Loved It? Hated It? What did you think of "Collision Course?"

[KSiteTV]

What did you think?

[vantheman77]

In the end there will be room for only one Team Arrow as I see the new team heading over to Legends. As for Black Siren, why not just send her back to Earth-2?

[moviefan2k4]

In the end there will be room for only one Team Arrow as I see the new team heading over to Legends. As for Black Siren, why not just send her back to Earth-2?

Assuming Jesse Quick's team (which we still haven't met) were able to capture Siren, she'd just end up in another version of the Pipeline. Besides, the leading theory is that she'll assume her Earth-1 self's identity, holding Oliver and friends' identities hostage to make them cooperate. We know now that in spite of Quentin's belief, Siren values her own freedom over anything and anyone else.

[smllvllfn]

Assuming Jesse Quick's team (which we still haven't met) were able to capture Siren, she'd just end up in another version of the Pipeline. Besides, the leading theory is that she'll assume her Earth-1 self's identity, holding Oliver and friends' identities hostage to make them cooperate. We know now that in spite of Quentin's belief, Siren values her own freedom over anything and anyone else.

If she's going to try and take over Earth-1 Laurel's identity, I hope they don't forget what they told us about Earth-2 doppelgangers from season 2 of the Flash. They are mirror images of their Earth-1 counterparts and they have different blood types.

[JDBentz]

They've already forgotten that bit about DNA. 5x10. Felicity ran a DNA test on the glass and it came back as a match to Earth-1 Laurel. These shows don't bother paying attention to things on their counterparts outside of the crossovers. They never have.

As for the episode itself: Garbage. The only decent scenes were the ones between Black Siren and Quentin, and even then you can never tell if Black Siren is softening or if she's just pretending to in order to get the information she needs (pretty obvious she seems to be planning to take E-1 Laurel's identity with her 'tell me more about [your daughter]' line).

NTA or whatever the heck they call themselves are now the same as the people they broke from, so they got no moral high ground to stand on. Glad to see Rene is leaving. Loved him before, but right now his nickname would be better reflected as Kicked Puppy instead of Wild Dog. Curtis, Mr. Moral Authority, has no room to speak about things the others have done after what he did to Dig, knowing it would hurt him.

As for the basis of Dinah's 'crusade'? Vince was just as much a murderer as Black Siren is. He didn't care about people in the least. He only stopped because he wanted to get in Dinah's pants. That much is obvious.

If I could rate this episode lower than a 1, I would. Literally the only saving grace of the episode was the scenes with Black Siren because I like to examine the different angles she could be coming from. Everything else was one-dimensional.

Oh, and of course, they retconned Oliver's fighting skills AGAIN. The man has taken down Malcolm Merlyn, Slade Wilson, Ra's al GHul, Damien Darhk, and would have killed Adrian in 5x16 if Talia hadn't intervened, but he can't wipe the floor with two morons that he trained and a blinded-by-vengeance Faux Canary? I call BS on that!

[evaba]

The abysmal ratings for this ep matched the disappointment of most online fans:

http://www.greenarrowtv.com/arrow-collision-course-overnight-ratings-report/

Seems like Felicity Smoak as leading lady, the Olicity marriage/endgame and the pretty transparent effort to make NTA look bad in order to glorify the supposedly "original" team have not done one iota for the ratings or the public approval. In retrospect, all this shipper rhetoric about how a hacker love interest allegedly "saved Arrow" seems increasingly misguided, in the sense that no character (no matter if she has an incredibly social media active and adoring fanbase) or romantic relationship can turn a turd into a shining diamond: if the writing and acting is as bad as it has been for at least the last two seasons (with the notable exception of Prometheus/Josh Segarra storyline in S5), casual viewers are going to depart and hardcore fans will become increasingly disappointed.

And more emphasis/focus on Felicity storylines, #OTA "feels" or Olicity sex/babies/romantic interaction won't bring in new viewers either (or keep the regular viewers happy), especially when there are so many other series in the same genre which are better written and acted. After all, for most people who watch a certain series it's not the happy ending of a fictional couple who will cease to exist after the show is ended, or the emphasis on certain constellation of supporting characters, that keep them hooked, but the overall quality of the screen writing, plotting and acting.

[President_Luthor]

While I'm glad that they civil war between the newbies and the oldies has finally reached its crescendo (it did drag on way too long for my tastes), the whole schism arc was silly. I had some sympathies initially for both sides, but at this point they'll all a bunch of juveniles. And the buck does stop with Oliver. It didn't have to descend to this degree of animosity, and while the newbies' antics (esp. Rene ratting to the feds) complicated things, all this could have been avoided in 10 minutes over a cup of coffee. After their fight, I don't know how they can come back from it.

