[spoilers] What Arrow's seasons 3-5 should have been
(Skip way ahead to see the full 5 seasons sketched out, in chronological order.)
In honor of the season 4 finale:
We all know the show has been run into the ground. But explanations for how its been ruined differ. We all know its bad, but what would the show look like if it was still good?
When Laurel was killed, I was furious and felt hollow. It took me a little while to figure out why. It wasn't fanboyism, love of the actress, love of the character, or even love of the comics.
It was because five good seasons of Arrow were already written. Over seasons 3 and 4 the show systematically ruined all the advantages the first two seasons gave it. Killing Laurel was the last step: without a flashpoint-style reboot, there is now virtually zero chance of the show ever finding its way back to what it should have been. Since any chance of it regaining what it once was it virtually gone, I'm going to sketch out what the show was meant to be. Arrow is unique among shows in that it gave us the outline of five seasons as soon as the pilot aired, and five strong seasons of themes and plot structure could be readily built from what it gave us in day 1.
Arrow had a beginning, middle, and ending as soon as the first episode aired. The basic structure of the show, 5 years in the present with flashbacks to 5 years in the past, mean the story starts with Oliver going to the island. Oliver's return to Starling City to chase criminals is the middle of the story. Maybe the greatest failure of the current showrunners is that they have lost sight of this. Although it wasn't displayed in the show, the original showrunners clearly articulated that this is meant to be the story of how Oliver becomes the Green Arrow. This gives the show an end point for season 5. (Or what would have been the endpoint, if not for the clusterfuck ending of season 3 leading to stepford-wife Green Arrow Oliver in season 4).
This gives us a story that looks like this:
| Time | Story Elements |
|---|---|
| Start | Oliver is dating Laurel. Oliver is a spoiled playboy. Oliver is cheating on Laurel. Oliver takes Sara with him and gets shipwrecked, which immediately results in his father's death, his marooning on the island, and the utter destruction of his relationship with Laurel. |
| Flashback Years 1-5 | |
| Midpoint | Oliver returns to Starling City. Oliver is a skilled fighter and remorseless killer with tons of secrets and who is willing to spin enormous lies to his loved ones. Oliver is intent on righting his father's wrongs. Laurel finds out that Oliver is alive, and the true repercussions of Oliver's boat trip on their relationship take effect. |
| Present Years 1-5 | |
| End | Oliver is the fun, cheerful Green Arrow of the comics |
And thats it. Everything we need to construct a full plotline for 5 seasons is contained in this sketch and in the way the show reveals present and past at the same time. That latter element is what we need to really understand the underlying principles of storytelling in this show:
| Before Show | Flashbacks | Present
---|----|----|----|----
Year 1 | | Oliver shipwrecked | Oliver returns
Year 2 | | |
Year 3 | | |
Year 4 | | |
Year 5 | | |
End of arc | Oliver is a self-involved tool | Oliver is a driven killing machine with secrets and regrets | Oliver is happy go lucky Green Arrow
Based on this, the show has three fundamental principles:
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Parallel themes: each Year needs to address similar themes in both present and flashback, and
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The flashback arc is a downward arc with a sad ending, the present arc is an upward arc with a happy ending, which means
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Each Year the themes must end while heading in a different 'direction'
From this, we can see that this isn't a superhero show. Its a character study of a man's descent into hell and how he comes back out.
This is all we really need to fill out the entirety of the story, but since the original showrunners got two good seasons in before things started to crumble, we'll let them fill in Years 1-2:
| Before Show | Flashbacks | Present
---|----|----|----|----
Year 1 | | Themes: Lost in a new world. Oliver is forced to look at himself and see his failures. Oliver obsesses over losing Laurel and what he's done to their relationship. Oliver goes from thinking about himself to thinking about others. Ending: Oliver thinks about others, he overcomes the bad guy in the end | Themes: Oliver returns to an 'old' world which is actually new. Oliver is forced to reckon with other people who look at him and see his failures. Oliver is still obsessed with Laurel but is even more intent on pushing her away. Oliver is thinking about others (the city), but eventually starts thinking about himself (end the undertaking, be happy with Laurel). Ending: Oliver does not save the city
Year 2 | | Themes: The past (Sara) comes back to haunt Oliver. This leads to an impossible choice; he chooses the option that favors Laurel and would minimize the damage to their relationship. Terrible consequences follow. Ending: Oliver chooses vengeance | Themes: The past (Sara and Slade) comes back to haunt Oliver. The choice he made starts moving his relationship with Laurel toward the better, but also forces another impossible choice. This time his mother bears the burden of the choice. Ending: Oliver chooses mercy
Year 3 | | |
Year 4 | | |
Year 5 | | |
End of arc | Oliver is a self-involved tool | Oliver is a driven killing machine with secrets and regrets | Oliver is happy go lucky Green Arrow
Thats what we have through season 2. Season 1 is about acknowledging the damage he has done to himself and others, and thinking about others vs himself. Season 2 is about how the past always comes back, and you can't escape what you've done.
