Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Arrow: Legacies

Felicity: "I guess you didn't have Facebook on the island."
Dig: "Nope. Not even a Myspace account. It was a very dark time."

The Royal Flush Gang is a long-running DC Villain group originally created in 1966. Based on the poker hand of the same name, they are usually a group of five with the King as the leader, although there are numerous versions of the group in comic books, the DC animated universe, and now, for the first time, in live action. My personal favorite version was in Batman Beyond where it was a family of four and the Ace was a giant android.

But I digress. The point is that this is the first villain that I actually was familiar with, and I wasn't disappointed.

Much like the rest of the villains introduced so far (save for Deathstroke), they all seem like humanized versions of their comic-book counterparts. This was by far the most sympathetic I've seen the Royal Flush Gang depicted (from personal experience at least, I am by no means an expert in DC canon). It again served as almost an introduction, save for the fact the King was killed and the group was apparently disbanded. But they didn't mention what happened to Queen and Jack, so perhaps they'll break Ace out of jail later on in the series. I wonder why they didn't include Ten. Maybe the producers didn't feel it was necessary to have five members of the group. As it is, they barely showed Queen and Jack.

I've gone on about the villain, but this wasn't really an episode about the villain, as per usual. They're starting to address what I wanted them to address, which is Oliver's erratic and brutal behavior. With his wonderful interactions with Dig, several baby-steps have been made to bring Arrow out from being a simple vigilante. It's interesting that Oliver doesn't see himself as a hero, and it explains a lot of his actions up until this point. Arrow was never meant to be anything but a persona to exact retribution, and a tool to set the things right that his father set wrong. Perhaps Oliver is beginning to understand that he can fight within the spirit of his father's legacy without dishonoring his memory.

Which brings me to the parallel stories of fathers and sons. Oliver got some new back-story on the island, while King tried to fulfill his son's need to set himself up for life. What was sad was that King wasn't a bad person. He was pushed to become a criminal, although it's true he didn't have to choose that life for himself and his family. I thought the plot wasn't driven home quite well enough to conjure an emotional response, but it was still rather effective.

The rest of our main characters all seemed to be struggling with different versions of a similar problem, how to fix or create the relationships that they want to have. Moira was upset that her connection with Oliver had waned. Thea seems to have a bit of a thing for Tommy, and Tommy has convinced himself that Laurel is the only person that can make him happy. What strikes me,  though, is that none of them can see that their perspective on those relationships is flawed. Moira and Oliver are secretly at odds with each other in their ultimate goals. Thea doesn't see how wrong Tommy is for her, and Tommy doesn't see how far out of his league Laurel is. Ya know, I'm starting to really like the way the writers are creating these complicated interpersonal dynamics.

Bits:

Fringe, Grimm, and Castle alum Currie Graham played King.

I loved Oliver and Diggle doing some Highlander-esqe training at the beginning of the episode.

They mentioned Scott Morgan as the next target, although they quickly switched to the Royal Flush Gang. Maybe we'll see him in the next episode.

Daddy appearing in the cave to tell Oliver that he was failing was sooo Lost.

For the first time, there was some real family interaction between Moira, Thea, and Oliver. I really liked that scene of the three of them laughing and joking. It was another good step in the right direction for the show.

The interactions between Diggle and Oliver are making a difference in how I'm seeing Oliver as a character.

We finally had a cool arrow gadget.

They got that gala planned and set up awfully fast.

Okay, so maybe Tommy's not so bad.

Daddy Queen's notebook was written in invisible ink activated by heat, so I was right! I feel so vindicated!

Quotes:

Felicity: "I should add personal internet researcher for Oliver Queen to my job title. (pause) Happily, I mean."

Dig: "There's more than one way to save this city."
Oliver: "Not for me. Crime happens in this city every day. What do you want me to do? Stop all of it?"
Dig: "Sounds like you have a narrow definition of being a hero."
Oliver: "I'm not a hero."

Laurel: "He's not interested in throwing us a fund raiser. What he wants to have is the first annual attempt to get back into my pants gala."

Carter: "... and the next, there's an agent trying to make me the next Doctor Oz."
Oliver: "Why would he want you to be a wizard?"
Thea: "For all our sakes, start reading US Weekly."
Thea, Dig, and Felicity have most of the best lines, but Laurel and Oliver have a few good ones too.

I'm finally confident that the show is headed in the right direction. I liked this one more than the last few. I feel that the characters are finally coalescing, and the relationships are beginning to gel.

3 and 1/2 out of 4 Playing card hockey masks.

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.

