Arrow Review: Training Day (Season 7 Episode 15)
After what feels like a very long time, there is a sense of returning to a modified version of normal for Team Arrow and OTA on Arrow Season 7 Episode 15, “Training Day,” and it makes for a 5-star hour that sneaks a bit of joy and pre-Slabside fun (Arrow style) into the hour.
Watching “Training Day,” feels like a return to form that has been sorely missed and brings back a sense of familiarity among the changes that are happening around Oliver, Felicity, Diggle, and company.
From the entire team coming together to the villain of the week, the fact that they are all genuinely embracing what they were able to do under the guise of their suits, tech, and abilities, to keep their city safe, is terrific to see play out throughout.
There’s just something about seeing them work this way that feels hugely fitting, even when they’re designated, in a way, the black ops team of the SCPD. Seeing Team Arrow in the newly renovated Bunker gives off the vibe of a happy homecoming that has everyone coming back from different journeys, bringing something different to the space and their group.
It’s oddly heartwarming to see such a familiar backdrop used for the team’s return to their home base, especially as a fan who has seen Team Arrow grow and evolve, both in membership, mission, and headquarters over the years.
One of my favorite things to come out of the episode is that we not only get the return of Diggle from his radically uncharacteristic responses over the last season, but we also get a few solid Original Team Arrow moments that highlight just why I love this trio of heroes.
They have come so far over the years, individually and as a group, that they’ve become a family. It’s what makes Oliver and Felicity’s choice to tell Diggle so achingly sweet that they are willing to break their rule of keeping the baby a secret for their best friend and brother.
In return, Diggle’s excitement is heartwarming and paired with his ginger candy offer and his words of encouragement for Felicity and the origins of Smoak Tech gives us one of those long-missed Delicity moments wrapped in an OTA moment. I hope that this is the final push for Felicity to launch her tech empire officially.
But if it’s not the case, then I have some serious questions about that story and the timeline for it. Sure, there is roughly a 20-year chunk of time in which Felicity could build it.
Meanwhile, Oliver working so hard to make the SCPD team up work leads to a series of lovely moments between he and Felicity about his motivation for it—to make it a safer city for their children to grow up in and to keep them safe.
I love that we get to see these conversations about their family and their evolving motivation for their mission, specifically. Their driving force for going out on their own and getting things done without the SCPD, giving us a solid unifying moment as they try to take Midas down.
In turn, it’s upsetting to know that their dream of keeping their family safe and together and living in a safe city doesn’t come to pass.
It forces the family apart, and the city is in shambles if the flashforwards are any depressing indication.
While their parents work towards their goal in the present, the Queen-Smoak siblings work to get more answers, specifically from the cassette tape. Of course, we get to see more of each of their parents in them.
William: It’s what our dad used to say.
Mia: Oh.
William: You reminded me of him back there.
Hearing the tape’s contents feels like a punch to the gut, as Felicity tells her children that her and Oliver’s reasons for keeping them apart were always to protect them and keep them safe.
Mia and William’s reactions, though, make it abundantly clear that they are Oliver and Felicity’s children, willing to face dangers to get answers and figure out what their parents are leading them to.
While William and Mia’s relationship has improved to the point of even seeing them melancholically bond over memories of their parents and their pain over their upbringing, it still serves as a painful reminder that something goes wrong that leaves Felicity in hiding and Oliver worryingly missing, being referenced in past tense.
It’s a heartbreaking and a depressing thought that after all of the sacrifices made, Oliver doesn’t get to enjoy life with his wife, son, and daughter in a city he’s made safe.
Random Thoughts
- The opening training montage where OTA outmatch each of the SCPD newbies or just frustrated about the situation is hilarious to watch, especially considering that everything they are put through is so far below their skill respective skill levels or involves subpar resources.
- The re-introduction of a villain of the week is very much appreciated after the issues with villains we’ve had over the last season. It’s also the perfect catalyst for that Team Arrow moment and their return to the Bunker.
- Rene’s not-so-subtle digs against the SCPD is an absolute joy to watch.
- It’s a small moment that a series of quick-moving actions throughout the hour, but the fact that Ben Turner’s son is named Connor and affectionately nicknamed his little “hawk” definitely stops you in your tracks as dots start to connect and questions arise about the future.
- Oliver getting an apology from one of the newbies is fantastic to watch (and after the last few seasons, a minor miracle).
What did you think of this episode of Arrow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Arrow airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.
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Brianna Martinez
Brianna spends her time away from briefs, legal research, and pleadings, watching TV and writing about it. She generally has a lot of feelings about TV, which you can read about here and on Twitter.