As we move towards the season finale, Arrow continues to build the drama, make surprising decisions, and be supremely entertaining. As always, if you haven’t seen last night’s episode yet, be warned that spoilers follow.
1. Merlyn’s Return
We all knew Malcolm would be back at some point this season, and he slipped right into the role that most adults over the age of 40 that aren’t named Quentin Lance play on this show: guy who does very, very bad things and tries to justify them to the younger folks. He tries to get Thea to realize that he isn’t a monster, just as her mother once did. These scenes were surprisingly effective, and brought Merlyn back into the world without too many growing pains.
2. Who Would Live in Starling City?
I am not making light of terrorist attacks, or comparing Arrow to real life, but hear me out: would people still live in Manhattan if a year or so after 9/11 there was an equally devastating attack? Because that’s sort of Starling City at this point. A year ago, “The Reckoning” wiped out a huge chunk of the city. And now, this year, an army of supermonsters is destroying the city from the inside out. Verdant must be one hell of a club to still attract people, or they must have the best sushi, or something.
3. Manhunter Manhunted
I really thought that Kate Spencer was going to have a larger role in the series going forward and then, bam, her neck gets snapped like a twig. This was a rare example of the show not using a comics-sourced character in a similar way to how the comics used them. I mean, I get that the last thing Ollie needs is another superheroine in his life, but I thought they would at least tease that a little longer before dispatching of her.
4. Blood Letting
Sebastian Blood was this episode’s most interesting character, if only because of his delusions – he really thought he would still be mayor at the end of all of this. His story was always an “ends justify the means” type of tale, and he was still spewing that same rhetoric here. You almost feel sorry for the guy – there’s no reality left in his world. He thinks Slade will let him live, he thinks he’s still leading the city, but ultimately, he’s just a pawn who was used and then sacrificed to keep the game moving.
5. Thea…man, Thea
Ok, so I would not be surprised if we find out next week that Thea shot someone who was approaching behind Merlyn, but we are certainly led to believe that she just off’d her father. If she did, it would be a stunning move for the show to pull off – Thea, who has lost everyone, choosing to disconnect herself even more from her life in Starling City, and attempting to shed the skin of being Thea Queen and Malcolm Merlyn’s daughter. If she winds up saving him, the question goes the other way: will she be joining Malcolm in, what might be, a stand off against her brother?
Regardless of who she shot, the fact that she pulled the trigger is setting up something for Season 3. And season 2 isn’t even over yet. You guys, is it Wednesday yet?
