Arrow: Purgatory (8x07)

Arrow has decided to lean firmly into the nostalgia camp for this final season, and I for one am all for it!

Cons:

I'm going to say this one more time, just because I want to have it on the record. I'm not letting the CW pull me in to their fun crossover shenanigans. I like Arrow just fine, but I don't have the time or the bandwidth to watch all of the other shows in this extended universe. It's a good marketing technique, sure, but I am not going to be watching all of the crossover episodes. This means that I will next check in with Oliver in January, and be super confused as I'll be coming in to part... 4? 5? of the Crisis on Infinite Earths story. This isn't really a "con" of this episode in particular, but I just wanted to make my stance on this crystal clear. If you're in to all the other shows, cool. But I can't be fussed. And it annoys me slightly that this final season of Arrow, with only three episodes remaining, is using one of those episodes to tell a story that's not really about Oliver and his gang, but is instead about all of these other shows and their characters as well. After that, the penultimate episode is the backdoor pilot one, and then the finale... it really feels like a lot of real estate is being used for things that are tangential to Oliver's journey, but not central to it. And that's a bummer, even if the other content is good.

I was happy that we got some explanation about Lyla last week, but I have to admit the relationship between her and Diggle is kind of baffling. Why did Lyla have to be so circumspect about everything? She kidnapped William, Mia, Connor, Oliver, John, and Laurel. She straight up kidnapped them. She seemed perfectly able to convince Dinah, Rene, and Roy to come under their own power, so what is with the drugging? They've justified it somewhat by saying that it's all part of the effort to make Oliver understand his role in the coming Crisis. But even that doesn't quite do it for me, especially now that Lyla has been taken over and has become "the Harbinger," whatever the hell that is. It's just a little too wonky for my taste.

Pros:

The nostalgia is so strong with this one! You've got Oliver back on Lian Yu, encountering his first enemies and his first ally - Yao Fei. This return really brought things full circle. In many ways, it made this episode feel like the finale that it... kind of is. Yao Fei reminds Oliver of the lessons he's learned, and helps him to fight his way out of his past and into his future destiny. He also connects with Oliver on the importance of a father's relationships with his children.

I want to talk about the time travel of it all for a moment. I love that without hitting us over the head with it, we now have pretty firm proof that the timeline has been irrevocably changed. That was pretty much obvious from the moment the kids turned up. But now we have things like Roy losing an arm to really nail it home. Whatever the darkness of that future was, there's a real chance now to save it and make it better. It retroactively makes me a little less annoyed with how the last season ended, when I felt so discouraged by the narrative of suffering that ended with no promise of change. Now, Oliver's efforts don't feel like a waste of time.

Roy. Roy, my darling sweet boy. I love this development for him. I mean, I'm sad for him that he lost his arm, but it makes so much sense for him as a character on this journey. One of the episode's biggest highlights for me was his scene with John. Diggle feels guilty because he's the one who pulled Roy out of his safe life and got him dragged into this mess. He lost an arm because of it. But Roy says he'd rather be here with his team, than back safe in obscurity. He made his choice, and he's glad he did, no matter the cost. I just... this makes me sooo emotional. I love Roy so very much, and he's such a hero.

This episode was really Oliver's chance to say goodbye to his family, even if he didn't know that's what he was doing. As the episode ends, the Harbinger arrives to let us know that the Crisis has officially begun. These goodbyes were all pitch-perfect, and all appropriately different from one another.

To start with William - there's less baggage to unpack here, as they've already had some serious talks earlier in the season about their relationship. William reiterates to Oliver that he forgives him for not being around, that he understands better now the reasons, and that he's had twenty years to deal with it. William says he's proud of Oliver. Oliver says he's proud of William. Then they have this adorable exchange:  William: "I'm gonna hug you now." // Oliver: "You'd better." I had all the feels.

And then there's Diggle. If there's one central relationship that really underpins this show, it's not actually Felicity and Oliver. Sure, they're a big part of it... but at the end of the day, John Diggle and Oliver Queen have been the defining relationship explored through all eight seasons of this show. Their loyalty and love for one another is a special thing to behold. Here, we see that John is letting go of some of his issues surrounding Oliver's upcoming sacrifice. Earlier in the season, he just couldn't contemplate letting Oliver give up his life, because it would feel like a failure on his part. But now, he realizes that being Oliver's brother means letting him do what's best for the multiverse. Oliver asks John to find Felicity and tell her that William and Mia should grow up knowing each other. They share a hug. Again, I had all the feels.

And we end with Mia. This scene MURDERED me. Her arc with Oliver over the last several episodes has been about working through her very legitimate anger with her father over feeling abandoned all her life. Here, we see them come to a place of acceptance and love, where Mia acknowledges that she can enjoy the time she did get with Oliver. She's honored to be a part of his story. Oliver says she'll make stories of her own. (This is a nice meta reference to the spin-off show in the works, of course). They hug, it's sweet, and I had more feels.

I think that's where I'll stop. I can't believe there are just three more episodes of this show before the final goodbye!

8.5/10