Jessie Robertson reviews the penultimate episode of Arrow…
So, The Green Arrow, Oliver Queen, is dead. Twice, actually. Yet, we have two episodes of his season left? What could happen next?
Well, tonight’s penultimate episode of Arrow is essentially a pilot for another show, an extension of the Arrowverse itself. We find ourselves in the year 2040 – a new 2040 timeline where Laurel (still Earth 2 Laurel) has been dropped off by her sister Sara to stop the decline of Star City. At this point, it’s been crime free for 20 years but the kidnapping of Bianca Bertenelli will set off a chain of events that will put the city back in peril. She recruits Dinah, who woke up in this year, having been completely forgotten in her own time, and eventually Mia Queen. This is a different Mia Queen though; she’s Star City’s socialite, having just graduated college and gotten engaged to J.J. (whom you may remember from the future episodes of last season as the new Deathstroke). Laurel, with a device created by Cisco imbued with Martian Manhunter’s ability to make people remember the world before Crisis, activates Mia’s memories of that past life and it turns her world upside down.
From there, the plot thickens as Mia’s memories flooding back as they try to track down her friend cloud her judgement and she accuses her fiancée of being the person she remembered in the past. She does find the skills and vows to help these ladies complete their mission and find her and save the city.
As far as an episode, it’s hard to judge as the story is so out of left field so I am looking at it more like a pilot. As a pilot, this show, despite having familiar characters, has a very cool energy to it. It feels like the TV version of Birds of Prey, from the dialogue, the hip music and the fashion, all set in a somewhat futuristic setting of 20 years in the future, all blend together into a very fun show with it’s own unique vibe. There’s also multiple scenes featuring that trademark Arrow action, with a massive explosion of a whole building and bad guys being dumped off balconies; this show has a little bit of everything.
The characters are also just slight variations on who they already were, another after effect of Crisis, which I love. Mia’s edges have been softened; she’s still a dynamic performer as far as fighting scenes and choreography, but she’s not quite as Oliver in season 1. Dinah is way more chill and more of a tech guru as well. And Laurel is kind of the new optimist- a sarcastic one, but a hopeful hero who understands the rigors and perils of the job.
Rating – 8.5/10 – These girls kick butt- and infuse a new style different from all the other CW shows, which with the roster they have, that’s pretty hard to do. There could be a future here.
Jessie Robertson
