Spoilers Arrow - Season 6

[Christopher]

I thought it would've been better if Diaz hadn't actually set the guy on fire -- if he'd decided that just seeing his childhood bully so broken and powerless, and leaving him to live with that knowledge of his weakness, was the better revenge. If he'd realized that he hadn't needed to kill the guy because he'd already conquered his demons. He would've been a more impressive figure if he'd done that. The fact that he went through with it anyway showed that he's not as smart as he thinks he is -- that he ultimately is just a thug, and that his fear still controls him.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

I'm officially caught up on season 6 of Arrow. I hated to see the team split up (veterans vs new team and Ollie and John), but I thought it made good drama. I'm curious how Team Arrow will win the battle for Star City this year.

And I thought Gotham and Marvel's NYC were hell holes to live in. I can't imagine anyone willing staying in Star Cities after so much chaos and several near extinction level threats.

I'd how I'd rank season 6 yet. As for the other 5 seasons, it would look something like this.

5 = 4 < 3 < 1 < 2

Ranking the flashback stories:
5. S4: Shadowspire and the Idol
4. S3: Katana, Maseo and the Alpha&Omega Virus
3. S1: Ollie, Slade, and Fyers
2. S5: Ollie, Anatoly and the Bratva
1. S2: Dr. Ivo, the AMAZO and the Mirakuru

 

[tomalak301]

So if I understand your rankings, you thought Season 2 was the worst season of the series so far? Any particular reason why?

I loved Season 2 because until Season 5, it really felt like a personal season and I was a big fan of Slade Wilson and that arc.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

So if I understand your rankings, you thought Season 2 was the worst season of the series so far? Any particular reason why?

I loved Season 2 because until Season 5, it really felt like a personal season and I was a big fan of Slade Wilson and that arc.

Oops. My bad. I got the signs backwards. Changing now.

 

[Mage]

You know, not sure what to make of the last episode.... I like Kirk Acevedo, but Diaz is just a really boring character. So, as much as I appreciated the performances given in this episode, it was a bit of dull watch.

I'm getting the feeling this season isn't so much about the main villian, but the personal struggles of each teammember. So, suddenly focusing a whole episode on the villian and trying to make his character interesting just doesn't work for me.

 

[Christopher]

Nice to see the one surviving team back in action, even if it's incomplete. Mister Terrific was in rare form with the trucks.

For a while, it looked like teamwork was killing it while Oliver's "back to basics" solo approach was a complete failure. But Ollie turned out to be playing a long game to win Anatoly back over. Right at the same time that Black Siren is ready to side with Quentin over Diaz. For a guy who's convinced he's a winner now, Diaz sure is losing allies fast.

By the way, I rewatched last week's Diaz-focus episode, and in the opening flashback, when the bully burned the picture and threw it in the wastebasket, I remembered Diaz's line later in the episode that he reached into the fire and badly blistered his hand to get the picture back. But... it was a very lightweight little wastebasket. It would've been much easier and safer to just kick it over, tip the picture out onto the floor, and stamp out the fire with his shoe. So now I'm thinking... Diaz isn't all that smart, is he? And this week, we're starting to see that more. He really isn't a mastermind on the same level as Prometheus. I guess maybe he was never supposed to be. Maybe the real big bad this season is Oliver being his own worst enemy.

With Rene's problems with compartmentalization, I kept hoping someone would suggest that he rely on the mask to help him. A mask and hero name can really help focus a dual identity, assist with getting into character, as it were. I wanted someone to say to him, "Be Zoe's dad the rest of the time, but when you put on the mask, just be Wild Dog."

 

[SAndrews10]

Maybe there will be more to it but way to kill the twist surprise for next week CW promo department

 

[Dick Whitman]

Maybe there will be more to it but way to kill the twist surprise for next week CW promo department

They likely did that to ensure some of the many viewers this show has lost return next week.

 

[Kirk Prime]

Honestly, so far, I think this is the worst season by far. I get the reason for breaking up the team, but the problem is, the newer characters are not very likeable. Curtis is the exception, but Rene and Dinah could get screamed to death by evil Laurel, and I wouldn't care at all.

I'm also wondering if there's something going on with Stephen Amell. It's like the last couple of episodes he was barely involved. We saw him more this week, but still for a show named Arrow, he's been a little less involved the last 2 weeks.

This season just hasn't worked for me, especially the second half. The good news is that maybe the addition of Roy Harper next year will help right the ship. I'm hoping next year we will see much less of Rene and Dinah and do something interesting like bring back original Laurel. Staying dead is not something comic book characters do, and I'd like to see the better Black Canary back in action. Plus, it might be fun to have original Laurel exist in the same universe as Black Siren.

 

[dahj]

I knew those crazy kids would get back together... Ollie+Anatoly 4LIFE

Didn't watch the promo so I remain unspoilt for next week, please keep it that way

 

[SAndrews10]

Thanks to The Flash introducing Siren-X this week and it being vague what happened to her I just have this awful feeling Black Siren bites it this season and we have Siren-X on Arrow next season.

 

[Christopher]

Thanks to The Flash introducing Siren-X this week and it being vague what happened to her I just have this awful feeling Black Siren bites it this season and we have Siren-X on Arrow next season.

