Too often we’re left disappointed with how our favourite shows close their curtain. For some reason, it seems tv shows tend to struggle to find a satisfying conclusion to their shows and often fall short of their die hard fans expectations. There may be some who say Arrow’s farewell was a disappointment, but for what it was, I rather enjoyed it!
I loved seeing so many familiar faces return for Oliver’s funeral and it made the occasion feel important, as it should have. Watching the team gather one last time, sharing a drink and consoling each other felt organic and it felt like everyone in the room belonged. Listening to Diggle’s speech and seeing how emotional everyone was, honestly made me feel like I was at the funeral myself. It felt like I was mourning the loss of a personal friend myself.
Having the episode revolve largely around Diggle was something I enjoyed a lot and it was nice to see him take his first steps out of Oliver’s shadow and start to forge his own journey with his best friend no longer by his side. I know it was met with mixed reactions from fans, but I LOVED John finding the lantern ring at the end and with him stating his plans to move to Metropolis, I’m curious as to whether we’ll see him appear in the upcoming Superman and Lois tv show as a fully fledged Green Lantern.
As I said earlier, I loved seeing so many familiar faces return. I love the fact that Oliver’s sacrifice in creating this a new universe led to his mother Moira Queen, his childhood best friend Tommy Merlyn, his longtime ally Quentin Lance and even his recently discovered half sister Emiko brought back to life. This led to several really nice scenes between Tommy and Earth 2 Laurel, Lance and Earth 2 Laurel and Emiko meeting Moira and Thea. The one glaring absence was the original Earth 1 Laurel not being brought back. It makes absolutely no sense that Oliver would choose to bring back all these people, but choose not to bring Laurel back after she played such a huge role in his life. I’d understand if they couldn’t convince the actress to reprise the role, but Katie Cassidy has still been in the show as Earth 2 Laurel so there’s really no excuse for it. I know they tried to offer some sort of explanation to it when Earth 2 Laurel and Quentin Lance talk about it, but it still left a sour taste in my mouth.
I really enjoyed seeing Thea Queen and Roy Harper get their happy ending and it felt like a satisfying conclusion to the love story we’ve seen between the two over the 8 seasons. Even if the proposal felt a bit out of nowhere and the timing was pretty poor! Now again, I know this was quite controversial with fans, but I was happy with the decision to have 2040 Felicity join Oliver and leave her life behind. They had to find a reason to explain her absence from the possible upcoming Green Arrow and the Black Canaries show and what better way to do that than have her finally reunite with the love of her life 20 years after his death.
All in all I enjoyed the finale and feel like it did the 8 year of the show justice. I still can’t believe the show that kick started this incredible universe is over. Thank you Arrow!
Well, that was my review of the Arrow Finale! What did you think of the episode? Please feel free to let me know in the comments!
Thank you!
