Arrow S05 E23: Liam Yu

We have a very interesting season finale here, familiar in that it's an army of villains against an army of heroes, but unique in that this time it's happening on Liam Yu, Purgatory, what I have always jokingly called Flashback Island - where this all started, at this point, a decade ago.

That is worth mentioning, because at the start of the sixth season in a few months, it is likely the flashbacks will end, unless they shift to another character.  With my guess on next season's big bad, Felicity might easily slip into the flashback character role. 

In the bad guys' corner, holding most of Team Arrow hostage, we have the Black Siren, Artemis, Talia Al Ghul, and the League of Assassins under the command of this season's main baddie, Prometheus.  Against them, Oliver has gathered Malcolm Merlin and Nyssa Al Ghul, and in the final seconds of the last episode, asked Deathstroke for help. 

We open just seconds after that, answering immediately questions I had last time.  There is staff, and Oliver is taking Captain Boomerang too.  Deathstroke is apparently blaming his evilness and bad blood with Oliver on the mirakuru.  Are they planning a Deathstroke spin-off maybe?  That's where my head went first. It appears bygones are bygones, both villains are freed, Desthstroke is rearmed, the new team is go. 

The first chance he gets, at the first encounter, Digger Harkness switches sides.  Slade Wilson turns the tide.  No one is happy, least of all Thea, but Malcolm is in charge of getting some of them away while Oliver, Slade, and Nyssa continue the hunt.  Another question answered when we're shown Rene is also a prisoner. 

This episode has a lot in it, they threw everything and the kitchen sink in this one.  It's got double crosses, honor among thieves, and the final flashback fight against Kovar as well.  A nice touch was the present day Oliver and company walking past the long dead skeletal Kovar.  There's Nyssa vs. Talia, and Black Canary vs. Black Siren, and Oliver vs. Prometheus.  With the island rigged to explode if Chase dies, Oliver refuses to kill him, even if he killed his son. 

Speaking of explosions, Merlin sacrifices himself on a landmine to save Thea.  He takes Harkness with him and it happens offscreen so don't place bets.  But that is how this ends, with uncertainty, the ultimate cliffhanger.  Oliver saves his son, and Chase shoots himself, just like Oliver's father did in the very first episode.  The island blows up, taking the rest of the cast with it.  Roll credits. 

Yeah, I know, it sucks.  Here is what we know about season six however.  The entire cast sans John Barrowman (so I guess Merlin did die) returns.  The flashback will all involve how and if each character escaped from the island.  Not happy.  The least satisfactory season finale I've seen in a while.  That's "Arrow" for you, a big old sack of suck.  I may or may not be back for season six after this ending. 

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.

Arrow S05 E22: Missing

With Prometheus behind bars, one might assume that Oliver can have a happy birthday.  Felicity throws him a surprise party, and instead Oliver throws Curtis over his shoulder.  I like Curtis growing out of his awkward personality, but dislike his growing into an annoying class clown who won't shut up.  Quentin is late and Rene is missing.  That last thing is not good.

After the party that Dinah is also late for, Curtis drops by her place to find it broken into.  While on the phone with Felicity, he too vanishes.  Someone is taking down Team Arrow one by one.  Paranoid Oliver immediately suspects Chase.  And yeah, it is him, manipulating others from inside.  Talia and Black Siren are also out there hunting Oliver and company. 

The confrontation between Black Siren and Quentin is the one we've all been waiting for since she was staying on our Earth, but shouldn't her reaction to seeing him been just as shocking as he seeing her?  We get it later, but I would have liked it earlier.  I did like that Quentin was able to figure out and accept the multiverse concept a lot easier than some pre-Crisis DC writers, which is how it should be.  Come on, guys, it's not that hard. 

I liked that it's Malcolm Merlin that finally centers Oliver, even though a dozen other things should have done it already.  Although other than Thea I have to wonder what his motive might be.  When she is safe, will he turn?  Oliver also calls on Nyssa to counter her sister for a showdown on Flashback Island. And one other. 

The weirdness of the reforming Olicity or calling in foes as friends is nowhere near as weird as Kovar being back from the dead on Flashback Island.  He injects Oliver with a drug that makes him relive every pain he's ever had.  Yeah, torture might have been better.  The drug is also a hallucinogenic, which provides for interesting flashbacks. 

