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TV REVIEW: FTN reviews Arrow SO2EO2 Identity

October 17th, 2013 by Marc Comments

WARNING…spoilers ahead.

This episode marks a brand new day for Arrow; he is no longer just his father’s instrument of vengeance, he’s truly become Starling City’s hero. This new direction is perfect for fans that haven’t been to sure about Arrow killing everyone, and I love how it’s alluded to in the show such as China White pointing out how he’s changed when he didn’t kill her. I didn’t mind him killing people to be honest, some people just really need to die, but I like how this transition has been handled. It’s about focusing on the growth of a character.

The story this week is pretty straightforward, China White is hijacking medical supplies meant for the Glades, and thanks to Roy, Arrow is on the case. This was a good week for Roy, his speech to Oliver about how there’s no one watching the Glades so it just leaves him was pretty good stuff. It hit just the right emotional note. The star of the week however was the one and only Diggle. He’s been a great mentor and friend to Oliver and there chemistry is great, but Diggle really ran away with the show hitting us with one awesome line after another.

It started with Felicity complaining about her cover I.D. as Oliver’s secretary, which led Diggle to quip, “Better than mine. I’m just the black driver.” Such a brilliant little joke, things like that always have me cracking me up. Then he has a powerful moment when he admits to Oliver that he couldn’t love Carly while hating Deadshot. That was a perfect example of why it’s so hard for these guys to have honest to goodness love lives. There is always going to be a bad guy that deserves to be hated more than they can love someone else so it turns into a never ending, lonely cycle. That line summed perfectly the angst felt by all lonely heroes who wander in the shadows (Batman, I’m looking right at you buddy.). Then Diggle brings it back to the comedy side when Oliver starts referring to himself in the third person and Diggle comments that when Oliver does that it always weird’s him out. The writers of the show really gave Diggle plenty of moments to shine this week and I loved every minute of it.

There were also some political dealings going on this week as Oliver found himself going toe to toe with Sebastian Blood, a for the people type of politician from the Glades. First, he was played by none other then everywhere man Kevin Alejandro. The guy literally pops up on every single show known to man since 2001, so it was only a matter of time before he landed in Starling City. Second, I am highly suspicious of his character since a politician for the people is an oxymoron. I am willing to bet there is a hidden agenda going on and with an actor like Alejandro playing the part; I doubt this will be his last appearance.

We also have the beef going on between Laurel and Arrow. In the end when she basically laid Tommy’s death at his feet everything inside of me was screaming for him to take off his hood, if she only knew it was Oliver she would understand that there’s no way he wouldn’t have done everything he could’ve to save Tommy. But knowing Laurel she the scene would’ve played out in the exact same way, only with her having a shred of doubt that wouldn’t have been enough to keep the end from the playing out the way it did anyway.

The stuff on the island was pretty solid, but didn’t really stand out to me. In fact I had just finished watching all six seasons of Lost recently so every time Oliver or Slade refer to it as The Island, it just gets me thinking about Lost and I forget what’s going on until it comes back to present time. Last season the scenes on the island played heavily into what was going on presently and were very interesting in their own right. This season, not so much. I’m hoping that gets ramped up a bit as we progress.

Overall this was another very solid episode for a show that has really found it’s voice and is coming into it’s own. There were a lot of hiccups last season that could’ve made last season absolutely brilliant, but it seems the Arrow staff are getting this ship on an exciting course. Also, was there an easter egg in there with a cop referring to a street name as Lemire Ave., after DC writer Jeff Lemire? The conclusion of the show was a interesting cliffhanger that definitely will have me back to see how it plays out. My only other complaint, Bronze Tiger played by Michael Jai White wasn’t very interesting. But that I can forgive after how good everything else was.

4 out of 5 nerds

 

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….