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The sixth season of the American television series ''
Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
'' premiered on
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
on October 12, 2017, and concluded on May 17, 2018, with a total of 23 episodes. The series is based on the
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
character
Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' No. 73 on September 19, 1941 (cover dated November 1941), th ...
, a costumed crime-fighter created by
Mort Weisinger Mortimer Weisinger (; April 25, 1915 – May 7, 1978) was an American magazine and comic book editor best known for editing DC Comics' ''Superman'' during the mid-1950s to 1960s, in the Silver Age of comic books. He also co-created such features ...
and George Papp, and is set in the
Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...
, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunners for this season were Marc Guggenheim and
Wendy Mericle Wendy Mericle is an American television writer and television producer, producer. She is known for her work on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC dramedy ''Desperate Housewives'' and The CW's Superhero (genre), superhero series ''Arrow (TV se ...
. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt and Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance also returning from previous seasons.
Katie Cassidy Katie Cassidy (born November 25, 1986) is an American actress. Following several minor television roles, she came to attention as a scream queen after starring in the horror films ''When a Stranger Calls (2006 film), When a Stranger Calls'' (2006 ...
, a principal cast member from seasons
one 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
to four and a guest actor for season five, was reinstated as a series regular for the sixth season as Laurel Lance / Black Siren. They are joined by Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez and Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake, who were promoted to series regulars from their recurring status in the previous season. The series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen ( Stephen Amell), who claimed to have spent five years shipwrecked on Lian Yu, a mysterious island in the North China Sea, before returning home to Starling City (later renamed "Star City") to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. In the sixth season after an explosive battle on Lian Yu, Oliver must balance being a vigilante, the mayor, and a father to his son
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
. At the same time, new enemies emerge, initially led by terrorist hacker Cayden James ( Michael Emerson), who allies himself with various criminals including drug dealer Ricardo Diaz ( Kirk Acevedo), metahuman vigilante Vincent Sobel (portrayed by Johann Urb, voiced by an uncredited Mick Wingert when masked), Russian mobster Anatoly Knyazev ( David Nykl), and metahuman Black Siren. As James loses control of his cabal and is arrested, Ricardo Diaz comes to the fore and kills him, revealing that he manipulated James into believing Oliver killed his son and announcing to Green Arrow his scheme to take over Star City's criminal underworld and control the city's political infrastructure, all while Oliver must contend with his former teammates forming a rival team. As Diaz takes control of the city, Oliver is forced to recruit the aid of the FBI, in exchange for him publicly announcing his identity and going to federal prison. In the finale, Quentin Lance dies during the fight against Diaz's group, the FBI arrest Diaz's minions with Diaz still at large, and Oliver is imprisoned in a maximum security penitentiary. The series was renewed for its sixth season on January 8, 2017, and filming began in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
on July 6, 2017, and ended in late April 2018. The season received mixed reviews from critics compared to other seasons of the series. This season includes the fourth annual Arrowverse crossover with TV series ''
The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'', '' Legends of Tomorrow'' and ''
Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...
'', and with elements from '' Freedom Fighters: The Ray''. The season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 14, 2018. The series was renewed for a seventh season on April 2, 2018.


Episodes


Cast and characters


Main

* Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow * David Ramsey as John Diggle / Spartan / Green Arrow * Willa Holland as Thea Queen / Speedy * Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak / Overwatch * Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt / Mister Terrific * Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez / Wild Dog * Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake / Black Canary *
Katie Cassidy Katie Cassidy (born November 25, 1986) is an American actress. Following several minor television roles, she came to attention as a scream queen after starring in the horror films ''When a Stranger Calls (2006 film), When a Stranger Calls'' (2006 ...
as Laurel Lance / Black Siren (Earth-2) * Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance


