The issue of trust is at the center of this week’s Arrow (which would make sense, since the episode is called “A Matter of Trust”), but the seriousness of that theme doesn’t bog down tonight’s hour in any way. In fact, “A Matter of Trust” is one of the most fun and playful episodes of the series in recent years, and a lot of that has to do with the chemistry between Oliver’s new team and the episode’s special guest star, WWE wrestler Cody Rhodes, who some may know better as Stardust.
Many Arrow fans are aware of the rivalry that has existed between the show’s star, Stephen Amell, and Rhodes for the better part of two years. The two men would call each other out on social media and even during live WWE events, and it all culminated when Amell defeated Rhodes in a tag-team match at Summer Slam last year. During all of their back-and-forth for the cameras, a friendship blossomed between the two stars, allowing Rhodes the opportunity to appear on Arrow in Season 5, and it’s clear from what happens in “A Matter of Trust” that the Arrow writers had an absolute blast referencing Rhodes’ WWE career, from the fact that his character, Derek Sampson, helps push a drug called Stardust to Curtis’s jacket representing a famous wrestler to the final fight between Oliver and Sampson being staged like a legitimate wrestling match (even including Oliver temporarily subduing him with an arm hold of sorts).
This playful sense of fun continues throughout the hour as the recruits try to get to know each other better. The banter between Curtis, Rory, and Evelyn especially was absolute gold during “A Matter of Trust,” as they poke fun at each other. Even Oliver and Rene get involved with the back-and-forth of it all near the episode’s end, as Oliver defends Wild Dog’s use of a hockey mask, saying that he think it’s cool (another great reference by the show’s writers to Stephen Amell’s role as Casey Jones in this summer’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows).
However, just because an episode has smart one-liners and solid pop culture references doesn’t mean it’s a good hour of television, and fortunately, “A Matter of Trust” offers a lot more than funny jokes and witty lines. After getting his new team to trust him in last week’s fantastic episode, Oliver must learn to trust them this time around. As Felicity explains to him, trust is a two-way street, and he has to prove to Rene, Evelyn, and the rest of the team that he has faith in them not through words but action.
In this case, that action is allowing them to join him out on a mission to take down the newly super-powered Sampson, who not only is amazingly strong but feels no pain as a side effect of the Stardust-infused chemicals he fell into. The scene in which the new Team Arrow battles against Sampson and his men is exciting, action-packed, and surprisingly emotional. It’s incredibly satisfying to watch Wild Dog, Ragman, and the rest of the group show off their skills and not only prove to Oliver that they can make a difference as a team but prove it to themselves as well. Plus, the chemistry between these new characters after only two episodes is off-the-charts; their conversations and the way they work together out in the field feels completely natural. Even though we’ve only seen brief glimpses of them training, it all works, and that’s due to the strength of the writing, directing, and the performances from these new Arrow actors.
While Oliver beginning to trust the new team is the main focus of “A Matter of Trust,” it’s not the only storyline from tonight’s Arrow that centers around people having faith in others. In both the flashbacks and in the present as mayor, Oliver shows his confidence in others by believing that his new Bratva brothers won’t stab him in the back and by having the back of his actual sister. Even though Thea makes some mistakes as Oliver’s chief of staff, he understands that she’s only trying to help both him and Quentin, and he stands by her and everyone in his administration, telling reporters at the press conference that any decision or action his team tak is representative of him (and of course, the members of Team Arrow are watching the press conference live, understanding that Oliver’s words here also apply to them).
But it’s not just Oliver that must choose to trust people in this week’s episode. Felicity makes a major decision by telling Rory the truth about how and why Damien Darhk’s missile hit Havenrock, explaining that she was trying to save millions of lives at the cost of thousands. Of course, tonight’s episode doesn’t let Rory respond to Felicity’s confession, as he walks away from her in shock as she cries, but as a viewer who has greatly criticized Arrow characters in the past for hiding ridiculous secrets, I think it’s both refreshing and brave of Felicity to admit this to Rory. Not to mention, the Arrow writers are doing a much better job in these early Season 5 episodes at handling Felicity’s grief over Havenrock; there seemed to be so much going on plot-wise at the end of last season that they didn’t give her the appropriate amount of time to reflect on her impossible decision. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how her and Rory’s relationship changes and develops in future episodes.
And although so much of tonight’s Arrow is about Oliver’s need to trust new allies, the hour ends with the story shifting its focus to one of his oldest friend, as Lyla shows up to tell him that he needs to help her break Diggle out of jail. Even though Oliver has become a stronger leader over these past couple of episodes, thanks in large part to his new recruits, both he and Arrow itself are never truly at their best without John Diggle. I can’t wait to see how the show brings him back to Star City next week.
Other thoughts:
- Even though I’m not the biggest fan of shows using hallucinations as a plot device, I did enjoy Michael Rowe’s return in this episode as Deadshot. The way the writers utilized him, allowing us to fully enter Diggle’s mindset, was nicely done.
- There were so many great shots in “A Matter of Trust,” from Oliver pinning Sampson down to the ground in slow-motion to the new team standing in front of the old team’s suits after they enter the Arrowcave. Visually, this episode was top-notch.
- Josh Segarra makes his debut in tonight’s Arrow as Star City’s new District Attorney, Adrian Chase. Segarra is a new series regular on the show, and we don’t get much of him throughout the hour. However, I really enjoyed Adrian’s exchange with Oliver about his ex-girlfriend. That shows that there will hopefully be more to him than the stereotypical DA character on most comic-book/cop dramas.
- I wish Cody Rhodes had gotten to do a little bit more in his guest spot, but he brought a great physicality to Sampson. He was a very intimidating villain of the week.
- We saw a little bit of of darkness from Thea when she threatened that reporter. Will we see more of that new, darker side to her this season, or am I reading too much into that one scene? It just seemed not to jive very well with her new, more positive outlook on life.
- Oliver meets Felicity’s new boyfriend, Billy Malone, but he doesn’t know that he’s her boyfriend and Billy obviously doesn’t know the Green Arrow is Oliver. I’m really hoping the show doesn’t try to create any type of BS drama from this situation, especially since it looks like the two of them will be working together to track down Prometheus. Oliver, Felicity, and Billy are all adults here, and they should act that way once it’s revealed to Oliver that Felicity is dating someone new.
What did everyone else think about tonight’s Arrow? Comment below and let me know.
[Photo credit: Diyah Pera/The CW]
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