The CW has provided ComicBook.com with an exclusive clip from tonight’s series finale of Arrow, titled “Fadeout.” In the episode, Team Arrow raises a toast to Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), drinking from the wretched Russian vodka that Oliver, John Diggle (David Ramsey), and Anatoly Knyazev (David Nykl) have shared over the years. Diggle is the one to say “prochnost” as the shot glasses are raised, and nobody seems to really enjoy the experience of the vodka except for Laurel (Katie Cassidy), who is using it to self-medicate. Meanwhile, Roy (Colton Haynes), Diggle, and Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) discuss what the future of Oliver’s mission is in a city that has been almost completely without crime since the Crisis.
Tonight’s episode will see the series cast, along with a number of returning guest stars from seasons past and some from other DC TV shows, mourning the passing of Oliver Queen, who gave his life during the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event. There will be a flashback to season one, though, providing some action in an episode that could otherwise feel like a strange outlier in a series that relied so much on action and stunts to craft its visual and narrative identity.
You can see the clip below.
Diggle, as you can see, is struggling almost as much as Laurel, but in a completely different way. He doesn’t see what his role can be in a world where there is no Team Arrow. A month after the Crisis, he believes that while Oliver is gone, his mission is far from over.
Of course, setting John (a former soldier and bodyguard who became Oliver’s first partner in vigilante action) up for a future beyond the finale makes sense. Besides the fact that he will be appearing on The Flash next week, he is married to the director of ARGUS, the Arrowverse‘s most prevalent clandestine government organization. Ramsey has also suggested that there may be a tease regarding Diggle’s future as a Green Lantern in the finale. The idea, which started as something that fans had come up with because he was a Black former Marine named John (like Green Lantern John Stewart), was an idea that Ramsey has always seemed to love.
“You are absolutely going to get your answers,” Ramsey said recently. “And well-deserved answers. We’ve been talking about this for years, and I think everyone by series’ end will be very happy.”
Arrow airs its series finale tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, following a one-hour retrospective series titled Hitting the Bullseye, which will feature interviews that reflect on the series’ history and legacy.