Glenn Walker is a writer who knows pop culture. He loves, hates, and lives pop culture. He knows too freaking much about pop culture, and here's where he talks about it all: movies, music, comics, television, and the rest... Welcome to Hell.
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.
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…
The Calculator is one of my favorite DC Comics super-villains, mostly because his existence runs between the utterly silly to the downright sinister. In any incarnation however, the Calculator is fun. And on television, he may yet be...
In his first appearances in the back-up stories of late 1970s Detective Comics, he wore a costume resembling a calculator and had the uncanny ability to only be beaten by a specific hero once. He fought and was defeated by Green Arrow, the Atom, Black Canary, the Elongated Man, and Hawkman. Once encountered, said heroes could never win again against him. When the storyline moved to the front of the comic, Batman finally found a way to take the Calculator down with those heroes' help.
The Calculator was around for a while after that, eventually fading into obscurity. When he reemerged, he was more in the shadows, and inspired by an urban legend that the super-villain underground had only begun to become aware of - Oracle. The heroes had some off-site source feeding them info and coordinating them. The Calculator became just that for the forces of evil, Oracle's opposite number.
We open this episode at Nanda Parbat, the citadel built into the side of a cliff in Pakistan that serves as the headquarters of the League of Assassins and the current R'as al Ghul, Malcolm Merlin. Don't think for a second I wasn't amused that our break from the-storyline-that-wouldn't-end this season (Damien Darhk) is provided by the-storyline-that-wouldn't-end last season (R'as al Ghul). Note to showrunners, the story arcs on "Arrow" need to be shorter.
I suppose I should have some reaction that Nyssa has escaped and taken over the citadel, but I'll be honest, I've already checked out. And I'm just as uninterested in the Thea subplot. And if John Constantine was able to fix the bloodlust in Sara, why not contact him again regarding Thea? Seriously, if aspirin works on a headache, why would you have to find another solution when a second headache comes along? Call John!
Then there's Roy Harper who's returned to Star City as a tech thief. The two companies he initially steals from have history in the DC Comics Universe, but not from the usual corners that "Arrow" borrows from. AmerTek hounded Steel for years and released the lethal Toastmaster guns on Metropolis. Cadmus is also based in Metropolis, specializing in alien DNA among other things. Roy had been hiding out in Hub City, home of the Question, when the Calculator blackmailed him into committing these thefts.
The Calculator's plan, surprisingly assisted by H.I.V.E., is to use a 'web nuke' to crash Star City, killing thousands. I think that's rather pedestrian and anarchist for a villain with so much potential, despite the lame codename. He is, in the end, more a foe of Felicity than anyone else, which makes the reveal at the end that he's Felicity's dad all the more shocking. So is computer hacking genetic?
Seeing Katana, if only momentarily, was a nice surprise. I hope we get more than that though. And it's always nice to see John Barrowman even if he always seems out of place when he appears. And I can't express how much I hated the dream within a flashback. Darhk's wife running for mayor seems a bit ridiculous to me however. Wasn't her husband outted as a super-villain a few episodes back?
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.
As I began watching this episode of "Arrow," I had momentarily forgotten the scenes of next week's episode at the end of the last episode. "Restoration" didn't start with the usual bang. Green Arrow and Diggle were fighting the H.I.V.E.'s ghosts and not getting along as per usual this season. They need to grow up if you ask me. Even in Nanda Parbat, it was business as usual with Nyssa trying to kill John Barrowman's Malcolm Merlin as the new R'as Al Ghul. This was all old territory.
Even when Laurel and Thea arrive at the lair of the League of Assassins with the body of Sara in tow, the situation is neutered. We know Sara is going into the Lazarus Pit and coming back to life because we've seen her in the trailer and other scenes from the upcoming "Legends of Tomorrow." Please don't give pretense to suspense that just doesn't exist, and especially do not prolong it.
Luckily we get something new when Diggle arrives home to find an A.R.G.U.S. agent in his house. He says Lyla hired him to track the folks behind the death of Diggle's brother. The prime suspect is a Mina Fayad, who's just flown in from Markovia to help Damien Darhk with his vigilante problem in Star City. She's brought a recent nasty from the Flash's comics Rogues Gallery named Double Down.
