Spoilers Arrow Season 7

[Christopher]

By the way, it turns out that Felicity's magic instant DNA-reading tech isn't too far from reality -- turns out there's already a tech that can do it in 90 minutes and that police forces are starting to adopt so that they no longer need days of lab work:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/science/dna-crime-gene-technology.html

Although it's no surprise that the beleaguered SCPD hasn't yet upgraded to it.


Oh, and I forgot to mention -- I noticed that a certain actress's credit has been changed to Katie Cassidy Rodgers. Turns out she got married last month.

 

[dahj]

So what are we... some kind of Suicide Squad Ghost Initiative?

I'm guessing they can use the concept but not the name? Still good to see the return of Suicide Squad to the series.

The indignation from Oliver and Felicity at Robert abandoning his daughter would have felt more true if they hadn't recently shipped William off to who knows where.

Curtis was suspiciously not mentioned when discussing the tattoo in the future...

All in all, an enjoyable episode, I liked Emiko and am looking forward to the family reunion next week.

It's interesting that Dinah and Rene reverse their roles

Speaking of reversals, Season 1 was about blowing up the Glades so that the rest of Star(ling) City can flourish, and the villainous plot in the future is the reverse of that, blowing up the rest of Star City so the Glades can flourish...

It would only be fitting if the baddie in Future Rene's office turns out to be the clone son of Robert Queen and Malcolm Merlyn.

 

[Christopher]

So what are we... some kind of Suicide Squad Ghost Initiative?

I'm guessing they can use the concept but not the name?

Justice League Unlimited had to call them Task Force X, though that's because the censors wouldn't let them say "suicide" in a kids' show.

The indignation from Oliver and Felicity at Robert abandoning his daughter would have felt more true if they hadn't recently shipped William off to who knows where.

William is exactly why Oliver is so offended by this. What Moira did to Emiko and her mother is essentially the same thing she did to William's mother when Oliver got her pregnant -- shunted her off somewhere and hid her existence from Oliver and the world. In order to avoid a family embarrassment, she deprived him of the right to know his son -- and now it turns out, his sister as well. He has a right to be indignant.

 

[dahj]

William is exactly why Oliver is so offended by this. What Moira did to Emiko and her mother is essentially the same thing she did to William's mother when Oliver got her pregnant

Yeah, I got that from Oliver's face when he heard Moira was behind it (by the way Amell has been knocking it out of the park acting-wise recently), I'm just pointing out the irony of William currently being shipped away and feeling abandoned...

 

[Christopher]

The difference is, Felicity sent William away to keep him safe from murder, while Moira sent Emiko's mother away to keep the Queens safe from scandal.

 

[Nerys Myk]

So with Emiko I suppose that gives Oliver one full sister.

How does that work when then only share one parent?

 

[The Realist]

How does that work when then only share one parent?

Think it was a little joke. Two half sisters = one full sister.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Think it was a little joke. Two half sisters = one full sister.

Ah.

 

[DarKush]

Just checked this episode out. I think it started out pretty cool, showing how formidable Emiko is as the Green Arrow. But by the end of the episode it just lost steam. I did like Emiko, but her origin left me with more questions. Where did she get the suit, where did she learn how to fight like that, why is attached to a father that left her and her mother behind, basically to the wolves? I was hoping that Emiko would be Talia and Robert's daughter, making her even more like Damian Wayne, and that would have explained why she has the skills, add to the interest the Al Ghuls have with Oliver/Queens, and even explain why the show never hooked Oliver and Talia up (him being 'married' to Nyssa should not have stopped them, since the first episode established Oliver had no problem dating sisters). I'm hoping there is more to Emiko's origin than what we got. The idea that there was a whole conspiracy around her murder suggests that there is.

I did like the Emiko and Wild Dog team-up, and adding Curtis to the mix. Though Glenmorgan and the mercenaries weren't that interesting as opponents. I was okay as well with reviving the Suicide Squad, and having Diaz be part of that, though I also feel that Diaz has went way beyond his expiration date. I'm assuming this season will introduce the Ninth Circle as the big bads (with Dante being the hint), and if that's the case, I wish they would speed that up. I felt they wasted the cool idea of the Quadrant last year, introducing them far too late into the season and not really exploring them enough. The Quadrant could've been a multi-season enemy. .

I don't think the future scenes worked so well this time. Not buying evil Rene, and that wig wasn't the best way to go. I am curious about his 'aide' though and where that's going and who he works for.

 

[tomalak301]

Just checked this episode out. I think it started out pretty cool, showing how formidable Emiko is as the Green Arrow. But by the end of the episode it just lost steam. I did like Emiko, but her origin left me with more questions. Where did she get the suit, where did she learn how to fight like that, why is attached to a father that left her and her mother behind, basically to the wolves? I was hoping that Emiko would be Talia and Robert's daughter, making her even more like Damian Wayne, and that would have explained why she has the skills, add to the interest the Al Ghuls have with Oliver/Queens, and even explain why the show never hooked Oliver and Talia up (him being 'married' to Nyssa should not have stopped them, since the first episode established Oliver had no problem dating sisters). I'm hoping there is more to Emiko's origin than what we got. The idea that there was a whole conspiracy around her murder suggests that there is.