How does Oliver keep getting into ARGUS to purposefully brutalize Chase?  Is everyone there okay with this?  And how is it Chase seems to be able to shave in his prison, even getting the sides of his head?  Is someone slipping him a razor? Oliver is free and still always has a half-beard.  By the way, did anyone else notice that Kovar, Artemis, and Prometheus all use the same tranq darts?  Was the anti-Arrow tranq dart company having a sale? 

Everyone, except for apparently William, Lyla, Rene, and the conveniently forgotten Roy, are on Lian Yu.  And Oliver, along with Nyssa and Merlin, is on his way there for a showdown with Prometheus, whose entourage includes Back Siren, Artemis, Talia, and the League of Assassins.  But Oliver has one more player to recruit, Deathstroke. 

Maybe one other too, if the writers remember Captain Boomerang is there too.  And hey, where was the ARGUS staff in charge of the feeding and care of these two baddies?  I guess we'll find out next time.

Next: "Liam Yu" the season finale!

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.

Arrow S04 E23: Schism

Since the beginning of this season the theme has been light and darkness, and how Oliver is trying to be 'good.' From becoming the Green Arrow to running for mayor he's always been trying to do the right thing, and sometimes it shows, even as bizarre as this may sound, it can even be seen on Flashback Island. One must wonder what must have happened to him before his rescue that turned him back to the dark side. The question now of course, is he good enough, and in the light enough, to finally defeat Damien Darhk?

The opening salvo in this episode is fast and furious. Darhk attacks Felicity, Curtis, and her mom, Green Arrow and Spartan to the rescue, some nice special effects - we thought we'd lose Donna, but it's not-so-terrific Curtis that takes the brunt. Darhk escapes with the launch codes, seemingly not caring that his EPCOT ark went up in white dwarf star flames last episode.

Things go south swiftly from there. Darhk launches the missiles all over the world, leaving Team Arrow less than two hours to ...try... and save the world. This pronouncement is followed by an act that Darhk probably should have done weeks ago when he first found out who Green Arrow was - a H.I.V.E. attack on the Arrowcave. Even though the attack is repelled, the team sinks further into dismay.

The team however might have been led by Malcolm Merlyn, who then conveniently joins in with Team Arrow. Wtf? Whose side is he on? And why isn't somebody, anybody, on Team Arrow watching him and keeping track?

It's Curtis in the ruins of the Arrowcave that has the answer and gives everyone hope. When he and his boyfriend Paul we're going to leave the city when the terrorist attacks first began, it was the Green Arrow that gave them hope, and by extension Oliver Queen in his run for mayor. If he can raise that hope in the people of Star City, now in a state of panic because on oncoming missiles, well, that's a whole lotta white magic, baby.

On Flashback Island, as a parallel as usual to the present day, Oliver has to kill Taiana to release her from the power of the Khushu Idol. With Reiter also dead, the threat of Shadowspire in the past is over, and Oliver calls the svelte Amanda Waller (good to see her again, even if it is in the past) to rescue the rest of the prisoners. He could go with them, but it looks like next season's Flashback Island may well be in Russia against Kovar. Maybe we'll get more of Oliver's connection with the Bratva.

So while Felicity and company tackle her hacker opposite number and divert all the missiles from their targets, Green Arrow goes to city hall to fight Darhk one last time. This time there's mob rule as the crowd's hope makes Oliver stronger and Darhk weaker. With magic out of the equation, it's a man-to-man street fight, but even without his power, Darhk is still a former member of the League of Assassins.

When H.I.V.E. arrives it becomes a full-on riot. Didn't we see this same fight at the end of last season? Bottom line however, questions of why the H.I.V.E. ghosts with guns didn't just mow the crowd down rather than go hand to hand aside, Green Arrow finally kills Darhk, and exactly how the villain killed Black Canary - arrow to the heart. I'm sure there was a sense of relief and exhaustion throughout the viewership. Finally! And no matter how much I love John Barrowman, where's Merlyn's arrow to the heart??

And then the goodbyes begin. Back at the Arrowcave, first Quentin and Donna, then Thea, and then Diggle, they all leave. They need some time away. As Oliver is signed in as temporary mayor, and he and Felicity stand alone in the wrecked Arrowcave, all I can say is it's going to be a very different dynamic next season...

