Arrow 2.03 "Broken Dolls" Review: Caring Keeps You Alive

  
     This week’s episode of Arrow, “Broken Dolls,” was written by Marc Guggenheim and Keto Shimizu and was directed by Glen Winter. Guggenheim as one of the showrunners and Winter are both familiar names. Shimizu is credited as an executive story editor last season and also has writing credits for Being Human and The Cape – giving her plenty of superhero cred. Her twitter account profile says she is a “TV writer, burlesque dancer and foodie. Shaped by folk musicians, art historians, horror movies and comic books.” I think she’s got all the credentials to make it on this show! I’m also crediting her for writing great action sequences for our female characters. There aren’t many other shows on which the executive producers have as many writing credits as Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Greg Berlanti have on Arrow. This direct and consistent input is, for me, one of the biggest reasons this show is so solid week in and week out.

    Tonight’s episode was action packed. I loved the great camera work by Winter, especially in the scene that cuts between Mathis (Michael Eklund) torturing the girl in the warehouse and Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) over the phone. The camera is in soft focus in the warehouse which helps to heighten the sense of distortion and terror and it rotates around Mathis in the one location and a 360 degree loop around Quentin and Arrow (Stephen Amell) in the hotel. It keeps the viewer as off-base as the characters. Winter’s previous experience behind the camera is invaluable as he moves into the director’s chair – and he’s also listed as cinematographer on Arrow, contributing to the great look the show has week in and week out.

    The episode features a number of different action sequences and stunts. The episode just keeps coming, literally! I would be remiss in not, once again, mentioning the spectacular team headed by James Bamber and including Jon Kralt and J.J. Makaro and a virtual army of stunt performers. It’s unusual that an episode doesn’t include a spectacular sequence from Stephen Amell, but tonight’s episode only saw one scene with Oliver and Diggle (David Ramsey) sparing. The flashback sequence did feature some spectacular stunts, especially as the plane comes under attack, but tonight’s action sequence award is a tie between Black Canary’s (Caity Lotz) entrance to Mathis’s lair and the parkour chase sequence between Roy (Colton Haynes) and Sin (Bex Taylor-Klaus). Black Canary’s entrances and exits from her lair also deserve special mention.

    Once again, the episode also centers around a theme – one that’s become a familiar one on the show: the perils of caring about people and trying to protect your family. Is it safer to push people away and keep yourself isolated or do you risk everything to keep the ones you love safe? We see this theme play out with Moira (Susanna Thompson) as DA Adam Donner (Dylan Bruce) reveals he will seek the death penalty. Moira tells her lawyer, Jean (Teryl Rothery), that she’s just got her family back and there are things she never wants to come out in a trial. She is willing to make a bad deal to protect her children and her relationship with Thea (Willa Holland) and Oliver.

    Roy is trying to prove himself to both Arrow and Thea. I thought it was a nice touch that he asked Black Canary not to hit him in the face as his girlfriend didn’t like it! Roy and Sin seemed to have some chemistry, and it was a bit ironic that she would dub him “Abercrombie” – a clear reference that she thinks he’s from the privileged set. I wonder if he will at some point try to prove to her that his roots are decidedly not Abercrombie and Fitch despite the fact that he has a rich girlfriend. Could Sin spell trouble for Thea and Roy? I’m also curious as to her relationship with the Black Canary. What is their history?

    It seems clear that the Black Canary is going to turn out to be Sara Lance. The arrival of another Dark Archer (Owen Kwong) at the end of the episode had me thinking for a few heart-pounding moments that we were going to get Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) back. However, we do learn that someone is very interested in having the Black Canary come home to roost – Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s al Ghul is an infamous DC supervillain, and despite the fact that Liam Neeson played him as Batman’s mentor in the Christopher Nolan films, he is traditionally one of Batman’s greatest enemies. It seems as if they are setting him up to be the mentor of Merlyn and Black Canary, so perhaps, Sara was rescued at sea and brought to him. It will be interesting to see if the Black Canary has finally returned to Starling City because of the pull of caring for her family or whether she has been kept alive by some other purpose. It would seem that just as Oliver is continuing to sweep in to protect Laurel (Katie Cassidy), Black Canary is sweeping in to protect Oliver – or is it Laurel? Clearly, given that she doesn’t hesitate to kill Mathis, she is more ruthless than Oliver is now – but perhaps not so different from how he was when he first returned from the Island.

