Arrow Season 7 Episode 20 Review: “Confessions”

“Confessions” is an incredibly frustrating episode of Arrow. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I initially found it frustrating because I assumed the worst: that the Arrow writers had chosen to do what the writing staff had done for most of Season 6 and place the importance of the plot above the integrity of character. I believed that Arrow was being inconsistent with its characterization of Dinah yet again and that, after multiple episodes where she not only fought alongside Team Arrow but also aided Black Siren in finding some form of redemption, she had devolved back into the blind, rigid, SCPD captain drone she had been earlier this season. Thankfully, that is not the case, as the final 15 minutes or so of “Confessions” reveals that Dinah, along with Oliver, Felicity, and the rest of the team, are actually all putting on an act as a part of long-con to cover up the true culprit who committed the murder of the two innocent guards: Roy Harper.

Yes, after being present for many of Season 7’s flash-forward scenes, Roy finally returns to present-day Star City in “Confessions” as Oliver calls on him to help Team Arrow take down Emiko and the Ninth Circle. Roy’s reunion with old friends like Felicity (she’s so overly excited to see him again that she almost reveals that she’s pregnant) and introduction to new team members like Rene (there’s a nice exchange about the importance of protecting the Glades between the two men) serve as the early highlights of the hour. They inject the episode with a warmth and comfort that’s deliberately missing from the interrogation scenes at the SCPD.

In the first half of “Confessions,” when it’s still not clear that what Dinah is doing is purely a performance, these brief moments with Roy reflect the appeal of the Team Arrow dynamic and, really, Arrow as a whole: the emphasis on family, whether they’re blood, friends, or fellow vigilantes. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t seen them in months because they’ve been gallivanting all over the world destroying Lazarus Pits (which is, ultimately, the cause behind Roy’s murderous actions), or if you see them every day on the streets, protecting Star City—that familial bond will never be broken. That’s why, when Roy tells Oliver that he can’t ask him and the rest of the team to cover for him, Oliver’s response is clear and simple. “You never have to ask me,” Oliver tells him. “Ever.” This is the same type of loyalty and devotion that Oliver has shown to his teammates in the past, even when they betray him like Rene felt forced to do last season when his custody of Zoe was threatened.

Furthermore, it is also the same form of empathy and understanding Oliver offers to Emiko. But unlike Roy and Rene, Oliver’s half-sister rejects this olive branch, believing that the only true way that Oliver will ever be able to understand her is by losing something he loves just as much as she loved her mother and wanted their father’s acceptance. For Emiko, the only way that Oliver will ever truly feel what she felt is by not just losing his city but his legacy, which she promises to destroy in the final moments of “Confessions,” not by only using a biological weapon against Star City but exposing him and the other vigilantes as liars by sending the security cam footage of Roy to the SCPD. Emiko makes it clear that she will enjoy having control over Oliver’s downfall just like how she wielded control over the life of their father by not informing him that the Queen’s Gambit had been tampered with. These final words are one last emotional twist of the knife before the physical pain comes, as Emiko essentially drops a building on her half-brother and the rest of Team Arrow. How will they escape in next week’s penultimate episode? We’ll have to wait and see.

But before we begin theorizing about next week, let me try to best articulate why “Confessions” bothers me so much as an episode of Arrow. To me, the twist involving Roy, informing us about his death and the Lazarus Pit bloodlust, could have been handled in so many other, less time-consuming and more efficient and effective ways. Have Roy explain this information to William and Mia in the flash-forwards. Have Felicity ask him about his bloodlust after they reunited weeks ago during the rescue mission to save her. Have him be upfront with Oliver regarding his death at the start of this episode so that there’s tension about when and if he won’t be able to control these murderous urges, just like there was always tension in the past with Thea. Honestly, there are so many ways that Arrow could have done this storyline, but by propping it up as this major mystery and spending nearly an entire episode on this dull, tedious long-con at the SCPD, the writers ultimately chose the worst option possible, giving us one less hour of the team actually bonding and working together to hunt down Emiko and providing us with one less hour of quality Felicity Smoak material.

And given the fact that Emily Bett Rickards, and therefore Felicity Smoak, is gone until (most likely) Arrow‘s series finale after the Season 7 finale in two weeks, I personally would like for the show to deliver more substantive moments involving her. They don’t all have to be with Oliver, and frankly, I don’t want them to all be with Oliver. Give me all the Felicity and Diggle scenes. Felicity, Mia, and William scenes. Felicity and Roy scenes. Felicity, Dinah, and Rene scenes. In two weeks, Arrow will be losing an integral part of its DNA, one-third of OTA, and the show needs to make the most of the time it has left with her instead of jerking its audience around with a mystery story that’s more boring than it is thrilling, more exasperating than it is compelling. Arrow usually steps up to the plate and delivers during the final two episodes of the season. Here’s hoping that Beth Schwartz and her team can keep that streak alive with more focused, captivating storytelling in next week’s installment, “Living Proof.”

Other thoughts:

• “At a certain point, Rene, people need to take responsibility for their actions.” Let’s all take a moment and acknowledge Oliver Queen’s growth as a person over these last seven seasons. This is what we call character development, my friends, and I absolutely love it.
• “And Roy is incredible at parkour.” Thank you, Felicity, for acknowledging the greatness that are Roy Harper’s ridiculously over-the-top, mostly unnecessary, but oh-so-amazing parkour abilities.
• “Roy and Thea have been around the world doing some very normal sightseeing.”

What did everyone else think about this week’s episode of Arrow? And what are you hoping to see in the final two episodes of Season 7? Comment below or tweet at me and let me know!

[Photo credit: Dean Buscher/The CW]