While the individual elements this week sound good on paper, I’m forced to go back to the kitchen metaphor to properly articulate how off almost all the ingredients were tonight. Perhaps we were spoiled by Wendy Stanzler’s direction last week, because Guy Bee’s (who did a serviceable job with “Lone Gunmen”) fell completely flat, and was frequently distracting. When Oliver gets caught in a trap set by Detective Lance, his escape off a rooftop to the unseen garden below was cut as if we were going into a flashback, with a subsequent chase between that was as confusingly staged as it was abrupt.
Stanzler was also able to elevate the weak material surrounding last week’s unremarkable villain, but Bee has no such luck with Cyrus Vanch, a recently released criminal mastermind about as disposable as any of his henchmen. His plan to also use Laurel to get to Oliver is dastardly enough, but hinges on Tommy coming to her apartment to find the ransom recording, which presumes they know his nightly movements (which involve working late hours at the club) within the same day of deciding to pull the kidnapping. Vanch’s ultimate moment of ridiculousness comes from putting all his chips on improbably figuring out not just how many projectiles Oliver carriers, but the amount he’ll use when coming to rescue Laurel. That’s a lot of assumptive counting for a guy who defines four goons as “a veritable army.”
The inconsistency in Arrow is rapidly approaching the point where it can’t just be blamed on the first season growing pains, because the frustration isn’t so much that the show’s separate plots and characters vary in quality, but that each of those elements themselves seems to float or sink with erratic success. One week, the show manages to tell a tight, one-off action story that helps build the overarching plot. The next, you’ve got characters constantly repeating important information in a game of telephone, and Digg worming his way out of a jam with the totally believable explanation of needing to have a smoke break in the janitor’s closet.
Even the flashbacks are triggered with the same degree of randomness that typified their use early in Arrow’s run. Granted, they almost save the entire episode this week, if for no other reason than Manu Bennett’s sheer charisma. I should really be more critical of the fact that he’s basically playing the same character that he does on Spartacus, a domineering swordsman, but that would mean denying the giant, stupid grin on my face when he showed up. If anyone can save this show, it’s Crixus.
And that’s the thing about the flashback plot I’ve come to appreciate: it’s consistent. Sure, Yao Fei’s betrayal, and re-trayal of Oliver the last couple weeks still has me curious to where the story is going, but curious is better than bored, and frustrated. It seemed like spoilers to have it announced that Bennet would be playing Deathstroke, but then the show cleverly makes us question if the man who tortured Oliver is the same one claiming to be Australian intelligence. Why would ISAS be on a Chinese prison camp? Is Fyres playing another game with Oliver, the way he did with Yao Fei earlier? Where’d the crashed plane come from? I don’t know, but I want to find out.
It’s the kind of crazy that I’d like the show to try more. With Merlyn’s evil scheme getting a deliciously sinister name like The Undertaking, you can bet the showrunners have something big in store for the finale. But insane fireworks, and unexpected double crosses can’t sustain a show for the long term, which is exactly what CW has in mind for Arrow. If Smallville proves anything, it’s that the network is willing to keep this kind of show on the air far beyond its best before label. Unless the staff figures out how to regularly nail Arrow’s procedural side soon though, I’m worried that expiration date won’t be too far off in the future.
- Stray Thoughts
-Little detail I appreciated immensely: Tommy says goodbye to Laurel when their phone conversation is done. That doesn’t happen often. Of course, it takes an extra cut to do this, which is why most filmmakers ignore basic politeness.
-I do like the idea of Lance having a mole in his team, feeding info to the bad guys. It worked pretty well in The Dark Knight, didn’t it?
-I actually really enjoyed Laurel having the chance to prove her self-defense skills on two of Vanch’s goons, but to have her then stand gawk-eyed and get tazzed deflated my newfound respect for her.
-Another terrific week of Oliver killing, like, 15 dudes, then just arresting the bad guy. I guess a bloke who works for a comic book villain must have no family, loved ones, or value as a human being. Of all the thematic inconsistencies, this is the biggest, to the point where I’m actually coming around to Lance’s opinion belief the Hood needs to be stopped.
-Hilariously Specific Trick Arrow of the Week: Maybe that was just the explosive arrow again, but I like to think Oliver blinded the two snipers with a flashbang arrow. Its presence, however, just makes Vanch’s plan all the more stupid.
-Ab-tastic Workout of the Week: None. ZERO abs. I’m starting to get worried guys.
