This week’s episode of Arrow, “Seeing Red,” was written by the team of Wendy Mericle and Beth Schwartz and directed by Doug Aarniokoski. Its shocking ending completely blind-sided me and gave a whole new – and unexpected – meaning to the title. This is Aarniokoski’s first time directing for Arrow. His other credits include Criminal Minds, but he is most knows as an Assistant Director/Second Unit Director. He delivers a solid and memorable episode. However, given that all actors achieve a certain comfort level with directors they’ve worked with before, I’m going to give the majority of my praise for this episode to the powerful performance of Stephen Amell and Susanna Thompson, in particular. It’s a real sign of how close this cast is that the emotional scenes in this episode were so genuine.
I don’t, however, want to discount yet another carefully written episode. Mericle and Schwartz deliver a powerful and carefully crafted episode. So much of the ground work has been laid over the course of the entire season and it’s one of the joys of watching this show to see those threads woven together. The episode itself foreshadows the coming tragedy that is only really appreciated in retrospect. In fact, the foreshadowing in this episode is so strong, I had to worry when Diggle (David Ramsey) says to Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) in the opening scene, “I don’t think there’s a force on earth that could make you a bad person.” Could Slade (Manu Bennett)? Could Isobel? Could the Mirakuru?
Like most people, I assumed the title referred to the red of Roy’s (Colton Haynes) hoodie and the fact that when he wakes up, the Mirakuru now has him in such a rage that he is simply seeing red. He attacks random strangers, but also can’t control himself from attacking Sin (Bex Taylor-Klaus), Diggle, Sara (Caity Lotz), Oliver, and Thea (Willa Holland). Like Slade hallucinating the love of his life, Shado (Celina Jade), Roy is also hallucinating the love of his life, Thea. And just as that love is tangled up in rage for Slade and directed at Oliver, for Roy it’s directed at Thea. Both Oliver and Thea beg Roy to fight the Mirakuru. Oliver tells him, “You’re a good person, Roy. You have a conscience and a soul.” Thea tells him she has to believe the man she fell in love with is still in there. Yet, it’s only Sara shooting him that is able to give him a moment of clarity and he begs her to kill him. Oliver steps in and shoots him with the Tibetan viper venom.
One of the themes in the episode that has been a through line all season is the notion of whether on is inherently good or evil. We see Oliver ask Sara to move in with him at the outset of the episode. She hesitates and is literally saved by the bell as Felicity calls about Roy. Sara’s instinct is to kill Roy – she sees nothing left of him and only the threat from the Mirakuru. They both accuse each other of losing objectivity – Sara over Sin and Oliver over Roy – their respective protégés and charges. And this also dovetails nicely with the other, primary theme of the episode – what parents do for their children, to ensure that their children’s future is bright. Let’s not forget that Sin, in particular, was left to Sara’s charge by Sin’s father on the Island.
After Roy kills the police officer, Oliver is desperate for Felicity to find him before the police. Sara asks “because we won’t kill him?” Oliver points out that she found a way to bring in Helena without killing her – and important step for Sara. Sara points out that Helena wasn’t under the influence of the Mirakuru – just like Slade. Oliver refuses to equate Roy with Slade. Sara points out that they are having exactly the same conversation that they had five years ago over Slade. Oliver tells Felicity that Sara “reminds me of me when I first got back. When it seemed impossible to believe in anything even resembling hope.” Felicity reminds him that he did and reassures him that eventually Sara will too. In light of the events of the episode, I wonder how much hope Oliver will have left in the next episode.