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 S04 E18: Eleven-Fifty-Nine

So unfortunately we find out who's in the grave this episode and it's not pretty, and it's also not anyone I guessed. However, if one watches this episode carefully, it's pretty heavily telegraphed for good or ill. I hate losing this character, especially considering how long it took for me to warm to her...

Meanwhile, I have to apologize, folks, because I've been remiss in my reviews here. Apparently we have seen the idol beneath Flashback Island before. It's the same one that Damien Darhk has been drawing power from, the Khushu idol, as identified by Vixen. I loved, when Oliver went to tell the rest of the team about it - "there's something I haven't been honest with you about" - Thea answered, "Shocker!" Will Oliver ever learn?

And then there's the Diggle brothers comedy hour. Andy blabs the whole evil plan to John. I don't know whether he's the worst double agent in the world or the best. Either way he's either leading Team Arrow into a trap or being led into one himself. He most definitely was a diversion so Merlyn could steal the idol. Anyone else notice that Laurel and Thea seem to be sharing the sarcastic lines Felicity usually says? Our favorite blond hacker is missed.

So Oliver had a serious write-in vote even though he pulled out of the race? So does this mean if Ruve Adams comes to a tragic end, Oliver might still be installed as mayor? In the meantime, the mean lady wants Laurel to be her district attorney. An interesting offer accompanied by ominous almost Prokofievian Peter and the Wolf rift. Perhaps there's a reason Laurel is getting so much screen time lately?

When Merlyn brings the idol to Darhk in Iron Heights, the villain gives a bit of background on the relic, noting it/they were forged by the Homo Magi. They are a race of hidden magic using humans from which the powers of Zatara and Zatanna come. Does this Easter egg mean we might have a possible Zatanna appearance coming? I hope so, but the problem at hand is that the idol is useless with a missing piece, a piece Team Arrow is still holding.

Speaking of the Team, while Oliver tries his best to break them up, once again over trust with Diggle, there's something else going on here. Katie Cassidy's Laurel is getting a lot of attention. She's being offered a dream job, kicking ass with Thea, having heart to hearts with her father and with Oliver. This is more screen time than she's had all year. Something must be up.

This is unusual on "Arrow." There have been entire episodes where she's done or said very little, and a few where she was missing altogether. And considering that in the comics Black Canary is the most important character in the Green Arrow mythos next to Green Arrow, this just isn't right.

Maybe the showrunners just don't know what to do with Black Canary. As we learned from DC Comics themselves in their Crisis on Infinite Earths, what do you do with characters you don't know what to do with? Simple. You kill them. Yeah, just the opposite of what I have always believed - there are no bad characters, only bad writers.

Meanwhile at Iron Heights, Darhk, with a little help from his creepy colleague Murmur, is planning a coup, an uprising, a bloodbath born of chaos to power the idol. And it's into this inferno that Team Arrow goes, including the Black Canary. After a gauntlet of Murmur, Merlyn, dozens of escaped convicts, and yes, even Andy Diggle, Team Arrow fights its way to Darhk who now has the completed Khushu idol and his full power back again.

After tossing our heroes around for a bit, Darhk focuses on the Black Canary. He monologues about how he always keeps his word, and that he swore he would do something if Quentin Lance turned on him. He keeps his promise and plunges an arrow into the heroine. At first, later at the hospital, she seems to be fine, but after a suspicious moment alone with Oliver… she seizes and passes. I wonder though… what went on between Oliver and laurel in that last moment we weren't privy to? A drug to imitate death? A dark secret? Or just a red herring? I'm sure we will find out sooner or later…

Time of death: 11:59 PM.

Of course, it has to be considered that Laurel just isn't dead, or dead for good. This is comics after all, and worse (or better?) than that, it's "Arrow," and does anyone really stay dead on this show? There's always the Lazarus Pit, or maybe Team Arrow could rescue John Constantine from 'literal' Hell, and he could help. Or perhaps that Homo Magi name drop is yet another way back from the dead.

We do know that Katie Cassidy will be appearing as the Black Siren on an upcoming episode of "The Flash." One could assume this would be the Earth-Two (or Earth-Three, if you buy into my theory) version of Black Canary. Perhaps she'll move to this Earth. It's not like she would be the first Black Canary to switch Earths, or when you get right down to it, die...