10 comments:

  1. Hey JD!
    I don't know if I was in a bad mood when I watched it (because everyone seems to have loved this episode online) but I thought this was disappointing after the last two excellent eppies!
    I wanted more mythology instead of some more villains of the week. Or at least some focus on Deathstroke who was so compelling last week!
    But my main issue with the show is the dialogue! I don't understand why they keep giving Stephen Amell lines like "making a difference" and "doing the right thing." It's so grating and repetitive! Thankfully, I think the voiceover is gone now that he has Diggle to confide in!

    Nevertheless, I still adore the show and am confident this is going to be one heck of a season!
    I'm even enjoying the fact that the love triangle is being well handled. I'm rooting for both parties Oliver and Tommy to get with Laurel so I'm excited to see where they take things. Involving Thea however was a bit much!

    Thanks for the review! Always fun to read!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just wanted to say that I've decided to give this show a shot, and your reviews have contributed greatly to that decision. Not that they've been uniformly glowing of course, but somehow you've managed to get the Arrowverse to fascinate me.

    (It's worth noting at this point that previously I held Oliver Queen in only marginally higher esteem than Aquaman.)

    I never much cared for Smallville (Tom Welling never quite clicked for me), but this seems like the sort of show I might eventually find myself following religiously. So, cheers for that. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great review JD!

    Like Nadim this episode didn't quite click with me... but I did enjoy the increased family dynamic between Thea, Oliver and Moira! Specially the banter between the siblings... sweet! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wanted very much to like this show, but I guess it's just not meant to be. Oliver annoys me both as his normal self and as Arrow. Maybe I just have a problem connecting to him, given the fact that we only know his peronas - on one hand the partyboy, on the other the vigilante - and not his real self, whatever that is.
    Also, a Laurel-Tommy-Thea love triangle? It felt incestous. Wrong move.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the review JD! I'm enjoying the show and your reviews. I'm particularly enjoying the flashbacks and agree that these were a little "Lost-y". I'm not quite at the care about the characters stage but there is enough going on that I want to keep tuning in to find out what happens next.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jul, I totally agree with the Tommy, Laurel, Thea thing feeling a bit icky. You also have a point that I don't think we've really seen Oliver yet, he's buried himself in his persona's to the point where he doesn't have an identity. Maybe he'll discover it during the course of the series. I think that's a really important aspect to this show, it isn't just about a superhero. It's about the origins of a superhero, and the struggles to find both himself and his place in the world. They aren't making him easy to like, which is a bit risky but that in itself is intriguing enough to make me want to keep watching.

    Nadim, I think the thing I like about the show is not the villains, but how they are part of the growing mythology. This early, the show is trying to find it's feet. The fact that for me at least, it is getting better means that it has some really solid potential. I do see where you're coming from, this is the fifth named villain in six episodes, and that is definitely making it seem like just a dilemma of the week instead of a purposeful and planned out antagonist.

    JK, it was awesome to read your comment, thank you so much for that compliment. I too know almost nothing about Green Arrow, and was only a marginal fan of Smallville. Loved your Aquaman remark, it made chuckle.

    CrazyCris, so far the relationships between Laurel and Quentin, Oliver and Dig, and Oliver and Thea have been my favorite. As I said in my review I thought the banter between the siblings in this episode was the best it's been so far this season.

    Thank you all for your lovely comments, looking forward to next week!

    JD



    ReplyDelete
  7. I feel the same way as Nadim about the episode has aired.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I enjoyed this episode, though I called the fact that the Queen of the gang was planted as a hostage the minute I recognized the actress. I like the influence Dig is having on Oliver, getting to see that he could be more than just an instrument of vengeance. We got another reference to Thea having the nickname "Speedy", I'm really hoping if the show runs long enough we see that pay off with Thea taking on that role from the comics(cuz otherwise, what's the point).

    I think I've officially settled on Felicity as the person I want brought into the Scooby Gang next after Dig. Her scenes are always a hoot, Emily Rickards was a great choice to play her(and yes, she's very pretty, I won't pretend I didn't notice). Can you imagine how fun it would be to have Ollie in the field with Felicity manning the computers in his hideout, babbling over an earpiece?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great review, J.D.

    Like Doc, I have not completely invested in the characters of this show yet, but I am intrigued enough that I keep coming back every week. I was a bit put off by the Thea/Tommy thing (it did feel a bit incestuous), but I like the Laurel/Tommy thing. He is certainly charming her well!

    The final scene in the burger joint was my favorite. A lovely mother/son moment where, for the first time, they actually seemed to be relatively comfortable with each other. It's sad to think that there will probably not be too many of these times together.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice review, J.D.
    A Laurel-Tommy-Thea triangle?
    Eewww.. Arrow writers, please don't go there.
    Nice to see Warren Christie of Alphas in a rather "subdued" role.
    Funny hair, though. hahaha.
    Have a nice day, J.D.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.