After almost killing Roy, Sara tells Oliver, “I wanted to kill Roy because that’s who I am. I spent six years in the darkness. I looked into the eyes of the Devil and I gave him my soul.” Oliver asks her to let him help her get it back, but she tells him, “You deserve someone better. Who can harness that light that’s still inside you.” She tells him that she cares too much about him to stay with him. As she leaves, she bumps into Sin. Sara tells her that it took guts to get between her and Roy. Sin, however, knows Sara better than Sara knows herself and tells her “I knew you wouldn’t really hurt him. You’re not a killer.” Sara tells Sin that she’s leaving to visit an old friend. Now we are left to wonder who that old friend might be – could it be Malcolm Merlyn? Could it be Nyssa or even Ra’s al Ghul? Will she bring in the real assassins to bring down Slade? And will she ever be able to forgive herself for not being there when Oliver needed her the most?
It was nice to see Sin brought back into the story, particularly as a friend to both Roy and Thea. It was also nice to see a little interaction between Diggle and Thea. To be honest, I was really hoping he’d give it to her with both barrels. Diggle tells her that her mother loves her and Oliver and that maybe that should buy Moira a second chance. I wonder when the penny will drop for her that Diggle isn’t a typical employee. While Diggle isn’t going to stop working for Oliver – or at least not for the Arrow – I do wonder what all of them are going to do for money if Oliver has now way to pay them. After all, neither Diggle nor Felicity work for Queen Consolidated anymore. Am I forgetting Oliver simply giving the club to Thea? Doesn’t he still technically own it?
Of course, Thea will now have to live with never getting that second chance. I was confused at first by the choice of flashback for this episode. We see Oliver seven years ago, likely just before he left for the Island. He’s managed to get himself into trouble by getting a girl pregnant. It’s not Laurel (Katie Cassidy), who it would seem that Moira approves of. Moira immediately goes into clean up mode. She decides what’s in Oliver’s best interests and she does it the way she usually does – by creating more secrets. This secret has got to bear fruit in season three even if we learn no more about it this season. She tells the “mother” (Anna Hopkins), who is never actually named, that “This is my first grandchild. I want to make sure he or she has a bright future.” She gives the mother $1 million to tell Oliver she’s lost the baby and another $1 million to leave Starling City forever. She tells her – as advice from one mother to another – that “When it comes to your children, there is no action that is inconceivable. There is no decision that is impossible. You do what you must to provide the life that they need.” Moira has certainly lived by these words, and she more than heroically dies by them.
When Moira is forced by Mark (Nicholas Lea) to make a choice between her campaign for mayor and her relationship with Thea, she is prepared to throw the towel in on her campaign. Of course, with her death, it seems unlikely that we will see more of Lea as her campaign manager. I’ve liked Lea since The X-Files, so I hope they find a way to keep him around. Moira even goes to Sebastian Blood (Kevin Alejandro) to let him know she’s dropping out. He chillingly tells her that he “is going to change this city. A new day is coming.” What that might look like from his twisted mind is not reassuring.
When Oliver learns that Moira is going to drop out, he convinces her not to – for the very reason she is prepared to: Thea. He tells Moira that “Thea hates you right now for what you’ve done. Terrible things. So let her see you do something good. As mayor. I know a little something about sacrificing the people closest to me for the good of this city. It’s what you need to do now.” And then Moira drops the first bombshell of the episode. She KNOWS! Stephen Amell’s face as he reacts to her declaration is a terrific piece of acting. Susanna Thompson can’t be praised enough for her work in this episode. And there are four stand out scenes for me. This is one as is the scene between her and the mother. She is good at keeping secrets and not just her own secrets. She’s known since the night of the undertaking, but has kept the secret. It is very bitter sweet to have her acknowledge it here and to end the scene by telling Oliver that she couldn’t be more proud of him. Hopefully, that pride will help to keep Oliver on the path he’s chosen. He has another death to honor now.
In the end, Moira doesn't withdraw from the race, though she is on the brink of doing it. It's a nice moment as she sees Thea in the crowd and then looks to Oliver. She clearly draws strength from the look or reassurance and support that he gives her, and she declares that Starling City is her family and nothing matters more than family to her. More foreshadowing as we see just what she is willing to do for family...