Arrow S04 E13: Sins of the Father

Per last episode's cliffhanger, Thea is dying because she won't succumb to the Lazarus Pit's bloodlust hangover. Rather than just calling John Constantine - who saved the similarly afflicted Sara, and thrilled viewers with his appearance - Oliver has, as he always does, decided to do things the hard way. Nyssa has a cure called the Lotus, which she will only surrender if Oliver kills Malcolm Merlin. Tired yet? We haven't even started.

Nyssa keeps bringing up that Oliver is her husband, almost to the point of nagging. It makes me wonder how legally binding such a marriage would be. Should Felicity be worried? Should she ask Laurel if she knows a good lawyer? Both Jean Loring and Kate Spencer are dead, so I suspect it's dangerous for lawyers in Star City. A side note should be mentioned here that in the Arrowverse, as shown on a recent episode of "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," Jean is the mother of Anna, Ray Palmer's late fiancée. In the comics, Jean was his wife.

Speaking of Felicity, she has her own problems, and her own subplot this episode. Not only is her estranged father the Calculator, but he confessed to it in order to win her love back. Her mom insists that he can't change, of course conjuring parallels to Oliver, but Felicity wants to try anyway. I was okay with Felicity and dad going for coffee, but I think bringing him to Palmer Tech and letting him see a T-sphere was a bit much. Good thing it was only a test.

Although Oliver tries to negotiate, Nyssa and Malcolm go to war. Again, distance and logistics are a problem. The League of Assassins is headquartered in Pakistan and Star City is on the US west coast, and yet the war is in the streets of Star City? How many times do members of Team Arrow and other cast go back and forth in what seems like no time at all??

Dr. Lamb, the Queen family doctor dating back to the first episode, gets a callback in this one. I did some Google fu thinking the name rang a bell and was maybe some forgotten evil scientist from Green Arrow's past, but he's not. I was however reminded of Green Arrow for Dr. Davis again. Wasn't there a Davis on The List? Could our campaign manager be related?

In the end, the villains were all wrapped up far too nicely and quickly I thought. How long really will the Calculator remain behind bars or the League of Assassins remain disbanded? And there are a hundred different hand jokes, with and without "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" references, that I could make about Malcolm, but I won't. I'm just sad that we're obviously in for more Darhk, the story arc that never ends…

Next: Code of Silence!

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."

Arrow S03 E15: "Nanda Parbat"

Our opening this week, although brief, clears up a bit of a problem I've had with the character of R'as Al Ghul on "Arrow." The idea that he did not approve of the relationship between his daughter Nyssa and Sara, the first Canary, has always had a bit of an unspoken and icky anti-gay sentiment to it. Although a villain, it was always in my mind that R'as would be a bit more open minded, being immortal and all.

What is made clear in this short exchange between R'as and Nyssa is that yes, he did disapprove, but because he knew Sara would leave Nyssa (and him, and the League of Assassins) and hurt her. Also made clear is that R'as knows Oliver is alive, and that he did not kill Sara. Still, he must be dealt with. I also have to say that this opening is the first time that Matt Nable has made me believe he's R'as. He's good, but this is the first time he's struck me as that good.

The Arrowcave and the club have been fortified by Dig with A.R.G.U.S. tech, and given everyone inside a bit of time to catch up and get to know each other better for good or ill. Whether it's trading quips, training for battle, revealing even more secrets, or just the hostile environment caused by Malcolm's presence, it's just not pretty. I did love Malcolm's comment about Oliver bring a bow and arrow to a sword fight.

The thrust of the first half of the episode focuses on the mad obsession of Oliver's that Malcom train him to defeat R'as. Why is he so adamantly on Malcolm's side? As Dig says, there must be something to it, but Oliver is such a liar we'll never know it, until it's too late. When it does come up - while it's irrational male ego more than anything else - it makes more sense than 'trying to save Thea's soul.'

Laurel confronting Merlyn, followed by the assassins taking Merlyn, and Arrow fighting Nyssa are three excellent fight scenes in quick succession. For all the talking in the episode, this more than made up for it in the action column. I have to say however they are making much too fine a point on how good a fighter Malcolm is and how bad Laurel is. It's just not consistent.

