Title: Arrow Season 6 Episode 1: “Fallout”
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction, Superhero
Platform: TV – CW
Director: James Bamford
Writers: Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg
Rating: TV-14
Release: October 12, 2017
Cast: Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards, Katie Cassidy, Paul Blackthorne
Feature image: Source
[Spoilers]
“You had trouble fitting in his age.” Raisa – Arrow
It is five months after “Lian Yu”, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), John Diggle (David Ramsey), Rene Ramirez (Rick Gonzalez), and Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum) are on the docks fighting some mercenaries trying to fire a missile at Star City. The head mercenary Alex Faust fires the missile but Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) in the Arrow Cave is able to keep it from hitting the city. As it explodes, Faust looks at Oliver and says, “You look troubled. As if detonations stir unpleasant memories.” This causes Oliver to flashback to the island, Diggle is telling Felicity to get on the plane; it can protect them from the explosions. Samantha Clayton (Anna Hopkins) decides to look for her son William Clayton (Jack Moore). Thea Queen (Willa Holland) goes after her. Before they can get on the plane the explosions start and John appears hit by one of the explosions. After the explosions, Oliver is talking to William on the island. He is going to look for Samantha. Adrian Chase had told William that Oliver was his dad. Oliver doesn’t discuss this; he wants William to stay put.
Back to the present, Felicity is bringing Big Belly Burgers to the rest of the team. She brought one for Oliver to take home to William. It looks like they maybe dating again, but they are keeping it at a slow burn while William adjusts to his new situation. Oliver goes home and Raisa (Kathleen Gati), his old nanny, is doing the same for William. They discuss William. Raisa: “You had trouble fitting in his age.” Oliver: “What?! What are you talking about? I had Tommy.” Raisa: “I wouldn’t call having a friend who helps you get in trouble, ‘fitting in’.” Oliver: “That’s a fair point.” Raisa informs Oliver that William is still having his nightmares. Oliver brings the Big Belly Burger to William who is busy playing video games and ignoring Oliver.
Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy) is a lieutenant now; she is questioning Alex Faust, trying to find out whom he works for. Officer Goodwin (Ryan Jinn) interrupts her; no one has seen Deputy Mayor Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) who is needed for the upcoming police academy graduation. Dinah receives a text; she knows where to find him. Lance is in a bar looking at three shot glasses. He hasn’t taken a drink yet, but he wants to. They discuss their secret from the island. Back at the police station, Faust bangs his head against the table and takes out a loose tooth, it isn’t a tooth but a small C-4 explosive; he puts it in his soda. The explosion takes out Officer Goodwin. A group of mercenaries led by a blond Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) enters the police station to free Faust and shoot up the place.
“God you’re such a bitch!” “Yeah it takes one to know one, sweetheart!” Laurel Lance and Dinah Drake – Arrow
Nine officers died in the attack. Team Arrow looks at photos and sees that Laurel led the attack. That is confusing to Oliver since Lance and Dinah said they found Laurel’s dead body on the island. They don’t have time to discuss this because they have an exciting fight scene coming up. Dinah and Laurel meet on an empty freeway. Laurel: “God you’re such a bitch!” Dinah: “Yeah it takes one to know one, sweetheart!” The two hit each other with their sonic screams and fight. The rest of Team Arrow and the mercenaries join in. One of the mercenaries has Rene and John cannot shoot straight because his hand is shaking. Rene falls off the overpass, but lives. After the fight, Dinah and Diggle go to a warehouse looking for clues. It appears Laurel might have went to the police station looking for Lance. Diggle wonders why Laurel would be after Lance. They find a map that suggests Laurel and her gang are targeting the police academy graduation.
Another series of flashbacks take us back to Lian Yu. Oliver runs into Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett). They find Thea on the ground unconscious. Oliver begins to sob. At the temple, Laurel grabs Dinah and puts a knife to her throat. Laurel: “The bad news is that you won’t be able to scream anymore but the good news is that you’ll be too dead to care!” Lance shoots Laurel to protect Dinah. They leave her there. Samantha stumbles upon Oliver and Slade. She knows she is dying and says to him, “Promise me that you will be his father.” Oliver promises to take care of William and she dies.
Back to the present, Oliver gets home; William has just had another nightmare. He tells Oliver the bad man was in his dream; he is here. He points to Oliver.
