Jessie Robertson reviews the eleventh episode of Arrow season 3…
Alright hardcore Arrow fans, prepare to lynch me: I’m really digging Laurel now. All the crying, sudden motivational and character mood swings, it’s all lead up to this: her falling on her leather-clad ass onto the back of a van.
No, but seriously, the dual roles she’s having to play as both herself and Sara (to her father and the city) is some really good stuff, my favorite of this week’s sort of “meh” episode. Along with just watching the dynamics of the Arrow team (minus Oliver) which is really super fun, Laurel as a character, who unlike most superheroes is not an extension of her secret identity, her identity is an extension of her self-inflicted guilt; she’s paying it forward in a black mask. I loved her interrogation scene; sure, a true hard nosed criminal isn’t falling for those tricks but it’s where she really shines. But, give her credit for diving through that window away from Brick- did not see that one coming.
This week, Brick gets the big bad guy treatment, storming into the Mayor’s office, kidnapping some Aldermen and claiming the Glades for his own. But, when you place Brick up next to characters like Malcolm Merlyn, Slade Wilson, he doesn’t have the heft and doesn’t bring the threat those characters did to the overall well being of Starling City. The Glades, sure, it seems it’s always been ripe for the pickings ever since it was destroyed; but I’m not feeling him as a criminal mastermind threat. His demand was to have no police in the Glades; he’s basically asking for his own community – this guy doesn’t have the strength or were-with-all to keep that going so this plot doesn’t hold water for me. And it’s not a good sign when Laurel is standing up to you in a fight, several times; threat level just isn’t peaking.
I want to touch on the B-crew running the show for a while; there’s a fun energy they’re providing, especially in fight scenes. This weeks with Arsenal and Canary taking on Brick’s thugs between the aisles of a dingy warehouse was choppy, dirty and felt like watching a real fight. I loved the look of that scene. Diggle seems to be taking on a fatherly role and Roy is really stepping up his game. Sort of makes up for him just being a dude doing flips all over the place the whole first part of this season. I’d also like to get to the meat of the Maseo-Tatsu story. It’s giving off this very tortured samurai love affair vibe, but I”m not sure that’s what we’re going to get. Time will tell.
Looks like by the previews , Ollie returns to Starling. I would have liked to have seen at least one more episode with Diggle and the gang running the show because it’s a new approach and I think there’s more to do there; but this week’s episode is still fun because it’s so fully steeped in it’s Arrow-ness, but nothing groundbreaking.
Other Notes:
– “They’re not lasers, they’re hard light beams.” Is Ray ready to be a vigilante? Don’t know but can’t wait to see those special effects.
– Ray was awfully visible whenever Brick showed up; got me to wondering, did they cover who killed Anna? Could it have been Brick?
– When Felicity basically tells Laurel she’s back in the hero biz, she tells Captain Lance the Canary will answer the call; I thought, that’s a cliffhanger? The fate of the city rests in Laurel’s hands?
– Just as food for thought: What does Layla think of Diggle keeping up his duties and is she clued into Oliver being dead? Another detail that leaves his character in the background when he could have been front and center of this story. For shame.
Jessie Robertson
Originally published January 30, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
