I was pretty hyped for this episode after the effective cliffhanger from last episode. While that often leads to hype backlash, this episode largely lived up to the potential.
Connor Hawke, the new Green Arrow, proves himself to be just as badass as his predecessor. While it would be difficult to orchestrate a return appearance, I would not be averse to it. Maybe have him join the Legends in a future season?
Even that would be rather tricky, though, as this is a timeline that is likely to be negated. This leads to a fair bit of conflict between Sara (who wants to help now) and Rip who insists that they can fix it later. While he's portrayed as more callous for holding this view, I can't say that he's entirely wrong. They could just go back and prevent it from ever happening in the first place. Sara's concern is endearing and given her tie to the city, it's in character, but the fact that they have a time machine seemed to elude her for some reason.
Future-Oliver says that they never came back (at least not in this timeline) which would either be grim foreshadowing or proof that this mission won't be so simple as to be wrapped up in one season.
The episode isn't without its downsides. It's frustrating to see the group splinter off again. There are times where it makes sense, but it would be nice to see the whole group working as a team for an episode. The fetch quest to get the macguffin from the former Palmer building arguably could have been avoided, but it did bring Oliver into the fold, so at least that yielded some positive results.
The love triangle with Jax, Kendra, and Ray was also something of a weak link. It comes out of nowhere and is resolved so abruptly that you wonder what the point was. Ray's confusion about the issue when Stein tries to run interference was well handled. His "I never really thought about it" stance was rather refreshing while it lasted. Though, in somewhat forced irony, it is this conversation that leads him to consider the possibility, thus bringing the triangle to completion. Not that it matters as Kendra's not really looking for love. Like I said, it was a bit of a cul-de-sac. The exchange between Ray and Jax about who would have "won" was somewhat amusing. I don't think those two have interacted that much, so it was good to see some comaraderie start to form.
I have mixed feelings about Deathstroke 2.0 as a villain. There was something poetic about Slade's son taking on Oliver's successor, but the episode doesn't really have time to delve into it. The actor playing him does fine, but he's really just a placeholder villain. Still, it was good to see someone besides Savage be responsible. I think that my idea that this was the aftermath of the crisis was a good one, but this was a bit more streamlined. As TvTropes notes though, said crisis does explain why Barry was never called on when things got bad, as he had disappeared decades before. Of course, there's still a slew of others like Vixen and Constantine, but that's one of the downsides to having such an expansive shared universe.
As far as character arcs go, the changing dynamic between Snart and Mick has to win the gold. Mick's affinity for this future makes perfect sense given his mindset, but it drives a wedge between him and Snart, as the latter is starting to change as a result of his time with the group. "Hero" may not have initially been on his resume, but he's starting to move into that area.
Unlike the love triangle, which goes nowhere, this plot isn't wrapped up so neatly. Even the next episode shows that Mick isn't too pleased with how this endeavor is working out. It makes you wonder how long he's going to stick around. One of the common "wild mass guesses" was that he would bite the dust. All things considered, he's fared pretty well, but his attitude was a problem waiting to happen.
One area where the episode excelled, was in the final confrontation. You had two Green Arrows in action as well as the entire Legends roster. It made for a jaw dropping climax that acts as one of the highlights of the entire show.
Overall, this was a fun episode. It was largely a one and done, which worked well. The future setting also worked to the episode's advantage as it established a solid atmosphere. Even though this was just a hypothetical, it still seemed like the stakes were raised. There were things that could have been handled better, but the good far outweighed the bad in my opinion.
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