This week’s episode explores the changes that our characters are going through or have gone through. Sebastian Blood returns this week and he and Ollie have a discussion about how the Island was Oliver’s crucible that changed him, making him the better man he is today. But Ollie is not the only character going through changes. Laurel is on the edge of having a substance abuse problem due to her traumatic experiences. So it looks like she may replace Roy Harper as the resident druggie, as she washes down pills with red wine. Well Laurel will have an interesting surprise down the road when she learns that her sister Sarah has returned from the dead, unbeknownst to everyone except now Ollie who she reveals her identity to. There is a good dynamic between the characters and now that we are past the unmasking it will be interesting to see how the Lance family situation will play out over the season. Of course the team-up of the two classic characters was great, I loved the final fight scene of the episode where they go to take down “The Mayor” together.
So the bad guy of the week is a character called the Mayor, who has appointed himself the controller of The Glades and is in the business of terrorizing the citizens and also stocking up on some major firearms. But the big reveal of the week is the first appearance of Brother Blood in Starling City. It was easy enough to see that Sebastian Blood, played by Kevin Alejandro, would end up being the character but what are his motives? As the Alderman, Blood seems to want to protect the city, in this episode he and Ollie put together a drive to get guns off the street, for cash. So it’s successful, but the Mayor shows up and tries to intimidate everyone by shooting up the place. In the end the Mayor’s boss is revealed to be Brother Blood who injects him with a substance he calls “The Miracle”, which at this point we don’t know what it is or the effects, but it made the Mayor bleed from his eyes and die. Blood tells his henchmen to find him “another”, looks like we will have to wait and see what Brother Blood’s master plan is.
In the flashbacks, Ollie is captured and locked up on a boat. He is threatened with torture and death and is questioned about a grave site. One of the crew shoots him but leaves the items needed to remove the bullet, a test of strength. When Sarah reveals herself to Ollie we find out that when the Queen’s Gambit went down it wasn’t the last time Ollie saw Sarah. In fact we learn that she is on the ship and works for the group that has taken him hostage. As it was revealed in the last episode, Canary had been affiliated with the League of Assassins and with next week’s episode introducing the LOA fully, we will get some answers hopefully on why Sarah is involved with the organization and why she is on the boat. Also Sarah asks about Slade in the present, so it will only be a matter of time before we see that character show up in hopefully his Deathstroke persona. What is this grave and who is in it? I like that the LOA are now the antagonists of the flashback arc. Great episode this week, good pacing and plenty of surprises. This is why Arrow is the best comic book TV series on the tube currently.
Arrow S2E5 “League of Assassins“
Arrow is on the CW Wednesdays at 8pmEST
Stay tooned 😛
~CynicNerd