While Diggle tracks Fayad on his own, Green Arrow goes solo against the scary metahuman Double Down. In the comics he was once criminal Jeremy Tell who got mixed up with a cursed deck of cards that bonded to his skin, and later he developed the ability to hurl these razor edged cards at opponents, simultaneously scaring the crap out of them as he peeled them off his skin. This frightening villain was created by writer Geoff Johns as a longtime inmate of Iron Heights, possibly inspired by the Golden Age Flash story, "Deal Me from the Bottom."
The TV version of Double Down is a victim of the particle accelerator explosion in Central City over on "The Flash." Rather than supernatural in origin and visceral in visual, this Double Down's powers are more like turning tattoos into physical objects than peeling off skin. Essentially he's more Tattooed Man than Double Down.
Over and above the Nanda Parbat subplot with its constantly changing Lazarus Pit rules, and the Oliver and Diggle finally working together to find Mina Fayad, or even the mind-numbingly boring Flashback Island stuff, the real action is with Double Down. Felicity, just as Oliver did seasons ago, goes to her employee for help on a case. In this case, she goes to Curtis Holt with one of Double Down's cards.
Not only do we get some intriguing explanations on how Double Down's powers work, we also get a peek at the prototype of what will become Mr. Terrific's T-Spheres. The card however not only leads Double Down to them, but also down to the new Arrowcave. Curtis gets a crash course in his employers secret life, and I absolutely loved when the villain takes him down Elevator Action style. And in a nice change of pace, Felicity fends off the meta.
Over on/at Nanda Parbat - where is this place anyhow? I always had the sense it was in the Himalayas, but in the "Arrow" series, it seems like it's just a few blocks away because it takes no time at all to get there and back. Regardless, Malcolm finally agrees to put Sara in the Lazarus Pit, and she emerges a savage animal. Sigh. Yeah, they are going to prolong this.
I must say this episode was a bit of a refreshing change of pace. Usually the A story with the super-villain is boring on "Arrow," with the gold nuggets coming in the subplots and character bits. Here, I loved the parts with Double Down, and wish there had been more.
If you read my review of last week's episode of "The Flash," or saw it, you know that Arrow came to the aid of his costumed friend in Central City to help take down the Reverse-Flash. You also know that Arrow in turn asked for the Flash's help. One would assume that help would come in this, the season finale of "Arrow." It does. And if that's all the help the Flash is going to be, Arrow sooo got the short end of the deal.
At the end of the last episode Team Arrow was left in a dungeon dying of the Alpha and Omega virus, while Oliver and R'as Al Ghul were on their way to Starling City to wipe it out with the virus. The good news is that Malcolm was able to inoculate Team Arrow with a method that would have made the 1966 Batman proud, while the Flash secured the Nanda Parbat headquarters and released our heroes. Then he went home, quickly, but nowhere near as quickly and mysteriously as Team Arrow went home. Are we sure Starling and Tibet aren't like next door to each other? This is getting ridiculous.
Oliver plays his hand on the plane over Starling and turns on R'as, who of course escapes with the virus, and the only parachute. Seriously, is this a joke? The only parachute?? Nevertheless R'as swears vengeance and Oliver and Nyssa crash-land the plane. They join Team Arrow where Oliver gets his ass kicked physically and verbally by Diggle and Felicity. Good.
Hindsight on dumbass Oliver's plans almost always add up to the same problem - trust. Just trust someone, let them in on what is planned. I can't help thinking of that old Woody Woodpecker cartoon where if Woody had only gone to the police in the first place, none of this would have ever happened. If Oliver has only just said a few words to Diggle and Felicity, even as simple as, "Trust me, no matters what happens, or how it looks, just trust me." all of this could have been avoided.
