Oliver Queen’s job as Star City’s defender just got more complicated, especially as tensions rise among his long-time partnerships including John Diggle who appears ready to wrestle him for the title of Green Arrow!
Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) problems continue to mount as the latest episode of Arrow in Season 6 “Brothers in Arms” continues to see the world of Star City’s Emerald Archer collapsing in on itself. Though the threat of computer hacker Caydon James was irrevocably deleted, the real danger has emerged among one of James’ associates. The underworld leader Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) known as “The Dragon” has all but rendered the city immobile as he and the Russian, Anatoly (David Nykl) are pulling things apart brick by brick.
Inside the Bunker, the Green Arrow finds himself a man alone and a mayor without a support system. The DA and Chief of Police are both under the thumb of Diaz and the duo life that Oliver leads as the city’s mayor and its hooded vigilante are closing in on themselves; in order to take down “The Dragon” the Green Arrow has to cut the dealer’s financial links to “vertigo” the synthetic drug being manufactured and distributed throughout Star City. In the midsts of this tactical crisis John Diggle (David Ramsey) is conflicted over Oliver’s leadership style.
Spartan had assumed the mantle of the Green Arrow for a short period of time, while Oliver mended his relationship with his son and deflected by the federal investigation into his role as the Green Arrow. Although the forged evidence that had revealed the Green Arrow as Queen was discovered to be fake, during his time as the Green Arrow, Diggle lead the team that consisted of the new Black Canary, Wild Dog, and Mr. Terrific, but the group has since disbanded after learning that Queen had them all under surveillance.
Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy) and Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum) continue to cooperate with Oliver, especially coordinating strategies to bring down Diaz, but unaware to the team they are being subverted by the Black Siren, Lauren Lance (Katie Cassidy) who has convinced her father Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) that she has turned a new leaf. Now Oliver finds himself in a very unique position, as his identity as the Green Arrow once again is in danger of becoming public knowledge and Diaz control over Star City becomes absolute.
After a rather shaky Season 5, Arrow which was already renewed for another new season in the fall, has hit a definitely more interesting stride in Season 6. Having one of the larger casts among all the series in The CW DCTV universe, a proper balance has been achieved especially as “Team Arrow” was deconstructed over the year. Oliver’s entire world and dynamic have been altered since assuming responsibility as Star City’s mayor (a story arc lifted right from the comic books) as well as becoming a father and husband this year, marrying Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards).
The writing team had successfully found a way of differentiating Arrow from its meta-humanly casted spin-offs, and brought the series back down to a more grounded and far more threatening reality. With the news that Arrow will be returning in the fall for Season 7, fans are speculating exactly how this arc will play out. For a hot minute audiences had assumed this might be Stephen Amell’s final year, and that the archer would be moving on, but with the departure of his sister Thea (Willa Holland) and Spartan joining ARGUS a successor for the hood is not on target.
New episodes of Arrow air Thursday nights at 9pm on The CW.