[SPOILER ALERT! Careful for spoilers from the episode]
Perhaps 'series finale' would be a more accurate term for this episode. Really, after this, I'm surprised Arrow was renewed for a season eight at all, however short it is. Even the title implies an end to Oliver's crusade. Unless the ten episodes of the next season is only just a way to push the many possible spin-offs the episode teased. But that's an article of its own.
Talking about how the episode related to this season though, that's quite different. I can't be the only one not happy with the way Emiko met her end, just after she finally accepted Oliver's continuous offers of redemption. The inclusion of Ben Turner (aka Bronze Tiger) to the episode was great, as was Laurel and Curt, and added to the series finale feel of the episode. Their reasons for coming were a bit shaky though. However it did do wonders to the fight sequences. Seeing Roy and Ben fight side by side was especially rewarding as the two best martial artists currently on the show. Or maybe it was just that the action scenes were especially good generally. I was screaming from the get-go, when the team had to do a joint spiderman-act jumping off the building to escape the cops. That was indisputably one of the best scenes of the show ever!
Still, the episode felt a little rushed. I would have expected the events that took place to span at least two. Worse still, half of the episode was dedicated to hyping up this Fall's Crisis on Infinite Earths and the aforementioned possible sequels, leaving only half to round up the season's arcs. No wonder it felt so rushed! And after an entire season long of Emiko being stpes ahead, she was taken down way too easily. Apart form that, I was pleased that every scene and interaction felt completely natural, and super filled with feeling. And finally, tie into Star City 2040, the future in the flashforwards.
Talking about the future. Of course that arc was ended too, with Felicity, René, Roy and Dinah passing their torches to their kids after defeating the bad guy (who was really so unremarkable I don't remember his name). However, they did give us a cool Mia Smoak fight scene on the wall against Galaxy-1 soldiers and that was awesome. The great dividing wall was also brought down, meaning the kids have a lot to do. But, hey! It's the age of heroes both in the present and in the future. More crossovers coming.
Seeing as it took up half of the episode, this review might seem a little incomplete if I don't touch on the Monitor's appearance, Oliver's possible fate, the meaning of Felicity's disappearance (literally) from the show and Crisis on Infinite Earths. However, not touch on it is exactly what I'm going to do. Instead, I'm going to talk about that along with my predictions in another post.
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