1. The Fights are Awesome
One thing that Arrow really has over Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or, really, over many non-premium cable shows, is the fight sequences. The fights tonight, especially when Arrow and Canary are fighting together, was practically ripped from my comics collection, and it was awesome. The action fits the medium well, as there isn’t a need for crazy CGI – just some well executed martial arts and some good archery.
2. Rahs Versus Raysh
The great “how do we pronounce Ra’s al Ghul?” question was posed tonight and the answer was…both ways!
The League of Assassins stuff was interesting for a few reasons. First of all, making Sara casually bisexual was a brave and interesting choice, as well as a totally unexpected one. In fact, just about everything was Sara was handled in a pitch-perfect manner: Laurel’s reaction to seeing her sister (both times), Sara choosing death over endangering her family, all of it. The Sara character is one of the more interesting on the show, and I genuinely can’t wait to see where the show takes her.
But back to the League – making the al Ghul we meet Nyssa instead of Talia keeps the comic connection, but leaves Talia strictly to the Bat-corner of the DC Cinematic/Television U, which is smart. Having her as an archer might feel a little too on the nose – just how many archers have we met so far? – but it works.
Giving Nyssa and Sara a romantic past gives the show an easy opt out of keeping Sara in the shadows without making her or Ollie kill again. Again, well done Arrow.
3. Felicity Continues to Grow; Diggle Continues to Atrophy
What did Diggle do this week? He got ordered around by Ollie a bit, and looked good in a suit. Yup, par for the course.
And yet look at Felicity – she grew a bit of a backbone, she stood up to Moira, she trusted her relationship with Ollie over threats, and she did her usual good sidekicking.
My solution? Let Diggle be Roy’s primary trainer – give him that role and at least he seems to have something to do week to week, because this is getting really boring.
4. Awkward Moments Galore
I was trying to gauge which moment tonight took the awkward cake (name the reference and I owe you a Coke):
– “And now, let me introduce to you a woman so wonderful we got divorced, Moira Queen!”
– “So, I used the internet to prove you’re a slut, Mrs. Queen”
– “I don’t care that you’re bisexual; at least you had someone to turn to, unlike Laurel, who had no one thanks to you”
– “Hey pal! So, I know this is awkward, but I’m going to be supporting my mom for mayor, even though I totes dig you more. You understand, right brah? Late brunch?”
– “So, remember how you once got me to sneak around to find out if your wife was evil? Well, she’s evil again. You don’t care now? Oh…”
5. The Moira Flip Flop
This is one aspect of the show that I believe is suffering and, mainly, because evil Moira is far more interesting to write than kind hearted “lioness protecting her cubs.” But the show has more than enough bad guys – putting Moira as the flipside of Quentin Lance was more interesting for fans than just having her evil. Whereas Quentin’s job pulled him away from his daughter, Moira’s redemption story was bringing her closer to her kids. Not only that, but Walter has done a flip flop, too. His being so pro-Moira seems absurd and, frankly, out of character for the show. Sure, people change their minds, but people’s core ideals have always been pretty solid. Here, we have two people completely shake off who they are “supposed” to be for the sake of an easier story. Let’s hope this is all part of a bigger plan and that Walter is under Brother Blood’s spell or something. Anything but this.