From here, we can start filling in the rest:
A good amount of season 3 is actually of good quality, and I suspect that the original showrunners sketched parts of it out before moving on to Flash. In particular, there are a lot of good themes that are touched on during the first half that are completely abandoned later on.
Primary season 3 themes: honesty, secrets, and the need for acceptance.
We can see those themes all through the first half of season 3 and off-and-on in parts of the second half. Sara's death was ultimately due to all the secrets she kept. Laurel keeps Sara's death a secret from their father, drowns under the weight of bearing it alone, and damages their relationship when the secret finally comes out. Thea came under the influence of Malcolm because she ran away; she ran because her brother was incapable of telling her the truth. Malcolm knows that his ridiculous plan to get Oliver to fight Ra's Al Ghul won't work at all if Oliver tells Ra's the truth, and Malcolm's relationship with Thea will fall apart if Oliver tells Thea the truth, but he (correctly) trusts Oliver to be incapable of telling the truth to anybody. Oliver's desperate need for Thea's acceptance, and his inability to tell her anything that might push her away, leads to him choosing a duel to the death with the greatest assassin alive instead of telling the truth to anybody at all.
These themes point to an obvious end: Oliver reveals some major secrets and people accept him. There are two ways this could be plotted:
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Oliver reveals to the world that he's the Arrow. The city responds with acceptance: they help him to kick the bad guy's ass (we'll assume its still Ra's, and give him a more sensible evil plan).
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Oliver reveals some major secrets from his past to all the people he cares about. This would likely tie in with the season 3 flashbacks. Given the need for parallels, we can assume that in flashbacks, he insists on telling people the truth (the truth about him, the truth about the island, whatever) and it leads directly to something awful. The flashback season ends with Oliver doing something terrible that he thinks has to be done, and keeping it a secret because he's afraid of the consequences. His shame over this act is what has led to his self-loathing tendencies and his need for acceptance. The people he tells forgive him.
This gives us 3 full seasons of plot and themes.
For the next part to fill in, we'll look to the flashbacks, as there is considerably less wiggle room in terms of the story that can be told (due to how much we know of where the flashbacks end).
At the end of flashback season 3, Oliver has some martial art skills, a ton of regrets and secrets, and is colder and angrier.
What the last two seasons of flashbacks need to cover:
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Oliver becomes Bratva captain
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Oliver learns more killing-machine skills
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Oliver returns to the island
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Oliver becomes an 'its all my fault, its all on me to do everything' type
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Oliver decides to return to Starling City
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Oliver is still obsessed with Laurel, but decides to push her away when he returns
Because points 5 and 6 are both intimately tied to Present - Year 1, we can comfortably stick them in Flashback Year 5. Furthermore, they lend themselves to specific themes, which will be explored in both flashback and present day.
Year 5 Themes: Does Oliver deserve happiness? Is his life his? What does he owe to everybody else? Flashbacks - Oliver returns to the island of his own accord, intent on hiding from the world, due to the events of season 3 and 4. Some island bad guy shit goes down. There is a hot chick involved. She reminds him of Laurel; they connect as he tells her about Laurel and what he lost, and he realizes that he could never be with Laurel again, because of what he has become. She is somehow involved with the bad guys. Oliver decides to avoid getting involved with the island shit. Hot girl gets involved and sacrifices herself to stop the villains' plans, and then the villains leave the island without any further repercussions. Oliver realizes that he can't live with himself if he doesn't go back to protect his city, and by extension Laurel. Oliver arranges to be found by some sailors.
