Obviously someone bites the bullet in this one, and what an episode it was! With an extreme sense of urgency we finally get that almost EPIC feeling when we watch a Superman or Batman movie. And it’s well deserved. In the shadow of Smallville, Arrow rose from the ashes hoping to land its way onto the superhero train. The thing is, this show may have revamped what is the norm for the superhero genre on television these days, well that’s of course until Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. shows up over on ABC. Spoilage will lay ahead, so beware.
After the cliffhanger episode last week, Malcolm Merlyn had just unmasked the Hood, and realizing his true identity. The downfall of Malcolm is one of the highlights of this episode, as we watch John Barrowman reach his mental limits. Malcolm utterly destroys his relationship with his son, and is revealed as the main villain during Moira Queen’s press conference to save The Glades, and the people who reside there. You see, the pace of this episode was so fast and awesome that I would have paid money to see this in a theater. Malcolm’s obsessive desire to destroy The Glades and the way everything is tied into that is perfectly convenient. You almost feel sorry for him as he tells his side of the story and his wife’s demise. Nonetheless someone has to stop this crazy train! I think I enjoyed the “realization” that Detective Lance had in this episode. He almost always used the Hood’s advice when it was convenient to him, but now has to realize and recognize that he was wrong. Down to the point where you almost think he is going to die, did you actually hope that he makes it out alive?! I know I did. I mean Lance was never an unlikable character, but his determination to catch the Hood, even at the expense of Laurel, made him someone you couldn’t stand behind. Then that changed, as Lance almost sacrifices himself for Starling City.
So you see where I’m going, there was a lot of emotion connected to this episode. Then the end happened. Now when you watch television you almost always expect a cliffhanger to “hold” you over to the next season. Not so much the case here. With the realization of what his father truly was and the realization that Ollie only wanted was best for everyone, Tommy finally shows his true colors. When the earthquake machine goes off, rather the other one (watch the episode). Only a contained part of The Glades is destroyed, of course where Laurel works TRAPPING HER THERE! Who comes to her rescue, The Hood? No TOMMY! Who by rescuing his love, sacrifices his life. To be honest I never saw Tommy getting killed off but it really works. The relationship between him and Ollie is healed before he dies, and really did we want to watch that same dynamic for the next few years? Thankfully they didn’t kill off Malcolm. So we now know who Merlyn is, maybe some League of Assassins will be making an appearance soon.
You want to talk about the Island, of course you do. A storyline that has been top notch all season, and a great alternative voice to the show, everything on Purgatory Island this week went nuts. NUTS. After the assassination of Yao Fei, our three companions are captured by Fyres. But not for long, Ollie frees himself with the knife that Fei had given him, and frees Shado and Slade. Asskicking commences. Ollie ends up stopping the missile that was meant to destroy a Ferris Airliner (great Green Lantern reference!) and when Fyres takes Shado hostage, Ollie kills Fyres with an arrow to the face, the beginning of a Legacy.
Roy Harper is well on his way to join the Hood in season 2 as Speedy or Red Hood or Red Arrow or WHATEVER! All I know is that I am very excited to see where this show goes after this season. With the amount of DC cameos in just the first season I am wondering how far they will push the boundaries. See you next year in Starling City!
Stay tooned 😛
~CynicNerd
