Arrow S04 E11: A.W.O.L.

As Felicity returns to work with Team Arrow, conjuring more than a passing resemblance to Oracle, and meeting the goth ghost of times past, the team goes up against a new threat, Shadowspire. I'm just thankful it's not Damien Darhk and H.I.V.E. And while the Arrowverse does seem to have appropriated most of the Batman mythos, Oliver admits that the name 'Oracle' is already taken so gives Felicity the codename Overwatch. Awkward, but it'll do in a pinch.

Because this is a John Diggle-centric episode (usually not a good thing), instead of Flashback Island, we get Flashback Afghanistan where the Diggle brothers went to war and first encountered Shadowspire. Here in the Arrowverse, the group are just military war profiteers, but in the comics they were a bit more super-villainous, using biological warfare and running afoul of our old friend Deathstroke among others. They were also led by Baron Blitzkrieg AKA Reiter from Flashback Island, a bit later verified in this episode.

Felicity is hallucinating due to her pain meds and is taunted by her brunette goth self from college. She's like an evil twin saying all the things Felicity can't say out loud herself - or more accurately she's saying the things we viewers yell at the screen for the last few years. And have I not been paying attention, or is this the first time John Diggle's superhero name Spartan been referenced?

Speaking of references, Shadowspire is seemingly looking to steal a shipment of railguns from Kord Industries. It's a decoy of course to keep Team Arrow away from their real target, A.R.G.U.S. Black Canary asks what Shadowspire would want with railguns. My question is different. What the hell is Kord Industries doing making railguns?? And will we ever see Ted Kord or Blue Beetle? I know that the Atom was supposed to originally be Blue Beetle on the show, so with Ray Palmer off time traveling with the "Legends of Tomorrow," can we finally get the real Blue Beetle?

Now my first thought when A.R.G.U.S. and Amanda Waller showed up in this episode was one of surprise. With a DC Comics Cinematic Universe film version of Suicide Squad coming this summer and Deadshot, in particular, dead in the Arrowverse, I figured we were done with this little corner of the DC TV universe. While Felicity and the Diggle brothers saved the day, halfway through the episode, something shocking happened - Amanda Waller was shot dead.

Now it's not her in the grave, and all she gets is a glass of wine remembrance. I have to wonder how this changes the Arrowverse. It's one thing to ignore characters, but it's a whole 'nother kettle of fish to kill them. I wonder what kind of repercussions this will have. And there's also the mention by Oliver of the Flash's ability to change the past. How permanent is Felicity's paralysis, and what would the repercussions of that change be?

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode and anything else in the Arrowverse, please join the Arrow Discussion Group on Facebook.

Arrow S02 E23: "Unthinkable"

Here we are, the season two finale, and it all leads to a final showdown with Slade Wilson, Deathstroke. Slade's Mirakuru army is on the rampage in Starling City. Amanda Waller and A.R.G.U.S. have the city quarantined, and if the Arrow hasn't disposed of the threat by dawn, drones will level the city. Things are looking very dark for our heroes.

As we open, the clock tower, the temporary Arrowcave, is under attack by Slade's men. A surprise player intervenes to save the day - Lyla, AKA Harbinger. That was unexpected. The good news is that the Mirakuru cure works, so Roy is back to normal, and red masked. Canary has also brought in help - Nyssa and the League of Assassins. Hmmm... the odds are starting to seem a bit more even now.

The ensuing battles go as expected, albeit too quickly in the case of Canary vs. Ravager. I talked last time about how I felt about villains killing villains. It's very dissatisfying. Nyssa's murder of Isabel is a harsh point for Oliver. He has vowed this season not to be a killer, yet those he's allied himself with really know no other way. Thus the episode's title, under these extreme circumstances, can Oliver do the unthinkable?

Things escalate when Slade takes Laurel prisoner. Even Quentin begins to question Arrow's non-murderous ways when confronted with losing his daughter. If that's not enough, as Slade's army seeks to escape through the Giordano Tunnel (nice shout out to legendary DC Comics artist and editor Dick Giordano), drones are on their way to the city.

As if Oliver didn't have enough to worry about, he takes Felicity to his house so she's safe. He tells her that Slade wanted to hurt him by taking the woman he loves, but Slade took the wrong woman. Yeah. That came out of nowhere, and plunges this formerly one-sided love affair into the show wrecking territory of "Cheers" and "Moonlighting." And sadly, Oliver telling Felicity he loves her significantly triples her chances of not making it through the episode. Or does it?

