Arrow Review: Disbanded (Season 5 Episode 18)

Arrow Season 5 Episode 18, “Disbanded,” sort of gets the show back on message, though, considering it’s episode 18 of season 5, it feels a tad like the course-correction is too little and far too late.

There’s no way to save this season.

However, with some luck and better writing than we’ve seen in the past year or so, it might be possible to salvage something for the future.

And even that is a higher praise than I expected to be giving Arrow a few weeks ago.

“Disbanded” is still a bit slow, the flashbacks are anything but interesting and the narrative of Oliver taking the blame for everything that has ever gone wrong is more than a tad familiar.

Been there, done that. Learned that lesson.

Or at least, we were supposed to have learned that lesson.

And that’s the main issue with Arrow Season 5, it seems like it’s re-treading on old ground, and doing a worst job than they themselves did the first time with just about every issue. Couple that with the lack of Olicity/OTA scenes, and the show has lost its spark.

It regains a little bit on “Disbanded,” on the strength of one Oliver/Diggle scene.

Let me be clear, the scene doesn’t wash away a season of disappointment, and it doesn’t cure all that ails Arrow, but it does imbue the episode with the kind of emotional resonance the show has lacked for a while.

We don’t care enough about the newbies yet, Diggle and Felicity barely interact, Oliver and Felicity barely interact, and, till this episode, we’d even gone a fair amount of episodes without any real Diggle and Oliver interactions. Our level of caring is at an all-time low.

David Ramsey and Stephen Amell make us care, though. They make us care for two guys who went through hell, and who found family in each other. They make us care about Team Arrow.

Question is – do we care enough to forget all that’s come before? Do we care enough to forgive Oliver for basically being the guy who has to learn the same lesson every season?

Do we care enough to put our faith back on Arrow and trust them to deliver quality content?

For me, the answer is no. Not yet, who knows if ever.

Right now, Oliver Queen is not suiting up in the Green Arrow costume because he doesn’t feel like he’s worthy of it. And he’s right – he’s not. Not even close.

And neither is the show.

Is it back on the right track? Yes. But we’ve been burned before.

Multiple times.

So forgive us (or don’t), if we take the wait-and-see approach. Even that is more than the show has earned.

Other things to note:

• Question – if Oliver had died, would they have notified Thea? Do they even know where she is and how to reach her? Did you go MIA completely? Is she with Roy?
• Please say she’s with Roy.
• Arrow loves it’s symbolism, so, of course, Oliver’s gonna end up killing Prommy with that particular knife.
• The break-up scene with Susan is absurd and unnecessary. I could have just filled in the blanks.
• Because that was uncomfortable AF. They barely looked at each other.
• Then again, eye contact wasn’t a big thing in their relationship.
• Oliver broke up with her to protect her, how cute. And he didn’t know, at the beginning of the season how bad it was going to be. HOW. CUTE.
• I mean, it’s not like he’s the GA and this is Star City and something bad happens every year.
• Bratva is always a bad idea. Opposite of Paris.
• I was legit waiting for someone to tell Oliver: Stand down OR WHAT?
• Please, Felicity did NOT just leave that window open for Curtis to see. She’s too smart for that.
• It’s nice of you to believe the best of Oliver, Diggle, but it’s a bit hypocritical to worry about his soul now when he’s been killing all season long.
• The scene where Team Arrow planned for two separate missions and you know, communicated, shouldn’t have been cut, just saying. Made for a lot of confusion.
• The bad guys had their guns trained on the hostages way before anyone came into the room – and yet they were all killed without firing even one round into the hostages? That’s the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen on this show, and that’s saying a lot.
• Anatoly is the monster. We get it, Arrow. No need to get so heavy-handed.

What did you think of this episode of Arrow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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