Mid-Season Finale Rundown
To say the last few weeks have been a little crazy around my place would be an understatement. But alas, after a smattering of unpaid bills, Internet outages, and one computer hard drive crash, I can safely say that I'll be able to pick up with the weekly reviews starting on Monday with the return of Gotham. What I can't so easily profess to know is how this review is going to turn out. Instead of doing a full recap individually, I'm going to hit the high points because, let's face it, if you've seen the finales of Gotham, The Flash, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Arrow, then you've already freaked out all over the Internet about at least three out of four.... So without further ado, let me tell you what I loved and didn't love. Oh, and happy New Year! Hopefully 2015 will be filled with nothing but on time reviews and perfectly working computers!
Verdict: 8.0
Verdict: 9.0
Verdict: 9.5
Gotham Season 01 Episode 11 "Lovecraft"
- I could defend Gotham through all the tonal whiplash and boring one off villains, but I can't defend the show if it insists on kicking the can down the road instead of addressing legitimately interesting plot points. The Bruce/Selina excursion was fun, but ultimately felt pointless and while Gordon's new posting might liven things up, this is still not the Gotham we deserve.
Duck It
The Flash Season 01 Episode 09 "The Man in the Yellow Suit"
- WHO IS HARRISON WELLS??!!?!?!?!?!?!!!? The answer to this question remains frustratingly illusive, but we finally get to see the apparent of killer of Barry's mother when Zoom or The Reverse Flash shows up. Barry also displays real fear when he realizes that he can't seem to match up to his nemesis, not just of being outmatched, but of failing his mother, father and ultimately himself. There's going to be a LOT to address when the show returns in a few weeks.
Verdict: 8.0
Watch It Like a Fox
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 02 Episode 10 "What They Become"
- I swear these shows were planning around each other, because every mid-season finale got more engrossing than the prior. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had a... troubling first season, but this is officially the last time I'll remember to mention that because season two has fully redeemed the show. Largely because its made itself somehow more important in the MCU than the titular cinematic experiences themselves! Avengers: Age of Ultron is almost certainly going to address the Terrigen Bomb Skye and Raina set off in this episode, but this world changing event will have most impact in this show when it hits airwaves again in... Wait, what?! MARCH?!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Verdict: 9.0
Watch It Like a Fox
Arrow Season 03 Episode 09 "The Climb"
- It is now January 2, 2015. I watched this episode live on December 10, 2014. I still haven't fully processed the ramifications of it. While I would like to float theories about Oliver really being dead and Connor taking his place, or Barry taking a trip on his cosmic treadmill, realistically, we're probably going to see Oliver revived due to the magic of a "Lazarus Pit." Comic readers will know that they can rejuvenate a living person of revive a person from death itself, but sometimes (usually) at the cost of a person's sanity. Ra's Al Ghul probably started off marginally less crazy than he was, but he's been using them to keep young and virile for decades or even centuries depending on how closely they follow the comics. Point being? Oliver is likely to get a revival, but how? And does this give us hope of Sara and/or Tommy coming back to life? If not, what will allow Oliver to revive but not them? Oh, and Laurel is stepping up come January 21st, so basically this show has hit full comic book awesome, and it's setting itself up for greatness again.
Verdict: 9.5
Watch It Like a Fox
World's Finest The Flash Season 01 Episode 08 "The Flash Vs. Arrow" Review
 |
| World's Finest Team-Up (On The CW) |
A common trick of a narrative in fiction is the mashup of
one character who seems to be a twisted reflection of another, usually main,
character. They aren’t direct opposites, but just more or less… extreme versions of the main character.
A cop might meet an special forces soldier. A doctor might meet an obsessive
surgeon. Batman might meet Superman. Or, as in the case with the very well
titled “The Flash vs. Arrow,” The Flash might meet Arrow. Though of course,
both of these characters are essentially the TV-friendly version of those other
titans. Though Barry Allen wasn’t sent to Earth from a dying planet, he’s
certainly got the optimism and moral rigidity of Superman from the comics.
