Arrow S04 E19: Canary Cry

In the aftermath of the death of the Black Canary, even in a world where death is not always the end, Team Arrow is shattered. John Diggle blames himself for her death because he believed his brother Andy had changed, and Quentin Lance is simply in denial, thinking she can come back... and seeing as he's already had another daughter come back from seeming death twice, really, who can blame him?

We open on a funeral, but not the one you might think. Laurel Lance is giving the eulogy, and it's Tommy Merlin's funeral. Oliver should have given the eulogy, but couldn't. The day of Tommy's funeral is the Flashback Island thread this episode, showing how Laurel helped Oliver through the death of his once best friend. It also gives Katie Cassidy a last chance to shine on the show.

To complicate matters, the Black Canary's sonic device is found to be missing from the hospital, and someone is out there on the streets masquerading as the Black Canary. This teenaged girl not only has a vendetta against our heroes, but she's turned up the power on the device and Team Arrow is no longer immune.

Interestingly the faux Black Canary attacks Alex Davis just as he's about to open up about his past to Thea, saying that he works for them. Our girl knows more than she's telling. I'm still betting that Alex is both related to the Davis on the list, and to Silver Age Green Arrow villain Dr. Davis. Time will tell, it's not like these DCTV shows don't do the villain-among-us thing all the time. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Caitlin and Win.

New Mayor Ruve Adams puts out warrants on Star City's vigilantes, especially the 'Black Canary' who murdered Laurel Lance. This comes after Spartan's attack on the Mayor, one in which Green Arrow calls John by his name. Between this and Barry on "The Flash" lately, I am so tired of these title heroes making really stupid mistakes.

Speaking of the Flash, Grant Gustin shows up after Laurel's funeral to bring that sequence full circle. To keep Ruve Adams' ploy at bay, Team Arrow put on the gravestone that Laurel was the Black Canary. Clever, but troubling. We end as we began the season, with Oliver vowing to kill Darhk. But how?

Arrow S04 E01: Green Arrow

How do you make a fanboy giddy? Easy. Make them wait three seasons of a Green Arrow television series before ever even uttering the words "Green Arrow" or "Star City." Finally, they're here.

Now, that said, the last episode of last season could have easily have been the end of the series. Starling City was protected. Malcolm Merlin was now the gentler and friendlier R'as Al Ghul. Arrow was no more. And Oliver and Felicity had driven off to Coast City to live happier ever after. But nothing ever stays happy and shiny in Starling City for long...

Nothing says domestic bliss like a smiling Oliver saying, "Felicity Smoak, you have failed this omelet." I'm not sure I care for Oliver having most of his tattoos removed either. Felicity is still having trouble convincing Palmer Technology she's a good replacement for Ray - who we all know is just shrunken, not dead.

I loved seeing the Black Canary and Mia, I mean Thea as Speedy try to stop a hijacked Kord Industries truck. I also loved Speedy wanting to called Red Arrow, and Diggle replying that "a red arrow just means you can't make a left turn." And then lo and behold, Diggle shows up in a costume(!). Is that T opening in his helmet supposed to remind us of Mr. Terrific? Interesting. All in all, as much as I enjoyed her debut here, Willa Holland is an unconvincing action heroine, unless of course she's acting like an untrained amateur. Which she is not.

Next we have the info dump of a town meeting. Starling is now Star City, and they can't keep a mayor, or even interest one because they keep getting killed. The latest person to decline is Walter Steele, who folks might remember as Oliver and Thea's stepfather. The city has a high speed rail line to Central City, and it's jokingly suggested they have a Flash Day. The baddies are the newest problem however, better and sleeker than regular criminals, they call them ghosts because they disappear into thin air, just like they did with Team Diggle in the last scene.

Just then they get a visit from the big bad of this season, Damien Darhk, chillingly played with the arrogant confidence of a veteran a-hole by Neal McDonough. You might know him from HBO's "Band of Brothers," or as Dum Dum Dugan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and on "Agent Carter," but here he is all villain. He wants this town council to just let the city die, to let his ghosts do their jobs, and he'll be in touch.