Recurring

*Jack Moore as William Clayton * Kathleen Gati as Raisa * David Nykl as Anatoly Knyazev * Sydelle Noel as Samanda Watson * Venus Terzo as Elisa Schwartz * Michael Emerson as Cayden James *Tobias Jelinek as Sheck * Johann Urb as Vincent Sobel / Vigilante * Evan Roderick as Nick Anastas * Kirk Acevedo as Ricardo Diaz / Dragon * Pej Vahdat as Sam Armand *Eliza Faria as Zoe Ramirez * Tina Huang as Kimberly Hill


Guest


Production


Development

On January 8, 2017,
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
renewed ''Arrow'' for a sixth season. This was the final season to feature
Wendy Mericle Wendy Mericle is an American television writer and television producer, producer. She is known for her work on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC dramedy ''Desperate Housewives'' and The CW's Superhero (genre), superhero series ''Arrow (TV se ...
as showrunner; Marc Guggenheim served as co-showrunner.


Writing

The fifth-season finale ended with Oliver Queen and William Clayton witnessing the island Lian Yu explode as a result of Adrian Chase shooting himself, a dead man's switch, with many of Oliver's allies still on the island. Guggenheim said the fates of the characters would be revealed in the sixth season, but cautioned, "I know everyone is trying to determine who survives, who dies, what is the result of the cliffhanger based upon people's contractual status, and I would say that's not necessarily a good idea". He compared this to '' The Walking Dead'' season six finale because it had "a group of characters, all of whom were series regulars, in a dire situation at the end of their season. Just because they were series regulars did not mean that everyone came out of that cliffhanger alive." He also said the theme of the sixth season would be "family", adding that "last year we spent a whole season really building up this team, this new Team Arrow, and this year we've got the team in place – what sort of damage can we do? So much of ''Arrow'' lives in the challenges and trials that we put the characters through."


Casting

Main cast members Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Echo Kellum and Paul Blackthorne return from previous seasons as Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Thea Queen, Felicity Smoak, Curtis Holt and Quentin Lance. Rick Gonzalez and Juliana Harkavy, who recurred in the fifth season as Rene Ramirez and Dinah Drake respectively were promoted to the principal cast for the sixth season.
Katie Cassidy Katie Cassidy (born November 25, 1986) is an American actress. Following several minor television roles, she came to attention as a scream queen after starring in the horror films ''When a Stranger Calls (2006 film), When a Stranger Calls'' (2006 ...
, who portrayed Laurel Lance / Black Canary as a regular from season one to four and recurred as the character's Earth-2 doppelganger Black Siren in season five, was reinstated as a regular for season six, playing the latter role. Cassidy also portrayed the Earth-1 Laurel in " Fundamentals". As with the fifth season, Holland was contracted only to appear in a limited number of episodes, but Guggenheim declined to reveal how many exactly. Holland left the series after her contract expired, her final appearance as a regular being " The Thanatos Guild". This was also Blackthorne's final season as a regular; he left after the
season finale A season finale (British English: series finale; Australian English: season final) is the final episode of a season of a television program. This is often the final episode to be produced for a few months or longer, and, as such, will attempt to ...
. Former series regulars Manu Bennett and Josh Segarra returned as Slade Wilson and Adrian Chase respectively in a guest capacity. Colin Donnell, also a former series regular, returned for two different roles as a guest: the Earth-X version of Tommy Merlyn who is that Earth's
Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...
; and Christopher Chance / Human Target disguised as the Earth-1 Tommy. Colton Haynes, who starred as Roy Harper / Arsenal in seasons two and three and was a guest star in season four, again returned in a guest capacity.


Design

Maya Mani designed the costumes for the season. Oliver's Green Arrow suit from the fifth season is retained in the sixth without any changes. Additionally, he wears his original "Hood" outfit from the first season during the episode "Fundamentals". In the sixth season, Diggle gains a new Spartan costume and helmet, which eschew the gray overtones of previous Spartan costumes, and instead have a black and red scheme. The Wild Dog costume for the season was substantially revamped; while the original introduced in season five consisted of "a hockey jersey, hockey mask and holsters", the new costume was made to be more tactical and armor-like, while retaining the older costume's color scheme. The Black Canary costume introduced in the season consists of a domino mask, long gloves and a bo staff.


