Confessions

I don't understand how she can be so wish washy about the team lol. Like why do they still even consider her a ally

I didn't expect that from Arrow, I mean there wasn't any episode after the mid season finale to be worthy to the show as in the beginning. Huge step forward. That ending blew my mind away.

Arrow always finds ways to surprise, especially this season. Now that all the players are gathered and the plots are converging, I thought it unlikely that the show would take a storytelling risk this late into the game, let alone the final 3-episode stretch. "Confessions" does right by a familiar formula for crime stories, while effectively pushing forth the Ninth Circle conflict.

Bringing Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) into the fold was a success, unlike last year. Fully suited up as Arsenal, Roy wasn't just able to fuel the plot with his presence, but harboured a dark secret that only came out once the tension was through the roof. The writing was probably the strongest of any episode this season, tightly closing in on the truth behind a brutal murder in the subways with well-told alibis all-around from Team Arrow. Stephen Amell in particular was in fine-form as he dealt with Roy's return and the escalating threat of his sister, Emiko (Sea Shimooka).

As the finale looms, Shimooka has finally found her flow as Emiko. The anger and drama was finally channelled to full-effect, highlighting why she hates Oliver and why she wants him discredited for all he has done.

I usually include a note for the directors, and I feel inclined to do so yet again. Tara Miele proved she could do a pretty decent James Bamford copy last year in "The Ties That Bind", season six's penultimate chapter which I actually quite enjoyed. It seemed as if she had eased into her own style this year (maybe a little too many lens flares, but the colour grading on the scenes helped to follow the story). This episode was packed with impressive, smooth fights. Roy Harper's acrobatic falls and flips merged perfectly with Oliver's brutal, pin-point accurate fight moves. The camera followed steadily and I appreciated the stylistic choices all-around.

"Confessions" is a tense episode, that, aside from delivering on its premise, further heats things up for the final battle ahead. Couple that with the return of Roy Harper and director Tare Miele's style and you have an Arrow episode that hit the bullseye.

For a moment I was thinking, "yet another average episode of Arrow". But boy was I wrong. This was perhaps the best episode of the season. There were even a couple of twists along the way, things I genuinely didn't predict. I wasn't sure Arrow was still capable of making an episode of this quality.

P.S. There were no flashforward scenes to Mia, William etc. Maybe that also factors into why it was so good.

An incredible way to engage the plot. I saw so much of season 5, in this one episode. Acting was perfect. Action? Perfect, and theme? Also perfect. The show follows a structure for every episode and every time, it's very identical to what they've done before, so for an episode for them to switch it up, and especially for an episode like this, where the darkness consumes everything, even just for one episode? It comes out as nothing less than perfection. And then the ending on top of all that just happened.. this is a highlight of season 7 and perhaps even the rest of the show. This show has had many distinctive and unique episodes, and this is definitely one of my top favorites out of all of them.