If the Arrow ever had a light at the end of the tunnel, it would be "The Devil's Greatest Trick" for sure. Rarely has an episode felt like such a nailbiter. Plot twists and great action aside, this is probably the best of Michael Emerson's Cayden James performance this whole season. The utter defeat and sorrow that the character felt was truly touched upon masterfully and for once, Arrow actually made you care for an insignificant villain. The father-son dynamic of the Queens was a little forced, but effective nonetheless. With the episode concluding on good notes, the icing on the cake was the reveal of the real season big bad. Though questionable and late, this dark turn for the show will surely be fun to watch.
10 Reviews
One Step Up
lassegalsgaard17 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This is that episode that I have been waiting for. I haven't been excited for the new episodes of this second half of Season 6, but with this episode, my excitement has finally returned. The first thing that I want to mention with this episode is that proves my point that the recruits work better with the original Team Arrow. There were some good moments in this episode where the teams were working together and where they actually realized that it worked better that way. Unfortunately, they didn't keep to that and the recruits had to go out and continue their own stupid escapades. Which is such a shame as I loved seeing them work together again, and it gave the show a little bit of its soul back, which I think has been absent these past episodes. It's going slow, but I do think the show is going to get back on track when the finale hits in a couple of months.
However, the big elephant in the room is Dinah, because she is really starting to annoy me. I hated the rushed setup for her storyline, and this episode didn't to anything to fix those problems. Her role in this episode was some of the worst writing I have seen for her character, and that also affected Juliana Harkavt who was really bad in this episode. The entire time, she talked through her teeth and with this irritating grunt sound as well. I hope they fix her character soon, or else, I'm out...
I liked the hightened focus on Cayden James in this episode. While I still hate the storyline with his son (because it's a repeat of Season 5), I did enjoy seeing the relationship he had with him and how he screwed it up. The decision to focus the flashbacks on him was a great idea, and I think it was an effective use of flashbacks, because it gave some more development to a character who have been fairly week throughout. I also loved seeing how crazy he actually was, since he decided to blow up the city anyway. He has this weird desire to be with his son in death, and that decision impressed me. This also goes into the performance from Michael Emerson, who has continued to impress me throughout his entire run, as he has always done previously. The unfortunate thing is that we won't get to see anymore him, as the end made it very clear that this was his final episode.
I will say this, I like how the relationship is being developed between Laurel and Quentin. It's not the best it could be, but I like the slow progress in this specific case. There is a lot to be done and a long way for the characters to go, but I do think they can reach some kind of relationship by the end of this season.
The ending twist for this episode was awesome. I loved that they finally revealed the big bad of the season to be Ricardo Diaz, who has been underused so far. These last few episodes are going to be his story and he will be definitely be the standout. I can't wait to see what he brings to this show and how he will work as a threat to the team. I also loved Kirk Acevedo's performance in this episode, as I have so far. His voice is so fitting for this character and he actually scares me at times. I hope that his biggest moments are yet to come.
And at the end, I have to state my displeasure about the return of William. I really hate this character and his writing for this episode was atrocious. Once again, he acted like a little kid who has no idea of how the world is, and the things he did in this episode were so stupid and against what he has stated in earlier episodes. Get rid of him!!
However, the big elephant in the room is Dinah, because she is really starting to annoy me. I hated the rushed setup for her storyline, and this episode didn't to anything to fix those problems. Her role in this episode was some of the worst writing I have seen for her character, and that also affected Juliana Harkavt who was really bad in this episode. The entire time, she talked through her teeth and with this irritating grunt sound as well. I hope they fix her character soon, or else, I'm out...
I liked the hightened focus on Cayden James in this episode. While I still hate the storyline with his son (because it's a repeat of Season 5), I did enjoy seeing the relationship he had with him and how he screwed it up. The decision to focus the flashbacks on him was a great idea, and I think it was an effective use of flashbacks, because it gave some more development to a character who have been fairly week throughout. I also loved seeing how crazy he actually was, since he decided to blow up the city anyway. He has this weird desire to be with his son in death, and that decision impressed me. This also goes into the performance from Michael Emerson, who has continued to impress me throughout his entire run, as he has always done previously. The unfortunate thing is that we won't get to see anymore him, as the end made it very clear that this was his final episode.
I will say this, I like how the relationship is being developed between Laurel and Quentin. It's not the best it could be, but I like the slow progress in this specific case. There is a lot to be done and a long way for the characters to go, but I do think they can reach some kind of relationship by the end of this season.
