Arrow Season 7 Episode 14 Review: Brothers & Sisters
Carissa Pavlica
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It's time for Diggle and Lyla to get a different storyline.
As we saw on Arrow Season 7 Episode 14, the stupid Ghost Initiative (aka Suicide Squad) was back again with little purpose. ARGUS is so dull that the show is counting on one of the worst groups ever to air on it for inspiration.
If the Ghost Initiative was worth its weight, we'd see more of Carrie Cutter and China White. Instead, they're barely eye candy as the focus was again (and for the last time) on Ricardo Diaz.
It was going to be an ugly conversation when Diggle eventually shared news of the new Ghost Initiative member with Felicity and Oliver. Felicity's world changed when she was under attack by Diaz.
You're joking. You're working with the man who threatened to kill my entire family?
Felicity
Diggle's relationship with Lyla is very important, but Lyla may not be the best indicator of what's right and wrong. She is all about the job, and the hardline Lyla takes when it comes to ARGUS doesn't say much for her connection to her husband.
Felicity: You realize this is the second time you've prioritized your job over keeping your friends safe?
Diggle: Working with ARGUS does keep you safe because it keeps the world safe.
Felicity: You keep telling yourself that.
Surely, Lyla should understand the importance of Felicity and Oliver in Diggle's world. And no matter how much she wants to capture Dante, safety should never take a passenger seat to the hunt.
Felicity is thinking for two now, and from what we know about Mia, she was a very hands-on mom. Who watches Connor at the Diggle household these days? [EDIT: Yes, I forgot they're either not calling JJ Connor or this is a different Diggle kid!]
Felicity is always going to think of family first, and we got our first hint at what that means to her as she went from wanting to kill Diaz to a desire to be a better person, basking in the light of her life instead of turning dark.
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The best part of the hour featured the friendship of Felicity and Laurel.
Laurel likes the combined person she's become and the former Black Siren and Black Canary combined to use her cunning and OG Laurel's substantially better life choices.
If OG Laurel hadn't paved the way for this Laurel, she could still find herself roiling in the darkness.
Instead, she was at Felicity's side as a genuine friend and sussed out Felicity's pregnancy even before Fel's husband.
Felicity was doing everything she could to get Laurel to help her get rid of Diaz, but Laurel said she didn't want to upset the status quo. The way she handled the news of the pregnancy and tried to care for her friend helped Felicity stop short of killing Diaz herself.
It's still painful to know that Laurel wasn't a part of the special tattoo pact the group will eventually make. She has Felicity's back, and she made Diggle look tainted in comparison.
We know to be a street hero, it's almost equal measures of altruism and darkness that keeps them moving and allows them to devote so much of their lives to the cause.
As much as they desire to clean up the streets of trash, they know that for the grace of god, it could be them on the wrong end of a vigilante's arrow. It's the need to atone for dark thoughts that drives vigilante justice.
Related: Arrow Review - Star City Slayer
For all the naysaying Laurel was doing to Felicity about wanting to keep her position as the DA and walk on the right side of the law, she also saw how much her friend was hurting and wanted to keep her safe.
Would bananas do the trick?
I'm not so sure. Felicity was right that using Diaz as a part of the initiative was a terrible idea. All it took was one mission, and Diaz had his brain bomb frazzled out and was free to kill again.
Sadly, I don't think ARGUS is going anywhere anytime soon since Dante, their only objective, wasn't caught. Instead, he got helped by their best weapon, Diaz.
I've wondered at the point of this Dante guy because he's been a lot more a name than an actual threat until now.
Like all of Star City's underworld, Dante has some fight training under his belt and gave Oliver a run for the money.
At the same time, Oliver was trying to connect with Emiko.
All of a sudden, Oliver has few people skills, and the man from the streets, Rene, knows how to reach Emiko and make her feel welcome.
That's an odd turn of events, but in hindsight, Emiko needed one of Oliver's own to pave the way for Oliver to trust her.
And trust her he does because Rene shared the news of the murder of Emiko's mother. By allowing that little bombshell to reach Oliver's ears through someone he trusts, it added a layer of understanding for Oliver regarding Emiko.
Does anyone else think it's downright odd that Emiko didn't reach out to the Queen family long before she stole her brother's vigilante identity?
She grew up in The Glades, not a city far, far away. She was right in the crap part of Star City. She would have been younger when Robert went missing, but with all the publicity about Oliver's time on the island, you'd think she would have had a hard time staying away.
Related: Arrow Review -- Emerald Archer
Instead, she was training to be Oliver Queen instead of getting to know him. With Dante?
Dante wants her to "come home," which must mean he raised Emiko. This must be a twist in the story to give Emiko some kind of connection to the present that her comics counterpart would have had by way of Shado.
This twist seems so similar to what's happening on The Flash with Nora and the Reverse Flash that it comes off as routine and doesn't pack much punch.
On the other hand, someone took out Diaz with a beautiful, fiery ending. Who do you say set the blaze?
I'm with Laurel. She knew Felicity wouldn't feel safe until Diaz was gone, and for all that she did to dissuade Felicity from killing Diaz herself, there was no love lost between Laurel and Diaz. He had her do terrible things.
I'm sorry; I didn't realize being a fake lawyer was more interesting than getting revenge on the bastard that killed Quentin.
Felicity
Laurel may be standing on the side of justice as the DA, but she still has the dark tide rolling inside of her that would allow her to end Diaz and feel justified in doing it.
We can see a lot of Laurel in Mia, and I'd like to think that Felicity raised her daughter to be like the friend who stood by her.
My whole life, my mom told me that our dad was a hero. Everything in this city says the opposite. All of our problems are because of him and the other vigilantes. You knew him back then. Was he a hero?
Mia
Her mom also raised Mia to believe her dad was a hero. I think this points solidly to Oliver's ending on the next Arrowverse crossover. Even if the story ends after Arrow Season 8, we should still have time after his death to find out all that occurred between that time and Mia's future.
Now that Oliver knows his family is expanding again, what will it mean for the Queen family? Will Felicity find herself a target again when Dante learns she's pregnant?
Does Emiko want to know her family or harm them? Why would she keep a familial-type tie with such a criminal to herself?
If you watch Arrow online, report back and share your thoughts on all that occurred.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