And then the ghosts start to off members of the city council, and that's just the first ten minutes of the episode. We all knew it was coming, Laurel and Thea go to Coast City (or is it Ivytown?) to rouse Oliver out of his "domestic life of tranquility and soufflés." Speaking of Coast City, flashbacks are back, but neither on the island nor Hong Kong. It's Coast City where the unreasonably thin Amanda Waller tries to coach Oliver in vigilantism. We all saw Hal Jordan's flight jacket in the bar, right?? No matter, he's quickly back to the island…

Much like the stubbornness obstacle in this week's season premiere of "The Flash," the grudge between Oliver and Diggle borders on ridiculousness. When faced with the task of saving your city, you put this kind of crap behind you. If you're going to live in a superhero world, you have to realize that certain pettiness is beneath you. To Oliver, Diggle, and even Barry, just grow up. You're wasting screen time.

As the reunited Team Arrow watches from the shadows, Damien Darhk punishes one of his ghosts by touching his chest and seemingly sucking the life force out of him. Afterward Oliver suggests this is mystical rather than metahuman. Possibly this is setting up the John Constantine appearance this season? I can't wait. Personally I was never really a big Hellblazer comics fan, but I dug the NBC show.

Team Arrow, featuring Oliver with a new suit and a new name, save the day from the exploding rail line, and they didn't even need help from the Flash - which I thought for sure was coming when I spied Grant Gustin's name in the opening credits - holy spoiler, Batman! The Flash does show up in a teaser scene several months later with Oliver swearing lethal vengeance in front of a grave Batman style. We don't see the grave, but is it Felicity? Thea? Diggle? Time will tell.

And while I try to ignore the obvious distraction of Oliver attempting to propose to Felicity, making her the obvious choice in the grave, it's the other ending of this episode that is really upsetting. Quentin Lance is cahoots with Damien Darhk. This is not good, and perhaps it means that maybe the disguised Larry Lance's time on this show is coming to an end? Surely they wouldn't off the super popular Felicity, right?

Arrow S03 E05: "The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak"

Being a hardcore comics fanboy, I appreciated the comics title of this episode, and it's about time we learned the television origins of Ms. Smoak. Like many elements of our sister show "The Flash," Felicity Smoak comes originally from the pages of Firestorm comics. Much older and brunette in the comics, Felicity ran a software firm and eventually married Ronnie Raymond's father. Much like her TV counterpart, she was burdened with secrets as she knew that Ronnie was part of the Firestorm entity.

We open on a wonderful and intense training montage - Oliver and Roy, Laurel and Ted Grant, Thea and Malcolm - followed as Thea asks what normal people do in the morning, cut to Felicity doing sit-ups to the TV. Ray Palmer shows up, followed by her mother. Felicity is not pleased. Donna Smoak is Charlotte Ross, like Barry Allen's Grant Gustin, another choice from "Glee." Mom is so far from our girl, Ray asks if she's adopted. Also, why does Ray have to seem so slimy? Or is that just Brandon Routh?

After a quick flashback to Felicity's college days as a goth hacker whose boyfriend is a bit of a mad hacktivist (and obviously, maybe too obviously as we'll see, our villain of the week), the real story begins. The power grid of Starling City goes out and then only TV monitors come back on with an image of Sauron's eye delivering an ultimatum. It calls itself Brother Eye. I'm betting on the flashback boyfriend or his roommate, but we'll see. Either way, Emily Bett Rickards looks good goth.

Brother Eye is a machine with a long and storied past in the DC Comics, originally created by the great Jack Kirby. Brother Eye is OMAC's advisor, controller, companion. Originally OMAC stood for One Man Army Corps, but later versions have been translated as Omni Mind And Community and as Observational Metahuman Activity Construct. OMAC is, in most versions, a good guy who gets his incredible strength and other abilities from his machine cohort, usually an orbital satellite called Brother Eye.

