The best thing that TV shows like Arrow can do is bring back a character that you didn’t expect to see again for one reason or another. “Reversal” had that twice over in the form of two members of Helix. And this lead to many different revelations that change the landscape of Season 06.
If you recall, Felicity joined a hacktivist group called Helix last season and used it to help Oliver out. But, in return, she had to help break out their former leader, Cayden James, from an Argus prison. Turns out, that was a REALLY bad idea, as now James wants to do VERY bad things. And he’s willing to kill people to do it, or more accurately, rescue people to kill for him, like Black Siren. That’s right, it was he, not main villain Richard Dragon who saved Earth-2 Laurel on Lian Yu. How and why are a bit of a mystery, but hopefully we’ll get that info soon.
Moreso, a big twist was that legendary actor Michael Emmerson is playing Cayden James, instantly giving him not just longevity (cause come on, who would kill him?) but also a gravity that can’t be ignored. He didn’t blow me away like say Damien Darhk did, but he had to share the episode with a couple other characters.
It was also cool to see Felicity put into a situation where her past came back to haunt her. Yes, this happened with the Brother Eye situation, but this was more directly her fault, as she ignored everyone and freed Cayden. And it almost got her now friend Elena killed in the process.
Personally, I was happy that they put Oliver back in the field, albeit in two very roundabout ways, all the while showing Diggle now very competent his leader role, and pretty good with that crossbow. It’ll all boil over eventually, but for now, it’s cool.
My main problem though is this, we KNOW Richard Dragon is coming, but why hasn’t he been revealed yet? More importantly, how does Cayden fit into all this? We’re told he’s part of a group of villain, likely run by Dragon, but to what end? I’m really hoping they aren’t going the Flash route by having a slow burn approach, Arrow needs to continue to stay relevant plot wise, else they’ll lose viewers.
But, for the most part, “Reversal” was a fun episode, and set up some interesting possibilities. The best part? SLADE IS BACK NEXT WEEK!
4 out of 5 nerds
Todd Black
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!
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