Arrow season 6, episode 19 recap: Paper Dragon

An unconventional new episode of Arrow revealed a lot of Ricardo Diaz’s past but failed to make him more interesting.

After last week’s deep dive into Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) psyche, this week’s episode went in the opposite direction. Oliver only appeared in one scene. Tonight, we got to see things from Ricardo Diaz’s (Kirk Acevedo) perspective and learn what drove him to become a villain. We also got some much-needed depth for Black Siren (Katie Cassidy). For the first time ever, the character seemed to emerge out of the shadow of Laurel Lance. Still, for all the added texture this installment gave to this season’s antagonists, it didn’t succeed in making Diaz a more interesting villain.

In fact, “The Dragon” actually made Diaz less interesting. Previously, all the character had going for him was Kirk Acevedo’s nuanced performance and the mystery of his motivations. As opposed to most of Arrow’s Big Bads, Diaz didn’t come to town with any connection to Oliver Queen. He just wanted Star City as his own. Not knowing why he was doing what he was doing gave the character so mystique.  Unfortunately, his reasons for pursuing that ambition are surprisingly pat. He’s basically the Arrowverse version of Tony Montana, only with less emotionally complexity. And with that reveal, Diaz feels like a paper dragon and all the time dedicated to him feels wasted.

“I just want a seat at the table.”

The episode opened with Diaz and Black Siren trying to negotiate with a powerful alliance of crime families called the Quadrant. Things didn’t go well as the group’s representative Eric big timed Diaz and demanded that he locate one of their indicted capos as a test. Diaz quickly retrieved and turned over the capo, but was shot for his trouble. Undeterred, Diaz and Siren slaughtered Eric’s men and tortured him until he gave the location of the next Quadrant meeting. Meanwhile, Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) met with Curtis (Echo Callum) and discussed her anxiety at Oliver’s decision to go solo.

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On the way to the meeting, Diaz explained that he calls himself the Dragon in remembrance of the fear he felt about a boy named Jesse who abused him as a child. At the meeting, Diaz sent Eric in as the Trojan hostage to take the ground floor henchmen and get some time with the Quadrant’s leaders. After a tense round of negotiations, Diaz won a seat at Quadrant’s table by killing Eric’s father. Completing his dark ascendance, Diaz murdered the adult Jesse in front of a disturbed Siren. On the heroic side of town, Felicity told Oliver she was terrified of losing him now that he shut her out and he effectively blew her off.

“Call me honey again, and I might only break your legs.”

So with all of his cards on the table, Diaz stands revealed as a pretty boring character. He was abused as a child and that trauma turned him into an adult who is fixated on controlling everything. His desire to become the kingpin of Star City is just an attempt to create a world where he is all-powerful. And while he has been fairly successful so far, his reckless and obsessive behavior in this episode suggests that motivating compulsion will be his undoing. Meh. Using pop psychology trope to give a villain backstory feels incredibly lazy, especially when Arrow has previously produced multilayered villains like Deathstroke, Damien Darhk, and Prometheus.

If Diaz’s core motivation had just a bit more textured, I would’ve really liked this episode. If he wanted to make a world where no child had to endure what he did, I could feel sympathy for him. Or if he was a Killmonger like class warrior who wanted to rid the world of feckless elites, I could empathize with him. Hell, if he gave an “I’m in the empire business” style megalomaniacal monolog, I could’ve admired his swagger and single-mindedness. Now I just want Oliver to put him out of his misery as quickly as possible.

“Right, because when you’re in the bunker, you think you can make a difference.”

While this episode was ultimately underwhelming, it was not without its merits. Watching Black Siren go from being somewhat impressed by Diaz to regarding him as another Zoom was interesting. It was also compelling to see that character outside of Team Arrow and all of their attachments to the ghost of Laurel. While “The Dragon” stopped short of suggesting that she was a good person underneath it all, it did suggest that’s she’s smarter than she appears. She recognizes Diaz’s addiction to his rage will ultimately be self-destructive. That piece of information might lead to forming an alliance with Team Arrow, for reasons self-preservation if nothing else.

And while extremely brief, the parts of the episode dealing with Oliver and company were very interesting. Clearly, Felicity decision to stand by her man no matter what is weighing on her. And she’s right to be worried. Oliver’s inability to see to acknowledging that operating alone makes him more vulnerable not less is a serious problem.

Next: Arrow season 6, episode 18 recap: The downward spiral

He’s now knowingly playing into Diaz’s plans and with the Dragon’s new global crime connections, it’s hard to see how he’ll be able to topple the villain. The situation has gotten so bad I’m now wondering if Green Arrow won’t win out in the end. While a season ending with the bad guy in control could be compelling under other circumstances, Diaz’s shallow characterization makes even that potentially game-changing development feel less than compelling.

Arrow airs on The CW Thursdays at 9 pm.