Posted in: DC Universe, TV | Tagged: arrow, cw, Emily Bett Rickards, entertainment, HRL, John Diggle, stephen amell, television

Arrow Season 6, Episode 3 Recap: Next Of Kin

This article contains spoilers for the Arrow season six episode 'Next of Kin'.

Last night's Arrow was kind of a mixed bag. It begins the John Diggle as the Green Arrow era and the initial growing pains that come from that. Diggle is surprisingly hesitant in the field when they go up against new villain Onyx Adams. She and her men get the upper hand using technology and lights, and some of the team starts questioning him as leader.

There is also the issue of John not shooting arrows. Dinah Drake talks to John to try to help. She's already worried about him because of the injury, and now she's worried about his head, too. Rene Ramirez goes to Oliver Queen, asking him to come back, but instead Oliver goes and talks to John to encourage him. They go back out to stop Onyx from using a nerve gas and take out her target, and the team works better together in this round, eventually taking out the bad guys and saving the day.

To answer the lack of arrows question, Felicity and Curtis come up with a crossbow that fires arrows instead of bolts. John uses it on tennis balls and lands a half dozen shots. Everyone seems happy — even Dinah. And then the episode ends with John making a back-alley deal for some drugs to keep his hand from shaking… I'm sure that's not going to be a problem sooner rather than later.

Over with Oliver, he's trying to help William with his math test, though Oliver doesn't know much about math. He's also dealing with a councilman who is trying to enact tough anti-vigilante laws, and Agent Samanda Watson is still coming after him. Oh, and she's noticed that the Green Arrow isn't using arrows.

Oliver can't just veto the anti-vigilante law without raising suspicions that are already raised. So he and Quentin Lance come up with a plan that turns the initiative into a voting referendum, so the people of Star City will vote on it rather than just the city council. Oliver also gets Felicity to tutor William for the test, trying to get him up to speed with the rest of his class. William likes Felicity and Oliver shows up at her place with a key to his apartment, officially starting their relationship again.

The Team Arrow portion of the episode was okay. The action was pretty good through most of it, though there is a scene where everyone is leaping down into a room for no good reason. It was a decent story, but felt a little too by-the-book, and Onyx just felt like obligatory military villain #4 instead of anything close to what the character was in the comics. That said, the end reveal the Diggle is using a drug to deal with his injury was a bit of a shock, almost justifying the cookie-cutter aspect of the earlier parts.

What surprises me is just how much I am enjoying what Stephen Amell is doing this season. He's playing a much more introspective and open Oliver. One that knows he doesn't have all the answers, is not afraid to ask for help, and one that really seems to be thinking through his actions (or most of them). The character is growing a lot this season through the new dynamic with William, and it's changing his dynamic with other characters including Quentin. Oliver doesn't try to do everything himself and he doesn't bark orders. As a comic purist, I want Green Arrow and Black Canary to be together… but this season and how Amell and Emily Bett Rickards are playing it, I was happy to see them get back together.

Next week we get more of Black Siren, and though it doesn't appear in the trailer, part of Felicity's past is supposed to be coming back to haunt her. Now, is this pre-Arrow stuff when she was a hacker? Something to do with her father, The Calculator? Or does this have to do with her fling with Helix? My guess is Helix, but we'll have to wait until next week to find out for sure.

https://youtu.be/bEVuULwdDKQ

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!