For the first time in what seems like forever, Team Arrow has been operating as a real team. This episode expands that team to include Andy Diggle (the character, not the writer), and we get a rare (and refreshing) non-Oliver flashback.
1.The ‘Stan
Do people actually call Afghanistan ‘the ‘Stan?’ I’ve never, ever heard that, and it seems especially dumb because there are multiple countries that feature -stan as the suffix – Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan – so it’s like calling your hometown The ‘ville. If it is a reference to the classic Marvel war comic “The ‘Nam,” I’d be surprised and a little impressed, but let’s just say its still an odd name.
This episode continues the rehabilitation of Andy, and uses a flashback of the Diggle brothers in the military to help us understand his character a little better. Andy is an odd character, because the first three years of the show gave us this saintly image of John’s baby bro, and has spent this season slowly peeling that back to reveal someone far more complex. In general, that’s a good thing, but the show may have gone too far in that direction. This episode was all about Andy’s redemption, but he’s been such an unlikable, smug character for the past few weeks, that the show needed to work harder than it should have to make us care about Andy.
I called this flashback refreshing earlier, and that is a commentary on the lack of Ollie on the island rather than the presence of the Diggle brothers overseas. All this episode did was show that Andy was both brave and kind of a dickhead – all of which we knew ahead of time. Arrow tries to use its flashbacks the way that LOST did, but those flashbacks always gave new insights into the characters – these simply don’t. They, at best, reinforce things we’ve already been told/shown.
2. Gothicity returns
I’m going to let you guys in on a little secret: I have a huge crush on Felicity. But here’s a bigger secret: I think I may have a bigger crush on Gothicity. I was saddened by the burning of her picture at the end, and am sad that, for now, we’re not going to be seeing too much more of her Death from “Sandman”/front row of a Cure concert look anymore in the future. But there are two points I want to address with Gothicity:
– Isn’t it a little disturbing that the solution to Felicity’s quite serious side effect to her medication is just her not acknowledging her visions? Hasn’t she seen The Leftovers?
– When will TV shows learn that if you’re going to make a fake picture of someone, just get an actual camera and take one in the wild, instead of using a professionally lit sound stage? You still have to print a picture and use a camera – use the kind that will make it look normal. This is one area where TV hasn’t improved in 30 years.
3. Lieutenant Joyner
The enemy of this issue is Shadowspire, an organization created by former DC writer Tom Joyner, who introduced the organization in an issue of “Deathstroke.” Arrow continues its tip of the hat to DC’s creators by naming the villain, Lieutenant Joyner, after the organization’s creator. Nice job, Arrow writers.
Joyner wasn’t much more than your boilerplate villain, but he served his purpose on the show, and you can’t really argue with a war profiteer as a villain, can you?
4. Codenames galore
We heard Diggle called ‘Spartan’ once before, but it is nice to see it stick, as it just makes him seem even less useful than the show’s writing often does. We also get a new nickname for Felicity, Overwatch, which is just ok. I mean, it isn’t like Spartan is the best thing you’ve ever heard, but Overwatch sounds like the writers were late for happy hour and had to file a trademark claim, and they were talking the name over, and maybe it went a little something like this:
Writer 1: It has to imply that she’s always there, watching over the team.
Continued belowWriter 2: Watching…over… Watchover?
Writer 1: No, but you’re close.
Writer 3: I’ve got it! Watcher Overer!
Writer 1: We are so fucking close I can taste it.
Writer 2: I’ve got it: Overwatch!
(Writers 1 and 3 have their coats on and are already halfway to the bar)
The best part of the codename discussion, however, is Oliver claiming that the name Oracle already is taken. This means that, perhaps, we will be getting Barbara Gordon is part of the Arrow-verse in the future. Maybe a Babs/Aresenal Titans team?
5. R.I.P. Amanda Waller
While she is hardly a major character on the show, it was odd to see the show so cavalierly kill off Amanda Waller. I think this is a subtle message from the TV staff that the cinematic universe can have its own versions of people like Waller and Barry Allen, but the TV versions stand alone. And, if you’re anything like me, you are far more invested in the TV universe than the cinematic one.
What did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments!
