Arrow 6×06 gave us more of Slade’s dark backstory, the return of Celina Jade as Shado, and a closer look at Diggle’s dilemma as the Green Arrow

In the previous episode of Arrow, Oliver (Stephen Amell) agreed to help Slade (Manu Bennett) find his son Joe (Liam Hall). After Slade brutally killed the security force he believed to be holding his son captive, he discovered that Joe wasn’t being held as a prisoner. The group, known as the Jackals, was being led by Joe. “Promises Kept” continued on from where “Deathstroke Returns” left off. Joe, who was now going by the name of Kane, attempted to recruit Slade to the Jackals so the two would once again be side-by-side.

Slade appeared to be convinced at first but after the Jackals captured Oliver, he was given a choice. He could either kill Oliver or be killed himself. Slade hesitated initially but he decided to spare Oliver’s life. Oliver and Slade stopped the Jackals from carrying out an operation, which led to Slade and his son fighting. Joe revealed the existence of his brother Grant. After that revelation, Slade spared his son’s life and allowed him to escape. Slade and Oliver parted ways, and Slade went off after his son.

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In Star City, Diggle (David Ramsey) ran out of the drug he was using to treat his degenerative nerve problem. Without the drug to stop the tremors, he would be unable to fulfill his promise to Oliver of continuing to be the Green Arrow. It was revealed that the drug was an illegal, experimental drug manufactured by a criminal named Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo). After Lyla (Audrey Marie Anderson) and Diggle had a fight about using the drug and Diggle’s rationale for wanting to continue doing so, Team Arrow confronted Diaz. During the fight, Diaz destroyed the remainder of the drug, which left Diggle without a way to move forward. The destruction of the drug forced Diggle to confess to the team that he was compromised. In response, Curtis (Echo Kellum) offered to help treat Diggle’s condition the same way he helped Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards).

Flashbacks showing Slade after his rescue from Lian Yu were woven throughout the episode. Slade and his son had briefly reunited and trained together as part of A.S.I.S. Despite initially being calmer after his rescue, the Mirakuru once again manifested as Shado (Celina Jade) and Slade lost control. He slaughtered his fellow A.S.I.S. operatives. This led to Slade stealing prototype armor and having an even worse falling out with his son.

“Promises Kept” advanced Diggle’s story arc as the Green Arrow in a fairly significant manner and set up Slade’s eventual return. Between those action-packed stories and the dark look at Slade’s post-Lian Yu experiences, “Promises Kept” gave us plenty to discuss. Let’s meet our roundtable guests!

Raj (@ClearHeatVision) - Biomedical Engineer with a knack for fanboyism, especially comic books.

Natalie (@amellxwood) - Film student. Zealous Arrow fan. Olicity are the ones who light my way.

Emily (@dianasfelicity) - College student, enthusiastic TV show watcher, and huge Arrow/Olicity fan.

Dani (@ENSM31) - Accountant, Brazilian, crazy about Arrow, not into comics though.

Penny (@SAEBRfan) - Proud mother of 4, Jane of all trades, who loves reading, sports, TV and Arrow

1. We got to see more of Slade’s backstory in this episode, including his continued descent into madness after being rescued from Lian Yu. Even though we roughly knew where that was headed, did you find those scenes effective?

Raj (@ClearHeatVision): I am happy we got to finally see things from Slade’s perspective post-Lian Yu but pre-return to Starling City. I am still skeptical that Shado had to be the motivation for why he went crazy. I never bought into that originally…

Natalie (@amellxwood): Those scenes were interesting. It was nice to see Celina Jade back even only in ghost form. Shado was one of the only things that humanized him but also drove him into madness. It was interesting to see the time period showing what was happening with him before showing up in Star City (Starling back then) to ruin Oliver’s life.

Emily (@dianasfelicity): Honestly? Not really. I understand Slade was a somewhat decent man before the Mirakuru, but I cannot seem to care at this point. It was a bit interesting to see how Slade became the villain we saw in Season 2, but knowing where it would eventually lead him dampened my thoughts on the scenes. How can I feel sorry for a man who slaughtered a woman in front of her children, amongst other heinous crimes? While I think the scenes were effective in the sense that we got some backstory filled in, I don’t think it brought me any closer to liking Slade.