This gives us the following outline (going with the terrible past secret version of Year 3 and some plot sketched out):
| Flashbacks | Present
----|----|----|----
Year 1 | Themes: Lost in a new world. Oliver is forced to look at himself and see his failures. Oliver obsesses over losing Laurel and what he's done to their relationship. Oliver goes from thinking about himself to thinking about others. Ending: Oliver thinks about others, he overcomes the bad guy in the end | Themes: Oliver returns to an 'old' world which is actually new. Oliver is forced to reckon with other people who look at him and see his failures. Oliver is still obsessed with Laurel but is even more intent on pushing her away. Oliver is thinking about others (the city), but eventually starts thinking about himself (end the undertaking, be happy with Laurel). Ending: Oliver does not save the city
Year 2 | Themes: The past (Sara) comes back to haunt Oliver. This leads to an impossible choice; he chooses the option that favors Laurel and would minimize the damage to their relationship. Terrible consequences follow. Ending: Oliver chooses vengeance | Themes: The past (Sara and Slade) comes back to haunt Oliver. The choice he made starts moving his relationship with Laurel toward the better, but also forces another impossible choice. This time his mother bears the burden of the choice. Ending: Oliver chooses mercy
Year 3 | Themes: honesty, secrets, and the need for acceptance. Plot: Oliver gets some information. Oliver makes a friend, joins the friend's group, a moral-grey-area rebel type group. Tells the friend some information. Information is used in a way that results in tragedy, with Oliver's involvement. Friend won't be stopped, and might actually be in the right. Ending: Oliver murders his friend and hides the truth, in order to prevent even more tragedy. | Same themes. Mostly the same plot, including Sara's murder, getting stabbed by Ra's, offered the opportunity to be part of a more moral-grey LoA. This time Oliver doesn't even pretend to join them. Ra's kidnaps the main group. Oliver goes to Nanda Parbat, where Ra's confronts him with the past, and reveals Oliver's actions of Flashback 3 to Oliver's friends. Ra's says that if Oliver catches Malcolm (who is actually repenting and trying his best to do good), brings him to Nanda Parbat, and executes him, Ra's will let all his friends go. Ending: Friends forgive Oliver for the secrets he's kept, tell him not to do it. Oliver seeks out Malcolm, tells him the truth about what Ra's wants. Malcolm agrees to go, in order to save Thea. In front of Ra's, Oliver kills himself instead of Malcolm. Ra's says damn it, has mercy, tosses Oliver into Lazarus Pit and sends him home along with friends. Oliver reveals final dark secret of Flashback 3: the friend from the past, the one he murdered, was actually Andy Diggle. (Or some other vague family member.)
Year 4 | |
Year 5 | Themes: Responsibility, self-blame, self-loathing. Plot: Oliver avoids the world back on island, decides that his past is too bad for him to go back, avoids getting involved. Ending: Tragedy, failure, and Oliver's decision to take on all responsibility for saving his city |
End of arc | Oliver is a driven killing machine with secrets and regrets | Oliver is happy go lucky Green Arrow
With that, the rough thematic and plot outline is done for 3.5 seasons. (BTW, the reveal of the friend being Andy Diggle is arbitrary. It could be anybody connected to either John or Felicity.) Season 4, by default, has to involve Russia/the Bratva.
Plot it has to cover, with related themes:
Bratva captain -- being part of a group
Skilled and ruthless killing machine Oliver -- the value of a life
Oliver goes back to island afterward in order to avoid everything he's done -- responsibility (a more generic level than the world-encompassing type of season 5)
Flashback Year 4 Plot:
Oliver is on the run from somebody or other because of events of flashback 3. Runs into Anatoly Knaezev, who gives him sanctuary. The person he's on the run from is part of a rival organization to Bratva. Oliver works for Bratva to track down and kill members of other organization, as other organization is way more evil. Learns assorted assassin skills from another member of Bratva. Wipes out substantial part of other organization, but other organization strikes back: kills other assassin and several important Bratva members. Oliver made a Bratva captain, given control of some other members, plots and executes infiltration of evil base and destruction of enemy personnel and property. Ending: Confronts evil guy, kicks his ass. Due to his carelessness, evil guy gets away; during escape several of Oliver's Bratva helpers are killed. Oliver's guilt over what he has become and self-blame over the death of the people helping him leads him to return to the island.
The themes and plot of Flashback 4 lend themselves very well to a Present Day plot focusing on the expansion of the group of heroes due to Thea's and Laurel's insistence on beating up criminals.
