Fresh out of Slabside, Oliver must figure out what to do with himself now that everyone knows that he was the vigilante Arrow. He certainly can’t be mayor again. “Unmasked” he has to figure out what to do with himself while all sorts of other characters do as the title says.
1. Extreme ways are back again
The reference to the Moby song isn’t a commentary on a new level of violence in the show, it has to do with the remixing of “Extreme Ways” with each new addition of the Bourne film franchise. “Unmasked” isn’t a narrative reset or new pilot, but it feels like a remix of “Pilot” with the inclusion of a night club, the shot of Ollie ziplining in, and bodies being dropped by green arrows among other signifiers. The staging of Ollie’s attack/infiltration on the club echoes his showdown with Adam Hunt from the first episode. These remix attributes fit perfectly for Ollie’s arc this episode as he tries to discover a new way of being now that he is out of Slabside. He isn’t the Green Arrow anymore and he certainly isn’t the mayor, so who is he? Which is kind of a funny question to ask, the episode before the big crossover where Ollie and Barry swamp places.
For now he seems to be a deputized member of the SCPD, or in television speak a consulting detective. The character of Oliver Queen actually isn’t that far off from one of those. Him being a member of the SCPD may help him skirt vigilante laws, but it never the less creates an anxious feeling. There is an inherent fascism in the figure of the superhero, they roam about and enforce their will upon others. Sometimes those ideas align with the State, sometimes not. One of the (many) factors that allow fascistic tendrils to take hold is illegitimacy of institutions, which is what Team Arrow has done for over half a decade. Bringing Ollie, in the Arrow suit no less, to the legal fold, helps to further discredit the SCPD as an institution that the citizenry should put their trust into for fair policing and enforcement. Star City’s willingness to just except a new Green Arrow is a byproduct of that lack of trust. The show wants you to not like the Mayor, and think that Ollie’s debauched past is the real bad thing, but he is an admitted mass murderer. The Mayor has a point. Do I expect the show to tackle the appearance and tension head on? Not really, but those tensions will never the less be expressed.
2. Owning Choices
Watching and seeing which characters, and what kind of characters, are allowed to not just do but get away with something can tell you a lot about mores. Looking back and seeing how the character of Laurel is treated is kinda fascinating.
Felicity’s initial arc this season has been one of desperate survival, from the initial attack by Diaz to the single minded obsession with bringing him in. In that desperation and drive to survive she has tortured someone and tried to kill another, things that normal Felicity wouldn’t even think about doing. Functionally she is the shows emotional heart, torture and murder are not emotionally healthy or just things to do. With Oliver out of prison Beth Schwartz and her writing team had to deal with the road they put her on. It was a road that could have been brushed aside and forgiven, no reason to labor on the means by which it was achieved. “Unmasked” seems to point to reckoning with what Felicity has done will be the personal thread going forward between husband and wife.
Episode scribes Oscar Balderrama & Beth Schwartz, re-teaming from “Inmate 4587,” don’t let her off easy but they don’t condemn her either. They make a point of showing Felicity not allow Ollie try to own this darkening of her character, she claims ownership of that. And good for her, that comes across as an honest and true character moment and one that makes the earlier work dramatically valid. Even as the writers don’t condemn their character, the cinematography and Amell certainly play up the shock of Ollie seeing his wife pull out a gun an shoot a guy.
Continued belowNormally this would be the kind of thing that would be turned into a wedge. Felicity is no longer the pure ideal vision Ollie pined for in prison. Instead everything is played surprisingly adult with each other recognizing this shift and begin to try and figure out this new dynamic. Healthy communication, the bedrock of any good relationship fictional or otherwise.
3. The New Green Arrow Revealed
Old things being new is apparent from the very start of the episode as the Workout Montage finally returns! No, it isn’t Stephen Amell doing the salmon ladder – which by the state of the bunker might not be for a while – it is the new Green Arrow! You know that clip of Lex Luthor as The Flash from Justice League Unlimited “The Great Brain Robbery” where Lex finally learns the identity of the Scarlet Speedster? That was my reaction upon seeing Sea Shimooka’s face for the first time. Who is this? It’s actually really nice being surprised by things. Shimooka hasn’t done much judging by her credits on IMDB.
While her face wasn’t immediately recognizable who she’s playing on the show was, judging by her final scene. An intimate chat with her Dad … well his grave stone, which happened to be emblazoned with Robert Queen! She is their version of Emiko Queen. Which actually makes a lot of sense, she is Ollie’s half-sister and with Thea written off at the moment she is the closest thing he has to family next to Felicity and William (who everyone seems to be forgetting.)
Her dedication to daddy dearest’s mission to right his wrongs also offers up a nice physical manifestation for Ollie to eventually save and help break that cycle of violence he is on.
4. Flash Forwards: Enter Blackstar
With Sea Shimooka under the hood that left only one other logical spot for Katherine McNamara’s Maya character to be: in the bad old times of the future. Maya aka Blackstar is the last person Felicity contacted. Giving a character the Wolverine Introduction isn’t a bad call either. Maya is set to be a recurring character so this isn’t the last we’ve seen of her.
By now it is clear that listening for thematic dialog between the present and flash forward threads isn’t likely to happen. However, as a recurring back up strip of sorts, the flash forwards have gotten to a point where they seem self-sustainable. While it is slightly awkward listening to Dinah talk about how great a person Ollie was to the son he abandoned, it has setup William on a nice little arc to maybe make good with what must be a litany of Daddy Issues he justifiably has and try and find some good in Papa Arrow. Maybe he can redeem some of his Fathers sins that way. Speaking of Dads, looks like in episode 10 “Shattered Lives” we’ll going to the Glades and seeing what became of the Wild Dog.
As far as single setting storytelling goes putting it in a bar/fight club isn’t a bad idea. The setting felt like a call back the early days in Verdant.
5. Dante and Villain Organizations
Diggle and Lyala’s investigation into shady ARGUS dealing starts to hit a bit closer to home this week with the revelation of various terror organizations all funneling money through a very specific bank account and mysterious figure known as Dante. The accounts name implies the Longbow Hunters, which isn’t a bad since recurring theme heavies are in short supply. This whole arrangement however sounds more and more like a newer Green Arrow baddie: The Ninth Circle, which is led by a character named Dante. The Ninth Circle are from Ben Percy’s recent Rebirth Era run and were the backbone of his 36 and so issue run. They acted like Le Chiffre to the worlds criminal organizations.
With how past villain organizations have been used on Arrow I’m cautiously optimistic. Of the three, the League of Assassins was the best due to their ability to act as a conduit for Ollie to work through his identity issues. From this vantage point it is unclear how evil bankers, with a real sweet ship, will act as conduit for the seasons operational theme of redemption.
The shows main source towards a potential Ninth Circle runs through Ricardo Diaz. Turning Diaz into something of a Hannibal Lecter character makes narrative sense, but with how Kirk Acevedo plays things it lacks the gravitas of past screen Hannibals. Acevedo often sounds like he is doing a poor Brando impression with none of that pull.
