Arrow is trying very hard to make Prometheus/Adrian Chase feel like the character-defining villain that we’ve seen the other big bads be over the past few seasons. This episode goes a long way to developing that idea – but how successfully? Keep reading to find out, and I guess, spoiler-warning?
1. The ‘confession’
Prometheus’s whole plan for kidnapping Oliver was based around the idea of getting Ollie to ‘confess’ to something. Not murdering folks, not being a vigilante, not anything that Oliver can think of – and Adrian keeps pushing. Confess Ollie, confess, confess. Finally, Ollie confesses. What was he confessing?
That he wanted to kill, and he liked it.
Let’s unpack this a bit.
I think most vigilantes in fiction, from the Punisher to Death Wish, look at killing as a necessary part of the job. Some, like Frank Castle, seem to relish it, whereas Paul Kearsey was obsessed with justice, and probably saw the killing as a messy byproduct of his crusade. So to have Oliver fall more on the Punisher side of the coin isn’t really all that surprising. I mean, he was an angry young man, who just went through five years of terrible shit, and who was trying to fulfill his father’s wishes. For him to not have a bit of bloodlust would be a little silly.
Now, sure, for season 5 Ollie to relish killing would ring false, but season 1? That’s not a crazy idea. The big confession was built up and wound up being a bit of a dud.
2. Entirely too much Russia
This episode was probably a 60/40 flashback to present day split which, as you know, is 59% too much Russia. This week tried to give the Russian story a little more of a point, and be a little less decompressed. One of the biggest flaws of the flashbacks is that sometimes it takes four or five episodes to have anything even remotely resembling a story unfold.
This episode clearly was a different experience – it dealt with a specific incident, and it told that story over the course of the hour. But it was still a story that felt absolutely inconsequential for a few reasons. Aside from Kovar, we know that all the principles survive. Ollie obviously doesn’t die in Russia, and we just saw Anatoly in 2017, so he’s safe, too. Plus, in-universe, if Russia was still run by Kovar, that would’ve been revealed in the episode that took place there earlier this season.
So, the stakes are quite low here – I mean, I guess a few million dead fictional dead Russians is something to care about, but in terms of the role of the flashbacks – to help establish Oliver’s character and what led him to the moment that we meet him on the island in the pilot – this was a pretty useless flashback. At 5x the length, too.
But Dolph Lundgren is pretty dope, right?
3. Evelyn
I’m not an actor or a killer, but I’m pretty sure that I could have fake snapped a neck better than Adrian did. Evelyn has turned out to be quite the horrible person this season, eh? I really enjoy Madison McLaughlin’s portrayal of the character, and I wish we would see more of her. She totally had me fooled early on; it would make sense that she would’ve been duped by Chase. But when she revealed her true colors (again), it was rough.
I hope she sticks around and is a big part of the show next season.
4. So…Ollie can just walk out?
The idea of Chase just wanting Ollie to say “I liked killing” and then letting him leave was a weird character choice for Chase. He wants Oliver to suffer, but I guess at his own pace? I like how they don’t want Chase to be just a regular bad guy, that he’s as psychologically violent as he is physically violent, but this still feels a little…off, right?
5. Oliver quits…again
If I had a nickel for every time Oliver quit, I’d have…what, four nickels? Regardless, this isn’t going to stick, we all know it and, probably, Oliver knows it. So why put us through this rigmarole? The CW shows aren’t exactly The Sopranos in terms of breaking conventions of the genre, but this seems like something that is so easily anticipated that it is foolish to even pursue it, doesn’t it?
Anyway, how long will this last? 2 weeks is the over/under. Let me know your vote in the comments!