Present Day Year 4 Plot:
Thea has taken to beating up bad guys in Roy's suit (Roy met a cute girl and moved away to have kids and work in a muffler shop). Laurel has also gotten more skilled, and is starting to move up from petty criminals to tougher thugs. Oliver has his hands full trying to manage them, and Diggle/Felicity have continued to work with the group, but with things clearly uncomfortable and starting to fall apart. A new criminal presence enters town and murders the mayor. Oliver runs for mayor on the one hand, while investigating the criminal presence. Some of the criminals that Laurel and Thea have fought have ended up dead, Oliver suspects them and doesn't trust them to do things right, which causes a group meltdown. Oliver follows them, and one night spots Malcolm killing a thug who was about to shoot Laurel from behind. He confronts Malcolm, who admits he's been following both Thea and Laurel and covering their backs, but his moral compass doesn't stop him from killing the bad ones. Oliver tries to get him to stop, but doesn't any moral ground and Malcolm ignores him. While dealing with the mayoral race and the criminal presence that is amping up around town, killing random people, Oliver dodges assassination attempts and starts training Thea and Laurel, since he can't persuade them to stop. Eventually, he discovers information that suggests the evil organization is being run by the villain of Flashback 4, and not trusting his allies he goes alone to confront him. They're waiting for Oliver and he gets his ass whipped, but gets saved by his friends.
Eventually he goes again, with the help of the rest of the gang. They smash their way through the villain's thugs and catch the villain, and take him into custody, but discover the villain is actually working with Knaezev, who has snagged Felicity while the group is out, shoots her in the back, and tosses her out in front of city hall while Oliver is giving a speech, bleeding onto the street.
Yadda yadda, the group comes together to support Felicity and work together to stop Knaezev. They infiltrate yet another evil base and take down bad guys. Oliver confronts Knaezev and asks why they've been doing all of that, and Knaezev says it was all just to lure Oliver out and punish him, and the random killings were just collateral damage. Knaezev gets the drop on Oliver and starts to escape, and is heading in Laurel's direction as she is fighting some other thug. Oliver buries an arrow in the back of Knaezev's head. He admits to Laurel that Knaezev was going after somebody he cared about. Laurel says she knows how hard it was to do that. Oliver admits it was easy, and looks ashamed. Oliver wins the mayoral race, and locks away his arrow outfit and his bow.
Now, with everything laid out except for the present day plot of year 5, here is what Arrow's five seasons look like:
Chronological Order
| Year | Plot | Themes |
|---|---|---|
| Flashback 1 | Season 1 Flashback plot | Being lost in a new world, confronting oneself, thinking about yourself vs thinking about others |
| Flashback 2 | Season 2 Flashback plot | Decisions and consequences, vengeance vs mercy |
| Flashback 3 | Oliver gets some information after he leaves the island. Oliver makes a friend, joins the friend's group, a moral-grey-area rebel type group. Tells the friend the information. Information is used in a way that results in tragedy, with Oliver's involvement. Friend won't be stopped, and might actually be in the right. Oliver murders his friend and hides the truth, in order to prevent even more tragedy. | Honesty, secrets, and the need for acceptance |
| Flashback 4 | Oliver is on the run from somebody or other because of events of flashback 3. Runs into Anatoly Knaezev, who gives him sanctuary. The person he's on the run from is part of a rival organization to Bratva. Oliver works for Bratva to track down and kill members of other organization, as other organization is way more evil. Learns assorted assassin skills from another member of Bratva. Wipes out substantial part of other organization, but other organization strikes back: kills other assassin and several important Bratva members. Oliver made a Bratva captain, given control of some other members, plots and executes infiltration of evil base and destruction of enemy personnel and property. Ending: Confronts evil guy, kicks his ass. Due to his carelessness, evil guy gets away; during escape several of Oliver's Bratva helpers are killed. Oliver's guilt over what he has become and self-blame over the death of the people helping him leads him to return to the island. | The value of a life and the price for taking it, being part of and responsible for a group |
