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Arrow: All For Nothing

"You're making a mistake."

Seven days and 70 million dollars later Star City is on the verge of imploding. The city is running out of money. Oliver is running out of options. And no one is coming to save them. Enter Vincent stage left.

Oliver has no moves to make when he discovers that Vincent is working with the NTA. Despite his somewhat justified trust issues, he's willing to work with Vincent in order to find the location of the bomb Cayden is using to keep both teams at bay. Felicity provides Vince with the tech to download all Cayden's data.

It's obvious from the outset that Cayden has doubts about Vincent. Did he give Vince every opportunity to prove his loyalty or was Cayden just feeding him enough rope to hang himself? When did he know that Vincent was playing him? As for Vincent, he knew he was under suspicion and chose to ignore all the warning signs. Was he so confident in his meta abilities that he didn't think he could be killed or was it because Vincent knew, one way or another, his cover would be blown after this?

Just in case they were too subtle, we had flashbacks to underscore the potential risk Vincent faced. We are treated to Vincent's side of the Sonus investigation. It appears he was already concerned about Sonus before Dinah was brought in. His budding relationship with her and his concern for her safety made him even more cautious. As it turns out, he was right, Dinah's cover was blown. Cut to the present where their roles are reversed, Dinah arguing for caution and Vincent going in anyway. Vincent knew it was their best chance at stopping Cayden and that it would probably save Dinah from having to do something riskier down the line.

Given the givens, the moment Vincent turned out to be a good guy his days were officially numbered. So it was no surprise the mission went south, and the teams were forced to make a choice. Go after the bomb or try to rescue Vincent. The NTA went to save Vince while the OTA tried to locate the bomb. Shocker. I know I've been hard on the writer's room of late, so it's only fair to concede that it was a nice bit of plotting that the two teams working together provided their only bit of real progress. The minute they went their separate ways they both failed.

Unfortunately, this is all lost on Dinah. Oliver shows up, not with an apology but with what he hopes will be some comfort. Vincent's sacrifice might not have been wasted. They now have actionable intelligence. In her anger and guilt, Dinah lashes out. I don't believe this is Dinah reverting to the person she was when she thought Vincent was dead. I think this is her natural state of being. After all, she didn't join Team Arrow until after she had killed Sonus and all his men. I believe her desire to avenge Vincent's Death was inevitable.

Does what Alena found mean that Cayden is not the Big Bad of the season? Either way, there is another player out there. Given the title of next week's episode, I'm thinking it is someone we've already met. My money would be on the infamous Mr. Scheck if he weren't already dead. Then again, he could have put all this in motion before his demise, and it wouldn't be the first time that someone's death had been greatly exaggerated on this show.

In other news, this Laurel may want her father as much as Quentin wants his "Baby Girl" back. Quentin's play for Laurel's soul may be having an effect. For someone who has spent much of the season complaining that she wasn't allowed to kill, she definitely had issues killing Vincent. It would seem The Powers That Be are intent on redeeming Laurel and unlike the dearly departed Vincent, I believe it's to ensure that Katie Cassidy has a place on Arrow once Cayden's story arc has run its course. Either way, Dinah's renewed sense of vengeance and Quentin's quest to save Laurel have put them on a collision course.

Just for the record, I am over the chip on the NTA's collective shoulder. I know, I know, Oliver invaded their privacy. The fact is he didn't do it on a whim or a hunch.  He did it because he had proof that someone on his team betrayed him. As the leader of the team and the object of that betrayal, he had to know who was putting the team at risk. They wanted out. They're out. They set the parameters for working with the OTA. Oliver and company have abided by them. Oliver's offered multiple olive branches and they've slapped his hand away.  They're mad, we get it. But if I have to hear "at least you have my back" one more time I'm going to scream. There's conflict, and then there's flogging a multitude of dead horses.

Other than wanting the needless antagonism between the OTA and the NTA to end, I had no real issues with this episode. Unfortunately, I wasn't all that emotionally invested, either.

3 out of 5 thermobaric bombs.

Parting Thoughts:

We have a new police captain. I hope Captain Hill has better luck than her predecessors.

I'm really curious about how A.R.G.U.S. was going to help the situation. You notice how we just skirted right past that?

I don't think they let people indicted for murder, among other things, honeymoon in Aruba.

Speaking of, there is still a trial coming up soon, isn't there?

If Cayden was so concerned about why a vigilante would work with a criminal to take down vigilantes, why did he recruit him?

What happened to the Black Siren's new cry? Or does that only happen when she's wearing the black wig?

Other than Dinah going after Laurel, does Oliver really have an argument here?  If he had the chance he'd kill Cayden in the proverbial heartbeat.

Quotes:

Singh: "Don't be sorry. Just don't be late." (Apparently, Singh's patience for tardiness only extends to Barry.)

Felicity: "Oh, I love your face, but that is just not a good face."

Curtis: "We were going to tell you guys... eventually."

Curtis: "Being single does wonders for your time management."
Felicity: "On your next date, you are not allowed to lead with that."

Vincent: "I knew what I signed up for. I didn't expect this to be easy."

Rene: "Yeah, that sounds like more than two problems."
Diggle: "That sounds like a good way of getting yourself killed."
Vincent: "Then it's a good thing I heal fast."

Oliver: "Dinah, Rene, and Curtis trust you. I’m not there yet."
Vincent: "I want you to try to imagine how little I give a damn."

Sonus: "You got a vise under there? You want me to gently put my nuts in it for you?"

Alena: "Brilliant people are often slobs, or so I tell myself and my dates."
Curtis: "Show-off. I can't even get a date."

Anatoly: "Okey-Dokey (pulling out an oversized pair of rusted pliers). Where shall we begin?"

Anatoly: "Hello, Kapiushon. No need for me to explain choice here, yes?"
Oliver: "I thought you were an honorable man."
Anatoly: "I am. Why else I give you choice?"

Felicity: "Frak." (And I have never loved her more.)

Shari loves sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural, and anything with a cape.

3 comments:

  1. Rene's anger towards Oliver reeks of "I hate it when you make me hit you." He knew Oliver was a vigilante, he knew Oliver had killed people (we had a huge melodramatic arc about it last year), he knew he himself was a felon who was struggling with custody of his daughter, he knew Oliver was under federal investigation. I'm not judging his choice to turn informant, but his argument is that Oliver invaded their privacy because he doesn't trust NTA. But Rene had already broken the trust and Oliver only found out BECAUSE he spied on them. So, yeah, I cringe every time NTA pats each other on the back and emphasizes "Yeah, I'm glad we can trust each other unlike OLIVER QUEEN" as though Oliver is the backstabber on the team.

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  2. I'm so glad I'm not the only one. Oliver's made some mistakes but at least he's owning them.

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  3. If it was an HBO show the Canary cry would make Vincent's head explode in a gory mess, but on the CW we only got a dead vampire straight out of the Vampire Diaries. :)

    I'm glad Dinah wants to kill Laurel, they should challange each other to a cry-off. Who knocks the biggest building down wins.

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