But I digress: “The Flash vs. Arrow” elevates The Flash to a whole new level by
bringing in an excellent mentor/foil in the Arrow himself. Oliver Queen is a
wholly different kind of hero when compared to the somewhat goofy and jovial
Flash. Barry Allen, from the beginning, wants to fight crime and save people’s
lives because he genuinely wants to.
When he first starts out, Oliver feels obligated
to do the things he does. And, as pointed out in the episode, he isn’t really
all that good at first, morally speaking. He kills people in cold blood and is
only working his way down the list of wealthy douchebags his father left him.
Even though he’s an established quantity in Starling City now, outside of it,
he’s seen as the indirect cause of terrorist attacks on the city and a
murderer. Joe West does not like the idea of Barry hanging out with him for
good reason.
Of course, Joe himself is mirrored in this episode when
Eddie reveals his desire to have The Flash locked away. To Eddie, the Flash’s
flagrant disregard for law enforcement is cause for alarm, and probably arrest,
but his attempts at putting together a task force to investigate him meet with
ridicule. Just as Barry brushes off Joe’s distrust of Oliver. The episode
starts with Joe and Eddie raising their objections so they can land in
drastically different positions by the end. But it’s also important because
selling the relationship between Oliver and Barry is easier when Barry can
actually understand how his allies see the Arrow.
Barry’s always been well received by the populace, or at
least Iris, and so feeling like he was being attacked by Eddie naturally drew
out his dark side when he’s whammied by the villain of the week. Another
generally forgettable and uninspired villain who can manipulate light to make
people go crazy. The best thing about this week’s enemy was him being the cause
of Felicity and Caitlin’s geek girl bonding. Being a super genius is generally
such a “bro” thing (in real life and fiction) that it’s especially touching
when women get together to use their intellect. I hope we eventually get
a(nother) Birds of Prey or something out of The CW’s DCTVU. Diggle and Cisco
also got some great lines as they did a “who would win” between Barry and
Oliver.
And really, the best part about this episode was just how
easily the characters flowed with each other. With the exception of the always
creepy (or “off” as Oliver puts it) Harrison Wells, every character from The Flash got a little time to shine,
and Diggle, Oliver and Felicity made nice impressions on most of the cast. Last
week’s Arrow thankfully didn’t have
severe repercussions on Oliver and Felicity’s friendship, or at least they
didn’t focus on them in this episode. So instead we get Felicity adorably
hawking Oliver to go help Barry. Barry and Oliver’s friendship is the lynchpin
to the whole thing, though, and their banter is marvelous. By the time Barry
gets whammied and tells Oliver off because he’ll “Never be as fast as [he] is,”
his rage fueled assertions are more adorable than hurtful. Oliver’s stone faced
stare off with Barry, ending with a “Felicity said you didn’t want my help,”
actually makes him seem kind of hurt. Which is all the more reason for him to
pull out all the stops by the episodes end.
The fight of the century may be Batman v. Superman (Dawn of
Justice. This parenthetical brought to you by DC Cinematic Studios), but “The
Flash vs. Arrow” is a fantastic warm up bout. Both characters display their
drive an ingenuity in move after counter move after move against each other,
and through it all Barry’s inexperience is as evident as Oliver’s ingenuity and
skill. Oliver didn’t have much time to set up tricks and traps, but between
quick thinking and a clear head he manages to incapacitate Barry long enough to
reverse his transformation. The coda, where the two work together to put the
horribly named Roy G. Bivolo (AKA, Rainbow Raider) behind bars at S.T.A.R. Labs
is just icing on the cake.