I did like the Emiko and Wild Dog team-up, and adding Curtis to the mix. Though Glenmorgan and the mercenaries weren't that interesting as opponents. I was okay as well with reviving the Suicide Squad, and having Diaz be part of that, though I also feel that Diaz has went way beyond his expiration date. I'm assuming this season will introduce the Ninth Circle as the big bads (with Dante being the hint), and if that's the case, I wish they would speed that up. I felt they wasted the cool idea of the Quadrant last year, introducing them far too late into the season and not really exploring them enough. The Quadrant could've been a multi-season enemy. .

I don't think the future scenes worked so well this time. Not buying evil Rene, and that wig wasn't the best way to go. I am curious about his 'aide' though and where that's going and who he works for.

There are like 12 episodes left of the season. I'm sure some of what you ask will be touched on in that time.

 

[Christopher]

I think this episode had less costumed action than we've gotten in a long time. There was just one scene of Oliver in Green Arrow mode, and everyone else was in civvies throughout. It was also odd that Dinah didn't use her Canary cry in the climax to break through the door or knock out the electrical gizmo.

I've got nothing against taking Laurel-2 on a redemption arc, but it was kind of clumsy that the Earth-1 doppelganger of the first guy she killed just happens to be an anti-vigilante nut who hated Black Canary, so that he'd say things that would mislead her into thinking he was from Earth-2.

Apparently there are some restrictions on the DC television shows, since Curtis had to be interrupted before he could finish saying "Suicide Squad." And the new squad -- err, "Ghost Initiative" -- consists only of characters not in the movie version. (But yay, Kelly Hu is back!)

 

[tomalak301]

That was a very good episode. The Curtis reveal took my by complete surprise. Also they finally wrote an episode about the other guy on the Gambit. I’m glad they addressed it.

 

[Finn]

It wasn't an surprise. That scene with them escaping looked fake to me. It seemed...too intentional with Curtis telling them that he was turning off the bombs, and the security guys with the batons... I knew it was all an act.

Also, as for the "the other guy", what about the other staff on the ship? Cleaning and kitchen staff?? Sara made it to the League of Assassins without Oliver knowing it. A couple others could have gotten off as well...

 

[Christopher]

It wasn't an surprise. That scene with them escaping looked fake to me. It seemed...too intentional with Curtis telling them that he was turning off the bombs, and the security guys with the batons... I knew it was all an act.

Yeah, it was obvious all allong that it was a VR simulation, so the act-break cliffhanger of Curtis "dying" wasn't suspenseful at all.

Also, as for the "the other guy", what about the other staff on the ship? Cleaning and kitchen staff?? Sara made it to the League of Assassins without Oliver knowing it. A couple others could have gotten off as well...

That's a different matter. Malcolm Merlyn was responsible for everyone else who died in the explosion of the Queen's Gambit, but Robert Queen killed Hackett on Oliver's behalf, so Oliver had to own that.

 

[Finn]

^Doesn't really negate my comment on the Queen's Gambit. Some of the families and friends of the ship's crew may be wondering about whether their loved ones may have survived the explosion and sinking like Oliver, Sara, Robert and Sam....

 

[Christopher]

^Doesn't really negate my comment on the Queen's Gambit. Some of the families and friends of the ship's crew may be wondering about whether their loved ones may have survived the explosion and sinking like Oliver, Sara, Robert and Sam....

I presume all of that was investigated and discussed with Oliver when he was first rescued seven years ago. The difference with Hackett is that Oliver deliberately kept it secret until now to protect his father's good name.

 

[Finn]

Oliver thought Sara died.. remember?

 

[dahj]

I think this episode had less costumed action than we've gotten in a long time. There was just one scene of Oliver in Green Arrow mode

On the plus side, he got to use a trick arrow in that scene, and we haven't seen those in a while.

 

[Christopher]

Oliver thought Sara died.. remember?

The point is, there's no reason why any other victims' families would have reason to hunt down Oliver and seek vengeance. He already told them everything he knows. The only reason Hackett came after him is because he got hold of the unredacted transcript where Oliver confessed what happened on the life raft. That's new information and thus is prompted Hackett's actions. Oliver has no more new information about the Gambit to reveal to anyone, so there's no story to be told about any of the other survivors' families. If Sara's return from the dead got them wondering if anyone else might have survived, that would be something that happened 5-6 years ago, and if they haven't found anything out since then, they've probably resigned themselves to their losses once more.

 

[dahj]

Oliver thought Sara died.. remember?

Well one Sara did die, the one from the pilot, we never saw her again...

How many people were on board anyway?