Last night’s Arrow finished its Brick trilogy with Team Arrow having their showdown with the Brickheaded villain just as Oliver returned to Starling City. Also, the audience got a deeper look into Malcolm Merlyn’s backstory.
Anytime John Barrowman is on screen, whether he is masterfully getting into the heads of the fellow characters, training Thea, or really just anything, it’s always a blast to watch him in action. While his presence hasn’t been as big as I had hoped it would be this season, last night’s episode really gave him the opportunity to add more layers to his character. From the flashbacks that took place 21 years ago on the night when he learned that Rebecca had been murdered to his arrival in Nanda Parbat, these were some of the best non-Honk Kong flashbacks of the series.
The moment when Malcolm went after who he thought at the time was Rebecca’s killer really explained the path he would later take, and it was odd, but necessary to see a Malcolm that didn’t have that League of Assassins training at that time. Also, how adorable were the kids who played young Tommy (I still miss Tommy Merlyn!) and young Oliver? Malcolm’s dynamic with Thea continues to be one of the best relationships on the show this season, especially the scene at the end.
The more I see Laurel as Black Canary, the more I’m loving it, and yes, there is the whole “she still needs more training” argument, but instead of having to make a point about that each week, I’m not going to bring it up anymore because we know that she still needs more evolution. However, she is getting better, and it makes the Katie Cassidy fan in me thrilled to see her having the best arc ever. It’s a lot of fun seeing her fight with Roy/Arsenal (who Captain Lance saw right through, fantastically) as he is a very good partner for her and is sort of training her, in his own way.
Brick is, without a doubt, one of the best villains we have had on the show and the credits goes to Vinnie Jones for sure, because he fits that character so well. As it’s revealed that he was the man who killed Rebecca all those years ago, I got worried that they would actually have Malcolm kill him and make that the end of his character. Luckily, Oliver showed up at the (almost too perfectly) right time to stop himm and Brick’s future remains open as he is now in jail. I will say that the big showdown had some The Dark Knight Rises feelings to it, but it was still an enjoyable battle as The Arrow made his big return entrance to the people of Starling City. And yes, I will admit that even though it looked somewhat corny in the trailer last week, seeing Oliver do that Arrow-Grapple and fly away was pretty cool.
Let’s discuss the big elephant in the room that was Felicity and Oliver (a.k.a. Olicity), as their relationship took a pretty unexpected turn when Oliver showed up at the cave. We saw moments before that scene that he had asked for Malcolm to train him as he wants to take down Ra’s al Ghul for good, and may I just add that it’s a blast to finally see somewhat of an adaptation of the classic Green Arrow/Merlyn dynamic from the comics. But that wasn’t something dear Ms. Smoak was a fan of as she delivers one of the most emotionally heavy lines of the series: “The last thing you said to me was that you love me. Now you’re back and the first thing you tell me is that you are working with the man who turned your sister, a woman that you’re supposed to love, into a killer. Who killed a woman you used to love. I don’t want to be a woman that you love.” Something tells me that the Olicity shippers weren’t too thrilled with this scene, and even though I’m someone who has never been very into that relationship, I was still heartbroken to see one of Oliver’s friends say that to him.
The thing that still has me bothered with this trilogy is how they dealt with Oliver’s death, or “death” depending on whether he actually died or not. Yes, they pretty much pulled a The Dark Knight Rises with how fast he was able to get back to Starling City, but at this point, I’ll let it slide because this was a very uplifting episode, even though it still had a few hick-ups. These next couple of episodes will be intriguing on so many levels because nothing will be the same ever again, and Oliver’s going to be one of those reasons for that. Lastly: how much do you want to bet that next week is when Daddy Lance finds out about Sara?
Arrow airs on Wednesday nights, 8/7c on The CW.
[Photo via The CW]
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