That seems unlikely to me. Black Siren may have been introduced on The Flash, but she's become an Arrow character, and what happens to her is a function of what the Arrow producers have in mind. I'd think that Siren-X was probably introduced so that The Flash could get a Katie Cassidy appearance (and give Citizen Cold a Reichsman opponent who hasn't been killed off yet) without having to impinge upon Black Siren's arc on Arrow. Crossovers aside, these are all still separate shows with their own different creative teams.

 

[Jayson1]

WOW. Diaz was absolutely brutal. Shooting and beating up henchmen is one thing, that's par for the course, but using the son of the Quadrant's leader as a suicide bomber against his will and then the last scene where he sets the guy on fire was incredibly violent. Even Laurel winced a few times at the extreme violence.

I actually didn't think it went far enough. I was expecting him to kill the guys family. Burning him alive seems almost like the safe choice if your trying to show just how much Diaz hates the guy and has no empathy at all.

Jason

 

[Jayson1]

Why, though? They don't really have that many "teen" shows. The only teen-centric shows in their current lineup are The 100 and Riverdale. Otherwise, their lineup is dominated by the DC superhero shows, which are all centered on adults, and Supernatural, whose leads are in their upper 30s now. Plus The Vampire Diaries and its spinoff, whose lead characters are supposedly centuries old. I guess they've had a number of teen-centric shows in the past, like Gossip Girl, the 90210 remake, and The Tomorrow People and Star-Crossed, but I wouldn't say their lineup has ever been dominated by such shows. So I'm puzzled where this perception came from.

Besides, even if an expectation exists, it doesn't make sense for that preconception to overwrite the obvious facts. If you actually watch the Arrowverse shows, they are unambiguously about adults. Reality should outweigh expectation, not the other way around.

I think any show that features any good looking and early to to mid 20's aged actors sort of fit under the same category in people's minds. Calling it a teenage show is basically just a old term where it means something a little different than what it use to. Plus many people don't watch the CW so for many it's just a old sterotype. I'm sure their are some people out their that still think UPN is around. I always wonder about the scope of people knowledge about other networks beyond the select few they tend to watch the most.

Jason

 

[Christopher]

Plus many people don't watch the CW so for many it's just a old sterotype.

That's hardly a defense. Stereotypes are wrong. They should be challenged and corrected, not excused.

 

[Jayson1]

That's hardly a defense. Stereotypes are wrong. They should be challenged and corrected, not excused.

Maybe but in the end it's not really a big deal. It's just public perception of the type of shows people think a Network makes. Everyone sort of expects certain things from the various "Networks." You go to HBO and you except gritty and cussing and nudity and all that stuff. In fact I wouldn't be shocked if CW likes that label, I mean most of their shows are comic book shows so the idea of being a network aimed for youth might be seen as very attractive since you expect young people to enjoy the genre you have embraced. Only becomes a issue if they every try and do their "Mr Robot." I don't think people were expecting that kind of show from the USA network. It can take tine for people to adjust their expectations.

Jason

 

[dahj]

TV stopped being a local thing a while ago, and overseas nobody cares which network any of this is on, and in that regard CW's quite progressive for a traditional network. Almost all of their programming is available internationally through Netflix within days, and they've mostly got genre programming with decently sized online fanbases, I'd even argue that Arrowverse is way more talked about online than whatever the heck is the no.1 scripted show in Nielsen ratings these days, but I literally have no clue which one it is so I can't make that argument

 

[Jayson1]

TV stopped being a local thing a while ago, and overseas nobody cares which network any of this is on, and in that regard CW's quite progressive for a traditional network. Almost all of their programming is available internationally through Netflix within days, and they've mostly got genre programming with decently sized online fanbases, I'd even argue that Arrowverse is way more talked about online than whatever the heck is the no.1 scripted show in Nielsen ratings these days, but I literally have no clue which one it is so I can't make that argument

I don't know if it's the top ranked show but if I had to make a bet it would be "Game of Thrones." I think you are right about the Arrowverse. Only thing closer might be "Discovery." though maybe collectively you could say Netflix in general both shows and movies and people even track what's coming and going ever month.

Jason

 

[Mage]

I dunno man. Diaz is just a very, very, very, very boring villian. Cayden, despite his generic motivations, was atleast somewhat interesting as in that he wasn't some strong villian with a shitty past or a ubermensch. He was just a guy really. Having Diaz, your basic 'I was tormented as a kid and become a thug who's now a crimelord' villian, as the shows centerpoint to beat... It's boring. I've said it before, I don't think the actual intent was to be original with their villian this season, and internal strife be the demon to conquer. Thing is, there's fudging that one up aswell in terms of execution.

So, good ideas this season I think, but badly executed. Looking forward to finally being done with this baddy and hoping for something more awesome next year.

 

[Christopher]

I dunno, I think Kirk Acevedo makes Diaz compelling to watch, even as it becomes clearer that he's limited and fatally flawed.

Admittedly, it is hard to believe that Black Siren would be afraid of Diaz. As ruthless and brutal as he is, she could still kill him with a whistle. Quentin even said as much, but her explanation wasn't convincing.

Unless... Maybe what scares Laurel-2 is that she feels she needs to follow men like him and seek their approval. First Zolomon, then Prometheus, then Cayden, now Diaz. And she's now coming to realize how empty and self-destructive that dependence is. She could easily dispose of Diaz on a physical level, but maybe she can't imagine herself free of him or someone like him, and so is afraid to act.