Meanwhile Felicity has been distracted babysitting Ray Palmer. This A.T.O.M. suit sure is taking a long time to put together. Before his test flight I was beginning to wonder if we'll even see the Atom before he shows up on "The Flash" in "All-Star Team-Up." At least Felicity finally gets a real kiss from a bare chested man, even if it's not the bare chested man she really wants. I'm also starting to wonder what this Atom's powers are - he's more Iron Man or X-O than any version of the Atom. What I'm wondering now however is what the proposed spin-off pilot is about with the actors who've portrayed the Atom, Black Canary, Captain Cold, and Prof. Martin Stein…

What happens in "Arrow" this episode is that Malcolm is captured by R'as Al Ghul's forces, and Oliver and Diggle follow him back to Nanda Parbat. They're easily captured of course, but just when we think R'as will kill them, he instead makes an offer to Oliver. He asks him to become the next R'as Al Ghul. Now, despite various references to Bludhaven, it's been assumed that the Arrowverse is Batless. There are far too many bits from the Bat-family that have ended up here without a mention of the Batman for there actually to be a Batman. Of course that could be because of legal complications, but it still seems a stretch for R'as to groom Oliver just as he tried to with Batman. But then again, they did reconstruct the swordfight from Batman #244, so why not co-op the rest of the Batman/Demon story?

One last fun bit. William Shatner was live-Tweeting this episode the night it aired. Fun stuff, you can check out his feed here. Special thanks to super cool friend and fellow Biff Bam Pop! writer Leiki Vestimets for hipping me to it. You can check out the latest On… column at the site where she talks about "Saturday Night Live" here. And speaking of "Star Trek" and Biff Bam Pop!, please read our memorial of the late Leonard Nimoy here.

Back to the Arrowverse, I have more questions. Why does Oliver need Nyssa to tell him where Nanda Parbat is? Wasn't he there before? Isn't that where he faced R'as the first time? And after all the men that Oliver and Dig probably killed, how can R'as let them live? How can they live with themselves? I thought Oliver swore off killing.

Arrow returns March 18th, see you then...



And if you'd like to discuss this episode and anything else in the Arrowverse, please join the Arrow discussion group on Facebook.

Arrow S03 E14: "The Return"

We have a very interesting switch in the storytelling dynamic in this episode. As Oliver and Thea go to Lian Yu, which I've called Flashback Island for the last three years of reviews, Oliver and Maseo from Flashback Hong Kong, along with Amanda Waller, pay a secret visit to Starling City during the time it is believed Oliver is dead. Like I said, interesting.

Oliver had asked Malcolm to train him so he could beat R'as al Ghul, and apparently the island is his idea of training. As if we didn't already know Malcolm was a bit twisted, right? I loved the camera pan approach to Flashback Island, with the shipwrecked Amazo near the shore, nice touch.

How crazy is Merlyn? Very. He released Deathstroke on the island so that Oliver can get his killing edge back. But wait, wasn't Captain Boomerang also imprisoned on the island? Where was he? It was a bit of a cop out to say he was elsewhere in the prison.

In the past, Oliver and Maseo are still tracking China White and her bio-weapon. Being in Starling past gives us a chance to not only see cast members in a variety of bad "Undercover Boss" hairstyles but also see dead folks like Colin Donnell returning as Tommy Merlin. We also see the past addictions of Thea, Quentin, and Laurel in more revealing light.

What's fun about the past is watching Oliver sneak around in disguise dodging anyone who might recognize him. It reminded me of Marty dodging his past self, mom and dad, and Biff, when he returned to the 1950s in Back to the Future Part II. Quentin's possibly drunken outburst at Tommy's party echoed what I was thinking earlier in the episode - Oliver had destroyed everyone's life.

I loved when Oliver, trying to say he was good at hiding from his family and friends, said he pulled his hoodie down to cover his face - and Maseo countered with "that disguise wouldn't work even if you smeared grease paint over your face." Beautiful. It is also a testament to Stephen Amell's acting skills that he can pull off both naive and spoiled, and then brave and resourceful - in the same character years apart and make it believable. He's damn good.

Past, present, Deathstroke, Merlyn, Waller... but none of it matters more than the real boogeyman in this episode. The truth. Oliver tells Thea the truth, the real truth, that she killed Sara. It nearly pushes her over the edge. That said, watching Oliver and Thea, Green Arrow and Speedy, fight Slade, Deathstroke, could only have been better with costumes.

