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Five Thoughts on Arrow‘s “Dangerous Liaisons”

By | April 27th, 2017
Posted in Television | % Comments

As we move into the homestretch, it is clear: this is the best Arrow has been in years. In fact, this episode ranks in the top 10, if not top 5, of the entire run. Keep reading, but be warned that spoilers aplenty will appear.

1. Wild Dad

I’m starting with this, not because it is the most important part of the episode, but it was the part of the episode that worked the least well. The show has done a good job making Rene a more complex character, and giving him motivations beyond “I just want to help people.” The episode that was focused on his past with his daughter was surprisingly moving and effective, and the idea of him reconciling with his daughter was too appealing to just drop.

But everything about the way “Dangerous Liaisons” handled this storyline was off. Rene’s ‘crime’ of falling asleep and having his daughter burn her hand feels like a very real life parent situation, but hardly measures up on the CW-scale of drama. Then, Rene’s expression when reuniting with his kid was both too restrained and too over the top, as if the director had done two takes with two different reads on the script, and then mashed them together haphazardly.

Now, I fucking hate how Rene calls Quentin “Hoss” so often – it’s a forced quirk that never exactly plays – but clearly Rene has affection for Quentin, and vice versa. I like their pairing a lot, and I think the show was very wise in establishing their father/son relationship. That said, I kept waiting for Rene to unload on Quentin in the aftermath of the reunion. Yes, he was trying to be a friend and, yes, Rene will be better off in the long run having a relationship with his daughter. But it all felt so manipulative, and the show kept cluing us in on that. The final shot of Quentin and Laurel in the photo on his desk was supposed to be a “oh, shit, that’s why he cares so much!” shot, but that was established far earlier in the episode.

And, on top of that, we know that part of the reason that Laurel is dead is due to vigilantism! Wouldn’t a more impassioned plea, father to father, be: “Hey, quit. You’re the only member of the team without an easily replaceable skill set, and you need to be a dad.”

And turn the soup off, bro.

2. The shifting understanding of due process

I really, really enjoyed the tension between the Diggles and Ollicity this week. John and Ollie have decided that there is nothing more important than due process and doing things by the book, and Lyla and Felicity are arguing that the ends justify the means. Leave aside the insanity of two certified vigilantes arguing for working within the system for a second, and you get a surprisingly nuanced look at the evolution of the show.

When the show started, Ollie didn’t give a thought to the rules; he killed, he stole, he was a terrible person, all in pursuit of ‘saving’ his city. Well, as time as gone on, the end goal is the same, but his means have changed quite a bit (unless you’re a common thug, say, flying a helicopter, but we’re been through this too many times before). Ollie has become more aligned with a classic interpretation of Oliver Queen in the comics – a man who works within the political system during the day to clean up his world, while going rogue at night when his day job doesn’t cut it.

Ollie’s arc has, in many ways, been about becoming a great man, and a big part of that has been shedding his role as a member of a ‘great’ family. He has shed the family wealth and status for getting his hands dirty, and now that he’s in the trenches, he sees that this is the only way to truly achieve his goals.

The problem is that Felicity and Lyla have had the opposite career tracks. Both of them started life as civilians, and rose to power through their skill and hard work, and now have a vantage point that isn’t in the trenches, but from the tower. Ollie never knew what hard work could accomplish until he tried some; Lyla and Felicity never knew what position and privilege could accomplish until they had some.

Continued below

3. Felicity’s goals

This season has done a really nice job of combining the various components of Felicity’s personality into a more unified characterization. The loss of her boyfriend this season radicalized her in a way that wasn’t previously a part of her character. Sure, we’ve seen her be focused and fired up before, but this felt different. If this wasn’t Arrow, I would argue that the show is using Felicity as a stand in for young people brought into terrorist cells, but this is the CW, so let’s not go nuts.

But due to Felicity’s hacking background always, she’s always had one foot in the radical/ends justify the means camp. But she was also a voice of reason for Ollie; the show presented her hacking days as childish oversimplification of matters, and her role of Overwatch as the more ‘mature’ pursuit of the same goal.

Well, after Billy’s (it was Billy, right?) death, she regressed a bit in her approach, which tends to happen when we are emotionally raw. Because this is Arrow, she and Ollie will reconcile, and see more eye to eye, but this has been a really good season for developing Felicity into a more complete character.

4. The Diggles

The Diggle drama is a little more pedestrian, but is no less well handled. John’s roots are in military service, and he is sure to do what is the ‘right’ thing, according to his commanding officer. For the last five years, that’s been Ollie. Lyla started off like John, but she became the commanding officer, and she started seeing things differently. They are teasing the marriage ending, but that’s not going to happen. Like Ollicity, the Diggles will come to an understanding in a few weeks, and all will be well. ARGUS will be better, Diggle will be more flexible, and John Jr. will still remain a boy, unless Barry undoes Flashpoint, which still seems likely.

5. No flashbacks! USA! USA! USA!

No flashbacks? Best episode ever, man.


//TAGS | Arrow

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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