Moira covers for Oliver when Thea wants to know where he was during Roy’s attack. How much more would she have been able to do for him as mayor? Of course, Moira is about to turn a new page, one of honesty, and seems about to tell both Thea and Oliver that Malcolm is still alive when the crash happens. Thea is already starting to figure out that there is some kind of connection between Oliver and Roy because Oliver knew that Roy would come for her and was dangerous because of putting Diggle on guard duty. Thea may not have the experience of her mother, but she’s not stupid either. Will Thea now forgive Oliver when she knows more of the truth or will it drive them further apart? Will Oliver acknowledge the truth if she guesses it or tell her outright?
Oliver wakes from the crash to the thing of nightmares – his own worst nightmare recreated. In a shockingly parallel scene, we have Moira and Thea in the same places as Sara and Shado from earlier in the scene – we even have a blonde on one side and brunette on the other. This scene was heartbreaking and the tension was palpable. Bennett and Holland are outstanding. Amell and Thompson leave me stumped for high enough praise. Slade wants to see what Oliver looked like when he had to make the choice between Shado and Sara. Slade reveals the extent of his madness when he reveals that he’s talking to Shado. Moira is horrified to realize that Slade had been on the Island with Oliver. Oliver pleads with Slade to let him make the right choice now. He pleads for Slade to kill him instead of Thea or Moira. Holland and Thompson’s panic that Slade will do it was terrific. This entire scene was just incredibly well choreographed and shot, showcasing these terrific performances.
Slade tells Oliver that he is killing him but “more slowly than you would like.” Amell’s utter despair is palpable by the end. However, Thompson gives her character the dignity and weight of a truly great heroine. She struggles to her feet telling Oliver there’s “only one way this night can end.” And we immediately know that she is about to do that inconceivable action she’s already talked about. She faces Slade and holds his eye. She tells him, “We both know that, don’t we, Mr Wilson. Both my children will live.” She tells Thea she loves her and then tells her to close her eyes to spare her having to see her mother die.
Slade tells her, “You possess true courage. I’m truly sorry...” At this point he lowers his gun and looks genuinely impressed and regretful, but then he continues - “you did not pass that on to your son.” And then in profile, we see him stab her through the heart with his katana. And THAT is the red that I will take away from this episode.
Slade chillingly tells Oliver that there is still one person left who has to die before this can end. The choices would seem to be Sara, Laurel, or Felicity. He seems to have driven Sara away – though he likely doesn’t know that yet – and he’s already attempted to poison Laurel’s relationship with Oliver – which seems to have been his main goal with Thea. So does that leave Felicity? I can’t help but reflect on Diggle’s words to Felicity at the beginning of the episode.
The very final scene is the last between Amell and Thompson, and I couldn’t help reflecting that even if this wasn’t shot as there last scene together, as scenes are so rarely shot in sequence, they would still have brought to it those feelings of something ending to the scene.
The final shot of the episode begins on Moira’s face in the past and then blurs to a shot of her now lifeless face. Oliver is lying beside her and Thea is draped over her. It will be interesting to see what this does to both of them. Will it bring them closer together again or will it drive them apart. Will Oliver finally tell Thea the whole truth? Will Oliver be able to honor his mother’s memory by remaining the man who had made her so proud or will he return to the hopeless man he was when he returned from the Island?
This episode saw the satisfying – though unexpected – conclusion to a character we’ve come to love on the show. Marc Guggenheim commented in an interview that they felt that Moira’s arc had come to a natural ending point. Most of her big secrets were out and they didn’t want to keep re-hashing the same territory. Personally, I really wanted to see what Moira did as mayor. However, I am really interested to see what the fallout from her death will be. Who, if anyone, will now oppose Blood? I was very disappointed to see Sara break up with Oliver and leave town – though I suspect that she will at least be back to town sooner rather than later.
What did you think of the episode? Were you shocked at Moira’s death? Were you impressed with her courage in the end? Will you miss her? Who do you think is the final name on Slade’s list? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