The ending twist for this episode was awesome. I loved that they finally revealed the big bad of the season to be Ricardo Diaz, who has been underused so far. These last few episodes are going to be his story and he will be definitely be the standout. I can't wait to see what he brings to this show and how he will work as a threat to the team. I also loved Kirk Acevedo's performance in this episode, as I have so far. His voice is so fitting for this character and he actually scares me at times. I hope that his biggest moments are yet to come.
And at the end, I have to state my displeasure about the return of William. I really hate this character and his writing for this episode was atrocious. Once again, he acted like a little kid who has no idea of how the world is, and the things he did in this episode were so stupid and against what he has stated in earlier episodes. Get rid of him!!
That's it?
Abdulxoxo15 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Cayden James, a tech genius who hacked an entire city and extort money from it, can't even tell if a video is faked or doctored, yeah right. I find his motive to be weak, just 'cause someone killed your son doesn't mean you have to take an entire city to get your revenge. take Adrian Chase for example, Oliver killed his father so he get revenge going after Olive and his loved ones, not the entire city. He was killed off just as we get to see his backstory with son which is a bit too late, and it turned out Ricardo Diaz is the mastermind all along, well that's not too convincing. he'll have to convince me on that, I always see him as a second-rate villain. Earlier in this episode, when he was supposedly escaping, Mr. T and Wild dog caught him with such ease, I don't believe a mastermind like him will just be running out of town with bag full of money like that. Quentin still believe he can turn Laurel 2 and of course William is annoying.
Interesting turn of event
cacuymoviefreak9 February 2018
I love the actor who play Cayden James, he voiced the Joker in Dark Knight Return animated movie and was one of the main stars in person of interest. This was his episode in a lot of ways, it shows the event that led up to him becoming the man he is at the moment. Its also interesting how Dinah comes full circle from when we first meet her. When we meet her she is trying to kill the gagster that she thought at the time killed Vincent so she goes to get justice. What happening with Laurel is happening all over again, she has not learn I find that interesting
Seeing a new side of Oliver
whitearrow-2362326 March 2018
Over the past six years, we've seen Oliver take some pretty bold stances against his adversaries, but his best shining moments have been when the threat hits closer to home, with some of his most memorable being the lengths he went for Thea back in Seasons 3 and 4. Now, it seems like his stance as a father is giving him the same effect, only this time on a more level headed and mature level.
With the challenge he's facing this season, bringing William into the fold on a more permanent basis seems to have a great impact on what keeps him going. What really caught my attention this time around was that even though his father being the Emerald Archer is a bit nerve racking, William has proven himself to be a pretty brave kid (gee, I wonder who he takes after).
With the challenge he's facing this season, bringing William into the fold on a more permanent basis seems to have a great impact on what keeps him going. What really caught my attention this time around was that even though his father being the Emerald Archer is a bit nerve racking, William has proven himself to be a pretty brave kid (gee, I wonder who he takes after).
Great Episode
jbistiz9 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
After this lackluster season, other than the 2 Slade episodes, and the crossover, it's about time we get a great episode! I see Oliciters calling this episode bad, and filler, which it is nothing even close to those 2 things, I think they're just mad about there being little to no Olicity/Felicity in the episode, and it having a lot of Laurel (Black Siren) in it. I'm stoked to see her redemption, which this episode basically told us was going to happen. The Richard Dragon twist in killing Cayden James, and taking over as the big bad was predicted a long time ago, but it was still cool to see it come to fruition.
Now on to the things I didn't like so much. Well there's William, he was once again very annoying, and I didn't like that he just went to where the Green Arrow was, that was just dumb. There was Rene, once again being annoying. It's such a shame what they have done to his character, he was one of my favorite additions from last season, but they sure did mess that up this season. And lastly, this isn't to do with the actual episode itself, but the Oliciters and what they've been saying about this episode is a lie. The writers seriously need to stop pandering to them, and produce more episodes like this instead. Don't let them tell you this episode was bad, because it wasn't. Please don't listen to them. I know that last part was a bit off topic, but it has to be said.
Now on to the things I didn't like so much. Well there's William, he was once again very annoying, and I didn't like that he just went to where the Green Arrow was, that was just dumb. There was Rene, once again being annoying. It's such a shame what they have done to his character, he was one of my favorite additions from last season, but they sure did mess that up this season. And lastly, this isn't to do with the actual episode itself, but the Oliciters and what they've been saying about this episode is a lie. The writers seriously need to stop pandering to them, and produce more episodes like this instead. Don't let them tell you this episode was bad, because it wasn't. Please don't listen to them. I know that last part was a bit off topic, but it has to be said.
