Arrow is asking interesting questions this season and, even if the show isn’t really answering them, it is certainly an improvement over the past few seasons.
1. Vigilante
The big question the show is struggling with this season is: “what is too far?” Right now, the team is torn as to whether or not the new vigilante in town, calling himself Vigilante (not the most creative moniker, I’ll give you that), is too extreme in killing his victims. They seem to think, more or less, he’s ok, but Oliver was a monster for doing that in season one.
There’s a lot to dig into with that – it is obviously different to see a a friend, someone you trust, murdering people, than to see someone you don’t know cleaning up the streets. Even Felicity seems to be waffling on the ‘no killing’ rule when it doesn’t apply to Ollie.
The show has walked down the “there are different ways to solve crime” street more than a few times thus far in its run, but this time there’s a big difference: Vigilante’s way seems to be working better than Ollie’s. That is a problem for Team Arrow, who was already holding together by a thread and already were debating the merits of keeping criminals alive.
The show hasn’t yet announced Vigilante’s identity yet, but fans of the comic know that Adrian Chase, the DA and the incredibly effective interrogator, is the one behind the Vigilante mask. Now, this might be a red herring from the show – there have been many others who have used that name in the past, and it would be a clever ploy if he was, say, Prometheus instead. But I think it will probably be Chase, and that will make for some interesting conversations in the future.
2. Quentin dries out
I have to admit, there is something very satisfying about the Quentin/Thea relationship. Quentin has lots more than anyone could ever imagine – both of his kids, his wife, his job – and is truly a broken man at this point. Thea’s parentage is about as messed up as you can imagine – her mother was murdered, her father an assassin – and she’s looking for some normalcy. They need and appreciate each other right now, and it gives each of them something to do that makes them unique on the show.
Thea also understands addiction, and she pushes Quentin to get clean. This sort of care and friendship is rare on the show, and is a truly welcome addition. I don’t know what the long game is there, but I’m excited to find out.
3. Ollie’s date
The Ollie/Susan Williams (you know I had to look up her name, right?) friendship/flirtation is a weird one. We’ve seen that she has blackmail on him, but seems to be operating out of an actual sense of decency. Then again, maybe she’s just a super shady character and has no problem being deceiving or duplicitous.
A theme of this season has been that no one is exactly what they seem: Quentin seems to have his shit together, but is drinking again. Chase appears to be a by the books District Attorney, but at night puts on a ski mask. Maybe Susan fits into that, or maybe she’s actually a good person, struggling with her situation.
4. The team is getting better
Sure, they’re still sort of the B team, but they are working together nicely. The Artemis sexy dress ploy worked like gangbusters, and Rene and Diggle are forming a bond that can only help them gel in the field. They are hashing out what it means to be a team, both in practical and ideological ways. The show still has small adjustments to make – like, and I’m saying this for the umpteenth time, using Curtis’s intellect and technology on their behalf – but overall, this was the first week that it felt like an actual team instead of a hodgepodge of lost souls. And then, just when you get comfortable…
5. A traitor in the midst
Fucking Artemis, amirite?
She is the least developed of the team, she haws the most baggage in her backstory, and she holds a drudge against Ollie. She seems like the natural traitor of the bunch, but it still bummed me out quite a bit. Part of that is because the show needs a strong female team member, with both Lances gone. But more than that, I was rooting for her. Despite a very slow start, the show has really given the team stuff to do the past month or so, and allowed more depth than I thought possible for these characters.
Continued belowThat said, the show tends to get a little too cheeky for its own good, and may be setting up as a double agent, working for Ollie to infiltrate Prometheus and not the other way around, but I doubt it. Artemis is back as a villain, and that’s a bummer.
That said? Now we know how Prometheus was targeting Quentin, as Evelyn could clearly have given up that intel. It also shows how Prometheus could get an in with the SCPD, as Team Arrow obviously has connections in there.
Last week, I was guessing who Prometheus was, and I missed a big one that I may now be going all in on: Felicity’s boyfriend. He’s just mysterious enough, and it would send her back into Ollie’s arms.
However, the most shocking part of this week’s episode of Arrow was a revelation that I had on my own: I think that, right now, this is the CW’s best show. The Flash has been a let down this season, and Legends of Tomorrow is fun, but light. I’m a few weeks behind on Supergirl, and feel that might actually be the best one, but of the three interconnected shows, this one is taking the cake. This show is firing on a level not seen since season 2 – I have a lot of theories as to why, but they’ll have to wait a few weeks.
Let me know your theories, and how heartbroken you were when Evelyn turned, in the comments!
