Arrow season 7, episode 19 review: Spartan

 “I guess bad news wins this round.” Minor spoilers for Arrow season 7, episode 19 follow.

On the search for Emiko and The Ninth Circle, Team Arrow must rely on a non-forthcoming source within the upper elements of the government, Diggle’s stepfather.

In the future though, Connor Hawke helps Mia in the only way that he can, talking to his brother.

The general, my stepfather

Despite being a member of the main cast longer than anyone other than Oliver himself, there’s still a surprising amount of mystery with the character and his backstory. He’s had several relationships and portions of his past very much explored in depth, especially regarding his brother, but other than that, there’s not much there, which is shocking. This episode helps flesh that out a bit, though, by demonstrating the tense relationship between him and his stepfather, General Stewart.

By revealing this new information about John’s past, it brings about some great reasoning about how John has reacted in the past with some of Oliver’s decisions. It also makes sense as to why he’s a bit closed off with certain things, even with the people that he trusts with his life. This reveal retroactively adds so much to Diggle’s character, and it’s great. Plus, everyone’s reaction to learning about General Stewart, especially Oliver and Felicity’s, adds some much-needed humor to the situation.

As for the general, more than likely named after the Green Lantern John Stewart, whom many have theorized Diggle as being, he does feel a bit clichéd. He feels like the stereotypical military type who doesn’t care about those in his life, except in ways that benefit himself, before revealing he has a heart. Arrow has never been above clichés in its supporting cast, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying.

The all-seeing Ninth Circle

With the Ninth Circle being outed recently as the actual big bad of the season, it was about time to set up a way for the organization to truly feel like a threat. Stealing Felicity’s pet project and surveillance equipment, Archer, makes the most sense to give them the edge.

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Team Arrow no longer feels like they are invincible without Archer and, by giving the technology to their enemy, it provides an opportunity to show Team Arrow on its heels for once. They’re easily tricked and forced to pivot after certain events occur and it actually feels organic, unlike some other times that the bait-and-switch has happened in the show.

By giving the Ninth Circle Archer as well, it provides a way for them to easily get what they need, which really does help their threat to be more immediate. They don’t have to consistently search for where it is, with Team Arrow stopping them, before finally getting it. This expedites that situation and makes it more of a threat.

A Diggle-centric episode

This episode doesn’t just focus on John Diggle in the present though, but his children in the future, as well. Connor has been the one that we’ve seen the most in the Arrowverse, in both Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow now but, unlike Legends of Tomorrow, Connor and John Jr. are two different characters, which is a smart play given the timeline changes. It also plays into the idea of like father, like sons because John and Andy had plenty of issues in the present a couple of seasons ago.

The problem with this portion of the episode is that Connor and John Jr. aren’t actually shown together, which very much lessens the impact of brotherly fighting. John Jr. simply sends his Deathstroke squad (yes, he leads a gang based around Deathstroke) after Mia and Connor. This really doesn’t do much regarding the dramatic tension at all.

Despite some missteps, Arrow delivers another solid entry into this season.