Jessie Robertson reviews the twentieth episode of Arrow Season 3…
Damn, anyone got a Smoak?
Besides, my awful sex pun, we got a completely (save for the flashback) straight forward episode where the whole crew was together for one purpose: to save Thea’s life. Much to my surprise, she actually survived Ra’s attack. I’m guessing he knew just how to insert the sword as to cause her permanent damage but not to kill her. I may have missed something, but did anyone realize it was Ra’s himself that did this? Why wasn’t anyone more upset with their hospitable guest? The only course of action is to take her to Nanda Parbat and put her in the healing waters of the Lazarus Pit. But as every good science-fiction fanboy knows, you can’t bring someone back from the dead and not expect them to be completely changed, as Malcolm warns Oliver. Oliver basically tells him to shut up and follow his instructions.
In case anyone doesn’t know (or even cares), this season’s crux of Oliver being groomed to take over the League is a play on a very famous Batman storyline involving Ra’s. It plays out in much the same way, with Ra’s seeing his equal in Batman (whom he only refers to as “Detective”) plus his daughter (not Nyssa, the comic daughter Talia) is already in love with as the perfect successor to the Ra’s title. Batman, of course, rebels and takes down Ra’s, to keep on being Batman. Here, Oliver has been backed into every corner you can find, and almost has no choice. So, he relents and Thea is granted a dip in the Pit. Her immersion is followed by a super jump-kick straight out of Street Fighter knocking Ollie on his ass. He was warned! Her other side effects are temporary memory loss, which gives Malcolm a much-needed Daddy moments. The episode sort of laments in a “going-in-for-major-surgery” way, as everyone is accepting of what has to come next , in their own Arrow-y way. Oliver, most of all, continues his confusion, not on what to do next, but what any of it has meant. This is quickly followed by a good old-fashioned “knocking of the boots” as they said in the 90’s. Yes, Oliver and Felicity get it on. They become….Ollicity, you might say. I’m sure many a fan swooned over this scene, as I frantically tried to rush my daughter out of the room. She’s only 7! And then, in a perfect Felicity- 3rd Wall moment, she utters, slinking around in a silk robe, “That just happened.”
For as many interesting beats as there were here, there was also 2 of the worst of the season in my opinion. First, is anyone else completely bored by the flashback Alpha-Omega scenes? I mean, the hot dog vendor is releasing the toxin, really? There’s an action scene where Oliver and the Yamashiros are chasing down a military vehicle that contains the Alpha-Omega (so they think) in a sportscar , and this car takes a hail of gunfire from 3 machine guns and the bullets just bounce off. Maseo sticks almost his full body out the window to fire back with a hand gun and is completely missed by every shot. Then Oliver, decides to jump on the hood and shoot, and again, not hit, until he flips over the car and latches onto the trunk, street-skating down the road until he gets back on top of the car. I know the “Dueling Moto-Crossers” was stupid, but this was like something out of a Fast & Furious movie, showing the level of mind-numbingly incredulous shit we’ve reached. Then, Felicity drugs Oliver. After they have sex, she drugs him with a powder which she’s really not sure how potent it is, to try and escape from Nanda Parbat with Oliver in tow. A huge escape plan is hatched, and as quickly as it goes down, it’s over brief moments later when Oliver utters his new League name in effigy, to prevent his friends from being slaughtered. I’m so glad Maseo risked his life to get them through the first hallway!
I’m interested in the ground we’re treading here, with Oliver fully Leagued-out as Al-Sahim, but the bad nearly outweighed the good for me here.
Other Notes:
– The opening scenes with a brutalized Thea being found by Oliver, and his and Malcom’s reaction were some very strong drama.
– Poor Ray Palmer- he relents of his relationship with Felicity, because, well, I don’t even have to say it. We may have seen the last of the goofy billionaire in an extended role for a bit.
– We find out when Diggle gives Maseo a dressing down about what he’s doing with his life that young Akio did unfortunately pass at some point. I’d been wondering about that.
– So, let me get this right: Ra’s pretty much tells Felicity to give Oliver some action right?
– Who was the strange woman performing Thea’s ritual above the Pit last night?
– In the flashbacks, I loved Tatsu getting information from that goon by threatening his junk with a sword! His throat was okay, but don’t cut off the Joy-Stick!
– Where does the Oliver- Felicity romance go from here? Respond below- en masse! Don’t be Afraid!
Jessie Robertson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&v=pnc360pUDRI
Originally published April 23, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
