Arrow: The Slabside Redemption (7x07)

Reunited and it feels so good!

Cons:

I really liked the choice to focus the whole story in the prison, but one consequence of that choice was that the pacing felt a little sluggish at times. Ricardo Diaz has never been one of this show's better villains. Compared to Slade, or Adrian Chase, or Damien, he just feels like a generic baddie. So an episode that relies on his charisma, that has a ton of speeches from him, is bound to feel a little bit lackluster at moments. This episode was best when Diaz wasn't onscreen, which does indicate a pretty significant problem.

Everyone has been freaking out about the Olicity reunion, and, like, same. But Diggle definitely disappeared when they did a pan out at the end. That is just straight up an error from the director or editor or someone, and it was really blatant and made me laugh.

Pros:

I think the action in these prison fights was pretty great! I've seen some reviewers comparing it unfavorably to Daredevil, and, well, yeah. I mean, no shade against the CW, but I never expected this show to hold a candle to a Netflix Marvel show when it comes to gritty action. That's not why I watch this show. As it is, the action was still plenty intense and ambitious, and it was great to see Oliver be the hero we all know he can be. He did everything he could to protect the guards, but also allowed Turner, a prisoner and former adversary, to prove himself. It was pretty chilling to see the utter chaos and danger of a prison turned inside out. Oliver is on the side of the guards in terms of wanting to protect people, but given everything he's gone through, it's hard not to feel like he's totally alone against the rest of the prison during those riot scenes, even when he has a tenuous ally.

One of the real benefits to this prison arc has been shining a light on Oliver's hypocrisy, and getting him to confront that dichotomy within himself. Criminals deserve to be in prison. Oliver's actions over the past decade or so have been undeniably criminal. And yet he sets himself apart from every other prisoner at Slabside. I like that he acknowledges that things aren't black and white by working with Turner and trusting him to help.

I knew Stanley was no good. I'm glad they went with sort of a middle-road with his character. It would have been really annoying if he'd been a goon of Diaz's or something like that. It would have made no sense if he'd actually been an innocent and friendly guy. So instead, he's a mentally unbalanced murderer who has a fixation on the Green Arrow. Oliver tries to reason with him, but ultimately has to overpower him to get what he wants. As the episode ends, we see that Stanley manages to escape in the aftermath of the riot chaos. I don't think he has the makings of a true "big bad," but he could easily achieve "cupid" status and continue to be a thorn in Team Arrow's side in future.

Felicity and Oliver are reunited and I'm so happy about it. I'm sure we'll get scenes next week where they have actual conversations and start to decompress over all of the stress of their time apart. There's going to be hard times ahead, especially when Oliver learns what Felicity was up to while he was locked up. On the flip side of that, Felicity has every right to still be hurt by Oliver's unilateral decision to turn himself in. It was smart of this episode to leave all that stuff for the future to deal with. Here, we have a beaten and bloodied Oliver emerging from the prison to see his wife and his  (mysteriously disappearing) best friend waiting for him. Felicity approaches, places her shaking hands on his face, and they move forward as one for a kiss. Waiting seven full episodes for this reunion makes the whole thing so very poignant. I could feel the longing, feel the relief. They haven't touched each other in months. Oliver hasn't been touched by a loving hand that entire time, and even in the few brief seconds we got, I could see that tension drain out of them both. I can't wait for more Olicity next week!

8/10