Arrow - S06E13 The Devil's Greatest Trick
j_forbesy9 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Like the other CW superhero shows, this was Arrow's last episode before it goes on a four week break. With that it needed to do what the other show did quite a good job at, which is tying up some loose ends while setting up some new plot points that the final part of the season can pick up and run with.
Arrow in the past has been a show that has had a fairly inconsistent track record with big episodes. Thankfully I can put this one down as a positive one. This episode did everything it needed to do. The biggest plot point it had on it's plate was Cayden James. Going into this episode, I thought that he would be around towards the back end of the season before possibly switching him out for another big bad, however this all happened this episode. I thought that the writers decision to both flesh out Cayden through flashbacks and then kill him off was a great idea. Previous to this episode, us as the audience had no real connection to him, however this episode formed that connection and then took it away from us.
With that, I thought that the decision to make Dragon the one who betrayed Cayden was the logically decision as all the other members had some form of connection to Team Arrow already. Even though it was an expected decision, I thought that the way the final scene played out with Dragon and Cayden was excellent. Up until that point, Dragon seemed like just another henchmen for Cayden to control, however with this scene they showed that he has what it takes to be a crime lord villain in this city.
However, despite doing some great positives with the main arc of the episode, there were a few negatives to be had. These negatives are ones that are rather minor in the context of the season, however when viewing just this episode, they stand out amongst some of great stuff this episode had to offer.
The first is the writers decision to make William an idiot and go to the abandoned theatre. While I thought we did get some great stuff with William being there, especially the observation made by Cayden about this ending with Oliver's son like it started with his own, it doesn't excuse the poor motivations of putting him in that place to begin with. William as a character is one that I think is very inconsistent. Some episodes I think they utilise him great and write him as a typical teenager, while other times he is illogical and does something completely stupid that any kid that age would never do.
The second is the constant drag on from Rene about how the two teams will remain separate. While I enjoy how the writers decided to split the team up into two divisions, us as the audience do not need a constant reminded that the teams will not join back together officially. I thought that the reason for driving them apart was well done because both teams in some way betrayed each other, but having Rene constantly making reference to it makes his character come off as childish when he was the one to start the cycle originally.
Into the final negative, this also comes from an arc I was on board with previously and that was Quentin and Laurel. Last week's episode did a great job in setting up the conflict within Laurel, which made the arc of Quentin wanting to redeem Laurel interesting to me. However in this episode they do a complete 180 with Laurel. While I think there is still some conflict within her, this episode made a strong point of saying that at this moment in time, Laurel will not turn. That in itself is not an issue, however the issue comes when we focus on Quentin's response to that. Quentin went straight out creepy in this episode. Considering he has been fighting with himself about whether he will try and redeem Laurel or not, the overbearing nature he showed this episode seems way to unnatural to the character of Quentin.
Overall, this was a really solid episode from Arrow. If it wasn't for the minor negatives that by the end of the season will be meaningless, this episode could have been one of the best of the season.
8.5/10
Arrow in the past has been a show that has had a fairly inconsistent track record with big episodes. Thankfully I can put this one down as a positive one. This episode did everything it needed to do. The biggest plot point it had on it's plate was Cayden James. Going into this episode, I thought that he would be around towards the back end of the season before possibly switching him out for another big bad, however this all happened this episode. I thought that the writers decision to both flesh out Cayden through flashbacks and then kill him off was a great idea. Previous to this episode, us as the audience had no real connection to him, however this episode formed that connection and then took it away from us.
With that, I thought that the decision to make Dragon the one who betrayed Cayden was the logically decision as all the other members had some form of connection to Team Arrow already. Even though it was an expected decision, I thought that the way the final scene played out with Dragon and Cayden was excellent. Up until that point, Dragon seemed like just another henchmen for Cayden to control, however with this scene they showed that he has what it takes to be a crime lord villain in this city.
However, despite doing some great positives with the main arc of the episode, there were a few negatives to be had. These negatives are ones that are rather minor in the context of the season, however when viewing just this episode, they stand out amongst some of great stuff this episode had to offer.
The first is the writers decision to make William an idiot and go to the abandoned theatre. While I thought we did get some great stuff with William being there, especially the observation made by Cayden about this ending with Oliver's son like it started with his own, it doesn't excuse the poor motivations of putting him in that place to begin with. William as a character is one that I think is very inconsistent. Some episodes I think they utilise him great and write him as a typical teenager, while other times he is illogical and does something completely stupid that any kid that age would never do.
