Arrow: Year's End

In many areas this episode was pre-empted or rescheduled because of the 12-12-12 Benefit Concert for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. I have no complaints about that, it's a noble and just cause, and being right in the center of the devastation, I know how bad it was. My nit is with local CW affiliate channel 57 - it might have been nice to let viewers know what was up with your regular programming, that's all, just a bit of courtesy. For the record, this episode of "Arrow" airs tomorrow night at eight.

Now on to "Year's End," the mid-season finale of "Arrow," which I hoped was good because the Huntress two-parter was very lacking. I was at first surprised and excited by this show only to be let down by those last two episodes. Although, from 'previously on "Arrow"' clips, this -could- be good.

We open on a member of The List, a Brian Michael Bendis lookalike (Marc Guggenheim?), being murdered by a shadowy someone who looks suspiciously like Oliver. The tool? Black arrows. Not green. Only one DC Comics character in the Green Arrow mythos uses black arrows. That's Merlyn the Magician AKA Arthur King or as reimagined here on "Arrow," Tommy and/or Malcolm Merlyn. On "Smallville," he was called alternately Vortigan, and the Dark Archer. He is (or will be) played by either John Barrowman or Colin Donnell. Finally. Just wait.

In the first ten minutes, in quick, almost HBO style plot succession we get some wonderful interaction with Diggle and Oliver, a return to the island flashbacks, and at a Queen family dinner party, John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn names the vigilante "Green Arrow." Yeah. Squeee. It seems this special Christmas episode might just be a gift for the viewers.

Things I like include that Arrow, ahem, Green Arrow is beginning a tenuous relationship with the police, or at least Quentin Lance; and that Felicity Smoak is turning into Oracle/Chloe. At this point, it's a cliche character, but nerd girl Emily Bett Rickards is just so likable. Moreso than Laurel, and definite more than the cardboard Huntress. I also liked the shout out to Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams, the comics creators who revitalized Green Arrow in the late 1960s.

The island flashbacks bring much revelation. Yao Fei and the still unnamed Deathstroke were the only two survivors of a prison that was the island. There's even a quick rematch between the two. All fun stuff, but seriously, why does Oliver still have the top button of his shirt buttoned?? Maybe that's why he's always walking around shirtless since he got back to civilization.

As with most confrontations on "Arrow," and for that matter, the aforementioned "Smallville" (I seem to remember this being the case with both Doomsday and Darkseid), that don't last long. Such is the case with Oliver (even though I've done it, it still doesn't feel right to say Green Arrow) and the unnamed Dark Archer. For the latter, he's called the copycat more than anything else. It's a brief fight that ends with Oliver on the short end of the arrow, literally, and his foe escaping. More than unsatisfying.

Oliver defeated and the Other Archer on the loose (but finally revealed), that's the note this episode ends with. Malcolm Merlyn has a master plan for Starling City that doesn't look good, and has abducted Walter to keep Moira in line. None of this looks good. A bit of a downer, but an excellent episode. Can't wait 'til after the New Year.