“I know because you’re a better father than I could ever hope to be.” Oliver Queen – Arrow
At the Arrow Cave, Lance confesses to Oliver. Lance: “The truth is I killed my daughter.” He won’t listen to Oliver or anyone else telling him this Laurel isn’t his daughter, it doesn’t matter if she is from another world; it is Laurel. Oliver assures Lance he is a good father. Oliver: “I know because you’re a better father than I could ever hope to be.” Lance asks about William, and tries to encourage Oliver telling him that this will take time. Both men show each other compassion. Lance: “When are you gonna stop taking on everyone else’s sins, huh?” Oliver: “No time soon.” Curtis interrupts because he has some bomb detecting devices that he and Felicity will have to operate on site. Diggle volunteers to stay in the Arrow Cave and do Felicity’s job.
The graduation ceremony goes off without a hitch. It wasn’t Laurel’s real target; she left the map to divert Team Arrow from her real target, the Arrow Cave. The team can hear Diggle under attack. Diggle uses some smoke bombs to escape from the first wave of attacks. Just when it looks like the mercenaries have him, the rest of Team Arrow shows up. Dinah and Laurel go at each other again. I’m impressed how much better Curtis is during the fights. Using his T-spheres, he is handling his business. Laurel escapes but she runs into Lance who has his gun on her. Laurel: “Oh well this feels familiar! Maybe this time…aim for the heart?” Lance: “I’m sorry.” Laurel: “For shooting me or for leaving me for dead?” Lance: “You were trying to hurt my friend.” Laurel: “Oh, so you choose your friend over your own daughter?” Lance: “Don’t you make me do this Laurel, please don’t make me do this.” Laurel: “So now I’m Laurel? Don’t torture yourself because if we were back on Lian Yu and the roles were reversed…I’d have pulled the trigger.” She casually walks away.
“Choosing between being the man people need you to be or the father that your son will need you to be.” Slade Wilson – Arrow
Rene is leaving the hospital early without the doctor’s permission. Oliver has a present for him, a new hearing to get custody of his daughter. Missing the last hearing wasn’t his fault. Rene thanks Oliver and he has a reason to take better care of himself. Oliver leaves Rene’s room and visits Thea; she is in a coma. Slade stops by. The Intel Oliver gave him on his son Joe pans out; he is going to Canada to see him. Thinking about his own son, Oliver warns Slade their reunion might not be as he hopes. Slade offers Oliver some advice. Slade: “Be patient. But be prepared.” Oliver: “For what?” Slade: “Choosing between being the man people need you to be or the father that your son will need you to be.” Oliver: “What do you mean?” Slade: “You and I walk between two worlds. But we can only do that for so long.”
Diggle is in pain as he thinks about the explosion. They do an inventory to see what Laurel was after in the Arrow Cave. Curtis discovers they took a prototype of his T-spheres. He doesn’t know what they want it for. We get a final flashback; someone with a helicopter rescued the injured Black Siren on the island.
Oliver goes home and has a talk with William. He tells the boy that he is his father and he’ll be there for him. He offers to let William stay up past his bedtime to watch a game with him. William brightens up a bit. Of course, we can’t end on a happy scene, Felicity calls Oliver and tells him to turn to Channel 52; they have a picture of Oliver in the Green Arrow outfit.
If you like, the main cast of Arrow, you are in luck, none of them died on Lian Yu. William’s mother Samantha died, but she has only been on the show a few times more than I have, so except for the actress’s family, no one cares. Maybe Nyssa, Talia, and Evelyn died, but I wouldn’t count on it. I hope they bring Evelyn back, so we can see her die slowly and painfully, I hate that character. Nyssa and Talia are always welcomed back. The major damage to the main cast is Thea’s in a comma, and Diggle was hurt in an explosion. Lance might lose his mind because Laurel is f**king with it. Oliver is going through major changes because he is a single parent. William isn’t crazy about the new arrangement since he blames Oliver for his mother’s death. Don’t worry kid, Oliver feels guilty about everything anyway, so he blames himself for her death anyway. Considering this is Arrow, they are doing pretty well.
The action was top notch as usual; I enjoyed the Black Canary/Black Siren throw downs. The fight choreography for all the fights were great. One thing Arrow has over the other CW shows, the fight choreography, it rarely disappoints. Opening the episode with the big fight on the docks was a great idea. I also liked that they didn’t waste a lot of time letting us know who survived last season’s finale. The ending with the picture of Oliver was good, but he’ll get out of it again. How not everyone in Star City knows he is the Green Arrow is the most unbelievable thing on the show. The plot was all right, nothing special; it did its job, setting up the new reality of the show, which aside from Oliver being a single dad is about the same. I am a little worried about William being a permanent fixture on the show; kids can ruin a show like this. If he turns out to be a good character, it allows the writers to explore new facets of Oliver’s personality. If he turns out to be a bad character, they can always send him to live with his grandparents or to a boarding school next season (if not sooner).
Grade: B
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