As Team Arrow searches for R'as in Starling they discover what his real plan is. His enemy Damien Darhk is in the city, R'as wants to kill two birds with one stone. Darhk's assistant is portrayed by Christopher Heyerdahl, who played one of the most sinister villains in recent television memory - The Swede from AMC's "Hell on Wheels." This alone made me think that it was really Darhk pretending to be his own assistant. Ah, such a fleeting moment and a sweet cameo. Word is Darhk will be one of the big bads, if not the big bad next season.
There is a considerable amount of resolution this episode, almost as if the series was ending. Diggle leaves over the differences with Oliver, although rumor has it he won't be gone long, with a costume in his future. R'as dies at Oliver's hands, the mantle going to Malcolm, as pre-agreed. Thea is now Speedy, who along with the Black Canary, will be protecting Starling City. Katana has returned to seclusion. Roy is gone, for the moment, and the Atom blew up real good. Oliver and Felicity have driven off for the coast, like they're in the end of Blade Runner, presumably to live happily ever after.
This is not the end however, it's only the end of the season. Stephen Amell has said that Oliver won't be the Arrow any more. That's a bit of misdirection, hinted at when Thea suggested 'Red Arrow' as her codename. Oliver will not be the Arrow any more (and really he can't be in light of Roy taking the rap for him), but he will be Green Arrow. Finally. And as for the Atom, we know he'll be back in "Legends of Tomorrow."
There's a nice shout out to writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, as cross streets. They not only created R'as Al Ghul but also redesigned Green Arrow for more relevant times, producing some of the best (in my opinion) stories about both characters. There's also a Marc Andreyko namedrop later, his being the creator of the Kate Spencer version of Manhunter. Here is some reading for later about how one writer thinks they wasted her character. I kinda agree.
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.
And just one more thing. R'as Al Ghul, in this incarnation at least, seems to be one of those guys who never finishes ordering in a restaurant. He keeps adding on to the deal made with Oliver. First Oliver has to take over as the Demon's Head, then he has to train, then he has to kill his friends, then he has marry Nyssa, then he has to destroy his city. It never ends.
At least in the opening scene this episode, yet another titled from a Bruce Springsteen song, Oliver briefly expressed surprise that it was Maseo who brought the Alpha Omega virus to R'as. It wasn't that I thought Oliver's training was slipping, it was the first time it occurred to me he might be playing along and have a plan after all. Was this all a ruse to trick R'as?
As far as the Alpha Omega virus goes, perhaps I was wrong with my Superboy paradox theory. It sure looks like Flashback Hong Kong is getting hosed. Has the show ever mentioned New York or Los Angeles in three seasons? For all we know, they might be gone as well. At least Team Arrow didn't believe it happened either.
Team Arrow is getting along as well as they can. I loved Diggle's plan with the gang and letting Black Canary clean them up with her scream. I'm still iffy on the sound the Canary Cry makes. I have always thought it like a very loud musical note or an ultrasonic tone. This sounds sorta like someone's killing a cat. Still it was sweet seeing Canary fight four guys at once. Diggle on the other hand is still freaked by Oliver's transformation and losing control a bit. If Oliver has a plan, I guess he's kept it to himself.
How the hell does Malcolm Merlyn get from Starling City saying goodbye to Thea in one scene to Nanda Parbat in Tibet in the next?? Did the Flash help him? Either way, I called it, moments before it was revealed, that Oliver was playing opossum. I just can't get it through my head why Oliver would cooperate with Malcolm over Team Arrow.
So Malcolm speeds mysteriously back to Starling to try to convince Team Arrow that Oliver is faking being R'as' heir and has a plan. Naturally they won't believe a liar, sociopath, and super-villain they know - so he brings in a future super-heroine they don't know - Katana. Somehow, her, they believe. How I'm supposed to believe Ferris Air offers such frequent flights to Tibet however...
The mid-episode fight between Team Arrow and the League of Assassins was pretty awesome. I would have liked more of Katana, the Atom, and the Black Canary in a mask, but I got was good. And John Barrowman was in exceptional fighting prime as well as the Magician. Katana's costume, even though it's roughly the New 52 version, looks great. I hope she stays around for a while now that she is finally here.
