‘His name is John Diggle, and he’s the Green Arrow.’
Following the end of last week’s episode where Oliver Queen officially handed the Green Arrow mantle on to John Diggle, this week focuses on the new team dynamics and performance, and Oliver’s other life as Mayor and father. The team’s smooth transition is a mark of how far they’ve grown into their roles, and at first John absolutely kills it as the Green Arrow, doing great in the field although without the shooting of arrows. He even inherits Oliver’s trademark ‘worry face’ and wears that well too.
Problems start however, when it’s time to make snap hard calls in the field. John literally freezes up and lets the bad guy escape, blowing up a city block and putting 10 people in the hospital. This, of course, leads to questions about his ability to lead in the field. Thankfully, though, by the end of the episode, he gets a handle on his doubts and leads the team in stopping a deadly nerve gas from killing hotel full of people. Oh, and I’ve just got to say, with a pretty badass Team Arrow entrance, too!
Now, while all this is well and good, there’s still the question of Diggle’s injury. How is he managing all these with nerve damage in his arm? At first, it does seem like he’s got a handle on that too, as he claimed to Dinah at the beginning of the episode, and that maybe he will take over the Green Arrow persona for good. But then, we are treated to gross disappointment –Diggle is buying illegal drugs on the side to temporarily stop the tremors. While this is quite unlike John, it does fit in with his biggest characteristic –he will do anything for his friends. The question now is, how long will this go on? And when he’s found out, will this mean the end of his career as a vigilante –even as Spartan?
And it seems about to get worse. After Oliver deftly temporarily stays a bill that would rekindle anti-vigilante manhunts, Agent Samantha Watson surmises he is protecting someone, and the first candidate is John Diggle himself. If the Green Arrow is caught by the FBI buying drugs on the side… well, let’s just say that won’t be great for the team.
What was your favorite part of the episode? Did John do a good job as the Green Arrow? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to leave an upvote!
Arrow continues next week Thursday 2nd November on The CW at 9pm ET with ‘Reversal’.