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Arrow: Lian Yu (2017)
The Best Episode Ever
Wow. There is so much to say about this episode and this season. 1.000 words are not enough but let's try to cover the most important parts.
At first, it was a bit amusing to see Oliver lining up with the man who slept with his mother, the man who killed his mother and the woman he's been married to without consuming the marriage to beat the man who hates him so much that he's ready to destroy literally everyone in Oliver's life to avenge his father's death. It gets even more amusing when you make a further analysis of Oliver's past with his team: he stabbed Slade's eye with an arrow, cut off Malcolm Merlyn's hand and killed Nyssa's father but even more importantly, he slept with her beloved one. How could that line-up possibly work?! (I left out Digger Harkness because nobody cared about him.)
It turned out it worked perfectly well. I feared Slade's motive to help Oliver would be the weakest link but it wasn't as it was well elaborated at the very beginning. Malcolm was always there to help Thea so it was no surprise he was there again, this time to make the final sacrifice. I just have a flag on his quote how he had always wanted to protect Thea since the day she was born - that doesn't seem logical given that he hadn't known she was his daughter back then.
Stephen Amell gave a fantastic performance. I like how he raised his voice when he needed in the last two episodes. He pictured all dimensions of Oliver - a hero, a father, a son, a man in love - within 43 minutes.
Manu Bennett is simply astonishing as Slade Wilson. Every scene with him is a treasure and that hasn't changed since he had both of his eyes. Hopefully he'll be back next season.
Josh Segarra was absolutely brilliant this season. Adrian Chase is arguably the best villain Oliver has faced so far and the one that is yet to lose to Oliver despite being dead. I have a hypothesis that Vigilante - who completely vanished at some point of the season - might be Chase's twin-brother or something like that so that we can enjoy in Segarra's fantastic performances in the forthcoming season(s) as well.
I must say losing John Barrowman is a big blow (no pun intended). He was always there to give a good banter and picture Merlyn as a human being who can be both a hero and (more often) a villain at the same time. His sacrifice for Thea was the final victory of Malcolm The Hero over Malcolm The Villain.
Due to format restrictions, we haven't seen too much of Talia Al'Ghul. I have a feeling her story arc is the one writers simply haven't had time for but we might see that one coming in the next season, provided that she survived Chase's big bang.
Finally, I don't like to compare shows from The Arrowverse but "Arrow" S5 has demolished "The Flash" S3. Both Barry and Oliver are "beautiful boys" of their mothers but Oliver's conversation with his mother was more emotional than Barry's departure to The Speed Force with his mother.
Bring on Season Six!
10/10
Arrow: Underneath (2017)
If it was the final nail in the coffin of Olicity, it was worth of it.
I'm done with thinking why I've been watching The Arrow for years even if the show has been going through a rough patch for a while. No, now I'm more like: "Why I liked The Arrow in the Season 1 so much?"
Then I remembered the scene when Oliver took his own luggage (the one with a bow in it) and didn't allow anyone else to touch it. Or that time he didn't help John to catch Deadshot because he was busy saving the woman he loved. Or that magnificent scene when Oliver faked his own arrest and when the psychiatrist was talking about his time in the isolation as a cause for his trauma. That was real Oliver - the one who connects his selfish past with his heroic presence bearing the burden of both in his own hands, just like he didn't allow anyone else to touch his luggage when he returned to his home.
Over the time, we have seen glimpses of that Oliver. So thanks God for giving the idea of Adrian Chase/Prometheus to the writers as Chase/Prometheus has managed to bring the best part of that Oliver back. He reminds him what he is and, in a way, what he should have been all the time. After all, he had forced him into disbanding The Team Arrow (not for long though).
The whole Olicity thing should have been put to bed (no pun intended) after their night in Nanda Parbat. "What happens in Nanda Parbat, stays in Nanda Parbat." Hopefully, what happened in the bunker, will stay in the bunker. I don't have anything against Felicity as a character. She is a beautiful, smart and funny woman. It's even OK that she occasionally reminds Oliver that he is a human being after all (except he had already had John Diggle to do so).
As for others, Mr Terrific is terrifyingly annoying with his humour. Wild Dog has all the good ones as well as Quentin Lance. And, even if a new Black Canary looks more suited for her role, she hasn't been given enough space to create the chemistry with the audience.
At this point, my biggest fear is that number of major characters in the last three episodes won't let them develop their part of the story arc in a right way.
And, excuse me for asking...BUT WHERE THE HELL IS THE VIGILANTE?!?!?! I still believe it's Billy Malone. It would make some sense (Malone and Chase faked Malone's death but didn't agree on who called dibs first on killing The Green Arrow) and it would mean Oliver didn't kill an innocent man (even by mistake).
The Flash: I Know Who You Are (2017)
Hmmmm
So, we got our big revelation for the season. Savitar's identity is revealed. If I were Cisco and saw how Savitar turned himself into a human, I'd name him The Reverse Transformer. Or something like that. It sounded much better in my head.
Anyway...
While, IMHO, it puts too much "melo" next to "drama" for the sake of Arrowverse, I looked at the whole "Barry-becomes-Savitar" conundrum from two different points. At first, I was thinking: "No. Barry can't become evil. I mean, unlike Cisco's and Caitlin's doppelgangers, even Barry from Earth-2 is a goody!"
Then I realized that even Barry from E2 has Iris next to him. Which, to the certain extent, finally gives some sense to the existence of Iris at the first place. Without powers and scientific knowledge, she is usually as useful as a pedal on a wheel-chair to the team. I mean, what exactly does she do for The Team Flash apart from saying: "Barry, you can do it! I believe in you!"?
Well, it turns out that's exactly the point of Iris and we should have realized that in the Gorilla Grodd episodes this season. She is a voice and image of reason that reminds Barry what makes him a superhero apart from being a speedster. Without Iris, Barry would have run into a vengeful madness as the sole thought of losing her makes him both bitter and ready to do things he neither would nor should have ever done. Remove Iris from his life and you have a vengeful speedster who saw murders of both of his parents and the woman he loves or, basically, Hunter Zolomon with much bigger trauma and smaller shoulders.
One big plus is the arrival of Anne Dudek to the show. I loved her at "House M.D.".
Arrow: Kapiushon (2017)
The Broken Arrow
+ + + SPOILER ALERT + + +
Whilst this season is arguably the most exciting one since the Slade Wilson one, I have to admit that I have problems to accept Adrian Chase as The Prometheus. It felt like the writers had been writing his character as The Vigilante until half-way of the season and then made a twist to surprise not just us but also themselves by making Chase The Prometheus.
The Prometheus has managed to bring Oliver Queen to the dead end, to lock him inside The Hood after cutting him all escape routes. In a game of chess, Queen is supposed to be the strongest piece but in their game, The Prometheus has managed to demote Queen to the pawn.
Let's just find out who is The Vigilante. I don't see much logic in Kovar being him.