Meanwhile Thea goes to be with Roy, living undercover as Jason in an auto shop in Monument Point. Is Roy really gone, and will Thea finally become Speedy now? Comics readers might remember Monument Point is a city of secrets that once headquartered the Justice Society of America for a time in their last days. This isn't the only comics reference in this episode. Other than Ferris which has become a mainstay of the Arrowverse, there's also I believe the first mention of Nyssa's last name, Raatko, and dressing her in one of Neal Adams' Talia outfits.
This is quite a cliffhanger ending, both nail-biting and completely diffused as well. I mean, come on, they're not going to kill off 90% of the cast. I suspect Katana inoculated everyone before they got to Nanda Parbat. The real cliffhanger, is how is Team Arrow going to get away from R'as and the League of Assassins?
Next: "My Name Is Oliver Queen!"
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.
We get cool freshness in the opening seconds, a new spin on Stephen Amell's usual voiceover narrative, that indicates Oliver has entered a phase of his life, that of becoming the new R'as Al Ghul. In exchange for Thea's life, he has given himself over to Demon's training. Shortly after finally consummating Olicity, our hero is getting a buzzcut and a branding, as well as a new name, Al Sah-Him, which is, ironically enough, Arabic for 'The Arrow.' All this happened last episode.
What is most intriguing about the opening scenes of this episode is the discussion of a character called Damien Darhk during a heart to heart chat between R'as and Oliver. Darhk considered himself R'as' rival and equal, and his hesitation to kill him years ago has made a thorn in R'as' side ever since. This Darhk has not only his own hive of operatives, and some water from the Lazerus Pit, but has been involved in Oliver's affairs as well.
Notably, according to R'as of course, Darhk has tried to purchase Malcolm Merlyn's earthquake generator, has had dealings with Markovia, and was involved with that incident with Mark Shaw. R'as makes it clear - Damien Darhk is not just his enemy but Oliver's as well. This enemy must be eliminated.
Now there is not just one comics precedent to this character, but two, and they both fit. There was a Doctor Ebeneezer Daark who R'as put in charge of the League of Assassins, but eventually turned against the Demon. And then there's the closer name approximation, Damien Darhk, who was one of the leaders of the criminal organization called the H.I.V.E., who menaced the Teen Titans for years. Rumors say the H.I.V.E. will be baddies next season, and it wouldn't be the first time Arrow fought Titans villains... so perhaps this Darhk is a mix of the two.
As many of you may or may not know, I maintain a blog about French fries, so when we dropped in on Laurel and Nyssa discussing, eating, and dipping French fries into milkshakes - yeah, I was loving it. I have never really been a fan of Katie Cassidy, up until her recent appearance on "The Flash," and here bonding with Nyssa. Or maybe I just like her in this scene because fries are involved. Anyone who dips their fries in their shake is okay in my book.
Darhk and fries aside, the main plot of this episode revolves around Oliver returning to Starling City to kill Nyssa and basically erase all vestiges of his former life. This drags on seemingly forever. I liked the bits with Team Arrow re-shifting to adjust the absences of Oliver and Roy, and I dug the dinner at Dig and Lyla's. I hated that Oliver kidnapped Lyla. The only real good part is the debut, finally, of the second Speedy, even if it's Thea instead of Mia.
In Flashback Hong Kong, that we know is going to be all right because of 'the Superboy paradox' that I touched on here and explained here on The GAR! Podcast, but we see that characters can be markedly different on TV than they are in the comics. Case in point - General Shrieve, who is sooo not a villain. All I'm watching the flashbacks (or is it coming in the present day?) for is to finally see Katana in costume. At least now we know where this storyline is going.
Okay, show of hands, who else is done with this whole R'as Al Ghul storyline?
Next: The Bride of the Demon
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.
The big cliffhanger last time on "Arrow" was the seeming death of Thea at the hands of R'as Al Ghul. This was obvious the Demon's endgame in getting Oliver to do what he wants. And what does R'as want? He wants a heir, similar to his motives as a Batman foe, but some things have been unclear.
