As we finally reached the end of the 'Brick Trilogy', Arrow became a very different show. In just a few short months we have had the death and resurrection of Oliver, Laurel becoming the Canary (sigh), and the falling in love and fall out of Olicity. Uprising gave us several huge moments, but they didn't all pan out the way I had hoped. But as Arrow always does, it had quite a few surprises as well.
I have really enjoyed our short time with Tatsu in the present day. There is obviously a bond between Oliver and her that we were previously unaware of. Even though it's unknown as to how Maseo and Tatsu broke up, I think it's clear it was the presumed death of their son. But as much as I loved these scenes, I though we needed a lot more. As he walked through forests wearing a similar coat and hat to Bruce Wayne's in Batman Begins, we got about 4-5 minutes and then Oliver was all of a sudden back in Star City, with his suit somehow I might add.
The present day left off with the new Team Arrow continuing their pursual of Brick. It was great to see Lance isn't a complete idiot and knows that Arsenal is Roy Harper. Paul Blackthorne has always been one of the great parts of this show, and even though they are taking his character down a stupid path, the actor always nails it. What I didn't like was once again seeing Laurel in the field, and this time kicking butt? "Grant must be a good teacher" ??? We saw her training for one episode. But it was nice to see Grant in action as Wildcat, even though he's not likely coming back because of his casting in Powers.
One of the major highlights this week was the flashbacks. Even though it wasn't the right time at all for a Malcom focused flashback, considering this is Oliver's big return, they were really good. I just feel like when you build up a return for the main character, the screen time shouldn't be given to the villain. This could have easily been a present centric episode, that showed a more Dark knight Rises type comeback. Considering how much the writers take from Nolan's trilogy, I expected a lot more. But seeing little Tommy, Oliver, and even Nyssa was great.
When Team Arrow was thinking of teaming up with Malcom, I really wanted to see Diggle step forward and make a smart decision. That he did, and we got probably the only one on one scene with Diggle and Malcom. That Is something that this show has gotten better at, giving us unique interactions of characters that end up nailing the scene. But now that Oliver is training with Malcom, shouldn't we expect to see Thea find out about Oliver? And I just cant imagine this going over well for Roy, Diggle, and Felicity. Laurel will likely take up screen time and serve no purpose while our favorite female is near heartbroken. The final scene between her and Oliver was pretty devastating considering all they have been through. But I agree with Felicity, I understand the student can only defeat the master, but teaming with Malcom is about as dangerous as you can get. Tatsu said that you have to prepare to sacrifice what is most precious, and for Oliver, that's both Thea and Felicity. The end of this season is going to see the end of one of them, likely Thea, or even Malcom.
So overall I was very underwhelmed by the comeback of Oliver Queen. It was a strange way of directing it by having him speak to the citizens, while the people he should be seeing first, Felicity, Diggle, and Roy are all watching on TV. They didn't even seem shocked when he came back to the foundry! All hope is not lost as Caity Lotz returns next week.
+Felicity
+Little Tommy, Ollie, and Nyssa
+Lance finds out it's Harper..now hopefully his daughter?
+Small Flash 'Streak' reference
+Diggle & Merlyn
+Cues from Nolan's trilogy
-Anticlimactic
-Laurel is fighting while Diggle watches
-Poorly timed flashbacks
8.0/10
I have really enjoyed our short time with Tatsu in the present day. There is obviously a bond between Oliver and her that we were previously unaware of. Even though it's unknown as to how Maseo and Tatsu broke up, I think it's clear it was the presumed death of their son. But as much as I loved these scenes, I though we needed a lot more. As he walked through forests wearing a similar coat and hat to Bruce Wayne's in Batman Begins, we got about 4-5 minutes and then Oliver was all of a sudden back in Star City, with his suit somehow I might add.
The present day left off with the new Team Arrow continuing their pursual of Brick. It was great to see Lance isn't a complete idiot and knows that Arsenal is Roy Harper. Paul Blackthorne has always been one of the great parts of this show, and even though they are taking his character down a stupid path, the actor always nails it. What I didn't like was once again seeing Laurel in the field, and this time kicking butt? "Grant must be a good teacher" ??? We saw her training for one episode. But it was nice to see Grant in action as Wildcat, even though he's not likely coming back because of his casting in Powers.
One of the major highlights this week was the flashbacks. Even though it wasn't the right time at all for a Malcom focused flashback, considering this is Oliver's big return, they were really good. I just feel like when you build up a return for the main character, the screen time shouldn't be given to the villain. This could have easily been a present centric episode, that showed a more Dark knight Rises type comeback. Considering how much the writers take from Nolan's trilogy, I expected a lot more. But seeing little Tommy, Oliver, and even Nyssa was great.
When Team Arrow was thinking of teaming up with Malcom, I really wanted to see Diggle step forward and make a smart decision. That he did, and we got probably the only one on one scene with Diggle and Malcom. That Is something that this show has gotten better at, giving us unique interactions of characters that end up nailing the scene. But now that Oliver is training with Malcom, shouldn't we expect to see Thea find out about Oliver? And I just cant imagine this going over well for Roy, Diggle, and Felicity. Laurel will likely take up screen time and serve no purpose while our favorite female is near heartbroken. The final scene between her and Oliver was pretty devastating considering all they have been through. But I agree with Felicity, I understand the student can only defeat the master, but teaming with Malcom is about as dangerous as you can get. Tatsu said that you have to prepare to sacrifice what is most precious, and for Oliver, that's both Thea and Felicity. The end of this season is going to see the end of one of them, likely Thea, or even Malcom.
So overall I was very underwhelmed by the comeback of Oliver Queen. It was a strange way of directing it by having him speak to the citizens, while the people he should be seeing first, Felicity, Diggle, and Roy are all watching on TV. They didn't even seem shocked when he came back to the foundry! All hope is not lost as Caity Lotz returns next week.
+Felicity
+Little Tommy, Ollie, and Nyssa
+Lance finds out it's Harper..now hopefully his daughter?
+Small Flash 'Streak' reference
+Diggle & Merlyn
+Cues from Nolan's trilogy
-Anticlimactic
-Laurel is fighting while Diggle watches
-Poorly timed flashbacks
8.0/10