In some versions of continuity, Batman created the satellite to keep watch over other superheroes in case they went rogue or became threats. This satellite was turned against him of course in the Final Crisis. So while OMAC began as a near future hero by Kirby, most folks of this generation might think of him as an anti-hero/villain. And that goes for Brother Eye as well. Here, on "Arrow," Brother Eye is more a codename for the cyber-terrorist threatening the city.

Felicity's discovery that the virus Brother Eye is using to attack Starling is one she herself wrote back in college is the thrust of the previews for the episode, so it's not really as much of a shock as it should be, but it still packs quite a wallop. I have to learn to stop watching previews. You too. Ignore the video at the end of this review.

When the roommate's name is revealed as Myron Forest (in the comics, one of Brother Eye's creators), we really know who's behind what. Or do we? He claims innocence, and apparently Felicity's boyfriend is dead. But let's face it, the dead boyfriend is always the last one you expect. Holy red herring, Batman, Lifetime this ain't. But really, what kind of NSA super hacker could this doofus really be if he thinks Felicity is just a corporate lackey? I mean, let's face it, Team Arrow isn't the world's biggest secret. He couldn't figure that one out?

Felicity is not having a good day. She and her mom aren't the best of friends, but it all comes together in the end. Speaking of soap opera content, Laurel and her dad are just as much at odds as Felicity and her mom. Thea and Oliver are trying to get along, despite her taking Malcolm's money.

The Arrowcave question I posed last time reared its ugly head. How long will Thea put up with a locked door in her nightclub, 'flooded basement' or not? There was also another Coast City name drop. And did everyone else love the Adventures of Robin Hood movie poster at Felicity's place?

There was an awesome end fight, beginning to drop into a Batman '66 pattern, where we know at twenty of the hour there will be a fight. I loved Arrow misdirecting the motion guns. Diggle definitely needs a better battle suit. And Roy's arrow through the bazooka was so good even he didn't believe it.

Now let's talk about that ending. Roy is dreaming he killed Sara? It does fit in that Sara seemed to know her killer. And he's throwing the arrows? Can he do that without the Mirakuru in his system? Maybe it's not out? Or maybe, just maybe, it's just a dream. Having already faced T.O. Morrow, Solomon Grundy, and Brother Eye - would an appearance by Doctor Destiny be that much of a stretch really?

Arrow: Flash and Felicity

We had some time off last week, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't any news in the world of "Arrow." As you can see we had a full reveal of the costume for The Flash from Biff Bam Pop!. I love the look of the costume. Granted, it's not the uniform from the comics, but let's face it, red spandex is no one's friend when it comes to live action.

They have been filling out the cast, including characters from the comics like Singh, Chrye, Mardon, Thawne, and Iris West. There are other names linked to Flash mythos that make the future seem very
interesting. It seems as if we might have folks like Weather Wizard, the Pied Piper, and the Reverse-Flash in that future. The pilot and/or series is a safe bet for the fall despite no date being set as yet.

And if you're looking for more "Arrow" content, the newest writer at Biff Bam Pop!, Leo Craven, has written a terrific piece on Felicity Smoak, as played by Emily Bett Rickards. You can check it out here.

Arrow S02 E14 "Time of Death"

In the Silver Age of comics, before Green Arrow grew a beard, changed his costume, and became the voice of the left, he was a more traditional superhero. Perhaps too traditional, he was basically a blank slate whose major gimmick he was Batman with a bow. And like Batman, he had a large, if derivative and unimpressive, rogues gallery.

The foremost of these baddies, in the Silver Age 1960s, was the Clock King. Like most Batman villains, the Clock King's crimes and gimmicks were themed, in his case, clocks and time. Though he wore a rather simple costume and cape, William Tockman's full face mask was a clock, both simplistic and disturbing. In my first encounter with the villain he had imprisoned Green Arrow and Speedy in a gigantic hourglass deathtrap.

