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Arrow: Who Are You?

"I could get used to this newfound optimism of yours."

As a resolution to a cliffhanger, this worked pretty well. As an episode about Oliver's redemption, it worked even better.

This season has been about Oliver retreading ground he has already walked, but for real this time. After Tommy died, he vowed to be better, but it wasn't for himself. Changing behavior doesn't address the core problem with Oliver, though, which is his belief that he is truly the monster and nothing he can ever do will redeem that part of his soul.

Except everything around him is trying to show him differently. A doppelganger from another universe shows up, giving him a chance to believe in redemption again. Sure, it may be impossible to fix whatever Black Siren's problems are, but it's an intriguing problem to solve. If Oliver can focus on trying to save someone who is clearly unwilling or unable to face the light, maybe that'll help fix his own inner darkness.

It is this kind of story that will heal the rift between Oliver and Felicity in perhaps a more organic way. The break up could have some layers (beyond the utter nonsense of why they broke up in the first place), that goes to the heart of both characters. It seems that both of them need to fix something that is broken inside them before they can find their way back to each other. If that's the case, I'm on board.

In a kind of parallel story, Curtis struggled with his own place on the team. As the least effective fighter, he is constantly getting hurt and beaten, which is forcing him to doubt the most important decision he's ever made. He let his husband go to pursue being a vigilante, because he knew it was his calling. So having him go through this crisis was a good character choice, and reinforced the idea that he's more valuable as a technology expert than a fighter.

Wild Dog also got some important character growth, as both a part of the team and as someone who clearly needs a friend. While Rene is a loner, there's a part of him that is desperate to find a place, a pack (to use a dog metaphor). The layers we could see in his conversations with Curtis made me like him even more than I did already.

I'm not sure where they are going with the Diggle plot at all. The corrupt General using his power to try and move Diggle to a federal prison (and kill him) was okay as a plot device, and giving the DA something to do was good (even if we still don't know why the character is important yet). It just didn't feel as tense as the writers probably intended it to be because we knew there was no real danger of a central character like Diggle dying that way.

Flashback:

At first I was underwhelmed by the flashback this week, since it was another parallel situation where Oliver gets tortured and learns about the lesson of the week. But then we were introduced to the new player that has been lurking in the shadows (at least in comic fan's minds) since Nyssa Al Ghul was introduced. The fact that Talia is starting as a flashback character adds yet another lie to Oliver's ever-growing list of things he omitted to tell his team. It also changes the flashback rules by bringing one of the more interesting characters in comic history into the fold.

Bits:

Lexa Doig (Continuum, Andromeda) is playing Talia Al Ghul. I've always liked this actress, and I hope we get a return of Nyssa so we can see the sisters interact.

The tease at the end was interesting: a woman that has the sonic scream power and is already acting as a protector of women fits the Canary persona pretty well. I'm curious if she will be the ultimate choice, or is she just the first of many characters that will don the mantle of the Black Canary?

I wonder if the choice to keep Laurel's double close is a way of bringing her back in a limited fashion, perhaps as Katie Cassidy's schedule allows?

Quotes:

Rory: "I guess spontaneous resurrection is as good as any reason for a party."

Oliver: "The Lance sisters have a habit of coming back to life."

Rory: "You know, there's looking a gift horse in the mouth, and then there's..."
Felicity: "Being driven by paranoid delusions to run comparisons on genetic base pairs? Yes, I'm aware, thank you."

Rene: "So that Laurel is from an alternate reality?"
Curtis: "Technically she's from a parallel universe. We're on Earth-1. The look-a-like Laurel is from another Earth, Earth-2. Over there we all have doppelganger versions of ourselves that could be very similar or incredibly different based on an infinite amount of variables. I'd love to see what I'm like on Earth-2. (pause) Oh god, what if I'm straight?"

Felicity: "We are gonna put Black Siren back in her cage."
Rory: "Black Siren?"
Felicity: "Every meta gets a nickname."

I liked this one. It dealt with some important themes and shed some light on some of the more frustrating aspects of the recent character writing choices.

3 out of 4 canary cries.
---
Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.

4 comments:

  1. I enjoy Arrow but I tend to be lukewarm about it. What I really liked about this one wasn't just Oliver trying again for redemption and Felicity asserting her own authority (and punching alt-Laurel), but as you mentioned, Rene helping Curtis with his grief over losing Paul and his debilitating inferiority complex. I also started liking the District Attorney Adrian Chase for the first time as he figured out how to save Diggle.

    Just as an aside, how does Curtis get his hair into Mr. Terrific mode so quickly? That always bugs me.

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  2. There is no rift with Felicity...They are just no together...And work much the better for it. That relationship is the biggest reason this show is not as great as it was.(Still good though)
    The relationship was sweet and they have undeniable chemistry...But making a character who is not even part of Green Arrow lore have so much importance was a mistake..It shifted all the shows dynamics and relationships and Black Canary eventually payed the price...That is the equivalent of taking Lois lane out of the equation for Superman and replacing her with a random.
    They replaced Green Arrows main female relationships (Huntress, Black Canary)...I understand the need for adaption and not always sticking to the source material for absolutely everything but some things should be cement and imo that was one of them.

    I have braids and it officially takes an hour and that's doing a rush job. I laugh everytime i see Curtis for that alone.
    Renee is growing on me..I think the guy that plays him is a good actor because the role is cliche as hell..He was good in Coach Carter and Reaper.

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  3. I'm so glad that it was Black Siren and not more of bringing back the dead. Now I really want Earth-2 Laurel to join the Legion of Doom for some sister on sister conflict.

    There is also the question of who is Prometheus because he knows too much about the Waverider to be just a son of some random Hood victim.

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  4. I would have to disagree with Anonymous on this one.
    I LOVE Black Canary and Green Arrow as couple in the comics, but I LOVE Felicity and Oliver Queen as a couple in the TV show. There are so many differences between the show and comic at this point that I don't think comic book BC/GA are a reason to break up Felicity/Oliver on the show. What works in one medium doesn't necessarily work in another. I'm sure there will be many Katie Cassidy defenders, but I think she is just barely coming into some good acting this season. I much prefer the Felicity/Oliver dynamic and chemistry and only hope their breakup is resolved quickly and they get back together. P.S. I feel their relationship has been foreshadowed since Felicity was first introduced as a character and eliminating their relationship therefore doesn't really make the show "as great as it once was."
    IMHO

    ReplyDelete

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