Warning: spoilers ahead for the fourteenth episode of Arrow Season 6, called "Collision Course."
Star City has had a rough ride in Arrow Season 6 so far thanks to Cayden James and his consortium of bad guys. Although Cayden James himself was murdered by one of his former allies, the city is still in dire straits due to the $70 million he fleeced from the government before he was finally defeated, and the dysfunctional superhero situation isn't helping. Team Arrow was split in two after Dinah, Curtis, and Rene found out that Original Team Arrow was keeping tabs on them. At first, Original Team Arrow and Team Arrow-less were on cordial terms and shared information, but that stopped being the case after the death of Vigilante. "Collision Course" saw the two teams come to blows, and the conflict indicates that Star City could be doomed for the foreseeable future.
Understandably still upset about Black Siren murdering Vigilante, Dinah was on a path for revenge with Curtis and Rene as backup. Oliver never intended to encourage Dinah's quest for revenge, and he decided to take action in "Collision Course" when he discovered that Black Siren had access to the $70 million that Star City sorely needed. If Dinah killed Black Siren, the $70 million would be lost for good. Original Team Arrow decided to try and find Black Siren to get the money back so Star City would be able to keep schools open, hospitals running, and civilians employed. Team Arrow-less decided revenge was the way to go.
Unfortunately, Original Team Arrow and Team Arrow-less weren't on good enough terms with each other to simply work separately toward opposite goals. Believing Dinah and Co. had captured and/or killed Black Siren, OTA broke into the Arrow-less lair and demanded answers. Rene seized the chance to plant a bug on Oliver, which Team Arrow-less used to track OTA after they found out Quentin was hiding the injured Black Siren in a remote cabin. OTA managed to get rid of the tracker and escape Team Arrow-less, but their former teammates weren't to be deterred. Curtis used the technology he'd helped design for Diggle's recovery to incapacitate and locate him, which led to a completely unnecessary showdown between the two teams in the woods.
Dinah did manage to get the jump on Black Siren and was only stopped from killing her by a last-minute pep talk from Curtis, but Black Siren regained her strength enough to blast them away and make an escape. Meanwhile, Rene was in bad shape after fighting Oliver hand-to-hand. The exertion opened his old bullet wound and sent him to the hospital with injuries so severe that he needs to be sent to a different facility. Rene's injury was what seemingly broke the alliance between the two teams beyond repair, despite Felicity and Diggle's attempt to reach out. Team Arrow-less wants nothing to do with Original Team Arrow; OTA wants to save the city and find a way to fund it.
On the one hand, Arrow seemed to want viewers to sympathize with Team Arrow-less. After all, Dinah was heartbroken at Vigilante's death, the whole trio had their lair invaded by OTA, and Rene had the stuffing beaten out of him by the Green Arrow himself. On the other hand, Team Arrow-less really made most of their own mess in "Collision Course." Oliver is the expert on why revenge is a terrible idea, OTA was focused on the greater good rather than hitting back at one baddie, and Team Arrow-less are the ones who started the fight. Rene's injuries are tragic, but as far as I'm concerned, Team Arrow-less shouldn't blame Oliver because he won the fight they started.
Frankly, if Team Arrow-less was simply going to retire after the failure of this particular mission, Star City might be better off entirely. Their intention to keep functioning and have absolutely nothing to do with Original Team Arrow could mean that the two groups will do more harm than good for Star City. After all the trouble in "Collision Course," Black Siren got away and Star City didn't get its money back. Team Arrow-less are driven by emotion at this point, and they likely don't have enough experience to handle what's to come courtesy of Ricardo Diaz.
Star City may be doomed to continue suffering if the two teams continue to get in each other's way. After all, Diaz already has city employees in his pocket. Either the two teams need to get back together or Team Arrow-less needs to learn some key lessons if Star City is going to survive Ricardo Diaz with minimal losses moving forward. Original Team Arrow isn't perfect, but at least they have experience and perspective at this point in Season 6.
Only time will tell how the two teams impact Star City. The preview for the next new episode indicates that Roy will be back in the mix, so we may get a break from the Team Arrow/Team Arrow-less conflict. New episodes of Arrow air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW. For more viewing options, swing by our midseason TV premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule.