Later, when Green Arrow grew a beard and became a liberal, and comics became most 'realistic,' the Clock King was unfortunately treated as almost a joke before fading into obscurity. He was a member of the laughable Injustice League in Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis' comedy Justice League comics, before being murdered as a member of the Suicide Squad. Notably he has reappeared in the New 52.

Ironically the villain's two previous television incarnations were as a Batman foe. Walter Slezak portrayed the Clock King on the 1966 "Batman" TV series, trapping Batman and Robin in the very same hourglass that held Green Arrow and Speedy in the comics. A slicker, cooler, differently powered Clock King menaced the caped crusader in the 1990s animated series.

Here in "Arrow," William Tockman, played by Robert Knepper, who has a villain pedigree from "Heroes," is a bit different. He's a criminal mastermind whose crimes are timed to the exact second. A tech genius, in the opening, he successfully engineers a robbery at Kord Enterprises by remote, guiding his henchmen as smoothly as Oracle used to do with the good guys in the comics.

Like his comics counterpart, he's obsessed with time and clock gadgetry, and unlike him, he's a killer. Happily, he's called the Clock King on the show, unlike many villains who know that's who they are but are never referenced as such aloud. He's also very resourceful and prepared, hacking Felicity's communication in his first encounter with our heroes.

With Sara revealed to be alive, we have a bit of a Lance family reunion this episode. It doesn't go well, as expected. Laurel is the obvious pooper, what with Sara ruining her life and all, but Dad wants it to work, especially between him and Dinah, so an attempt is made. Too bad Oliver is there too. Well, I guess someone has to play a-hole.

Quite honestly I wish they'd give Alex Riversong Kingston something more to do, much like I feel about David Ramsey's Diggle. But the latter may be changing, more on that later. I know Felicity wishes she had more to do, other than feel insignificant next to Sara. Seems Sara makes a lot of our female leads feel that way.

I am loving seeing (Green) Arrow and (Black) Canary as a team. We're finally getting some superhero action in this superhero show. For all those folks who gave up on this show early last season, come back, it's gotten sooo much better. That said, we need more of this and less of the soap opera.

On Flashback Island we learn what the real connection between Canary and Sin is, and it's just too convenient, much like most of the wrap up for this episode. Sara and Laurel make up. Oliver and Felicity make up. Clock King beaten, and Team Arrow repaired. All too convenient. Maybe sticking with the superhero action would be keeping in what the show does right, as opposed to the soap opera which is, like here, sometimes awkward.

Further comics shouts include Central City, the Flash's hometown, Kord Enterprises, owned by Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle, Blue Devil movie ad on the side of the bus? Coming 'this summer' too, maybe we'll see more? And there's also the fictional MacGregor's Syndrome that almost took out Alfred in Batman Forever, and similarly affects Tockman's sister, as it also did Mister Freeze's wife.

and of course, Quentin Lance's callback code - delta charlie fifty-two. Yeah, I winced at that one too - DC 52. But who else saw the

Now while we've been away, and just today as well, there's been lots of "Arrow" news, mostly in the way of two photos on the internet. The first is of the television version of the Suicide Squad, set to appear in the March 19th episode, imaginatively titled "Suicide Squad."

They've been building to this for a while, and now we're there. It looks from the photo that our Suicide Squad roster will include the scary thin Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Shrapnel, possibly Lyla Michaels (who we know in the comics as Harbinger from Crisis on Infinite Earths), and Diggle. One has to wonder if this isn't a switching sides for Diggle as he's had very little to do on Team Arrow of late.

The other pic burning up the internet all day is that of Grant Gustin, whose Barry Allen was terrific, but this time he's in costume as we finally get a peek at him as The Flash. A tad dark, I'd rather have wings than lightning bolts, but I like it. Can't wait, bring it on!

Next week: finally, Deathstroke!