In a rare instance of sober second thought, Diggle even mentioned to him that they may be crossing a line that they can't go back from. So while the newbies have become even more reckless, the oldies should have known better when they thought it was a good idea to spy on their new recruits without their consent. It's because of Evelyn they'd say, blah blah blah, it's all white noise -- who recruited Evelyn initially? And the other recruits? Oliver surely would have given consent, yea or nay, on who got to join back then. So the egg ... surprise surprise, is still on Oliver and the originals. The newbies may be foolish, even more so in recent weeks, but the oldies have been idiots this whole time. And their so-called 'veteran' status actually condemns them more, not less.

Curtis only gets a point for pulling Dinah back from the brink of killing E2 Laurel -- this goes back to her 'avoiding becoming like the Hood' theme that even Oliver himself has brought up with her at times during this season. Nice to see some (rare) continuity in some plots. But, otherwise, Curtis has been as ridiculous as the rest of them.

While it did suck that Oliver hurt Rene ... Rene did come at him with an axe! Oliver may be an idiot on many, many things -- but he kinda did what he needed to here to get out alive. And to be honest, the only newbie he really needed to worry about was Black Canary and her meta powers -- Rene and Curtis really should be no match for Oliver. As expected, he put them down for the count. At the cost of losing track of Black Siren, so one must wonder if beating the newbies was worth the price. It could be a very, very costly victory in the end.

I actually found it amusing the whole deck of cards fell because -- Quentin's hare-brained scheme to somehow redeem E2 Laurel forced everyone's hand. I'm actually surprised the city elders aren't crucifying Oliver right now for losing the city's coffers in Corto Maltese. Dude lost $70 million dollars, people still gotta be paid, potholes need to be filled, etc. At least he admitted to them that he had "failed this city"

I'm totally in favour of E2 Laurel messing with all their gullible heads and screwing all of them over in a devious blindside (I'm putting this out there, this fallout may be the real WTF moment if it plays out). Quentin may be lost/confused, but the rest of the old team being on-board with his wacky "save Bad Laurel" scheme is indefensible. She's a villain and not. their. Laurel. Mine may not be a popular view, fans may wish to see Laurel redeemed and converted into a good guy, but I'm totally okay with Bad Laurel playing them for fools and ... taking on E1 Laurel's identity for some twisted and nefarious purpose that'll put egg on all their faces. I'm hashtagging it now: #TheLaurelIdentity

After their silly civil war, they'd deserve it.

Quentin may be crazy, but E2 Laurel played it well, where we're not quite sure if she's being totally forthright with him, or simply toying with his misplaced guilt to further her agenda. Then they had Oliver telling her he never wants to see her ever again after the teams' playground fight. I'm thinking she's not losing much sleep about that.

If they do "save" E2 Laurel and she becomes a sassy and unpredictable roster member on LoT, it might be okay. But I'd be beyond thrilled if her co-opting E1 Laurel's identity is the start of a calculated blindside and she's an unapologetic villain.

It'll either play out as Laurel actually being redeemed (the popular and predictable route), or it's a shell game and it's Black Siren -- not Dragon -- that the team truly needed to worry about. #TeamDragon #TeamBlackSiren #TheLaurelIdentity #StarCityScrewjob #ChaosRules

[shadow08]

The abysmal ratings for this ep matched the disappointment of most online fans:

http://www.greenarrowtv.com/arrow-collision-course-overnight-ratings-report/

Seems like Felicity Smoak as leading lady, the Olicity marriage/endgame and the pretty transparent effort to make NTA look bad in order to glorify the supposedly "original" team have not done one iota for the ratings or the public approval. In retrospect, all this shipper rhetoric about how a hacker love interest allegedly "saved Arrow" seems increasingly misguided, in the sense that no character (no matter if she has an incredibly social media active and adoring fanbase) or romantic relationship can turn a turd into a shining diamond: if the writing and acting is as bad as it has been for at least the last two seasons (with the notable exception of Prometheus/Josh Segarra storyline in S5), casual viewers are going to depart and hardcore fans will become increasingly isappointed.

And more emphasis/focus on Felicity storylines, #OTA "feels" or Olicity sex/babies/romantic interaction won't bring in new viewers either (or keep the regular viewers happy), especially when there are so many other series in the same genre which are better written and acted. After all, for most people who watch a certain series it's not the happy ending of a fictional couple who will cease to exist after the show is ended, or the emphasis on certain constellation of supporting characters, that keep them hooked, but the overall quality of the screen writing, plotting and acting.

I'm so glad to see that the ratings are tanking. Me? I've skipped episode 13 in it's entirety and only watched a couple of scenes of 6x14 because I wanted to confirm for myself if some of the ridiculous things (e.g. Rene attacking Oliver with an axe) I kept hearing about really happened. I was never emotionally invested in Rene, Dinah and Curtis but watching the writers deliberately drag them through the mud has turned me off of the show for good. As far as I am concerned, Thea is the only watchable character left and that's probably only because the writers are doing jack **** with her. At the rate things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if Rene, Dinah, Curtis and Earth-2 Laurel (Oliver's comment about never wanting to see her face again doesn't really lend itself to any future scenario where E-2 Laurel becomes a permanent fixture on his team) are put on a bus by season's end and all that's left for season 7 is OTA, Quentin and possibly a new addition or two.

