Mid-Season Recap: ARROW Season 6

We’re back to talk about Arrow season six! We last left off, with Oliver getting [mostly] everyone off of Lian Yu, Slade going on a quest to find his son, and Green Arrow’s identity being revealed. A reminder that this is a spoiler recap so come back later if you’re not caught up. We also can’t cover every single detail. If I miss anything (likely) sorry in advance. So with that out of the way – let’s get into it.

Ollie has to deal with being under investigation as his identity was revealed in the previous episode. The show episode ends with the picture being fake, but that doesn’t stop Agent Waston (Sydelle Noel) from proceeding to push on. All of this is happening while Oliver is trying to start a relationship with William. It gets even crazier when Anatoly returns to try and get $20 million dollars from Star City. Couldn’t he have found a closer city whose mayor wasn’t an arrow-shooting maniac? After the Team got off of Lian Yu, we find out that Diggle suffered nerve damage on Lian Yu and can shoot his gun straight. This results in Rene getting hurt and sent to the hospital. This plays a major role throughout the entire first half of the season. It becomes an even bigger issue when Oliver decides to stop being the Green Arrow. Diggle takes five episodes before he tells Oliver or the team the truth. Dinah knows that Diggle is risking his (and the team’s) safety by keeping it a secret. This character arc got boring and irritating really quick. Diggle of all people should know that lies aren’t good for a team. That and he turned to illegal steroids for help. This entire storyline felt out of character and wasn’t even enjoyable.

With Dig now in charge, Team Arrow is going up against a new antagonist, Cayden James (Michael Emerson). James has joined forces with Black Siren and wants to split Team Arrow apart. Apparently, Oliver killed his son and now he wants revenge. He managed to make the team look like criminals by dressing his goons as cops. Making it appear that the Team beat the police them to a pulp. He’s beating the team with his smarts. His motives are very similar to Prometheus, but his methods are completely different. He’s more akin to Zemo from Captain America: Civil War or The Thinker on The Flash. Emerson is great in the role but I really wish they gave him more to do. Hopefully, in the second half of the season, he gets more of the spotlight.

While all of this was happening; Oliver still got his crime-fighting fix. Slade comes back to Star City and wants Oliver to help him find his son. We get an amazing two-episode arc where we focus on Deathstroke. It’s easily the highlight of the season so far. Slade’s story is framed in classic Arrow fashion, flashbacks. We see a young two-eyed Deathstroke and his son Joe go on a camping trip. You think it’s a little Father/Son bonding, but of course, Slade is there for another reason. His name is The Terminator after all. The point is, Joe saw Slade kill and wanted to become just like his father. In the present day, Slade thinks Joe was taken by a group known as the Jackals. He decides to save him alone; killing everyone in his path. In one take, we see just how amazing Deathstroke is. We learn that Joe is the leader of the Jackals. Slade finds out the truth and is hurt that his son went down this path.

We later find out that Slade and Joe reunited after he returned from Lian Yu. At that point in time, he was still full of the Mirakuru from season two. Slade feels like he failed as a father because of how his son turned out. That’s the major flaw in this story. Joe doesn’t get time to develop. We know some details but not nearly enough. He sees his Dad kill a guy and thinks “Hey, I wanna do that!”? No, most kids would be terrified. What really holds this together is Manu Bennett and Stephen Amell. The relationship between Oliver and Slade is what made the first two seasons so great, and it still holds true here in season six. Slade knows it’s going to be hard to save Joe, but he isn’t going to give up. He also wants to find his other son, one he previously didn’t know existed. Slade tells Oliver to go back to William keep a relationship with the people he loves. They say their goodbyes and Slade makes his exit. This is probably the last time we see Slade Wilson. If that’s the case, then what an exit.

Back with Team Arrow, we learn that Dinah’s former partner is Vigilante. Not much I can say on that front because I don’t know enough about him. He was a cop who was shot when the Particle Accelerator exploded. This resulted in him becoming ~~Dead-Face Man~~ Vigilante! He and Dinah have a little fight, but I honestly have nothing to say. It’s something we have to watch develop in the second half of the season. Moving on, we finally get Diggle off his steroids so that’s good. Curtis tries to help his condition, but he ends up makes it worse. Meaning, Diggle has to back off from being the Green Arrow, making way for Ollie to put the hood on once again. Once Oliver comes back, he fights Nazis with a few legendary friends, gets married, and kills himself. It’s pretty boring to be quite honest (I kid, click the links). Also, Thea woke up! It’s a Thanksgiving miracle!

As the season reached its halfway point, we find out that one of the Team members is going to testify against Oliver [it’s Rene], revealing the truth. Ollie doesn’t trust anyone [again]; so he has Felicity spy on everyone. They don’t take it very well and break up. It feels like we’ve done this before. Oliver has trust issues, it damages the team, they fight, he kinda apologizes, they come back. I hate that we’re doing this again, but hopefully, they do something different with it. I do like that Cayden James built up a team of his own. That should be fun.

This season has had its ups and downs but it has been entertaining. Let’s see if the second half hits the mark. For reviews on Arrow and all the DC TV shows, stay tuned.

Arrow returns January 18th on The CW.