Team GATV Roundtable: Talking Arrow Season 6 So Far

Is the FBI/Samanda Watson story working?

CRAIG: I like Sydelle Noel. I like the interactions Watson has had with the team, and the drama that comes as a result. Unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure that in a shared universe like this, that the whole thing works.

Couldn’t John Diggle just tell Lyla to get ARGUS to make her back up? Do ARGUS and the FBI not share files? And are we really supposed to believe that in last year’s “Invasion,” an unmasked Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak and others met the President, yet no one noted this in FBI files?

…I’m probably giving this way more thought than I should.

STEPHANIE: Sydelle Noel is doing a fantastic job playing a smart and imposing character, but I’m over every storyline involving law enforcement trying to unmask and/or take down vigilantes who are catching the bad guys. We’re in season six. This is season one or two material.

MATT: Gotta agree with Stephanie. This feels like early series Arrow material. By the same turn, one of the biggest story arcs of the comics Green Arrow was the discovery of Oliver as GA when he was the mayor of Star City. I guess it just seems a bit too convenient that Oliver got out of the noose around his neck when they set it up so well in the season premiere. Where we used to praise Arrow for burning through story because they didn’t want to unnaturally impede themselves, this does feel like they are holding back.

MELISSA: She’s not as compelling of a character as I was hoping. I feel like there should be more behind her obsession in convicting Oliver than just doing her job, but so far, she’s been rather one dimensional, motivated solely by her perception of justice.

I think the actress has more than solidly delivered on what has been asked of her and after her first episodes, I was excited to have her on the show, but I can’t help compare her to season three Quentin when he was back to being obsessed in bringing down Oliver or even season one Quentin when he firmly believed vigilante justice was the wrong way to go. Samanda’s currently known motivations remain far less gripping than what we’ve had before, so the hunt to bring Oliver to trial feels repetitive and lackluster in comparison.