Arrow S03 E12: "Uprising"

Brick is now in control of The Glades, which is no longer under police surveillance. We open on Arsenal trying to rescue a diner from paying protection to the crime boss. We have two great references here as a baddie mistakes Roy for the red blur seen over in "The Flash," then we have the oh so rare use of the word 'superhero' in this series. The spandex set is catching on in the Arrowverse.

The baddies get the better of Arsenal and Laurel as the Black Canary/Canary comes to the rescue. She's fighting considerably better than she was in the last episode, and Ted Grant is even given props. It's nice to see Bex Taylor-Klaus as Sin again, but unbelievable that she mistakes Laurel for Sara. And Quentin knows Roy immediately but can't tell his daughters apart?? Seriously I know I ranted about this before, but this is getting ridiculous.

Sara and Laurel are two completely different body types, one short and curvy with believable blonde hair, and the other tall and lean with a bad wig. No one, unless at a major distance, would mistake one for the other, especially family and friends. If this situation of the two Canaries was always intended to happen, which it's been indicated it was, the two actresses cast in the sisters' roles should have resembled each other more. This confusion of the two is stretching my suspension of belief a bit. And yes, I see the irony. I'm okay with a man who can run at the speed of sound, but this is too much. Sue me.

I know that John Barrowman has signed on as a cast regular but more and more it feels like the writers are having a hard time finding things for him to do. Having Brick be the murderer of his wife seems like a stretch to have him team up with Team Arrow in Oliver's absence. And when is Felicity going to beef up security so Merlyn can't keep walking into the Arrowcave? Maybe she could find his bug as well. Too much Atom and not enough Arrow in her life I suspect.

In line with giving Barrowman more of a spotlight, we get the secret origin of Merlyn the Magician, Flashback Island style. I'm sorry, I love Captain Jack as much as the next fanboy, but I'm not sympathizing. Keep the villains villains, and Merlyn works much better as a super-villain adversary than a sympathetic anti-hero. I love him, but it might be time for my favorite Time Agent to take a powder.

The street fight revolution suggested by the episode's title is just absurd. Team Arrow rallies the citizens of The Glades, including Sin and Wildcat (!), to rise up and take back their neighborhood from Brick. First, why would Team Arrow do something as irresponsible as endanger the lives of innocents? And we see people on both sides of the fight with guns, so why is no one shooting? It's all brawling. I could swear some on Brick's side had machine guns - why aren't they mowing people down?

Things have been sloppy on this show for a while, and they don't seem to be getting better. The back and forth state of Ollicity is only a symptom of the real problem. The powers that be are being sloppy with the characters, the stories, and the details. I really hope it gets better before it gets worse.

Questions brought up by this episode - When is Thea going to just stop believing everyone at face value? Why don't both Roy and Thea question the knowledge that they know the other really shouldn't have? Wouldn't Felicity already have everything the police have on Brick, and more? And as much as I love Vinnie Jones, why wasn't an African-American actor chosen to play African-American super-villain Brick?

Next: Vertigo, and Canary vs. Canary.



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Arrow S03 E06: "Guilty"

At first glance there seems to be a bit of a bait and switch here with this episode titled "Guilty." Our cliffhanger last time had Roy remembering a very realistic dream in which he killed Sara by physically throwing arrows at her. It's either some mental and physical residue from the Mirakuru, or some sort of induced dream. Based on the 'previously on "Arrow"' opening, I'm going to guess the former, but still it seems like the title implies a completely different storyline.

At least Roy is aware that the Mirakuru might be back and behind this. At least he's getting smarter as time goes by, unlike certain archers we could mention. Roy and Felicity have some good moments this episode as He comes clean with her about his fears and his dreams, highlights for both actors. Emily Bett Rickards is always good, but this time Colton Haynes matches her. Calm shock follows when Roy tells the rest of Team Arrow he thinks he killed Sara.

In Flashback Hong Kong, the mystery origins of China White, and Katana for that matter, continue. I had to laugh out loud when Maseo tells Oliver he has to work on his patience, something he's obviously made zero progress on in the intervening seven years. Katana does not like Oliver one bit, but tries to help him with his patience and memory. I have to wonder if this animosity will continue when and if she encounters Arrow in the present.

I have always loved the character of Wildcat from my first exposure in the old JLA/JSA team-ups to his Brave and the Bold appearances to finally reading his Golden Age stories in Sensation Comics. Despite the younger age of our Wildcat here, I am digging J.R. Ramirez as Ted Grant. I like his performance, his almost sensei like down to earth advice and training, and just the idea of a young Ted Grant in the present day. Hey DC Comics, this is the kind of refreshing new spin you should be shooting for if you bring Wildcat into the New 52. I also loved to shout out early in the episode to Irwin Hasen, the creator of Wildcat.

