Jessie Robertson reviews the twenty-first episode of Arrow Season 3…
So, Oliver’s been brainwashed. Well, as Merlyn put it, he doesn’t even know he’s been brainwashed. Which as a statement in itself, coupled with Oliver’s actions this episode, don’t make sense. How does this brainwashing occur? A montage! Yes, it’s a montage! Which is pretty much how Roy, Thea and to a lesser degree, Laurel, all received their training. (Side-note: I do enjoy the quick Laurel street fights we get from time to time). Conceptually, I loved how Oliver was portrayed, as a mindless goon with just the tiniest flicker of recognition. My problem is if this brainwashing occurs, how do you explain that Ra’s is a completely lucid character, remembering his ascension and his family he left behind, as is Maseo? Does the brainwashing wear off after a bit? Are the stronger assassins able to reclaim some of their former life? The explanation has problems; I hope, it isn’t just a device to use Oliver as a cold, killing machine for a few episodes. Then, it just becomes a gimmick. As part of his training, they go a long way to show that he has forgotten who he was, as he kills a man he believes to be Diggle (which would have left Felicity as the only original Team Arrow member not to have died) when in fact it was just part of his indoctrination. It was the willingness to kill this “Diggle” that was a bit scary.
Ra’s (ever tending to the rules of the League) says there are always rivals to determine who becomes the next Ra’s and Oliver must wipe his out, which just happens to be Nyssa, who at the moment is wearing breezy tops and dipping “more oil than potato” french fries into milkshakes with Laurel. It’s a fun fish out of water moment, but leads to Laurel’s admission that Oliver was taken which sends Nyssa into panic mode. She knows the rules apparently. There’s a back and forth between Oliver and his League recovery squad and what’s left of Team Arrow about “is Oliver changed?”, “should we hand over Nyssa?”, then “He has my wife, you’re League Ass is Grass!” Oliver taking Lyla as a hostage was interesting because it again, solidifies the opinion that he has been turned completely, not because he took her, but because HE LEFT A BABY BY ITSELF! No decent person would do that. It was good to get some emotion out of Diggle from these scenes because as central a role as he should have played this season, he’s been sort of mute throughout it. Team Arrow shows it’s not completely done without their fearless leader and I was surprised how easily Oliver fell for their deception. We get snippets of interesting fights between Nyssa and Maseo as well as Oliver and Diggle; when John is on his back, sliced up, it’s actually Thea who comes to the rescue, by putting an arrow through Oliver’s forearm.
This is a pretty linear episode, where Ra’s sits back and furthers his agenda, using Oliver as his pawn. Nyssa is recovered and it’s announced that instead of killing her to cement his place as the new Ra’s, instead, he will marry her (which from her reaction is not at all interesting to her.) It’s another note off the classic introduction of Ra’s in the comics, with again, Oliver taking the place of Bruce Wayne where Ra’s engineered a huge plot to have Batman marry his daughter, at that time, Talia. The episode ends with Felicity giving up the secret info that Roy is actually not dead and giving Thea his address so she can start a new life, presumably with him instead of staying there worried about Oliver.
This one felt very disjointed, with characters behaving differently than we’re used to; Oliver’s an easy one (again, if he switches back to normal in the finale, this was a gimmick, damn it!), Laurel’s the voice of reason, standing up for the morals the group was founded on (when’s she ever been the one making sense), Felicity’s telling Thea how she should feel about her own brother (I know they slept together once, but what ground is she standing on there?) and Merlyn’s being a supportive father (even if it is giving his daughter his favorite black hood and bow!) Let’s also analyze this: Is this what we wanted from a Ra’s al Ghul season? His and Oliver’s fight was pretty damn awesome, but since then, his crusade to turn Oliver into himself hasn’t set right with me; I know where the source material is coming from, and I think a lot of the execution was done fine, but where do we end up? 2 episodes away from the season finale and all I’m expecting is for Oliver to wake up, especially in light of his final test from Ra’s (more on that below), and kill the aging leader. Is that what we’re all expecting?
Other Notes:
– Arrow had a different opening sequence this week showing a definite change in who Oliver is
– Remember the rule in the Diggle house hold “No Glocks on the dinner table.” I also liked the 1-second shot of baby Sara when a Diggle costume was mentioned.
– I said it last week, I’ll say it again – the Alpha-Omega story is really bad! So, it happened. How would that not get out that some nut general poisoned a whole city?!?
– Buuut, it leads to Oliver’s ultimate test of conscience; Ra’s wants him to use the same bio-weapon on Starling City. Undertaking Part II.
– No one else may have seen this, but when Nyssa was shooting at Oliver on the rooftop, he simply jogged, no, no, no, trotted away from her shots. That looked awful.
– Another wink to the comics when Nyssa (filling in for Talia) calls someone her “beloved”, Talia’s pet name for Batman.
Jessie Robertson
https://youtu.be/pnc360pUDRI?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
Originally published April 30, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
