TV REVIEW: FTN reviews Arrow SO1EO20 Home Invasion

WARNING…spoilers ahead.

Arrow is quickly proving to be a show that is getting better with age. It started with some bumps in the road, and things are still far from perfect, at least for my liking, but every week it keeps getting stronger and stronger. This week was no exception as Arrow and Diggle are once again on the hunt for Deadshot. What do ya know; Deadshot even had a line this week, so that was cool. Even though he has been severely underdeveloped on the show, I like the fact that he remains in play; he continues to be the Moby Dick to Diggle’s Captain Ahab. This week again Arrow leaves Diggle to his own devices when Dig needs him the most, and it ends up costing a lot of lives. I can’t fault Diggle for being upset enough to part ways with Arrow, and in fact it probably needs to happen to make room on the team for Roy Harper, but I still can’t help but feel bad for Diggle and am sad to see him go. Who knows, he could come back eventually, but I do like Diggle’s departure for one huge reason. It will serve as a lesson to Oliver. Having Diggle on the team is one thing, a veteran with combat training who can take care of himself at the end of the day, but taking Roy in will be a whole new beast. He would essentially be responsible for Roy the way batman is responsible for Robin, so Oliver will have to learn to be more responsible and way less reckless lest we see Roy end up in a body bag one day.

Speaking of Roy, this kid has really started to grow on me. Before he was just some punk ass kid who I found to be annoying with his too cool for school hoodlum personae. I think his near brush with death has helped to evolve his character by leaps and bounds. He no longer feels like the woe is me helpless guy, he wants to do something, he wants to take matters into his own hands, and I think this will make him way more interesting. I was really digging his impassioned plea to Thea to look for Arrow and I appreciated Thea’s simple, not drawn out too long response. Colton Haynes stepped it up big time in that scene and I can’t wait to see how his path will finally cross with Arrow’s.

The stuff with Rasmus and the killer felt a bit generic. I think hiring a hardened hit man like that to dispatch a family who is taking you to civil court is a bit drastic, but the sociopathic hit man was fun to watch. I liked his cool demeanor and know how. It’s a shame that he had to go because he would’ve made for an interesting character to come back in an arch nemesis sort of way. Deadshot is supposed to be that guy, but this hit man is a character that is way more developed than Deadshot, and all in the course of one episode. When he finally took Rasmus out in that interrogation room, him explaining the how Rasmus will die was such a bad ass moment, though Rasmus should’ve totally seen that coming.

Things also got interesting between Laurel, Tommy and Oliver as a love triangle was developing. Tommy came out looking like a real gangster though by just leaving Laurel in the end. That was a pretty hardened move for a guy who had no real manhood to speak of when the show first started. I’m also thinking this will serve as perfect motivation for Tommy to follow in his father’s footsteps not only in work, but in his dad’s extracurricular activities as well. Tommy has taken on a way darker tone in the last two episodes, and now I think we have the straw that will break the camels back. He will always be jealous of that thing that lingers between Oliver and Laurel, and I’m predicting that it will drive him into the madness we need him to be in, in order to eventually become Merlyn.

Some more great material going on in the flashbacks as well as we see Oliver begin his archery training. I pretty much liked every aspect of the flashbacks except his kiss with Shado. First of all, it was totally unnecessary, and second it came off as cheesy. Especially when he recoils over his feelings of guilt about “cheating” on Laurel. Come on dude, you were there with her now dead sister, might as well enjoy yourself some Shado while the getting is good. The thing with Yao Fei crashing the party at the end was crazy. I have no idea what the plan is there, but I really ant to see how that plays out.

Overall this was another great episode in a series that keeps getting better and better. I could go for less of the touchy feely scenes, but when the stories are as good as this, I can’t deal with it. This episode served as a set up for the future of the show, and from where I am sitting, that future looks bright as hell.

4 out of 5 nerds

You can follow Christopher on Twitter @AUDone44 and The Nerd @nerdfollowing