TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Arrow Season 7 Episode 8: Unmasked

Part of the point of a storyline like what Arrow did is with the payoff that comes with its resolution. “Unmasked” had a LOT to live up to with Oliver being out, him finding out about Felicity, and the tease of the new Green Arrow getting unmasked. Plus, setting up what was next. They did 3/4 things very well. And that was able to make up for the failure of one plotpoint.

The big question was, “What was Oliver going to do now?” We saw in the trailer for the episode that he was going to suit up again, but in what capacity? Turns out, a good one, as another vigilante showed up in order to try and frame Green Arrow (the new one) for murder. Oliver at first was only up for helping in an advisory role. Even denying the suggestion of going OG Green Arrow in order to finish things.

I loved Oliver’s hesitancy in this episode. He didn’t know what he wanted to do next, and instead wanted to follow a path that led him to being with his family and helping the city in a new way. Dinah coming up with the idea to make Oliver a part of the police force as the Green Arrow was inspired, and a great way to set up future drama with a mayor that clearly has it out for them both. I know some people will be mad that they rushed him into being Green Arrow so quickly after he got out, but I feel it was good here. Not to mention, we’ve done spans of him not being Green Arrow, including last season, so why retread?

As for setting up what was next, that was also good. The Flash Forwards are continuing to expand this “new world”, including revealing that Rene is not only going to run for office, but become the new head of the Glades apparently. That’s a twist I didn’t see coming. On the Argus side, the subplot from before came forward in a big way. As eagle-eyed fans noticed the word Dante in conjunction with thieves and organizations all over the world, which is a reference to a recent Green Arrow bad guy group in the  Ninth Circle. It’s not confirmed yet, but it is interesting, as well as the reveal that Diggle and Lyla are asking Diaz for help.

The reveal of the new Green Arrow wasn’t clear until the very end, because honestly, I thought that the actress looked like the girl who was Evelyn Sharp the last two years (because they haven’t said whether she was dead or not). Turns out, it’s a much more important character: Emiko Queen. For those who don’t know, Emiko (in the comics) is Oliver’s half-sister, and the daughter of Robert Queen…and Shado. Now, it’s VERY unlikely that Shado is the mother here given what we know about her in the flashbacks, so it’s likely someone else that will pop up eventually. But we’ll see how it goes. This is a great new wrinkle to the Green Arrow dynamics, and I can’t wait to see when Oliver finds out about her.

Sadly, the reunion and “love” of Oliver and Felicity took a very predictable turn for the worse in true CW fashion. Mainly, they were happy for all of 5 minutes, then Felicity started revealing her “dark side” and everything went sideways. On one hand, I loved that she kept the gun, and used it against “The Mirror”, that was believable. The “I had to learn to survive” and “that Felicity is gone” stuff, as well as the “I don’t know if what’s best for me is what’s best for us” stuff was just terrible. She did all of this to get Oliver out, and now, she’s not willing to at least tone it down so they can be happy together? That makes no sense.

Also, while it was a great little nod to Season 1 to bring back Max Fuller…did he really NEED to be the bad guy? I mean, seriously? And the use of The Mirror was clever plotpoint wise, but why did Fuller have to go through all that trouble?

Still though, “Unmasked” was a great episode that has setup a great back half to the season. And now…Elseworlds!