In the flashbacks to the Island, Dr Ivo (Dylan Neal) takes Oliver (Stephen Amell) back to the plane. He then proceeds to shoot it full of bullets and attempts to blow it up. Luckily, Shado (Celina Jade) is able to find the device and de-arm it, later re-arming it to use against the Ivo’s men. We see that Slade (Manu Bennett) is still gravely wounded but he refuses to let Shado go after Oliver on her own. Ivo forces Oliver to take him to the cave with the corpses and is incensed when he can’t find the Hozen with the bodies. Oliver is about to have his hand blown off when Shado and Slade show up and Oliver manages to escape with them and Sara (Caity Lotz). It turns out that Shado picked up the Hozen and has it around her neck. The Buddhist markings on it reminded her of her father, but there are coordinates on the other side of it that Sara tells them lead to a 70 year old submarine that has something on it that will save the human race. Oliver only wonders if it can save Slade who is obviously in great pain. Half his face is clearly ruined.
We last saw the Hozen in episode two of this season when Thea gave it to Roy. Recall that it represents the reconnecting of friends or the meeting of true friends. It also symbolizes the destruction of the passions and how both love and passion can be barriers to concentration. Once again these themes resonate somewhat in this episode. In the past, Oliver is reunited with Shado and Slade. Passion may be destructive in this relationship if tension is caused by Slade’s growing affection for Shado or Oliver’s past connection to Sara. In any case, the feelings connecting the four are likely to provide a distraction at the very least.
In the present, we see the revelation that Thea (Willa Holland) is actually Malcolm’s daughter. Moira (Susanna Thompson) is reunited with Malcolm, and we see that her momentary passion lead to a spiraling web of lies. It’s possible to see Oliver’s growing affection for Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) as the cause for his loss of concentration on his new vow not to kill those he fights. Oliver tells Moira that it was secrets and lies that put her behind bars and that the truth needs to come out, which is incredibly ironic coming from him.
Of course, the main plot in the episode centers around the return of Count Vertigo and Moira’s trial. The two storylines begin with a flashback to six months ago when Moira confessed to her role in The Glades plot and the quake resulted in the Count escaping from prison. There’s a beautiful shot of him jumping through a hole in the wall that is shaped like an arrow – a nice symbol for the fact that Oliver’s sparing him allowed him to escape and cause more mayhem.
I have to admit that as someone who knows something about the legal system, I found the trial storyline quite disappointing. Thea would have been much better prepared for being cross examined for one thing. Moira would never have been allowed to take the stand, particularly if the trial were going badly, and the prosecutor would never have visited the defendant in jail without her lawyer present. In fact, Laurel (Katie Cassidy) would never have been allowed on the case in the first place given her history with the family. I could go on... but I won’t because I know it is a television show after all. It seemed particularly contrived to have Adam (Dylan Bruce) not only end up dosed with Vertigo but the one the Count has to kidnap and make a public example of.The drama did produce numerous wonderful performances, however. Katie Cassidy does a wonderful job appealing to Moira, but then doing her job as a tough prosecutor. Oliver understands having to wear two hats probably better than anyone, so I loved the scene where he goes to her after the cross examination to make sure that she’s ok. I also liked that Laurel’s reaction to the verdict was complicated. She’s clearly disappointed to have lost a big case that really should have been a slam dunk, even while she didn’t really want to be the one to convict Moira.
Willa Holland also has a number of great scenes. She is terrific in being hard on herself after she clearly hurts Moira’s case – through no real fault of her own, of course. I loved the scene in which Roy (Colton Haynes) goes to her in the bar and forces her to let him help her. It was also a nice bit of backstory for Roy – that he has this pent up rage that he needs to release. Even though he has a rough background he is still sensitive to Willa and able to help her through.
It’s always fun to watch the team try to get to the bottom of a case. I loved Felicity continuing to wonder what it would take to impress Diggle (David Ramsey) and Oliver. However, it did seem a bit stupid of such a smart woman to go out to investigate the flu trucks all by herself. Amell is wonderful in the scene in which Oliver must choose between shooting the Count or risking Felicity. He tells her it wasn’t even a choice, but he is clearly shaken by having broken his vow not to kill. He is still reeling from the decision when he gets back in time for Moira’s verdict to be read. Oliver is immediately suspicious when Moira is acquitted.
We soon learn that Malcolm has manipulated the jury to get Moira off. Moira is stunned to learn that Malcolm is still alive. He tells her that death is merely an illusion in some parts of the world, and he’s very good at it. Malcolm tells her he returned because she needed his help with her trial. He is angry that she lied to him about Thea, however, and he knows she’s his daughter. He also tells Moira that he had help in the DA’s office to make sure she was acquitted.
There were a number of balls put in play in this episode. One of them was this indication that Malcolm has someone working in the DA’s office. I thought it curious that Blood (Kevin Alejandro) was in the DA’s office when they were working on the Queen case. Blood is using a variation of Vertigo to power his super-soldiers. The Count mentions having someone who hates Oliver even more than he does himself. This “man of means” set the Count up in his new endeavor. Blood’s plan was to have the Count kill the Arrow, but instead he worries this will be the start of the vigilante starting to kill again. I have to wonder if the money behind Blood is actually coming from Malcolm – though Malcolm has not shown himself to work well with others in the past. If not Malcolm, I have to wonder where Blood’s money is coming from.
