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Arrow: Eleven-Fifty-Nine

"One last time."

This was a relatively heavy episode, dealing with loss and betrayal and the consequences of questionable actions. All culminating in a moment I wasn't expecting...

and we finally learn who's in the grave. Laurel Lance.

Color me surprised. Seriously, she wasn't on my radar at all. Mostly because I didn't think the writers were that bloody vindictive (poor Quentin), but also because her character had more story left in her as well. Still, emotionally speaking it does work on several levels, and it definitely punches up the threat rating of Damien Darhk.

The other big shoe dropped was the fact that Andy Diggle was bad all along. His programming/brainwashing was apparently far deeper than any of our heroes thought it was. Oliver had an inkling, but John was totally sold that his brother was back on the good side. Personally, I wasn't invested in the story, and I had a feeling that the younger Diggle wasn't on the up and up, probably because they always made him look a touch strung out, which is never a sign of honesty (at least on TV).

As for the rest of the episode, it was well paced and appropriately dramatic. I thought it hit all the right beats, especially the way Oliver and Quentin reacted to Laurel's death, which played out perfectly. No words, just emotion. I also liked that all of the Felicity drama got pushed to the back burner, especially when this episode really didn't relate to that side of the story at all.

In the end this was a coda, a farewell to Laurel. It covered pretty much everything we've come to know about the character. It touched on her career as a lawyer, her addiction, her relationships, and most importantly her calling as a hero. She wasn't going to give up being the Black Canary because she loved it too much, which was ultimately what killed her.

I guess my only real gripe is how she was taken out. Darhk killed her with an arrow to the gut, which is the kind of wound that Oliver basically shrugs off on a weekly basis. It wasn't even the injury that ultimately killed her, it was a complication from surgery. Which gives me the impression that maybe Damien Darhk did something to her beyond the physical, that perhaps he cursed her to die before the day was done, thus the whole 11:59 p.m. time of death. If that is the case, it's a mystical death that leaves the door open for her return.

Flashback:

So, I guess I finally understand the point of the Island adventures this season. It was to explain the origin of the Idol. I guess I'm a bit dense, but I didn't realize it was the same big ugly head thingy. It is kind of cool, I guess. We already know Reiter and H.I.V.E. are connected in some way (the rogue military outfit that Andy was involved in was led by Reiter and eventually became a part of H.I.V.E.). The only missing information at this point is how the idol was recovered and passed on to Darhk.

Bits:

Falling in line with the history of the Arrow/Flash/Legends big bads, Damien Darhk now knows who our heroes are. I suppose it was inevitable, but I wonder if this bad guy will hold back like some of the previous ones. Damien Darhk isn't the kind of villain who pulls punches unless he has a legitimate reason to do so.

How did Andy slip tracking devices on our heroes without anyone noticing? I guess they don't do passive scans for bugs every day... except why wouldn't they? For base security it seems like a no brainer.

I hope Diggle's guilt doesn't drive him to do something stupid, but I bet it probably will. There is a pretty direct line from John trusting Andy to Laurel's death.

Without Felicity or Curtis, the Arrow Cave seemed awfully empty.

Once again, poor Quentin. That's three daughter deaths, three. Can a father recover from that kind of thing? I can't imagine the pain. Although it might be harder on Sara, who is not exactly 100% after her last resurrection. Plus, how will she find out? It's not exactly as if she is a phone call away. My guess is Rip has known since the beginning and he hasn't told her, which is just awful.

Quotes:

Oliver: "There's something that I haven't told you guys."
Thea: "Shocker. Sorry."
Oliver: "I've seen this idol before."
Laurel: "What? Where?"
Oliver: "Lian Yu."
Laurel: "You really love not talking about the place, don't you?"

Malcolm: "A magician never reveals his secrets."
Damien: "So what next? You gonna make a coin appear from behind my ear?"

I wasn't blown away, but it was a fairly solid episode.  I imagine if I had been more invested in Laurel as a character this would've been terribly affecting.

3 out of 4 Fallen Heroes

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.

3 comments:

  1. Ha! Just piling on to how awful Rip Hunter really is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am not persuaded. I mean, she is recovering, then she tells Oliver something that we do not hear, then all of a sudden she's dying? Could it be that realising that she cannot be both Black Canary and Laurel Lance she decided to fake the death of the latter so that the former could live (maybe with a different name and costume, as by now everybody in the hospital knows that they are one and the same?

    Ok, I read the interviws with the creators, but they do not mean much: and we know that Katie Cassidy is still under contract, purposedly to appear in flashbacks and alternate reality stories. Still, they would not admit it's a ploy, would they?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cesare,

    I'm not sure. Killing off Black Canary feels like a pretty big jump away from the comics, but the show has never really followed true to the comics either. That being said, perhaps you're right and somehow she is faking her death so that Darhk will no longer go after her father. My only hesitation about that line of plot shenanigans is what it would do to poor Quentin. Could she do that to her father? Or is he already in the know, and that reaction in the hallway was fake. Okay, now I'm just bounding down the conspiracy hallway unbound... I'm going to reserve my conjecture until we have more information.

    Good theory though!

    ReplyDelete

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