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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Arrow Season 06 Episode 06: Promises Kept

November 17th, 2017 by Todd Black Comments

A funny thing about Slade Wilson is that he’s defined by a single word, “Promise”. For he has made promises to many people, and he always tries to collect on them. That was the basis behind Season 02 of Arrow, and this was the backbone of this two-part adventure that ended in “Promises Kept.”

Again, the highlight is Manu Bennett as Deathstroke, he brings such gravity to the character that it moves you. You believe him when he’s trying to be close to his son, yet you know in his heart he’s still a good man and wouldn’t follow through with what Joe/Kane wants, and you’re begging that he stays that way. In fact, it almost makes you wonder what would’ve happened if Oliver hadn’t been there to steer him back on course.

While I knew things would eventually go badly for Slade and Joe, the episode kept it compelling. Especially through the very fun flashbacks which filled in some of the gaps of Slade’s timeline from when he “left” Lian Yu. It was fun seeing Shado again, as well as the true birth of the Deathstroke Armor, and the Mirukuru madness.

But in the end, this was a tale of fathers and sons, and Slade found out just how much his son’s darkness went, and how even he couldn’t have deterred it. What’s more, he wouldn’t let Oliver break his promise to his son, thus he couldn’t kill him when given the chance.

Also, eagle-eared fans might have heard the name Grant Wilson, who was the man who took over Star City in 2046 in the Legends Of Tomorrow episode. They said he died in the episode…but is that true? Or could it be the NEXT Grant Wilson who takes over? We’ll see.

I was happy to see more advancement of Diggle’s storyline, a lot more in fact. As we found out the drugs he’s using came from Richard Dragon! Who is supposed to be the big bad of this season. But I honestly don’t know if that’s true anymore. Regardless, it was interesting to see another DC Comics villain step in and instantly have a connection with Team Arrow.

But once again, it was the personal drama that kept the story alive. Diggle was forced to tell both Lyla and most of Team Arrow what was wrong with him, and their reactions were both believable, and fun. I actually didn’t think of Curtis being able to help Diggle, maybe that’s why he didn’t contact him first.

Regardless, there’s no doubt Ollie is going to find out soon (especially with the crossover coming up and we know he’ll suit up then), and then things are definitely picking up.

In the end, “Promises Kept” shined another fantastic light on Deathstroke, but also gave a great story for Diggle too. Keep rocking on Arrow.

4.5 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!