There is also mention of a particle accelerator creating news. Next week sees the introduction of Barry Allen (the Flash), and I have to wonder if this particle accelerator will tie in somehow. In the comics, Allen receives his super powers after an accident in his lab at home – a lightening bolt shatters a box of chemicals all over him. I can’t wait to see what kind of dynamic this may bring to the show. I wonder if the reappearance of the Hozen here is also a clue that Arrow and Flash will be a connection of true friends
I have to admit that this wasn’t my favorite episode of the series. It was my favorite appearance by the Count, however, and I’m very glad to have Malcolm back as an adversary. What did you think of the episode? Do you think Oliver choosing Felicity over his vow not to kill strengthened their budding relationship or halted it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Great review. I also wondered about Laurel participating in Moira's case too (and I am most certanly not familiar with the legal system). And I do hope what you think is correct and the hosen means Barry and Ollie will be friends.
ReplyDeleteThea being Malcom's kid, along with him being back really did surprise me. But I am all in for more Barrowman!
Excellent review and analysis. There's not much to add in fact you've covered all the fact!
ReplyDeleteAll I will say is I'm glad the Count is dead, the character did not fit with the rest of the tone of the series, he was far to over the top and I found that incredible annoying and at time, down right ridiculous. He was almost pantomime and stuck out in an otherwise dark and more dramatic series. I am also worried about the introduction of 'super' characters, which would take this from the interesting and more unique stye of show (more action hero then comic book hero) to just another superhero show.
The producers have already said they're not going to show Barry as The Flash in Arrow, which for me was very welcome news. But with these new super soldier & Brother Blood, you wonder how far they will go. One of the things I enjoy about Arrow is its dark tone, the much more solid action, and its slightly more ground version of reality i.e. Arrow's abilities have been forged from 5 years of horror, hardship and expert training on the island, not super powers.
At the end of the day, Oliver/Arrow is just a man, and for me that's very appealing. He may be hard to kill, he may kickass but he's still just a man and subject to the limitations and risks like the rest of us. To then add characters with super power etc. you tip the balance of power. Oliver may have his friends, but they're all at the end of the day just people. So if you pit him against a number of super-powered individuals as well as the league of shadows, triad etc, you end up with such massive odds, it becomes ridiculous if he ever won the day. Cleverness, luck and ingenuity can only hold so long against such massive odds. So fingers crossed they remember that and find more unique ways to up the anti without changing the whole tone of the show.
Thanks! I'm not sure how I feel about that twist. It makes me want Tommy back even more - Thea would have had two brothers that way! I don't think she's going to take this well, but maybe this is the catalyst that morphs her into "Speedy". Mind you, but the looks of her punching, she's got a long way to go to become a superhero! And I'll forgive any implausibility over Malcolm being alive in order to have more Barrowman - he was delightfully evil in this episode!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I completely agree with you here! In fact, while I love Gabel, and he did an excellent job of creating the Count, I always found him much too "comic" book. In fact, I think they really went out of their way to dial him back last night - he even had on less eye-liner. So, I too, did not mourn his death.
ReplyDeleteI also agree about introducing super-powers. I won't count Blood's soldiers though. At the end of the day, they are really just hopped up on drugs - much like soldiers on LSD- a reprehensible but real-world training tactic.
I too like the dark tone and amazing stunt work on the show - I don't want to see either change. The fight scenes are crazy - but they aren't particularly enhanced by anything other than the human body and that is incredibly impressive. I'd hate to see that change. However, The Avengers does a good job of integrating superpowers like the Hulk and Thor with man-made super-powers like Ironman, and regular super heros like Black Widow and Hawkeye. I think this team of writers can make it work, but they already have a core cast of human heroes, so hopefully they will simply stick with them.
I think they should have made a whole episode just about the legal proceedings...if they were worried about there not being enough action, they could have thrown in some cool flashbacks. As it was, too much was happening at once.
ReplyDeleteAnd honestly, every time the prosecution "scored" I wanted to redirect. I wanted to stand up and point out that the jury should decide not based on what they think Moira deserved, not based on feelings of revenge, but based on what the laws says about the issue.
I wanted to stand up and give Thea the opportunity to say that she didn't go with her mother when she got arrested because she went into the glades instead, trying to help.
I wanted to call Oliver into the witness stand, reminding the jury that Moira lost her son for five years.
I wanted to point out that if Moira motivation had been fear of getting caught, she would have not gone in front of a camera and confess in order to rescue as many lives as possible.
I don't think Malcolm's resource/associate in the DA's office was meant to have Moira acquitted. I believe he only followed Donner's investigation of Moira with interest (with the help of his associate), after which he found out Thea is his daughter.
ReplyDeleteIt would be an interesting twist if Malcolm's resource turns out to be Laurel. But I don't think she has a reason to do that, unless she knows Sara is alive and Malcolm has her.
OMG - yes, yes, yes....
ReplyDeleteInteresting twist if Malcolm were using Sara for leverage, but I think he's had someone in there from the beginning. I think he was interested in getting Moira acquitted - for one thing he can use that as leverage over her now to keep her quiet about him - although she can't be tried again anyway... I really wonder what he's going to be up to now - after all, it's got to be hard to do much when you are supposed to be dead!
ReplyDeleteGood review of a pretty weak episode. The court stuff ... yes. First thing I thought was, "where's Moira's entire team of lawyers?" Second was, "did they not prep Thea for questioning at all?" Third, "if you are crazy enough to put Moira on the stand, surely you'd use your own questions to get the Malcolm affair aired out and neutralized as far as possible." Etc. I mean, sure, it's just a TV show, but would some gesturing towards plausible courtroom strategy be that hard to manage? The conveniently-important kidnap victim broadcast on TV gimmick has also been used perhaps once too often.
ReplyDeleteMoira, the terrorist goes free? that really didn't sit well with me.
ReplyDeleteI think we are supposed to see her as having been coerced. But you would think at least some kind of hefty fine would be in order - not like she couldn't afford to help the relief efforts... In the end, she did try to at least warn people...
ReplyDelete