Jessie Robertson reviews the thirteenth episode of Arrow season 3…
Let’s start with Ollie and Thea; when Season one kicked off, the bond was really fractured between them quickly, as Ollie, even though he’s been gone, only saw himself as her big brother, protector and policeman. In that time, their relationship evolved back into loving siblings to untrusting back to being close again. It’s been a dynamic relationship with the undertone that Ollie had kept this huge secret from the one person whom he knew was not ready,nor may ever be ready. Merlyn shows up, drops one or two lines about how Oliver needs to do this massive thing he’s been avoiding, flat out refusing, then disappears into the dark. The Oliver that went to Nanda Parbat would have never agreed to this and told Merlyn to get bent. The Oliver that has returned is finding out he has to change in more than just getting a second chance in life. It’s time to let others call the shots and for him to heed advice. Typically, Diggle or maybe Felicity would break through his stone exterior and get some words of good conscience to him but now, Merlyn, and later Roy and Laurel stand up to him, all for the right reasons and this time, Oliver listens. I was waiting for Thea to immediately blow up on him; yet, we find her a changed woman too, as instead of looking at this reveal selfishly, from her own point of view of being lied to all these years, she instead thanks Oliver for all the people he’s helped and the good he’s done. You couldn’t have asked for that moment to go better and be better scripted than that. This was extremely well done.
The other major character who went through a dramatic whirlpool this week was Laurel. Her evolution through the show has also been a rocky one; from being an untrusting, vibrant, beautiful scorned woman in Season One who still loved Oliver, to an injured, dark depressing mess in Season Two, to now finding her own inner strength, strangely, mostly from Sara’s passing and using the same engine Oliver did by being the Arrow to place that anger and grief into something else; but as Felicity states, Laurel’s not wearing a mask to hide herself and her transgressions like Sara did; she’s doing it to honor her sister, and the things she did and stood for while donning that mask and jacket. There’s been major character overhauls for Laurel this season, and I think they’re paying off. Oliver’s speech to her about her being an addict and she always will be, for his part, is true; once an addict, always one; but I still contend, was she? Addicts in real life, that are close family members, didn’t just snap out of it in a matter of months after a few meetings, like it was portrayed Laurel did; they struggle and cheat and lie and steal and miss major occasions, even things like the births of their own children don’t wake people up in that state. So, maybe some others can chime in, I saw Laurel as having a problem, no doubt, but I don’t care for the addict label Oliver paints her with. The fighting Sara thing was a gimmick; obvious from the first second the show opened but it’s effective in its own right as every viewer watching the show is thinking the same thing. Laurel’s a pretender, she’s nowhere near the solider Sara was, so it all works to put her through that journey. Zytle (whom I just call Vertigo) was the perfect non-essential bad guy of the week to lay out this story, but it’s a shame Peter Stormare didn’t get anything of worth to work with.
The other major reveal this week was finally letting Lance learn that Sara is in fact gone. I thought he was going to get there on his own, when he questions Laurel at her office, but this may have been one of those things that he just wouldn’t let his own brain accept, or find in the details. When Laurel attempts to get it out, it’s evident, and his reaction is immediate, giving me the idea that not so much that he knew it was true, but that the thought was always on the tip of his mind because of Sara’s lifestyle. It’s a tough emotional moment, lived in and raw and it’s a long time coming. Lance is just like Diggle, where there really strong characters with good actors, we just don’t see them enough and especially in Season 3, they haven’t had a chance to shine. I’m very curious to see where it goes from here.
This was an episode that looked fairly innocuous on the surface, but had some major confessions to get out of the way, things that have been building for some time, and I think it opens the doorway for what’s to come the rest of the season. A very solid, powerful show this week.
Other notes:
– So, Thea got some! But at least an end as come for the lame DJ character.
– Now that Thea knows the truth about Oliver, and Roy, is she going to apologize to him for being so harsh on him when he was trying to do the right thing during the Undertaking? They had plenty of moments together; and Roy has shown he’s matured to, because instead of being jealous of Thea hooking up with another guy, he came to her rescue.
– Seeing Sara in action tonight (even if it was a hallucination) really made me miss Caty Loitz on this show.
– Zytle took over the scientists working at Daggett Pharmaceuticals; any Batman Animated Series fans perk up? Roland Daggett is largely responsible for the creation of mucky Batman baddie Clayface. I kept waiting to see if anyone was left behind in that factory explosion…
– I know we saw it before with Oliver and Sara, but I still loved the shot of the Arrow and the Canary together near the end.
– Hold the phone; Oliver was in Starling City during his exile? This better be good!
Jessie Robertson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E&v=qqtW2LRPtQY&feature=player_embedded
Originally published February 12, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