Through all this, Harrison Wells discovers Oliver’s identity,
allowing Joe to reevaluate his opinion of the Arrow. On the flip side, Eddie’s
crusade against the Flash is official sanctioned by Captain Singh after Barry,
still in a Rainbow Raider haze, rips him from the car he and Iris were
commuting in and threatens to make his day end very badly. This is a
development I’m really kind of glad for, because while normally creating the
rift between vigilante hero and law enforcement relies on either an especially
dark hero or an especially dark officer, The
Flash had neither of these characteristics. Creating a genuine
misunderstanding works so much better than poisoning Thawne’s character
prematurely. Though it still leaves Iris back to where she started, making
decisions for her life based on her connection to her current love interest.
By mirroring the hero and giving everyone in the cast a
moment to reevaluate their preconceptions regarding the heroic figures
appearing in their lives, The Flash
reaches new heights while maintaining its sense of fun and adventure. Here’s
hoping tomorrow’s episode of Arrow
similarly elevates that show, because lord knows it’ll need something to get
out of its rut.
Score: 9.5
Watch It Like a Fox:
Duck It:
- Diggle. All the Diggle."I had a cousin get struck by lightning once. All he did was develop a stutter."
- Bonus: Felicity and Caitlin womance!
- Eddie is a pretty cool guy. He fights Flashes and doesn't afraid of anything.
- Fantastic showdown combining Arrow's fight choreography with The Flash's excellent special effects.
- Captain Singh is officially out of the closet!
- FireStorm!
- The Flash being wanted by Police seems forced.
- Iris takes a step back.
Yippie Ki Yay The Flash Season 01 Episode 07 "Power Outage" Review
 |
| You Wouldn't Hurt a Guy Whose Faking Being in a Wheelchair, Would You? |
Note: This review, like every review for Thanksgiving Week, will be much shorter due to all the turkeyness of the week. You should get the gist of whether the episode is worth watching or not, though.
Aaaaaaand we’re back. After a stellar episode where Barry
learns to come to grips with who he is now, and really takes on the qualities
of a hero, the show forces him back into being a less capable superhero. Granted,
this makes sense to a point. It’s not like taking down your old elementary
school nemesis would change you overnight into the best version of yourself.
But giving Barry “The Yips” immediately after he figured out how to perform a
super sonic punch just feels tacky. Nonetheless, the episode used its premise
well, allowing us to see Barry use his wits instead of his speed, and creating the
most complex villain we’ve seen since “Going Rogue.”
That villain being Blackout, a guy who siphons electricity
from anything he can find just to sate his particle accelerator induced hunger.
When he siphons energy from Barry he ends up siphoning his powers for a brief
moment, and so Barry is forced to run and hide with the others at the lab.
Harrison Welles frees Tony Woodward, using him as a distraction to buy time for
Barry’s cells to recharge, and Woodward actually develops a little bit as a
result, though he naturally dies fighting Blackout, who can also discharge
electricity like nobodies business. This is the first terrible act Harrison
Welles has committed openly in front of his proteges at the lab, and it’s great
to see him getting called out for it.
Before finding himself at S.T.A.R. Labs, Blackout had fed on
the city’s power grid, causing a blackout as the police were transporting William
Tockman, AKA “The Clock King,” (Robert
Knepper reprising his role as the villain originally seen on Arrow). Tockman manages to escape and
force a hostage crisis which is only resolved when Iris scores another
takedown. This little side story is thrilling because we get to see Iris be a
complete badass again, and also because we get to see The Clock King be stone
cold again. Also nice to see that we can get a save without having to rely on
The Flash. Speaking of…
Eventually Cisco suggests that Barry has the Yips, and Barry
manages to power through and take down Blackout once and for all. We’re not
treated to much in the way of a cool takedown as Blackout seems to “overload”
when he attempts to drain Barry of more energy. All in all, “Power Outage” was
a decent outing which didn’t quite manage to be as tense as it was attempting.
At least Iris’s KO count is rising. Hopefully she’ll be even with Barry after
next week’s crossover.
