Arrow S05 E12: Bratva

If I'm being honest, most of this episode bored me. It's the culmination of a subplot that bored me taken control of an entire episode. General Walker who had betrayed John Diggle and had him arrested has escaped custody and gone rogue. Learning that Walker has gone to Russia to sell his stolen nuke to Markovian terrorists, most of Team Arrow has pursued him.

While it was nice to see the civilian KGBeast again, the rest of the A plot bored me. Back in Star City we see the returns of Quentin Lance from rehab and Susan Williams as well. For laughs, Wild Dog is left behind to help Quentin prep for a press conference. This comic relief is a detriment to both characters.

The only compelling sequences in this episode, and they are far too short comparatively, concern Oliver's early pre-pilot adventures as the Arrow being trained by Talia. This idea does conjure certain questions, like what happened to Talia in the Arrowverse? Where did she go? Is she still alive? What would she make of the Green Arrow and company? And in a world without Batman, how does Oliver fit in her life?

In the end, I have to confess some disappointment that John did not kill Walker, especially after letting Dinah kill Sonus last time. I liked seeing exactly how powerful Ragman is and wish we could have seen more of that. I hate that the nuke neutralized the rags' powers. Perhaps we'll see Ragman as a powerless crimefighter, but it won't be the same.

I dislike how the showrunners have automatically pushed Oliver and Dinah together so quickly. I mean, it's not just weird, it's creepy. Although at least they salvaged the Rene and Quentin relationship by retconning a past between them. And our ending stinger has Susan suspecting Oliver of being Green Arrow, a cliche I can only hope will be spun better than expected. A solid disappointment this week.

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Next: Spectre of the Gun!