Arrow S03 E16: "The Offer"

Talk talk talk. That's the gist of the beginning of this episode of "Arrow." After making the offer referenced in the title, Oliver and R'as are just chillin' in Nanda Parbat. The villain has asked our hero to become the next R'as Al Ghul, implying that it's a title handed down like The Phantom as opposed to one immortal man, something I think the showrunners may have forgotten was already hinted at with this version of R'as. And Maseo is there, but where did Diggle go?

Back at the Arrowcave, Thea keeps taunting Nyssa to kill her, after all she killed Sara, not Oliver, and not Merlyn. Yawn. One would think that a princess of assassins would have a better sense of when someone is lying and telling the truth, but I guess that's why Nyssa is is the lesser known of the daughters of The Demon. Still, just to make sure we don't fall asleep, Roy and Laurel rush in and incapacitate her.

On the other side my questions about R'as' immortality are unsatisfactorily answered. It's not a Lazarus Pit, it's a fountain of youth, and it can only keep R'as young for so long. He says his time is almost up. He further explains that as R'as Al Ghul, Oliver can do whatever he wants. The League and its resources are his to command, they don't have to be assassins, and rather than one city, R'as offers Oliver an entire world to save.

Oliver declines, and R'as allows him to go home, with Diggle, and Merlyn, and with all debts and blood oaths waived. Wow. R'as must really want Oliver to sign on.

Back in Starling City, Nyssa is released and Team Arrow gets back into business. There's a new player in town and he looks familiar, not to Green Arrow fans, but more skewed to Flash readers. His name is Murmur. In the comics, Murmur, also known as Dr. Michael Amar, is one of the more chilling adversaries to ever face the scarlet speedster.

To quell the voices in his head, this respected doctor went nuts and started killing people. When caught and put in Iron Heights, he cut out his tongue and sewed his mouth shut. Later he became involved with alter version of the Rogues and experimented with biological warfare. Oh yeah, this is a nutjob more suitable for Batman, not Arrow, and especially not the Flash. In the show, Murmur seems more of a run of the mill gangster with sewn up mouth, more gimmick than anything, hell, he even has henchmen. But Murmur is nothing more than a distraction in this episode that serves as merely a moving of pieces around the board. So why even use such a character really?

While Murmur stalks the city, Oliver ponders R'as' deal, Thea mopes and thinks about killing Malcolm, and the big revelation is Quentin Lance's break up with Arrow. At least poor doomed Larry, ahem, I mean Quentin Lance is finally acting rather than reacting. As much as this complicates things, it's good to see him thinking for himself. I would really hate to see him learn the hard way to make up with his daughter and Team Arrow, after say, colliding with a cosmic star being called Aquarius. Or a bad guy's bullet. Or arrow.

In Flashback Hong Kong, Oliver is babysitting Akio, the son of Katana and Maseo. One can only assume this is just prep for when we find out about his son Connor over in Central City. Speak of the devil, Oliver and Akio run into a friendly and unexpected face while running from the bad guys… Shado!

That's not all that happened, or all of the cliffhangers. Ollicity has been rebuilt, and while it's nice to see Felicity smile, I don't care about the relationship any more. It's been messed with and teased too much - it's too much trouble at this point. It's Laurel's turn. And speaking of Laurel, she's chilling with Nyssa, because they have so much in common, and Thea is back with Roy. See what I mean about moving pieces around on the board?

And then there's R'as in the flesh, in the Arrow outfit, in Starling City. This is so out of character. It's not that the old ploy of taking on the hero's identity to frame him isn't a workable old cliché, it's that R'as would never do it. He gives orders, he doesn't take things into his own hands like this. Not happy with this episode.

Next: Diggle and Lyla get married, and the Suicide Squad returns, in "Suicidal Tendencies."