Arrow Season 2 Episode 23
Just when you think the show couldn’t get any more awesome.
What They Say:
Unthinkable – Oliver is forced to reconsider what he is willing to do to stop Slade from killing someone close to him. Diggle goes after Amanda.
Content:
With the previous two episodes of Arrow and this one essentially telling the finale tail, it’s been a busy and active piece that has had a whole lot to cover. Arrow typically is a fast and busy series with a lot of things going on, even in the quiet ones, because it has a solid cast and it’s telling stories between two timelines. But with the focus this season of weaving those subplots together even tighter to ensure that the main stories are all connected and the minor ones having impact, it’s been a crazy and wild ride. One that is largely all orchestrated by what Slade has been doing as his anger and intensity is all burned into him from his time on the island where the loss of Shado has driven him harder and further than could be imagined. The very busy minor flashback we get at the start here helps to reinforce that while also showing how long and elaborate the path as been for Slade himself, something that Oliver now knows all too well.
Oliver has pretty much cemented himself at this point to doing the right thing, which has been his evolution over the two seasons, by not killing anyone. Even though there’s that part of him that will want to do it at some point. But now with the cure working fully as Roy has recovered, he’s intent on stopping Slade’s army before Amanda can level the city. And he’s got a bit of extra help at least since Lyla has made her way into the city since she can’t let Diggle do all of this on his own considering their relationship. Add in that the police are taking a proactive approach now to things and playing the rules a little loosely, the city is ready to be taken back by the good guys. And for some of them, they’re definitely in the right frame of mind having seen the heroes that are out there and what they’re doing, so it sets the right tone to do the right thing in protecting the people and the city itself.
It also doesn’t help that Sara has called in a bit of help as well as Nyssa and several of her League of Assassin friends have arrived to participate in the fun. There’s a price to that though and that means Sara has to go back to the League, which she’s willing to pay since it means keeping her family alive and doing what needs to be done. The League is definitely capable as they’ve brought some good intel for things and they’ve got the skills to back it up, more so in a way than the others. There’s a lot of different threads being pulled together here and it’s great to see, especially the moment when Oliver gives Roy a red mask to get him to suit up and do what needs doing to protect those that they care about. Roy’s arc hasn’t been the best here, the most linear or the most enjoyable, but seeing him ending up in this position at long last is definitely great to see.
Where Arrow has improved dramatically this season is with its fight choreography and a lot of that has come about because we’re getting more costumes, more fighters in the mix and less of the wonky kinds of villains. So when we get the real start of the fightin a crowded room, it’s fantastic to see it play out as there are so many personalities involved and styles that it moves so fast and wonderfully that you’re left just grinning, whether it’s Slade’s escape amid the battle or the death of Isabel with Nyssa and her Assassins making it clear that the reason the city continues to burn is because Oliver won’t do what’s needed. The moral choices are all in the mix to be sure, but it’s all wrapped up in the fight itself. And Arrow’s team definitely has upped their game significantly this season and the payoff in these last few episodes is definitely there on the screen, even with some of the weak CG that we get at times.
With the show moving towards closing events that have covered two seasons, we get some decent character material with Thea and Malcolm and with Thea and Roy as well that helps to nudge things there a bit. But the best moment, the moment that sends you into joy and panic, has Oliver bringing Felicity to the family mansion and insisting that she stay there, safe and out of the way. She’s naturally insistent on being a part of the team and doing what’s needed, but he makes it crystal clear, with no equivocation, that Slade took the wrong person when he had Laurel taken. It’s Felicity that’s the most important to him, the one that he loves, and the moment is beautiful as she realizes it and as he actually says it, knowing that saying such things is the important thing now. Having lost his mother and so many others while not saying what he really feels, you can see him being even more honest at this moment. And it has a lot of impact that really does make you grin and swoon over it because it does, even to this grizzled old comic book fan, feel right. You want to see Felicity find this in her life and for Oliver to realize what’s right there.
When we get to some action after that, at the Giordano tunnel of course, it’s great to see a good chunk of Slade’s army there fighting against Oliver, Roy, Sara, Nyssa and the others as we get some good “grounded” costumes in effect, color coded costumes and some great close quarters action that definitely hits the right notes as they work together, especially as Roy manages to really be a player in it. We do get more of the island arc playing into the storyline as well as the fight hits on the ship as Oliver does his best to ensure Slade doesn’t get off the island, but it feels weaker this time compared to what’s going on in Starling City itself. And that gets even more intense when the obvious twist comes into play as we see how Slade has managed to grab Felicity when Oliver wasn’t looking, which ups the ante of what’s going on here in the final act of the season.
Of course, twists abound and it’s the kind of thing that both frustrates and delights because it just so completely messes with the viewer that you want to laugh and scream at the same time. But more importantly, as we get the final shodown between Slade and Oliver, it’s blended incredibly well with the fight on the ship in the past that it does bring these two stories together in a great way. This is made even more so because Manu Bennett truly embodies a great Slade Wilson that’s made even more impressive by the fantastic costume choices made, something that’s often overlooked in shows like this. With the dashes of orange, the use of the military gear and armor, and the adherence to certain aspects of the core comic costume, Slade just comes across as a fantastic villain here both in past and present. And seeing Oliver’s choices in past and present play out alongside it, defining him and showing some of the defining moments for Slade as well, draws together the rich tapestry that is these first two seasons.
With a decent epilogue to work with here – after a great little promo for The Flash that will make that show a good bit of infectious fun – it’s helpful to draw certain threads together. Sara’s off to to rejoin the League and she gives the easy handing over of the jacket to Laurel, which really makes me wary of Laurel taking on the Canary role since she just seems so ill suited to it in her character. There’s an element of danger that’s brought in for Quentin and we get a difficult moment for Roy as he learns that Thea has figured out a part of who he is, which she can’t be involved with. Thea’s going down an amusing path as you can see her becoming a villain of some sort with her heading off with Malcolm and that could be a whole lot of fun. It also adds some tragedy to Roy’s life, which makes his story a little more interesting. The best part for me though is that we see what they’ve done with Slade since they didn’t kill him, which I’m quite appreciative of as I’ll love any sort of return he makes in the future. It also doesn’t hurt that we get a few teases to Oliver’s past/future after the island as well, which looks like next season will give us a lot more of his training.
In Summary:
Arrow has really shined this season and this episode brings to conclusion a lot of different arcs in such a big way that it really does take some time to process it all. When you view it as the last three episodes as a big multi-part storyline that caps off the season – and events of the first season as well with Oliver’s choices in the past and present – it’s the kind of big scale piece it needed to be. This season has had its moments where it’s faltered at times, but by and large it has delivered over and over again with the twists and turns, the easter egg references for the fans, the adaptation of the core material in a great way while keeping it grounded and making sure that it took risks and made changes. Enough so that while watching a lot of this you had to wonder who would live and who would die, something that’s not always there with these kinds of shows. While I hope it gets dialed down a bit next season, I like that they took the chances and that we got a solid show because of it. Arrow got a lot of grief for its existence at all in the first season but it truly came into its own here. I can’t wait to see where they go from here as there’s so many possibilities as the world is wide open – especially with a potential crossover or two with The Flash.
Grade: A+