is always better when it’s not predictable.

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Next: Crisis on Earth-X!