The battle between Team Arrow, the League of Assassins, and Slade's army in the tunnel is simply awesome. The best part for this comics fanboy? Roy in red, with mask and bow, side by side with Arrow and Canary. Awesome. Can we have more of this please next season? If that's not enough comic book superhero action, Diggle and Lyla free the Suicide Squad to stop the drone at its source. Nice.

The finale is almost exactly as one would have predicted. Slade will make Oliver choose once again as he was forced to choose between Sara and Shado on the island. I had always assumed it would be Sara and Laurel on the chopping block. I suppose however, with fan favorite Felicity there with Laurel, it raises the stakes with the viewers. The producers aren't stupid, they know how to grease the wheels to real nail biting suspense.

And right before it happened, I knew what Oliver did. He knew. He knew Slade had the house bugged, was listening in to their plans. Oliver said what he said to get Felicity kidnapped, and she of course would have the Mirakuru cure. At the same time I was like Go Felicity! and Poor Felicity, as she had to hear Oliver say the words knowing they didn't mean what they sounded like they meant. Good plan, but as usual with Oliver, no tact.

Beautifully, both fights between Deathstroke and Arrow, in the present and back on Flashback Island, mirror each other. The choreography is executed perfectly. Like the other fight scenes in this episode, except for Ravager, it is played well. In the end, Arrow wins, because he doesn't kill Slade, and leaves him in an ARGUS supermax facility on Flashback Island.

There are no happy endings however, and only more loose ends to be tied up hopefully next season. Diggle is going to be a father with Lyla, but that's good news. After finding Roy's Speedy gear, Thea leaves with her father Malcolm, supposedly 'never coming back.' I wonder if she'll return as a new Dark Archer, or Dark Speedy, or perhaps even a female Merlyn the Magician...

Sara leaves as well with Nyssa, but not before giving her leather jacket to Laurel. After she says it fits, her dad tells her not to get any ideas. Now comics fans are getting ideas, because Dinah Laurel Lance is actually the second Black Canary, so Laurel taking up the mantle does make a bit of sense, and we know Laurel can fight, not like an Assassin of course, but she can fight.

While we comics fans are getting excited for the possibilities of next season (hey, finally a reason to like Laurel!), the bad thing happens, Quentin doubles over in pain, suffering from injuries inflicted by Slade's men, he passes out. And that's when the comics fans among us know where this is probably going. Quentin Lance has always been living on borrowed time because of the character he's based upon.

Essentially Quentin is Larry Lance, poor doomed Larry Lance. It fits. He is/was a police detective, he's Dinah Lance's husband, and they're the parents of the current Black Canary. He's Larry Lance, and like poor doomed Gwen Stacy, he's destined to die. And if you add in the rumor that Quentin wasn't supposed to make it through The Undertaking alive at the end of last season, he's really living on borrowed time.

In the comics, Larry dies saving Black Canary from the cosmic star-being Aquarius. It's this tragedy that drives her to leave the Justice Society on Earth-Two and join the Justice League on Earth-One. There she becomes romantically linked to Green Arrow. That's the original story, many reboots and continuities later, it's still basically the same, long story short. Larry Lance is still doomed. I wonder if his TV counterpart Quentin will share his fate? I, for one, hope not.

Also on the epilogue agenda is Flashback Island. After leaving both Slade and Sara thought dead on the sunk Amazo, Oliver woke up in Hong Kong to be greeted by Amanda Waller. This should be fun next season. I didn't care for "Arrow" all that much when I started watching it, but I'm very happy it's turned into the best superhero show, if not one of the best shows on television this season, I look forward to more.

And speaking of more, we were also treated to a sneak peek at the new Flash TV series at the end of this episode. It was followed the next day by a longer more impressive trailer. To see them both, head on over to Biff Bam Pop! or click right here. See you next time… in a flash!

Arrow S02 E22: "Streets of Fire"

Now the first thing I think of when I hear the words "Streets of Fire," the title of this week's episode of "Arrow," I think of that less than satisfactory musical by Walter Hill from the early 1980s. Hopefully this will wipe that image from my mind.

When last we left Team Arrow, Brother Blood's Mirakuru army was on the rampage in Starling City. Diggle was about to get his ass handed to him by Isabel/Ravager, Arrow and Laurel were trapped underground, Thea was in danger, Quentin was in danger, and Felicity was taking a call... but I'm sure in danger as well. We pick up moments after we left off.