Dani (@ENSM31): It was a little bit confusing the on-and-off of the Mirakuru’s effects. He seemed cured and then he was not. I liked that Shado was there representing his madness. That is the ultimate connection, isn’t it?

Penny (@SAEBRfan): Honestly, I was confused. His descent into Mirakuru madness that led to the fight between him and Oliver where he lost his eye (and thought to be dead), then waking up to Joe with no side effects had me going “Huh?.” I guess it was dormant. Um, okayyy. I did enjoy Shado representing the madness. Great to see Celina Jade again.

2. Slade had been a killer before he was exposed to Mirakuru but he appeared to be grounded in some form of morals and ethics. Joe/Kane chose to become a killer to follow in his father’s footsteps and actively became a criminal. Is there any hope for him?

Raj: I hope that in Slade’s future adventures tracking down his son, that he shows him the light of way. I don’t know if we the audience will see that, but I think that would be a good side story to follow in a spin-off or comic book extension. I think Slade having to kill his own son in the future would be a good story to tell.

Natalie: I mean, I guess there’s always hope for someone. But since Slade seems to be redeemed, I think they should just keep villains a villain. Joe killed his little brother which is completely unforgivable. Then again, Slade murdered Oliver’s mother, tried killing Thea and Felicity, and almost destroyed the whole city but apparently that’s forgivable? So, we’ll see I guess.

Emily: There’s hope for everybody, right? As mentioned, Joe/Kane is a special kind of evil because he chooses to be a murdering psychopath. This is Arrow though, so I’m sure we’ll eventually see some desire, whether in Oliver or Slade or both, to get through to him. If there is anything this show loves, it’s redemption…no matter how villainous and abhorrent the character’s actions are.

Dani: Slade was an agent before, a killer because he had to be, not because he wanted to. It was his job. Joe’s path as criminal is different, it was his choice to not follow rules or ethics. I don’t think that there is hope for him. He’s too far gone. He had his opportunity and chose not to go with his father.

Penny: If there’s hope for Slade, then we have to assume there’s hope for Joe/Kane but Slade was an A.S.I.S. Agent doing his job, but Joe wasn’t. I kind of like the way it was left open and a purpose for Slade to continue searching for him to find answers.

3. Diggle finally came clean about his usage of an illegal drug to Lyla and justified it as having to do whatever is necessary to help protect Star City. He even likened it to Lyla having to make difficult choices as the head of A.R.G.U.S. If we ignore the ending of the episode for a moment, did Diggle have a point? Or was he simply deluding himself?

Raj: Diggle was completely wrong with that analogy. Lyla had to use her resources to keep the world safe but without the expense of harming her own A.R.G.U.S staff. Not only that, A.R.G.U.S as a group knew about her actions internally. Diggle keeping the tremors secret put Wild Dog and Black Canary (3.0?) in danger! I rolled my eyes at his logic this season.

Natalie: I think Dig did have a point. Lyla makes hard choices for ARGUS and so did Oliver when he was Green Arrow. But I do think he was deluding himself a bit because he had to have known the shit would hit the fan and he couldn’t carry on forever. I’m glad he told the team and I’m excited to see Oliver and Felicity’s reaction to this since they are closest to him.

Emily: Diggle was definitely deluding himself. There is an obvious amount of desperation that surrounds him lately which is understandable. He is under a lot of pressure! I do think his reasoning was weak, though. In my opinion, he knows his actions were harmful and wrong, so that was simply his way of justifying it. Nobody wants to admit they’re falling down the rabbit hole, especially not a man who everyone expects to be impenetrable and morally good.

Dani: That was a weak excuse, especially because he always condemns A.R.G.U.S’ actions. Although his intentions are noble, deep down he knows that what he is doing is wrong and unfair to his team, city and Oliver.

