Well…that was dark…darker….darkest..I’ll move on. “Kapiushon” (don’t ask me to try and say that) was a very morbid episode from start to finish. There was no real comedy here, there was no happy ending, it was darkness and death and grim revelations, and I’m ok with that.
As this season’s version of “The Odyssey” (meaning flashback focused), you’d think there might not be a lot of progression storywise here. But it was just the opposite, as we saw Chase literally break Oliver just so he hear the “confession” of Oliver’s…
He kills be he likes to, not because he wants to.
Now obviously, this revelation will rub certain people the wrong way, as Oliver has fought hard since Season 01 to not be The Hood, and only killing in the most necessary of circumstances like with Vertigo, Ra’s, and Damien Darhk. But…as we saw in this season, he’s always ready to kill at a moments notice, and Prometheus picked up on that. It was also good that the flashbacks, and this episodes ones in particular, also reinforced the idea that Oliver has been a killing machine in the past, not even blinking in some cases when it comes to taking lives. Without that, this “reveal” may not have worked.
Props to the writers for going the distance in regards to all the horror that we saw. Oliver got waterboarded, shot with arrows, had to watch Evelyn (returning for the first time since the midseason finale) get “killed”, admit that he was a killer and proud of it, and then get his Bratva captain tattoo burned off. That’s pretty hardcore for a CW show.
As for the flashbacks, they did a pretty good job showing the “conclusion” to the Bratva storyline, even throwing in some twists like the Malcolm Merlyn partnership, Kovar wanting to kill the entire Russian government to rule, and the Bratva being betrayed once again by one of their own.
Though it’s clear they had to “hide” some things in order to keep continuity alive. Like Anatoly learning Merlyn’s name…but not say it to Oliver…and then Merlyn not learning that Oliver almost killed Kovar. It was a little on the nose, but whatever.
A really grim thing that happened was the death of Diana’s mother. It’s not clear how she got caught without her keycard MERE MOMENTS after Oliver used it…but let’s just roll with it.
Finally, I do appreciate Oliver doing the whole, “I’m shutting it all down” thing…but…we all know it won’t last. If this was the setup for the finale, then maybe it could’ve been bought, but not here. And if the previews are any indication? This may not last too long.
In the end though, “Kapiushon” did a great job showing just how dark this show can go, and Prometheus himself showed just how a great a villain he is, especially now that he doesn’t need the costume. Where does it go from here? Hard to say, but I’m intrigued.
4.5 out of 5 nerds
Todd Black
Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!
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