| Flashback 5 | Oliver returns to the island of his own accord, intent on hiding from the world, due to the events of season 3 and 4. Some island bad guy shit goes down. There is a hot chick involved. She reminds him of Laurel; they connect as he tells her about Laurel and what he lost, and he realizes that he could never be with Laurel again, because of what he has become. She is somehow involved with the bad guys. Oliver decides to avoid getting involved with the island shit. Hot girl gets involved and sacrifices herself to stop the villains' plans, and then the villains leave the island without any further repercussions. Oliver realizes that he can't live with himself if he doesn't go back to protect his city, and by extension Laurel. Oliver arranges to be found by some sailors. | Responsibility, self-blame, being deserving of good or bad |
| Present 1 | Season 1 Present plot | Being lost in a new world, confronting how other people see you, thinking about yourself vs thinking about others |
| Present 2 | Season 2 Present plot | Decisions and consequences, vengeance vs mercy |
| Present 3 | Mostly the same plot, including Sara's murder, getting stabbed by Ra's, offered the opportunity to be part of a more moral-grey LoA. This time Oliver doesn't even pretend to join them. Ra's kidnaps the main group. Oliver goes to Nanda Parbat, where Ra's confronts him with the past, and reveals Oliver's actions of Flashback 3 to Oliver's friends. Ra's says that if Oliver catches Malcolm (who is actually repenting and trying his best to do good), brings him to Nanda Parbat, and executes him, Ra's will let all his friends go. Ending: Friends forgive Oliver for the secrets he's kept, tell him not to do it. Oliver seeks out Malcolm, tells him the truth about what Ra's wants. Malcolm agrees to go, in order to save Thea. In front of Ra's, Oliver kills himself instead of Malcolm. Ra's says damn it, has mercy, tosses Oliver into Lazarus Pit and sends him home along with friends. Oliver reveals final dark secret of Flashback 3: the friend from the past, the one he murdered, was actually (relative of a teammate). | Honesty, secrets, and the need for acceptance |
| Present 4 | Thea has taken to beating up bad guys in Roy's suit (Roy met a cute girl and moved away to have kids and work in a muffler shop). Laurel has also gotten more skilled, and is starting to move up from petty criminals to tougher thugs. Oliver has his hands full trying to manage them, and Diggle/Felicity have continued to work with the group, but with things clearly uncomfortable and starting to fall apart. A new criminal presence enters town and murders the mayor. Oliver runs for mayor on the one hand, while investigating the criminal presence. Some of the criminals that Laurel and Thea have fought have ended up dead, Oliver suspects them and doesn't trust them to do things right, which causes a group meltdown. Oliver follows them, and one night spots Malcolm killing a thug who was about to shoot Laurel from behind. He confronts Malcolm, who admits he's been following both Thea and Laurel and covering their backs, but his moral compass doesn't stop him from killing the bad ones. Oliver tries to get him to stop, but doesn't have any moral high ground and Malcolm ignores him. While dealing with the mayoral race and the criminal presence that is amping up around town, killing random people, Oliver dodges assassination attempts and starts training Thea and Laurel, since he can't persuade them to stop. Eventually, he discovers information that suggests the evil organization is being run by the villain of Flashback 4, and not trusting his allies he goes alone to confront him. They're waiting for Oliver and he gets his ass whipped, but gets saved by his friends. - - -Eventually he goes again, with the help of the rest of the gang. They smash their way through the villain's thugs and catch the villain, and take him into custody, but discover the villain was actually hired years ago by Knaezev, who has snagged Felicity while the group is out, shoots her in the back, and tosses her out in front of city hall while Oliver is giving a speech, bleeding onto the street. - - -Yadda yadda, the group comes together to support Felicity and work together to stop Knaezev. They infiltrate yet another evil base and take down bad guys. Oliver confronts Knaezev and asks why they've been doing all of that, and Knaezev says it was all just to lure Oliver out and punish him for breaking Bratva code in season 2, and the random killings were collateral damage. Knaezev gets the drop on Oliver and starts to escape, and is heading in Laurel's direction as she is fighting some other thug. Oliver buries an arrow in the back of Knaezev's head. He admits to Laurel that Knaezev was going after somebody he cared about. Laurel says she knows how hard it was to do that. Oliver admits it was easy, and looks ashamed. Oliver wins the mayoral race, and locks away his arrow outfit and his bow. | The value of a life and the price for taking it, being part of and responsible for a group |
| Present 5 |
(I got caught up and sketched out way more of Season 5 than needed, pretty much turned it into a fanfic, if fanfic is the right word for something that exists to trash the most recent seasons of the show. Anyway it still follows the basic principles.)