Score: 7.0
Watch It Like a Fox:
Duck It:
- Iris continues to impress.
- Not a lot really happened. Challenging the hero's motivation this early on wasn't such a good idea.
Tag :
Flash,
The Crazies Have Come to Town Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 02 Episode 08 "The Things We Bury" Review
 |
| Sometimes the Best Man for the Screenshot... Is a Woman! |
After last week’s incredibly thrilling episode, S.H.I.E.L.D. jumps straight back in with
more answers to the mysteries that have haunted the series. Skye’s father and
the obelisk are both coming more clearly into focus. Whitehall and Skye’s
father have a nice little chat about the Obelisk, which he calls “The Diviner”.
At the same time Bobbi Morse interrogates Bakshi and Ward tracks down his
brother. I’ve said it before, but the show is really at its best when it’s
being a techno spy thriller. And yet, even when it’s not throwing plot twists
at relativistic speeds and filling out the Hub with more gadgets than James
Bond has even seen, the show is pretty damn compelling.
“The Things We Bury” takes its title both figuratively and
literally. The figurative part comes courtesy of Daniel Whitehall. Using the
information they acquired from Bakshi, the group finds out Daniel Whitehall was
originally captured by SSR in the forties thanks to Agent Carter, and hasn’t
aged a day since. Well, he did age, but it was all reversed some time between
1989, when he was last seen by S.H.I.E.L.D., and the present day. The subplot
with Ward kidnapping his beloved brother Christian and forcing him to admit to
emotionally torturing Ward also has a bit of a burial theme as Ward forces Christian
to dig up the old well where all the bad things went down. Ward is an
interesting character because while I don’t think he could ever be fully
redeemed at this point, and pal around with everyone on the Helicarrier like
nothing happened, I do think the show
is leaning towards him becoming a Loki style anti-hero who the team will be
able to work with while never fully trusting. He’s basically the opposite of Skye’s
father.
Yes, that was a terrible segue to talk about how awesome Skye’s
dad is. Not awesome like “I would really enjoy this man’s company because he’s
thoroughly entertaining and a quality chum” but awesome as in “this dude is
scary crazy. Can’t wait to see what he does next!” While casually posing as a
worker at the site Coulson and crew are attempting to hack to find the city he’s
been drawing with his writings, he stabs Triplett in just the right way to leave him bleeding out everywhere and with a
likelihood that he’ll be dead in minutes without proper treatment. Coulson’s
not too pleased, but he ultimately ends up letting him get away again to save
Triplett’s life. Nonetheless, the team manage to wrangle the intel they came
for while Bobbi and Lance make sweet, sweet love back at the base. All in all,
it could have certainly gone worse for everyone involved!
Perhaps the most important takeaway in a monumentally
important episode, though, come via flashbacks. In addition to the obligatory guest
spot by Agent Carter, “The Things We Bury” also unearthed the final dangling
thread relating to Skye: her mother. Dichen
Lachman plays a mysterious woman who Whitehall finds is immune to the
powers of the Obelisk. He naturally decides to turn her into his next science
project and for the next 70 years HYDRA does all sorts of terrible things to
her in an attempt to quantify her immunity. Yeah, if you ever needed a reason
to hate Daniel Whitehall, this is probably the best you’ll get. It’s enough to
make you hope Ward is about to punch him in the final scene where he encounters
Whitehall and the Doctor to discuss working within HYDRA. Like, forget
subterfuge and espionage, just shoot him the face a couple of times. The
flashbacks also reveal that The Doctor is surely thinking the same thing, as he
encounters his wife’s brutalized body after Whitehall “disposes” of her.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
brings us a stellar follow up to the best episode in a season of great
episodes. If you’ve got a brother or a sister or a friend or a fun neighbor who
isn’t watching this show, it’s time you introduce them because the show’s not
doing too hot in ratings despite the fantastic quality it’s been putting out.
Just be sure they’re not HYDRA first.
