Arrow: A Tribute to The Queen-Smoak Family

It’s no secret that Arrow Season 6, as a whole, was not the series’ best. A lot of the time, the show’s plot got in the way of its characters’ organic trajectory, with some significant mental gymnastics required to follow and understand certain character choices.

But in the middle of questionable narrative choices and a weak villain, Arrow Season 6’s bright spot revealed itself — in the form of seeing Oliver, Felicity, and William come together and become a family.

The trio’s story serves as a respite from the craziness throughout the season. We watch them all grow and figure out their dynamic as a family. The slow movement at the beginning of the season helps show how much care goes into their development.

Seeing Felicity give Oliver and William their space as they got to know each other is sweet.

Upon re-watch, it’s easy to see how it serves to strengthen Oliver and William’s dynamic down the line as William learns that Oliver never really gives up the mantle of Green Arrow and has to deal with having a superhero as a father.

Given everything that happened at the end of Arrow Season 5, it makes sense that there is a tenuous unease with the way Oliver approaches his son. At the start of the Season 6, William is still dealing with the loss of his mother, five months before, and it’s still intrinsically tied to everything involving Oliver.

From being confronted by his son’s nightmares where he was the “bad man” on Arrow Season 6 Premiere, to eventually asking Felicity for advice on how to be what William needs in terms of support for his studies, Oliver gets to show off some measure of personal growth as he begins to rely on someone else’s advice when it comes to parenting.

It makes his progress with William every step of the way, from the first time he calls Oliver “dad” to his last moments with his son on Arrow Season 6 Episode 23, “Life Sentence,” more impactful and enjoyable.

Seeing the Queen-Smoak family find those little moments of domesticity and that support system cultivated outside of the Bunker is a beautiful consequence of getting their story to play out, especially seeing how Oliver and Felicity navigate this added layer to their attempt at a reunion.

Arrow Season 6 Episode 3, “Next of Kin,” really begins to show their dive into a relationship while working on easing Felicity into William’s life. It’s sweet to see Felicity say yes to helping Oliver with William’s math issues and seeing her interact with him on their own, even though Oliver does eventually come in.

Oliver: His life would be better with you in it. Just like mine.

“Next of Kin” also gave fans the official reunion and the beginning of Olicity getting back on the relationship track.

There are plenty of obstacles that stand to get in the way of any kind of progress for the Queen-Smoak family. What sets it apart from the other stories is that the conflict made sense and helps move their relationship forward, embracing honesty (for the most part) and actually communicating.

Arrow Season 6 Episode 7, “Thanksgiving,” is the first time the possibility of these three being separated becomes more grounds in reality as the vigilante aspect of their lives comes to the forefront.

In turn, it provides the perfect context to show the depth of Oliver and Felicity’s relationship.

We all know that there’s an inevitability when it comes to their relationship.

Through the lie Oliver told in Arrow Season 4 about William to their issues with trust that is addressed on Arrow Season 5 Episode 20, “Underneath,” Olicity weathers it — either as friends, boyfriend and girlfriend, and eventually as husband and wife. What’s more, they learn from it.

During Season 6, they’re given the obstacle of balancing their vigilante lives, their professional lives (for a while), and their personal lives as spouses and parents, an aspect that I absolutely loved seeing develop in the back half of the season.

It’s that aspect that makes all of the other parts of the back half of the season somewhat digestible…though there’s no making that Civil War storyline palatable on any level.

The final run of episodes also continues to develop Felicity and William’s relationship in a variety of significant moments.

Her speech to William on Arrow Season 6 Episode 11, “We Fall,” is the perfect show of support for both her husband and stepson. In that scene, not only does she give William a chance to see his father’s side of things, but she shows how deep her connection with Oliver goes.

Felicity’s care and concern for William’s well-being from the moment Oliver’s arrested on “Thanksgiving” to the very rough trial on Arrow Season 6 Episode 21, “Docket No. 11-19-41-73,” is heartwarming, and I would love to see more of that dynamic next season.

Hopefully, that would be easy considering that William and Felicity have considerable potential for a shift in their relationship since Oliver’s in prison, and she is the sole parent for now.

It’s later in the game when we get a chance to see Felicity and Oliver work out what it means to be parents and vigilantes. That struggle added another layer to their relationship and to the last few episodes and managed to elevate the quality of those episodes in the face of the larger focus on an ineffective villain.

Arrow Season 6 Episode 22, “Ties That Bind,” brings that point across quite clearly.

In the midst of the pair out in the field, they have to figure out how this partnership works as they eliminate the fear of losing each other and any potential ramifications that go along with that loss.

Their story and the way they sort of used Digg and Lyla as a guide to marriage and parenting worked so well, despite the fact that the bulk of the story involved the Dragon.

I would love to see them continue that examination in Season 7, even with the added effects of whatever happens to Oliver post-Slabside prison time.

Oliver may take some time before assuming the mantle again, but he will get there again (because the show is called Arrow), and the pair will still need to find out what works for them and William.

Regardless, it is nice seeing that despite everything that went on around him — the (confusing) rift with Digg, the Newbies unjustifiably claiming the moral high ground, the split with the team — Oliver had his wife and son with him, and they really had his back.

Of course, he had Thea throughout the series so far. But their relationship wasn’t on the level of his found family until he told her who he really was on Arrow Season 3.

It was only then that he could build a more meaningful relationship with her (a relationship that was lacking a bit of during Arrow Season 5 and 6).

With the destabilizing that was done in Arrow Season 6 in terms of relationships that once were solid, like OTA’s temporary rift, it’s lovely that Oliver got to get that sense of family back in the form of Felicity and William. It’s a reminder that he’s not alone

This growth and engaging forward movement also made the finale that much more painful to watch as he sacrificed himself for not only them but the team and the city as well (even though, he arguably put a target on their backs after that Green Arrow announcement. There’s lots to work out here).

It was a year of growth (or rather showing that growth) for Oliver Queen, and this aspect showed a lot of it — the open communication, going to people for advice/help.

In the midst of head-scratching divisions, drama for drama’s sake among team members (with a hurried attempt at closure), and relationship trouble between the core three members of the team with that OTA outburst in the back half, it was comforting that the Queen-Smoak family stood out solidly in the Arrow Season 6 landscape.

It’s not perfect (by any means), but it feels like a wonderful, grounded aspect — stepping away from the action-packed side of the story — that I would love to see explored more during Arrow Season 7.

Arrow returns for Season 7 Mondays at 8/7c this fall on The CW.

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