R'as indicates he's been the Demon's Head for hundreds of years, but never comes right out and says he's immortal. If he's immortal why does he need an heir, and why imply this transition has occurred before? The "Arrow" showrunners have been very careful not to use the proper term from the comics of R'as' resurrections - the Lazarus Pit. Instead, they have implied he has access to waters that heal, a fountain of youth if you will. They break that rule this episode.
We open on Oliver finding Thea, rushing her to the hospital, where they can only stabilize her to a vegetative state, comatose, dying slowly. When he sees Maseo signaling a meeting, Oliver is told that R'as will revive Thea, if Oliver takes his place as heir to the Demon.
When he discusses the choice with Team Arrow, Malcolm explains about, and uses the term, the Lazarus Pit, for the first time. It can rejuvenate, and restore the dead to life, but he warns that the one who is lost is not the one who comes back. They are changed, in their soul. Whether it works or not, Team Arrow is going to Nanda Parbat.
After a teary breakup and goodbye between Ray and Felicity, and terse words between Oliver and Malcolm, Team Arrow is off, assumedly with the Atom watching over Starling just in case the super-villain of the week is on schedule. It's notable I think that after she breaks up with Ray, Felicity boards the plane with her hair down, as she previously had for Barry and Ray, as opposed to up, as she usually does with Oliver.
The brief encounter between Diggle and Maseo is intense and telling, especially between two fathers and friends of Oliver. It is character moments like this, that stand above the soap stuff, and elevate "Arrow," and there have been damn few this season.
My first encounter with R'as Al Ghul in the comics, from Batman #244, which I've talked about before, also featured an emergence of R'as from the Lazarus Pit. The Demon was enraged, mad, violent, and possessed of superhuman strength. I was impressed to see that version of the Pit's effects carried over to the TV version. If only momentarily, Thea is a crazed animal, followed by confusion.
And then... "so that happened." After confronting and threatening R'as, the Demon tells Felicity she needs to tell Oliver how she feels before it's too late. She does, and what we've been waiting for for so long happens. Ollicity consummated. I'm glad it happened finally, and was done so well and tastefully for TV, but one thing really irks me. It happened because R'as pushed Felicity. There's just something both wrong and icky about that.
As if making love to Oliver wasn't insane enough, what Felicity does next is totally cray-cray. She drugs him into unconsciousness and tries, with the help of Team Arrow, and Maseo, whose chat with Diggle weighed on his soul, to smuggle him out of Nanda Parbat. Oliver wakes up however and puts a stop to it. And same old one-night-stand stubborn Ollie sends them on their way, while he stays, ready to be transformed into Al Sah-Him, heir to the Demon.
The parallel storyline in Flashback Hong Kong involves Oliver, Maseo, and Katana trying to stop General Shrieve from attacking China with a deadly bio-weapon. Like a Superboy story from the 1950s, this is a flashback that doesn't hold much bite. Just as we know Superboy grows up to be Superman, we know China isn't hit with a bio-weapon. I was also amused by all the gunplay in the one chase scene - no one involved appeared to be able hit anything, it was like everyone was a Stormtrooper. No real cliffhanger there.
Next: "Al Sah-Him!"
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.
Here's where we stand. Because Oliver won't become the next R'as Al Ghul, R'as has promised to destroy him and make his life a living hell. That campaign started by framing the Arrow for multiple murders and culminated last episode when R'as revealed to Quentin Lance that Oliver Queen was the Arrow.
Lance announces to Starling City this fact and vows to bring him in. With no other options, Oliver turns himself in. Then while en route to Iron Heights, Roy attacks the police convoy and confesses that he is the Arrow. Of course that's not where we start. We begin with Starling National Bank under attack by some sort of power surge after hours. Not a power surge, a metahuman, with red death vision... Deathbolt.
In the comics, there's this thing called retroactive continuity. They are stories set in the past, written later, and chronicling events that we previously did not know existed. Deathbolt is the product of that. We already know that the showrunners have a thing for the characters of the Golden Age. We've seen Wildcat, Solomon Grundy, and over in "The Flash," the Mist, now Deathbolt.
