Jessie Robertson reviews the sixteenth episode of Arrow season 3…
Arrow returns with a perfectly fine episode designed to sort of set things back onto a course to follow for the rest of the year. When last seen, Oliver was given an “Offer” (hence the title) to become the next Ra’s al Ghul. He was given the grand tour of Nanda Parbat, given lavish food, shown the soldiers at his expense, but as he put it “Is this meant to impress me?” Obviously it didn’t. In the end, he was able to barter back through Ra’s goodwill a beaten (but living) Malcolm Merlyn and Diggle. Ra’s lays on the act of this being an opportunity, a privilege but Oliver only sees things in black and white. He is good, Ra’s is bad; it’s only until Ra’s brings up Oliver’s own murderous streak, and how he struggles to fight the duality of himself, both as Oliver (who let’s face it, doesn’t have much going on) and the Arrow. It lays the groundwork to tease even the possibility that Oliver is considering this offer, especially since when he returns to Starling City, Det. (sorry, that’s Captain) Lance rebukes him and his efforts for making the mistake of not telling him the truth about Sara. And Lance is back y’all! I’ve loved his character since Season One so it’s great to see him back in a more prominent role going forward.
Most episodes, when we follow Oliver, we see him wander back and forth from Thea’s, to Verdant to busting bad guys. The monotonous route is broken up by a visit to Palmer Technologies where the new is broken that Felicity has moved on and Oliver acknowledges it as a sore point later to Diggle, but to his credit, he doesn’t flip-flop and suddenly let Felicity know he can’t live without her (see Iris West from Flash). Plus, Felicity and Ray are great together and bring a different dichotomy to an otherwise grim and gritty mood. I also like that Felicity tells Oliver point blank, just because she and Ray are a thing doesn’t change her commitment to what they are doing. Again, she’s the voice of reason, who says things to Oliver that no one else either will or can, as he questions his motives. Perhaps he speaks to her (or John tells her about the offer) precisely for that reason; they all have their roles on the show and the original three are much more closely intertwined at this point. Oliver’s brash and charismatic smile when he’s describing how serious he takes his duty to protect the citizens, the police and his friends makes us wonder how we ever thought he would become the next Ra’s in the first place.
The women of Arrow have a tough week emotionally and are all suffering from Daddy issues. Hell, Thea’s Dad tries to convince her to slit his throat! Thea’s dark words to Oliver that something is now broken inside of her that can’t ever change have to ring hard to Oliver, who endured longer suffering and stress from his ordeals than Thea did. Yes, I know, she was mind controlled into killing Sara, but I dare say she will kill many more people moving forward. It’s nice to have a Thea who’s more than just a prissy princess with a bad streak; but she’s in danger of going into Laurel self-loathing territory. I think her running back into Roy’s arms could prevent that. Speaking of Laurel, her Dad unequivocally tells her he has tried and tried but knows he won’t be able to forgive her for her deceit. That’s a tough cookie to swallow. Katie Cassidy and Paul Blackthorne have a great report that feels natural as father and daughter and it pays off the longer they work together. Then, we get nice girl Nyssa (well, to be fair, she did just shred some baddies into ribbons moments before) back to girl-talk with Laurel after a falling out with her Demon’s Head Dad? I wasn’t quite sure what was going on but I guess she’s in a self-imposed/subtly commanded exile from the League? But it looks like Laurel will benefit as she has a new trainer.
I liked the episode this week and am glad to see Ra’s in a more pronounced role moving forward; It’s cool to see some of the trickery behind the League, as Ra’s takes his prophetic words into his own hands as the episode ends.
Other Notes:
– We get to see the Lazarus Pit- twice! I am starting to like the contrast between supernatural with Arrow and science fiction on Flash.
– 2 out of every 3 costumed vigilante or assassins agree: Laurel needs more training!
– Felicity’s argument against Oliver becoming the next head of the League of Assassins: “That is not the name of a nice group”
– Our flashbacks are going nowhere and not fast; although, Shado’s alive?
– Our baddie of the week is Murmur, a Flash villain from the comics who sews his own mouth shut so he can’t incriminate himself. It’s never said but I’m guessing Lance is the one that beat his confession out of him?
– We get a bit closer to finding out exactly how Oliver came back from the dead. As Ra’s puts it, “through sheer force of will” which Oliver sort of denies but not heartily.
Jessie Robertson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONsp_bmDYXc&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&feature=player_embedded
Originally published March 19, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