[President_Luthor]

I really can't see E2 Laurel coming back, or even being happy, as another Team Arrow benchwarmer because a) she's not E1 Laurel and really doesn't and shouldn't have any familial or other connection to the team, other than Quentin's warped twisting of her headspace re: trying to see "his" Laurel in her, and b) she may have her own agenda, evil or not, that has nothing to do with being redeemed or even wanting/needing to get on Oliver's good side. They didn't really get the job done in selling that Oliver and E2 Laurel had some bond or connection beyond his vague, Quentin-like wish to save her. They barely alluded to this, if at all, this season.

Had they done so, a redemption arc might have more meat to it. This is why Oliver's allegedly cold dismissal and rejection of her didn't carry much dramatic weight or impact with me. E2 Laurel would likely shrug at Oliver's reaction, why should she even care? What connection do they actually have, when have we actually seen it this season?

I am all for an unrepentant Laurel messing with all their gullible heads to further some agenda, or just telling the lot of them where they can shove their misguided pity. #TheLaurelIdentity #TeamBlackSiren

It's hard to be sympathetic with most of them, save E2 Laurel. They've all had a hand in setting a torch to their front yard, the fallout really is on them at this point. No immunity idols either, I will slam both old and new teams in equal measure over this. No exceptions.

I feel Quentin has well and truly used up his last life this season with this bizarre 'saving a Laurel who isn't his' being his crazy swan song, and I feel that it'll be his body that drops, either in the midst of trying to save Laurel (most likely) or collateral damage due to something Dragon does (less likely). If he does make it into a S7, the question is: what the hell is his character going to do to remain relevant and interesting in future? If they can't answer this question, then creatively speaking it is time to pull the plug on Quentin Lance this season. Going out trying to save, in a misguided way, the memory of his daughter via E2 Laurel, might be the noblest way for him to check out.

As for Thea, it's a similar problem but with the additional angle that Willa hasn't been a fulltime cast member in some time. After almost 2 seasons of her part-time status, I'm becoming indifferent to her in the way I became indifferent to Malcolm and Quentin, both of whom have outlived their usefulness on the series. They've become stale. That best before date is a-knockin' at Thea's door too. Same question: what is her character going to do to remain relevant and interesting going forward? If they can't answer it, going off into the sunset seeking happiness with Roy may be the best fate for her.

The Arrowcave needs a thinning of the ranks, the civil war might have accomplished this in part, but it would be ho-hum predictable if -- again -- we're left with the same oldies by the season finale. The team needs to thin the herd ... but they also, desparately, need a rejuvenation (this can't happen if we're stuck with the same old usual suspects). Maybe they're setting up one or all of the newbies to migrate to LoT or another Berlantiverse show, but this also means Team Arrow won't evolve if there is zero change in the lineup. And worse too, if the new and old members don't learn or refuse to learn any lessons from this debacle.

Rene gets a lot of heat for ratting to the feds, and it is largely warranted in the vigilante world they live in: outlaws don't talk to the law, it's the code. I get it. (It's funny though that people forget that Oliver did express that he understood why Rene did what he did -- he put family ahead of team.) And Rene earned more heat for going after Oliver with an axe. He wasn't exactly using it to tickle him, each blow could have been a killing one. Oliver merely defended himself, whether he intentionally aimed at Rene's old bullet wound or not is a mere sidebar.

But the person who bugged me the most during all of this is Curtis. Except for his brief good deed in pulling Dinah out of her killing funk, he was always the guy with one foot in Team Arrow and one foot out. Anyone else see the inherent conflict of interest in declaring oneself a different team member ...while still playing footsie with the old team (aka helping out Diggle with tech and being in business with Felicity in Helix)? We may not agree on Dinah or Rene's reasons for splitting from Team Arrow, but at least they landed with certainty on one side. Curtis has been wishy-washy about it for the longest time. If they were trying to fashion him as a possible future "peacemaker" or broker by showing him playing nice with both sides as long as he did, then they didn't do a convincing job.

I wouldn't trust a rat, but I would trust someone who hems and haws about where he lands even less. You can only have your cake and eat it too for so long, Mister Terrific. Splitting from Team Arrow on principle ... while still hoping to make bank in business with a former teammate? Maybe they should change his name to Mister Fence-Sitter or Count Convenient Opportunist. In this context, plus his exploiting of Diggle's tech to injure him, I can see how Curtis could be the one who may have the hardest -if not impossible- journey back to Team Arrow.

They did go out of their way to make the newbies look bad compared to the vets, but I'm puzzled about the notion out there that the oldies smell like roses after this. Not to me. They stink a bit too, maybe not as much as the rookies, but the vets aren't pure as the driven snow after this either. It increasingly looks like it may be up to Black Siren to underline this point, looking ahead.