Deathbolt first appeared in All-Star Squadron, a comic from the 1980s that told the adventures of the Justice Society during World War II. Jake Simmons was a murderer experimented on by the evil Ultra-Humanite until he became a living electrical battery. Extremely powerful and not a nice guy, Deathbolt was one of the more dangerous super-villains of the retroactive Golden Age.
Here Doug Jones plays the just as dangerous, but slightly less flamboyant version.
Lance and the police make a raid on the Arrowcave that sounds so much more dramatic than it is, reminding me somewhat of the 1960s "Batman" TV show when the bad guys would get into the Batcave. Come on, powers that be, I know that's a comparison you don't want to hear again, so get it together. So while Roy's in jail, and the police are dogging Oliver, a plan is hatched, one probably gotten from watching "The Flash" the night before... an Arrow/Atom team-up to go get Deathbolt.
The chatter between Felicity and Oliver, with Ray in the field is fun, but something tells me it would have been much more fun on "The Flash." They are really trying to work their best day/night, Metropolis/Gotham vibe with Central/Starling here. But seriously, the jokes would have been much funnier if someone just turned the lights up in the Arrowcave. Annnnd also never send someone in armor to fight a human electrical battery.
In Flashback Hong Kong, it seems as if Oliver is getting played, and he, as well as Maseo, Katana, and their son Akio are in the middle of some weird test or game between Amanda Waller and General Matthew Shrieve. At best, in a packed episode like this, even the best of a flashback can only do so much. I suppose it's nice to see skinny Waller again, and equally nice that Shrieve hasn't been forgotten.
Remember that aborted feature film that was in the pre-production works for while - Supermax? The plot had Green Arrow convicted of a crime he didn't commit and placed in a supermax prison full of super-villains, sort of an Escape from Alcatraz with super powers. The scenes with Roy in Iron Heights kinda reminded me of that even though it never got made. I'm pretty sure what we saw would have been pretty close.
The killing of the Speedies really took me by surprise. I was expecting neither, and it's a shame to see Roy go. I think it's a given that Thea is coming back, but I wonder if Roy might not be back somewhere down the road as well. I guess we'll be finding out all about R'as' fountain of youth very soon now.
But that will be on "Arrow," there's still one mystery that will be solved in an upcoming episode of "The Flash." Once Deathbolt is defeated by terrific teamwork between the heroes, Ray takes the villain for imprisonment in the pipeline beneath the particle accelerator in Central City. Cisco had theorized Deathbolt was another metahuman empowered by the accident, but it's just not so.
Jake Simmons was in Opal City at the time of the explosion, not Central City. Where did he get his powers? In the comics, it was the Ultra-Humanite, who knows in this case? Speaking of the comics, Opal City is the home of Starman, and another pipeline inmate, the Mist, was his archenemy. Deathbolt had some solo clashes against that hero as well. Two Starman villains in the pipeline? Could they be getting ready to introduce Starman the way they did Firestorm, slowly but steadily?
Next: Team Arrow goes to Nanda Parbat in "The Fallen!"
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.
As we saw in the last moments of the last episode, Starling City's mayor was shot in the chest by Maseo acting as the faux Arrow. And the next arrow is targeting Felicity. If that doesn't just scream cliffhanger, I don't know what does. Thankfully, because of my vacation, I only had to wait a few hours, unlike you fine folks sweating this one out for a week to find out what happened.
What happened is not good. The mayor is dead. Wow, mayor of Starling City is not a good job to have based on what we've seen the past few seasons. And Ray Palmer took an arrow to the chest to save Felicity, and is at the hospital in critical condition. In retaliation Lance issues a first-degree murder warrant on the Arrow, and reorganizes the anti-vigilante task force with shoot to kill orders if necessary. Bad times.
After extended chase scenes with the Arrow, Arsenal, and Black Canary on the run from the cops - fun but lengthy - R'as Al Ghul takes a hand in the fight. He first leads the police to them, and then does something even more sinister, something that leads Quentin Lance far closer to his doom. R'as reveals the Arrow's secret identity to him. Then, everything becomes clear to Lance.
