Jessie Robertson reviews the penultimate episode of Arrow season 2…
We’re one episode away from the season finale and holy cow do they have a lot of irons in the fire. Let’s recap what went down this week on Arrow:
SPOILERS- SPOILERS- SPOILERS (ad nauseum)
This was a big week for Laurel Lance; she got one step closer to the super-hero gig as she needed to wield Ollie’s bow to blast through the debris that had seperated them and she nailed it. Then as the Arrow group formulated their plans, Laurel told Ollie “She didn’t need him; the city does.” So we’re seeing her strength and confidence rebuilding all through the season, which is nice as she was a character I felt was one of the weaker elements at the beginning of the year. She runs into Sara when a Mirakuru-thug was after her. What made Sara come back? No explanation given but they had a really nice moment between them where again, Laurel goes out of her way to give Sara the encouragement she needs to continue; it leads to a short Lance family reunion where the Canary (as Laurel proclaims to a grateful citizen) rescues a child from a burning building. Sara then does her best Clark Kent and shows up as normal gee-golly Sara Lance at the police station. I still think she bites it in the finale.
Another signifigant scene that has been building up (for far too long perhaps) was Lance senior not only vouching for the Arrow (even corrected his superior when he referred to him as the “Vigilante”) but putting the police at his disposal in a complete show of trust and partnership. Very Jim Gordon of him.
The Arrow group meanwhile had several trials and tribulations this week and while we got a heavily self-doubting Ollie and a sort of there Diggle, Felicity once again shines as a standout character. Maybe her best moment ever was running down Ravager-Lite Isabel with a van! Great timing on that one. She also gives Ollie words pulled from deep inside the center of her heart, by declaring almost something more important than love for him, but complete inspiration for what he’s done. Then they share a look and she goes in for the hug, and not the kiss. Very interesting moment; I think she felt like at that moment the kiss would have been counter-intuitive, which you never, ever see in any film or TV. I thought that one small detail was superbly written and in complete touch with the show.
This was also an important episode for Sebastian Blood, mayor of a burning city. He reassures his staff (including DA Kate Spencer who I just noticed last night, or Manhunter for comic fans) that everything will be fine and he will lead them through this. But he realizes quickly that Oliver was right and Slade only cares about exacting his revenge. He tells Blood Starling City will only be good for one thing tomorrow night: Graves. Blood has a change of heart, and steals the recently developed cure that Star Labs has been working on for the Mirakuru and delivers it to Ollie. He gives an empassioned speech about his bad childhood and trying to rise up, but it falls on deaf ears to Ollie, especially while that creepy mask resides on the desk. Blood meets his demise only moments later by Isabel and two swords through his chest; I was deeply concerned that he didn’t see that coming though; Slade has buried half the city and Blood completely messes up part of his plan and he thinks he’ll still be Mayor? Not the brightest crayon in the box. Looks like Starling City is light on mayoral candidates again. Could Ollie be running? Where have we heard that before?
Before Blood dies on his mahogany desk, he does impart one piece of knowledge on Oliver. Slade has deemed one more person will die, that we know, but it will be “the person Ollie loves the most.” Another clue it could potentially be Sara, although a swerve would be Laurel.
Two more important story points as we move to the finale: Merlyn is back! He tracks down Thea and saves her from one of Slade’s thugs but she wants nothing to do with him. In fact the episode ends as he saves her life and then Thea is shown firing a gun in his direction. Even if she shot him (which I don’t think she did) he’s been through worse. This could be one of the major developments of next season is these two’s relationship. And it turns out Amanda Waller has dispatched a massive military operation to contain Starling City until dawn when she has a missile strike landing on the city, turning it into ashes. So, throw one more catastrophic circumstance on Oliver’s plate.
That’s it for this week’s episode, not as strong as the last two but it’s supposed to be setup for the finale which feels like it should be 2 hours with all the story threads to tie up.
Jessie Robertson
Originally published May 8, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