Score: 8.5
Watch It Like a Fox:
Duck It:
- Bobbi and Lance make the best team. Especially when they're being all sexy and what not.
- The Ward family reunion-- the family that tortures together, burns together!
- One of the show's best infiltration scenes-- everyone was a well oiled machine when cracking the Hawaiian base.
- Sadly, a lack of Melinda May. That's what the .5 was taken off for, basically.
- We're trying a little too hard to hold the Doctor's name back at this point. I'm still leaning on him being Doctor Hyde, but whoever he is we need to get that info now. It's beyond ridiculous how little we know of him beyond "dude is crazy".
Tag :
Agents of Shield Reviews,
Sonic Boom The Flash Season 01 Episode 06 "The Flash is Born" Review
 |
| The Flash is Officially on The CW! |
“The Flash is Born” is a lot more than just wish
fulfillment. Barry spends the majority of the episode struggling to come to
terms with Iris’ continued blogging about his alter ego. Now that he knows she’s
writing for him, it’s much harder to
take umbrage with her blog. Meanwhile Joe decides to semi-officially look into
the murder of Barry’s mother now that he knows Barry wasn’t necessarily
imagining things. His first lead is Harrison Wells himself—because who better
to have a chat with supernatural powers than the man who started the metahuman
craze?
Barry spends some time with Eddie Thawne as well, which
works okay as far as Barry’s misleading his suspicions on metahumans goes, but
when they start getting into Iris West I want to roll my eyes. Maybe it’s
because we’ve seen this exact same beat with Tommy/Laurel/Oliver on Arrow, but I’m really hoping the show doesn’t attempt to do much with the love
triangle. There also seems to be a hint that Caitlin Snow is warming up to
Barry, but I might be misreading her genuine concern for a friend for jealousy
when she asks him of his whereabouts. And it sucks because there’s some
genuinely awesome bromance going on with Eddie and Barry. I’m sure Tumblr has
already dedicated a sizable community to their “friendship.” But seriously, when
Eddie, frustrated with the investigation of Tony Woodward being handed off to
the state police, takes Barry to the precinct gym to work over a sandbag, it’s
genuinely great to see him teach Barry how to land a punch that counts.
Learning that this suave, capable detective was bullied as a kid humanizes him
a great way. If he does become the Reverse Flash as everyone predicts, it’ll
actually kind of suck because of how great of a guy he is.
After everyone has had their karate kid moment, Barry is
ready to take his speed to the next level and actually throw a punch that
matters. He has the perfect opportunity as well, as Tony has kidnapped Iris and
taken them to their old school. The thing about this show is that even when
everything else is pretty middling, it manages to make the final scene feel as
epic as any final confrontation in various super hero films. When Barry steels
himself and then turns around to gather the velocity necessary before taking
the hit that matters, it’s just perfection. Cisco’s exclamation just about sums
it up. We even got to see Iris standing up for herself!
“The Flash is Born” captivates by exploring the less
traumatic events of Barry’s past and allowing him to finally break out of his
heroic shell by learning not just how to fight, but how to win.
Score: 8.5
Watch It Like a Fox:
Duck It:
- A theme that resonates with a lot of people, even though the villain was lackluster.
- Finally! We have "The Flash" instead of "The Streak!" Though it's actually only a marginal improvement, at least the former name has the benefit of history making it seem not so pervy.
- "SUPER SONG PUNCH BABY, WOO!"
- Iris has quite the punch.
- Cookie cutter villains are back.
- Stop it with the love triangle!
Tag :
Flash,
Glass Half Empty Gotham Season 01 Episode 09 "Harvey Dent" Review
There’s something about Gotham that makes a whole lot of sense in theory. The idea of watching a version of “Year One” focused exclusively on James Gordon (or, well, Year -7, give or take a few seasons if the network has anything to say about it) that really should work like gangbusters. But more and more Gotham seems like an origin story for everyone but Gordon. Which is actually fine. Fantastic, even, because despite a great performance by Ben McKenzie, James Gordon’s straight laced, good guy, boy scout routine is just far too one note to really milk much drama from the premise. So when an episode focuses exclusively on James Gordon, it really drags the show as a whole down.
