Posted in: DC Universe, TV | Tagged: arrow, cw, David Ramsey, entertainment, HRL, Michael Emerson, stephen amell, television

Arrow Season 6, Episode 7 Recap: Thanksgiving

This article contains spoilers for the Arrow season six episode 'Thanksgiving'.

As the Arrowverse shows get ready for the crossover, all the episodes this week have felt like a big push to get the main story of the season going. Supergirl brought back Mon-El, Flash had Barry confront the Thinker, and Legends of Tomorrow bought in Gorilla Grodd. Arrow seemed to do the most by bringing a lot of storylines to a head all at once. It starts with Oliver, Felicity, William, Quentin, and Dinah working a Thanksgiving food drive as they're about to open up a new police station (since Black Siren blew up the last one). But as the Mayor is addressing the media, Agent Samanda Watson approaches and arrests him for a slew of crimes stemming from being the Green Arrow.

Meanwhile, Curtis gives Diggle an experimental treatment meant to help the damage. But when they head out into the field to take on Black Siren and Cayden James, it goes bad. Dig is compromised and has to be saved by Dinah. The bad guys get away with what they need to make a particularly nasty bomb that seems to microwave people when it goes off.

Quentin is trying to lay low and stay out of this one since it involves Earth-2 Laurel, but he has a conversation with Dinah where he comes clean about having had a chance to take Laurel out and didn't, Dinah admits that Vincent is the Vigilante and she passed on chance to take him out, too. It's a nice bonding moment. Felicity and Oliver finally find out about Diggle, and they're not happy. There is tension between Oliver and Diggle and tension between Curtis and Felicity, as both have been making decisions without consulting the other that will effect their business. But together, they locate the bomb, which looks to be at a Billy Joel concert (I was hoping for a cameo, but no).

Oliver suits up to lead the team as Green Arrow, but the whole thing is a set up in two parts. First, James wanted to talk to Oliver and we learn that he is out for revenge for something Oliver did to James's son… but no one knows what. The stadium was also filled with fake cops that the rest of Team Arrow fights and beats up… the footage then leaked to the media just prior to the vote on the anti-vigilante legislation, causing it to pass.

Everyone seems to patch things up at the end. Oliver will be the Green Arrow until Diggle gets back to being mission ready, and Thea makes a surprising return from her coma. Oliver is still in deep trouble, Felicity used her startup money to bail him out, the new law will make things far more difficult for the Team and James seems to be on a vendetta. Might be time to move to Hub City or Bludhaven.

I'm starting to think that Agent Watson is more than just a diligent law enforcement officer. Since we still don't know who sent the photo at the end of the season premiere, it could be that James did it to justify bringing in Watson. Her going after Oliver almost seems personal. James definitely seems to be playing chess while Team Arrow didn't know there was a game on. Seems a little odd to have back-to-back big bads with revenge as their purpose. It is the popular motive for Arrow bad guys — Malcolm Merlyn for the death of his wife, Slade Wilson for the death of Shado, Prometheus for the death of his father… and now Cayden James for his son.

Arrow moves to Monday next week to be part of the two-night, four-series crossover event, Crisis on Earth-X. All those episodes where Amell didn't have to suit up at all must have been to counter the fact he suits up as both a hero and a villain in the event. Unlike's last seasons Invasion crossover that was barely in Supergirl and felt like individual episodes of each series, including the 100th episode of Arrow… this new crossover is supposed to feel like a four hour movie split over two nights. Pull out the commercials and make it a solid three hours and I'd go see it in a theater. Just saying — it seems a better idea than the Inhumans premiere.

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