TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Arrow Season 06 Episode 09: Irreconcilable Differences

I’ll give the Arrowverse shows this, they all had (of the ones I watched) big twists at the end. That’s for sure. And while not the best midseason finale in its history (that to me still belongs to “Dark Waters” from Season 04), “Irreconcilable Differences” did put the screws to things in a meaningful way.

I was happy to see that the show started off with a proper ceremony of sorts for Ollie and Felicity. For if you recall, they got married in the final scene from “Crisis On Earth-X”, and now they got to finally share the joy with their friends and family. I love the extent they went with this one. Not just bringing in Team Arrow and Thea, but also Donna (why is she alive again…?) and even Felicity’s father! That was really cool. They even brought the neighbors from Season 04! Oh, and a Roy Harper reference…? Maybe bring him back?

Anyway, we knew the happiness wouldn’t last, and sure enough, there’s another traitor on the team. This time though, instead of being a pawn of a villain like Evelyn, they were selling out Oliver to the FBI. I liked how they tied this back to Season 05, yet totally made it different in its own right. Including having Renee admit that he was the traitor, and that he had to do it else he’d lose his daughter Zoe for good.

While I know some people are mad about Ollie’s “switch” to “brooding Ollie”, you have to realize that for him, his trigger is always going to be trust. He HATES being betrayed, because he’s been betrayed by so many. Slade, Mateo, the Bratva, Evelyn, even his own mother! So when a team that HE BUILT by hand to have his back and trust him…goes behind his back and betrays him? Yeah, he deserves to be bitter! And yeah, “spying” on the team was kind of low, but when you can’t trust anyone, do you expect them to be honest? Renee only did admit it when the others were being called out.

Things only got worse though when Black Siren returned to kidnap Lance in order to get Team Arrow to steal a tech device for Cayden James. I’ll admit, my appreciation for Michael Emmerson aside, James isn’t that great of a villain as of yet. Yes, he has foresight (and surveillance…), but his plan is still incredibly vague. At least with the Dark Archer in Season 01 we had The Undertaking to at least give name to the threat. Here? All we have is a vow and a familiar motivation of a family murder. We need more.

That being said, that ending with the new “Legion Of Doom” or “Injustice Society” was cool. Including seeing some surprising members like Anatoly and Vigilante! Didn’t see that coming. I expect big things from this group in the remaining 14 episodes.

Then, with Renee, Dinah, and Curtis all leaving Team Arrow (and apparently about to form their own team if the preview is to be believed), Ollie finds himself alone once again. A nice little full circle of sorts that also has me intrigued.

Irreconcilable Differences may not have been the best Arrow episode, but it was still a solid one. And the good news is that the return in only 6 weeks away.