Arrow 2.11 "Blind Spot" Review: Looking Behind the Mask

    Last night’s episode of Arrow, “Blind Spot,” addressed a number of the major plot lines and was one of the best episodes yet this year. The episode was written by the ever solid team of Wendy Mericle and Beth Schwartz and directed by regular Glen Winter. This episode interwove the theme of things and people are not as they appear to be – hence the “blind spot” alluded to in the title – and significantly advanced the main action of the show. As Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) says, “Not a lot of people show their real face in public.” While I don’t think you can love a comic/superhero show without loving the parade of villains, I was very happy to see this episode stay focused on the main action and not distract us with a minor villain. Kudos to both Katie Cassidy (Laurel) and Caity Lotz (Sara) for knocking their performances as the Lance sisters out of the park.

    As this was a Laurel centered episode, I want to begin with Laurel’s story arc. The executive producers had said that Laurel would have to hit rock bottom before she could really start to turn her life around, and we certainly see her getting closer by the end of this episode. She has lost her job and the respect and support of even Quentin (Paul Blackthorne), her father. Her opiate addiction has been exposed to all those close to her – though Adam (Dylan Bruce) tells her they won’t make the news public. I try to make it a policy not to comment on the appearance of an actor on a show, but Cassidy was painfully thin in last night’s episode. My hope is that in preparation for this storyline for Laurel, she altered her appearance. Now that the addiction is exposed, my hope is that Laurel will finally acknowledge it and seek help, and that Cassidy will begin to put some weight back on. This is not in any way a criticism – just an observation and concern.

    Cassidy is simply magnificent in this episode. We see determined, justice-seeking Laurel – the Laurel we’ve come to know back in season one. And then we see her completely destroyed. The entire storyline is a nice continuation of the seeds sown back in “Broken Dolls” earlier this season. We get insights that the Laurel everyone thinks they know isn’t the real Laurel. The flashbacks reveal that Sara had a crush on Oliver (Stephen Amell) and was just acting on it at a party, when Laurel tipped their father off about the party and had it raided by the police, resulting in Sara being grounded for a month. During that month, Laurel started dating Oliver. Laurel is apparently just as capable at subterfuge and doing whatever it takes to get what she wants as everyone else. She isn’t the perfect “doll” that is her public face. In another powerful scene, Oliver calls her on trying to fake that everything is ok. Substance addiction is often linked to the need to control or dull reality.

    Blackthorne and Cassidy share two powerful scenes addressing addiction. Quentin points out that addiction runs in families. I was hoping that he would urge her to get help. He also plants the seed of doubt in Laurel when he points out that the substance abuse can dull and distort the senses.

    It was nice for Laurel to be the one to save Arrow from Blood. However, I did miss the kickass fighter that we’ve seen her be in previous episodes – she didn’t seem to try to fight off her kidnappers and simply kept being thrown to the ground. I thought it was a great twist for Blood to sacrifice Daily (Jesse Hutch). It may also end up being his undoing. I had the feeling that Quentin was suspicious of him in previous episodes. Quentin will also know Daily’s schedule and either he or Felicity may uncover an instance when Daily couldn’t have been acting as Brother Blood.

    We learn more about Sebastian Blood (Kevin Alejandro) in this episode, and I love that the writers can make him more sympathetic this far into the storyline. We see that Blood is very much under the control of Slade (Manu Bennett). Just before Sebastian kills his mother, she apologizes for hurting him and he forgives her. While killing his mother does not make him more sympathetic, I was left wondering what she did that hurt him. Being abused as a child isn’t an excuse for becoming a murderer, but it may be an explanation for how he ended up as one. He manages not to kill Laurel even if he does ruin her life as Slade requires of him.

    We see Sara break from Ivo (Dylan Neal) in the flashbacks. Lotz does an amazing job with a long scene on the walkie-talkie with Ivo. It’s no easy feat to deliver such an emotional scene without having someone there to act against. She has finally realized that she hasn’t been a part of some science experiment for the greater good, but something horrible and that she was doing it more to simply protect herself.

    There is nice parallel moment as we cut from Sara’s scene to Blood meeting with Slade – who we see for the first time in the Deathstroke costume. Is it possible that Blood may see the light and realize that he is also sacrificing people’s lives and that Slade does not share his belief in a greater good? I realize that I’ve already said I make it a policy not to comment on the appearance of an actor, but I’m going to break it again just briefly to say who knew that greying hair, a goatee, an eye-patch, and a shower could make such a difference to Slade?!

    We also see Roy’s (Colton Haynes) storyline finally start to come to fruition. It was fun watching Sin (Bex Taylor-Klaus) and Roy work together. It’s pretty clear that Sin has no romantic interest in Roy as she made it clear that she is also Thea’s (Willa Holland) friend, and sensibly kept urging Roy to tell Thea everything. I’m looking forward to Thea being drawn into this storyline.

    The end of the episode brings us to a point that we’ve all been waiting for – Arrow is getting a sidekick! Oliver checks in with Roy at several points during the episode. There is a terrific transitional shot at the beginning of the episode that cuts from Oliver’s conversation with Roy to a shot of the disfigured skeleton of the Japanese soldier on the Island. While Roy is out of control, he certainly doesn’t seem to be experiencing the same side effects as Slade or the Japanese soldiers. In the flashbacks, Amell once again impresses with his ability to play such different aspects of his character’s journey. We see and Oliver who is not nearly as tightly controlled as the Oliver who is Arrow, much like Roy now. I wonder if Thea and Sin will end up being “trained” by the Arrow team too.

    I doubt that even Roy will be introduced to Felicity or Diggle (David Ramsey) any time soon though as that would let Roy in on who the Arrow really is. Once again, the Arrow team is the voice of reason, especially Felicity. She points out that Sebastian is a likely candidate simply based on his name! She is also the one to point out that people are rarely what they seem, after all, Diggle is more than a billionaire’s driver and bodyguard. I love it when a show can address its own potential logic flaws! While Oliver comes to recognize that he might have a blind spot where Laurel is concerned, he also needs to ensure that he doesn’t simply write her off and believe Blood simply because he’s Blood. As he says in the flashback, the first thing he learned on the Island was to trust no one. Clearly, Brother Blood and the serum can’t stay inactive forever, and that will lend more weight to Laurel’s accusations.

    What did you think of the episode? Are you excited to see Roy’s transition to a member of the team? Were you disappointed to see Laurel defeated on every front by Blood? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!