What They Say:
Draw Back Your bow – Oliver tries to stop Arrow-obsessed serial killer Carrie Cutter, who is convinced Arrow is her one true love and will stop at nothing to get his attention. Unfortunately, her way of getting noticed is to kill people. Meanwhile, Ray asks Felicity to be his date for a work dinner with some important clients; and Thea auditions new DJs for Verdant and meets a brash DJ with whom she immediately clashes.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Arrow’s had some good episodes so far this season and the last time around we got an interesting exploration of what Roy was facing in thinking he was the one that shot Sara. Tying that back to the events of the previous season with what he did there when he was under the heavy influence of the mirakuru drug was definitely a nice moment in its own way since it allows what happened to still have ramifications. The subplot material recently involving Laurel is a bit dicier though since it’s still very hard to view her going into the mode they’re directing her, partially because of how she’s been presented so far and partially because I really, really liked what Sara brougrht to the table with it and the lengthy relationship that existed over the five years at different times.
With the cold open here, we go back to the big events with what Deathstroke orchestrated in the previous season with the powered drugged soldiers running about the city causing a whole lot of trouble. It’s an area where you can see how it could have influence on people, such as how we meet a young woman that Oliver saved along the way that has become quite infatuated with him. That woman is trying to get his attention in the present now as she’s grabbed Stanzler from the previous episode, shot him up good with her almost heart shaped arrows and dressed him up like the Arrow to leave a calling card for him. It’s definitely an interesting setup and we see how Quentin is kind of mystified by it all as well since it was a close case that got extra closed.
With the arrow in hand, there’s an amusing clue inside that leads Oliver and Diggle to check out an apartment that is completely disturbing on so many levels as it’s a fan that’s all about the fanatic. With a room dedicated to all of Oliver’s exploits, she’s been trying to draw him in because she wants to be a part of the team. But it’s all in service to Oliver that she wants to do all of this and to do it in a way that’s quite violent as she wants to end them. She’s got a kind of playful approach about it, but it’s one that’s tied with a very dark edge that definitely makes her incredibly dangerous.
Tracking her isn’t all too difficult overall, especially with Felicity helping before heading off to her own thing, but it gives us a great chase that leads them to the Sherwood Florist where our vixen, revealed to be Carrie Cutter, formerly of the SCPD and swat team, is getting certain things out of the way so she can spend her time with Oliver as a team. Carrie is definitely all manner of crazy as she orchestrates things for them to be together, but it’s not something that he wants so she decides to do a lot of things that she believes will draw him into her web. To deal with her, Oliver does some decent legwork in trying to understand her by going to the psychiatrist that evaluated her while she was on the force to get some clues about how to deal with it. Of course, he also gets a little free commentary from the psychiatrist as well, which is cute.
It takes a little bit of a circular approach in a way, but we do eventually get Oliver and Carrie going up against each other, though she plays it as a date so she can make it clear that the two of them truly belong together. Their meeting brings a lot of things back for Oliver as to when he did first meet her, which is good to bring it full circle. Carrie, on the other hand, continues to show that she’s definitely not altogether there as she’s been through a lot, and it’s something that Oliver gets to work with as he talks with her and essentially to Felicity at the same time to explain why they can’t be together. Oliver, as Diggle said, is not thetalking out his feelings type. But he’ll find a creative way to do it in order to express himself. With Carrier, it turns to beating her down a bit since she is pretty intense. Seeing just how far srhe’ll go is certainly illuminating, but her interpretation of him saving her from a murder/suicide is hilarious and scary at the same time.
Felicity’s story this time around is quite amusing right from the start since we see her getting Ray for a conference only to find him doing some physical training that’s just like Oliver does, reinforcing the idea that she really does have a type. Palmer is definitely hitting all the right buttons with her in a lot of ways, but he’s also working his larger goal of charing Starling City with how he wants to get as many people involved in it. With his renaming of Queen Consolidated to Palmer Technologies, it’s a very, big, public moment that makes it clear things are not what they were. Having Oliver seeing a lot of this, especially with Felicity there, just hits him pretty hard too. Which is good, since he had his chance and opted for a very different direction.
The flashback story gives us a bit more interesting material as we see, cutely enough, Tatsu giving Oliver a lot of grief about his inability to do laundry, but also seeing Maseo heading off for a meeting that should be quick but has him gone for more than half a day. And that finally has Oliver and Tatsu working together a bit, which thaws their relationship a touch. We don’t get a lot on Tatsu’s past here, but there’s a start that certainly helps to make her a little more accessible. What we do see, as they investigate further, is that Tatsu has some good skills with her sword, though the answers she get just makes it clear that Maseo is dead. Of course, there’s a little twist that comes into it, but the result we get is one that helps to really bring Tatsu and Oliver together in a way that wouldn’t happen otherwise.
In Summary:
Arrow works a pretty good episode here with what it wants to do while also seeding in a lot of smaller things. Having Oliver cope with a fanatic fan that has decided to make him hers is definitely something that is fun to watch since Carrie brings the crazy in a good way and with a good bit of style and scenery chewing. Oliver and Carrie’s story dominates, but there’s plenty more here. I really like what we got with the flashback piece, which is kept small, but works to get Tatsu fleshed out a bit more. The really good subplot involves Felicity and Ray though, as he draws her in to help with a deal he needs to get done and it slowly becomes something more. We know Ray’s destined for his own thing, but getting some tantalizing teases of what he’s going to become is exciting. Less interesting is Thea’s arc as the club opens and she deals with some drama there, but you are left wondering where they’re going to go with it. With the show having quite a good cast to it overall and a lot of moving parts, there’s good stuff all around here that nudges it all forward well.
Grade: B+