Arrow S02 E08: "The Scientist"

This is it, the episode, no, make that the two-part mid-season finale episode, we have all been waiting for. "Arrow" has been teasing us with comic book Easter eggs throughout the first season, and it has taken on a manic pace in the second - now we will see the debut of Barry Allen, destined to soon become, in a CW pilot, the Flash.

Now this isn't Barry Allen's first merry-go-round on television. He was animated by Filmation in the 1960s, and Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s. He made his first live-action appearance in the much-maligned "Legends of the Super-Heroes," and over a decade later starred in his own short-lived and low-rated TV series on CBS in the early 1990s. It was an expensive show, disliked by the comics community at the time, but it has aged well. Many look back on it fondly, myself included, but I liked it at the time as well.

The Flash was a mainstay of the DC Comics Animated Universe as a member of the Justice League, and was even in the TV pilot that some folks hated more than "Legends." Probably the less said about that the better. The character is almost a lock for a cameo at least, if not more, in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel, Batman vs. Superman.

In the comics, the Barry Allen was the first of the Silver Age superheroes, imbued with super speed after being splashed with electrified chemicals. He was my brother's favorite, and thus became my favorite. I've been reading Flash comics for almost five decades. So yeah, I'm psyched to see Barry Allen, even pre-Flash.

In "Arrow," Grant Gustin, formerly the warbling villain from "Glee," is our Barry Allen. Initially I thought he was miscast, but five minutes after he first appears I am sold. You can say he's a bit nerdy, but let's face facts, Barry Allen is a nerd, a comic book geek, and a police scientist. Gustin, except for his hair color (but then again, the 1990s version, John Wesley Shipp, also had dark hair), is perfect.

With all the myriad plots and subplots going on in this series, this episode starts with a new story. A man with super strength has stolen a centrifuge from Queen Consolidated. Similar crimes in Central City brought CSI Barry Allen to Starling City. I love that he's always late, he runs after a cab in the rain (just like in his origin story), and there seems to be foreshadowing lightning in the sky over Starling City. And he and Felicity are smitten with one another. I guess Iris West must be in another area code.

While I suspected it was one of our subplots, our perp turns out not to be Deathstroke or Solomon Grundy, but a partaker of Professor Ivo's super-serum. Oliver says Ivo is dead, as were all his subjects, but apparently someone's trying to make more. Turns out I was two-thirds right, as that someone is Brother Blood, and the guy who beat Oliver down is none other than our buddy Cyrus Gold, the as-yet-named-thusly Solomon Grundy.

Meanwhile, Barry Allen is not all he seems. He's not in Starling on assignment, but in a personal agenda. Similar to his post-Flashpoint origin, Barry's mother was murdered when he was young, by 'a man inside a tornado,' and his father went to prison for it. We know that man was Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash. Since then Barry investigates other unexplainable cases of superhuman beings, and also idolizes folks like The Hood who could've saved his mom. Nice set-up. Outed by Oliver, he hits the road.

In the subplot department, Roy finds an overdose that was caused by Ivo's serum, The Hood tells him to stay out of it, and puts an arrow in his leg to make sure he does. Malcolm is still adamant that Thea is his daughter and he's going to take her away, but Moira puts the fear of the demon in him - by informing Ras Al Ghul that Merlyn is still alive. Oliver has one mean momma. She is positively icy when she tells Malcolm he should run.

After the ersatz Grundy (actor Graham Shiels growls and moans perfectly for the part) nearly beats Oliver to death, and our hero is accidentally jabbed with an unknown drug, Diggle and Felicity need help. In a scene reminiscent of a Bat Gas moment from the 1960s "Batman" TV show, they kidnap Barry. He wakes up in the 'Arrowcave,' secrets unraveling, cue credits.

There is also a nice shout out to Kord Industries, an indirect reference to the Blue Beetle, and the countdown has begun for the particle accelerator in Central City. I'm not sure if this will play out on "Arrow" or the new Flash series, but I can't wait. See you next week, same Arrow time, same Arrow channel.