Arrow: Past Sins review S7 E11

February 10, 2019February 11, 2019 Jeffrey Lyles 0 Comments Arrow, Audrey Marie Anderson, David Ramsey, Echo Kellum, Emily Bett Rickards, Katie Cassidy, Stephen Amell

The last two episodes of Arrow have not left me encouraged for the rest of the season. Past Sins almost felt like the writers are operating this season in a bubble hoping viewers have forgotten everything that’s come before.

Oliver wants to make things right with Emiko, who claims she wants nothing to do with the Queen family yet keeps coming to Robert Queen’s grave site. That makes no sense.

He gets a chance to make things right as Sam Hackett wants revenge on Oliver. Hackett’s father was the bodyguard on the life raft with Robert and Oliver. Robert didn’t want his bodyguard screwing up his son’s chance of survival and killed him before killing himself. I feel like Arrow is going upstream trying to sell that Robert was a crappy guy, but with the way the writing has been this season, they’ll probably find a way to redeem him by the end of it.

As Green Arrow, Oliver doesn’t do much this episode and takes Hackett out with an assist from Dinah. It’s hard to feel too bad for Hackett as he’d wired up a new electrocution rig, but wanted police officers to kill Oliver. Feeling some need to out his dead father further, he returns on TV to drop the bombshell that Robert killed Hackett’s father. Does this make Oliver complicit in a murder? Obstruction of justice? Either way, that doesn’t seem like the actions of a guy fit to be a police special operative. Or is Oliver simply trying to find ways to get fired?

I’m so tired of this CW Arrowverse logic. I won’t lie to you unless I get caught by a FBI agent with an attitude who forces me to go to jail and out myself. Now I’m going to be 100% honest. That’s like Supergirl only becoming a ‘hero’ after her sister’s life was threatened.

Meanwhile at ARGUS, Lyla is whipping up a batch of new recruits for her Suicide Sq…(hold on, getting a memo from the higher ups. Apparently we are not allowed to say Suicide Squad or any type of inference henceforth) including Diaz, China White, Joseph Wilson and Cupid. Curtis busts in on Cupid’s evaluation demanding answers like why he was left out of the decision making process. What is Curtis’ role again? Lyla brings him in hoping that he’ll help get some intel about the mysterious Dante. Is it too late in the season to actually introduce a worthwhile villain? Not sure if anyone’s noticed, but besides the Diaz retread, the main bad guys this season has been the Prison Break trio and bad PR.

The main villain this season is definitely not Laurel, who absolutely did not kill Vince last season and hey, look over there! The effort to redeem Laurel kicked into overdrive this episode as she runs into the Earth-1 version of the man she thought she killed on her Earth. It wasn’t just any guy though it was the drunk driver who killed her Quentin. So now we’re going to start justifying Laurel’s murderous actions, huh? Hey, if Felicity can be all chummy chummy and BFF with her it’s just a matter of time before the rest of Team Arrow falls in line.

Dinah reveals that this Earth’s version of the drunk driver was also an alcoholic and they can arrest him for stalking Laurel and anti-vigilant actions. Wait a second. Everybody has been anti-vigilante in Arrow from Quentin to last year’s gone and forgotten federal agent. How can a guy get arrest for speaking out against non-law enforcement crime fighters?

This Laurel/Felicity friendship feels so weird. Not that I’d advocate adding another character, but Laurel should never be pals with Team Arrow. If only there were a new female character Laurel could bond with…

Curtis runs Diaz through a VR simulation to determine criminals’ actions. Sure seems like a bomb brain is a cheaper and quicker way to go. While that was a big help, Diggle isn’t dropping Suicide…the new team. Curtis then says he’s going to be the one government official that doesn’t blindly follow orders. I guess this means he’ll continue to barge into interrogations?

Oliver’s efforts paid off as Emiko has decided she’s going to decide when she’s ready to talk to Oliver…unlike right now and earlier this season. Dinah received a note in her car — not a love note from Cupid, but a threat that one by one he’s going to kill them all. Good. This group definitely needs some thinning out.

No updates on the flash forwards and I’m still not missing them.

Past Sins continues trying to justify Laurel’s face turn while making Oliver feel good that he’s not like his dad despite seven years of evidence.