Olly takes the fight to Diaz, Laurel makes a stand and Oliver makes his final choice.

This has not been an even season of Arrow. This episode does the near impossible and turns every single one of the show’s missteps into a feature not a bug. Oliver has had a terrible year, and the show’s choices have been folded into his narrative in a way that’s honest in a way few shows like this have the ability to be.

That’s why the choice Oliver makes here works so well even after the horrific signposted botching of it last episode. He’s the weak link, he knows that, and he also knows the best way to protect everyone near him is to not be near them. That makes the Oliver Farewell Tour moments this episode all the more poignant. His scenes with Rene and Dinah are especially moving, given how much they butted heads at the season’s low point.

There’s a lot of sound and fury (and a couple of great action sequences) about Diaz but the episode lives in these moments. A man who has done something impossible for six years doing one last impossible thing. Whether it’s a good choice or not is open to debate but Oliver stands by it and Amell’s amazing here. He’s always impressed, even when the show hasn’t but this is some finest hour work. He’s kind, sweet, at peace. This is Oliver how we’ve never seen him before and that keys us into what’s going on far more than the narrative does.

The rest of the cast impress too, especially Emily Bett Rickards and Paul Blackthorne. Rickards has been the only cast member let down harder than Amell by the scripts but here she’s given something meaty and runs with it. Felicity is furious, heartbroken, guilt-ridden and Rickards show us all of this. It’s a tough performance and she nails it, setting up a major new arc for the character next year.

Blackthorne meanwhile takes his victory lap as Quentin Lance dies a hero. It’s a simple, realistic sequence that mirrors the loss of Laurel. Before he goes though, we get one of the show’s finest moments as he and Oliver have what neither knows will be their final conversation. Quentin has, essentially, been Oliver’s father and they finally say that out loud here. It’s an impossibly moving sequence, made all the more so by the news of Quentin’s death and Oliver’s arrest arriving simultaneously.

Verdict: This is not a cheerful hour of TV. It is a very good one though. Oliver sacrifices his freedom for his city and the show sacrifices season 6 for a reboot it desperately needs next year. It’s been a hard road but as this episode finishes, you can’t help but feel the show is in the right place and next season will be very different for all the best reasons. Tough, moving, necessary TV. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart