1.) Well that escalated quickly didn’t it?
Last episode ended with Ollie about to shoot his mother after learning she was involved with his father’s death. Odyssey picks up right after that moment. However, instead of Ollie making the choice of whether or not to kill his mother, Moira just cold shoots him in the chest. After escaping and being taken in by Felicity, the plucky IT programmer who revealed she knew who Ollie was last week, Ollie stays unconscious for most of the episode as he flashes back to the island. The island segments have always been the best part of the show so seeing them take centerstage this week was a real treat.
2.) Thank god this focused on Ollie.
You know how other episodes would still be about the titular archer vigilante yet somehow simultaneously have a 20 minute subplot about a yuppie dealing with the angst of dating his best friend’s ex? Yeah this episode has none of that. It has Slade Wilson. No rich white people crying for half the show, Slade Freaking Wilson.
3.) Slade Freaking Wilson.
Slade trains Ollie in the art of not dying horrifically on the island by doing that training exercise where two people hit each other with sticks really fast that I’m still not sure actually accomplishes anything but looks cool. Then he takes Ollie to go save Yao Fei, but on the way Ollie steps on a landmine. Rather than try to be careful or not scare the crap out of someone who will explode if they make a sudden movement, Slade waits in the trees for a group of soldiers to pass by, jumps out screaming with two machetes, and kills them all so he can tackle Ollie off the landmine and replace his body weight with one of the dead soldier’s. There’s ridiculous and then there’s insane. Slade just crossed both lines, did a triple somersaulted and stabbed a baby panda into perfect.
4.) Sweet dreams are made of this.
I’m a sucker for dream sequences, so when “Odyssey” had one where Dream Ollie attempted to reconcile with Dream Laurel I was hooked. Normally these can just be characters saying a truth that one needs in the waking world, but here it was nice to get the creepy imagery of Laurel saying “You’re dead Ollie” and then the shot cutting to him with a bullethole in his head. I would not complain at all if we got more of those.
5.) Best episode yet.
Really, between the near-sole focus on Ollie, a main plot surrounding the island, and Slade Freaking Wilson, I think Arrow is finally coming into its stride. It’s far from perfect, but it’s definitely becoming a much more fun show and a lot better one than I expected when I began watching.
Review Score: 8.5/10
