Warning: spoilers ahead for Episode 21 of Arrow Season 6, called "Docket No. 11-19-41-73."
Oliver Queen was in quite a lot of hot water in "Docket No. 11-19-41-73." After being set up by Ricardo Diaz in the previous episode, Oliver was outed as the Green Arrow, and his allies had to pull out all the stops to try and prevent him from going to jail for the indefinite future. The trailer for the episode teased the arrival of what looked an awful lot like Tommy Merlyn, alive, well, and wearing the hood of the Green Arrow. The episode revealed that the long-lost character to return wasn't Tommy from the grave. No, Christopher Chance, a.k.a. Human Target, was back in the mix to pretend to be Tommy, and the consequences were deadly.
Human Target wore his Tommy mask to make a dramatic entrance in the middle of Oliver's trial and take the blame as the Green Arrow. Not everybody in the courtroom was convinced that Tommy -- who was supposed to be dead -- was back and had really been operating as the Emerald Archer of Star(ling) City since Season 1, but his seeming arrival was enough to introduce reasonable doubt as to Oliver's guilt.
Tommy/Human Target was arrested, then rescued by Diggle and Wild Dog while being taken into custody. Still, it wasn't enough for Oliver to win the jury. Ricardo Diaz has a lot of sway in Star City, and there was no way a jury was going to convict him. The twist came toward the end of the episode, when the judge decided to pass down judgment notwithstanding of the verdict. Arguing that the case was not conducted in a way that Oliver's guilty verdict should stand, Judge McGarvey ordered Oliver set free. Yay, right?
Not really. As it turns out, Human Target was posing as the judge just as he'd posed as Tommy. The good guys were pleased that their judge swap had worked, but they evidently didn't think their plan entirely through. The real judge had to face the repercussions for what Team Arrow and Co. had done. Diaz, who had been counting on a guilty verdict that would lock Oliver up, lashed out and killed the judge for allowing Oliver to go free. The judge died because of the trick with Human Target, and he may not be the only one.
The use of Human Target to spring Oliver from custody means that Diaz will have to change his plan for moving forward in his takeover of Star City. Before, Diaz had been content with locking Oliver up. Now, Diaz says that he has to kill Oliver. The deadly consequences of Human Target's return may extend beyond what happened to the judge, who really didn't deserve to die, even if he was somewhat dirty. Who isn't dirty in Star City these days? Diaz intends to kill Oliver and quite possibly the other people he and his teammates care about. Check out the trailer for the next episode:
The trailer shows an attack on Oliver, Felicity, William, and probably Raisa in their home, complete with bullets flying and a fire. Diggle and Lyla seem to be facing shooters in a hospital hallway, and Wild Dog and his daughter will be targeted by shooters as well. The next episode should be intense, and something tells me Team Arrow can't just call Human Target back to fix things again. Could this be how that major character is written out?
Only two episodes of Arrow Season 6 are left, so be sure to tune in to The CW on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET to see what happens next with Ricardo Diaz and Team Arrow. Don't forget to take a look at our rundown of important superhero TV dates and our summer TV premiere guide.
