‘Arrow’ season 1 finale review: Is [spoiler] dead, and who are the real heroes now?

This past fall, we referred to “Arrow” as the best new show of the season, and then, there were times during a repetitive spring that we started to doubt that. With Wednesday night’s action-packed finale, not only was all of our hope restored that this truly was a stellar first outing, but we actually got a little bit choked up in the process.

Let’s start by not burying the lead: There are at least two possible deaths that we can talk about, and they’re both members of the Merlyn family. We didn’t see either one of them in a casket, so it’s feasible that one of them could resurface next season. (Oh, the nature of cliffhangers.) We presume that Diggle is okay despite the injury that he suffered near the end of the episode at Malcolm’s hands. As for all the people in the glades, quite a few were not so lucky. Rebuilding this will be a challenge.

The nature of “who is a hero?” has been wonderfully explored throughout the show’s first season, and there were examples of it from so many different people here. Roy Harper proved himself as someone who wants to make a difference in the world, rather than just someone trying to commit petty crimes from place to place. Meanwhile, Detective Lance put his own differences about The Hood aside to destroy one of the two bombs that could have completely decimated the city. Tommy risked his own life in order to save the woman that he loved in Laurel (moments after learning that Oliver was telling the truth about his dad), and even Moira Queen did the right thing in admitting to her role in the city’s destruction. Of course, Felicity also did her part, but we already know that she doesn’t have it in her to be awful.

The death of Tommy could be exactly what Oliver needs to stay motivated as the Hood for a while longer (at least if it sticks). There is clearly still evil out there in the world, and he could be intent to show that it cannot continue to sever families and friends the same way that it has to him.

What was your take on the “Arrow” finale? Who do you think is dead, and are you ready already for season 2? If you want to see some more questions you should be asking yourself about this episode, you can do so here.

Photo: The CW