So, for season 5, going from the following themes:
Responsibility, self-blame, being deserving of happiness
And the ending plot of season 4, where Oliver is mayor and has given up being a vigilante, we get
Season 5 Present Day Plot
Oliver has presided as mayor for close to a year, and the city is flourishing. Laurel and Thea, with the support of Felicity and Diggle, are still kicking criminal ass and have both gotten very good. Its revealed that Oliver spends his nights drinking and looking at photos of people he couldn't save during the first four years he was back in Starling. Oliver in his mayor suit takes down a couple criminals, and the public are split between cheering for the mayor and demanding he have better security.
One night, he pulls out his arrow suit, and goes criminal hunting. His skills are rough and out of practice, and after several nights he gets in over his head. Thea and Laurel save him and reveal they've been following him. Oliver packs his things away again, but Laurel starts talking with him, encourages him to get out and get back to work. They end up going out beating up thugs together and have a couple episodes of adventure; meanwhile, corn-related trouble brews in Starling. No, actually some officers go missing, then several more, leaving Captain Lance in a panic.
While searching for the missing officers Oliver begins to open up to Laurel, telling her about a girl he was with on the island that reminded him of Laurel. Thea goes missing as well, and after Malcolm contacts Oliver, the three of them search. They find the captured officers, along with Thea, imprisoned at an abandoned factory, nobody knows how they got there or why.
Thea shows signs of PTSD, and goes crazy while fighting a criminal, beating him to death with her fists. The other captured officers also lose control and act violently when confronting criminals and have to be quarantined. A man comes to the mayor's office to talk: Damien Dahrk, mastermind of the shenanigans involving the officers. He admits to taking them and Thea, and tells Oliver he wants to eliminate crime in the city by extreme measures. He knows of Oliver's past as the Arrow and expects support.
Oliver is shaken and turns to Laurel. They admit their renewed feelings for one another, but that night while they are out vigilante-ing, Oliver loses control and murders a criminal who had already surrendered. He realizes that Dahrk drugged him in some fashion when they spoke at the mayoral office.
Oliver stops going out to chase criminals, but cannot quarantine himself due to the duties of mayor. With Oliver and Thea out of commission, the police force understaffed, and Malcolm refusing to leave Thea, Laurel and Diggle are forced to both go out and cover more and more ground. After several long nights without sleep, Laurel is shot in the shoulder and barely escapes with her life.
Oliver takes care of Laurel as she recuperates and they discuss moving in together. Oliver suits up again and fights crime with Diggle, with Diggle and Felicity monitoring him to make sure he doesn't lose control, while Thea starts to have flashbacks of murdering Sara. A video gets out of the Arrow murdering a criminal, and Lance (who knows damn well who the Arrow is and has known for a long time) confronts Laurel and then Oliver, while a public outcry comes for the Arrow to give himself up.
Thea asks Lance to put her in jail so she won't hurt anybody, and when Lance refuses she admits to killing Sara. Lance confronts Laurel who admits that she knew. He begs her to stop being the Canary and to avoid the Queens, that death follows them around whether they cause it or not. Laurel presses Oliver on moving in together, but he pulls away, leaving her confused.
Although other crime types are down, homicide rates are way up, as it appears random citizens have been exposed. Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle attempt to track the source; they track differences in crime rates and find that they are centered around a research facility in the rebuilt Glades. They infiltrate and find the facility abandoned, and Dahrk taunts them from a speaker. Oliver promises to stop him, and Dahrk says he'll stop if Oliver reveals his identity to the world: Oliver is the last murderer running free.
Against the wishes of his friends and family, Oliver goes public. Lance arrests him, and after a brief hearing Oliver is put in a maximum security facility. Laurel visits him, and Oliver admits that he wants to move in with her, but he's not sure that Dahrk is wrong. They talk more as Oliver admits to different people he was responsible for who died, and then says Sara as well. Laurel gets angry and tells him that Sara made her own choices. Lance is watching through a monitor, and after Laurel leaves he talks to Oliver and they reminisce about Sara. Lance then admits that he's know Oliver's secret for a long time, and that he kept working with the Arrow to catch bad guys, but more than that, to watch over Oliver. That after Moira died, he was the only one left to watch over everyone.
