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Five Thoughts on Arrow‘s “Welcome to Hong Kong”

By | October 23rd, 2019
Posted in Television | % Comments

There is no rest for the weary as our Hard Travelin Heroes find themselves back on Earth-1 in search of a not so good Doctor. But after the destruction Earth-2, not everyone is ready to just commit it all to the mission and try to stop the looming Crisis.

1. The Fall of E2

Jill Blankenship and Sarah Tarkoff, the writers for “Welcome to Hong Kong,” make some interesting and dramatically smart choices to address the repercussions of the demise of Earth-2. Normally this sort of catastrophic failure would be hoisted onto the role of the hero, and it isn’t like Ollie wouldn’t gladly, instinctually, try to eat those sins. But there is another, more fitting, person to address the loss Earth-2: Laurel Lance. In her words, Earth-2 wasn’t real to Ollie, just a copy of the people he knew on Earth-1 but for her they were family. As she grieves the loss of her universe, and tries desperately to get it back, her arc makes for a nice mirror to Oliver’s own crisis of faith on what his actions will bring and if he is doing good.

Placing the burden on Laurel also gives Katie Cassidy an excuse to do something she does very well: cry.

That sort of raw emotion also wouldn’t have worked with Ollie, who reacts in a very Ollie way of recommitting to the necessity of his mission to the exclusion of all else. Until finally he himself reaches a breaking point as he explains to Tatsu why it is he gave it all up. You can’t get multiple good cries out of a character in the same episode, Ollie’s emotional revelation to Tatsu is more impactful and the right moment for his character. All around the writing team handled the aftermath of the season premiere very well.

2. Season 3 Redemption

“Welcome to Hong Kong” takes place on DCWverse Earth-1 in the present, so there wasn’t any explicit mirroring of past events. This episode was closer to last seasons reflexive use of themes, with “Hong Kong” acting as a redux of the third seasons flashbacks and redemption for them. I’ve let it be known season 3 is among my favorite seasons of the show, even if those flashbacks clearly lacked in some regards. On the broad scale the flashbacks and Oliver’s battle with the League in the present mirrored his sin eater tendencies and willingness to sacrifice his body for those around him or annihilate those who did them harm.

Season 3 comes back around with the revelation that the good Doctor he is after is making new Alpha-Omega virus. Once again he is forced to play a high risk game of chicken with a deadly macguffin that didn’t work out well the last time. Things go a bit better this time, but more importantly the end result is different. Audiences didn’t like the depths Oliver sunk to in the third season, trying to go on a suicide mission to stop the League in the present and his torture and annihilation of General Shrieve in the past. It put the character in a dark place and he seemingly learned the wrong lessons from this one about his commitment the mission and “no other way” mentality. Through Tatsu and the rest of his friends Ollie once again finds a third way and begins to explore for proof that his mission with the Monitor is for the good.

Once again, an episode packs about a seasons worth of dramatic arc into a single episode (though we’ve seen it before.) Without the recreation everything was a more straightforward plot affair, which wasn’t the most interesting but the writers now that the season is going did shape some good dramatics around it.

3. Phantom Felicity

Emily Bett Rickards left the show last season, and there has yet to be concrete proof that she will be appearing for Crisis or at another point in the season. It would feel very odd that Team DCWverse wouldn’t have Overwatch to guide them and hack for them as they battle the Anti-Monitor. That doesn’t stop the show from using the character of Felicity, as she appears multiple times as phantasm for Ollie throughout the season representing the growth he has gone through and everything he is fighting to save. It’ll be interesting to see how the show handles this absence going forward, you can’t have these flashbacks every issue but they are a good reminder of that absence.

Continued below

4. Star City 2040: Family Drama

It has become clear to be that we should consider the Star City 2040 sections as backup strips at this point with no clear thematic parallels between it and the main plot with Oliver. This isn’t a bad thing, they’re effectively using this to setup another spin off show tentatively titled Green Arrow and the Canaries. There wasn’t anything bad about this section either, in fact it offered viewers something rather novel by shifting focus away from the Queen Twins to another set of siblings, the sons of John and Layla Diggle.

When Charlie Barnett was first announced for the series I was excited, he was good in Tales of the City. His debut episode didn’t exactly give him much to work with, that changes in this episode as he has a brotherly chat with Connor Hawke. One of my favorite recurring elements with these kinds of stories is the revelation that these great heroes were, if not lousy, imperfect parents. The idea that Tony Stark was some how a great Dad is a real surprise. For all the dislike for his stepfather, John appears to have taken some of his parenting techniques in regards to his two sons much to their shagrin. Connor argues for his brothers better nature, while JJ proudly proclaims the mask is off and his status as head to he Deathstroke Gang is his true and authentic self. Barnett plays these moments with a preformative swagger that is just excellent for his character and the tone of the show.

Connor didn’t get all that much to do last season, his existence more as an interesting tie in between past and present. That seems to be changing and is for the better, Katherine McNamara and Ben Lewis are solid actors but the writers need to give the supporting cast something of their own lest they be rote functions as character.

The Deathstroke Gang henchmen outfits, hoodies with the bisected mask, continue to be just funny to look at. They look like costumes bought from a Halloween store in the best way.

5. The Monitor’s Inside Woman

When Layla Michaels was first introduced her name was a little easter egg nod to the character Harbinger, Monitor’s righthand woman from “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” Much like the use of the name Felicity Smoak, these early seasons of Arrow were filled with those little nods that helped to give the flavor of a larger DCU within the aesthetics the show runners were going for at the time. With a Crisis on Infinite Earths coming to the DCWverse, it wasn’t too surprising to see that Audrey Marie Anderson would be actually playing the role of Harbinger fo the crossover. What is a surprise is that she won’t be playing an alternative version of Layla Michaels, she’s been working with-for the Monitor for a while now as she delivers the good doctor to Monitor unbeknownst to Diggle or Ollie.

The portrayal of Monitor isn’t too far off from how he was in the lead up to the first “Crisis,” posing as an intergalactic arms dealer of sorts. He comes off like a Dumbledore-like character playing multilayered chess with people as part of a grand strategy of preparing Oliver Queen, though lacking in the belief and inherent goodness of Albus Dumbledore that helps to excuse these manipulative actions on first read. It will be curious to see if there is a turn coming for Mar Novu as this Crisis draws nearer.


//TAGS | Arrow

Michael Mazzacane

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