The cliffhangers are handled better than they have been recently. It's good to see the good guys on top of their game for once. I like seeing resourceful heroes. There is a great moment when Kate Spencer confronts Sebastian Blood about the chaos in the city, and the fanboy in me just wanted her to take matters into her own hands and change into Manhunter. But that ain't gonna happen. Apparently there is a limit to heroes in Starling City, and it's not cool, not cool at all.

And then there's the return of John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn, coming to Thea's rescue in full Dark Archer regalia. He claims he heard about Moira's death and returned to make sure his daughter was all right. Canary is also back, seemingly for the same reasons, but no, it's more like she needed to confess to her sister.

Felicity's phone call panned out however. Vibe and Killer Frost, ahem, I mean Cisco and Caitlin over at S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City have come up with a cure for Mirakuru. It just has to be retrieved, unfortunately Slade knows all about it. The team is intercepted en route with Slade's forces closing in. The episode is actually very much like the end of the first season, with the city in ruins and the cast dispersed.

We also see pieces of the puzzle finally coming together in this episode. We see the beginning of a trust between the Arrow and the police. Quentin's words about masks tearing up the city, and needing a mask to put a stop to it ring in a new era. On Flashback Island, we see the bond of trust made between Oliver and Anatoly, who in the comics becomes the KGBeast, cementing his connection to the Russian mob.

And now for the bad stuff. Sebastian Blood, becoming more and more dissatisfied with Slade's plans, devastation of the city, and obsession with the Arrow, betrays his superior. The cure goes from Slade's hands to Blood's to the Arrow's, thanks to Blood, and for that, the Ravager kills him. I'm not a fan of villains killing villains. It takes it out of the hero's hands, making the heroism a little less satisfying. We want to see the hero beat the villain, so let us.

And don't let the hero's kid sister kill the villain either. But we'll see how that works out next week as well. Amanda Waller and A.R.G.U.S. has blocked all roads and bridges out of Starling City in an effort to keep Slade's army from getting out. She'll level the city at dawn if the Arrow hasn't stopped them. That's the cliffhanger for the season finale, with a nice shout out to the JSA's Monument Point thrown in just for good measure. See you next week.

Arrow S02 E21: "City of Blood"

We open on tragedy - the funeral of Moira Queen and the swearing in of Sebastian Blood as mayor of Starling City. And Oliver is missing.

The feeling at the wake is pretty much as expected. Thea hates Oliver, is feeling guilty over her Mom's death, and in general tired of secrets. And really who can blame her? Felicity and Diggle are surprised by the appearance of Isabel who has ominous words for them, threats really. Isn't she supposed to be dead? I kept waiting for one of them to verbalized it but it never came. At least not right away.

Oliver is not the only one in the wind. Sara has also drifted off the radar, and of course being the target of a manhunt, Slade Wilson is similarly missing. He does call Blood to congratulate him on becoming mayor however.

Speaking of Blood, Laurel and her dad plant a bug in his office and find he wrote a condolence press release the day before Moira was killed. All well and good, but isn't a red flashing bug the wrong thing to use on a stealth mission? There are also blinking explosive charges later. Why does it have to blink? Are we that dumb we won't know it's working unless it blinks?

After the weekly reminder that the Flash is coming, Diggle takes Felicity to see Amanda Waller in hopes she'll help them find Oliver. She does. He's in his lair. His other lair. Yep, there's a backup Arrowcave. There they find Oliver, depressed and obsessed. He has decided to surrender to Slade and let him kill him. I guess someone has hit rock bottom.

And of course, Team Arrow is going to need a second Arrowcave because Isabel is evicting Thea from Verdant, as the club is owned by Queen Consolidated. And as we know, Verdant is on top of the not-so-secret Arrowcave. This may be permanent as the producers have promised a few changes of venue for the third season.

When Laurel joins Team Arrow, all the pieces come together. She connects the dots for Oliver regarding Blood and Wilson. It re-energizes Oliver and he goes to meet with Sebastian Blood in a public restaurant. The subtle menace between these two actors, Stephen Amell and Kevin Alejandro, is power and heat - great scene with all the cards on the table.

As the episode closes, Blood's army is on the loose, and things look very dark for Team Arrow and Starling City. With only two episodes left in the season, next time we have Diggle vs. Ravager, the return of Malcolm Merlyn, Arrow and Laurel buried alive, Quentin and Thea under attack by Blood's Mirakuru minions, and Felicity gets a call from Vibe. All this and more, next week.