Filming

Filming for the season began on July 6, 2017, in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
. The episode "
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...
" re-uses archive footage of
Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...
from his concert of August 4, 2015, at the Nassau Coliseum in
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, performing the song " No Man's Land". To do this, Guggenheim personally wrote to Joel seeking permission. Filming for the season ended in late April 2018.


Arrowverse tie-ins

In May 2017, The CW president
Mark Pedowitz Mark Pedowitz is an American entertainment executive. From 2011 to 2022, he was the president, and then chairman and CEO of The CW, after replacing the former president of entertainment Dawn Ostroff. During his time at The CW, Pedowitz oversaw al ...
officially announced plans for a four-show
Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...
crossover event, crossing over episodes of the television series ''
Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...
'', ''
The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'', '' Legends of Tomorrow'', and ''Arrow''. The crossover, '' Crisis on Earth-X'', began with ''Supergirl'' and a special airing of ''Arrow'' on November 27, 2017, and concluded on ''The Flash'' and ''Legends of Tomorrow'' on November 28. Throughout the crossover, Stephen Amell also portrayed Oliver's Earth-X doppelganger Dark Arrow. Patrick Sabongui, who recurs as David Singh on ''The Flash'', made a guest appearance in the episode " All for Nothing", while the character Barry Allen / The Flash did so in the following episode " The Devil's Greatest Trick"; Grant Gustin did not film any scenes, since the character is only shown speeding through lightning.


Release


Broadcast

The season began airing in the United States on
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
on October 12, 2017, and completed its 23-episode run on May 17, 2018.


Home media

The season was released on DVD and
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
on August 14, 2018, with special features including the fourth annual Arrowverse crossover event titled " Crisis on Earth-X". It began streaming on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
in May 2018, soon after the season finale aired.


Reception


Critical response

The review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reported a 64% approval rating for the sixth season, with an average rating of 6.86/10 based on 7 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Arrow'' sixth season deals with the literal fallout from the explosion in season five's finale and promises a drastic change in direction for the series." Jesse Schedeen of ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' rated the entire season 6.7 out of 10, saying, "''Arrow'' sixth season may not qualify as the show's worst, but only because it improved a great deal in its final two months. Prior to that, the season squandered most of the potential afforded by Season 5, failing to balance its many characters and languishing under a disappointingly bland villain. It's good that the show eventually regained its footing, but there's no reason things should have gone so far off the rails in the first place."


Ratings


Accolades

, - ! scope="row" rowspan="8" , 2018 , rowspan="2" , Leo Awards , Best Cinematography Dramatic Series , data-sort-value="Robson, Corey" , Corey Robson (" Who Are You?") , , , - , Best Stunt Coordination Dramatic Series , data-sort-value="Braconnier, Curtis" , Curtis Braconnier, Eli Zagoudakis (" Fallout") , , , - ,
People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the fans and general public. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls un ...
, The Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show of 2018 , data-sort-value="Arrow" , ''Arrow'' , , , - ,
Saturn Awards The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...
, Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series , data-sort-value="Arrow" , ''Arrow'' , , , - , rowspan="4" ,
Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...
, Choice Action TV Actor , data-sort-value="Amell, Stephen" , Stephen Amell , , , - , Choice Action TV Actress , data-sort-value="Rickards, Emily Bett" , Emily Bett Rickards , , , - , Choice TV Ship , data-sort-value="Amell, Stephen and Emily Bett Rickards" , Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards , , , - , Choice Action TV Show , data-sort-value="Arrow" , ''Arrow'' , ,


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Arrowverse Arrow (TV series) seasons 2017 American television seasons 2018 American television seasons Fiction about impeachment