Last week we saw Arrow saving Diggle’s life by feeding him a dodgy cocktail infused with certain ‘herbs’ strong enough to heal a bullet wound. Man, when this guy is done with crossing the names off his list he should take this concoction to market as I’m sure he would sell a boat load and he wouldn’t have to take any more stick about sponging off Daddy’s fortune. Arrow sure hates it when people say that!
We pick up after the moment Arrow reveals him to Digs. I must say that I was expecting a different reaction by the bodyguard, in fact he lunges at Arrow and really seems to take umbrage at finding out his true identity, a fact I thought he was actually becoming slightly aware of in previous Episodes. How wrong was I?
This instalment centred quite strongly around what proved to be a recruitment drive of Diggle. Although having a strong and violent reaction to finding out the identity of Arrow, he doesn’t turn him in to the Cops which demonstrates that he is potentially still recruitable, although hanging out in Big Belly Burger with his sister is hardly going to be best practice in helping the Hooded One in catching baddies.
A certain scene in a prison setting later in the Episode shows us a very dark side to Arrow. I have found Arrow very interesting so far but at times it has been a little too polished for me. A little too… Smallville, if you get my meaning. Unloading his fists onto an inmate, we sense that he would have caved his brains in had he not have been stopped. Arrow certainly does have a dark side, and I like this.
This Episode is also the first time we hear Arrow speak. Being Geeks, I am assuming the reader has seen or is at least familiar with the latest Chris Nolan Batman franchise; although a phenomenon and arguably the finest Superhero movies of all time, Christian Bale does put on a bit of a dodgy drawl for his Cape Crusader. And I think that we can safely say that the same is true for Arrow, although in a more voice changer, slightly camp kind of a way.
The biggest surprise of the Episode though, is that Arrow actually gets caught! Who saw that coming!? I was still reeling from the fact that Diggle knows his identity, now Detective Quentin Lace (and presumably a host of other officers in the Starling City Police Force) too? I thought that Arrow’s secret identity was going to be key to the plot of the Show as a whole and here we are, a mere 4 Episodes in to the first Season and he might as well be dishing out business cards. Most unexpected.
A good Episode on the whole and the feeling is that we are building the storyline well now and character lines are starting to form. The pace is fast and we are starting to warm to key characters. I, for one, am looking forward to next week and to find out the extent of who knows Arrow’s true identity.
Mark Brassington 