Jessie Robertson reviews the tenth episode of Arrow season 5…
(Since last December) Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Laurel’s back!!!!!!
(Now January) How did I not see this coming??? It’s not really Laurel. But, guess what? It doesn’t really matter because Arrow still makes it into a compelling episode. ‘Who are you?’ is such a great title and I’m honestly surprised this show hasn’t used it before; where once Arrow was known as the show where all the good guys fake their deaths or either die and come back, has now turned back into a gritty crime vigilante show with crazy fight scene choreography and great character interaction. Who are You? is a question Oliver Queen turns back to time and time again, so in a world with doppelgänger and alternate Earths, it’s only natural for him to revert back to that question; Oliver is a visceral man, of simple truths, and when he sees Laurel, even though he watched her die, some part of him still believes it’s Laurel, despite every action she takes. There are some great interactions between Oliver and Laurel-2, and Oliver and Felicity, where you know, as the audience, there’s no way Laurel-2 takes any of what Oliver wants and hopes to believe to be true, and Felicity knows it the whole time, but here’s good old Ollie, trying to believe in people. This show has changed so much, not always for the better, but the headspace our fearless leader is in right now is pretty darn entertaining version.
To expound upon my earlier words, I see this show as broken into 3 phases: Ollicity phase (where Felicity and Oliver seemed destined to get together), Domesticed Ollicity (where they got together and it was the worst thing ever) and now it’s Ollie and Felicity, divorced couple. Phases 1 and 3 where these two characters are not bound to each other, in our common, digestible version, are tremendous; it gave so much credence when Rene tells Curtis “Mom and Dad are fighting upstairs” because it’s like they are a divorced couple now but it is just as good, the energy is just as palpable as when they had so much sexual friction between them in seasons 1 & 2; but now, there’s history, tons of it, and all dirty and controversial and confusing because you know they still love each other deeply, in a place they can’t always access or want to. There are layers here, people! Quit hating on this show! (especially if you haven’t seen it lately and are using a stale opinion from s3!)
Lots happened tonight; Diggle and now Adrian Chase have been dragged into a military espionage tale with so much legal jargon I keep expecting to slapped in the face with a John Grisham novel; Curtis has come to the realization he’s not good at fighting, despite whatever Olympic medal he has and should be making tech (we’ve been screaming for that one since he started trying to fight!) and freakin Talia al Ghul has shown up in Russia! We’re running on all cylinders as the hunt for a new Canary starts next week.
8.5/10- I’m so, so glad that wasn’t really Laurel; it was as plain as the nose on our faces and I just didn’t think Black Siren would be back.
Other Notes:
– Even in Flashbacks, Laurel was the center of attention (and awesome blood makeup effects on Oliver this week)
– Curtis’ frightening thought about his doppleganger ” What if I’m straight?”
– The Canary statue goes down again
– It was a memorable punch
– (Correction): In my last article, of the mid-season break, I totally missed the angle where Prometheus staged Billy inside his costume only at the last section of the fight, so please, forgive and disregard my long unwarranted rant.
Jessie Robertson
Originally published January 26, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
