Woah. This week’s Arrow is an emotional one as a season long mystery is resolved, and we finally learn who is in the grave we’ve only seen in flash forwards. And that is only one of several major events this week as the show builds to its season finale.
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Ollie and Diggle once again have different ideas of how to handle things when they learn that Malcolm Merlyn has plans to break Damian Darhk out of Iron Heights. Meanwhile, Laurel is given an opportunity that could change her whole life, and has to make a decision about how to handle it.
This episode was for the actors, there were a number of solid performances this week. Starting with Eugene Byrd as Andy Diggle. After being absent for a while, except for a quick tease last week, Andy is back and ready for action this time around. Byrd elevates Andy to a level he had not yet achieved, and gives it all he’s got.
Shout outs also go to Paul Blackthorne, who continues to bring so much heart to Quentin Lance. Neal McDonough, who after a few quieter weeks is back to being the almost playfully exciting villain he was when the season began. And Katie Cassidy, who easily demonstrates just how much Laurel has changed and grown in the last four years.
But the star of the week is none other than David Ramsey. It can be easy to overlook his portrayal of John Diggle, since the character is such a still water compared to some of his more enthusiastic fellow vigilantes. But Dig has been the heart of Team Arrow since back when it was just him and Ollie, and that is made clear once again in “Eleven-Fifty-Nine.” It would be easy for Ramsey to repeat things he’s done in the past, but he keeps finding new ways to make Diggle a very real and wonderful person.
This week it is the performances as much as the story that will bring people to tears. While the episode’s foreshadowing is rather heavy-handed at times, the overall effect is quite strong. This has been said many times before, and it has always been true. After this Wednesday, nothing in Star City will ever be the same again.