    The flashback to the Island in the episode provide the theme for this week. Slade (Manu Bennett) is trying to tell Oliver that he is an idiot for caring for Shado (Celina Jade), and it will get him killed. Ironically, the fact that Slade himself now cares for Oliver ends up both saving and damning him in the episode. When Slade slips off a cliff, Oliver saves him and tells him “You should be glad I haven’t avoided forming an attachment with you!” Oliver insists that it’s caring about people that keeps you alive. However, when the plane comes under bomb attack, Oliver throws caution to the wind and runs in to try to save Shado. He is hit with a blast and ends up disoriented and then unconscious. Slade runs after Oliver to try to stop him from running into the line of fire, only to be set on fire himself. Oliver’s last glimpse of Slade is Slade with his hands and possibly face on fire. We don’t see Shado at all. I have to wonder if this is going to send Slade back into the Deathstroke mask and persona and turn him against Oliver. Oliver wakes up in a prison on a ship that is taking him away from the Island.

    In the present, the episode really centers around Quentin. Blackthorne is really terrific in the episode and we really get to see what a great actor he is. It’s great to see him come full circle and be the first one to call Oliver Arrow. I loved it when he told Arrow that he was trying a new way too. I loved the looks on Blackthorne’s face every time Arrow did something that was still uncomfortable for the hard-wired cop. When they interrogate Tony Daniel (Andy Thompson) and Arrow puts an arrow through the guy’s shoulder to get him to talk, Blackthorne’s look of horror is priceless. He delivers the lines with just the right amount of chagrin. We get to see a number of different facets to Quentin. He is the one to recognize the chemical compound of the skin cream for example. I loved the quiet little smile of pride that flits across Oliver’s face when Quentin expresses admiration for Felicity’s (Emily Bett Rickards) computer skills. Amell and Blackthorne have undeniable chemistry – really, is there anyone Amell doesn’t have chemistry with?

    We also get some great insight into Quentin as he explains to Oliver why he’s changed. They are all watching Felicity to protect her, and Quentin tells Oliver that when you’ve suffered a loss it shifts your beliefs. Quentin is astute enough to realize that Arrow has lost people too. Arrow has changed because of Tommy – proving that Quentin is a good judge of character. He’s willing to work with Arrow when he wasn’t willing to work with the Vigilante. Quentin also tells Oliver that the reason he is so determined to get Mathis is that Mathis was the first big case he had after Sara died and Mathis killed eight girls the last time before he could catch him. The idea that a loss shifts your beliefs may also play out with what is happening in the past as Oliver has now lost Shado and Slade and they have lost him.

    We also see Quentin confront Laurel in the episode and they both have a couple of powerful scenes together. I love that this show had already written and filmed this episode as we were discussing the very issues that are finally disclosed in the episode. Quentin points out (as we all have too!) that it is stupid to blame Arrow/the Hood for Tommy’s death because a guy with a bow and arrow couldn’t stop a building from falling on someone. Quentin knows something else is bothering Laurel and that she feels guilty for something, but she won’t open up to him. In many ways, these two have been each other’s reason for living, especially after Sara died. After Quentin and Laurel are freed from Mathis by Arrow, Laurel has an epiphany and realizes that he came to her rescue even though she’s been trying to stop him. She also realizes that she was blaming Arrow for Tommy when in reality it was her fault because she refused to leave the Glades when she was told to – a comment made by many on this site! Smart show... Hopefully, Laurel will now be able to truly move on. Quentin takes her home and tucks her in and Arrow show up to make sure she’s ok. Quentin thanks him and says, “I might not always approve of your methods, but I can’t argue with your results.”

    Finally, a quick word about the “home team.” We don’t get to see much of Diggle this episode, but we do see Felicity step up and offer to go back into the field. At first, Diggle and Oliver – and Quentin – all want to protect her, but she says if she could go into a mob gambling house and jump out of a plane, this wasn’t so bad. It’s nice that they aren’t making her completely comfortable, however, and she confesses to being completely “wigged out” as she’s playing bait. She also ends up hitting her head and almost abducted. I’m betting we’re going to see more training in her future!One of the things I love the most about this show is that they aren't afraid to build the characters slowly. Felicity has grown in confidence - she's much more comfortable around Oliver so even when she makes a silly double entendre, she doesn't get as flustered. Her confidence is also reflected in her new wardrobe choices too. But she is still vulnerable to some extent too.

    I thought this was another strong episode with great action and character development. I can’t wait to see what happens next in flashback and whether Black Canary is going to turn out to be friend or foe. We didn’t even see Blood (Kevin Alejandro) or Isabel (Summer Glau) this episode, and I’m looking forward to how they are going to complicate Oliver’s other identity. Just a heads up that my review for next week’s episode is likely to be somewhat delayed. What did you think of the episode? Is Black Canary good or evil? Are you looking forward to more of Blood or Isabel? Are Slade and Shado dead? (Unlikely for Slade in particular as he’s a regular this season) Let me know your thoughts in the comments!