ARROW - Season 7.7

REVIEW:  ARROW, SEASON 7, EP. 7:  "The Slabside Redemption"


There hasn't been very may episodes of Arrow where it's just been a straightforward story with no side plots.  This whole episode took place in Slabside....and we got A LOT of action in this one.

Starting things off, we have Ollie waking up to the prison guard letting him know he's getting released in a few hours.  Meanwhile, on the outside of the prison, we see a prison truck arrive, with Ricardo Diaz in it.  The other guards welcoming him to the prison inform him that Oliver is being released today, which Diaz knows.  Then the guard handling him turns around and shoots the other guards on duty.  He's one of Diaz's stooges.  He asks the guard to get him a disguise---his plot to end Ollie is underway.

Stanley is glad Ollie is back in general population, but want's his help in getting out of prison, knowing Ollie is going free later.  Ollie, though, knows that Stanley killed the guard Dunbar, and had Turner set up.  Stanley says he did what he thought Ollie would do.  Ollie reminded him that he belongs in prison for what he did.  As Ollie goes through his last day in Slabside, Brick is quick to remind him that it won't take much to put him back there.  From there on, he goes to see Turner, and lets him know he was wrong about him.  Turner feels Ollie doesn't care, but Ollie says as soon as he gets out, he'll talk to Lyla Michaels to see if he can get Turner released.  Soon, Ollie gets a notice from the guard that he's got a visitor.  It's Diaz!

Ollie and Diaz verbally square off.  Diaz wants to make him suffer for what he's lost, and after he's killed Ollie off, he'll finish what he started and kill Felicity and William.  Ollie gets enraged, and starts punching the glass, breaking it.  He's subdued by the guards, and despite telling them that it's Diaz, he gets shocked for his trouble and thrown back into his cell.  In his cell, knowing Diaz is on the loose, Ollie takes a bar of soap and some shampoo container, with a piece of chewing gum, and he plans to get out of his locked cell to go looking for Diaz before he causes trouble.  Ollie's plan works, busts the lock on his cell door, and out he goes to look for Diaz.  The guards go to stop him, and he warns them that it's a bad idea.  Diaz is loose, and they will want no part of that.  The guards don't listen and attack, so Ollie retaliates, and handles them easily.  He takes off looking for Diaz with the guards in pursuit.

Prisoners in the yard are on their knees, subdued by the guards.  Then, Diaz appears dressed in a guard's uniform, and tells the inmates that they were locked in cages, and that it's the guards' fault.  He kills the guards, and tells the inmates to rise up and start taking over the prison, to kill all the guards.  As Ollie is still looking for Diaz, he runs into Sampson and Brick, whom he starts to handle with ease, until Brick sprays him with mace.  They start working him over until Turner appears out of nowhere and holds them off until Ollie recovers.  Ollie and Turner make it to a break room, where they have lockers for the guards.  Ollie tries to send a signal out, but Diaz is ahead of him, and has the Longbow Hunters jamming the signal.  Diaz has a hostage, and he tells Ollie not to listen to Diaz.  Ollie urges him not to hurt the man, but Diaz slits his throat.  Diaz says he will kill everyone he has to, and have that weigh on Ollie's conscience.  

Turns out, Ollie and Turner discover that Diaz is in the mess hall, with about 30 guards hostage.  He asks for Turner's help, but Turner says they're not friends, but he will help because he wants Ollie to get him out.  As they make their way to the mess hall, they wade their way through a slew of prisoners whom Diaz let out to overtake the prison.  They save a few of the guards, and Ollie has Turner take them to the panic room to get them to safety.  Ollie is once again headed towards the mess hall, when he gets stabbed in the leg by Stanley.  Stanley drugged him.  When Ollie wakes up, he's bound to a shelf, as Stanley tells him that he did what he had to do.  He didn't want to be left in prison with the likes of Sampson and Brick.  Ollie tries to play Stanley enough to recover.  He tells Ollie that the only way out is through the morgue, and that they can go...and Stanley can be Ollie's partner.  Ollie gets Stanley close enough to kick his legs out from under him, and knock him out.  Ollie frees himself, and it's back to seeking Diaz.  

Ollie finds Turner, in another room, where he starts grabbing sodas, and thinking of a plan to get Diaz.  Ollie feels he's been compromised ethically, but Turner reminds him that the Ollie of the past only saw things in black and white---this Ollie knows there's a gray area.  

In the mess hall, guards are being strung up and battered severely.  Brick heads into the control room to find Diaz putting a timer on the wall near the electrical box.  They both commiserate about how much they hate Ollie, and hate that he won't die.  At that point, Ollie shows up and calls out Diaz.  Diaz meets him, and proceeds to lay one on Ollie.  Ollie takes it, and says that's the only one he's getting.  The inmates then rush Ollie, and he starts swinging a pillowcase full of soda cans at the prisoners ala Sean Penn from "Bad Boys", and starts mowing them down.  Meanwhile, Turner has shown up to free the guards, and meets up with Brick and they fight.  It doesn't last long, as Brick gets his behind handed to him.  While Ollie and Turner are finishing off the inmates, Diaz pulls the electrical power feeds from the wall, and puts them together, causing an electrical fire.  Everyone starts heading towards the exits, and Turner helps them.  When he asks what Ollie's doing, Ollie says he's going after Diaz.  Turner hands him his shiv and says, "No half measures."