Penny: I can see where he might think he has a point to justify what he’s doing but major delusion there. No way can he be a part of the team, in the field, effectively, without someone being hurt or worse. Plus the personal cost to himself in the long run? Not worth it. I hope he can find another solution. (Get to it Felicity and Curtis!)

4. We learned more about the experimental drug Diggle has been using to help treat his tremors. Do you think Ricardo Diaz (aka, The Dragon) and what he was trying to do is connected to Cayden James in some way?

Raj: It wouldn’t be surprising if it was some form of bio-terror. But, I think it might be a similar plot to some of the drug villains from earlier in Arrow, like Count Vertigo or Stardust.

Natalie: Maybe he’s connected to Cayden James but I like to think Cayden is the big player this season. A drug lord villain seems a bit overdone on this show. Having a reckless hacker like Cayden James as the big bad just feels fresh and exciting. Plus, Michael Emerson is incredible.

Emily: Hmm…I think there is a possible connection. I’m not convinced, though! Villains doing business with other villains isn’t exactly the craziest idea in the world, but there isn’t enough evidence right now for me to say for certain. I do think that if Cayden James and Ricardo Diaz are working together, it will definitely be interesting to see how it affects John and Felicity!

Dani: Definitely. I believe that all villains are connected to a big plan that it will only play out during the second half of the season.

Penny: It’s hard to say at this point but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least. I think all the villains are connected to a bigger plan, under Cayden James.

5. Slade appeared to come relatively close to turning against Oliver in this episode. Do you think it was an act or was he seriously considering killing Oliver in order to side with Joe/Kane? Maybe both?

Raj: No, I don’t think he had any plans to harm Oliver. I think he was trying to figure out the best way to get Oliver out without harming himself, Oliver, or his son. I think we are well past Oliver and Slade’s feud…at least, I hope! Some great acting between Amell and Bennett last night! I loved those scenes when Oliver was consoling him.

Natalie: We’ve seen Slade double double cross Oliver before in the season 5 finale. I think in that case, it was truly an act. Here, I think he considered it for a moment only because of his son but deep down he knew he could never do it. Oliver’s speech to him obviously drove that home for Slade.

Emily: All I can say is Oliver was about to be a goner! I fully believe Slade was willing to do anything to be in his son’s life, including killing his “friend”. As Oliver said in the episode, Slade was very convincing…and unless we’ll be seeing flashbacks of Slade taking acting lessons, I think it was because he was genuinely about to kill Oliver.

Dani: I don’t think that he was considering killing or betraying Oliver. In fact, his son is the unknown here, not Oliver. When you’re fighting a war you choose the ones that you know and trust already.

Penny: I think it was an act. I think he was trying to figure out why Joe/Kane was the way he was and to see if he could help him but then Oliver showed up and it got complicated.

6. Oliver seems to be convinced that Slade isn’t the man he was when under the influence of Mirakuru. This episode certainly seemed to reinforce that idea while also hinting that Slade isn’t nearly as reformed as Oliver hopes he is. Is Oliver playing with fire or is there hope for Slade?

Raj: There is hope for Slade. But, he’s only a domino away from finding more Mirakuru. I can foresee a situation where somehow he can’t save his son due to some other 3rd party, and he turns to Mirakuru to enact vengeance.

Natalie: Oliver is always playing with fire. He trusts too easily which is both a fault and asset. It seems like they were really trying to convince us that Slade is reformed. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. THIS MAN KILLED OLIVER’S OWN MOTHER. Mirakuru or not, I can’t even get past it; I cannot fathom how Oliver did. Obviously, Joe’s storyline isn’t done so maybe we’ll see Slade revert back to his dark ways further in the season.

Emily: Oliver isn’t just playing with fire, he’s standing in the middle of the flames holding a gallon of gasoline. In all honesty, I love that after everything Oliver has been through, he still sees the good in people and wants to help them. I think it’s so wonderful to see that part of him shine through his darkness, but he needs to learn he can’t save everybody. Even before the Mirakuru, Slade was manipulative and sneaky. That’s just who he is, and I don’t think Oliver should waste his time.

