The most obvious place to begin a review of "Life Sentence" is at the end, with Oliver Queen staring directly at the camera and telling the world that he is the Green Arrow. It's an interesting choice to throw at the series, considering the typical formula for a season of Arrow mostly revolves around Oliver running into a villain that threatens the city, stumbling along the way trying to stop them, only to find out how to defeat them at the end. With the conclusion of season six though, it throws the formula into an interesting mix by ending it not entirely on a cliffhanger, but with a new status quo on the horizon, and with some unresolved plots. It's a bold choice for a show that has, at points, become so formulaic to shift gears, especially as season six basically signals a new era of the show after season five concluded the five-year journey and format it had followed since the show's inception.
By all means, making Oliver's secret identity public might result in an actual change in how Arrow operates. It may not change at a fundamental level where a villain strikes out and Oliver and his team need to bring them to justice, but it means that the dynamics at play - planning, gathering leads and waiting for a moment to strike - could possibly change as the scenes no longer needs to be played with an air of subterfuge behind it, though what could replace it is anyone's guess. The writers, producers, and the star have said that the finale's big moment would not be walked back. Naturally one assumes this is the public identity reveal, so it will be interesting to see how it shakes out not only on Arrow, but also its sister shows.
As for the finale, it made the move to have Oliver attempt to reconcile with many of his teammates as the episode continued. To follow suit, it's just as proper to address the finale and season as a whole by working through most of the characters.
Oliver - It's not a real surprise he had to reach out to the FBI to help him take back Star City, as Diaz's reach became too far entrenched. It's an interesting choice, again, to have him reveal his secret identity to everyone. As he tells Felicity, keeping the city safe was more important than having a life after being the Green Arrow. Even if they ultimately didn't apprehend Ricardo Diaz in the end. So that plan didn't really work out, but at least he more or less got everyone back together.
Felicity - Mostly to check in and see how "Olicity" is, and this season generally kept it to a minimum considering all the drama about William and his mother was quickly dispensed with and any relationship drama was kept in a more adult fashion while also in the superhero realm without the melodrama that has been associated with the ship's low points in season three and four.
Diggle - Made probably some of the most movement this season of everyone else as he took on the mantle of Green Arrow, lost it because he kept his condition a secret from everyone, then left to try to make it on his own at ARGUS. He still has the costume, so it's not a problem if he had to put on the costume in the future. He's also the last principal character from the very start of the show, and the history that he and Oliver share always play out amazingly, whether it's the two men butting heads or working together.
William - I was hoping for a little more, but as Cayden James went away, I guess so did the little father-son dynamics found in the earlier episodes of the season also followed suit. William became mostly an empty vessel that finally accepted his father and realized he had to stay as the Green Arrow. I did enjoy the obstacles he and Oliver had to overcome since the start of the season, and there might be something there, if only the show wants to do anything with it.
Rene - His main emotional attachment is his daughter, so it makes sense for the show to deploy that relationship as much as possible. It's a shame, again, that Rene features very little while Oliver is trying to work on his parent game when Rene is present as was Diggle (though his child is basically an afterthought in comparison), except when required to as a plot point. His phone call scene in the finale does work off the character work in the past few episodes and his concerns about not being to compartmentalize. Hopefully it caries forward next season.
Dinah - Looking back, the Vigilante reveal being Vincent made quite a bit of sense, seeing as Dinah in season five basically had a completed arc following the episode that Oliver recruited her after she avenged the death of Vincent. She otherwise worked well with the group and didn't really cause undue friction in the team. Dinah in particular seemed much too level-headed most of the time to really create drama around, especially to work towards the splitting of Team Arrow in the middle of season six.
Curtis - It really feels like Curtis got the really short end of the stick when it came to everyone else in season six. He exists mostly to get dunked on by any capable villains. His only real redeeming moments are talking Dinah down from killing Laurel and being capable when attacking the Quadrant's weapon shipments. Even the romantic subplot between him and Nick feel like an afterthought as there's barely anything to justify a side character we've seen for maybe fifteen minutes is supposed to be a genuine relationship after his divorce. I do want to see a story like this for real, it's just that nothing is grabbing me.
Quentin - As the big veteran actor to remain on Arrow, there was always material to be mined between him and Oliver, especially as the father-son dynamic continued. There was no real short supply of those moments either in the finale or during the season either. Quentin was a bit uneven otherwise in season six as there were long stretches of him either mostly in a C-level plot with Thea, or having to act as if winning Black Siren over to the good side was basically his new addiction. Still, the paternal aspect of his character generally won out over any bumps along the way, so it's sad to see him go.
Laurel - Also somewhat uneven, but generally entertaining to watch. It'll be interesting to see where Laurel will go now that she's somewhat a morally grey villain like Deathstroke (without DC movie embargos), but she'll be more of a regular appearance and hopefully not as overbearing as Malcolm at the worst of times. Without a connection to Quentin to latch onto, she's back to being fake Earth-1 Laurel Lance, which means she will have to play the part somewhat as a truly public figure and give Oliver someone to relate to, possibly.
Ricardo Diaz - It's interesting to keep him alive to be used in season seven, because it means that through all the faults made by the writing team, they're willing to salvage what they created rather than putting him firmly away and pretending he more or less didn't exist and drawing up new plans with someone else. At least for now, he might not make it to the midseason finale. It looks like he's teamed up with the Longbow Hunters, but they will remain mostly mysterious until next season. Hopefully by then Diaz will have time to cool down and come up with an equally manipulative plan and dial down on the "just hurt everyone Oliver cares about" plan that's mostly driven by blind rage. There were plenty of opportunities to show Diaz as this cold, shrewd strategist, but any setbacks always set him down a frustrating path (for both the character and audience). Hopefully they can get back to the drawing table for this one.
All-in-all, much of the finale felt like it wanted to just move forward and sweep most of the poorly-received developments under the rug. Reconciliations came quick and fast for Oliver and many of his allies that he wronged, though it was a smart idea to package the idea as him giving his last wishes before being hauled away by the FBI to help fix a problem he should've kept the ball on. I say that because again the show never truly convinced me that Ricardo Diaz was actually the man who could've outsmarted a master hacker with poorly doctored videos of his son's murder and could willingly play a low-level stooge until it was the right time to strike, and somehow had the city in the palm of his hand shortly after he killed him. Some of it was poor setup, but some of it was also just Arrow just telling us without showing us the details we needed to make it seem convincing. But regardless, it does a good job by sticking the landing, and sometimes that's all you need to do to have the audience leave on a high note and come back for more.
After six years, having Oliver tell everyone "I am the Green Arrow" to end the season is more than enough to keep me watching for more.
Miscellaneous thoughts:
- This will be my last post on this blog, as I will be starting over fresh on something that feels more focused. I'll still be reviewing TV, most likely Arrow next season, if not something soon. 23 episodes is a huge task but I'm glad to have done it and a treat to review week-to-week. This one was a little (much more) late, I admit, but still fun nonetheless. Thanks for anyone who's read any of my TV reviews or (gasp) stuck with me for any amount of time.
- Hopefully the Longbow Hunters reference comes about to something interesting. If you haven't read the comic of the same name, give it a try.
- Almost forgot, but Anatoly is still alive and still as Anatoly as ever. Check.
- No salmon ladders, and not quite sure if there will be a new base, or maybe the new base of operations will be Rene's apartment, since Zoe is probably cool with it.
- As for other casting news for next season, it seems like Roy will be back. If so, I guess maybe Thea can return, or she can come back in the same capacity as Lyla, where she's mostly a sounding board for Roy when he keeps letting the villain escape or something.
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