TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Arrow Season 03 Episode 16: The Offer

After another break, Arrow returned in mostly top form and gave us an episode that truly (for real this time!) sets the stage for the final stretch of episodes.

“The Offer” picked up right where we left off. Oliver was asked by Ra’s to take his place as head of the League of Assassins. While many a Batman fan reacted to the offer itself as an “oh man, this is another Batman storyline!” issue, that’s not exactly true. The reason that is, is that unlike Batman…Ollie seriously considered it.

Why does this matter? Well, for Batman, his conviction has never (seriously) wavered. He’s broken, bruised, battered, killed (yes, I said killed, read the comics!), yet his promise to his parents has kept him “whole” this entire time. Thus he would never consider (seriously that is, except for that one time…) Ra’s offer, cause he wouldn’t betray his parents by doing so. Oliver on the other hand had a much weaker promise. As he mentioned in the episode, his original promise was to right his fathers wrongs, which he found out was pertaining to The Undertaking. After that, it kind of became meaningless, and thus he decided to become a hero to honor Tommy, and then that evolved. So what is he fighting for now?

I loved the scenes between him and Diggle, then Felicity, as each tried to show in their own way that Ollie has done good, and that to accept Ra’s offer would be crazy, among other things. However, Ra’s offer was not without intrigue. Unlike what he did with Batman (as he wanted him and Talia to rule together), he noted how as Ra’s al Ghul, Ollie could conform the League into a non-killing force. And, instead of saving one city, he could save the entire world. Intriguing no?

Watching Ollie struggle with “The Offer” really sold the differences between Ollie and Bruce. Especially when certain predictions from Ra’s came true. Lance’s refusal to work with The Arrow again really brought things back to a Season 1 level, as now he’s going to have to keep an eye on him. It was good to show that Ollie was sad about lying to Lance, after all, he DID keep this secret from him. What remains to be seen is…how far will Lance revert in his quest for “justice”.

Ollie’s return from Nanda Parbat brought in some other interesting storylines. Thea continues to struggle with what Malcolm (who’s now back with them) made her do to Sara. Laurel is now worried about Thea too, and her relationship with Quentin is not looking good right now.

But the real curious storyline that I can’t wait to see evolve is with Nyssa. Her lashing out at her father for giving Oliver a chance to be the Demon’s Head was great. Especially when she forced him to admit he didn’t approve of her and Sara being together. Though in some ways, you could understand why he didn’t choose her over Oliver. This lead to a fun twist where Nyssa not only saved Laurel, but now is going to become her trainer…and most likely her friend. Which I think would be a nice twist.

The “villain of the week” was low key but fun. I liked the twist of the bad guys assaulting police headquarters with special bullets to ensure death, that was ruthless. It really was a setup for things to come, Nyssa, Oliver reclaiming his will to fight for true justice, etc. But for what it was, it was nice.

What was really shocking was the ending, where Ra’s himself donned the hood and killed the remaining bad guys and forced one of them to spread the word that “The Hood” (aka the killing vigilante) was back. The war is coming…

The flashbacks were REALLY short, and to a degree confusing. Yes, I know something will happen soon, but something still feels off. Also, Shado is alive????…no, definitely a sleight of hand…I hope.

In the end, “The Offer” stirred the pot great for the Arrowverse, and with Ra’s now truly coming to rock Ollie’s world (in the bad way), things will no doubt get very fun from here on out.

…oh, and did I forget to mention…LAZARUS PIT CONFIRMED!!!! OH YEAH BABY!!!!…that is all.