In Review: Arrow – Docket No. 11-19-41-73

Synopsis: The pressure mounts for Oliver who begins to wonder if he will lose everything in his battle to save Star City. A familiar face returns.

Review: Diaz looks to hold all the cards as Oliver goes on trial and his prospects are looking grim. The prosecution has a stacked deck, the jury is most likely brought and the Judge is likely on Diaz’s payroll. In a nutshell, it looks like Ollie is going to serve hard time.

The episode begins with Diggle seemingly on a mission, which turns into a rescue of a certain individual that has a particular gift. Diggle is acting on an idea that has been hatched by Rene and it would seem that Dinah and Curtis agree with Rene’s view that Oliver does not deserve to go to jail and want to help him despite their personal differences.

The trial is compelling to watch. When we see Rene take the stand we have Diaz walk in with Rene’s daughter, which forces Rene to give Ollie up. When Dinah takes the stand she is asked a particularly tricky question, which forces her to take the fifth amendment so as not to incriminate herself. These are just a couple of many instances where Diaz has stacked the deck in his favor.

But there are a few things that happen in this episode, which completely screw up Diaz’s plans. The main one being the trump card that Diggle and Rene come up with by asking Christopher Chance to impersonal Tommy Merlyn and confess to being the Arrow. It’s a really smart move. Not only because it completely surprises Oliver, but also because it casts reasonable doubt on the whole case.

But the bigger surprise is the change of heart that Laurel Lance/Black Siren has when she testify’s that Oliver is not the Arrow and implicates Tommy Merlyn. The fact that she has taken a stand against Diaz.

Overall. This was a brilliantly played out episode with a number of surprises and a fantastic performance from most of the cast concerned. Obviously after what has happened in this between Oliver and all his former team members. The likelihood is that the divisions are starting to heal. And they will most likely come together to somehow take Diaz down, but how?

The closing moments of the episode are particularly chilling as we see Diaz state his intention to kill Oliver Queen and all the people he loves. Could this be the beginning of the end for Diaz?