Arrow S02 E16: "Suicide Squad"

In the original DC Comics, the Suicide Squad was a band of military operatives during and after World War II who took on the jobs that no one else wanted - almost literally a suicide squad, sometimes fighting dinosaurs and metahuman menaces. After Crisis on Infinite Earths and Legends, the concept was rebooted with a Dirty Dozen vibe. Super-villains, against their will and for time off their sentence, would embark on similar missions under the command of Rick Flag and Amanda Waller. While mostly featuring a rotating cast, semi-permanent members included Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Nightshade, and Enchantress, as well as frequent Green Arrow foe, Count Vertigo.

In the "Arrow" television continuity we've already seen Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Amanda Waller, and Vertigo. Shrapnel, who we saw recently, even served his time on the team. From all the publicity pics of the Suicide from "Arrow" we see the absurdly thin Amanda Waller fronting Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Shrapnel, Lyla Michaels, and John Diggle.

Worried over the events of last episode, and the promise of Deathstroke to destroy him and all his family and friends, we open on Oliver reforging his old alliance with Bratva, the Russian mob. When he's taxed to prove himself, he ably shows who's boss. In hindsight, it's a bit scary that such a dangerous man is scared of Deathstroke. That said, "You cannot die until you know complete despair." is a heavy threat.

There's more tough talk between our dysfunctional superhero couple, Sara and Oliver, before we get a really touching scene between Diggle and Felicity. Oliver is making him guard her and she brings him hot cocoa. It is refreshing to see such depth and connection between Diggle and Felicity. They've bonded so well as friends while Oliver, who brought them together, remains stunted. Shame. And Emily Bett Rickards needs to smile more, she lights up the screen.

Diggle leaves for an intimate rendezvous at the Ostrander Hotel with Lyla (Harbinger) Michaels. Did we know before that they were exes? They're both corralled by the painfully thin Amanda Waller and taken to ARGUS. She wants to recruit them for a mission to retrieve a nerve gas. After noting she knows all about Oliver Queen and his Arrow activities, she introduces Task Force X - Deadshot, Shrapnel, and Bronze Tiger. Deadshot calls it the Suicide Squad.

The best part is Diggle's adamant refusal to go along with it - cooperating with murderers. Lyla notes how many bodies there are out there because of his employer Oliver Queen and his girlfriend Sara Lance. It's really not that different. I like that this is coming back to bite Arrow, at least indirectly. The serial killer Arrow of the first season was one of the sticking points that kept me from completely liking this show.

In many ways, Arrow is the anti-Man of Steel. Arrow did need to kill to grow as a character. The evolution of Oliver over the two seasons is proof of that. Superman should not kill however. He should find a way not to - that's what makes him Superman. He finds a way, he is our example, he doesn't learn by example.

The codenames used by Task Force X range from the obvious to the intriguing. There's Deadshot, Shrapnel, and Tiger. Lyla is Harbinger, Diggle is Freelancer, and Waller is Mockingbird. Mockingbird is the secret mystery leader of the old Secret Six, a realistic espionage crew in 1960s DC Comics, and it's newer counterpart, a villain group very similar to the Suicide Squad.

Amanda Waller, despite her petite size, proves that she is every bit as ruthless and devious as her heavyset comics counterpart. And it's nice to see Deadshot in a tux, so similar to his original Golden Age 'costume.' I wish Bronze Tiger had a bit more to do however. This was a waste of Michael Jai White in my opinion. And now that the Squad has a vacancy, perhaps Count Vertigo will come on board?

The Suicide Squad is the A plot here, with Team Arrow taking a back seat. Even Flashback Island reflects this as the flashbacks this week are Diggle's and go back to Afghanistan. I'd like to see more of this. Maybe a Felicity (she did imply she had a past) or Quentin or Sara (or maybe one of the villains) focused episode complete with flashbacks next?

Ostrander Hotel is a nice shout out for this episode, as John Ostrander created the most known super-villain version of the Suicide Squad and wrote most of their exploits. ARGUS, HIVE, Giffen (Keith Giffen was a later Suicide Squad writer/artist), Khandaq, Qurac, and Markovia are also namedropped. This episode is chockful of DCU references, the best of which is Harley Quinn, waiting her turn for a Suicide Squad mission at ARGUS headquarters.

Originally The Flash was meant to be a back door pilot on "Arrow," and we know that the Mirakiru has all the ingredients for the Hourman pilot that's coming. I wonder if perhaps this is the practice run for a Suicide Squad series or pilot. The way the creators of "Arrow" work, a Squad series could certainly give "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD" a run for its money. I'd watch, would you?

