No longer do we have to imagine what it would be like in Star City 2046. The latest episode shows us exactly that, and it ain’t pretty. However, the episode was fun throughout. Up until this point, we’ve been to some pretty random places across the globe and timeline, so it’s nice that we finally get to see a somewhat familiar place.
The crew was hurled into 2046 after the bounty hunter Kronos fired at them and disabled their engines. It’s exciting, albeit depressing to see what has become of the city they left some 30 years ago. Star City has turned into a largely lawless and desolate city with gangs running rampant, specifically one lead by Deathstroke’s son. The seemingly sole protector is John Diggle Junior, who goes by the name Connor Hawke. This only makes things even more confusing since Connor Hawke is Oliver’s son in the comics. Last but not least, we get to see a broken down Oliver Queen. He just looks completely broken and has lost one of his arms. Interestingly enough, his facial hair definitely gives him the Green Arrow vibes! The crew’s plan revolves around getting parts to jump the Waverider back into the air to pursue Savage, but things go hilariously bad as usual.
Snart and Mick break from the group and actually become part of the traveling bandits. Mick kills their leader and takes his animal fur jacket. His ability to fit into this crew is too perfect, which leads to an interesting divide between himself and Snart.
As much as Snart is a criminal after all, he understands the need to be a part of the group and ensure that they take down Savage. Mick, on the other hand, is perfectly fine where he is. This eventually leads to Snart cold clocking Mick and taking him back to the Waverider. Towards the end of the episode, Snart says that it had to be done, but Mick isn’t too keen on what happened. We do learn that all Mick wants to do is to see the world burn. His character is so at odds with all the other ideals within the group that it will be interesting to see how he pans out going forward.
As expected, Sara quite easily convinces Oliver that the city still needs the Green Arrow, and he saves Diggle Junior from Deathstroke Junior. But, the crowd is more than they can handle, and at first, Rip doesn’t want the rest of them to help save Oliver and Diggle. He argues that this timeline won’t happen if they stop Savage.
I love the fact that Sara calls him out that he is doing exactly the same thing to save his son and wife. Sometimes, it seems that he doesn’t care for their lives but expects them to risk it for his personal gain. It’s nice to see some personality from Rip and even more so that the other characters called him out on it.
The side plot was decent, but you could kind of see where it was going, from a mile away. It’s quite obvious that Jefferson likes Kendra. And Stein can feel this and explains that all he has to do is exude confidence. It’s all good until Stein tries to run interference on what Jefferson assumes was Ray flirting with Kendra. Being the aloof hero that he is, Ray didn’t even realize a relationship was a possibility, until Stein told him, that is. In the end, they both crash and burn when she explains that there is just entirely too much going on to commit to anything. It was a nice side plot but a bit too obvious for my liking.
