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Story lines continue to converge and collide in ARROW!
SYNOPSIS: A vigilante by the name of The Saviour is terrorizing the city. The Lance family continue their search. Thea crowns herself Queen of the Glades (Glades is ‘the hood’ in Starling City) and shacks up with one of it’s ‘lowly’ inhabitants. Somewhere in the middle of all of this Momma Queen finds time to throw her colleague under a bus and almost gets ‘arrowed’ by Captain John Harkness.
Got that all?
JOLIE’S REVIEW: Gosh there’s SOOO much happening in this episode of Arrow that my mind is still reeling. There are so many subplots happening that it’s become pretty hard for me to keep track. Let’s make a list for future reference, because I’m sure I’m going to need it for future episodes:
1. Speedy & “Glades Peeta” (I can’t remember his name, mostly because I don’t care.)
2. Laurel & Daddy Lance
3. Daddy Lance & Mommy Lance
4. 2 + 3
5. Momma Queen & Captain Jack Harkness
6. Momma Queen & the Triads
7. Ollie & Island Ninja
8. Island Ninja & Female Island Secret Ninja aka, the Asians.
9. Felicity & Diggle
10. Diggle & Ollie
11. Ollie & Felicity
Oh. I almost forgot one. It’s only sort of important though. Without it they wouldn’t have a name for the episode.
12. The Saviour vs. “Glades Peeta”/Ollie/and pretty much everyone in Starling City. (Especially the criminals)
Despite the congestion, I will say that the character development continues stronger than ever. I mean, can you honestly look at all that crossover and tell me that it doesn’t?
Beyond the multitude of characters I think this episode really *ehem* missed it’s mark message-wise. Under all of this mishegas there’s a message about vigilantism that is mentioned and dismissed. This is the first time that Oliver is confronted by a criminal who is essentially doing what he’s doing, but instead of going deeper they throw “Glades Peeta” to the wolf in a (poor) attempt to illustrate the differences between a vigilante and The Hood. Weak.
Rating: 2.5/5
Mike-EL: The directing was a noticeably improved this week, including absurdly angled shots of Ollie working out 20 feet in the air above Felicity, Bourne Identity-style rooftop action, and smart use of cutaways and shaky cam. The varied shots and creative editing continued throughout, focusing on the action and steering away from last week’s horrid soap operatics. Even Thea Queen came off as marginally less annoying during tonight’s show.
We are finally treated to the meeting of Green Arrow and his soon-to-be sidekick Roy Harper. With his perfectly chiseled physique, cropped hair and plucked eyebrows, this guy is less convincing as a street thug than Vanilla Ice himself. The foreshadowing of future-Speedy’s heroin abuse is pretty amusing for old comic book fans though. Bravo for giving us a wink.
In the episode’s worst scene, a fellow thug drops off a paper bag to Harper in plain sight of Thea. Does the paper bag contain leftover cookies or…
Nope! Its a hand gun. How convenient for the plot.
The rest of the episode is decent, highlighted by an elusive new villain that even Ollie can’t track on his own. The little twist at the end is a nice touch and lends hope to the idea that everything really has been mapped out writers in advance.
A decent episode where good directing saves a weak script.
3/5
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