Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Arrow Season 6

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season 5, but no major season 6 spoilers+++

Season six of Arrow aired during the 2017-2018 TV season. The season begins five months after the events ended season 5 with Adrian Chase detonating the bombs on Liyan Yu. Of course, we get a flashback to see who made it out and who did not. From there, the season involves Oliver struggling to keep his vigilante identity a secret, and then the team has to deal with a couple of different "big bads" throughout the season. The season ends on a quasi-cliffhanger and is resolved very differently than the prior seasons have been. Eight episodes into the season, the big Arrowverse Crossover event happens, with a big storyline that crosses between Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. This one involves a version of Earth, called Earth-X in which the Nazis won World War II and the heroes have to face evil doppelganger versions of themselves. 

For those who get the blu-ray set, the 23 episodes are spread over four discs. The A/V quality is on par with the prior season releases and the releases of all of the Arrowverse shows. The extras include each episode of the crossover from the other shows, so you can watch the crossover straight through without having to get discs from the sets of the other shows, then there are featurettes on Slade Wilson, whose arc was basically wrapped up this season, a featurette on one of the big bads, and then two featurettes that are the same as on the releases for the other Arroverse series from that year. One is a featurette on the crossover event, and the other is a Best of DC at Comic-Con.

Overall, the season is very good and takes the show in a new direction, which I think was necessary. The cast pretty much remains the same, really the only big change is that some cast members are upgraded to series regulars, including Katie Cassidy, who was a recurring character in season 5 after Earth 1's Laurel died and she started playing Earth 2's Black Siren. She has a very good arc with Paul Blackthorne this season and does a good job playing an evil character that is starting to show hints of good. The series also brings back characters from previous seasons, including a pretty nice surprise return. Some of the recurring and guest cast members include Kirk Acevedo (from the series Fringe), Michael Emmerson (from the series Lost), Manu Bennett (reprising Slade Wilson), and Katrina Law (reprising Nyssa). The acting and writing both continue to be very good, and the writers do a good job of keeping the show relatively fresh, even after 138 episodes. This season also sees the end of the flashbacks from the island which were getting harder and harder to make realistic as Stephen Amell got older. So, if you have been a fan of the prior seasons of the show, this is definitely worth watching.