There’s a case to be made that we need Gordon to really struggle
against the corruption, and nearly be broken by it, to see him become the kind
of cop that is willing to let Batman
do so much for the city. A large part of the reason these two iconic characters
start off in an uneasy alliance is because Gordon recognizes his limits within
the department. But “Harvey Dent” doesn’t showcase the corruption or Gordon’s
loss of faith because it’s too busy setting up the pieces for the midseason
finale. And that’s the real problem with this show—it’s always eying its next
big event. The first weeks of this month brought us a showdown between Gordon
and the mobsters that was brewing for weeks. With Falcone having emerged
triumphant, with Cobblepot as a double agent in Maroni’s organization, the show
could have let us get to know more about Gordon and even figured out a more
organic way to work with Bruce Wayne. Instead we got one character driven
episode (last week’s excellent “The Mask”) and now we’re ramping up with “Harvey
Dent”. The titular character here wants to bring in Gordon’s witness—or let the
mobsters know that’s the plan—and as Gordon has nowhere else to put the young
Selina Kyle he takes her to the Waynes’ own home. Alfred’s chagrin could barely
be contained, and I have to agree that this sounds patently ridiculous. I don’t
need absolute realism, Gotham, but
wouldn’t it make much more sense for Gordon to bring in Federal Marshals at
this point? Surely even Falcone doesn’t have the kind of pull to get to her in
another state.
But I digress, the real failings of this episode rest solely
on its most important character—Nicholas
D’Agosto’s Harvey Dent. In the comics, Dent has come to be known as a
vicious crusader of a DA who had an affinity for flipping coins. After having
half his face burned off (either by a hitman out to kill him or by his own
failed move against the mobsters, depending on which canon you adhere to) he
becomes even more obsessed with chance and holds a grudge against a number of
people for his accident. He eventually becomes a criminal who wants to punish
other criminals sometimes but other times is happy to punish the GCPD and
Batman in lieu of this. D’Agosto brings a certain smug overconfidence that is
right at home with the character, but the random burst of rage belie a
formenting personality disorder that I don’t think works too well. The idea
that his accident (and the death of his wife) cause the breakdown in his psyche
is more compelling than the suggestion here that he was always pretty messed
up.
A little quirk to a character’s origin isn’t that bad,
though. The real issue with Dent is how Gordon is basically willing to tapdance
for him, giving in to his demands when he knows the danger they pose to Selina
Kyle. Even if her name is brought up, how many people have seen Gordon talking
with her? I would love to give the show the benefit of the doubt, and say it’s
playing with Gordon’s loss of faith. But it’s clear we’re instead being tossed
just enough substance to nod our heads and accept the falling dominos so the
finale next week makes sense while also likely blowing minds.
The worst part, though, is that I could probably accept the setup
if the rest of the episode wasn’t so lackluster. Our villain of the week is a
bombmaker with issues fitting into society being forced by the gangs to do
something or other that all feels very much like an afterthought. Nothing
memorable happens with the case, and by the time we end on Barbara in bed with Renee
the episode has done nothing that feels crucial at all. It’s clear we were
killing time for the finale, so here’s hoping next week’s episode will actually
do something worth the wait.
Score: 5.0
Duck It:
Watch it Like a Fox:
- Gordon makes bad decision after bad decision for no reason.
- The case of the week was, in a word, weak.
- The best characters are sidelined (Harvey and Cobblepot. Who need a spinoff).
- Bruce and Selina having a war with foodstuffs was pretty adorable.
- At least with this score I can make a "50/50" joke.