Dani: Slade will always be Deathstroke. The ambiguity of his character is what makes him awesome. I don’t want a redemption arc for Slade. Let him play in gray areas. That is the best use of his character. What I do believe is that Slade will piss Oliver off sometimes, but not betray him.

Penny: I think there’s hope for him but knowing Slade, there could be relapses in judgement. Kind of like the same thing with Oliver becoming who he is today, instead of the Hood.

7. At the end of the episode, Diggle apologized to the team and confessed that he was compromised. He and Dinah agreed not to keep any secrets from each other anymore. Despite that, Dinah is keeping Vincent’s gifts a secret from Diggle. How do you see that playing out?

Raj: There’s going to a massive civil war that’s going to break out within Team Arrow. It was pretty terrible that Dinah kept that entire exchange with Vigilante on the down-low! Curtis and Rene seem to be bystanders in all this but being kept in the dark. I can see Rene leaving the team first and then Curtis following him. I bet that this incident would be what causes Oliver to come back and don the hood.

Natalie: Considering that a lot of Dinah’s storyline this season (up until finding out Vincent is Vigilante) has been her relationship with Diggle and the idea trust, I think it will cause a lot of tension and division between them and maybe even between the whole team.

Emily: Logically, I know it is hypocritical for Dinah to agree with Diggle about not keeping secrets while she hides Vincent’s gift, but…I also understand it. I just can’t blame her for wanting to keep it quiet. It clearly means something to her since she carries it around, and the team would go nuts if they found out! Maybe a scolding from the team would be a good thing, or maybe it wouldn’t. I don’t know enough about Vincent to say whether her keeping this secret is so terrible or not. We’ll have to see!

Dani: Lies. Lies. Lies. I used to say that everybody has some secret this season, except Oliver (he is pretty much an open book). All those lies will eventually bring some problems to the team. Lies can break relationships, trust. It can result in something really bad to those who are fighting a war. I don’t think it will end up well to any of them.

Penny: I’m so glad that Diggle finally came clean! Now he just needs to tell Oliver and Felicity, which is going to be fun. *cringe* Dinah, like Diggle, will probably be put in a situation where she’s going to have to share with the team, or else. I hope she shares first. Lies and secrets help no one.

Final Verdict: “Promises Kept” offered us one of the darkest episodes of the season to date along with some excellent character development for Diggle and Slade

”Deathstroke Returns” brought back one of Arrow’s most iconic and recognizable villains as a tentative ally. “Promises Kept” continued Slade’s development as a complicated anti-hero type character and introduced new threats that will most likely be catching up with Oliver and the rest of the team in Star City at a later point. While Oliver’s role was fairly secondary in this episode, he still played an important role in helping to keep Slade’s darker impulses in check. Slade has often been portrayed as a darker, more flawed version of Oliver. He’s always right on the edge between doing the right thing and being sucked into a murderous rampage that he’d never recover from. “Promises Kept” continued that development through flashbacks and the return of Celina Jade as Shado. The added complexity of his son being in the picture gave Manu Bennett plenty of strong material to work with, and he definitely delivered.

Diggle’s development in Star City was also welcomed. Introducing his wife Lyla into the mix helped push him to do the right thing. Despite being tempted to save the experimental drug, Diggle’s morality and desire to save others ended up saving him and his team. Confessing to the rest of the team that he’s compromised was also a welcome byproduct of the destruction of the drug, and our roundtablers were quite happy with those developments.

Not everything worked as well as we would have liked. Oliver’s willingness to trust Slade despite their history has been a continued tricky point to navigate. While Oliver has often tried to do the right thing and believes that others can be redeemed, it’s difficult to look past Slade’s murder of Oliver’s mother and the threatening of his sister. Slade no longer being under the influence of the Mirakuru helps to sell Oliver’s behavior but the lack of a direct mention of their dark history was an odd oversight.

With Team Arrow mostly on track again by not keeping secrets from each other (other than Dinah) and Slade off searching for his son along with his soul, “Promises Kept” laid the groundwork for what has the potential to be solid payoff in the future.

ARROW returns next THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd at 9/8c on THE CW.