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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Arrow Season 05 Episode 22: Missing

May 18th, 2017 by Todd Black Comments

Fun fact! I had no idea when Oliver’s birthday was! And I’m kind of glad they saved it for something like this, because it makes perfect sense. Him being born in May would make it difficult for him to celebrate ANYTHING with everything that happens to him at the end of seasons. “Missing” did a magnificent job setting up both the season finale as well as Season 06 of the show, all the while bringing in a lot of characters to make this truly something to remember.

First off, that opening scene, everything is looking up! Chase is behind bars, Oliver’s approval rating is up (insert current political joke here), and his friends through him a party! Arrow honestly doesn’t have a lot of happy and pure moments, but this was certainly one of them. Heck, this even tops the one part they had in the Invasion crossover, as this was a more personal affair. And yes, they did tease Olicity coming back again, but as Felicity said, “One step…at…a time.”

Of course, we all knew that Arrow wasn’t going to let this stand, and sure enough, Renee and Dinah, then Curtis Thea and Quentin, then Felicity and Diggle were all captured by Chase’s “associates”, including the returning Black Siren and Evelyn, as well as Talia. It’s good seeing this group of bad guys (and gals) together, as it shows that Chase has not only learned from Oliver’s mistakes, but from the mistakes of Merlyn, Slade (though Slade did have Ravager), Ra’s and Darhk.

Speaking of Merlyn, welcome back! I knew he was coming (spoilers, wouldn’t you know it?), but it wasn’t clear on who would reach out to who. Turns out, Merlyn’s love for Thea still burns strong, and that was enough to ally with Oliver despite all past wrongs…mainly on Merlyn’s part. But an unexpected joy was that Merlyn pointed out how stupid Oliver was about his feelings about his friends. Because as he notes, there will ALWAYS be people in our lives that we love and cherish, that can’t be helped.

Which brings me to Black Siren and Quentin, who had the “reconnecting” moment, only to be sobered up by Thea wisely and emphatically telling him the truth. Yeah, it was hard to comprehend for someone who hasn’t been a part of the Flash adventures, but he pulled it together. But again, there was a surprise when Black Siren actually showed compassion for Quentin, remember, she’s going to be a main cast member in Season 06, so maybe a turn of allegiance is coming?

Arrow — “Missing” — Image AR522a_0164b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance/Black Canary and Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

And man, those final minutes were both heartbreaking and epic, you knew the William card was coming, and then when it dropped you knew it was time. And sure enough, they set Chase free just like he wanted. Predictable? Sure. Still meaningful? Yep. Which of course leads to the unholy alliances that Oliver had to seek out. Merlyn, the returning Nyssa (“Husband…Mr. Merlyn…”) and yes, the return…of Slade Wilson (“Hey Kid…) So…awesome.

Before I wrap up, I definitely want to talk about the island flashbacks. We’re literally in the final hours of Ollie on that island. And they could’ve let it ride with a simple story, but instead, they told a parallel story of the pain Ollie has felt during his time on the island. Which drove him to seeing Yao Fey (YAO FEY!!!!) and Laurel telling him to both take his life, and to spare it. Again, we knew he would live, but seeing those two like this was pretty cool.

So the final battle is all set, everyone (most everyone) is on Lian Yu, and someone has to fall for this to end. Ring. The. Bell.

5 out of 5 Nerds

Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!