It's been far too long since my last post, and there are two reasons for that. 1) I've been quite busy the last month, so I haven't had much time to write. 2) For most of my shows, I don't watch them until the night after they air, so sometimes I feel like it's too late to write about them. However, I'm making an exception today because I watched Wednesday's episode of Arrow last night, and I thought it was a very strong episode and worth writing about.
First, I want to recommend this show to any of you who haven't been watching it. You don't need to be a comic book fan to enjoy it (although there are some nods to DC Comics, but those are irrelevant). Also, it's not your typical CW-style show. It has a darker tone and it isn't directed at teenage girls. It could easily be on any other broadcast network, and I would even go so far as to say it's better than some shows on the Big Four (CBS, FOX, NBC, and ABC). Arrow is a great story of a man correcting the wrongs of his father and starting a new life as an entirely different person after five years of solitude. Plus, the action sequences are brilliantly shot and choreographed. So I recommend at least giving it a shot.
This episode, titled "Legacies," really showcases the supporting characters, especially Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell). So far in the series, Tommy has mainly provided comic relief and given a glimpse of Oliver's life before the island. However, in this episode we see a deeper side to Tommy and that he has feelings for Laurel (Katie Cassidy). He tries to win her over, but we can tell that she has reservations because of her past with Oliver. This sets up what will likely become a love-triangle. Donnell and Cassidy played those scenes very well and we can see via their acting the complications of their relationship. Also, although Laurel is ultimately supposed to end up with Oliver (at least according to comic canon), we can't help but be sympathetic for Tommy thanks to Donnell's portrayal.
Another supporting character that has gotten more screen time lately is John Diggle (David Ramsey). He is now working with Oliver in his fight against corruption, and it is great that Oliver has someone in whom he can confide (it also gets rid of the need for the voiceover, which was my biggest complaint from the pilot). Ramsey is one of my favorite actors on the show and Diggle one of my favorite characters, so I'm glad he has a larger role. In this episode, Diggle convinces Oliver to stop the Royal Flush Gang, a family of bank robbers loosely based on a group of the same name from the comics. Oliver is reluctant because he wants to focus on the task given him by his father, to stop the corruption of Starling City's wealthy, and finds street crime a distraction from that task. However, Diggle is able to convince him that by stopping the Gang, he is still saving the city.
I really like this plot because it provides a nice deviation from the plots of the previous episodes, in which Oliver takes down a corrupt billionaire every week. By giving Oliver a different motivation, we see a different side to him. However, the father of the family was a former employee of Oliver's father and got laid off, which led to the life of crime of his family. I have a problem with this because Oliver was atoning for the sins of his father, which means that his motivation was not as selfless as I would have liked. That said, this episode provided a bridge to what will hopefully happen in the future: Oliver stopping street crime.
The only other thing I want to say is my one issue with this episode. I didn't completely buy the scene in which a drunk Thea (Willa Holland) throws herself into Tommy's arms. It wasn't really the scene itself that bothered me but rather Holland's acting at that moment. I thought her drunkenness was a bit overdone, which is a shame because I thought Holland did great in her other scenes, especially those with Donnell. I understand that this is part of the character, but I thought Holland just overdid it this time.
Other than that, I thought this was one of the strongest episodes so far. And that's saying a lot because I thought every episode has been good so far. The show is off to an excellent start and I look forward to the rest of the season.
A few minor notes:
-Tommy invites Laurel to Coast City, which is the hometown of Hal Jordan, AKA the Green Lantern.
-The burger joint seen a few times in the show, including the end of this episode, is called Big Belly Burger, and that is taken from the comics, where it is a well-known burger chain.
-We see Felicity Smoak again in this episode. I really like her character, and I hope that she too becomes part of Oliver's team as the tech expert.
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