The situation becomes more complicated as Deadshot has come to town and Oliver has to deal with a whole host of issues.
What They Say:
Lone Gunmen – When someone kills one of Oliver’s targets, he searches for the person responsible.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Arrow didn’t have a really strong episode last week, but it did a lot of things right for me. Bringing in a bit of a villain of the week wit China White, it avoided really making it all about her and kept in a lot of mystery. It worked to expand more of the cast in how they interact with each other, gave us a new target to deal with and made it clear that there’s a whole lot of motivations at play here with what happened to Oliver and his father five years ago. Seeing that much come into play early on, rather than just before a holiday vacation set of episodes, really made me interested in what else they’re going to bring in to reveal and tantalize with.
On the plus side, we get some really fun stuff here right from the start as Oliver goes to deal with a new target and makes it right up to him after dealing with his security. Of course, before he can do what needs to be done, someone else takes him out right in front of him and furthers the damage with a little poison when he takes a stab at Oliver as well. This starts to tie into his past, a seemingly regular occurrence at this stage of the series, as much of what he went through on the island certainly has a trigger within the present. And with this series of flashbacks, dealing with the other archer we saw previously that was stalking him when he first landed on the island, there’s a lot to like with seeing shades of that brought into the here and now.
Oliver’s research into who is stalking him now is definitely intriguing as it’s made clear that it’s a highly proficient killer known as Deadshow (who even made some kills in Markovia, a wonderful nod for comics fans). His research is also leading him to some other things in his life as he’s trying to figure out how to deal his bodyguard situation and the whole secret identity. Thankfully, he seems like he’s coming up with a decent idea of a front operation, a club of all things of course, in the abandoned factory where he can make his lair underneath that will explain why he’s always away. It fits in nicely with what he’s trying to do, but he also gets called out on some of the overt aspects of it from Diggle.
Similar tot he previous episode, Arrow works well in taking its time to work the situations and characters, though not with a lot of quiet time to digest it all as it wants to move from one thing to the next. Oliver spends his time scoping out the area, revealing more of the advantages he gained on the island it seems as we learn more about one of his tattoos and the power it can command. We see him scoping out the area to figure out where Deadshot could be working out of and what else is involved, but he’s not like the principal character of the episode in a guest star fashion that we usually get. It runs similar to what we had with China White in that he’s key to the episode, but doesn’t dominate it. It isn’t even until well after the halfway mark that Olvier even learns Deadshot’s real name and location, finally giving us some real face time with him.
When we do get to Deadshot, it’s aggressive out of the gate, but it’s cut short in a way that’s exciting and frustrating. It leads to more investigation and detective work, with some quirks to it with the introduction of an IT specialist named Felicity Smoak (comics nod!) who certainly has a fun way with words. That gives him the clues he needs to deal with the big move that Deadshot is there to make, which has some expected twists to it that makes sense. The fight sequence is definitely engaging, if a bit too fast paced at some points, because neither side is holding back and both want to achieve their goal. I may not be completely on board with the killing side of Oliver, but i’m liking that these fights, attacks and other instances are bringing in some collateral damage as well.
In Summary:
Arrow is doing a very, very good job of bringing in smaller pieces of the larger DC Universe that I didn’t expect. The nod towards Markovia? Very welcome. The surprise introduction of a very minor character in Felicity Smoak? Completely unexpected but neat. Getting a very good looking Deadshot that, while not like the comic character in a way, brings a certain sense about him that hits the right sweet spots, especially with the wrist weapon. In the end, what I’m really enjoying about Arrow is just how much it’s accomplishing in the space of three episodes. Foundation, introductions, secrets and betrayals, family issues and a lot of good action. There’s some great comic references and it’s not afraid of making big reveals very early on. What it does at the end of each episode leaves you craving more of it right away, especially on top of the expansion of the island flashback sequences.
Grade: B+