I'll leave you with one to think about. This has been bandied about on the internet for a while now. Could Diggle's full name be John Stewart Diggle? Discuss, enjoy, and I'll see you next time.

Arrow S02 E06: "Keep Your Enemies Closer"

At last, we're going to find out where Oliver got his Russian mob cred, and where he got that Bratva tattoo, as the crew takes a trip to Russia. Almost sounds like an "I Love Lucy" episode, doesn't it? Just not as funny.

In our opening sequence, after some Lucy style secret identity shenanigans with Summer Glau's Isabel Rochev, Arrow and his sidekick, um, snitch, um, sidekick, Roy Harper bust up some counterfeiters in short order. In the midst of it, and here's where it gets good, Diggle gets kidnapped.

Diggle gets kidnapped by dudes namedropping Task Force X, the Suicide Squad's official codename, and answering to Mockingbird, who gave orders to the Secret Six in the comics. When he comes to, he is confronted by, da da da dum, a very svelte looking Amanda Waller, played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who you might remember as Naevia from "Spartacus," which also starred our Deathstroke, Manu Bennett.

Waller, who Diggle identifies as being with ARGUS, tells him that Lyla has vanished after following up some leads in Russia. Specifically Lyla was tracking Deadshot for Diggle. Waller, who also knows what Diggle and Oliver Queen do with their nights, wants Lyla extracted. So much for sightseeing in Russia, it sounds like it's all business.

Back on flashback island, or more accurately, the Amazo boat, Professor Ivo interrogates Oliver with Sarah present. It seems that the island was where a Japanese World War II secret super soldier formula is, and Ivo's looking for it. The formula, that gifts super strength and enhanced regeneration, is called Mirakuru - miracle.

Or is that Miraclo? With the recent announcement of an Hourman series possibly in development, I can't help but wonder if The Flash isn't the only back door pilot being prepped here... For those who don't know your Golden Age comic lore, Miraclo is the drug that Hourman takes to gain super strength, super stamina, and yes, even regenerative abilities for one hour.

Dylan Neal's dad next door portrayal of Anthony Ivo is extremely creepy when you think about this guy was up to in the comics, and what he's probably up to here. There is just this very scary chord of quiet menace in his performance. Factoid: Neal played a character ironically linked to Amanda Waller back on the CW's "Smallville." And could the sadistic Captain of the Amazo… be the future Amazo??

Back in the present, Wendy and Marvin, ahem, I mean Isabel insists on tagging along to Russia with the Arrowcave trio. It's like a sitcom setup almost, and infuriating. They have to avoid Isabel while trying to find Lyla and Deadshot. Let me tell you, this does not make Summer Glau any more likable or tolerable. She is even less likable drunk, and downright hatable as a one night stand.

We do get the goods on how Oliver is a Bratva captain. Anatoli Knyazev, known as the KGBeast in the comics, was his prison mate on the Amazo boat. Oliver saved his life, and was rewarded with tattoo and rank. Anatoli helps them find Lyla and Deadshot, beginning Diggle's brief prison movie inside the show. In the end, everyone gets saved, but Diggle can't kill Deadshot.

However Diggle does learn who hired Deadshot to kill his brother. In a reveal that may bring some loose ends full circle to a knot, Deadshot says he was hired by H.I.V.E. Not in the comics, but in the "Teen Titans" cartoon, the H.I.V.E. was run by a guy called Brother Blood. Da da dum.

On the subplot track, Jean Loring makes her third appearance as Moira Queen's attorney. This is the first time however I was aware of her name. This is Jean Loring?? I was very surprised. Teryl Rothery is a beautiful but older woman, but based on the character's previous mention ('Ray and Jean'), I would have assumed she was younger, much younger, a contemporary, a peer, of Laurel and Oliver. Let's just hope she's not being paid in white dwarfs or black diamonds...

The Blood Rush mini-adventure starring Felicity and Roy, and sponsored by Bose, is dumb. There I said it. It's out of continuity, confusing, and dumb. Just give the actors more screen time in the real show and give the audience a real Bose commercial. Otherwise, this is a waste of time.

Speaking of dumb and waste of time, it seems that Felicity is being groomed for the role of Oliver's romantic interest, or worse than that, his fawning crush. She tells him he deserves better, regarding Isabel. I'd like to tell the producers that Felicity deserves better than this kind of crap. Come on. Make Felicity a strong female character on television, not another one of Oliver's failed attempts at a relationship.


Next week: The return of (The) Count (and) Vertigo!