And then there's Deathstroke's line to Oliver about Thea, how she's been touched by darkness and that Merlyn must be an interesting man to do that to his own daughter. Although we've seen a character in the show called Ravager, in the comics Slade did do something very similar to his own daughter who then called herself Ravager. And let's not even discuss her brother, his son, who was the original Ravager.

There are other connections and separations made in this episode. Thea will cooperate but no longer have family ties with Malcolm. Quentin and Laurel are at odds, but for the first time the name 'Black Canary' is uttered. Again I worry for Quentin as this would be tragic if he was to die now, and because he's the TV version of Larry Lance, we know he's doomed sooner or later.

Colin Donnell isn't the only actor to return from the dead this time out. There's also Jamey Sheridan as Robert Queen as seen in a recording for Oliver, solving another minor mystery of the series. This is neat tie-up of a small but missing piece of Arrow's origins.

The final closer however is the appearance of General Matthew Shrieve as played by a rather worn and aged looking Marc Singer. This is a surprising addition to a TV series based on Green Arrow. In the comics, Shrieve is the human leader of Project M, better known as the Creature Commandos, sort of a war/horror hybrid comic. They are a squad of soldiers made up of classic monsters - a werewolf, a vampire, a gorgon, and Frankenstein monster-like creature. Who knows where this plot point will go...

Next: "Nanda Parbat!"



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Arrow S03 E13: "Canaries"

The state of the Arrow when last we met was a bit mangled and different than usual. Oliver is back from the dead, and proposing that Merlyn train him to defeat R'as Al Ghul. Felicity is on the outs with Oliver and pretty much stands with everyone else regarding Merlyn. Laurel has joined Team Arrow as the new Canary, and her dimwitted dad doesn't seem to know she's not the late Sara. That's just the basics, got it? You can catch up on the rest of this season so far here, and the entire series here.

We open on, believe it or not, both Canaries engaged in combat with each other. Welcome back, Sara. Good to see that "The Sopranos" and "Breaking Bad" aren't the only shows where a character's death doesn't mean the actor us out of work. I still think Sara makes a better Black Canary, more believable, and closer to the comics. Canary is curvy, not Cassidy.

Werner Zytle, Vertigo, or the second Vertigo (although neither is even close to the comics version of the character) has escaped prison, so the cat is out of the bag as to why Laurel believes she's fighting her dead sister. But that's not the big deal that happened early in the episode. Oliver came clean with Thea, showed her the Arrowcave, and told her that he's the Arrow. Surprise, she's happy, with Oliver. Malcolm, not so much.

Speaking of the kinder gentler post-resurrection Arrow, he seems to be back to his old self inexplicably when it comes to Laurel. Weirdly he's more welcoming to Merlyn and Thea than he is to Laurel. One would think with R'as on his way to Starling, Oliver would want as much help as possible. And it's a shame that Oliver is more concerned with babysitting her than stopping Vertigo's pointless homicidal super-villainy, but then again in this episode, he's more plot device than plot, or even character.

Flashback Hong Kong has become something interesting, at least temporarily. At best the flashback sequences run hot and cold. Now it's not Oliver I'm thinking about in the recent ones, but Tatsu and Maseo. What is wrong with both of them? In the present they are under the thumb of the evil R'as and in the past, Amanda Waller. Why have they allowed themselves into these situations with such people?

I started this review talking about the status quo of Team Arrow. Now we are looking at a whole new dynamic - Laurel part of the team, Thea in on Team Arrow, and also Quentin finally aware of the doings of his daughters. I did however keep waiting for Thea to express surprise that everyone she knows is in on the secret but her.

Nice but obscure shout out with Daggett Pharmaceuticals - in "Batman The Animated Series," Roland Daggett and his chemical company Daggett Industries caused much chaos such as turning Catwoman into a real cat-woman, and creating the shape-shifting super-villain Clayface. Just like "The Flash" keeps referencing Firestorm, it seems "Arrow" just can't get enough Batman.

I'm glad the hipster deejay from the League of Assassins subplot is done with. It was getting old, but did move things forward to the next level. The training begins next time with Oliver and Thea on Flashback Island, and Flashback Oliver and Maseo in Starling City. That should be interesting.

Next: "The Return!"



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