When Laurel confronts her father, he turns the tables on her. He blames everything on Oliver and the Arrow, from Sara's death to the explosion of costumed maniacs and metahumans both in Starling and in Central City. He started it all, he's to blame. Lance goes on TV and tells what he knows. Police are everywhere, Oliver's identity, and the Arrowcave all compromised - this looks like the end.
Back in Flashback Hong Kong, as you might remember from a few episodes back, Oliver has run into Shado, or who has turned out to be her twin sister. The bad guys come after Oliver, Akio, and her, and they're saved by Maseo and Katana. Our Flashback lesson this episode is about the power of truth, as Oliver tells her that her sister and her father Yao Fei are gone. This is the lesson Oliver uses in the present day.
Oliver turns himself in to Captain Lance, along with a deal arranged by Laurel for immunity for the rest of Team Arrow. Let's not even discuss how unethical it is for Laurel to even be involved with this, but there it is. Lance is losing it, playing the blame game, and giving it to Oliver, when suddenly the Arrow gives himself up - and it's Roy.
Meanwhile Ray might have a blood clot in his brain. He's able to use, through some soap opera shenanigans with Felicity's mom, his own shrinking nanobots to cure himself. Wait, did I say shrinking? This is Ray Palmer after all! I guess the X-0 Manowar armor must have confused me. And then there's the old idea of Felicity having to make a choice between Oliver and Ray. Help, I'm drowning in soap, but at least Ray might be able to shrink away now.
"Arrow" has been suffering this season, perhaps suffering from what one might call SHIELD-itis. There's a lot of build up but very little pay off. I hope there's some coming soon. This is getting tiresome.
I suppose with all the hype about the theatrical Suicide Squad movie coming out in the summer of 2016, it may have been time for the team's return on "Arrow," and what better timing than crashing the wedding of Diggle and Lyla, right?
The wedding is rather rushed, and awkward, as Ray Palmer (apparently a minister (!) "long story") is the officiant. Ray is Felicity's date, Nyssa is training Laurel, and due to R'as Al Ghul's masquerade, the Arrow is wanted by the police. It's from this background that Diggle and Lyla leave for their honeymoon, or do they?
The couple is needed to lead the Suicide Squad on a mission into Kaznia to rescue a corrupt US Senator. Kaznia, alternately spelled Kasnia, actually has a long history with DC Comics characters, but not in the comics, in the DC Animated Universe. The unstable Eastern European nation has featured in both the "Batman" and "Superman" animated series, was nearly taken over by Vandal Savage in "Justice League," and was even shown to still exist in the future time of "Batman Beyond." Besides Diggle and Lyla, this Suicide Squad also includes old favorite Deadshot and the still delusional Cupid.
Meanwhile back in Starling City, Oliver discovers it's not just one Arrow imposter, but several, including old friend Maseo. And Iron Man, ahem, I mean the Atom has discovered that the Arrow is actually Oliver Queen. This makes Ray's relationship with Felicity a bit dicey. And with Oliver as well. But once Ray has that one piece of information, the connections of all of Team Arrow fall neatly into place.
In lieu of Flashback Island and/or Hong Kong this episode, we look into Deadshot's past. His is a tragic story, and had he not died in this episode, this would have made an intriguing backdoor pilot. And really, with "The Flash," "Supergirl," "Vixen" and the untitled pilot with Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Hawkgirl, Rip Hunter, etc. (is "iZombie" part of this? I know it was published by DC Comics, but is it in continuity?) - might this be spreading things too thin?
The shame of this episode is that the titular plot, along with Deadshot's origin story, falls far short of being as interesting as the seeming subplot of Ray vs. Arrow. The fight between Arrow and Arsenal, and X-0 Man of War, um, I mean the Atom is very cool, and far too brief. I wanted more. No, what I really wanted was the Atom, not the A.T.O.M. or some armored hero rip-off. Give me the Atom, or don't bother calling the character that.
The senator in Kaznia is of note, as Joseph Cray was a particularly nasty bad guy in the Suicide Squad comic series, and his son Adam was one of the men who called himself the Atom over the years.
Next: With the mayor killed by an arrow, and Felicity in Maseo's sights, Team Arrow have become public enemies!