The second is the constant drag on from Rene about how the two teams will remain separate. While I enjoy how the writers decided to split the team up into two divisions, us as the audience do not need a constant reminded that the teams will not join back together officially. I thought that the reason for driving them apart was well done because both teams in some way betrayed each other, but having Rene constantly making reference to it makes his character come off as childish when he was the one to start the cycle originally.
Into the final negative, this also comes from an arc I was on board with previously and that was Quentin and Laurel. Last week's episode did a great job in setting up the conflict within Laurel, which made the arc of Quentin wanting to redeem Laurel interesting to me. However in this episode they do a complete 180 with Laurel. While I think there is still some conflict within her, this episode made a strong point of saying that at this moment in time, Laurel will not turn. That in itself is not an issue, however the issue comes when we focus on Quentin's response to that. Quentin went straight out creepy in this episode. Considering he has been fighting with himself about whether he will try and redeem Laurel or not, the overbearing nature he showed this episode seems way to unnatural to the character of Quentin.
Overall, this was a really solid episode from Arrow. If it wasn't for the minor negatives that by the end of the season will be meaningless, this episode could have been one of the best of the season.
8.5/10
Wow
hazalsoyhan28 September 2018
Olivers son
fuad_tarin_5816 February 2019
A 3 Week Break is Exactly What this Show Doesn't Need
ThomasDrufke11 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
As predicted, the Arrow showrunners weren't going to title an episode 'The Devil's Greatest Trick' without having some sort of huge reveal. Unfortunately, that big reveal turned out to be what many expected, an underwhelming, convoluted, derivative, and confusing big bad reveal of Ricardo Diaz.
Sure, it's most certainly designed in a way this show has never done (you know attempting to present a big bad in Cayden James, only to reveal another human behind the canvas pulling the strings. It's not something that this show has done yet and it's an intriguing thing to do, but it only really works if the season had already grasped my attention. I have been desperately asking for Arrow to do something to pull me in after the awful mid-season finale. Yet, it has done nothing to further my interest. The one saving grace has to be that Kirk Acevedo showed a little promise in the one scene he had to shine, and it's not like he can be any worse than what we saw out of Michael Emerson.
At least the show did something to improve James as a character, in adding flashbacks showing his tragic relationship with his son. Only, it's far too little too late. You can't have 7 episodes of him holding a bomb to the city claiming he's doing it for revenge for his son, without having any sort of context. Even Damien Darhk at his worst showed greater depth and creativity when it comes to his performance.
Oh and then we have this whole Team Arrow vs Team wannabe Arrow. As if it couldn't get any more annoying and frustratingly derivative, it looks like we are getting the face off between the two next week. Is anybody asking for that? Oh and where the heck is Quentin taking Black Siren/Laurel? That was a beyond creepy thing to see Quentin do. What the hell happened to his character? If this is the way they're going to write him then why not just give him the death we thought that character would get way back in season 3?
In every possible way, this is the worst season Arrow has ever had, with no real hope in sight. Can it be saved? I highly doubt it, but I never would have thought this season could fall so far from where last year left off.
5.7/10
Sure, it's most certainly designed in a way this show has never done (you know attempting to present a big bad in Cayden James, only to reveal another human behind the canvas pulling the strings. It's not something that this show has done yet and it's an intriguing thing to do, but it only really works if the season had already grasped my attention. I have been desperately asking for Arrow to do something to pull me in after the awful mid-season finale. Yet, it has done nothing to further my interest. The one saving grace has to be that Kirk Acevedo showed a little promise in the one scene he had to shine, and it's not like he can be any worse than what we saw out of Michael Emerson.
At least the show did something to improve James as a character, in adding flashbacks showing his tragic relationship with his son. Only, it's far too little too late. You can't have 7 episodes of him holding a bomb to the city claiming he's doing it for revenge for his son, without having any sort of context. Even Damien Darhk at his worst showed greater depth and creativity when it comes to his performance.
Oh and then we have this whole Team Arrow vs Team wannabe Arrow. As if it couldn't get any more annoying and frustratingly derivative, it looks like we are getting the face off between the two next week. Is anybody asking for that? Oh and where the heck is Quentin taking Black Siren/Laurel? That was a beyond creepy thing to see Quentin do. What the hell happened to his character? If this is the way they're going to write him then why not just give him the death we thought that character would get way back in season 3?
In every possible way, this is the worst season Arrow has ever had, with no real hope in sight. Can it be saved? I highly doubt it, but I never would have thought this season could fall so far from where last year left off.
5.7/10
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