After a very difficult episode last week, this week’s Arrow was a lot more entertaining and compelling, despite having to see Oliver Queen’s transformation into Al Sah-Him of the League of Assassins.
As much as I have been against the overwhelmingly dark tone this season, I have to say that it was quite entertaining to see Stephen Amell get to play an evil version of Oliver Queen. The drastically deeper voice was hit or miss throughout the episode, but from a bigger picture, his transformation was quite convincing. I will admit that I kept hoping and looking that maybe Oliver was just putting on an act to trick Ra’s. But nope, he is completely gone, and it will be interesting to see what will actually bring back out the Oliver part in the person we are seeing right now. Without being offensive to the character, whatever they do, I just hope it’s not going to be Felicity, because it would be way too predictable. It was great though to see Team Arrow going up against him, especially Laurel as she finally uses the Canary Cry she got from Cisco. Personally, it was fantastic that the first time she used it was on Oliver, because I’m sorry, but after what that boy has being doing this season, he deserves some.
The best part of this entire episode was, without a doubt, Nyssa and her relationship with Laurel. “I never understood your country’s need to fry everything” is by far the best statement I have ever heard about food, so praise Nyssa for that. This character needs to be a series regular for Season 4, or even allowing her to play a major role on the upcoming spin-off would be great. I think the greatest thing to take away from her and Laurel is that they are learning from each other. Nyssa has grown up among assassins and possesses incredible fighting skills, while Laurel has the experience of actually living a normal life, which is what Nyssa needs.
Unfortunately, Nyssa gets forced into a situation that is perhaps one of the most offensive storylines this show has done, and that says a lot, especially because of how great the Arrow showrunners and writers are. As someone who is a member of the LGBT community, it was extremely painful seeing a father (in this case, Ra’s al Ghul) force his openly gay daughter to become Oliver’s wife just so she can be the Bride of the Demon. I know and support the notion of not making a big deal of any character being gay or lesbian, but when you see someone like Ra’s pulling a stunt like this, it has to be commented on. I would have preferred to have seen Nyssa locked up rather than having to see Ra’s putting her through this marriage, which I only suspect will be shown next week. Whoever ends up marrying them, if they ever say “Speak now or forever hold your peace” when asking if anyone is opposed to Oliver and Nyssa’s wedding, I will be standing up loud and clear in my living room.
Moving on from that, the flashbacks played a surprisingly bigger role in what was occurring in the present, as Ra’s presents the Alpha/Omega virus to Oliver, ordering him to unleash it on the citizens of Starling City. While it’s nice to get a tie-in like that, it still doesn’t change the fact that the flashbacks this season have been a major letdown. The only thing that sparked any interest in this week’s flashback was the tragic reveal that Akiou had been infected by the virus. The reaction from Tatsu was heartbreaking, and it provided us with the full background on how Akiou ends up dying.
Overall, aside from the disaster that was Ra’s decision, “Al Sah-Him” was a terrific episode that displayed Team Arrow’s big struggle with having lost Oliver completely. (Also quick side note: it was neat to see Thea debut her costume, but it was hard to tell what it looked like from where she stood and how brief we got to see it.) These two final episodes are going to be, based on interviews from the producers, quite something, as I believe we are about to get a complete makeover of the show all together.
Arrow airs on Wednesday nights, 8/7c on The CW.
[Photo via The CW]
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Is it really a surprising move that a man who’s a couple centuries old would force his daughter into a betrothal to for his and even her benefit?
I was more surprised by the complete wiping of your home city to become Ra’s al Ghul. Now we know why the Alpha-Omega was such a big deal in the flashbacks.