Arrow 7x11 : Past Sins review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

Kicking off from where it ended last week as we saw Oliver say hello to Emiko this week's episode begins with a TV interview where Oliver discusses his family, his father and various other things. All of this is intertwined with Emiko and Oliver's meeting which is very brief. Emiko basically says she doesn't want anything to do with him and leaves it at that. At ARGUS the Ghost project continues with the inclusion of Cupid, China White and Deathstroke's son. Curtis makes me laugh by saying how the Ghost project is just another name for the Suicide Squad. Speaking of Curtis he is tasked with making sure the bombs implanted into all member's heads are suitable. He is against this of course but does end up doing his job after him and Diggle argue a bit. This is all done in a rather clever way however as while pumping in sedatives to all those in custody Diaz seems to form an intolerance to the drug and beats up Curtis leaving out the others in the process. So Cupid, China White, Diaz and Deathstroke's son are all free running rampant in the ARGUS facility. Diaz leaving the others behind takes off only to be interrupted by Curtis who dukes it out with the villain. Diaz gets the upper hand and for a split second it looks like he's killed Curtis but turns out that it was all just a new VR simulation that Curtis developed as a way to trick people into thinking they are doing other things when in reality they very much aren't. So that was a nice change of pace and a clever way in duping Diaz. 

More on Oliver now and the story of the Queen's Gambit finally gets some closure in this episode as after his TV interview the reporter that was questioning Oliver is kidnapped and made to speak on TV by someone. He says that people without the Queen name matter in the city and not just the Queens are allowed to run the place. Oliver remembers Dr Parker from earlier in the season saying this to him and has Felicity pull up notes on that meeting in prison. And in the notes is the exact same thing the interviewer guy was made to say to the public on TV. Turns out the kidnapper is a guy named Samuel Hackett son of Oliver's father's bodyguard who Robert Queen murdered in a way to help Oliver survive all those years ago before reaching Lian Yu. Without closure of his father's disappearance and no news of him ever resurfacing Sam Hackett takes it upon himself to find Oliver and make him pay. At the SCPD he shows up with thousands of bolts of electricity running throughout his body and at the touch of a button he says he could fry anyone and anything in the building. Oliver comes to the rescue of course and along with Dinah's help manage to subdue Sam. Shortly afterwards Oliver goes back onto the same TV channel again with the same interviewer and actually confesses the entire truth. He says his father killed Sam's father and he says he is not going to be the man that his father was. He also says that there will be no more lying. This impresses Emiko who is out by one of the exits waiting to see her half brother and she says will he has a long way to go still to fully be a better man she is thinking about connecting with him. Oliver says he'll take that and the two go off in different directions for now. 

 This episode was really solid. Obviously wasn't going to be on the level of last week's as that was an instant classic in my opinion but this was a fine follow up. The developing relationship between Oliver and Emiko is the best part of this show right now and the revelation that both Laurel and Dinah have a stalker leaving notes for them has me intrigued. Next week's episode of Arrow will be it's 150th and I am fully looking forward to that one. Until next week then!

★★★