Last night, Arrow did a lot of things surprisingly well – the show continues to evolve and grow, and in the last five minutes alone takes a huge step forward. Please note that major spoilers are discussed throughout this piece, so if you haven’t watch yet, turn away now.
1. Brother Eye is so hot right now
Eye know that DC is not trying to actively sync up Arrow with what is happening in their comics, but it is pretty coincidental that one of DC’s big titles (the weekly “Nw 52: Futures End”) has Brother Eye as the big bad, and then we see it referenced here. Eye can’t really say that Brother Eye is a character that is always in the public eye, but Eye still find it a bit coincidental.
Of course, this isn’t really the Brother Eye that we’re used to, but this usage more or less perfectly sums up DC’s take on Arrow, and how that has influenced Marvel’s on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – in the beginning of Agents, almost nothing was ripped from Marvel’s books – no winks and nods, nothing. Arrow, on the other hand, will take concepts that more than likely could never work on television, dumb them down to almost laughable levels, and put them into the universe of the show, and they work. So sure, Batman didn’t create Brother Eye – and it isn’t a satellite – but it works in the context of this show. Eye can deal with that.
2. Gothicity? Cure-icity? Felicemo?
I can’t decide which is the proper name for our favorite former black lipsticked hacker, but the show did a pretty good job of establishing a backstory for her that felt both plausible and nuts, in a really fun way. Seeing the high strung, impeccably put together Felicity flashback to the reckless hacker was a jarring transition at first, but the episode did a great job at showing her motivations for changing – even down to her hair color.
This was also a nice break from the Hong Kong flashbacks which, thus far, have been a bit of a snooze.
Hat tip to Multiversity Editor-in-Chief Matt, who noted that, when in goth gear, she looks amazingly like Death from Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” – even down to the Ankh in the prison visitation scene.
3. Cooper and Myron
I am always surprised how the Arrow crew decides to work DC’s mythology into the show. For instance, Cooper Seldon – the man behind Brother Eye – is a new creation. However, his former roommate, Myron Forest, is a Jack Kirby creation, and one of the men behind Brother Eye and O.M.A.C. That name is so obscure that only a super fan (or a journalist fanatically Googling “DC Comics + ________) is going to notice it, but it adds a nice layer of history to the show. Why they didn’t just make him the creator, instead of introducing Seldon, I’m not sure.
4. Mama Smoak was pitch perfect – and so was everyone else
This show has gotten exceedingly good at introducing characters that feel both surprisingly nuanced and so simply crafted that they are instantly integrated into the fabric of the universe. Mama Smoak, taken alone, might look a little too over the top and caricaturish – however, put her up against Brandon Routh, continuing to pwn as Ray Palmer, against a really truly solid Stephen Amell (that first scene in Thea’s apartment* was him at his petulant best), and the quirks get ironed out a little faster, as she and her daughter become natural foils and light up the screen when together.
This show has been getting surprisingly strong acting from most of the players this season – even former dead weight like Laurel and Roy have had more purpose thus far this season, and look to be working towards some truly engaging storylines. Speaking of Roy…
5. WHO FUCKING CALLED IT?
Boom. #5. I’ll accept the Eisner on behalf of the site right now.
*Bonus discussion: Thea and Ollie, at the end, were watching Possession, a Joan Crawford/Clark Gable movie all about hidden relationships and being exposed for who you really are – an interesting film to have the Queen kids watch, eh?
