![]() After all, this was Lian Yu’s final episode, so we got to visit all the sights. It wasn’t just character cameos that got their time in the spotlight. And that’s why he lost, even when he seemingly took (almost) everything from Oliver. The difference is: Robert Queen killed himself for love (and maybe a little guilt). He kills himself roughly in the way and place that Oliver’s father did five years prior. He even seems to predict Oliver shooting him in the foot rather than in a major artery. Chase plans everything down to this final moment. In the end, Chase pulls a Moriarty, killing himself to enact the ultimate revenge on Oliver. Is that cruel? Maybe, but it is also a great narrative decision. (Except Lyla, I guess?) I know that Arrow didn’t really just kill off most of its cast, but I would love to see a delay in their return (maybe they ended up on a different “deserted” island nearby?) just so we can see Oliver raising his son and angsting a little bit over the hiatus. Oliver’s going to need that love moving forward, given that he is seemingly now the sole parent of a child he doesn’t know with almost no support system. This is where his salvation has always lain. Even when Oliver was at his worst, he loved and was loved. But his mother automatically breaks through all that. At this point in Oliver’s arc, he is hardened and he is determined and he doesn’t see himself worthy of love. In a flashback, we see Oliver call home right after being picked up off of Lian Yu. Moira’s character is not only excellent in her own right, but brings out a different side of Oliver. ![]() Susanna Thompson’s Moira Queen was one of the consistent strengths of this show from the pilot episode, at a time when the show didn’t have everything figured out. It was Moira’s cameo that really packed a punch. (Did anyone really care about Harkness? No.) The finale was the pinnacle of that effort and it paid off, bringing back everyone from Slade to Malcolm, Nyssa to Moira. Season 5 has most thrived as a story when it has strived to tell a story that utilizes not just Season 5, but everything that has come before. “Lian Yu” felt like one, big family reunion. If that’s not a victory, then I don’t know what is. Because Oliver and everyone who sided with him chose love. ![]() Did he win? I’ve been thinking about this a lot since finishing this episode. He kidnapped all of his loved ones and locked them up in cages to prove the point. To the very end, all Chase cared about was teaching Oliver a lesson. Chase was trying to teach Oliver a different lesson. The lesson was also delivered by Adrian Chase, although not intentionally.
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