Ollie finally finds Diaz, and the final battle is on.  Diaz is taking it to Ollie...but he's also got a little enhancement thanks to the serum he took a couple of episodes back.  Ollie's really taking a beating, and gets thrown from the 3rd level to the main floor.  As he's writhing in pain, attempting to get up, Diaz stabs him.  Ollie, who's already wounded from several lacerations at the hands of Diaz, and now having been stabbed by a half pair of scissors, gets kicked into his cell for good measure.  Diaz tells Ollie he's weak.  He then taunts him by telling him that Felicity tried to kill him when he was caputred...and blamed Ollie for it---saying that HE made HER that way.  Ollie hears enough, and fights back.  He eventually stabs Diaz and wounds him greatly.  Ollie then shuts the door to the cell...takes one last look at Diaz...and walks off.  Diaz is defeated.

Brick is in the morgue looking to escape, when he notices Stanley behind him.  He says neither of them have to stay, and as he's ready to escape, Stanley stabs him in the side.  Stanley says he's not going anywhere, as he hops out and escapes.  When all has settled down, Turner is back in his cell, and the guard thanks him for the help.  Turner can just only stare, thinking that he actually did the right thing this day.  

We finally see Ollie walking out of Slabside....beat up, battered as hell, lifting his head to the sky and closing his eyes to feel the sun and fresh air on his face.  As he looks down, he sees Diggle and Felicity waiting for him.  Felicity slowly walks up to him, caresses his face, and they kiss as Diggle looks on.  Ollie is free.

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This episode was loaded with action, and it was something that had been given to us in small doses thus far this season.  But Ollie's redemption, and his willingness to die for what he loves most---his family---is what drives him this episode.  The action scenes were intense, very well shot, and it was Ollie at his Green Arrow best---without the arrows.  It was also nice to see him working with Turner--aka Bronze Tiger--again.  Those two seriously kicked some tail, and they worked well together, even though they're on opposite sides.  However, we can honestly say that prison DID change Ollie.  Instead of always seeing black and white, as Turner pointed out, he now sees things in shades of gray.  How this will effect Ollie down the road is another thing.  But hopefully, there's growth from Ollie from this experience.  It was good to see Turner being able to busts some heads...Michael Jai White is a superb action star when given the chance, and he plays Turner extremely well.  I can see the revival of The Suicide Squad coming, and I've no doubt that will be his calling if Lyla gets him out...just call it a hunch (and remembering him from the comics).

Stanley is a dirty little bastard, isn't he?  He doesn't quite understand what it was Ollie did on the outside as Green Arrow.  But he feels more the victim, than those he killed he believes it was justified...like any of the killings Ollie did of criminals---which WEREN'T justified, even when back then, Ollie had thought so.  But I feel that Stanley will seek revenge on Ollie for slighting him.   Thus, a new villain for Ollie to deal with.

Hopefully, this marks the END of the Diaz saga.  Diaz's story as a big bad started midway to late last season, and carried over to the first 7 episodes of this season.  It's a bit of a long haul to tell a story, but I think, at this juncture, it's done.  I have heard several complaints about people hating Diaz, and that's justifiable---he's a murdering bastard, and annoying as hell.  My problem was this:  he ALWAYS seemed one step ahead of our hero, and Ollie didn't EVER get the best of him until this episode.  For all the training Ollie had done before he became the Green Arrow, it amazed me how a low level thug at the time like Diaz suddenly became his equal.  That was always my problem with him.  But, this story arc NEEDED to end----it had run its course.  Of course, that still leaves the Longbow Hunters at large, and we'll see what THEIR fate is now that Diaz is locked up or dead...I couldn't tell at the end of the episode, but I didn't see him die fully.  

The director made great use of the lighting and shooting techniques to really deliver an intense situation in the prison...especially when everything broke down and the rioting began.  The fight scenes were crisp, and it wasn't too dark, but just dark enough...especially during the electrical fire.  I was very pleased with this episode.

With that said, what is next for the Emerald Archer?  How will his time in prison, and the apparent changes mentally and emotionally, have an effect on Oliver as he tries to ease back into private life (he doesn't have the weight of being mayor on him anymore, so he's free to move about).  And will this spark a reunion of Team Arrow?  And the aforementioned Longbow Hunters?  And what will we see in the future timeline arc with William, Roy, Dinah, and Zoe?  Questions we'll have to wait to get answered.

Anyway, thanks for always checking in, reading the blogs, and I hope you share with your friends, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't be afraid to comment or share some of your thoughts and theories....I'd love it!

Until next week....keep your sights on the bullseye!