With Oliver in prison, Laurel, Thea, Diggle, and Felicity, with Malcolm's help, track down Dahrk's base of operations. They dispatch of a bunch of criminals, when Felicity gets word that there has been a breach at the prison and that a riot is in progress. Laurel and Diggle return to the prison while Thea and Malcolm continue to search for Dahrk. They find some personal quarters that Malcolm suggests they search.
Thea finds an empty bedroom and bathroom, and returns to the living area to see Malcolm running his fingers along the blade of a katana on a rack by the wall. Malcolm reveals that he and Dahrk were working together, as Malcolm needed a better and faster way to wipe out the criminals of the city. Thea realizes the parallels between the drug that has been affecting the city and the drug that Malcolm used to force her to murder Sara, and that he'd done it to her again. She asks how he could, and he shrugs and says that Sara was an assassin, a criminal just like all the others. Thea responds that Sara was Thea's friend and that Malcolm is worse than any of them. He agrees and wields the katana and steps away from the wall. Thea slowly takes another katana and faces off with Malcolm. He says that they're both killers now, and asks Thea if she can do what needs to be done. The two clash, and after a grueling battle, Malcolm gets the upper hand. Right before Malcolm deals a fatal blow, Thea catches the blade with her hand and pulls it away, then stabs Malcolm in the gut. Malcolm falls to the floor and tells Thea she would always be his daughter. Thea tears up, and asks her if he let her win. He smiles then stops breathing.
Back at the prison, all the doors have been opened, with several guards drugged and attacking prisoners. A number of the prisoners gather together and attempt to kill Oliver. Although he suffers several injuries, he manages to use all his skill to disable the prisoners that attack him while he escapes from the mob. He finds Lance and the two attempt to seal the prisoners into a subsection of the facility, but an armed and armored Dahrk intervenes along with a number of the most dangerous prisoners. Dahrk reveals that his daughter was the girl on the island, and accuses Oliver of letting her die, just as he has let so many others die. Oliver sadly agrees, but then tells him that she made her choices anyway. As Dahrk growls and raises a gun to fire, Laurel and Diggle come through the door and start clashing with the prisoners along with Lance, and Oliver grabs Dahrk's gun and the two struggle. However, Oliver is weakened by his time in prison and already in bad shape from his injuries, and Dahrk is in prime condition, and after a lengthy back and forth, Dahrk lands a crushing blow to Oliver's ribs, cracking several and dropping him to the ground. He picks up his pistol and steps over to finish Oliver, but Laurel dives between them. Dahrk hesitates, then as he straightens his arm to fire Lance runs into him. The two briefly struggle before a shot rings out, then their momentum sends Dahrk tumbling to the floor, where Diggle knocks him the fuck out.
Lance steps back towards Oliver and Laurel then collapses. The two rush to his side. Oliver looks down and sees Lance's shirt covered with blood, then desperately applies pressure. Lance grunts and shakes his head. As Oliver looks at him, Lance says "this one ain't on you either, kid". He apologizes to Laurel for having been so angry, and she tells him he'll be ok and not to go. "We don't get to choose, baby girl. I love you." The camera cuts to behind the three and pulls slowly away before fading to black.
Several months later, Oliver is released from prison. He is met outside by a small crowd of people who thank him for saving someone's brother, a sister, a parent, their children. After he passes through the crowd, he finds his friends and they exchange hellos and hugs. Dahrk is revealed to be in prison waiting for trial, with the drug-induced homicide wave laid at his feet. Oliver asks if the city had finally gotten around to electing a replacement mayor, and everybody glances around before Felicity admits that the city council had tabled the issue until he got out, partly because of public support for Oliver, partly due to the amazingly high death rate of mayors and mayoral candidates in the city.
After a bit more small talk, Oliver gives Laurel a pointed look, and we cut to them walking past some trees as they chatter about the group's crime-fighting exploits over the past few months. They then stop and we see them standing in front of Lance's grave, next to Sara's. They look quietly for a moment, then Oliver opens a bottle and pours it out. They hug, and Laurel says how much she misses them both, and Oliver says he does too.
As they walk away, Laurel laughs and says that Thea moved into a smaller apartment and sold most of Oliver's stuff. Oliver's jaw drops, then he laughs. After a moment, he asks if she still wants to move in together.
Not perfect, but way the hell better than what we've been getting, and I only spent a few hours working it out, not multiple years. Get your shit together, Guggenheim.
Posted May 26, 2016, 10:01 AM UTC · edited