The Sidekick Episode is the Sidekick of Episodes Arrow Season 03 Episode 06 "Guilty" Review
 |
| The CW |
Over the long term, complacency can become a TV series’
biggest drawback. When a series starts, it’s got plenty of room to grow and change
with the actors and writers, reaching as high it possibly can before usually
settling into a groove. Some series (Breaking
Bad, Game of Thrones) continue to escalate things
further and further reaching dizzying heights of insanity as they progress
while still having engrossing and interesting characters. Arrow is not one of those shows, but it seems want to be a lot of the time. It’s never quite on full “turn your
brain off” escapism because Oliver and the rest of team arrow are too real for
their interpersonal turmoil to be superseded by the case of the week. Indeed, Arrow generally avoids having a
persistent “case of the week” structure, which is why it can be pretty
aggravating when the series randomly decides to drop in what feels like a
filler episode after a pretty strong streak. Don’t get me wrong, “Guilty” wasn’t
the worst thing the show has ever done, but it felt very… safe. Like the show
was afraid to carry through with a plot twist before the December finale.
While Roy discovering he killed a cop last year was something
we knew had to happen eventually, it was a woefully predictable. I admit, I was
a little worried they were going with
the far worse “twist” in which he actually
murdered Sara when Felicity concluded someone threw arrows into her.
Thankfully this was a misdirect (though now I’m looking extra hard in Solomon Grundy’s
direction…) and Roy was instead merging memories of his assault on the police
officer back in season 2. The epiphany comes courtesy of Oliver, who helps Roy
meditate to memory land. Roy is very upset with this twist himself, as it means
Oliver lied to him.
This would have all been so compelling last season, but
right now? With Sara’s murderer on the loose and Malcolm Merlyn on the fringes
of Starling City planning God-knows-what AND Oliver struggling with the loss of
his company?! There’s just way too much going on to revisit this storyline. It
also feels like a stretch for Roy to want to turn himself in when he was under
the effects of Mirakuru. It’d be one thing if the police had beyond a
rudimentary knowledge of the drug, or if he wasn’t actively going out alongside
a reformed killer (of mobsters and other killers, sure, but Ollie stilled
killed a lot back in season 1).
Everything’s couched in this incredibly obvious parallel
with Ted Grant and his former sidekick Isaac Stanzler (Nathan Mitchell). Isaac used to work with Grant back in the day,
before the Arrow came to town, but after a bad turn with a group of gangsters Grant
hangs up his pretty lackluster costume. Isaac’s back in town and killing
mobsters, framing Grant for their murders. There’s some tension between Oliver
and Laurel—Oliver wants Laurel to stay away from Grant after he finds out about
his connections to the murder. When Oliver pushes the issue even after Laurel
clears Grant’s name, it starts to feel a little controlling and possessive
rather than protective. The series has been trying to milk tension from Oliver
refusing to support Laurel as Black Canary, but considering we know the endgame
we’re basically getting Oliver looking more and more like an asshole with little
cause for such characterization.
It took me a minute (okay, a week) to get this review up
because I was much more psyched about “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak”
(which I WILL do a phantom review for one day), but I knew I should do this one
first. Because while the show has managed to keep pace with the action
sequences, the weekly sideshow is formulaic and drags on about twenty minutes
too long. Arrow doesn’t have to wow
me every week, but it does have to be more than just competent when it’s
setting up such interesting plotlines. Here’s hoping the next episode reaches a
little higher of a target.
Score: 7.0
Watch It Like a Fox:
Duck It:
- Boxing Glove Arrow!
- Okay, Felicity and Roy's friendship is super adorabs. I hate that I just said "adorbs" but it's really the only word in the English language which can capture the sentiment.
- Super transparent parralels.
- Roy's making less and less sense. Maybe he's on Mirakuru again after all.
- Oliver seems more like a controlling jackass than a worried, caring friend to Laurel.
- Important stuff was supposed to be happening. Maybe next episode...
Tag :
Arrow,