Laurel is training with Ted, they go to dinner and when they return, there's a dead guy strung up in the gym just like the guys in Arrow's latest case. It doesn't look good, but Ted has Laurel as an alibi. Oliver is neither pleased with Laurel's involvement here nor her being trained by Grant. She's becoming Black Canary whether he wants her to or not - we've all seen the costume online with the bad wig and no fishnets. Why can't she just wear Sara's outfit?

Ted and Arrow's first combat is awesome, his revelation that he was once a vigilante is even cooler, but the unintended accidental invention of the boxing glove arrow is the best. The idea that Ted was a vigilante six years ago until an accident retired him is intriguing. Sara was only active a short time as well. Over in "The Flash," a possible future indicates a ten-year career. In the Arrowverse is the turnover in heroes that short? Is a decade maybe a long term career? This could be an interesting precedent, how long does Arrow have with his dangerous lifestyle?

Speaking of dangerous, the current case and main story of the episode brings home the theme of the subplot. It was Ted's vigilante sidekick who's framing him now, vultures coming home to roost. If Oliver cuts Roy loose for killing Sara, will it come back to haunt him years later like it did for Ted? That said, the sidekick vs. sidekick fight was pretty cool. And I liked that the Arsenal name is finally out on the table.

Rather than actually tying up the loose ends of this episode in a nice tidy bundle, it ties them up into a knot of confusion. Did Roy kill Sara, or was it just a flashback to the murder he actually did commit? My bet is the latter, but if so, why does it seem the arrows were thrown? And what does Cupid want with Ted's ex-sidekick? And did she kill him?

Next: Cupid!

Arrow S03 E03: "Corto Maltese"

Corto Maltese was originally the name of a late sixties European comics series by Italian creator Hugo Pratt about a sailor adventurer named Corto Maltese. Writer/artist Frank Miller liked it so much he used the name for an embattled South American island nation in his classic The Dark Knight Returns. Later in homage to that, it appears in the photography of Vicki Vale in 1989's Batman film. It was later brought into the DC Universe proper and was even mentioned on TV's "Smallville."

In the Arrowverse, Corto Maltese was first brought up waaay back in the first season episode "Lone Gunmen" as a place Deadshot was operating. Here, it is where Malcolm Merlyn has brought Thea Queen for training. Oliver is obsessed with finding her and is off to Corto Maltese, with Roy and Diggle in tow. Diggle has a second mission while he's down there however, checking on an operative named Mark Shaw who had gone dark.

Yes, the DCU is alive and well in this episode of "Arrow." Mark Shaw is just one of the people who has gone under the name Manhunter. Another would be Kate Spencer, who, still alive and active as Manhunter in the comics, died at the hands of one of Deathstroke's soldiers in last season's "Streets of Fire." Here Mark Shaw is not quite as heroic as in the comics, and ambushes Diggle. Anyone who knows Shaw's earlier Star Tsar and Privateer background, this shouldn't be a surprise.

While Diggle and Oliver are off playing spy with Mark Shaw, Roy does what they actually came to Corto Maltese for, he talks to Thea. He seems to get through to a little, but then Oliver tries his brand of pseudo-truth, which of course he tells her everything but. Just when you think Oliver has changed, has learned something... it becomes apparent he's the same guy he was years ago.

We also meet a very young Ted Grant, better known in the comics as Wildcat, Golden Age superhero and Justice Society member. Notably he taught many heroes to fight including Batman, Catwoman, and yeah, the Black Canary. Laurel comes to his boxing gym looking for a Tom Bronson, who in the comics is his son, his namesake, and a were-panther... but I don't think we're going there... Where we are going should be obvious however, Laurel will at last become the Black Canary.

Thea's training seems awful Batman-ish, but what can you do. John Barrowman is the perfect melding of father, mentor, and sociopath as Malcolm Merlyn, it is hard to dislike him. I want him to be Captain Jack, but I'm relishing him as Malcolm. In a nod to the comics, and the second Speedy, Thea is called Mia. Finally. I like it.

Shaw is making a deal with the ARGUS intel he stole with a man named Armitage. Sharp viewers will remember that Armitage supplied Malcolm Merlyn with the Markov device back in "Tremors." I love that Oliver was able to fashion bows and arrows from stuff in their hotel room. I wonder how much they'll be charging his credit card?

In the end, we get no real resolution to the Mark Shaw storyline. Does he go free? Go to jail? Extradited to ARGUS? If the answer was there, I missed it. Thea comes home with the boys, but Malcolm says he'll see her soon. Felicity takes some time off to go over to "The Flash" this past week, and Ray Palmer discovers Queen Consolidated was making high tech weapons. Laurel begins her training with Ted Grant after Oliver refuses to help her. And Nyssa drops by the Arrowcave looking for Sara.

Other DC Comics references include the executive assistant Ray Palmer assigns to Felicity, Jerry Conway. Gerry Conway was the creator of Firestorm, a character and comic that both "Arrow" and "The Flash" reference constantly, and also longtime writer of Justice League of America, a comic that regularly featured Green Arrow, Black Canary, and the Atom. There's also Coast City, home city of Green Lantern and Ferris Aircraft.

Next: The Magician!