Major Spoilers!
Wow. That ending of Wednesday’s Arrow was amazing and completely unpredictable. With Slade reigning hellfire down on Ollie’s life, it was only a matter of time before he lost somebody close to him and it was surprising to see that Moira Queen was the first victim. Susanna Thompson has been one of the best figures in the show since the start, playing a shadowy figure who always has her secrets to hide. The fact that she knew Oliver was the Arrow right from the start was a massive reveal, and all in all, it was just a fantastic week for her character and she is going to be missed.
The episode manages to deal with several things, but first the most notable one aside from Moira’s death is how the Mirakuru is affecting Roy. Needless to say it wasn’t pretty, but it could have allowed the writers to fall into the trap of simply doing a filler episode before the big final act. Thankfully though, that was not the case, and as you’ve already gathered, Seeing Red is probably one of the most crucial episodes in Arrow so far.
Whilst the previews and the title suggested that this was a Roy centric episode, this was really all about Moira. It was a massive week for her character which is partly why it’s going to be a real shame to see her go, and this meant that the Roy parts were one of the weaker elements of the series.
Another element that this show also touched on was the Sara/Ollie dynamic, and for me this was one of the more weaker aspects of this week’s episode – the question whether some characters are killers or not has been brought up multiple times before and I was unhappy to see Sara depart as she was, in my view, one of the more interesting members of Team Arrow. However, she’ll be back before the finale, so it’ll be interesting to see how things play out for sure, as well as who her friend is.
Something that this show has also set up for us with the killing of Moira is a Malcolm Merlyn/Deathstroke fight, especially given Malcolm’s past history with Moira. This would no doubt be one of the highlights of the series and should be very interesting to watch unfold. A Suicide Squad teamup with Ollie towards the finale would be great as well, as these two could be just what he needs to take down Slade.
The ending of Seeing Red is one of the stronger parts of the episode, and you do not want to miss it. It will leave viewers eagerly anticipating next week and it should be a massive week for both Thea and Ollie as they deal with the fallout. Thankfully though, there’ll be no more breaks before the finale, because I couldn’t deal with waiting more than one week to find out what happens next.
Another important note were the flashbacks this episode. They potentially tease Connor Hawke with the revelation that Ollie managed to get a girl (who wasn’t Laurel) pregnant before going to the Island, and whilst he would only be around six at the time of the show, it’s a good nod to fans of the character.
At this point now, we’ve fully set up the finale. However, something that will leave the audience fearful is Slade’s promise to Oliver “One more.” Seeing how he killed Moira was easily one of the most emotional moments in the show since the finale of Season 1, and it’ll be interesting to see whether Slade fulfils his promise and who he’s going to dispatch.
Start placing your bets.
My bet is on Sarah.