ARROW Episode 18 Review: Gives Season 6 A Strong Footing!
'Fundamentals' proves that season six of Arrow could actually redeem itself as we finally get really good story development, as well as great character development!
Going into this episode I was honestly pretty skeptical as I have been for the majority of this season but that's only due to the fact that the sixth chapter has been mediocre at best. Having watched the episode, I can well and truly say that this was a great episode as it gives Oliver Queen some insight on what needs to do to defeat Ricardo Diaz.
If it's one thing Arrow knows how to do, it's hallucinations and this episode was no different. Seeing Josh Segarra reprise his role as Prometheus this season was honestly so satisfying, the way he plays the character is just spectacular while coming off as an intense psychopath. Did anyone else get Batman: Arkham Knight flashbacks when they saw how Prometheus was constantly in Oliver's head? As though Adrian is Oliver's Joker. It also made sense to the show that we'd see Adrian and not Ra's Al Ghul, Merlyn or the others because Adrian in a way truly defeated Oliver in ways that others never could. I extremely enjoyed the way that Oliver and Adrian would converse in certain situations of the episode, like Adrian telling Oliver what he needs to do to "defeat" Diaz. I loved that Prometheus was also encouraging Ricardo's plan of separating everyone from Oliver's life, it was just funny that he found it amusing how Diaz was ruining Oliver's life. Overall, an exceptional performance by Josh Segarra as he reminds us all that he's the villain we deserve and the one we need.
Did anyone else just love the scenes between Oliver and Quentin? I absolutely loved them. Paul Blackthorne and Stephen Amell are both great actors so whenever they have scenes together, they tend to be amazing. Seeing Oliver go to Quentin for advice just had me smiling the whole time just because we see just how far their relationship has come from season 1 to now, specifically when Quentin mentions that Oliver is a better man now than he was in season 1. Can we also just give Quentin the MVP for the episode after he says what every fan has been saying about these last couple of episodes?? The fact that he tells Oliver that everyone's blaming them for their own issues is unfair... I wanted to hug Quentin after he said that.
I also loved how the episode dived into some complex issues in Oliver's life and how his past decisions have led him to essentially losing focus of his mission which basically was protecting Star City. I thought it was smart that the show tackled the fact that Oliver has basically focused on himself and other aspects of his personal life which blinded him from that mission. It was really interesting that Oliver chose to get back into the season 1 outfit, although it wasn't necessary I do think that it sent a message from the writers that they'll be going back to the roots of having Oliver be solo. Even though I didn't hate Oliver being Mayor, I do think a lot of the time it gets sidetracked so I was pretty okay with Oliver's career as Mayor came to an end. Something that itched at me though was how did Oliver obtain the season 1 outfit again? Especially considering in season 3 that outfit gets locked into evidence by the SCPD.
The fight scenes in this episode were also great, although there was only a few of them, they were all filmed really well. The opening fight scene with Oliver in his season 1 outfit had a very season 1 feel to it and that's something I've missed. As much as I enjoy most of Arrow's fight scenes, season 1 for me had the best ones. I really enjoy whenever the directors try out different angles with their camera work in terms of fight scenes. For example, Ben Bray's usage of the side-tracking shot which followed Oliver as he went on from the other side of a wall was quite clever and made this fight scene even more enjoyable to watch.